Vegan MoFo, Day 12: Stuff on Bread with Fancy Names

The only thing to do after baking loaves of bread is to, well, eat it! Why not on a sandwich? Too predictable and easy. Why not use the bread in some open-faced tastiness?

Here are two tasty recipes guaranteed to warm you up and cure your soul.

Vegetarian Ragout a la Newburg
adapted from Meatless Meals, page 111
serves 4--supplies protein, starch, and mineral elements

1/2 medium onion, diced
1 red pepper, sliced
1/4 green cabbage, sliced
1/2 cup peas
1 tomato, diced
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp vegan butter
2 Tbsp AP flour
1 cup soymilk
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
4 slices of bread, toasted

Saute the onion, red pepper, and cabbage in olive oil until softened. Add peas, tomato, salt, red pepper flakes, and black pepper and saute for several more minutes. In a small sauce pan, mix butter and flour, then add soymilk and whisk until smooth. Add salt and pepper to white sauce. Place toasted bread on plates, top with veggie mixture, and then pour on white sauce. Serve hot.

{perfect autumn recipe}

{totally satisfying and filling}

{gooey white sauce goodness}

Mushrooms a la Sabine

adapted from Meatless Meals, page 39

serves 4--supplies protein, fat, and starch

2 Tbsp vegan butter

1/2 small onion, diced

1 package mushrooms

2 tsp AP flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup water

1 Tbsp vegan butter (for sauce)

1 Tbsp AP flour (for sauce)

1 cube vegan "chicken" bouillion

2 cups hot water

1/4 tsp black pepper

4 slices of bread, toasted

Shredded cheddar vegan cheese, such as Daiya

2 green onions, sliced

Wash mushrooms with a damp towel to remove dirt. De-stem the mushrooms, and peel the caps. In a bowl, sprinkle the mushrooms with flour and salt. Saute the diced onion in butter in a pan, then add mushrooms to brown. If the pan gets too dry from the flour but the mushrooms have browned a bit, add 1/4 cup water (it's OK, you're going to be adding the brown sauce later anyway). In a small saucepan, add 1 Tbsp each vegan butter and flour and mix. Melt the vegan "chicken" cube in the hot water, then add to the pan. Whisk until brown sauce is smooth. Add black pepper to sauce. Add sauce to mushrooms and allow to simmer for five minutes. Place toasted bread on plates, then spoon mushrooms onto bread, and pour sauce over. Top with shredded vegan cheese and sliced green onions. Serve hot.

{an hors d'oeuvre transformed into a meal}

{mushrooms are the best!}

{mushroom-tastic!}

Reminds me of meals my mom used to make!

Jes

VMF 2011 Day 12: Survey Time!
VMF 2010 Day 12: Apple Pancakes with Passionfruit Tea-Infused Maple Syrup. Yup.

Vegan MoFo, Day 11: White-Wheat-Rye Bread

You have to admit that baking bread is a labor of love. It really is. So much can go awry. You could end up with overly-chewy bread that you have to soak in liquid first; your yeast may have expired; and other various sundry mishaps can happen. I've only made two loaves previously, so this was expected to be an adventure. However, I found this recipe from Jean Prescott Adams (Leona Malek) to be easy and produce a wonderfully tasty bread.

White-Wheat-Rye Bread
adapted from Meatless Meals, pages 48-49
makes 2 loaves--supplies starch, protein, sugar, and come mineral elements (iron, potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium)

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups AP flour
3/4 cup rye flour
1 yeast packet
1/4 cup warm soymilk
1/2 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups hot potato water (I had this leftover from boiling potatoes with caraway seeds and storing them in the water for another recipe in progress)

In a stand mixer, add olive oil, salt, sugar, and hot potato water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Let this mixture stand until it has cooled down a bit. In a cup, dissolve the yeast packet in the warm soymilk. Add the yeast mixture to the cooled oil-sugar in the stand mixer. Add all flour and mix with the bread hook for 12 minutes. Separate bread mixture into two bowls covered with tea towels (otherwise you'll need to separate them later because it will have risen so much that it starts pouring out of the bowl). Allow to rise for about 8 hours. After rising, shape bread into loaves and put into greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.

{action shot}

{look at the "baby" loaf!}

{freshly baked}

{i see sandwiches in your future}

{look at those gorgeous slices!}

This recipe is a winner. Even my husband liked the bread! (And that means a LOT!) Coming up tomorrow: stuff on bread!

Jes

VMF 2011 Day 11: Recipe for Love Handles
VMF 2010 Day 11: Under the Weather, Up to my Eyeballs in Garlic