MoFo 13 Sundays With Seitan

Hi. It's me again, Seitan, from "Sundays With Seitan." I didn't mean to frighten you away with this video I mailed you last week. Quite frankly I think you've just been brainwashed by all the bad things you've heard about gluten. Why remember when bran was banned and spinach was contaminated, and even certain mushrooms were condemned. Why sure there are always food scares. Damned if I don't remember the botulism scare of 1862. I could have said goodbye to refrieds forever, but what's a bashed can or a bad bean every now in then when you've got all of eternity to fan those flames. Hey you. Over there. The girl with the teff, come back!



She isn't coming back, Mommy!

That's okay Zuul. That just means that there will be more food for you and Mommy. Bahahahaa. They are all scaredy cats. This is the last time I will try to seduce you all with my culinary charm.
NOT! Bahahaha.

 

Seitan and Roasted Eggplant Wraps with Lemon Cashew Sauce

Serves 4 hungry demons

 

1 eggplant peeled and sliced into rounds

canola spray

1 box Seitan strips

1 clove of garlic peeled and chopped small

sea salt

1 English cucumber peeled and diced

2 vine ripened tomatoes chopped

1 Kosher pickled diced

4 spinach wraps

 

Lemon Cashew Dressing
 

3/4 C raw cashews

3/4 C tahini

juice of one lemon

1 C water

1/2 tsp dill

1/2 tsp salt

1 clove garlic chopped

 

Spray skillet and cook seitan strips with 1 clove garlic according to package directions. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, line a cookie sheet with foil and spray. Place eggplant slices on cookie sheet and spray eggplant again with canola oil. Cook for about 12-15 minutes.

 

Meanwhile place cukes, tomatoes and pickles in bowl and make dressing.

 

Place cashews in bowl of food processor and process until crumbly. Add tahini, lemon and remainder of ingredients. Process until smooth. Salt and dill to taste. A little dressing can be tossed into the cuke mix or drizzled over the wrap.

 

Assemble the wrap:
 

Place wraps vertically on clean surface. Layer with seitan, eggplant, tomato mixture, and drizzle cashew dill dressing. Roll and slice in half.

 

 

 

 

You take the top wrap Zuul.

 

Please join us next time for Sundays with Seitan. Don't make me come up there and get you. Please don't make me leave the confines of my home. It's way too cold up there where you are and you know that we hardly ever have a cold day in hell. 

 

Ta ta. That's a wrap.

Sneaky Tzatziki

It's the aubergines time to shine. The price is great and eggplants are plentiful. They don't have that mushiness or bitterness that can sometimes be the case other times of the year. They are pretty versatile too. I wouldn't make rice cream or cookies out of them but they kick ass in gyros with some tangy tahini sauce. They rule in eggplant heros with a  smattering of  marinara  and hit of Daiya mozzarella. Don't wanna go the sandwich route, how 'bout vine ripened  tomato, eggplant, vegan sausage sauteed in garlic and oil and served over fresh pasta ? Damn I should never write this blog when I'm hungry. Be back in a jiff.

Oh yeah,  so I didn't make any of the stuff I told you about this time. I made the above plate.
I sliced the eggplant thin, lined a baking sheet with parchment and sprayed the veggies with canola oil, seasoned with "21 Salute" and sea salt and roasted them with the broccoli in a 425 degree oven for about 17 minutes. I suggest cooking the broccoli about 5 minutes before adding the eggplant (they take a bit longer).

Although the photo does not do justice. The veggies are accompanied by some delicious tzatziki. Tziki to you.

Sneaky Tziki
1 English cuke cut in half lengthwise and deseeded then in quarters
1 scallion chopped
3/4 C plain soy yogurt
2 T Vegennaise
1 TTahini
1 tsp lemon
1 garlic clove minced
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp-1 tsp cumin
1T dill (I like dill)
and here's the sneaky part...3 radishes chopped to give the Tziki a bite.

Mix all dressing ingredients together in bowl including seasonings. Add cuke, scallion and those sneaky radishes.Toss.

Take note. I find plain soy yogurt a little too sweet. Next time I might up the Vegennaise or use vegan sour cream. It's your call. The roasted eggplant and Tziki would be very happy together inside a pita for a perfect summer picnic lunch.

Three Tables and a Rollatini

My friend and fellow blogger Mark Samu lost his good friend, Fred in a tragic accident the same week my precious sister-in-law, Lynn passed away. They say that deaths come in threes. I decided to choose who the third would be. I mean, after they already passed on. I didn't want anything bad to happen. I just wanted somebody who wasn't close to me to fill that number three slot, so I could rest easy. I assigned the number three opening to a former security guard for K-Mart. This 4 foot 11 tough talking square badge was also a cowboy, a french fry hawker and husband to a 5 foot 5 giant. He was a constant presence in court and was always in hot water for disorderly conduct. I didn't know Gary Coleman personally, yet I am quite sad that anyone would have to be number three, especially if this means there will never be a "Diff'rent Strokes" Reunion. What choo talkin about, GiGi?

In Reverence to Fred please visit...http://wheresmrpeabody.com/2010/05/12/thank-fred/
This is the veganized version of Fred's famous "Eggplant Rollatini"

1 eggpplant peeled and sliced 1/4" lengthwise
1 C vegan bread crumbs (365 is a good choice)
1 C plain rice milk
3 T olive oil
1 vegan sausage chopped
1 pound firm organic tofu (drained and pressed)
1/2 cup thawed frozen spinach
1/4 C nutritional yeast
2 T olive oil
Sea salt to taste
2 C marinara sauce
10 oz package of "follow your heart" mozzarella, shredded (or mozzarella of yoiur choice)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While tofu is draining, batter and fry the eggplant. To batter, place rice mik in one bowl and bread crumbs in a separate pie plate or flat dish. Heat fry pan, and add oil. Place eggplant slice first in rice milk, and then bread crumbs. Fry 1-3 minutes on each side until all eggplant pieces are done. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. In same pan, fry onion and garlic 'til lightly browned. Add vegan sausage and cook for about a minute and a half. Set aside.

Make Ricotta.
Crumble tofu into a big bowl. Add lemon, olive oil, spinach, nutrtitional yeast and sea salt. Mix well. Add the vegan sausage mixture to the ricotta crumble. Mix well again. Now you are ready to roll!
Add a about 2-3 tablespoons of  marinara sauce to bottom of medium sized pyrex pan. Place 4 eggplant slices lenghtwise,(facing you) on top of the marinara. Add 1.5-2T of ricotta/sausage mixture to the center of each eggplant slice and roll. Seam side should be down. Top  with 1-1.5 T of sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella.
Add the remaining eggplant and repeat the procedure. You will have ricotta mixture left over. You have a few options here.You can save it for another recipe. You can sprinkle over a side salad, or if there is room left over in the pan you can add and bake.
Bake for 20 minutes.

Thank You for the recipe Fred. It was delicious. Three dinner tables won't be the same this year.

The Color Eggplant

Lynn chose to refresh her walls with a palette of mint julep, pistachio and sea foam. Lynn decorated with a green thumb and accented rooms with lavender. Lynn also loved the color purple almost as much as Oprah does, but this blog is not about Oprah.


Oprah never ever read my blog,even though she was sued by ranchers and calls herself a vegan. Real vegans read my blog! Oprah has never asked me to pose for any of O's magazine covers. Oprah might love the color eggplant, but she's not getting any of it. According to a nationwide survey Oprah does not need any more lasagna.
This recipe is in honor of Lynn and should be as appetizing as her decorative paint.

Roasted Eggplant and Spinach Ricotta Lasagna (vegan of course)

1 Box of Vegan No-Boil Lasagna

1 Medium sized Eggplant,olive oil spray

28oz. HM or Your Favorite Purchased Vegan Tomato Sauce
Approximately 1/2 C of Chopped Sundried Tomatoes in Oil
10oz. "Follow Your Heart"  Vegan Mozzarella Cheese
1 Cup Water

Vegan Ricotta (this is multi purpose and can be used to stuff shells, or toss with spaghetti)

8oz.Frozen Spinach thawed
1 Firm Tofu Drained and Pressed
2 tsp Fresh Lemon
2 tsp Olive or Canola oil
1/4 tsp Sea Salt
1/4 C Nutritional Yeast (nooch) + 3 T

Roasted Eggplant
Preheat oven 425. Line cookie sheet with foil. Lightly spray with canola oil.
Peel and slice eggplant into rounds.Lightly salt. Place on cookie sheet and bake about 4-5 minutes each side. Set aside.
Turn  Oven down to 375.

Ricotta
Make Ricotta. Mush the already pressed/drained tofu into a medium bowl. If your hands are clean use them to mush the tofu, it's fun. Add lemon juice, garlic and spinach. Mush with your clean hands again. Keep mushifying for 2-5 minutes. Add nutritional yeast (not Brewer's yeast)
and olive oil. Go ahead you can use a fork to mix now. Cover ricotta until ready to use. Clean your hands after all that mushing.

Lasagna
Spray a 9x13 lasagna pan. Ladle some sauce on bottom of pan and spread evenly with enough to cover the pan. Follow with a layer of lasagna noodles (yes they can overlap)  then a layer of ricotta spread with spatula and a teaspoon of sundried tomatoes on each lasagna noodle. Folllow with a slice of roasted eggplant,sauce and then shredded cheese. Continue layering. Last layer should be shredded cheese. Sprinkle remaining 3 T nutritional yeast on top of lasagna.
Pour 1 Cup of water evenly over the  top lasagna layer. Make sure to get some of the water into the corners of the top of the lasagna or they will get too crunchy.

Cover tightly with two sheets of overlapping foil. Bake 30-45 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Shug in the Color Purple said, " I think it pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field and don't notice". So for today, just today, why not take a moment and savor and delight in the very thing you might have rushed by yesterday. I mean just to be on the safe side, you don't wanna piss anybody off. Now enough noticing...your lasagna is burning.

A Sicilian Welcome, A Sicilian Goodbye

Two Guys Salad

The priest didn't know the deceased but he had heard she was very loud. The priest said that a lot of people must have loved the deceased since a lot of people were weeping. My right eye drips uncontrollably whether I am happy or sad. Once my right eye started, my left eye joined in. If I continue to go without this eye operation I could probably make a good living as a professional mourner.The deceased is up there laughing at my dripping eye. Did the priest mention how funny the deceased was?
 The first time I met Lynn was on her 38th birthday.


"Before I introduce you to Lynn, I have to tell you something," Larry said.
"Okay."
"Lynn is very loud." 
"Is she deaf? My family is loud... how loud is loud?" I asked.
"Lynn is loud-loud."


And off we went.Twenty-five Sicilians and one jovial Irish guy were all seated around a long kitchen table.They squeezed me in between Tony, Tommy and Eddy (the Irish guy) who married the lovely Mariella. I sat under the gold framed eight foot picture of the Italian patriarch. Everyone kissed me hello like I was an old friend. Once they understood that I did not eat pork, ham filled calzone, or chicken parm, the family welcomed me with artichokes, pastry, espresso and potato pie. Beautiful broken English came at me from all sides.
"Want some baccala?" Tommy Sr. asked.
"No thank you, I don't eat fish."
"No fish??? Whatddya mean no fish?" Tony said.
"Fish is not sausage." Tony and Tommy Sr. said in unison.
"No, no thank you."
"How 'bout anchovies? Whaddya mean, no anchovies?"
"Um no thank you. I think those are tiny fish," I said.
Someone yelled, " Get GiGi some more potato pie."
Nina, Tony's gracious wife jumped up to get me some. And then like a volcanic eruption, the second coming, or Jurassic Park dinosaur,  I heard ...


"WHADDYA WANT TO DRINK? JUICE, SODA, WATER,  BROWN OR BLACK COFFEE?"
TOMMY- ANDREW- STEVEN ( Tommy-Andrew-Stephen is all one word) GET LARRY'S GIRLFRIEND SELTZER AND BLACK COFFEE."


"THANK YOU!" I bellowed back and then I heard my soon to be sister-in law's hearty contagious laugh.
Larry and I left New York for way too long. Life has a weird way of stirring things up. Sometimes life takes away the things that make it possible to do the things you need to do. Until life happens again and finally you do what you gotta do and should have done all along.
Births, deaths, marriages, restaurants, graduations, and always food went on while we were gone. It was Lynn's tragic, unfortunate and premature passing that brought us back to that kitchen table last week.
Amidst all the sadness and loss, those crazy Sicilians still found a way to feed this crazy vegan. About 80 people feasted at Nunzio's Pizza Town after the funeral. 


"Can I help?" I asked.
"No don't go into the kitchen, GiGi".
Tony went into his kitchen without me and brought me out a steaming voluptuous mixed vegetable dish.Yep, I was served before anybody.
The day after the funeral Gina, my nephew Stephen's wife had us over for a BBQ so we could meet the adorable twins (our great niece and nephew) and the rest of her family.
"Can I do something?"
"No, you sit. " Gina said.
"But I'm really good in the kitchen", I  said.


I proceeded to put the steak knives away in the wrong knife stand, (maybe so they wouldn't eat steak again).
Tommy Sr. and Kara (Andrew's girlfriend) made stuffed artichokes and marinated eggplant and zucchini for me. Stephen made potatoes and string bean salad.Tommy Jr. brought homemade vegan baked beans. I'm salivating now.
Before Andrew took us to the airport Larry, Andrew and my niece Dawn Marie went to see Tommy Jr. at the other family restaurant, "Two Guys" in Hicksville. Ziti in marinara, potato wedges with fried onions and olive oil, mixed greens with oranges and cracked olives, grilled NY Italian bread with grilled red peppers eggplant fresh basil and drizzled balsamic graced our table. This was Tommy Jr.'s first foray into complete vegan chefdom. I was more than impressed and couldn't stop eating. Delicious!
"Can I help you in the kitchen, Tommy?"
"No, you sit."
"But I'm good in the kitchen." I said.

Then I went to clear the plates and I dropped three forks.
 I would love to mention every kindness and generosity extended to us when we were back in NY, but there isn't enough space here. I realized I don't know how to finish this blog because I just don't want to say goodbye again. Since this is a vegan blog, I want to tell you something else about Lynn.
In addition to her vivaciousness, Lynn adored all kinds of animals almost as much as she did babies and QVC. In reverence to Lynn and this beautiful family, this week my blog  will be devoted entirely to Vegan Italian cuisine. Grazie Mille!
If you are in New York and want some great food prepared by great people please visit:

Nunzio's Pizza Town  

    751 Route 109 West Babylon New York

  631-957-3365

                          Two Guys Pizzeria                         

94 West Old Country Road. Hicksville. New York

  516-932-8489

Cavatelli with Fava Beans (Two Guys)

  Lynn, the table will never be the same without you. We love you forever. xoxoxo