The Paula Deen Vegan Challenge!: Glazed "Bacon"-Wrapped "Chicken" with Cheesy Asparagus & Rosemary Potatoes

As punishment for not posting a Weekly Vegan entry last week, I presented myself with the ultimate challenge. I had to turn Paula Deen recipes into tasty vegan dishes. The queen of butter and bacon was not gonna make this easy, but I was ready for her. Undeterred, I grabbed my trusty veganizing ray and set about on my mission, not sure if I'd ever return.

Whatever you do, don't look into the beast's eyes!

Glazed Tempeh Bacon Wrapped Gardein
Veganized from Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible
Servings: 4
Time: 2 and a half hours (2 hours inactive)

1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tbsp tabasco
1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
4 gardein patties, thawed
4 slices tempeh bacon
1/2 cup light brown sugar

So you're supposed to cover two kinds of meat with sugar. Yeah, that sounds about right.

1. Combine the soy sauce, orange juice, tabasco and garlic in a plastic bag. Add the gardein patties and coat well. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire rack on top.
3. Free the gardein from its marinade grave and wrap with a slice or two of tempeh bacon. Use a toothpick to keep it secured.
4. Dip the gardein in the brown sugar and coat evenly. Place the chicken on the wire rack and cook for 15 minutes, turning once.

The glazed gardein was somewhat of a mixed-bag. It turned out a little dry since I cooked everything at once at 400 F (so you should probably reduce the time and temp). Evenly coating the gardein patties was also a little tricky, so some bites had nice flavor and some were sadly lacking. These pieces were quickly remedied by the glorious tempeh bacon, which cooked perfectly in the oven. The tempeh was truly the highlight of the meal and went magnificently with the two sides.

Cheesy Asparagus

Veganized from Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible

Servings: 3

Time: 15 minutes

1 lb asparagus, woody ends snapped

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Daiya cheddar cheese

Breaking off the ends of asparagus is oddly therapeutic. 

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Toss the asparagus in the olive oil, salt and pepper on a baking sheet.
3. Sprinkle on Daiya cheddar and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the faux cheese melts.

The Daiya cheese had some issues with sticking to the asparagus.

Cheese covered asparagus brought me back to the unhealthy introduction to veggies we all have as children. The Daiya cheddar is a great imitation of the real thing (with an interesting and somewhat powdery taste). The only issue I had with this side was that the cheese mostly stayed on the baking sheet, forcing me to scrape it out. The extra work was worth it, though, and would also come in handy with the rosemary potatoes. 

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

Veganized from Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible

Servings: 4

Time: 40 minutes

3/4 lb Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1 1/4 inch chunks

3/4 lb red potatoes, cut into 1 1/4 inch chunks

2 tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, unpeeled

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

2 strips tempeh bacon

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. 
2. Toss the potatoes and tempeh bacon in the oil, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper.
3. Roast, turning occasionally until golden and tender or about 30 minutes.

Cropped so you don't see the burnt potato!

Rosemary potatoes are a killer weapon to have in your culinary arsenal. They can add the perfect starchy finish to any dinner or breakfast (see: A Very Vegan Christmas). Opening up your oven to that roasted rosemary smell just might be one of the most perfect experiences you can have in a kitchen. I noticed Paula Deen's recipe wasn't Deenified enough, so I upped the unnecessary quotient by adding some tempeh bacon to the equation. This proved to be a brilliant idea as the potatoes, tempeh bacon and cheese from the asparagus enabled occasional side quests to the land of the baked potato.

Battered and bruised, I emerged victorious from my assault on Paula Deen's cuisine (rhyming is fun). This was a great break from the wild baking tangent I went on (My first actual meal post in almost a month!) and a welcome addition to The Weekly Vegan. Also, now that I live much closer to a Whole Foods (and may have stocked up on enough vegan supplies for the upcoming apocalypse), I'm ready to continue fighting the good fight in my crusade against the ultimate Southern cook.

Sabado Gigante Part 2: Portobello and Gardein Fajitas with Special Salsas

¿Dónde está la biblioteca?

Sadly, man cannot live on cake alone (I'm working on a magic science pill to give you all those other nutrients so you can), so we were forced to make an actual dinner to go with my flan on Saturday. The plan was originally to make some grilled chicken fajitas, but one of our guests was vegetarian, which allowed me to reach back to my cooking roots and prepare a meal worthy of my sister's kitchen. I prepared portobello mushroom (the steak of the veggie world) and gardein (faux chicken) fajitas with the help of Kevin's grillmaster skills. Since last week's Top Chef featured a sauce quick fire challenge, I was dead set on prepping two outstanding salsas to bring out the flavor in the fajitas: a creamy salsa verde and a honey chipotle lime salsa.

Portobello Mushroom and Gardein Fajitas
Servings: About 12-15 fajitas

Grilling portobellos is pretty easy

Time: 20 minutes

4 Portobello Mushroom Caps
4 Gardein chicken patties, defrosted
Butter
Fajita Seasoning
Cayenne or crushed red pepper
Green bell pepper, sliced
Onion, sliced
Garlic, minced
Olive Oil
Cumin
Tortillas
Salsa (recipes follow)

From far away it even looks like steak.

1. Prep the faux meat! This can either take place on a grill or in a frying pan with some olive oil. 
2. Clean the portobello mushrooms and remove the stems. Cut a shallow cross into the tops of the caps to help them absorb flavors. Place about half a tbsp of butter on top of each and grill with the lid closed for about five minutes or until the butter is sufficiently melted. Then flip the mushrooms, add more butter and grill closed for another five minutes or until the mushrooms are tender. Slice and serve.
3. Season the gardein patties with cumin, fajita seasoning and cayenne or red pepper for spice. Grill for about five minutes per side or until grill marks form and the patties are heated throughout. Slcie and serve.
4. Saute the bell pepper and onion in olive oil or butter with some minced garlic until the veggies become soft and fragrant.
5. Warm the tortillas on the grill or in a frying pan then top with your "meat", veggies and salsa and enjoy.

I'm an even bigger fan of gardein now that I've had it grilled.

Luckily, I was able to avoid being arrested in Texas due to serving vegetarian options. Both the portobello mushrooms and gardein patties were packed with incredible flavor from the grill. Even the carnivorous folk devoured them. By themselves, the fajitas were amazing, but my two special salsas really helped them pack a wallop. 

Salsa Verde

2 avocados

10 tomatillos, stems removed

3 cloves garlic

2 jalapenos, stems removed

1 handfull of cilantro

Salt to taste

8 oz sour cream

1 tsp fajita seasoning

The sour cream will mellow it out a lot, so make sure you have enough jalapeno.

1. Cook the jalapeno and tomatillos in boiling water until the tomatillos turn to become a dull brown (about 10 minutes). 
2. Combine the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. 
3. Chill in the fridge for 30-60 minutes and serve.

The salsa verde is perfect for dipping tortilla chips in while you wait for your fajitas. This restaurant standard is delightfully creamy with just the right kick from the jalapenos. The cilantro also plays a key role to make this a salsa to remember. Feel free to vary the amount of sour cream and jalapeno to control consistency and heat. Make sure display some patience and chill it because it's even more amazing cold.

Honey Chipotle Lime Salsa

12 oz.  tomato paste

1 tsp chipotle powder

Juice of one lime

1 tbsp olive oil

1-2 tbsp honey

Salt to taste

Water to desired consistency

Kevin's hand modeling career is really starting to take off.

1. Combine the tomato paste and chipotle powder in a sauce pan over medium-low heat. 
2. Mix in the olive oil, lime juice and honey until smooth. 
3. Add water to thin the salsa and let cook for five minutes.

My honey chipotle lime salsa was the star of the meal. It has just the right Tex-Mex balance of sweet and spicy that forces you to eat an extra fajita or two just so you can enjoy more of it (not that I say that from experience or anything...). Sadly, the recipe didn't produce much since I didn't want to water down the flavors heavily, so it quickly became extinct.

Just another typical night filled with special guests at my apartment.

Fajita night was the most wonderful kind of success: the kind that ends with us all feeling disgusting and unable to move from the couch. I'm just glad we all managed to somehow roll over long enough to finish it all off with my flan.

Summer Relish Gardein with a Strawberry, Pine Nut & Spinach Salad

Here's a great and wonderfully refreshing summertime recipe that involves almost no actual cooking. It's definitely one of the healthier yet tastier things I have posted on here. Don't let the relish name fool you; this is definitely light years above your average hot dog topping.

Summer Relish Gardein
Adapted from Gardein Recipes
Servings: 4
Time: 15 minutes

4 Gardein Chick'n Scallopini patties
12 oz grape tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1 tsp thyme 
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp capers
2 tsp sherry
1 tsp mustard (dijon or ground with garlic)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix everything but the patties together in a bowl. Stir well
2. Cook the patties over medium heat until both sides are browned (about 4 minutes per side)
3. Top with the relish.

I had a few minor qualms with the relish. It was a little heavy on the thyme, which tasted fine but added a weird needle-like texture throughout. Also, this typically involves about 1 tbsp of mint, which would have brought another great dimension to it. 

Strawberry, Pine Nut & Spinach Salad

Time: 5 minutes

Baby spinach

Strawberries, sliced

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

Fig Balsamic

Gruyere, shredded

1. Combine ingredients.
2. Drizzle a small amount of the fig balsamic on the salad. Toss and serve.

This is far and away my favorite salad. It's incredibly light and refreshing. I love how the crispness of the lettuce and pine nuts interacts with the juicy strawberries. The savory fig balsamic is a great addition that helps keep it light while adding flavor. The fig balsamic also tastes great with the Gardein patties, so I highly recommend dipping them in any balsamic that's left on your plate. Overall, the salad works splendidly with the patties for a complete and healthy meal.

Gardein Picatta and Kale with Currants and Pine Nuts

Sometimes you need a meal that makes you feel healthy and revived. This was that kind of night. Thanks to buying too much kale yesterday, we had some leftover for one of my favorite sides: kale with currants and pine nuts. This pairs well with lemony flavors so I made a nice, creamy picatta and finished it off with a baked sweet potato.

Creamy sauces are quite tasty and add to almost any meal. Unfortunately creamy sauces look kind of disgusting and gloppy in photos, but thankfully we don't have to eat the pictures.

Our yummy salad substitute is modified from our go-to veggie book, Clean Food by Terry Walters.

Kale with Currants and Pine Nuts

Servings: 6

Time: 20 minutes

1/2 cup currants

1/4 cup red onion, chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 bunch of kale, chopped

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

5 dashes of ume plum vinegar

Plump, Plump, Plump it up.

1. Plump the currants in about 1/4 inch of boiling water for 3 minutes. This will make them a lot softer and juicier which will complement the firmer kale. Drain well and set aside.
2. Sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat until soft and fragrant.
3. Stir in the kale and cook for 5 more minutes until it becomes more tender and a darker color. Add more olive oil if necessary.
4. Remove from heat and add in the currants.
5. Sprinkle with the vinegar and toss.
6. Top with pine nuts.

This is a great and quick side dish. If you're in a pinch, you can substitute raisins (preferably golden raisins) for the currants.

You know it'll be fun because it's spelled funky and was on TV!

Vegetarian cooking has been made a lot easier and tastier by the substitute meats from Gardein. No longer are you forced to eat sponge-like blobs of tofu over and over again. They make a great variety of fake chicken and beef products that can be found in your freezer section. This recipe is revised from the Gardein website (http://www.gardein.com/recipe_detail.php?r=2)

Gardein Picatta
Servings: 4
Time: 20 minutes

1 package chick'n scallopini (4 pieces)
Flour, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper for dredging
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp oil
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup capers
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup onion, chopped
4 artichoke hearts

Soon you will be pan-fried and delectable.

1. Coat your frozen gardein pieces in the flour mixture.
2. Cook in a mixture of the oil and half the butter until browned (about 3-4 minutes) then flip and repeat for the other side.
3. Set the gardein on a plate coated with paper towels to drain excess oil.
4. Add the remaining ingredients  and bring to a simmer.
5. Return the gardein patties and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat.
6. Remove the patties again and add the remaining butter. Mix together well and let it thicken.
7. Return and coat the patties in the sauce.

While creamy and delicious, the picatta came out a little too bitter for my taste. Typically this is made with shallots instead of artichoke (about 6, quartered), so that was likely the culprit. This can also be combatted by adding a pinch of sugar to the sauce.  All-in-all it was a delightful little meal that's fairly easy and quick to prepare.