Not-Chicken Enchilada Soup

I don't think I've ever set foot in a Chili's. I certainly won't now, since Bob Torres wrote about them in Vegan Freak and said that there is absolutely NOTHING on the menu that even comes close to vegan. I haven't spent any time looking at their menu for any signs of a salad, so I cannot confirm nor deny that assertion.

When I searched, "favorite dish at Chili's," this came up a number of times on copycat recipe sites. I figured out the gist of what I needed to do to make it work, and it was very easy: no precise measurements needed. It's all about taste.

Here's a picture of the original soup here (it's the one on the right).

See those tortilla strips on top? Yeah. I couldn't find those fuckers anywhere. I was going to order them online, but the smallest amount I could order was a case of nine bags. I wasn't planning to open a vegan Chili's anytime soon, so I enlisted the help of anyone who'd listen that if they saw these things somewhere, just get them. Don't call me and say, "Hey, I'm in a corner store in Maple Grove, they got 'em!" Just get them. I'll make you soup. No one did. Then, I had Shannon stop at Cub for me to pick up Pillsbury crescent dough, and what did they have in the produce section?



After doing a quick label check, I did a little dance in the natural food aisle.





Not-Chicken Enchilada Soup
Makes 6-8 servings

1/2 diced onion
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
16 oz not-chicken broth
2 cups water (divided)
1/2 cup masa harina
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
few shots of Frank's Red Hot
1 container Wayfare's "We Can't Say It's Cheese" cheddar spread
1/2 cup shredded vegan cheddar (I used Daiya)
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 cup chopped chick'n (Trader Joe's has a good one called "Chickenless Chicken strips," but you can also use the Morningstar or chop up the Gardein scallopine chick'n)
Vegan sour cream
Pico de gallo
tortilla strips

Cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft. Stir in the broth, and turn up the heat. As you wait for it to boil, whisk the masa harina into one cup of water. Add that to the pot with the other cup of water. Add salt and spices. Stir in the cheeze. Reduce heat to simmer and cook, stirring until the cheeze is melted and blended in and the masa is cooked (about 10 minutes). Stir in the tomatoes and chick'n. Taste for salt/spice. Serve garnished with pico, vegan sour cream, and tortilla strips.

Happy MoFo! Week One: Chain Restaurants

I don't think a lot of vegans go to chain restaurants, other than maybe PF Chang's. Not so much because they have nothing to offer vegans (and special orders are usually out of the question, as food usually comes in bags so each and every restaurant in the chain tastes the same), but because most of us can whip something up that's pretty amazing for half the cost. However; some of us have things we miss, or things we'd like to try "if only it were vegan." Well, this week, I'm going to try to alleviate a few pangs.

First up, the Crab Stuffed Mushrooms from Red Lobster. I went there a lot as a kid, but when I was around 22, I dated a guy who worked there. The stories he told me pretty much sealed the deal on never eating there again (and quite possibly planted a seed for veganism). But as I looked over the menu, I figured that I could make a reasonable imitation of the mushrooms without too much work, and I wouldn't have to ask what was in them, and I wouldn't have to worry that some sweaty line cook dropped them on the floor. I picked up a bag of "vegetarian codfish balls" at a local Chinese restaurant, and got to work.

I wound up making way too much stuffing. I put it in the freezer so I can make these again for a Halloween party or something. So, if you make these, you're going to need to get a lot of mushrooms. I got some good sized ones.



Vegan Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
Makes 25-30 appetizers

30 oz large mushrooms (3 10-oz pkgs), washed and de-stemmed. Chop up half the stems.
1/2 stick margarine
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
2 tbsp finely chopped celery
2 tbsp finely chopped red pepper
1 1/2 cups oyster crackers, crushed
7 oz package vegan codfish balls, or other vegan seafood item
Ener-G egg replacer and water to equal one egg
1/2 cup or more water
pinch salt
1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning (I used the Chesapeake seasoning from Penzey's)
few twists fresh black pepper
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheeze (I used Daiya)
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheeze (Daiya again)

Preheat oven to 400°

Cook the veggies and chopped up stems in the margarine over medium-low heat until tender. Set aside to cool. Chop up codfish balls in a food processor. Mix codfish, crushed crackers, cooled veggies, "egg," salt, pepper, spices, and cheddar cheeze. Add water to make for stuffable. Stuff the mushroom caps. You can pile it up on top, too. Place stuffed mushrooms in a baking dish, and sprinkle mozz cheeze all over. Bake for 15 minutes.

Grocery day!

My super awesome friend Shannon was nice enough to chauffeur my ass around to various stores today to pick up what I needed for, um, about a week and a half of MoFo. I have been to about seven stores in the past week, gathering up what I need (still not shopping at the Wedge, though), and I'm still trying to find white chocolate chips (I may have to just give up on that) and vegan shrimp. Vegetarian Plus makes vegan shrimp, but they no longer carry them at my Whole Foods. I may have to make a run to the Seward. Cross your fingers for me!

Most fabulous find are multi-colored tortilla strips. When I post the recipe I need them for, you'll find out why. Most bizarre find: a two pound vegan ham I pulled out of the freezer at Evergreen Chinese restaurant.

Here's a fraction of my haul:



Now, those of you who know where I work know that the first of the month is the most exhausting day of the month, and to do all of this after eight hours of dealing with people willing to blow their state benefits on overpriced soda and cigarettes, you can understand why my dinner tonight isn't anything mind blowingly MoFo-tastic, but possibly a bowl of cereal or pita and hummus. But let's look at the calendar, shall we?



I have themes planned for the four complete Sunday-through-Saturday weeks in October. That leaves today (the first) and the last two days to play around with. Don't worry. Tomorrow, things get serious.

'Twas the night before MoFo...

My kitchen is in no shape for what I'm about to put it through, so before I dive into some rubber gloves, I wanted to just touch base and make sure y'all know that I am alive, and this shit is ON like Donkey Kong, yo. I have themes picked for all four weeks, I have a grocery shopping appointment for tomorrow (which shall be photo-documented), a big bag of goodies from Penzey's, a giant tube of vegan ham from the Chinese restaurant in my neighborhood, and clearly a death wish. Everything I need as I head into my fourth Vegan Month of Food.

Some updates.

Sooo...I opened a new Twitter account. I can be tweeted/twat at @downhomevegan. So far, I haven't said much. I'm kind of bewildered when it comes to Twitter. All the posts look like hieroglyphics, what with the hashmarks and such. But, I figured I'd better get on it (that, and I snapped up @downhomevegan before someone else did), since the Oxford Concise has now added "retweet" to the dictionary. It has also decided that "cassette" no longer deserves an entry, which leaves me feeling OLD AS FUCK. Speaking of which, can anyone recommend a good vegan wrinkle cream?

This Saturday, Animal Rights Coalition will be holding the event "Cupcakes for Their Sake" at noon at Ethique Nouveau. Make sure you get down there early, because every CFTS event has seen all the goodies get swooped up pretty quick. I hear there are peanut butter cup cuppers this time. I am so there!

I haven't been doing a lot of cooking lately, but I'm planning to get back on that so I'm not burned out the first week of Vegan MoFo. I've already got ideas for a theme week. I'll bet you can't take the suspense!

The Minnesota State Fair starts tomorrow. Besides the Giant Naked Pickle on a stick, and the new category in the cooking competition, what the hell can a vegan eat there? I want to see some carnies and maybe ride the rapids, and barf after a trip down the giant slide. If there's something I'm missing, let me know. Otherwise, I think I'll stay home. I saw this billboard on the side of a bus and it bummed me the hell out:



There is so much I could say...that I'm speechless.

Midwest Vegan Radio

So, I thought I'd posted this, but I guess I didn't. Duh.

I'm on a podcast! If you're just DYING to listen to my nasally Midwestern voice drone on about gravy and hotdish (broken up by occasional throat clearing), and learn what Ryan has decided is the past tense of "tweet."

Here it is.

Oh, and here's the recipe for Pumpkin Gravy:

2 tbsp grapeseed oil
2 tbsp cornstarch

Make a roux, and add to it:

2 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp rubbed sage
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
few grinds of fresh black pepper
1 14-oz can pumpkin pureé (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

Whisk until smooth, and stir over medium-low heat until thick and delicious. Taste for salt. Add more herbs and pepper if desired. Great with Thanksgiving Calzones, or seitan cutlets and stuffing. Or just on mashed potatoes, which as an entreé? Fantastic.

Iron Chef Wayfare!

The awesome folks over at Wayfare Foods sponsored our most recent Iron Chef competition at Animal Rights Coalition. I lost my crown to my protegé, Kaylynn, who made a pretty rockin' chili with nacho cheese sauce. However; since this is my blog, this is all about my beer cheese soup recipe.

(We Can’t Say It’s) Beer Cheese Soup

(Makes about 8-10 servings)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp soy margarine
½ tsp salt
1 leek; washed, trimmed, chopped fine
1 large carrot, diced small
3 vegan chicken broth cubes, dissolved in 6-8 cups boiling water
½ cup all purpose flour
½ tsp dry mustard
½ tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
12 oz. dark German beer
2 containers Wayfare Foods’s “We Can’t Say It’s Cheese” cheddar spread
Salt and white pepper to taste

In a large stock pot, melt the oil and margarine together. On low-medium heat, cook the leek and carrot with the salt until soft and caramelized, but not browned. Lower the heat if needed. In a large measuring cup, whisk the flour, mustard, and Worcestershire with 1 ½ cups of the broth. Use an immersion blender if the flour clumps up. Add to the pot along with the remaining broth. Whisk until well incorporated if you like chunks, but this is a good time to blend the soup with an immersion blender, or by batches in a regular blender. Add beer and cheese. Turn the heat on low and cook, stirring often until the cheese is melted and blended in. Taste for salt and white pepper. Serve with pumpernickel rye bread, and grilled vegan kielbasa.

I'm so not upset that I lost because the new vegan that picked me for the vegan mentor program took home the prize! Also, I have a ton of leftover German beer that I should probably not drink whilst blogging. Urp.