Barley Miso Soup (with Seitan and Celery)

Hi everyone! I threw together a soup this week; it turned out OK but could definitely be improved upon (more spice in the seitan for one thing). Here’s what I did… 

Barley Miso Soup (with Seitan and Celery)

Ingredients:
2 cups water
¼ cup barley
1 tablespoon miso paste
¼ cup vital wheat gluten
¼ cup water
dash smoked paprika
dash pepper
2 stalks celery, diced

Directions:
As you bring the water (2 cups), barley, and miso to a boil in a saucepan, combine the vital wheat gluten, water (¼ cup), paprika, and pepper to make the seitan; knead for 5 min and then separate into small pieces and add to the soup, along with the celery. Cover and simmer for about 1 hr, stirring occasionally.

The leftovers the next day were better :)

Here’s Cringer hiding under my bookshelf; I think she must have gotten scared by the vacuum cleaner; she usually claims sanctuary in the kitchen when I’m vacuuming, so I was surprised to find her here when I was done. 

And here’s Daisy, who decided to join Leela in the sunshine. That’s about as close as Leela let her get, haha! 

Peace. :)

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Veggies (VegWeb)

Hi everyone! This week I decided to try making a vegan version of corned beef and cabbage. I found this recipe on VegWeb. I used the Morningstar vegan steak strips for the "beef" and left out the horseradish, but I had to bake it for closer to 2 hours for the potatoes to get soft. I also ended up just mixing the flour into the dish (instead of separating everything from the broth so the flour could get mixed with that for gravy). It was good, though I'm not sure I'd make it again (or if I did, I'd definitely pre-boil the potatoes so it wouldn't take so long). The leftovers were great, though; this is another dish that seems to be better as leftovers haha.

Here's "if-I-fits-I-sits" Cringer; she really wanted to share the top of the cat tower with Daisy...

Peace. :)

Alphabet Soup

The new recipe I tried this week was the alphabet soup from Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food. 

It was super simple to prepare, and even though I was kind of confused about including agave nectar in a soup, I made sure to follow this recipe exactly. 

It turned out alright, could have been a bit saltier, I guess, but good for such a simple recipe. 

I had some of the leftovers today; this is another recipe that's good (and slightly better) as leftovers. 

(P.S. Next week I plan to try the hummus recipe!)

Here's Buttons and Leela keeping warm: Buttons by hanging out in the sunshine, and Leela by camping out in front of the heating vent. 

Peace. :)

French Toast Casserole

For my new recipe this week, I figured I would try making a French toast casserole.

I used the French toast recipe from Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food to make the French toast coating. 

I then layered the coated bread in a baking dish (lightly oiled with canola oil) and added some raisins in between just for fun. 

Out of the oven

I baked it for 20 min at 400°F, taking it out midway to add a bit more of the coating on top.

Cut up, with blueberry syrup added

Overall, I wasn't as impressed with it as I hoped I would be; however, this version did have some redeeming qualities, such as using less oil, wasting less of the coating (I usually end up with too much left over), and requiring less attention.

The leftovers were better, plus I sprinkled a bit of leftover pretzel salt on them, which helped.

Sleepy Buttons and Leela from earlier this week. 

Peace. :)