Until we made this recipe, if you had asked me about my immediate family, I would have told you all about my two loving yet willful kittens, my dashingly perfect husband, and my loyal cast-iron skillet. I might have mentioned my hand mixer: a hardworking little bee that comes out on the weekends and special occasions for cupcakes and muffins. I may even have mentioned our Xbox: always good for some Katamari or a movie. Dan and the Xbox have made the world a safer place several times over. But the weekend we first made this recipe, we welcomed into our home a new friend, a comrade that I know will grow to become a trusted and cherished member of our little clan. And now you can make it a part of yours too.
MAKES 1 MEDIUM-SIZE PIZZA
Cornmeal to dust over your pizza stone or cookie sheet and work surface
Whole wheat flour for rolling out your dough
1 package premade whole wheat pizza dough (or you can use the recipe here)
2 cups shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
¼ cup pizza sauce
¼ large red onion, chopped
Fresh basil leaves
2 Tofurky Italian sausages, sliced into coins
1 (4-ounce) package Lightlife Smart Deli pepperoni
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, quartered
¼ cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
2 tablespoons sliced peperoncini
Nutritional yeast to sprinkle over the top
Preheat the oven as per the directions on the pizza crust package or to 425 °F if you’re using the Whole Wheat Pizza Crust recipe here.
Dust the pizza stone or cookie sheet with cornmeal.
Flour a work surface and roll the pizza dough into a circle (around 13 inches in diameter). Move the dough very carefully to the pizza stone. Create a little canal about the width of a finger along the outer edge of the pizza crust, about the width of one finger in from the edge of the crust. Fill the canal evenly with no more than ¾ cup of the vegan cheese. Be careful to keep the vegan cheese inside the canal. Seal the cheese in by folding over the outer edge and pressing lightly to connect the dough.
In a bowl, mix the pizza sauce and onion. Spread the pizza sauce over the dough in the center. Be careful to not get too much on the vegan cheese–stuffed crust. Sprinkle fresh basil over the sauce. Spread out a small handful of vegan cheese over the basil. Sprinkle the vegan sausage and pepperoni over the pizza. Spread another small handful of vegan cheese over the mock meat. Sprinkle the artichoke hearts, olives, and peperoncini over the pizza. Spread another small handful of vegan cheese over the top.
Bake your pizza for 15 to 20 minutes. Just wait till your crust is golden and the vegan cheese is melted.
Sprinkle with a little nutritional yeast, and repeat after me: “Meat lovers stuffed-crust deep-dish pizza commercial… you have no power over me!”
Whoever thought of using barbecue sauce for pizza sauce deserves a Nobel Prize in food sciences.
MAKES 1 MEDIUM PIZZA
Cornmeal for dusting your pizza stone or cookie sheet
Whole wheat flour for dusting your work surface
1 package premade whole wheat pizza dough (or use the recipe here)
3 tablespoons of your favorite barbecue sauce
2 cups shredded Daiya vegan cheddar cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
2 cups of your favorite barbecue mock meat (we used citrus spareribs from May Wah, but there’s also Lightlife’s Smart BBQ, Morningstar Farms Riblets, and Gardein’s beefless tips), mixed with 5 tablespoons of your favorite barbecue sauce
½ small red onion, sliced into rings
Preheat the oven per the instructions on the pizza dough package or to 425 °F if you’re using the Whole Wheat Pizza Crust recipe here. Dust your pizza stone or cookie sheet with cornmeal.
Flour a work surface and roll your pizza dough out until it makes a circle around 13 inches in diameter. Very gently move your pizza dough onto your pizza stone or cookie sheet. Create a crust for your pie by pushing the dough outward about ½ inch from the edge, forming a little mound along the edge.
Brush the barbecue sauce onto the center of the pizza dough. Be careful to not get any on the crust; it’ll turn a weird brown color when baking. Then lay down a thin layer of ½ your vegan cheese, followed by a layer of barbecue mock meat, then the rest of your vegan cheese, and finally the onion rings.
Bake until the vegan cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown. It should take around 20 minutes, but you’ll want to check your pizza dough package to see what the manufacturer suggests. Be aware that thicker crusts will take longer. If you’re unsure, use a spatula to gently check the bottom of your pizza. You’ll know right away if it doesn’t look and feel done. A done pizza is solid and lifts cleanly.
We love this pizza like Jacques Cousteau loved the open ocean. I grew up watching the Jacques Cousteau specials, and I place some of the responsibility for my career in animal advocacy on that little old Frenchman and his red hat.
MAKES 1 MEDIUM PIZZA
Cornmeal to dust your pizza stone or cookie sheet
Whole wheat flour to dust your work surface
1 package premade whole wheat pizza dough (or you can use the recipe here)
1 cup shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
1 tablespoon vegan Parmesan or nutritional yeast, plus a little to sprinkle over the top
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons capers, drained
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
¼ cup fresh basil, half chopped and half small whole leaves
A few pinches of crushed pink Himalayan salt and crushed black peppercorns
1 tablespoon olive oil
Red pepper flakes to use as a topping, optional
Preheat the oven per the instructions on the pizza dough package or to 425 °F if you’re using the Whole Wheat Pizza Crust recipe here. Dust your pizza stone or cookie sheet with cornmeal.
Flour a work surface and roll out your pizza dough into a 13-inch circle. Gently move your pizza dough to the pizza stone or pan, and reshape a little if it warped when you moved it. Sprinkle ¾ of your vegan cheese evenly on the dough, leaving about ½ inch clear along the edge for the crust. Sprinkle on the vegan Parmesan and garlic powder. Arrange the Roma tomatoes evenly on the pizza. Sprinkle your capers, oregano, and chopped fresh basil evenly over the top. Sprinkle on the remaining vegan cheese, salt, and pepper. Slowly drizzle your olive oil evenly over the top, and then sprinkle with a little more vegan Parmesan.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until your vegan cheese is melted.
Once you pull it out of the oven, give the pizza 3 to 5 minutes to cool, and then sprinkle with the fresh whole basil leaves and maybe some red pepper flakes right before you serve.
Dan was anti-Hawaiian-pizza for a long time. He can be finicky about what sorts of foods he thinks “go” with others, and pineapples and pizza was a no-no for that lovably OCD brain of his. Thankfully, this recipe caused him to see the light. Hawaiian Pizza saves!
MAKES 1 MEDIUM PIZZA
Cornmeal to dust your pizza stone or cookie sheet
Whole wheat flour for rolling out your dough
1 package premade whole wheat pizza dough (or use the recipe here)
¼ cup pizza sauce
cup shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
2 to 3 slices Hickory Smoked Tofurky Deli Slices, separated and cut into fourths
¼ cup pineapple chunks or rings, drained
2 slices red onion, broken into rings
½ green bell pepper, chopped
¼ teaspoon capers, drained
Red pepper flakes to sprinkle over the top, optional
Preheat the oven per the instructions on the pizza dough package or to 425 °F if you’re using the Whole Wheat Pizza Crust recipe here. Dust your pizza stone or cookie sheet with cornmeal.
Flour a work surface and roll out your pizza dough into a 13-inch circle. Gently move your pizza dough to the pizza stone or pan, and reshape it a little if it warped in the move.
Spread your pizza sauce over your crust, leaving a ½-inch space along the edge. Sprinkle half your vegan cheese evenly over the dough, leaving about ½ inch clear along the edge for the crust. Place your Tofurky slices, pineapple, red onion, and bell pepper in an even layer. Then sprinkle your capers and the remaining vegan cheese over the top.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until your vegan cheese is melted and your crust is golden brown.
Once you pull it out of the oven, give the pizza 3 to 5 minutes to cool, and then, if you like, sprinkle some red pepper flakes over the top right before you serve to add a little more heat to this tropical pizza.
The only reason I hesitate to crown this “your new favorite pizza” is that there are a lot of really fabulous pizzas. A lot. This pizza is special; it isn’t something that you can find on the menu of your local pizza joint. It’s all Asian inspired and spicy and awesome. If you’re looking for a fast dinner that’s something new, you should try this one out.
MAKES 1 MEDIUM PIZZA
Cornmeal to dust your pizza stone or cookie sheet
Whole wheat flour for rolling out your dough
1 package whole wheat pizza dough (or use the recipe here)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons chili oil
½ cup vegan chicken strips (we recommend Gardein Chick’n Scallopini)
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 cup pizza sauce
1 tablespoon chili puree with garlic (add less if you don’t like it hot)
2 teaspoons Bragg’s liquid aminos
1 (8-ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and sliced
5 to 6 baby corn spears
¼ cup Chinese pea pods
red onion, diced
1 cup shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
1 tablespoon raw almond slivers
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
Preheat the oven per the instructions on your pizza dough package or to 425 °F if you’re using the Whole Wheat Pizza Crust recipe here. Dust your pizza stone or cookie sheet with cornmeal.
Flour a work surface and roll out your pizza dough into a 13-inch circle. Gently move your pizza dough to your pizza stone or cookie sheet, and reshape it a little if it got all wonky in the move.
Heat your wok over high heat. Add the sesame and chili oils and rotate the wok to coat the sides. Add the vegan chicken and ginger paste. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the vegan chicken is browned and has crispy edges. Reduce the heat to medium. Stir in the pizza sauce, chili puree, and Bragg’s.
Spoon the vegan chicken mixture onto the pizza crust to within ½ inch of the edge, to create a crust. Top with the water chestnuts, baby corn, pea pods, and onion. Sprinkle with the vegan cheese and almonds.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until your vegan cheese is melted and your crust is golden brown. Sprinkle with the cilantro.
Dear Mexican Stuffed-Crust Pizza:
I want to thank you for combining two of our very favorite meals—tacos and pizzas—in an enchanting, seamless, ingenious way that also gave us an opportunity to eat avocados. I also want to thank you for being so easy that we could enjoy how delicious you were in less than an hour, and not have a huge stack of dishes left to do afterward. This increased our enjoyment of the evening by a factor of at least 10.* Mostly, I just want to thank you for taking our minds off the fact that the night we had you for dinner—April 19, 2011—at 8:11 p.m., the artificially intelligent Skynet global digital defense network was supposed to have become self-aware, trigger a worldwide nuclear holocaust, and then deploy legions of robot soldiers to wage genocide on the surviving humans. Having a spicy vegan stuffed-crust Mexican pizza completely distracted us from the pending robot apocalypse and, when partnered with a Dr Pepper,** made for quite a lovely night.
XO, Annie
PS: I forgot to thank you for being vegan and therefore making the world a better place.
MAKES 1 MEDIUM PIZZA
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 package vegan soyrizo
½ red onion, diced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
Cornmeal to dust your pizza stone or cookie sheet
Whole wheat flour to dust your work surface
1 package premade whole wheat pizza dough (or you can use the recipe here)
2 cups shredded Daiya vegan cheddar cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
1 large tomato, sliced
1 (2.25-ounce) can black olives, sliced (this is a topping, so you might have some left over)
1 fresh jalapeño, sliced
1 ripe avocado, sliced
1 (16-ounce) jar of your favorite salsa (this is a topping, so you’ll have some left over)
Preheat the oven per the instructions on the pizza dough package or to 425 °F if you’re using the Whole Wheat Pizza Crust recipe here
.
In your favorite cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil, soyrizo, red onion, cumin, and black beans over medium heat. Mix them gently with a spatula while you cook, and remove from the heat once the mixture has browned and the soyrizo has slightly crispy edges.
Dust your pizza stone or cookie sheet with cornmeal.
Flour a work surface and roll the dough into a circle around 13 inches in diameter. Move the dough very carefully to the pizza stone. Create a little canal about the width of a finger along the outer edge of the pizza crust, about ½ inch from the edge. Fill the canal evenly with no more than of your vegan cheese. Be careful to keep the vegan cheese inside the canal. Seal the vegan cheese in by folding over the outer edge and pressing lightly to connect the dough.
Make an even layer of the soyrizo mixture in the center of the pizza and cover it with a light, even layer of vegan cheese. Then place the tomato slices on the pizza so they don’t overlap, and cover them with another layer of vegan cheese. Sprinkle your black olives and jalapeño over the top and cover with the rest of your vegan cheese.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes—just until the crust is golden brown and your vegan cheese is melted. Serve with slices of avocado and some salsa on the side.
We learned a lot of lessons while writing this book, but here’s one that stands above the rest: every recipe is better when deconstructed and made into a pizza. Making a pizza based on Chicken Cordon Bleu—a relatively recent American invention masquerading as a classic French recipe—drove that lesson home for us. This is a unique, flavorful pizza recipe that feels three times as fancy as pizza ever really should.
MAKES 1 MEDIUM PIZZA
Cornmeal to dust your pizza stone or cookie sheet
Whole wheat flour to dust your work surface
1 package premade whole wheat pizza dough (or use the recipe here)
1 cup shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
1 tablespoon vegan Parmesan or nutritional yeast, plus a little to sprinkle over the top
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons fresh chives
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
½ red bell pepper, diced
1 cup chopped vegan chicken (we recommend Gardein Chick’n Scallopini)
2 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 (5.5-ounce) package Hickory Smoked Tofurky Deli Slices
1 green onion, diced
Red pepper flakes, optional, for topping
Preheat the oven per the instructions on the pizza dough package or to 425 °F if you’re using the Whole Wheat Pizza Crust recipe here. Dust your pizza stone or cookie sheet with cornmeal.
Flour a work surface and roll out your pizza dough into a 13-inch circle. Gently move your pizza dough to the pizza stone or pan, and reshape it a little if it got all distorted when you moved it. Sprinkle three-quarters of your vegan cheese evenly over the dough, leaving about ½ inch clear along the edge for the crust. Sprinkle with your vegan Parmesan, garlic powder, chives, paprika and oregano leaves. Then arrange your bell pepper, vegan chicken, tomatoes and Tofurky over your pizza so they make an even layer. Sprinkle with green onion and the remaining vegan cheese.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until your vegan cheese is melted and your crust is golden brown.
Once you pull it out of the oven, give the pizza 3 to 5 minutes to cool, and then if you like sprinkle with red pepper flakes right before you serve.
Eggplant Parmesan is seen by some as a vegetarian version of the more popular Chicken Parmesan. However, the fact of the matter is that the eggplant version of this dish is actually the original, traditional southern Italian recipe—chicken and veal versions weren’t developed until much later, during waves of Italian immigration to countries where having meat as the centerpiece of every meal was more common. So this vegan recipe is actually closer to the traditional Italian meal than that Chicken Parm at your local Italian sub shop—suck on that, Carmine!
MAKES 1 MEDIUM PIZZA
1 small eggplant, cut into ¼-inch slices
Olive oil cooking spray
¼ cup nutritional yeast
½ teaspoon vegan Parmesan, plus a little more to sprinkle over the top
¼ cup dry bread crumbs
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
Cornmeal to dust your pizza stone or cookie sheet
Whole wheat flour for dusting your surfaces
1 package whole wheat pizza dough (or use the recipe here)
¾ cup pizza sauce
2 teaspoons capers, drained
1 handful fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 Roma tomato, sliced
Red pepper flakes, optional, and freshly ground black peppercorns to sprinkle over the top
Set the oven control to broil or turn on your broiler. Spray both sides of each slice of eggplant with a lot of cooking spray. Place on a rack in the broiler pan. Broil 4 to 5 inches from the flame for about 10 minutes, turning once, until tender and lightly golden brown.
While the eggplant is broiling, mix the nutritional yeast, vegan Parmesan, and bread crumbs. Mix in the oil to make an extremely dry paste.
Once the eggplant is out of the oven, sprinkle on 1 to 2 tablespoons of the vegan cheese. Spoon the nutritional yeast mixture over the vegan cheese. Broil for about 1 minute, or until the vegan cheese is melted and the bread crumbs are brown.
Preheat the oven per the instructions on the pizza dough package or to 425 °F if you’re using the Whole Wheat Pizza Crust recipe here. Dust your pizza stone or cookie sheet with cornmeal.
Flour a work surface and roll out your pizza dough into a 13-inch circle. Gently move your pizza dough to the pizza stone or cookie sheet and reshape a little if the move ruined the shape.
Evenly spread the pizza sauce over the pizza crust, leaving ½ inch along the edge to create a crust. Sprinkle a handful of vegan cheese over the pizza sauce. Sprinkle the capers and basil leaves over the vegan cheese. Then spread the broiled eggplant and tomato slices over the pizza. Sprinkle with the rest of your vegan cheese.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until your vegan cheese is melted and your crust is golden brown. Before you serve, sprinkle some red pepper flakes and black peppercorns over the top.
Burgers are the quintessentially American food—the culinary version of baseball, Budweiser, blue jeans, and a dog leaning out the window of a beat-up Ford pickup. Take a good burger, pair it up with some French fries (seriously, Chiquita, you’re cute and all, but everyone knows that French fries are the world’s most perfect food), add a chocolate milk shake, and poof: instant Americana.
Many vegans have a love-hate relationship with the veggie burger. For years, it was just about the only vegan item you could reliably find at restaurants. Some were delicious; others, not so much. So in a world with vegan chicken, mock duck, almond milk, and melty dairy-free cheese, many vegans are inclined to move on from our old relationship with the veggie burger.
This, we believe, is a mistake. There are still many discoveries left to make in the burger sciences, many burger Picassos left to paint. Just because something’s been around forever doesn’t mean it has nothing left to offer. Ask any married couple (like us!).
When making this burger, you may be tempted to try to make one big super Hulk burger, but don’t. The smaller the patties are, the more crispy edges you’ll get, and that’s one of my favorite parts about this burger.
MAKES 4 TO 6 BURGERS
½ cup Caesar Salad Dressing (here)
2 to 3 cups Match vegan ground beef or Lightlife Gimme Lean vegan ground beef, defrosted
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon vegan Parmesan
¼ teaspoon lemon pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
Red onion slices
4 to 6 whole wheat sandwich buns
4 to 6 tablespoons shredded Daiya vegan cheddar cheese or your favorite vegan cheese (1 tablespoon per burger)
Romaine lettuce leaves, and tomato slices for toppings
Make your Caesar Salad Dressing.
In a large bowl, mix the vegan beef, parsley, vegan Parmesan, ¼ cup of the Caesar salad dressing, and the lemon pepper. You’ll want to mix this thoroughly with your hands, kneading it like bread. Form the burger mix into 4 to 6 patties and then place them in a shallow dish and pour the remaining ¼ cup dressing over the patties. Let them sit for less than 1 minute. Flip the burgers a few times to make sure they get an even coasting.
In your favorite reliable cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once your oil is hot, put your burgers in so they aren’t touching. You may need to do this in a few batches. Brown the burgers in the hot olive oil, flipping them a few times so they cook evenly. When the burgers look almost ready, lay the red onion rings on your burgers and let them cook until the onions are tender and your burgers are browned.
While the vegan burgers are cooking, put your burger buns on your trusted pizza stone, open and facedown, and place in the oven. Remove them when they’re slightly toasted.
Build your burger inside the toasty bun in this order: burger, vegan cheese, onions, lettuce, and tomato.
Boom.
So a while ago I was watching Sex and the City, and there was this itty bit of astuteness in an observation made by Sarah Jessica Parker’s character that randomly pops into my head once in a while like a little good faerie. What? I’m a girl. Sometimes I like to watch stuff that has jokes from a generic ladies’ point of view and doesn’t discuss Jedi politics. Anyway, in some episode that I don’t remember, she says something like: “She had come to terms with her looks and had decided to not just accept her body and face, but enjoy them and treat them right. Anyone who didn’t appreciate her unique beauty just didn’t get it.” It seems trite, simple, and obvious, the kind of canned wisdom a good mom tells her little girl and which is instantly ignored. But it hovers still, like when a wedding photographer looks at me funny because I’m going to wear my glasses and not cover up my tattoos, or when my Geek Chicness is not as obvious as my social awkwardness. I think: They don’t get it. I rock.
When I was taking pictures of these patty melts for the blog, it was hard not to notice that they weren’t so photogenic. My heart kind of hurt for the little things. I kept thinking about how this sandwich may not have all the snazzy colors of a good old-school salad, but it has a good personality, and that’s what counts! Anyone who doesn’t enjoy it just doesn’t get it.
MAKES 3 TO 4 SANDWICHES
2 cups Lightlife Gimme Lean vegan ground beef or Match vegan ground beef, defrosted
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
¼ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos
Dash of liquid smoke
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 to 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
1 medium red onion, diced
6 to 8 slices rye bread
½ cup shredded Daiya vegan cheddar cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
In a big bowl, mix the vegan beef, nutritional yeast, thyme, oregano, Dijon mustard, Bragg’s, liquid smoke, garlic, and 1 teaspoon of the olive oil. You’re going to have to roll up your sleeves and do this with your hands! You’ll be glad you did. Just squish the vegan beef mixture with your bare hands until you feel like it’s thoroughly mixed. Form the vegan beef mixture into 3 to 4 patties.
In your trusted cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Once your oil is hot, carefully place the patties in the skillet and brown for about 1 minute. Flip the burgers and add the diced onion to the skillet. Keep flipping the patties so they brown on both sides, keeping an eye on the diced onion the whole time. If the onion starts to overcook, you can pile it on the patties. This will add extra flavor to the patties and keep your onion from burning. Remove from the heat once the patties are browned and feel firm in the center.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Make your sandwich like so: inside your rye bread, pile the vegan beef patty, vegan cheese, and red onions. Put your sandwich in the oven and remove once your bread is toasted and your vegan cheese is melted.
You’re going to love these burgers like the world loves Spider-Man. I think we all love Spider-Man because we love Peter Parker. He’s a good friend and son (or nephew or whatever) and, like our loyal little friend the veggie burger, can always be counted on.
I have no idea how many veggie burgers I’ve eaten over the years. We travel a lot, and we take comfort in knowing that more and more places have a friendly neighborhood veggie burger these days. They’ve become a trusted friend to vegans everywhere. Saying that, if veggie burgers are Peter Parker, the Pizza Burger is Spider-Man. This burger kicks butts in a bold-faced, saucy style. It’s a show-off; but who cares? It’s amazing!
MAKES 4 BURGERS
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
Dash of liquid smoke
4 Vegan burger patties, defrosted (we recommend Gardein Beefless Burger)
½ red onion, sliced
4 whole wheat sandwich buns
8 tablespoons pizza sauce (2 tablespoons per burger)
16 to 20 slices Lightlife Smart Deli pepperoni (4 to 5 slices per burger)
8 to 12 tablespoons shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese (2 to 3 tablespoons per burger)
½ small green bell pepper, chopped
8 teaspoons sliced black olives (2 teaspoons per burger)
Oregano and red pepper flakes to sprinkle over the top
Peperoncini for a little something extra
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
In your cherished little cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil and liquid smoke over medium heat. Add the vegan burgers. Once they start to brown, add the red onion. Flip the vegan burgers a few times, until they’re brown on both sides. If the onion is done cooking before the vegan burgers are done, you can always pile it on top of the vegan burgers to add a little flavor.
While the vegan burgers and onion are cooking, put your sandwich buns on your trusted pizza stone, open and facedown. Place them in the oven and remove when they’re slightly toasted.
Take the top half of the buns off the pizza stone and set aside. Flip the bottom half of the buns over and put the vegan burgers on there. Now stack the pizza toppings on the vegan burgers in this order: pizza sauce, vegan pepperoni, little bit of vegan cheese, cooked red onion, green bell pepper, more vegan cheese, black olives, and more vegan cheese. Put the pizza burgers back in the oven to bake.
It should take 10 to 20 minutes for the vegan cheese to melt, depending how much you put on. Keep an eye on it, and remove your pizza burgers from the oven once the vegan cheese is melted.
Sprinkle oregano, red pepper flakes, and pepperoncini over the vegan cheese and put the top half of the bun on.
Don’t forget: with great power comes great responsibility. So don’t take your pizza burger for granted. It may seem simple, but that doesn’t mean it won’t rock.
Ever make something so good you wish you were a millionaire so you could hand it out on the street and teach the world to sing in perfect harmony? That’s how I feel about these burgers. If I had my way, they’d be called World Peace Burgers, but that seemed too Hippie Miss America for us Shannons. I support the choice to stay boring with the naming of this burger because I’m sure it’ll help more people find it in this book.
MAKES 8 SANDWICHES
2 cups Match vegan ground beef or Lightlife Gimme Lean vegan ground beef, defrosted
¼ cup crumbled vegan herb-flavored feta cheese (we recommend soy feta by Vegcuisine)
¼ cup diced kalamata olives
2 tablespoons Bragg’s liquid aminos
2 dashes of liquid smoke
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint leaves
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
Olive oil cooking spray
4 whole wheat pitas, cut in half to form pockets
½ cucumber, diced
¼ cup diced red onion
1 Roma tomato, sliced
8 to 16 tablespoons tahini (1 to 2 tablespoons per pita)
1 batch Vegan Tzatziki Sauce (here)
Peperoncini, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, pickles, and lettuce for toppings
In a large bowl, mix the vegan beef, vegan feta, olives, Bragg’s, liquid smoke, oregano, thyme, mint, and lemon peel with your hands. Really get in there and knead your vegan beef to get the ingredients mixed in very well.
Form 8 small patties from the vegan beef. Spray a heavy coating of olive oil cooking spray over your cast-iron skillet with grill ridges and heat over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, cook the vegan burgers 1 or 2 at time, flipping once to get those nice grill lines on each side. You may need to spray your skillet with more cooking spray between vegan burgers.
Follow the instructions on the pita package to warm them.
Once the vegan burgers are cooked, fill the pitas with the burgers, vegetables, tahini, Vegan Tzatziki Sauce, and peperoncini, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, pickles, and lettuce, or whatever sauces and toppings you like.
In around 20 minutes you can make a vegan bacon cheeseburger that’s so hot, it’s way out of your league.
MAKES 4 BURGERS
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
Dash of liquid smoke
4 Vegan burger patties, defrosted (we recommend Gardein Beefless Burger)
8 slices vegan bacon or smoked tempeh
4 whole wheat burger buns
½ cup shredded Daiya vegan pepperjack cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
4 to 6 tomato slices
4 to 6 red leaf lettuce leaves
You still have 2 alarms left. Here are some suggestions to choose from:
Sliced peperoncini
Slices of Daiya jalapeño garlic Havarti wedge
Spicy kimchi
Any of the millions of hot sauces out there, including the beloved Sriracha
Sliced jalapeños
Chipotle peppers
Hot salsa
Wasabi
Lightlife Smart Deli pepperoni
Spicy mustard
Jerk sauce made with red Scotch bonnet pepper
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
In your cherished little cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil and liquid smoke over medium heat. Add your vegan burgers. Flip your vegan burgers a few times, until they’re brown on both sides. Pull them out of the skillet and then use the same oil to fry up your vegan bacon. Once the vegan bacon is crispy, place it on top of the vegan burgers so any smoky flavor goes into the burger.
While the vegan burgers and bacon are cooking, put your burger buns on your trusted pizza stone, open and facedown, and place in the oven. Remove when they’re slightly toasted.
To build your burger: take the top half of the buns off the pizza stone and set aside. Flip the bottom half of the buns over and stack your burger, a few pinches of vegan cheese, and the vegan bacon. Put the burgers back in the oven to bake.
It should take 10 to 15 minutes for the vegan cheese to melt. Keep an eye on it, and remove from the oven once the vegan cheese is melted.
Then stack the tomatoes, lettuce, and your favorite alarms on top and serve with a glass of something cool.
This is going to sound weird—but here goes. Hawaii never really seems like it’s actually part of the United States to me. I mean, I know that it is—I paid attention in history class. But it’s this crazy little island kingdom more than two thousand miles off our shores, with a wonderful and unique blend of cultures and ethnicities that you can’t find anywhere else in the United States. It’s like saying the Falkland Islands are really a part of the United Kingdom, or that Greenland is really a part of Denmark. They are—but are they really? Final proof: these Vegan Hawaiian Bacon Burgers have a unique flavor so delicious that they should count as “ethnic cuisine.” Sorry, Hawaii.
MAKES 4 BURGERS
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more if necessary
2 dashes of liquid smoke
4 Vegan burger patties, defrosted (we recommend Gardein Beefless Burgers)
1 tablespoon pineapple juice
4 to 6 slices vegan bacon or smoked tempeh
4 pineapple rings
4 whole wheat sandwich buns
½ cup teriyaki sauce
½ red onion, sliced into rings
½ green bell pepper, sliced
4 to 6 romaine lettuce leaves
1 tablespoon Vegenaise, optional
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
In your cherished little cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil and a dash of liquid smoke over medium heat. Add the vegan burgers. Drizzle half of your pineapple juice over your vegan burgers. Flip your vegan burgers a few times, until they’re brown on both sides. While they’re browning, add the vegan bacon and fry up until crispy. After you remove the vegan burgers and vegan bacon from the warm skillet, toss in another dash of liquid smoke and more oil if you need it. Then put your pineapple rings in the skillet with the rest of the pineapple juice and heat. Flip your pineapple a few times with a spatula so that it browns evenly. Be careful to not break up your pineapple rings. They will get tender as they brown.
While the vegan burgers and pineapples are cooking, put your sandwich buns on your trusted pizza stone, open and facedown, and place them in the oven. Remove when they’re slightly toasted.
It’s time to build your burger. Take the top half of the buns off the pizza stone and set aside. Flip the bottom half of the buns over and put your vegan burgers on them. Brush with teriyaki sauce. Then stack the pineapple rings on top and brush the pineapple and vegan burgers with more teriyaki sauce. Put back in the oven to bake.
It should take 5 to 10 minutes for the teriyaki sauce to brown and the vegan burgers to get a nice glaze.
To serve, stack your toppings—onion rings, bell pepper, and lettuce—on top of the pineapple, and then spread some Vegenaise on the top half of the bun if you like.
E ‘ai ka-kou! That might be “bon appétit” in Hawaiian.
Dan hates mushrooms, so I save this recipe for when he has to travel for work. You could say it’s my secret boyfriend burger, except I tell everyone.
MAKES 4 SANDWICHES
4 large portobello mushroom caps
¼ cup Fresh Herb Vinaigrette (here)
2 dashes of liquid smoke
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
¼ teaspoon celery seed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Bragg’s liquid aminos
½ teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns
1 cup vegetable oil, for coating the grill
4 whole wheat burger buns
¼ cup shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
Handful fresh basil leaves
A.1. steak sauce, optional
Heat a gas or charcoal grill per its instructions.
Place the mushroom caps in a resealable plastic bag. In small bowl, whisk together the vinaigrette, liquid smoke, olive oil, oregano, celery seed, garlic, Bragg’s, and black pepper. Pour over the mushrooms and seal the bag. Gently move your bag around to coat your mushroom caps. Marinate for 20 minutes.
Brush a clean hot grill with vegetable oil. Place the marinated mushrooms on the grill over medium heat. Save your marinade for basting. Cook the mushrooms, uncovered, for 5 to 8 minutes, frequently brushing with marinade. Turn the mushrooms over and cook for 3 to 6 minutes longer. Place the burger buns on the grill, cut side down, to toast them slightly. Once your mushrooms are tender, it’s time to build your burgers. Place the mushrooms in the toasted buns, sprinkle some vegan cheese over the top, and top with fresh basil leaves.
You can put any type of condiments you want on your mushroom burger, but I can’t stress enough: A.1. steak sauce is best.
This burger looks like just a boring old hamburger—until you realize it has a dark secret it’s been hiding from you all these years. Biting into this burger is like watching the episode of Battlestar Galactica when they reveal that Chief is actually a Cylon—mind-blowing, and a guarantee that you’re hooked in for the next three episodes. Er, bites.
MAKES 4 TO 6 BURGERS
¼ cup shredded Daiya vegan cheddar cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
¼ cup vegan bacon bits
2 (14-ounce) packages Lightlife Gimme Lean burger or 3 cups Match vegan ground beef, defrosted
Olive oil cooking spray
Dash of liquid smoke
¼ cup Bragg’s liquid aminos
4 to 6 whole wheat burger buns
Hamburger fixings—sliced tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, Vegenaise, mustard, and the like
Put the vegan cheese and vegan bacon bits in two separate soup bowls.
Heat your faithful cast-iron skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Preheat the oven to 200°F.
While your skillet is heating up, mold the vegan beef into 8 to 12 patties that are a little less than ¼ inch thick and about the size of your palm. You’ll need an even number—we made 12, but you might want your patties to be larger. The 12 patties will eventually be built into 6 good-size patties, so don’t make them too thick. Choose six of the patties and very gently place about 2 teaspoons of the vegan cheese in the center of each, and then put 2 teaspoons of the vegan bacon bits on top of that. Then take the rest of the patties and gently place one on top of each dressed patty. Mold the patties with your fingers to seal the edges together. The vegan beef will be a little like dough, so you can use your hands to shape the burger into a patty by gently pressing and molding it. Make sure your edges are sealed up first so that none of the fixings escape.
Once your pan is hot, spray it down with olive oil cooking spray and toss in a dash of liquid smoke. Put a few patties in the hot skillet. You can cook several at the same time, but don’t crowd them. Very gently pour 1 to 2 teaspoons of Bragg’s over each patty, and cook. After a few minutes, flip the patties with a metal spatula. The patties should be starting to brown now, and you may want to toss another teaspoon of Bragg’s on the other side. You’re going to be flipping the patties a few times to evenly brown both sides. Repeat this process with all the patties, and keep the browned ones warm in a glass baking dish in the oven.
Once all your patties are cooked, place them in the buns and build your burgers with all your favorite fixings. The vegan cheese will melt inside your burger, and when you take a bite, it’ll be in the center with the smoky vegan bacon bits, being delicious.
“Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.”
—Sophia Loren
Unless you’ve grown up with an Italian mother, it might be impossible to explain the role pasta plays in the world. See, little Italian girls (even little half-Italian girls) grow up knowing that you can tell someone you love them a thousand times—but if you want to tell them you love them in a way that goes beyond words, you need to make them pasta.
Gnudi in Italian means “naked,” just like it sounds. I know, you’d think for a “Romance” language they’d have something a little classier, but no. These little dumplings are named that because they’re supposed to be the filling of a ravioli without the actual ravioli. The classic gnudis are made with ricotta and eggs and boiled, but we made ours better. Better for you, and also better tasting, because when you bake them instead of boil them, the water doesn’t leach out all the nutty and “cheesy” flavors that complement the spinach so well. The dark side to gnudis is that they’re pretty fragile. But while you’re eating them, you won’t care. You’ll be distracted by how tasty they are.
MAKES 2 SERVINGS
1½ cups baby spinach
1 (14-ounce) package extrafirm tofu, drained and crumbled
1 cup nutritional yeast
¼ cup shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
4 tablespoons garbanzo bean flour (you might need a little extra if your tofu is too soft)
2 teaspoons dry white wine
1 teaspoon Ener-G egg replacer, just the powder, not made per the instructions on the package
1 teaspoon water
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon diced fresh parsley
Pinches of crushed pink Himalayan salt and crushed black peppercorns
½ cup dry Italian bread crumbs
Olive oil cooking spray
1 batch Walnut, Shallot, and Sage Sauce (here)
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
In a large bowl, combine the spinach, tofu, nutritional yeast, vegan cheese, flour, white wine, egg replacer, and water. Very gently, use your hands to toss the ingredients. Add the garlic, garlic powder, nutmeg, parsley, and a bit of salt and pepper. Taste test some of the smaller pieces of tofu to see how much salt and pepper you need. You’re going to start gently mashing the mix into dough with your hands. If it feels too loose, add more garbanzo bean flour, 1 teaspoon at a time.
Fill a shallow dish with dry Italian bread crumbs. Use your hands to gently roll 2 tablespoons of dough into little balls one at a time. Then gently roll the little balls in the bread crumbs while lightly pressing the bread crumbs into the tofu.
Spray a glass lasagna dish with olive oil cooking spray and place the gnudis in the dish so they aren’t touching. You should end up with around 20 balls. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. They will lose their shape a little because the vegan cheese will melt, but they should make little mounds.
Make your Walnut, Shallot, and Sage Sauce while your gnudis are baking.
Serve hot with some bread to clean your plate, and maybe a glass or two of that white wine you were cooking with earlier.
We don’t live gluten-free, but for those who do, gnocchi offer a rare opportunity to make something quite special.
MAKES 2 SERVINGS
4 russet potatoes
1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
3 tablespoons water (you might need a little more)
3 tablespoons garbanzo bean flour (you’ll need a little more to flour your surfaces)
3 tablespoons potato starch
2 tablespoons crushed pink Himalayan salt for the gnocchi water, plus more for seasoning the gnocchi
Crushed black peppercorns
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Bake your potatoes until they are very tender. In a small bowl, mix the flaxseeds and water and let sit while your potatoes are baking.
Your potatoes are going to be very hot, so wear an oven mitt while you use a large spoon to scrape all the white fluffy potato out of the skins into a large mixing bowl. Use an electric handheld mixer to blend up the cooked potatoes. This could take 10 minutes or so, and you’ll have to stop to scrape the sides of the bowl a few times, but it’s really important to get out all the lumps.
Once your potatoes are smooth and fluffy, blend in the flaxseed-water mixture, flour, and potato starch. Then give it a little taste test to see if it needs any salt or pepper and add what it needs. Keep in mind you’re going to be putting sauce on it, but you still want the dumplings to have a little flavor of their own. If the dough is tough and dry, add a little more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, and keep blending until the dough is smooth.
Flour a tabletop to work on. Divide your dough into 4 equal portions. Use your hands to very gently roll 1 portion of dough into a rope about ½ inch thick. With a sharp knife, cut the rope into ¼-inch pieces. Repeat this process with the remaining 3 portions.
Then take each piece and gently press into the dough with your thumb while gently rolling your hand forward. This will create a piece of dough that looks like a little bowl or shell. Now, if you have a gnocchi board, you can use it for this step to get those little grooves to hold your favorite sauces.
Bring to a boil a large pot of water with 2 tablespoons of salt. Put the gnocchi in the boiling water a handful at a time. The little raw gnocchi will sink to the bottom of the pot, but when they rise that means they’re done. Use a slotted spoon to fish ‘em out and move them to a plate.
We recommend enjoying these little buddies with New Country Chunky Marinara Sauce (here) and Tofurky Italian sausages.
When Dan studied abroad in Argentina in college (before their massive economic collapse), he subsisted largely on gnocchi. Italian immigrants dominate Buenos Aires in particular, and the culture and cuisine of the city are largely Italian as a result. Neighborhood Italian kitchens each have their own proprietary gnocchi recipes—and Dan sampled them all. This recipe can go mano a mano with any of them and uses whole grains to boot. Es super-bueno.
MAKES 2 SERVINGS
4 large russet potatoes
4 cups whole wheat flour (you’ll need a little bit more to flour your surfaces)
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons crushed pink Himalayan salt
1 teaspoon Ener-G egg replacer, just the powder, not made per the instructions on the package
½ teaspoon water (you might need a little more)
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Bake your potatoes until they’re tender. Your potatoes are going to be very hot, so wear an oven mitt while you use a large spoon to scrape all the white fluffy awesome out of the skins into a large mixing bowl. Use an electric handheld mixer to blend up the cooked potatoes. This could take a while, and you’ll need to stop a few times and scrape the sides to make sure you get it all. This can take 10 minutes, but it’s important.
Once your potatoes are smooth and fluffy, blend in the flour, olive oil, 1 tablespoon of the salt, the egg replacer, and water. If the dough is tough and dry, add a little more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, and keep blending until the dough is smooth.
Flour a tabletop to work on. Divide your dough into 4 equal portions. Use your hands to very gently roll 1 portion of dough into a rope about ½ inch thick. With a sharp knife, cut the rope into ¼-inch pieces. Repeat this process with the remaining 3 portions.
Then gently press into each piece of dough with your thumb while gently rolling your hand forward. This will create a piece of dough that looks like a little bowl or shell. If you have a gnocchi board, you can use it for this step to get those little grooves to hold your favorite sauces.
Bring to a boil a large pot of water with 2 tablespoons of salt. Put a handful of gnocchi in the boiling water at a time. The little raw gnocchi will sink to the bottom of the pot, but when they rise, that means they’re done. Use a slotted spoon to fish ‘em out and move them to a plate.
We recommend enjoying these little buddies with Super Green Basil Pesto (here).
Pumpkin is such a weird gourd. I think most of us probably think of Cinderella when we think of pumpkins, which is apt. It looks like it was imagined just for use in that fairy tale, like the weird pretend purple plants the away team always encounter on random Star Trek planets. It can’t possibly be a real thing. But it is. And it makes delicious gnocchi.
MAKES 2 SERVINGS
1½ cups pumpkin puree (use a slotted spoon to remove your pumpkin from the can to cut down on the moisture a little when you measure it out)
2 tablespoons instant mashed potatoes
1 tablespoon Ener-G egg replacer, just the powder, not prepared as instructed on the package
2 tablespoons plus ½ teaspoon crushed pink Himalayan salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoons grated nutmeg
2 cups all-purpose flour (you might need more to flour surfaces)
In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, instant mashed potatoes, egg replacer, ½ teaspoon of the salt, and the cinnamon and nutmeg with an electric handheld mixer until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Mix enough of the flour into the pumpkin mixture to form a soft dough.
Flour a tabletop to work on. Divide your dough into 4 equal portions. Use your hands to very gently roll 1 portion of dough into a rope about ½ inch thick. With a sharp knife, cut the rope into ¼-inch pieces. Repeat this process with the remaining 3 portions.
Then gently press into each piece of dough with your thumb while gently rolling your hand forward. This will create a piece of dough that looks like a little bowl or shell. If you have a gnocchi board, you can use it for this step to get those little grooves to hold your favorite sauces.
Bring to a boil a large pot of water with the remaining 2 tablespoons of salt. Put a handful of gnocchi in the boiling water at a time. The little raw gnocchi will sink to the bottom of the pot, but when they rise, that means they’re done. Use a slotted spoon to fish ‘em out and move them to a plate.
We recommend serving this hot with Walnut, Shallot, and Sage Sauce (here).
This is actually the very first recipe we made for the Betty Crocker Project, and it was kind of a bittersweet night. We loved it—but because it was the first recipe in a two-year project, we knew it would be a long time before we’d get to enjoy it again. Before you start this recipe, you should know that if you ordered this dish at a nonvegan restaurant, it would be white. This recipe is made with whole wheat flour, nutritional yeast, and Bragg’s—so even though it isn’t the snowy, colorless sauce you might expect, the flavor has a charming character that can class up even a casual night at home.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
1 package whole wheat spaghetti
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups strips defrosted vegan chicken (we recommend Gardein Chick’n Scallopini)
6 white mushrooms, sliced
1 cup broccoli florets
¼ cup margarine
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos
¼ teaspoon lemon pepper
1 cup Better Than Bouillon vegetable broth, made per the instructions on the package
½ cup soy plain coffee creamer
2 tablespoons dry sherry
½ cup nutritional yeast
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cook and drain the spaghetti per the instructions on the package.
In your cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once your oil is hot, sauté your vegan chicken and mushrooms. Once your vegan chicken starts to brown, toss in the broccoli. Keep stirring to keep the broccoli from burning and make sure everything gets an even coating of the warm oil. When this has been done and the broccoli is lightly cooked, remove from the heat and set aside.
In your favorite saucepan, melt your margarine over low heat. Stir in the flour, Bragg’s, and lemon pepper. Keep stirring till the mix is smooth and bubbly. Remove from the heat and stir in the broth and soy creamer. Then heat again till the mixture begins to bubble.
Mix the spaghetti, sherry, vegan chicken, broccoli, and mushrooms into the sauce. Pour the mixture into an ungreased 2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with the nutritional yeast.
Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until bubbly in the center.
Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients—this is a simple, easy-to-prepare recipe for a delicious, hearty meal. It’s perfect for a dinner party—your guests will think you spent hours in the kitchen preparing this modern take on a traditional Italian dish. Really, it’ll take you about 20 minutes. If that’s not what today’s busy cooks are looking for, I don’t know what is.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1½ cups uncooked orzo
2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill weed
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos
¼ teaspoon sea kelp or seaweed flakes
¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 cups Better Than Bouillon vegetable broth, made per the instructions on the package
1 cup water
1 tablespoon dry white wine
¼ cup frozen peas
1 cup baby spinach leaves
1 cup baby kale leaves
1½ cups vegan shrimp, defrosted (we recommend May Wah shrimp balls cut in half)
Vegan Parmesan to sprinkle over the top
Heat the olive oil in your BFF Dutch oven or oven-safe casserole dish over medium heat. Cook the bell pepper, onions, and garlic until tender but still crisp.
Stir in the orzo, dill weed, lemon peel, Bragg’s, sea kelp, thyme, broth, water, and white wine. Heat to a boil, and then reduce the heat. Cover and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the pasta is tender.
Stir in the peas, spinach, kale, and vegan shrimp. Cover and cook for 2 minutes, or until the vegan shrimp is hot. Sprinkle with vegan Parmesan.
Yes, substituting oyster mushrooms for clams is a very old trick. I can remember making vegan fried clams with my roommate in college and thinking we were so clever, until I went to a vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco and saw them on the menu. Oh. But just because vegans are some clever and creative folks doesn’t make this recipe any less delicious and amazing. Even if you don’t like mushrooms, you can always replace them with vegan chicken or tofu and still have a dish that will bring the shock and awe. You need to make your vegan clams in advance, and it takes a bit of time, so you’re going to need to plan ahead.
MAKES 2 TO 4 SERVINGS
VEGAN CLAMS
1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon garlic powder
cup Bragg’s liquid aminos
1 can oyster mushrooms, drained, stems cut off (I recommend the canned rather than fresh ones, because they’re chewier and soak up the marinade better)
LINGUINE AND SAUCE
1 package linguine
cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons margarine
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (you may want a little extra to sprinkle over the top)
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
½ cup shredded smoked cheddar Sheese or your favorite vegan cheese
Vegan Parmesan to sprinkle over the top
In a shallow bowl, make your vegan clams. Mix the vegan Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and Bragg’s. Add the oyster mushroom tops and marinate for 6 hours.
Prepare the linguine per the package instructions.
In your adorato little cast-iron skillet or deep sauté pan, add the white wine, olive oil, garlic, and margarine and heat over medium heat. Stir occasionally. Once the margarine is melted, add the vegan clams and marinade and simmer for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stir in the celery seed, parsley, and lemon pepper. Once your vegan clams are the desired tenderness and the parsley has begun to wilt, add the vegan cheese. Keep stirring occasionally. Once the vegan cheese melts, remove the sauce from the heat.
Serve over linguine with vegan Parmesan sprinkled over the top and with some bread to really soak up this fantastic sauce… perhaps Rosemary Garlic Bread (here).
You can’t have a tour of Italy without a good ziti. Traditional all’Amatriciana is made with dried pork cheeks—but we’re going to let those cute little piggies keep their cute little faces, and instead do this classic Italian dish vegan-style. It’s so good it’ll bring a smile to your own little cheeks.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
½ cup ziti
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 package Hickory Smoked Tofurky Deli Slices or vegan bacon, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup finely chopped red onion
1 package extrafirm tofu, drained and mashed
3 cups diced tomatoes
8 fresh basil leaves
Dash of liquid smoke
Crushed pink Himalayan salt and crushed black peppercorns
¾ cup nutritional yeast
Cook the pasta in large pot of boiling slightly salted water until it is al dente. When you bake your ziti, the pasta will absorb some of the liquids from the sauce, so you want to make sure your pasta is a tiny bit undercooked to keep it from getting mushy. Once it is ready, drain and return your pasta to the same pot. It will get extra starch from the pot.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a cast-iron skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Add half of the vegan bacon and fry until crisp. It should take about 5 minutes. Transfer the vegan bacon to paper towels to drain. This is your garnish. Add the remaining 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil to your hot skillet. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the onion, tofu, and remaining vegan bacon; cook until the onion is translucent. Mix in the tomatoes, basil, and liquid smoke. Simmer for 5 to 8 minutes. Give your sauce a taste test and season with salt and pepper.
Add your tomato sauce and nutritional yeast to your pasta in the pasta pot and toss. Give it another taste test and season with salt and pepper if you need to. Transfer the pasta to a bowl. Sprinkle with the reserved vegan bacon and serve.
This is the best recipe. No joke. Nothing more to say. The. Best. Recipe. Period.
MAKES 6 TO 8 CUPS
2 cups elbow macaroni
¼ cup margarine
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos
¼ teaspoon crushed black peppercorns
¼ teaspoon ground mustard
½ teaspoon onion powder
Pinch of turmeric
Dash of liquid smoke
½ teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
2 cups soy milk
½ teaspoon dried onion flakes
1 cup shredded smoked cheddar Sheese or your favorite vegan cheese
1 cup shredded Daiya vegan cheddar cheese or your favorite vegan cheddar cheese
6 to 8 tablespoons dry bread crumbs (1 tablespoon per cup)
6 to 8 teaspoons Italian seasoning (1 teaspoon per cup)
3 to 4 teaspoons sesame seeds (½ teaspoon per cup)
Cook and drain the macaroni per directions on the package.
In a saucepan, melt the margarine over low heat. Stir in the nutritional yeast, Bragg’s, pepper, mustard, onion powder, turmeric, liquid smoke, and vegan Worcestershire sauce. Simmer while stirring occasionally. Once the mixture is smooth, stir in the soy milk. Heat until the mixture begins to boil, and then remove from the heat. Stir in the onion flakes and vegan cheeses. Gently combine the macaroni and the vegan cheese sauce.
In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, and sesame seeds.
Set the oven to broil or turn on your broiler. With a large spoon, fill 6 to 8 oven-safe custard or crème brûlée cups with your mac and Sheese and sprinkle around 1 tablespoon of the bread crumbs mixture over the top of each. Put the cups in the oven on the broiler pan. Shut the door and count to 10, then pull them out and check them. If they aren’t brown enough to serve, put them back in for another count of 10 and then check again. Keep doing this till you like the color and crispness.
Yeah, vodka generally isn’t thought of as being traditionally Italian. We tend to get drunk on wine, and leave the potato liquor for our pals in Russia. It’s cold up there, so they need to drink something with a little fire. But Italians do love their vodka sauce—and you will too once you whip up this recipe.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
1 package whole wheat pasta
1 (28-ounce) can fire-roasted tomatoes
¼ cup vodka
cup soy milk
2 tablespoons vegan Parmesan
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon celery seed
1¼ teaspoons crushed black peppercorns
6 large fresh basil leaves
Make your pasta per the instructions on the package.
In a saucepan, heat the remaining ingredients over medium heat to a boil. To serve, ladle the sauce over your pasta, and don’t forget some bread to clean your bowl with.
In addition to its use in delicious recipes like this one, rosemary offers a wide range of benefits. It’s been used as an herbal remedy to improve memory, is high in antioxidants, and some believe it may be useful in treating cancers, strokes, and Alzheimer’s. We just think it’s delicious.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
Olive oil cooking spray
2 cups vegan chicken, defrosted (we recommend Gardein Chick’n Scallopini)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1¼ cups uncooked orzo
1 cup Better Than Bouillon vegetable broth, made per the instructions on the package
2 zucchinis, sliced
cup kalamata olives, pitted
3 Roma tomatoes, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed
½ teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
½ teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
Crushed pink Himalayan salt and freshly ground black peppercorns
Red pepper flakes for topping
Spray your favorite Dutch oven or saucepan with olive oil cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Once your oil is warm, toss in your vegan chicken and cook until brown and slightly crispy. Remove your vegan chicken from the pan but don’t wipe out the oil.
Toss the garlic, orzo, and broth into your oily pan. Heat to a boil, and then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed.
Mix in the zucchinis, olives, tomatoes, bell pepper, rosemary, parsley, Bragg’s, olive oil, and basil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat to a boil again, and then reduce the heat. Cover and simmer until the vegetables and orzo are tender. Mix in the vegan chicken and serve with red pepper flakes sprinkled over the top.
I have a handful of memories from my last visit to Rome without Dan. Some delightful. Some crazy. Some kinda sad. I sent Dan a postcard from the Spanish Steps, partied at a Roman disco, and had a huge bowl of Penne all’Arrabbiata outside the Oppio Caffè overlooking the Colosseum. It was nighttime and raining and I had been wearing heels and carrying a very heavy laptop all day. And yet when I think about that trip, my favorite memory is that night, that view, and that bowl of pasta. The name of this dish literally means “angry pasta,” so don’t be shocked if it’s pretty spicy.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
1 package whole wheat penne
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 to 4 fresh red chili peppers, seeded and diced (the more you add, the spicier it is)
8 to 10 fresh Roma tomatoes
6 to 8 large fresh basil leaves, chopped
Crushed pink Himalayan salt and freshly ground black peppercorns
Grated smoked cheddar Sheese or vegan Parmesan
Make your penne using the instructions on the package.
In your adorabile yet very large saucepan, heat your olive oil over medium heat. Once your oil is hot, toss in the onion, garlic, and peppers and sauté for around 1 minute. Then toss in the tomatoes. Stir while the mixture cooks, to help blend the flavors. Simmer for 2 minutes. During that time use your spatula to mash your tomatoes a bit.
Stir in your basil leaves, and then remove from the heat. Give the sauce a taste test to see if it needs salt or pepper, and add what you need.
Ladle your sauce over your pasta and sprinkle some grated vegan cheese over the top.
Don’t forget to make some Rosemary Garlic Bread (here).
Also known as Straw and Hay in places like Little Italy and the Betty Crocker test kitchen, this dish is traditionally made with a combination of handmade flavored pastas. Unless you live near Little Italy, you’ll probably want to make do with what you can get at the store. Even with store-bought pasta, the flavors in this dish can make you feel like you’re sitting on Mulberry Street outside Pellegrino’s.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
9 ounces plain fettuccine
9 ounces spinach fettuccine
1 tablespoon margarine
1 cup sliced white mushrooms
2 tablespoons diced red onion
8 pieces vegan bacon or smoked tempeh, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup brandy
cup almond milk
cup nutritional yeast
½ cup frozen peas
1 teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos
Dash of liquid smoke
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can artichoke hearts, drained
½ cup fresh baby spinach leaves
1 teaspoon olive oil
Make your pastas using the instructions on the packages.
In your much-loved and never-feared cast-iron skillet or sauté pan, melt the margarine over medium heat. Sauté the mushrooms, onion, and vegan bacon in your hot margarine. Once your mushrooms and onions are tender and your vegan bacon is crispy, toss in the parsley. Sauté for 30 seconds over medium heat.
Remove your vegetables and vegan bacon from the skillet and set aside. Pour the brandy and almond milk into your warm skillet and stir until blended. Add the nutritional yeast and blend using a whisk until smooth. Add the peas, Bragg’s, liquid smoke, black pepper, and garlic and heat to a boil. Then toss in the artichoke hearts, spinach, and olive oil and remove from the heat. Mix in mushrooms, onion, and vegan bacon.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the pastas. Serve with your smoky vegan cream sauce and vegetables over the top.
Don’t forget the bread to clean your plate.
This is not a super-traditional lo mein recipe, but it’s delicious and fast. You can make it in the morning, reheat it for lunch, and have leftovers for dinner. No joke, we’ve done it.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
1 (9-ounce) package Gardein beefless tips or beef seitan, defrosted
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
6 tablespoons Bragg’s liquid aminos
1 (6-ounce) package rice stick or lo mein noodles
3 tablespoons ginger paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can bamboo shoots, drained
1 can water chestnuts, drained and sliced
½ cup baby corn, drained
½ cup fresh sugar snap peas
¼ cup shredded carrots
cup baby bok choy leaves
¾ cup Better Than Bouillon vegan beef broth, prepared per the instructions on the package
cup rice vinegar
cup agave nectar
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, crushed
3 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
In a glass bowl, toss the vegan beef, 1 tablespoon of the sesame oil, the cornstarch, and ½ teaspoon of the Bragg’s. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, soak the noodles in enough cold water to cover them for around 7 minutes. Read the instructions on your package, though—some may call for more or less soaking in warm or hot water. I recommend following the instructions on your noodle package.
Warm a bowl for your vegetables to go in after they are stir-fried. Heat your wok over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the sesame oil and rotate the wok with your wrist to coat the inside. Add the ginger paste and garlic; mix them in the oil for 30 seconds. Add the bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, baby corn, peas, carrots, and bok choy and stir-fry until they are tender but still a little crisp. If you are planning on reheating this dish, you will want to keep them more crisp than tender. Remove the vegetables from the wok and put them in your warm bowl.
Add 1 tablespoon of the sesame oil to the wok and rotate your wok again to coat the inside. Add your vegan beef and marinade, and stir-fry for no more than 4 minutes. You want the vegan beef to have a nice browned outside. Remove the vegan beef from the wok and place it in the bowl with the vegetables. I recommend putting your vegan beef on top of your vegetables so that the oil running out of the vegan beef can flavor the vegetables.
Add the broth, rice vinegar, agave nectar, the remaining 5 tablespoons plus 2½ teaspoons Bragg’s, the remaining 1 teaspoon sesame oil, and the red pepper to the wok. Stir in your soaked noodles and increase the heat slightly. Toss and cook for no more than 2 minutes. Once your noodles are tender, stir in your vegan beef and vegetables. Cook for around 1 minute. Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds and serve with chopsticks to keep it real.
This minimalist dish may seem more Spartan than Roman, but spend a day walking through Rome and you’ll see this simple yet fabulous dish on every menu propped up next to a bowl of chilled oysters on the half shell or a dented Coca-Cola sign.
MAKES 2 TO 4 SERVINGS
1 package fettuccine noodles
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons freshly ground black peppercorns
½ cup nutritional yeast or vegan Parmesan
½ cup finely grated smoked cheddar Sheese or your favorite vegan cheese
Fresh oregano leaves
Crushed pink Himalayan salt and crushed black peppercorns
Prepare your pasta per the instructions on the package—unless they recommend rinsing after you drain your pasta. Don’t do that.
Once your pasta has been drained but is still steaming hot, pour it into a large serving bowl. Toss the pasta with the olive oil, black pepper, nutritional yeast, and half of your grated vegan cheese. Then sprinkle the remaining vegan cheese over the top. The heat of the pasta will melt the vegan cheese.
Serve warm with the oregano and salt and pepper so everyone can season their own plate.
Spaghetti alla Carbonara is one of those dishes that you may have heard of, but no one really knows where it came from. Some claim it’s been passed down from the Romans. But they say that about anything awesome in Italy. Others think it has something to do with the Carbonari, a nineteenth-century secret society that played a key role in the unification of Italy. But really, the first documentation of it was from World War II. While the United States occupied Italy, the troops sometimes traded their powdered eggs and bacon with the locals, who then used them to make this dish. Many returning troops brought their passion for this pasta back with them, and Spaghetti alla Carbonara hit menus everywhere.
MAKES 2 TO 4 SERVINGS
1 package whole wheat spaghetti
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 slices vegan bacon or smoked tempeh, diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
cup vegan Parmesan
½ cup nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons silken tofu
Dash of liquid smoke
¼ teaspoon crushed pink Himalayan salt
¼ teaspoon crushed black peppercorns (you’ll want extra to sprinkle over the top)
3 tablespoons grated smoked cheddar Sheese or your favorite vegan cheese, plus extra for sprinkling
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Cook the spaghetti as directed on the package. After you drain it, put it back in the same pot because you need the little bit of the starch left in there for your dish, but make sure the pasta is away from the heat.
In your amato cast-iron skillet or deepest frying pan, cook the garlic and vegan bacon in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat until the vegan bacon is crispy. Mix the vegan Parmesan, nutritional yeast, silken tofu, liquid smoke, salt, black pepper, vegan cheese, and the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in the cast-iron skillet and simmer over low heat for 1 minute. You’re going to want to stir the sauce constantly to mix the silken tofu in with the other ingredients and make sure it’s a smooth consistency. Once the sauce is smooth and beginning to bubble slightly, remove from the heat.
Add the garlic, vegan bacon, and sauce to the spaghetti in the pot and toss to evenly coat your pasta. You’re going to cook and toss your spaghetti and bacon mixture for around 30 seconds to a minute while heating over low heat. Then remove from the heat.
When you serve, sprinkle some extra shredded vegan cheese, parsley, and black pepper over the top and channel your inner Sophia Loren.
When I was a little eater who had no idea what a calorie was, let alone where cheese came from, I loved cream sauces. In fourth grade I even wrote a poem that I was very proud of about my favorite food: fettuccine Alfredo. I wish I still had a copy of this literary masterpiece, or could at least remember the good parts. I have a feeling it would be comedy gold now. What I do remember is my teacher making a joke to my mom that I should enjoy it while I could, because Lord knows Italian women shouldn’t be eating cream sauce after they turn eighteen unless they’ve completely given up on themselves. To be fair to this teacher, who was supposed to be a female role model in my life, it was the eighties, when women all over the United States unfortunately were starving themselves to be able to wear white spandex. But let’s be honest: those jokes are still around today. Which is ridiculous. I mean, I’m vegan now, and I enjoy vegan Alfredo sauce all the time completely guilt-free. Is it the healthiest sauce you can pour over some pasta and clean up with some garlic toast? Not really. But as far as “guilty pleasures” go, it’s pretty harmless.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
1 package fettuccine
1 (14-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (also called Great Northern beans)
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained
1 cup soy milk
¼ cup vegan sour cream
½ cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons Bragg’s liquid aminos
2 tablespoons kalamata olive brine (this is the juice that kalamata olives come in)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon margarine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon vegan cream cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dry white wine
Crushed pink Himalayan salt
Fresh parsley for garnish
Crushed black peppercorns
Prepare the pasta per the instructions on the package.
In your cherished food processor or overworked blender, toss in all the ingredients except the pasta, salt, pepper, and parsley and blend for over a minute. You want to liquefy your ingredients—especially the artichoke hearts—so stop blending when they are completely mixed into the sauce.
Pour your sauce into a saucepan and heat over medium heat until it begins to boil. Remove from the heat and add your desired amount of salt. We only added one dash, but you might prefer more.
When you serve your dish, toss a pinch of chopped fresh parsley and some black pepper on top and put on some white spandex. I mean—why not? You’re pretty.
In a world where vegan ravioli and tortellini can be hard to find, pasta shells can fill that vacant spot in your heart that longs for stuffed pasta. Pizza shells might sound silly, but they taste wonderful.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
12 jumbo pasta shells
Olive oil cooking spray
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup diced green bell pepper
1 red onion, diced
cup sliced white mushrooms
1 (4-ounce) package Lightlife Smart Deli pepperoni, diced
3 tablespoons sliced black olives
2 teaspoons dried oregano
Pinch of crushed pink Himalayan salt
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
2 cups shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
2 cups pizza sauce
Cook the pasta shells using the directions on the package.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Spray an 11 x 7-inch glass baking dish with olive oil cooking spray.
Heat the olive oil in your favorite cast-iron skillet or frying pan over medium heat until hot. Toss in the bell pepper, onion, and mushrooms. Mix and cook until the vegetables are tender. Remove from the heat. Mix in the pepperoni, olives, oregano, salt, garlic, tomatoes, and 1½ cups of the vegan cheese. Use a wooden spoon to mix these ingredients well.
Your shells will be hot, so be careful filling them with the pepperoni filling mix. Place the filled shells in the sprayed baking dish. Any remaining filling can be spread out between the shells. Use a ladle to pour an even coating of pizza sauce over the top. Cover with foil.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the vegan cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling. Uncover, sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup vegan cheese, and bake for 5 to 10 minutes longer. You’ll know it’s done when the vegan cheese is completely melted.
Ratatouille was one of the first recipes I ever veganized. I’m not sure it really counts, though, since ratatouille is one of the most vegan-friendly dishes France has to offer. And I would just like to state for the record that I did this before the extremely popular Pixar movie came out. I was just that far ahead of the curve.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
Olive oil cooking spray
12 jumbo pasta shells
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons Bragg’s liquid aminos
1 package tempeh, crumbled
1 cup cubed eggplant
1 zucchini, diced
2 tablespoons kalamata olives, pitted
cup sliced white mushrooms
½ teaspoon capers, drained
2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
1 tablespoon red wine
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
Chopped fresh parsley
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 11 x 7-inch glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Cook the pasta shells per the instructions on the package.
While your shells are cooking, heat the olive oil in your cast-iron skillet over medium heat until hot. Toss in the bell pepper, onion, garlic, garlic powder, Bragg’s, and tempeh. Mix and cook until your vegetables are tender and your tempeh begins to brown. Add the eggplant and zucchini. Cook for another 3 to 5 minutes. You want your vegetables to be tender and your onions translucent.
Mix in the olives, mushrooms, capers, herbes de Provence, red wine, and ¼ cup of the tomato sauce. Mix and cook until the mushrooms are tender. Stir in ½ cup of your vegan cheese.
Carefully fill each cooked pasta shell with the tempeh and vegetable mixture. Place the filled shells in the baking dish. With a ladle, pour the remaining tomato sauce over your shells. Cover with foil.
Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with the remaining vegan cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 5 to 10 minutes longer, or until the dish is bubbly and the vegan cheese is melted. Sprinkle fresh parsley over the top.
This recipe reads like a tongue twister but tastes like a tongue-pleaser.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
Olive oil cooking spray
12 jumbo pasta shells
2 cups Cannellini Beans and Artichoke Hearts Alfredo Sauce (see here)
1 tablespoon margarine
1 red onion, diced
½ red bell pepper, diced
1½ cups 1-inch-dice fresh asparagus
½ cup frozen peas
¼ cup quartered artichoke hearts, drained
2 cups vegan shrimp, defrosted and cut into 1-inch pieces after measuring
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dry white wine
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves
½ cup shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
¼ cup vegan Parmesan
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish with olive oil cooking spray.
Cook your pasta shells as directed on your packaging.
While your pasta shells are cooking, make your Cannellini Beans and Artichoke Hearts Alfredo Sauce using the recipe here. Then melt the margarine in your favorite cast-iron skillet or sauté pan over medium heat. Once your margarine is melted, toss in the onion and bell pepper and cook while mixing until your vegetables are tender. Stir in the asparagus, cover, and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once your asparagus is tender, remove from the heat. Stir in the peas, artichoke hearts, vegan shrimp, garlic, white wine, and 1 tablespoon of the basil. Once your vegan shrimp is warm, add ½ cup of your vegan Alfredo Sauce.
Spread about ¼ cup of the remaining Alfredo sauce over the bottom of the baking dish. Carefully fill each cooked pasta shell with your vegan shrimp mix. Place each filled shell in your baking dish faceup. Once the shells are all filled, sprinkle a little bit of vegan cheese over each shell. Using a ladle, pour the remaining sauce over the shells. Sprinkle each filled shell with vegan Parmesan.
Bake, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bubbly. Sprinkle your remaining 1 tablespoon basil over the top.
Avocado “cream” sauce is not a new concept in vegan cuisine. I bet hidden somewhere in a deep cave waiting out the millennia are charcoal paintings of vegan stick men eating avocado cream sauce. I’ve seen green sauce used as Alfredo sauce or in potato salad, but I like to think of green sauce as being its own thing. It’s an institution… at least in my mind. Sharing this recipe with you all is kind of a big deal for me, to be honest. It’s like the Colonel posting the secret list of eleven herbs and spices they have squirreled away in Louisville.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
1 package whole wheat angel hair
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 package Tofurky Italian sausage or Field Roast Italian sausage, sliced into coins
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
¼ cup kale, chopped into big pieces
cup baby spinach leaves
¼ cup fresh basil (keep a few extra leaves to toss on top)
2 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted, and chopped
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
¼ teaspoon onion powder
Pinch of turmeric
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
¼ cup frozen peas, defrosted
2 teaspoons Bragg’s liquid aminos
cup dry white wine
Crushed pink Himalayan salt and crushed black peppercorns
Make the whole wheat pasta per the instructions on the box.
In your BFF cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, brown your vegan sausage slices until they have crispy edges. Turn down the heat to a low simmer. Toss in the red pepper flakes, kale, and spinach and cook over low heat. Once the spinach becomes tender, remove from the heat.
While your vegan sausage is cooking, put the basil, avocados, nutritional yeast, onion powder, turmeric, garlic, beans, peas, Bragg’s, and white wine in your food processor and blend into a smooth sauce.
Combine your pasta in your skillet with the sausage and vegetables. Stir a few times so the pasta gets an even coating of oil and everything gets mixed in. Pour the contents of the skillet into a large mixing bowl and toss in the avocado sauce. Give your sauce a taste test and add any needed salt and pepper. Once everything is blended, toss some extra basil on top and you’re ready to eat!
I recommend getting some bread so you can clean your plate and get all the sauce… or else you’ll end up licking your plate like a savage.
Fresh herbs are the key to making this recipe sing.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
2 cups vegan chicken, defrosted (we recommend Gardein Chick’n Scallopini)
Olive oil cooking spray
½ cup sliced white mushrooms
2 tablespoons raw pine nuts
2 teaspoons onion powder
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon diced fresh rosemary leaves
2 teaspoons diced fresh sage leaves
½ cup fresh basil leaves
1 package medium-size pasta shells, cooked and drained
¼ cup olive oil
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon capers, drained
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained
1 Roma tomato, sliced
Freshly ground black peppercorns
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a glass baking dish, lightly spray your vegan chicken with the olive oil cooking spray. Flip your vegan chicken a few times to make sure all the pieces are lightly coated. Then toss the mushrooms and pine nuts over the top. Bake for 5 minutes. Take the dish out and with a spatula toss the vegan chicken, pine nuts, and mushrooms. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the onion powder over the top. Bake for another 5 to 8 minutes. Take out when everything is golden brown.
In your favorite food processor or blender, chop the parsley, rosemary, sage, and basil. In a large mixing bowl, toss the warm pasta, olive oil, red pepper flakes, garlic, the remaining 1 teaspoon onion powder, capers, lemon juice, and artichoke hearts. Then gently mix in the fresh herbs, pine nuts, mushrooms, and vegan chicken while they are still warm.
Serve with slices of Roma tomatoes and black pepper sprinkled over the top.
This is one of those recipes that takes a classic dish and transforms it into something you can make in 30 minutes while cutting back on dishes, drama, and some of those pesky calories you find in the original version.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 package Lightlife Gimme Lean vegan ground beef or Match vegan ground beef, defrosted and formed into patties smaller than your palm
1 tablespoon red wine
1 red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
1½ cups water
¼ cup kalamata olives, pitted
¼ cup baby spinach leaves
¼ cup fresh basil leaves
3 cups mafalda pasta, uncooked (they’re like mini lasagna noodles)
½ cup shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In your favorite cast-iron skillet or oven-safe frying pan, heat the olive oil. Once your oil is hot, cook the vegan beef, red wine, onion, and garlic over medium heat until your vegan beef is browned and has a light crust on the outside. This will help keep your vegan beef from getting spongy.
Stir in the Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, Bragg’s, pasta sauce, water, olives, spinach, basil, and pasta. Heat to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once your pasta is tender, sprinkle with vegan cheese.
Slide your skillet into the oven and bake for no more than 5 minutes. This should be long enough to melt your vegan cheese and add a nice flavor to your noodles.
I had my eye on this dish for a long time. Whenever we flipped through Betty Crocker’s Big Red, we’d give each other a little conspiratorial nod. That’s why I was heartbroken when the only fresh “wild mushroom” mix at our local grocery store was basically some sliced portobellos and white buttons with just a few cremini and oyster mushrooms mixed in. But I got over it pretty quickly when I looked in our pantry and saw a can of artichoke hearts and one of garbanzo beans. I admit in the end this recipe is 100 percent Shannon, but it was inspired by Betty Crocker and reminds me how much I love cooking with white wine.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
1 package fettuccine noodles
2 tablespoons margarine
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 12-ounce variety pack fresh wild mushrooms
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained
1 (14-ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup dry white wine
2 teaspoons Bragg’s liquid aminos
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Vegan Parmesan to sprinkle over the top
Prepare your pasta per the instructions on your package.
In vos favoris cast-iron skillet, heat the margarine and olive oil over medium heat until the margarine melts. Add the wild mushrooms, artichoke hearts, garbanzo beans, and garlic. Toss this mixture, and then pour the white wine and Bragg’s over the top. Keep tossing until the mushrooms begin to become tender. Add the herbes de Provence, black pepper, garlic powder, parsley, and thyme and continue to cook your mushroom mixture until the mushrooms are the desired tenderness.
Add your cooked pasta to the cooked mushroom mixture and mix in the skillet. If you want a saltier, stronger flavor, put only two-thirds of your pasta in the skillet. Cook and let the flavors mingle for about 1 minute. Serve with vegan Parmesan sprinkled over the top.
There was a lot going on in Italy during the fifth century. The Visigoths captured most of the southern peninsula. Sicily was invaded a bunch of times until the Sicilians figured out all they needed to do was bribe people to leave them alone. The Roman Empire gave up on the British Isles and, before the century came to an end, collapsed, never to rise again. Somewhere in all this the people of Bologna created their signature sauce, which is known to most Americans as “meat sauce.” It’s one of the most popular Italian sauces in America (even if no one knows the real name) and is made with much more tomato sauce here than in the traditional Old World recipes. Actually, the tiny bit of tomato sauce found in the traditional recipes wasn’t added until after the discovery of the New World. We recommend using the Old World technique of eating this sauce with a flat noodle, which will carry more sauce than spaghetti.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
1 package fettuccine
1 tablespoon olive oil
Dash of liquid smoke
6 pieces smoked tempeh, crumbled
1 cup Tofurky ground beef or Match vegan ground beef
1 red onion, diced
1 (14-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
¼ cup sliced baby portobello mushroom caps
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 teaspoons Bragg’s liquid aminos
1¼ cups red wine
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
¼ cup baby spinach leaves
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 tomatoes, diced
½ cup Better Than Bouillon vegan beef broth, made per the instructions on the package
1 tablespoon vegan sour cream
½ teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns
2 tablespoons margarine
Crushed pink Himalayan salt and freshly ground black peppercorns
Fresh parsley and vegan Parmesan to sprinkle over the top
Prepare your pasta per the instructions on the package.
In your favorite Dutch oven or saucepan, heat the olive oil and liquid smoke over medium heat. Add the tempeh and vegan beef and cook until browned and slightly crispy. Remove your tempeh and vegan beef from your Dutch oven and set aside in a bowl. Add your onion, garbanzo beans, mushrooms, celery, and garlic to the hot oil. Cook until your onion and celery are tender. Add the celery seed, Bragg’s, ¼ cup of the red wine, the thyme, basil, oregano, and baby spinach. Cook and stir for 30 seconds. Add the remaining 1 cup red wine, the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, broth, vegan sour cream, and pepper. Simmer while stirring for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the sauce begins to bubble. Add the margarine. Once the margarine is melted, stir it in and then add any salt or pepper you want to adjust the flavor. Stir in your tempeh and vegan beef. Use a rubber-tipped spatula to get all the extra oil that may have run off in the bowl.
Add your pasta to your sauce and toss inside your Dutch oven to get an even coating.
Serve your pasta topped with parsley and vegan Parmesan.
Fusilli is a corkscrew-shaped pasta that’s often hollow and always fun. It’s great for kids, or for anyone who gets a kick out of food with a unique shape. This recipe is great for moms, or for anyone who likes a fast, easy recipe that looks and tastes a whole lot more complicated than it really is. So really, it’s great for anyone.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
3 cups cooked fusilli
½ cup shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese or your favorite vegan cheese
cup sun-dried tomatoes
½ teaspoon chili oil
¼ cup fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
2 teaspoons fresh oregano leaves
2 tablespoons raw walnuts
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon red wine
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns
2 cloves garlic, minced
Prepare the pasta following the instructions on the package.
Set aside the hot pasta and the vegan cheese. In your favorite food processor or blender, blend the remaining ingredients until almost smooth. You don’t want the pesto to be liquefied, just blended.
In a large bowl, toss the hot pasta, pesto, and vegan cheese.
Here’s an interesting thing I learned during the Betty Crocker Project: if a Betty Crocker recipe ever calls for peanut butter, they mean the processed stuff, not natural peanut butter. If you use natural peanut butter, it’ll be too oily and won’t have enough fillers to make the recipe work. This is our recipe, but we still used the processed creamy stuff in it. If you make it with real peanut butter, you’ll need to add cornstarch and some salt to adjust the recipe. Please consider yourself warned—in writing.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup apple juice
2 tablespoons Bragg’s liquid aminos
3 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, diced
2 teaspoons adobo sauce (from the can of chipotle chilies)
1 (14-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro
1 (8-ounce) package Chinese curly noodles (they look like ramen)
1 cup shredded carrots
½ red bell pepper, thinly sliced
½ green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 (14-ounce) can baby corn, drained
2 tablespoons crushed dry-roasted peanuts
In a bowl, mix the peanut butter, apple juice, Bragg’s, chilies, and adobo sauce to create a creamy sauce. Fold in the black beans and cilantro.
Prepare your noodles as instructed on the package.
Toss the noodles with the chipotle peanut sauce and beans. Divide the noodles evenly among 4 bowls. Top with the carrots, bell peppers, celery, and baby corn. Sprinkle with the peanuts.
The concept of “Texas macaroni” is something that only Betty Crocker could come up with. But the seemingly incongruous name actually makes some degree of sense. Everything’s bigger in Texas—and the flavors in this dish we created are huge.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
1 package whole wheat macaroni
Olive oil cooking spray
½ cup beer (we recommend Dos Equis)
½ cup frozen corn
1 (14-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14-ounce) can kidney beans in chili sauce, not drained or rinsed
1 (14-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons hot sauce
1 tomato, diced
½ red onion, sliced
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon Bragg’s liquid aminos
Dash of liquid smoke
Nutritional yeast, black olives, fresh cilantro, and fresh avocado slices to top ‘er off
Cook and drain the macaroni per the instructions on the package.
Set aside the cooked pasta, olive oil cooking spray, and toppers. In a large saucepan or cast-iron skillet, mix the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil over medium heat. Put your pasta in a large bowl and spray with olive oil cooking spray. To serve, fill a soup bowl with pasta and ladle the bean mixture on top. Sprinkle on your favorite toppers and let’s party.
Once upon a time, people all over the world started combining beans and grains. Maybe it was because these little fellas were both easy to dry and easy to store. Perhaps it was because they complemented one another’s flavors and textures while creating a nice canvas for spices and fresh vegetables to shine. Maybe it was because when combined, beans and grains can provide a low-fat source of protein and fiber. All of these bits of awesome combine to make the meals that built civilization—or more accurately, civilizations—as we know it.
Not sold yet? Well, how about this: beans and grains are both low in fat, so you can enjoy a decadent dessert after a meal of beans and grains, completely guilt-free.
You don’t need pork rinds to have delicious smoky beans. This vegan version of a Louisiana Creole classic replicates all the flavor and texture of the original.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
1 tablespoon vegan bacon bits or crumbled smoked tempeh
1 (14-ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 green bell pepper, diced
½ large red onion, diced
1 tablespoon water
½ teaspoon liquid smoke
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos
3 tablespoons dry white wine
2 tablespoons Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning
Set the vegan bacon bits aside.
In your sweetest Dutch oven or soup pot, toss in the remaining ingredients and turn the heat up to medium. Stir occasionally. Remove from the heat when the onions and peppers are tender but still a bit crisp. Stir in the vegan bacon bits before serving.
It’s hard to say where the black-eyed-pea tradition started, but everyone knows that eating these little cuties on New Year’s Day is thought to bring good luck and prosperity. The Talmud talks about eating bowls of black-eyed peas on Rosh Hashanah. In case you aren’t friends with any Jews, that’s in the fall. During the Civil War, these sweeties were cooked up with ham bones and collard greens, given a heavy dose of hot sauce, and served with corn bread. Legend has it when Sherman marched through the South leaving a trail of ruined farms and burned cities, he left these humble little peas alone, thinking they weren’t worth the trouble. Survivors left behind came to think of these legumes as “lucky”—because they survived the burning, because they helped folks survive the aftermath, or both. This tradition is why Hoppin’ John has become of one of the most popular adapted West African/soul food dishes served in the South. Our Hoppin’ John skips the ham bones—but still has a lot of flavor.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
Dash of liquid smoke
½ green bell pepper, diced
¼ large red onion, diced
1 (14-ounce) can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 to 2 tablespoons Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning
½ teaspoon onion powder
¾ cup greens (collard or mustard or you can always use spinach)
1 cup cooked long-grain brown rice
2 tablespoons Bragg’s liquid aminos
Vegan bacon bits and hot sauce to dump over the top, if that’s how you roll
In your trusted cast-iron skillet or deepest frying pan, heat the olive oil and liquid smoke over medium heat. Once they’re hot, toss in the bell pepper, onion, and black-eyed peas and mix. Stir in the Creole seasoning, onion powder, and greens. Once the onion and bell pepper are tender, mix in the rice and Bragg’s. Cook for around 5 minutes.
When you serve, toss some vegan bacon bits on top—and maybe some hot sauce—and enjoy a New Year’s tradition that you won’t regret the next day.
There are dozens of ways to make beans and rice in the Caribbean, and it has become a classic dish of the region. Now, some will say that rice isn’t native to the Caribbean, and that since it was brought over by Chinese workers after slavery was abolished, it should be considered more of a hybrid. I’m not from the Caribbean, so it’s not my place to say what should and shouldn’t be included in that culture. But I can say that one of the things I find the most beautiful about Caribbean culture is that it combines African, Portuguese, Spanish, and Native American cultures in a beautiful way. Why draw a line and exclude Chinese imports?
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
2 tablespoons olive oil
2½ teaspoons jerk seasoning
Dash of liquid smoke
2 (14-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium papaya, peeled, seeded, and diced into bite-size pieces
½ large mango, peeled, pitted, and diced into bite-size pieces
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 shallots, chopped
¾ cup frozen corn
½ cup orange juice with pulp
¼ cup lime juice
¼ teaspoon agave nectar
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups cooked brown rice
3 tablespoons diced fresh cilantro
Hot sauce, optional
In your faithful cast-iron skillet or deepest frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once your oil is warm, add the jerk seasoning and liquid smoke and mix. Add the beans, fruit, vegetables, juices, agave nectar, and garlic. Continue to stir and heat until the red pepper is tender. Be careful not to mash your fruit.
You can either serve over the rice or mixed with it. Sprinkle a little cilantro and hot sauce over the top of each bowl and don’t forget an icy ginger brew on the side.
Dan loves curry. This has been documented in both foreign and domestic settings. As a good life partner, I felt compelled to make a decent curry pilaf in this book. This recipe started as an attempt at aloo palak sabji with rice replacing the potatoes, and ultimately came to have a life of its own. A delicious yet simple life that continued on in leftover heaven.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
2 tablespoons margarine
1 red onion, diced
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup baby spinach leaves, chopped
1 can green lentils, drained and rinsed
2 cups Better Than Bouillon vegetable broth, made per the instructions on the package
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon masala curry powder
Pinch of ground ginger
Pinch of coriander seeds
¼ teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos
In your favorite stewpot with a lid, melt the margarine over medium heat. Once it begins to bubble, toss in your red onion and mix until your onion is coated. Let your onion cook, and once it begins to get tender, toss in the remaining ingredients and stir until completely mixed. Cover and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until your spinach is wilted.
People have been making vegan shepherd’s pies with lentils since the dawn of veganism. This recipe takes lentil shepherd’s pie to the next level, packing in more complicated flavors than you could ever get from a pie made from ground meats.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
PIECRUST
2 cups whole wheat flour (you’re going to want more to flour surfaces)
1 teaspoon crushed pink Himalayan salt
cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
4 to 6 tablespoons cold water
POTATO TOPPING
5 large baking potatoes, cubed
2 tablespoons margarine
3 tablespoons soy milk
3 teaspoons crushed pink Himalayan salt
2 teaspoons crushed black peppercorns
FILLING
¼ cup Better Than Bouillon vegan beef broth, made per the instructions on the package
½ cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons Bragg’s liquid aminos
2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
1 (14-ounce) can green lentils, drained and rinsed
1 (14-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 large leek, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup baby spinach leaves
¼ cup baby kale leaves
¼ cup frozen peas
Crushed pink Himalayan salt and crushed black peppercorns
First make the piecrust. In a medium bowl, mix the flour and salt. Cut the shortening in, and then use a pastry blender to mix. You want your dough to become little clumps that look like small peas. Sprinkle in the cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and use a large fork to mix. You want the dough to be moist but not wet.
With your hands, roll the dough into a ball inside the bowl. On a floured surface, with a floured roller, roll your dough ball out into a flat disk on a large piece of plastic wrap. Try to keep the crust even. You don’t want some areas to be thinner than others. Gently roll the flattened dough up into plastic wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes. You want the dough to be firm but still pliable, so if it is crumbly when you remove it from the fridge, press any cracks and then let it warm a little till it is more pliable.
While your crust is in the fridge, make your topping and filling.
In a large stewpot, heat enough salted water to cover your potatoes to a boil. Once your water is bubbling, add all the potatoes and cover your pot. Once your potatoes are tender, drain them through a strainer. Don’t rinse the potatoes, but return them to your original pot. Add the margarine, soy milk, salt, and black pepper and mash with a potato masher or blend with an electric handheld mixer until smooth and creamy.
While your potatoes are boiling and your crust is chilling out, make the filling. Toss the broth, white wine, Bragg’s, herbes de Provence, lentils, beans, leek, and garlic in your Dutch oven or soup pot and heat over medium heat. Stir your mixture occasionally to help blend the flavors and break up your slices of leek. Once the filling begins to bubble, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. Simmer for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the leeks and beans are tender. Then stir in the spinach, kale, and frozen peas and cover. Turn off the heat and let sit for 1 minute, then taste test your filling. Add salt and pepper till the flavor makes you swoon.
When it’s ready, remove your dough from the fridge. Using a floured rolling pin, roll your dough out your plastic wrap into a disk around 2 inches larger than your pie dish. Lift your dough by lifting the plastic wrap, and flip it over into your pie pan. Remove the plastic wrap. Gently press the dough into the curves of your dish and along the lip. Get your fingers a little wet with warm water. Use your fingers to create a wave that goes along the edge of your pie to make the crust look nice. Cut off any extra dough hanging over the edge.
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Put your crust in the oven for 5 minutes, or until it begins to look flaky but has not begun to brown.
Using a slotted spoon so you get more vegetables and beans than gravy, fill your piecrust with, well, filling. Use a large wooden spoon to pile your mashed potatoes on top in a kind of dome of “buttery” awesome. Use your spoon to smooth out the top and really press the potatoes into a nice firm mound… If right now you’re thinking of Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, you’re on the right track.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until your crust is golden brown and the potato topping has a light crust. Let cool in the pie pan placed on a wire rack for 20 minutes and serve with All-American Vegan Gravy (here).
In our home, mushrooms mean war. Dan doesn’t care for fungi-related foods, but this pilaf is worth fighting for.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
2 tablespoons margarine
1½ cups fresh wild mushroom mix
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup Better Than Bouillon vegan beef broth, made per the instructions on the package
1 tablespoon dry white wine
1 cup cooked pearl barley
½ teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
¼ red onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 tablespoon Bragg’s liquid aminos
2 tablespoons diced fresh parsley
In your cast-iron skillet or sauté pan, heat the margarine over medium heat. Once the margarine is melted, toss in the wild mushroom mix and garlic. Sauté your mushrooms until they just begin to get tender.
Add the broth, white wine, and barley and mix with a metal spatula to make sure your mushrooms continue to cook evenly. Cook like this for 1 minute, and then add the rosemary, thyme, onion, celery, and Bragg’s. Keep lightly mixing your pilaf to make sure it’s cooking evenly.
Your pilaf is ready when your mushrooms are tender. Be careful to not let it cook too long or your barley can get a little pasty. No one likes a pasty pilaf.
Sprinkle with fresh parsley before serving.
When I was growing up, my mom made this dish; she called it “fagioli,” a term she used pretty loosely for any dish with beans. I grew up eating this on nights when no one really wanted to cook. I loved it—especially with a big piece of garlic toast. I loved it for the broccoli… calcium-rich, high-in-fiber, and great-source-of-vitamin-C broccoli. This recipe takes about 10 minutes and tastes like home.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (set some aside to sprinkle over the top)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped vegan chicken
½ cup broccoli florets
½ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (you’re going to use the oil, so keep it)
½ cup kalamata olives, pitted
1 (14-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Vegan Parmesan to sprinkle over the top
In your cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Cook the basil and garlic in the oil for almost 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Stir in your vegan chicken and broccoli, and cook for 1 minute. Toss in the sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and beans, with a tablespoon of the oil from your sun-dried tomatoes. Cook until your vegan chicken is lightly browned and your broccoli is tender. That shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes, maybe 6.
Sprinkle on the vegan Parmesan and reserved chopped fresh basil.
You can use this in burritos or as a side for something fancy, like Vegan Chicken in Mole Sauce (here). We didn’t put it in “The Sidekicks,” though, because I like it by itself with some refried beans mixed in. However you like it, this is one of those recipes you need to have around, and you’ll be surprised by how often you make it.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 sweet onion, diced (we recommend Walla Walla Sweet Onions)
2 teaspoons Bragg’s liquid aminos
¼ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh parsley, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 (8-ounce) can tomato paste
cup white wine
1 large beefsteak tomato, diced
In your always faithful Dutch oven or soup pot with a lid, heat the olive oil over medium heat until warm. Stir in the rice and onion. Once your onion is tender, add the Bragg’s, oregano, chili powder, garlic, parsley, bell pepper, tomato paste, and white wine and reduce the heat to a simmer. Stir to mix the ingredients completely, and then cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until your bell pepper is tender. Stir in the diced tomato, re-cover, and remove from the heat.
Let sit for another 2 minutes and serve warm.
Middle Eastern food is Dan’s absolute favorite ethnic/regional/whatever cuisine. He went to college at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut—home to a branch of Mamoun’s, renowned for having some of the most authentic falafel available in North America. He’s eaten more falafel than just about any other single type of food in his life—so if he says this tabbouleh is delicious, you’d better listen. And he does.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
¾ cup uncooked bulgur
1½ cups chopped fresh parsley
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
4 green onions, diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon crushed pink Himalayan salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon lemon zest
The first step is preparing your bulgur. If you’re like us and buy your bulgur in bulk, you’ll need to prepare it first. Cover your bulgur with cold water in a mixing bowl and let it stand for 30 minutes. Then press out the water with a towel. I’ve noticed, though, that some packaged bulgur instructs you to soak the bulgur in hot water or even to boil it. I recommend following the instructions on your package.
In a glass bowl, mix your cooked bulgur, parsley, tomatoes, green onions, and mint.
In a container that closes tightly, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, and lemon zest, and shake well. Pour the dressing over the bulgur mix and toss in your glass bowl. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for around 1 hour. The longer you let the flavors mix, the better it is.
The fascinating pre-Columbian civilization of the Incas was sort of a mixed bag. Pro: they domesticated quinoa, a nutrition-packed superfood that remains a staple of Andean and other cuisines to this day. Con: lots and lots of human sacrifice. The two really don’t cancel each other out… but let’s focus on the quinoa. It’s one of the best sources of vegan protein out there, as well as being high in fiber and iron. It’s also naturally gluten-free, making it a great option for our gluten-intolerant friends out there. It’s such a powerful source of nutrients that NASA is actually experimenting with quinoa as part of a self-contained sustainable mini-ecosystem that would be used to provide air, water, and food for astronauts on long-range space missions. Yeah, that’s right. Quinoa will conquer the universe.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
2 cups uncooked quinoa
4 cups Better Than Bouillon vegetable broth, made per the instructions on the package
¼ teaspoon crushed pink Himalayan salt
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoons raw almond slices
1 (14-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
¼ cup frozen shelled edamame, defrosted
¼ red bell pepper, shredded
¼ yellow bell pepper, shredded
¼ orange bell pepper, shredded
cup frozen French-cut green beans, defrosted
1 cup Greek Dressing (here)
In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the quinoa, broth, salt, and paprika to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the quinoa is tender. Cool for at least 30 minutes, while mixing with a fork to keep the quinoa from getting clumpy.
In a large bowl, mix the almonds, beans, edamame, peppers, and green beans. Toss the mixture with the Greek Dressing.
In a huge serving bowl, toss the quinoa, beans, and vegetables. Serve immediately. The longer you wait, the more cooked and tender your peppers are going to get. That’s not the end of the world, but I prefer it when they are raw and have a bit of a crunch.
These beans are sort of a mix between Boston baked beans, which are traditionally made with molasses and salt pork, and a more Maine/Quebec-style recipe, which often uses maple syrup. We combined both sweeteners and left out the pork (obviously), replacing it with some liquid smoke to mimic that salty flavor.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
10 to 12 cups water (you might need a little more)
1 cup India Pale Ale beer
2 cups dried cannellini beans (also called Great Northern beans)
cup brown sugar
½ cup blackstrap molasses
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons Bragg’s liquid aminos
1 large red onion, diced
1 to 2 teaspoons liquid smoke (depending how smoky you like it)
Combine 9 cups of the water, the beer, and the dried beans in your cherished Dutch oven, and heat to a boil over medium heat. Don’t cover your pot once it begins to bubble. Boil uncovered for no more than 2 minutes, and then add the brown sugar, molasses, syrup, tomatoes, Bragg’s, and onion. With a wooden spoon, stir your pot until everything is completely blended. Put the lid on your pot, turn your heat down to a simmer, and cook for 4 to 5 hours.
That might seem like a large window, but you’re reanimating those beans, and your other ingredients are cooking down into a syrupy sauce. During this time, you’ll need to check on your pot a few times and add water when you notice it needs it.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Once your beans are tender but before they get mushy, pull your Dutch oven from the stovetop and give it a good stir and a careful taste test. It’ll be hot, so watch your face. I know that technically it’s impossible to watch your face per se, but seriously, be careful. After 4 hours, you get into molten-lava territory.
Stir in 2 to 3 cups of water—depending on how tender your beans are. Also mix in your liquid smoke at this time with a large spoon. Put your uncovered Dutch oven in your heated oven for 1½ to 2 hours. Take it out from time to time to stir and check on the tenderness of your beans and thickness of your sauce. Once you like the status of both those things—you’re good to go!
Oh, Brooklyn… is there anywhere else like it? Almost every culture has a corner in Brooklyn—except maybe Australian Aborigines. If you ever wonder if you should move to Brooklyn, remember that besides the brownstones and hipsters, there’s also a wide variety of takeout available at all hours of the day. We haven’t been to China yet, so I can’t tell you that this is an authentic Chinese vegan fried rice, but I can tell you that this recipe is right at home in Brooklyn.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
½ cup tamari
4 tablespoons rice wine
½ teaspoon ginger paste
2 to 4 tablespoons sesame oil
1 cup defrosted and chopped vegan chicken
½ (16-ounce) package firm tofu
4 cups cooked rice, chilled
3 cloves garlic, minced
cup shredded carrots
¼ yellow onion, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 small can water chestnuts, drained and sliced
½ cup frozen peas
½ cup fresh pea pods
3 to 4 green onions, chopped
In a small bowl, whisk together the tamari, rice wine, and ginger paste until completely blended.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the sesame oil in a wok over medium heat. Once your oil is hot, toss in your vegan chicken and stir-fry until the edges are crispy. Once your vegan chicken is a light golden brown, move it to a plate with a paper towel to soak up the extra oil.
In another bowl, use a fork to gently mash your tofu into small chunks. Make sure you don’t make them too small. You don’t want your tofu to become a paste or smaller than the grains of rice.
Very carefully add a few teaspoons of sesame oil to the hot wok if the vegan chicken soaked it all up. Toss your tofu bits in the hot oil to fry until the edges are crispy. Move your fried tofu over to the plate with the vegan chicken and place the tofu on top of the vegan chicken.
Again add a tablespoon of sesame oil to the hot wok—very carefully! You don’t want any splattering hot oil to burn your arms and face off. Now toss the rice, garlic, carrots, onion, celery, water chestnuts, and peas into the hot wok and begin to stir-fry. Pour ½ of the tamari mixture over the rice and veggies and continue to stir-fry. Then add the pea pods, vegan chicken, and tofu and stir-fry some more. You want to really get everything mixed in there. Pour the remaining tamari mixture over the top and keep stir-frying until your carrots and pea pods are tender but still a little crisp.
Serve hot, with a sprinkling of green onions over the top, while wearing a plaid shirt, and Converse.