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Useful tips:
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Scrambled Tofu
Eggplant Medallions
TVP Kebab
TVP Stuffed Buns
TVP Stuffed Artichokes
Nut and Grain Loaf
Tempeh Kebab
Happy Tuna Medallions
Eggless Omelette
Bean Salad
Chole Gobhi
Lentils
Veg Burger
Missing Egg Salad
Tofu pouches Falafel |
Scrambled Tofu
Buy or prepare about 400 gr tofu and crumble it. Stir fry the tofu with a couple tomatoes and one bell pepper (all diced), 2 spoons oil (maize oil is best), a little salt and assorted herbs: oregano, marjoram, thyme. Serve with toasted bread.
Eggplant Medallions
Choose large eggplants with a regular round shape, and cut them in thin slices. Keep the odd pieces for some other recipe. Prepare a thick batter with 100 gr chickpea flour, 50 gr whole wheat flour, 100 gr tofu, salt, baking soda, spices and warm water. Dip the eggplant slices into the batter, then pass them quickly in bread crumbs and shallow fry them on both sides until they are golden brown. Serve hot with sauce.
TVP Kebab
Prepare the TVP chunks as per the basic recipe, then skew them with grilled vegetables (zucchini, eggplant, tomato, bell pepper, etc). Heat the skewers in the oven for 10 minutes and serve with rice.
TVP Stuffed Buns
Use the basic recipe to prepare the TVP chunks, then chop them and heat again with 2 spoons tomato sauce and 2 spoons milk cream. Cut a lid off a few buns, remove the soft inside and fill each bun with the TVP mix. Sprinkle with parmesan and heat in oven for a few minutes.
TVP Stuffed Artichokes
Use the basic recipe for the TVP chunks to prepare 100 gr of TVP grits. Clean and trim 1 kg large artichokes, then pre-cook them for a few minutes either in the microwave or by steaming them. Scoop out the center of the artichokes and discard. Chop the soft parts of the stems and let them cook for about 5 minutes with the TVP grits. After cooking, add 2 spoons of chopped parsley, 2 spoons bread crumbs, 2 spoons crumbled tofu. Mix well and stuff the artichokes with the mixture. Sprinkle the remaining mixture over the artichokes, douse them with a little oil and water (or vegetable stock) then bake for about 20 minutes.
Nut and Grain Loaf
Mix 2 cups of boiled grains (rice, wheat, millet etc) with 2 cups of ground peanuts. You can also add 1 cup of tofu or ricotta cheese. Add chopped celery, leek, carrot, or other seasonal vegetable of your choice. Season with salt, nutmeg, cloves, black pepper, and 2 spoons of soya sauce. Add 2 spoons of chickpea flour and 2 spoons of bread crumbs, mix well and press the mixture in a mold. Bake at 150 C for about 50 minutes, and let is cool well before slicing.
Tempeh Kebab
Cut 300 gr tempeh in cubes and marinade them in Teriyaki sauce for about 2 hours. Here is how you make a Teriyaki sauce: mix 3 spoons of miso, 3 spoons tamari, 2 spoons sesame oil, 1 chopped leek, 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger, a pinch of yellow mustard powder, 2 spoons molasses or demerara sugar. If you don't use garlic, you can substitute it with a pinch of hing powder. After marinading the tempeh cubes, quickly roast them in a non-stick pan, then skew them with assorted vegetables (tomato, bell pepper, zucchini) and bread cubes. Now sprinkle the rest of the marinade over the skewers and grill them for a few minutes before serving.
Basic Seitan dish
Take 3 kgs of whole wheat flour, add one spoon of salt and mix in sufficient water to make a dough. Knead it very well for at least 15 minutes, until the dough feels very elastic. Let it rest for 30 minutes. Knead it again for a few minutes, then let it rest for 30 minutes more in a big container full of water: the dough must be completely submerged. After 30 minutes start kneading the dough INSIDE the water to dissolve the starch. In the beginning it will seem that the entire thing is going to dissolve, but the gluten will stay. Change the water often, washing the dough again and again in the container full of fresh water. When the water remains almost clear after kneading the gluten mass, you have your seitan. Boil the mass in plain water or vegetable stock, then allow it to cool and cut in the shape you need before using it in your recipes. The most basic recipe can be prepared by roasting seitan slices in a little oil and soya sauce (tamari or shoyu), and serving with a garnish - lemon wedges and chopped parsley for example. However, home-made seitan can be used as a meat substitute for almost any preparation, because by varying the amount of starch left in the dough you can obtain softer or harder textures. The more starch, the softer the result. By mixing two different seitan doughs of a softer and harder consistencies before boiling the lump, you can also obtain a varied texture in the final result. Regarding the color, you can have darker seitan if you boil the dough in vegetable stock with miso or soya sauce, or a lighter variety if you use vegetable stock. You can have almost white seitan by boiling the dough with water and milk or soya milk. The shape can be obtained by wrapping the dough in a kitchen cloth and tying with cotton thread for boiling. The flavor can also be varied by adding various spices and ingredients in the boiling liquid, for example: - for "venison" taste, add juniper berries, bay leaf and myrtle, fennel seeds and black cumin, - for "chicken" taste, add a paste of sesame seeds, one chopped leek, and vegetable stock
Happy Tuna Medallions
After preparing the basic seitan by boiling the dough in strong vegetable stock, cut round slices and slightly roast them in a little oil or margarine. Prepare the Happy Tuna Sauce: soak 200 gr whole chickpeas for the night, then liquidize them (without cooking) with sufficient water to make a cream. Gradually add 1 large cup of tomato puree, 2 spoons capers (if preserved in salt, adjust the salt later), a good pinch of hing (or garlic powder, if you use it), 1 teaspoon turmeric, half teaspoon of ginger powder, a pinch of red cayenne pepper. Melt 2 spoons of butter or margarine in a non-stick pan, and pour in the chickpea cream, cook on a low flame, stirring constantly, until the cream thickens. Separately make an Eggless Mayonnaise: blend 100 gr ricotta cheese or tofu with 100 gr milk cream or thick soya milk, 100 gr oil, the juice of 2 lemons, a little salt, a pinch of yellow mustard powder. Mix the two sauces, cover the seitan slices and decorate with chopped parsley, capers and pickled cucumbers.
Eggless Omelette
Prepare a thin batter with 100 gr chickpea flour (besan), 100 gr wheat flour, one cup of yogurt or soya milk, 10 gr fresh baker's yeast, and 100 gr of ricotta, mozzarella or tofu. Add salt, half teaspoon turmeric, a pinch of hing, a pinch of nutmeg, a pinch of red cayenne pepper or chilli powder. Blend very well and let rest for 10 minutes at least. Prepare a filling of your choice: chopped tomatoes, tofu and fresh herbs, melting cheese, etc. Heat a dab of butter or margarine in a non-stick pan and pour a ladle of batter; let the omelette cook on one side, then flip over and spread the filling on one side. After 2 minutes fold the omelette, press slightly to seal, and let cook for another 2 minutes. Flip over the folded omelette to finish cooking on the other side.
Bean Salad
A typical high-protein dish for a hot summer day. Soak and boil 300 gr cannellini beans in the pressure cooker until they are tender (do not add salt). Drain well. Toss in a salad bowl with chopped tomatoes, leeks, celery and parsley. You can also add lettuce, cucumbers etc. Season with extra virgin olive oil, salt, lemon juice and black pepper, and serve cold with toasted bread cubes for a more complete meal.
Chhole Gobhi
Beans of all kinds, chickpeas and lentils are the most concentrated sources of vegetable proteins, richer than any non-vegetarian food. Chickpeas are easily digestible, especially if they have sprouted for one day or two before cooking. Soak and sprout 300 gr of whole chickpeas for two day (see the basic recipe for sprouts). Prepare 200 gr cauliflower, 200 gr potatoes in cubes. Heat a pressure cooker with one spoon oil or clarified butter, and stir fry one spoon of grated fresh ginger, 2 small fresh chillies, and half teaspoon cumin seeds. Add the sprouted chickpeas, the vegetables, salt, half teaspoon turmeric, a pinch coriander powder, and a cup of water. Close the lid and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the fire and let sit until the pressure has gone down. You can garnish with 2 spoons of fresh yogurt or 1 spoon of lemon jiuce, and 1 spoon of chopped coriander leaves.
Lentils
Soak 300 gr red or brown lentils for at least 2 hours, then cook them in pressure cooker with water, 1 cup of tomato puree, one pinch of hing, half teaspoon turmeric, one bay leaf. After 10 minutes cooking, let the pressure go down, then open the pot, add salt and finish cooking, reducing the liquid to your liking. At the time of serving, add a dab of butter or margarine.
Tofu Pouches
Cut the well drained tofu in big chunks, then deep fry in hot oil. Let the pieces cool, then cut them and scoop out some of the inside. Fill the pouches with stewed vegetables (spinach is great), then bake for a few minutes before serving.
Veg Burger
Vegetarian hamburgers can be made with a variety of ingredients, such as rice and other grain cereals, tapioca, cereal flakes, vegetables, beans, potatoes, nuts, cheese of all kinds, textured soya protein, seitan, tofu, okara, tempeh, are some of the ideas you can experiment with. The only important thing you must remember is to add a small quantity of chickpea flour to keep the whole thing from falling apart at the time of cooking the burger. For this purpose, you can use chickpea flour in various proportions in all the salty dishes which usually required eggs to keep the whole thing together while cooking.
Try this mix: - one cup of boiled rice, one cup of boiled millet - two boiled potatoes or 200 gr of steamed pumpkin - one cup of red beetroot, boiled or baked, grated - half a cup of cooked beans, mashed - half a cup of bread crumbs - four tablespoons sesame seeds, slightly roasted - half a cup of chickpea flour - two tablespoons of natural soya sauce - two tablespoons of chopped parsley - nutmeg, chili pepper,salt to taste
Make patties and deep fry them in sunflower oil. Prepare the each bread bun or roll with a lettuce leaf, a tomato slice, a thin slice of cheese, a spoon of your favorite sauce (eggless mayonnaise, ketchup, yellow mustard sauce etc), and/or your favorite garnish. Slide a veg burger in, cover and serve.
Missing Egg Salad
Crumble 200 gr fresh tofu, chop celery, cucumber, ripe but firm tomato, boiled carrots and green peas. Cover with "Eggless Mayonnaise" and serve with lettuce leaves and toasted bread.
Falafel
Soak and boil 200 gr chickpeas, drain and mash them with a large boiled potato, 100 gr fresh cottage cheese or tofu, 2 spoons chickpea flour, one or two hot chili peppers (if you like them), a small bunch of chopped parsley, salt to taste. Make small balls and deep fry them in hot sunflower oil. Serve sprinkled with lemon juice.
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Useful Tips
The Textured Vegetable Protein comes in different shapes, but the cubes or chunks are the easiest to use. Boil them in plain water for about 3 minutes, then let them cool in the water, and finally squeeze them to eliminate the excess water. Stir fry them in a pan with 2 spoons oil, 2 spoons of soya sauce (tamari or shoyu), and assorted herbs: juniper, rosmary, sage, thyme, bay leaf. Press the chunks with the spoon so that they absorb the condiment, then let cool before you proceed with other recipes. This basic recipe is good enough in itself, served for example with mashed potatoes and stewed carrots. However, it can become the main ingredient for a number of other very interesting recipes, also as a meat substitute. For example, you can chop the chunks very finely and use them as a filling for tortellini or other classic recipes.
Wash 500 gr yellow soya beans and soak them for about 3 to 6 hours (depending on the room temperature). This stage is important because all beans and seeds, if left soaking too long, start to ferment (you may notice very small bubbles of carbon dioxide). This is not bad when you want to boil beans and seeds because actually a slight fermentation helps cooking and digesting the seeds, but if you want to make milk out of seeds, fermentation will cause the proteins to separate before you can strain out the liquid from the pulp. To avoid fermentation you can soak the beans in the fridge overnight. When the beans are ready drain, rinse and grind them very finely with a little fresh water. The ground beans must be a very smooth cream; the smoother the cream, the larger quantity of tofu you will get compared to the bran (okara) you will be left with in the end. If you like, you can husk the beans before grinding them; the okara will be less and the quality of the tofu will be better. While you grind the yellow soya beans in the blender, prepare a large pot with about two liters of water and bring it to a boil; pour the soya cream into the boiling water and stir well; cook for about 2 minutes (or 5 minutes if you want to consume the milk directly instead of making tofu), always stirring, then let it cool down, covering the pot. It is better to pour the bean cream into boiling water than diluting it before and then heating, because creamed seeds tend to stick to the bottom of the pot -- boiling water avoids this and at the same time cooking starts earlier and you won't need to keep heating the soya cream for a long time. Prepare a muslin cloth and line a large colander over a large pot. Pour the cooked diluted cream into it, pressing and squeezing as much as you can: the strained liquid is soya milk, while the dry pulp remaining in the cloth is called okara and can be used for fillings and other recipes.
Mix equal quantities of cooled okara, steamed rice, a little chickpea flour and chopped parsley, then deep fry in soya oil -- everyone will mistake them for fish patties!
Take the soya milk and heat it again until it starts to boil, then turn the flame off and add salt and the curdling agent, little by little, stirring very gently, until you see that the milk starts to curdle, forming "clouds" of casein in the "clear sky" of whey. Then cover the pot and allow to cool down for about 10 minutes. Rinse the muslin cloth you used for straining the soya milk and use it for straining the tofu by ladling the curdles very gently into the colander. When only whey is left in the pot, strain it separately and add to the curds whatever solids you can. Tie the cloth in a bundle and hang it over the sink. The whey can be used to wash pots and dishes, as it contains some substances which remove grease (some lecithin and saponin). After one or two hours the tofu will be firm enough to be diced or sliced.
Wheat gluten is the protein of wheat and is not soluble in water. Starch, on the other hand, is the carbohydrate component of wheat and is about 70% in volume of wheat flour. While making seitan, the starch contained in wheat flour is washed away, so if you do not have animals who can feed on this starchy water or you don't have the time, space and disposition to process the starchy water to recover the starch and use it for some other recipes, it is advisable that for large quantities of seitan you try to get some wheat gluten in powdered form, or some ready-made seitan. Starch producers already separate gluten from starch with an industrial process, so you can research one of them who can sell you wheat gluten in powdered form. In this way you will not have to lose the starch in the process. If you find wheat gluten powder everything will be much easier: just mix the gluten powder with one tenth plain flour, a teaspoon of salt and knead it with a little water. No need for washing, just boil the mass and you'll have seitan ready for the further preparation (a lot of time saved, too!). If you can't find gluten powder and you can utilize the starch water in some other way (it is very good for a soothing bath in the summer and for delicate skins, by the way) make your own. See the basic recipe.
Do not consume an excessive quantity of proteins in your daily diet. In fact, a grown adult requires only 1 gm of protein for each kg of his or her own bodily weight. Many vegetarian ingredients contain a good percentage of protein, so a vegetarian does not need to eat a greater quantity of foods. Foods with a very high percentage of protein, like beans for example, should be consumed in small quantities and not every day. Twice a week is generally enough to maintain a good health balance. Consider that soya TVP for example, contains about 55% of protein, against the average meat contents of proteins of only 28%. Chickpea flour (also called besan) contains about 30% protein, and all pulses and legumes contain a minimum of 25% protein on their wet weight. Milk products like panir contain from 20 to 30% of their weight in protein (the drier is the cheese, the more concentrated is the protein). Nuts also contain a high percentage of proteins, as for example the peanuts, with 28% of their weight. Wheat gluten (seitan) can contain up to 70% protein, so use is sparingly and rarely. Tempeh and tofu also contain a good percentage of proteins (about 35%), and when used with soya sauce they supply a large amount of B vitamins. Soya beans and peanuts also contain all the essential amminoacids required by our body. Other vegetable protein sources can be combined together to supply the complete range of required amminoacids: for example whole grains and legumes, as in many traditional staple recipes. Also, remember to calculate the small amount of proteins that are contained in almost all vegetarian dishes - they also add up! Wheat contains about 12% proteins (and so do bread, pasta, crackers etc), and even small amount of cheese and milk products used in veggies, soups and other dishes can be sufficient for your diet without scheduling high-protein dishes in your menu. For expectant mothers and children, the recommended daily allowance of protein is higher than the normal maintenance diet, so you can consume high protein dishes daily, but not at every meal. For a better digestion, do not mix different types of proteins together: for example, avoid consuming beans and cheese in the same meal. Also, do not take fruits or sweets, cucumbers or bell peppers with a high protein meal, because they do not sit well together in the stomach.
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