Vegan Supreme with Special Sauce
Mar. 24th, 2008 10:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snugglekittyMy goal: to make the best vegan meal I've ever made. (I'm enough of a realist not to have hoped to make the best vegan meal I've ever tasted. I'm good, but not that good.)
My inspiration: Hangawi, the vegan Asian restaurant in NYC I visited last October. (Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
trouble4hire for tracking it down.)
My grade: A+!
I often wish that meals with multiple components had their recipes broken down into their components, so I've done that here. They are listed in order of cooking time, so if you're making the whole thing, do the first part first, etc.
The Base
1/2 cup dry lentils
3/4 cup dry quinoa
water
high-quality veggie stock
Start by cooking the lentils in veggie stock. They will take the longest. When the lentils are nearly done, about an hour and a half later, start cooking the quinoa in water in another pan. When both are cooked through, combine them.
Triple-S Mushroom Gravy
2 T sesame oil
1 t ground sesame seeds
2 T soy sauce
1 T sunflower nut butter (almond would also work)
flour
3 kinds of mushrooms (I used half a box each of fresh shitake, crimini, and portabella. Dry would work as well.)
veggie stock
onion
1 t brown sugar (optional)
Chop onion finely. Sautee in sesame oil over low heat until carmalized. If desired, you can add a bit of brown sugar to speed the process along. When onions are carmalized, add soy sauce and half of the mushrooms.
In another pan, make a roux with veggie stock and flour. When it begins to thicken, add half of the mushrooms and the sunflower butter. When mushrooms have begun to cook and the texture of the roux is consistent, add the roux to the onion mixture.
The Stiry-Fry
olive oil
1 onion
2 small heads organic broccoli
1 small bunch organic red kale
minced garlic
red wine
soy sauce
Heat olive oil in a large sautee pan or wok. Cut the onion into slices. Add onion and minced garlic to pan. After removing lower part of broccoli stem, slice remainder of stem into small pieces. Cut head into florets. Add broccoli stem then florets to pan. Remove stem of kale and discard. When broccoli is mostly cooked, add kale. Add additional oil as needed to keep vegetables from sticking to pan. Cook until tender. Season with soy sauce and red wine.
Finishing
Into each bowl, serve a scoop of quinoa/lentil mixture. Add a generous ladle of mushroom gravy. Top with stir fry. Serve hot.
Serves six. Serve green tea as an accompaniment.
ETA: Next Time
Next time I would start the gravy before the stir fry. The stir fry was actually done before anything else. Next time I would use more exotic mushrooms - I'd keep the shitake but try oysters and woodears as the other two (or maybe those tiny little stringy ones I can't remember the name of).trouble4hire suggested the red wine would have been good in the gravy, and I suspect she's right. I will definitely make this again.
Substitutions
This dish is already 100% vegan, yay! If you don't like mushrooms, you could use marinated firm tofu instead. If soy is a problem for you, substitute rice wine vinegar for soy sauce. Almond butter has a similar earthy flavor to that of sunflowers, so it would also work. If you use peanut butter, it should be natural, creamy, and unsweetened.
My inspiration: Hangawi, the vegan Asian restaurant in NYC I visited last October. (Thanks to
trouble4hire for tracking it down.)My grade: A+!
I often wish that meals with multiple components had their recipes broken down into their components, so I've done that here. They are listed in order of cooking time, so if you're making the whole thing, do the first part first, etc.
The Base
1/2 cup dry lentils
3/4 cup dry quinoa
water
high-quality veggie stock
Start by cooking the lentils in veggie stock. They will take the longest. When the lentils are nearly done, about an hour and a half later, start cooking the quinoa in water in another pan. When both are cooked through, combine them.
Triple-S Mushroom Gravy
2 T sesame oil
1 t ground sesame seeds
2 T soy sauce
1 T sunflower nut butter (almond would also work)
flour
3 kinds of mushrooms (I used half a box each of fresh shitake, crimini, and portabella. Dry would work as well.)
veggie stock
onion
1 t brown sugar (optional)
Chop onion finely. Sautee in sesame oil over low heat until carmalized. If desired, you can add a bit of brown sugar to speed the process along. When onions are carmalized, add soy sauce and half of the mushrooms.
In another pan, make a roux with veggie stock and flour. When it begins to thicken, add half of the mushrooms and the sunflower butter. When mushrooms have begun to cook and the texture of the roux is consistent, add the roux to the onion mixture.
The Stiry-Fry
olive oil
1 onion
2 small heads organic broccoli
1 small bunch organic red kale
minced garlic
red wine
soy sauce
Heat olive oil in a large sautee pan or wok. Cut the onion into slices. Add onion and minced garlic to pan. After removing lower part of broccoli stem, slice remainder of stem into small pieces. Cut head into florets. Add broccoli stem then florets to pan. Remove stem of kale and discard. When broccoli is mostly cooked, add kale. Add additional oil as needed to keep vegetables from sticking to pan. Cook until tender. Season with soy sauce and red wine.
Finishing
Into each bowl, serve a scoop of quinoa/lentil mixture. Add a generous ladle of mushroom gravy. Top with stir fry. Serve hot.
Serves six. Serve green tea as an accompaniment.
ETA: Next Time
Next time I would start the gravy before the stir fry. The stir fry was actually done before anything else. Next time I would use more exotic mushrooms - I'd keep the shitake but try oysters and woodears as the other two (or maybe those tiny little stringy ones I can't remember the name of).
trouble4hire suggested the red wine would have been good in the gravy, and I suspect she's right. I will definitely make this again.Substitutions
This dish is already 100% vegan, yay! If you don't like mushrooms, you could use marinated firm tofu instead. If soy is a problem for you, substitute rice wine vinegar for soy sauce. Almond butter has a similar earthy flavor to that of sunflowers, so it would also work. If you use peanut butter, it should be natural, creamy, and unsweetened.