Vegan *Chicken* & Dumplings

It's winter in Texas, which means we have random cold weather sprinkled into the normal January days. Time for some comfort food! Daddio requested chicken & dumplings, and instead of my regular recipe I decided to try something new. I used the instant pot and the stove top, mainly because I was running behind (what's new?) and wanted to speed the process. With some very minor adjustments, this stove top recipe turned into a mixed IP/stovetop meal.

Ingredients:

3-4 carrots, sliced
3-4 ribs of celery, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 white potatoes, large dice
1/2 t rosemary
1/2 t thyme
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper, freshly ground
1 bay leaf
3 Not Chick'n bouillon cubes (divided)
6 c water (divided)
seitan (rinse and chop to preferred size)
8 oz white mushrooms, rough chop
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c corn meal (I prefer Bob's Coarse Grind for texture)
1 T baking powder
2 T parsley (optional)
1 1/2 c almond milk

Place the following in the Instant Pot and give a stir. Set pot to 5 minutes at high pressure. Manual release.
3-4 carrots, sliced
3-4 ribs of celery, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 white potatoes, large dice
1/2 t rosemary
1/2 t thyme
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper, freshly ground
1 bay leaf
2 Not Chick'n bouillon cubes
3 c water (enough to just cover veggies in the IP)

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While the IP is working its magic, bring the following to a simmer on the stove top in a large soup pot:

seitan (rinse and chop to preferred size)
8 oz white mushrooms, rough chop
1 Not Chick'n bouillon cube
2 c water

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After manual release of pressure, pour contents of IP into soup pot on stove top, add 1 cup of water ( for a total of 2 cup per bouillon cube). Bring this to a boil.

While soup is coming to boil on the stovetop, mix dumpling batter:

1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c corn meal (I prefer Bob's Coarse Grind for texture)
1 T baking powder
2 T parsley (optional)
1 1/2 c almond milk

When soup is boiling, drop batter by spoonfuls into soup. DO NOT STIR. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. DO NOT STIR. (PS: It is inadvisable to stir, even though you really, really want to. Trust!)

Serve immediately, but also makes for good leftovers!


Some notes worth mentioning:

-I am not a fan of meat substitutes, but like to try them from time to time in certain recipes since we have omnivorous friends & family over for meals often. My family liked the seitan in this dish, but we likely won't use it again unless we make this for non-family members.

-I enjoyed the potatoes in this soup, but I also like my dumpling base to be creamier instead of brothy (is that a word?). Next time, I may add one more potato but mash it to try to adjust the consistency of the broth.

-Served with a hearty green salad (leaf lettuce and spinach) topped with hard boiled eggs for a protein and B vitamin boost.

And that's what it's all about!

In our homeschool co-op, Sunshine is taking a class in which each student has to complete a 20 minute presentation on a topic of his/her choice.  Today was Sunshine's day to present.  Their teacher instructed them to choose something they felt passionate about.  Sunshine chose...veganism!  :)  We were very proud of her informative presentation and her passion for veganism.

She spent 3 weeks doing research and organizing her notes, prepared a PowerPoint presentation, and then decided that she wanted to share some vegan food with her friends.  After all, most people assume that vegan food is nasty.  She wanted to prove otherwise, so she armed herself with chocolate chip cookies.  YUM!  We've made these at least 4 times in the past (almost) 7 weeks.  They come together easily and are delicious!  (I've had several non-vegan friends ask for this recipe, too!)

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/4 c. flour (I have used 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 c. Earth Balance "butter"
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
replacer for 2 eggs (either 1/4 c. applesauce per egg or Ener-G Egg Replacer)
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift flour, salt, and baking soda into a large bowl.  In a separate bowl cream "butter", sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and "egg".  Add dry ingredients and stir until combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Drop teaspoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet.  Bake 8-10 minutes until edges are golden.

Recipe Review: Lentil Tacos

A couple days ago our family decided to go vegan.  A vegan is someone who doesn't eat anything produced by an animal (eggs, milk, cheese, meat, and animal fat).  The very first night we ate lentil tacos.  I wasn't sure how it would taste  Usually, our mom makes tacos that have beef or turkey and cheese, which we couldn't have.  Instead, we substituted lentils for beef, and soy-based cheese instead of dairy.  It was delicious, just like a regular taco!  It did have a yummy twist though, because of the lentils.  They had a smooth texture and slightly different flavor than beef.

I was afraid that I would miss the flavor of the foods that we're used to eating.  I think it's just a matter of finding delicious substitutes, like lentil beans and soy-based cheese.  It may be different but it still tastes great!

Written by Sunshine, age 13.

Lentil Taco

Lentil Tacos

Recipe by Moma

Ingredients

* 1 cup finely chopped onion
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 1 teaspoon canola oil
* 1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth*
* 1 cup salsa
* 12 taco shells/tortillas
* 1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
* 1 cup chopped fresh tomato
* soy-based, dairy free cheese

Directions

1. In a large nonstick skillet, saute the onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the lentils, chili powder, cumin and oregano; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Uncover; cook for 6-8 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Mash lentils slightly.  (To be totally honest, I usually have to add more broth and let it continue simmering to get the lentils to the consistency we like.)
2. Stir in salsa. Spoon about 1/4 cup lentil mixture into each taco shell. Top with lettuce, tomato, cheese and Tofutti sour cream.

*I used homemade veggie broth:  I added about 1/2 onion, 3 cloves garlic, 4 bay leaves, a cup of broccoli, two cups of carrots, and a head of celery to a large stock pot.  Cover with water and bring to a boil.  Cover pot, reduce to a simmer, let cook for an hour.  Strain veggies for purée, remaining liquid is your veggie broth.  Add salt and white pepper as desired.