I finally, FINALLY came across vegan spring roll wrappers in a local grocery store! All the wrappers I had seen before contained egg; these contain flour, coconut oil, and salt — that’s it. Time to whip out the Fry Daddy!
I had never made fried spring rolls before, but back when I was 17 I cut out a recipe from our local newspaper, and I still had that yellowing slip of paper in my recipe binder. I swore one day I would get around to making them, and today it was finally time to get on a roll (doh)!
The filling is a mix of blanched cabbage, carrot, and mung bean sprouts mixed with fried onion and cellophane noodles. The wrappers were easy to work with and needed just a nudge to stay sealed when they first went in the fryer.
The dipping sauce is a mix of sugar, vinegar, and sweet chile sauce from the Asian market.
Below the spring rolls we have my other recent discovery at the grocery store: enoki mushrooms, roasted in olive oil and tied with green onion stems. I placed the enoki bundles (they look like sheaves of wheat to me, wouldn’t that be cute in a harvest-themed lunch box?) on a bed of brown rice. A serving of Japanese Spinach (from Vegan Lunch Box) is along the base.
Verdict: My husband was thrilled with the sudden appearance of a deep fryer in our kitchen this morning (it’s just on loan from mom, so don’t get used to it). He ate at least four rolls for breakfast at 6:00am before heading out for work. At lunchtime, he showed off his lunch and reports the rolls and sundry were fantastic. The mushrooms, however, were a bit chewy. 4 stars.
I’ve managed to check off at least a couple of things from my list. The Sauteed Seitan with Mushrooms and Spinach from Veganomicon made for a fairly simple but very delicious meal a few nights ago (sorry, no pictures of that one). I also went back to the test kitchen with my seitan patties this past weekend. This time it was for sort of a chorizo style, seasoned with smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, cayenne, fennel seed and garlic. And once I made the seitan the idea for this quinoa dish started formulating. Actually it was going to be a rice dish but we were out of white rice and I didn’t feel like waiting for brown rice, so quinoa made a fine substitution. Here’s how it went down.
1 lb. seitan
3 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 med. onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
pinch saffron
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
3/4 c. water
1 c. quinoa
1-2 c. broccoli florets
1/2 c. frozen peas
salt & pepper to taste
Short version: cook onion in 1 Tbs. olive oil; add garlic, thyme, paprika, saffron. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Meanwhile chop the seitan and fry in 2 Tbs. olive oil until nice and brown. Stir into the quinoa at the end.
I had a bunch of random thoughts concerning dinner final evening. 1 – it is fall, I am craving soup. Two – I wish to arrive house from swimming and have dinner instantly simply because all of us will probably be cold and hungry. 3 – I’ve a 4 lb bag of chana dal in the cupboard. Four – It has to become some thing wholesome simply because I am attempting to shed a couple of pounds to create running simpler. Following scouring the interwebs to discover the ideal recipe, I gave up and morphed a number of the much better types into 1 to fit the elements that I had and the degree of blandness that was needed (following producing 1 rather surprisingly volcanic Tofu Vindaloo this week, I needed to redeem myself). The outcomes had been tasty, really wholesome and created sufficient for the entire street (or to freeze for long term fast Friday evening meals).
Pardon the photo, but I was halfway through my bowl before I realized I might want a pic.
Golden Crockpot Split Chickpea Soup
2 tblsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 lb chana dal (split chickpeas), rinsed
4 cups veggie broth (I used a 1L asceptic package that I bought on sale for $1.99)
4 cups water
2/3 cup Thai red rice (could substitute brown rice)
sea salt and pepper to taste
THE NIGHT BEFORE
Chop the veggies
THE MORNING OF
Saute the onions in olive oil until soft. Add the other veggies and saute for a few minutes. Add to the crockpot along with the dal. Add the veggie broth and water. Turn on low and cook for around four hours.
AT LUNCH/WHENEVER YOU CAN
Add the rice. Cook for another 2-4 hours. Add more water if it looks thick. I ended up adding more 2 cups.
AT DINNER
Stir and serve. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Vege Island