Indonesian Satay Sandwiches with Peanut Sauce

This recipe is from the cookbook Quick-Fix Vegan by Robin Robertson.

Recipe: see page 119 of Quick-Fix Vegan.

This is another really good recipe in Quick-Fix Vegan that is fast to prepare. Satay is a traditional Indonesian meal consisting of skewered meat, kind of like a kebab. In this vegan version, chicken-flavored seitan (I used Trader Joe's Chicken-Less Strips) is cooked in a frying pan then covered in a  sweet and spicy peanut sauce. The sauce thickens up and becomes very sticky. The seitan is then served on a pita or flatbread along with shredded carrot, cabbage and tomato.

That peanut sauce is outstanding and really makes this dish.  The sweetness makes the seitan taste like candy.

Ingredients: pitas (or flatbread, flour tortilla, lavash), seitan, cabbage, carrot, tomato, garlic, creamy peanut butter, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, light brown sugar, Sriracha sauce, vegetable broth, vegetable oil, black pepper.

Vegan "Steak" Sandwich

This recipe is from Vegan Sandwiches Save The Day by Tamasin Noyes and Celine Steen.

Recipe: see page 99 of Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day.

This is the second seitan recipe I've made from Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day, and again I was worried about the outcome since my track record with seitan is awful. So I was pleasantly surprised this turned out so well.

This is actually two recipes from the book: the Moo-Free Seitan on page 180, and the Pittsburgh Steak Sandwich on page 99. There is a two-step process to making this seitan before you even get to assembling the sandwich, so the time-factor can be a little intimidating. First, the loaf of seitan is cooked in the oven or slow-cooker for a few hours, then it is cooled and sliced and the slices are baked in a broth.

During that second step the seitan absorbs the flavors of the broth, and a lot of the liquid evaporates. What's left are sandwich slices with intense flavors. I don't know if I would say it tastes like what I remember of steak, but it certainly has a meaty flavor. By itself, the slices were pretty good, though fairly salty. But it tastes much better in the sandwich where there are the additional flavors of the ciabbata rolls, tomato, lettuce, avocado and vegan mayonnaise.

It seems like a lot of work, but it tastes good, and the recipe makes 4 jumbo sandwiches.

In the book, there is a sidebar on this recipe that notes these can be a little messy, and I found that to be true. I've made this recipe twice and the ciabatta rolls fell apart on every sandwich.


Ingredients:
(for seitan and cooking broth) vital wheat gluten, soy flour, nutritional yeast, onion powder, paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, vegetable broth, tamari, ketchup, liquid smoke, garlic, onion.

(for baking broth) vegetable broth, vegan red wine, balsamic vinegar, tamari, vegan Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper

(for sandwiches) vegan mayonnaise, garlic, pepper, ciabatta rolls, lettuce, tomato, avocado

Retro KFC-Style Sandwiches

This recipe is from Vegan Sandwiches Save The Day by Tamasin Noyes and Celine Steen.

Recipe: see page 95 of Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day.
Oh mercy, this was a really tasty recipe.

I wasn't expecting much because I've never successfully made seitan. It always comes out kind of spongy, and it feels like I am eating a chicken-flavored sponge. Usually I just buy Trader Joe's Chickenless Strips, which are vegan, but the taste is very bland. Happily, this is now my go-to recipe for chicken-flavored seitan.

These sandwiches consist of two recipes from the book. Before you make the sandwiches, you need to make the faux-chicken No Cluck Cutlets on page 181. There is a lot of flavor in these. Part of it is in the dough, and then it is baked in broth where more is absorbed.

According to the book, these can be stored in the fridge for up to a week or put in the freezer for up to three months. The recipe makes 10 cutlets that are about 4 inches wide after cooking. I thought they were too small after I rolled them out, but after they baked in the broth they expanded to sandwich size.

The cutlets are then dredged in a spicy batter made from nondairy milk, flour and herbs, then covered with crumbled cornflakes and fried in a pan. That gives the cutlets a crispy coating, which contrasts nicely with the chewiness of the chicken-flavored seitan. These go on sandwich buns along with lettuce, tomato and a sauce that is made from vegan mayonnaise, pickle and red onion.

One of the things I noticed about the recipes in this book (I've made 8 so far), is that they tend to have BOLD flavors, and that's definitely the case here. It's fairly spicy (cayenne), and it has that strong chicken-flavor (McKay's Vegan Special Chicken Style Instant Broth and Seasoning is the bouillon I used).

I still enjoyed these the next day, after they were reheated, but the best way is to eat them fresh, right after they have been fried and the coating is still crispy. The cornflake coating loses the crunchiness after being in the fridge, but still tastes pretty good.

I'm a little afraid to figure out the sodium in each sandwich, because I know that is going to be a little high.  So I might not have these on a regular basis because of that, but just based on taste, I'd say this is another winner from Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day.

Ingredients:
(for sauce) vegan mayonnaise (Vegenaise used here), red onion, dill pickle, ume plum vinegar, white pepper.

(for seitan) vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, chickpea flour, soy flour, garlic, onion powder, white pepper, vegetable broth, dry white wine, olive oil, vegan chicken-flavored bouillon powder (McKay's Vegan Special used here), dried thyme, mustard powder, onion powder, salt

(for fried coating) cornflakes, dried parsley, dried thyme, onion powder, sea salt, mustard powder, paprika, cayenne, black pepper, all-purpose flour, nondairy milk (Trader Joe's Unsweetened Soy Milk used here), canola oil. 

(for sandwiches) burger buns, shredded lettuce, tomato.

Peppermint Pinwheels

This recipe is from Very Vegan Christmas Cookies by Ellen Brown.

Recipe: see page 46 of Very Vegan Christmas Cookies.

Very minty. Like a candy cane, but in cookie form.

Ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, Earth Balance, peppermint oil, Ener-G egg replacement powder, red food coloring.

Crunchy Peanut Butter and Cherry Thumbprint Cookies

This recipe is from Very Vegan Christmas Cookies by Ellen Brown.

Recipe: see page 67 of Very Vegan Christmas Cookies.
Here are some more cookies my mom made from the new cookbook Very Vegan Christmas Cookies.

I am always suspicious of peanut butter cookie recipes because too many aren't very peanut-y. I don't like subtlety. I think if you are going to make peanut butter cookies, make them super peanut-y, and this one doesn't disappoint. It's very intense. I think that's because the ingredients include peanut butter AND roasted peanuts.

Now, I'm not sure why these cookies are called Crunchy Peanut Butter and Cherry Thumbprint Cookies because they aren't crunchy. They are soft and chewy, but the texture of the chopped peanuts does give them a little crunch, so maybe that's it. I should mention they are a little crumbly too. I don't think that's a problem because they taste so good.

I would leave off the candied cherries and make these year round as regular peanut butter cookies. It's a good recipe, not just a good Christmas cookie recipe. These are now my #2 favorite peanut butter cookie, behind the Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, which are simply amazing.

Ingredients: peanut butter, roasted peanuts, Earth Balance, brown sugar, flour, vanilla extract, Ener-G egg replacement powder, candied cherries.

Nutty Wedding Cookies

This recipe is from the cookbook Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.

Recipe: see page 157 of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.
Here are some more vegan cookies my mom made for Christmas. These are good cookies. They are similar to Russian Tea Cakes or Mexican Wedding Cakes.

Ingredients: powdered sugar, Earth Balance, non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening, sugar, extract, flour, non-dairy milk, pecans.