Mock Foods

I haven't posted in a couple weeks! Blah! Well we all needed a good rest, huh? Of course, but that didn't stop me from making new foods. I was hellbent on making "mock" products apparently during my time-off. I didn't notice this until right now but I have been cooking up quite a few foods that are vegan, but act like, taste and look like they aren't.

Mock "Chicken" Salad

I made this with Tempeh, the wonder soy product that I really don't buy often enough. I explained to my mother that tempeh is fermented soybean cake she said something like, "EW! That sounds horrible!" But when I thought about it, it's really not that bad. After all, many things that she eats are fermented...perhaps even longer than Tempeh. Cheese is "aged" for months as well as some of her meat products so I don't see why tempeh is all that bad, as it's only fermented for about 48 hours.

Individual "Beef", Onion, and Bell Pepper Empanadas:

I bought some raw wheat pizza dough and formed it into small little discs, then topped them with a mixture of Morningstar "beef" crumbles, taco seasoning, onions, peppers, and an "uncheese" that I made (see below). I folded the dough over and placed the individual pockets on a baking sheet in a 400 deg F oven for about 10 minutes and VOILA!

Gee Whiz "cheese spread" from the "Uncheese Cookbook" by Joanne Stepaniak

This "cheese" was a mix of white beans (I used Great Northern Beans), roasted red bell pepper, nutritional yeast, onion and garlic powder, salt, and some other things. It tasted a lot like nacho cheese or something similar which was interesting. Obviously though, it is much more healthy than processed cheese. Thank Goodness for Gee Whiz!

"Chicken Fried Steak" and Carrot-Tahini Slaw

Robin Robertson, author of "The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook" as well as countless others, has proved herself once again with a recipe mimicking "Chicken Fried Steak." But this fried patty recipe doesn't use chicken gravy or steak; it's all about TOFU! I have to admit that in my meat-eating days I never had a Chicken Fried Steak, but this vegan alternative was darn good, and I just ate it plain...not with gravy or anything!
I accompanied the patties with Carrot-Tahini Slaw that I made from a book called "You Won't Believe It's Vegan." It's a mix of grated carrots, celery, red onion, tahini, lemon juice, salt, SPIKE seasoning, pepper, and dill. It was awesome.