Category: Main

Main Events – the entrees and dinners.

Main

Loaded Breakfast Fries

His Bite, Her BiteLeave a comment

Nora: I’ve always loved breakfast food, but I’ve never been much of a fan of eggs. Growing up, the only way I’d eat them would be “dippy eggs” (aka over-easy). I would make my parents crazy because after dipping toast in the yolks, I’d never eat the whites. These fries are topped with a delicious “eggy sauce” that reminds me of rich silky egg yolk… without the egg!

Josh: Everything we eat eventually ends up on a pizza or as loaded fries. One day we were thinking loving thoughts about brunch and decided in a burst of inspiration that we could have breakfast for dinner. All plant-based and shamelessly indulgent. We swapped hashbrowns for waffle fries and viola!

Breakfast sausage, bacon, and pepperjack cheese baked up onto crispy waffle fries, topped with an eggy, pseudo hollandaise sauce that just seals the deal. This dinn is one of those meals that we usually find ourselves in the “clean plate club” afterward.

Foil boats
Loaded Breakfast Fries
Source: His Bite Her Bite
Serves: 2, heartily
Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
For fries:
1 bag frozen waffle fries or tots
8 oz breakfast sausage
4 strips bacon (or some bac’n bits)
1/2 c pepperjack shredded cheese
green onions, for topping

Eggy Sauce:
1c water
4 tsp corn starch
2 tsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
Directions:
1. Bake fries according to package directions.
2. While fries are baking, cook sausage according to package directions (we use the microwave). Crumble or roughly chop into small bits.
3. In a small pot, whisk together water and corn starch, then whisk in everything else.
4. Cook over med-high heat, whisking as it cooks. Simmer 3-5 minutes until sauce coats the back of a spoon.
5. During the last 5 minutes of baking the fries, slide a few fries over and add the bacon, cook until crisp.
6. Make two tin foil boats, place on the baking sheets used for the fries. Add cooked fries, crumbled sausage, top with cheese. Broil until cheese is melted. Remove from oven.
7. Move foil boats to individual plates. Using a small, sharp knife, slit the underside of the boats in an x-shape. Pull foil apart, leaving the fry pile on the plate.
8. Top the fries-sausage-cheese with eggy sauce, crumbled bacon and green onion.
For the dinner pictured here, we used the following:

Lightlife bacon
Lightlife breakfast sausage
Daiya pepperjack
Kroger brand frozen waffle fries
Closing Arguments
Nora: Normally I don’t finish a full plate of loaded fries, but with these I’m in the Clean Plate Club every time!
Josh: You bet your ass I’m munching these fries.
Main

Kale and Gnocchi Soup

His Bite, Her BiteLeave a comment

Nora: Dumplings (gnocchi are dumplings, I say), cooked carrots, broth… plus it cooks in 30 minutes. I love a simple soup where you don’t have to pull out the whole spice rack to end up with a delicious meal at the end.

Josh: We had this soup for the first time when my sister and her partner were having us over for dinner. They did it without meat on account of us and served it with bread. It was delicious. We were practically starving at the time though, so we wondered if it would be as good under normal circumstances. I won’t keep you in suspense: it is.

We made a few minor changes before adding it to our repertoire and are very pleased with it. Every time we make it, we verbally remind each other, “Mm, this is good soup.” Good for cold weather, having company over, or just for the love of soup. Cheap to shop for, easy to assemble, and quick to cook. Great, pain-free dinner for when you don’t have much time to cook or don’t want to spend much time to cook.

Kale and Gnocchi Soup
Makes: Dinner for two, lunch leftovers for two (or dinner for four)
Adapted from: budgetbytes
Time: 5 minutes prep, 20 minutes cook
Omnivore Index: People will see this soup doesn’t contain meat but when they try it they won’t miss it.
Ingredients

1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced (or about 10 baby carrots)
A bunch of kale, de-stemmed (we added about two soup bowls’ worth this time)
5 cups chicken-ish broth
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp basil
Pinch red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
20 cranks cracked black pepper
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained
1 lb gnocchi
1/2 cup milk
Directions

-Saute onion and garlic in oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Add carrots and cook another 3-5 minutes.
-While those cook, pull kale leaves off the thick stems and slice or shred into smaller leaves. Wash.
-Add kale to pot and cook another 3-5 minutes.
-Add broth, spices, pepper, and chickpeas. Bring to a boil.
-Add gnocchi and cook for 3-5 minutes.
-Remove from heat and add milk.
Notes:

-For nondairy milk, we use Silk Protein Nut Milk (plain flavor).
-For broth, we use Better than Bouillon No Chicken base.
-Chickpeas are one of our all-time favorite protein sources when we cook. Way cheaper than buying faux meats, easy to add to a recipe that is lacking for protein, and hearty enough not to mush when you cook them.
-If you really hate kale you could try usimg spinach, just add it in after you finish cooking the gnocchi.
Closing Arguments
Nora: Super good for cold nights but light enough that you don’t have to give it up in the summer.
Josh: If you’re like me, you’ll use every opportunity to eat gnocchi. Mmmm.
Main

Cheeseburger Soup

His Bite, Her Bite3 Comments

Nora: Are there carrots in cheeseburgers? Don’t be ridiculous. But there are carrots in this soup. Why be predictable? Let’s get cooking!

Josh: Let’s get something straight right now. This soup is ridiculously tasty. It is creamy, meaty, and indulgent, though note it is also pretty quick and easy to make. The ingredient list is relatively short for this kind of hearty and satisfying dinner and the specialty ingredient requirement (you know how vegan recipes can be) is relatively low. There is some prep involved – those veggies need dicing – but after that the soup comes together naturally and without much pomp or circumstance.

These leftovers are awesome! This is one of those recipes that starts out great and gets better when it sits overnight to really flavor up. I spend the next couple days being the envy of the office come lunchtime. In winter this soup gives you solace, in summer you don’t care if it’s hot because goddamn is it delicious. This is a great meal to make when you want to eat well without occasion, but also perfect for when you’re entertaining guests because everyone enjoys it and even your avid meat-eaters will be satisfied.

Cheeseburger Soup
Makes: Dinner for two, lunches for two for two days (or leftovers for two for one day… this soup is really good)
Adapted from: Namely Marly
Time: 20 minutes prep, 20 minutes cook
Omnivore Index: Dads don’t know it’s not meat
Ingredients

For the soup:
1 onion, diced
5 large waxy potatoes, diced
8oz mushrooms, diced (optional actually mandatory)
1 cup carrots, diced
1 bay leaf
4 cups vegetable broth
8-10 oz frozen meatless crumbles (we use Simple Truth or Gardein often)
1 cup nondairy cheese (Daiya Pepperjack is a nice touch)
1 tsp salt
Pepper, to taste
Green onions and bac’n bits for serving

For the cream:
1/2 cup plain nondairy milk
1 cup (4.5oz) raw cashews
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup water
Directions:

Saute onions until tender.
Add carrots and potatoes, cook for a few minutes.
Next add bay leaf, mushrooms, broth, salt, and pepper. Simmer.

Meanwhile combine cream ingredients in a high speed blender. (If you don’t have a high speed blender, simmer the cashews in the 1 cup of water about 5 minutes and then add cashews AND remaining water to food processor with garlic powder and nootch.)

Once carrots and potatoes are tender, remove bay leaf, turn off the heat, and add cream, meatless crumbles, and cheese. Stir to combine.

Serve with bacon bits (check your local grocery store brand, many brands are vegan) and diced green onion.
Even obligate carnivores love Cheeseburger Soup!
Closing Arguments
Nora: You won’t miss the bun!
Josh: Finally, a burger as it was always meant to be eaten – with a spoon.
Main · Soup

Winter Stew with Dumplings

His Bite, Her Bite1 Comment

Nora: Michigan seems poised to finally get some crappy winter weather so here’s a lovely rich stew to warm you up. I have always loved drop dumplings so I was delighted to get to enjoy some tonight. My mom didn’t like to make them for us when she did chicken and dumplings because drop dumplings disappear too quickly when you’re feeding five. Rolled-flat dumplings are still good… but… I digress. If you find these dumplings go too quickly for your family (or your own appetite for dumplings) it would be quite easy to throw another batch of dumplings in the pot while you reheat the leftovers. You might be able to get away with pulling out all the dumplings and cooking a second batch immediately. Either way, you MUST pull the floaters out and store them separately from the rest of the stew unless you want your leftovers to transform into winter vegetable mush.

Don’t be alarmed by the apple juice in this recipe. You’ll add salt to taste and I promise it won’t turn out too sweet. Someday we might try swapping the juice for more broth and cutting up an apple to cook with the veggies. Also, my brain wants to add a little curry powder to this to make it into mulligatawny, but that’s another post.

Josh: This is a fantastic stew recipe that is easy to make and satisfying to eat. There is some initial prep involved, chopping up veggies mostly, but after that you basically let it cook and do your own thing for a while. The flavors of the stew turned out fantastic, and the complementary but somewhat contrasting flavors of the dumplings provided really wonderful spikes of flavor that added so much value to the meal.

This recipe is cat approved by Easley, our hellspawn.

When we make this, it frees us up from the obligation to cook, the panic about not eating, and the obligation to eat for just long enough in the evening to decompress while it cooks. I don’t know about you, but we work full time jobs that aren’t blog related. When we get home from work, there is a lot that needs to get done including some mental relaxation. In my case, I also work freelance, so my evenings often involve the Batman job as well as what home things need doing. This recipe is amazing because I can get other things done while knowing dinner is on the way. And dinner is super yum.

Winter Stew with Dumplings
Makes: Two bowls for dinner and two bowls for lunch
Adapted from Rabbit and Wolves
Time: 15 mins prep, 45 mins cooking
Omnivore Index: nobody will miss the meat
Ingredients:
For the stew:
– 1 Tbsp oil
– 6 cloves garlic, minced
– 1 onion, chopped
– 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
– 2 large russet potatoes, diced
– 12 ounces mushrooms, sliced
– 8oz baby carrots, chopped
– 1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
– 4c (32oz) vegetable (“beef”) broth
– 1c good apple cider or juice (we used Simply Apple from the refrigerated section)
– 2 Tbsp liquid aminos or soy sauce
– 2 bay leaves
– 1/2 tsp oregano, dried
– 1/4 tsp thyme, dried
– pinch red pepper flakes
– lots of salt and pepper to taste

For the dumplings:
– 1 1/3c all purpose flour
– 2 tsp baking powder
– 1 tsp baking soda
– 1 tsp salt
– 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
– 1 tsp spice blend (we used 21 Seasoning Salute from Trader Joe’s)
– 2/3c nut milk
– 1 Tbsp oil
Directions:
1. In a large pot, heat the oil on medium high. Add the garlic and onion. Saute the for about 5 minutes until the onion is soft and starts to brown.
2. Add the apple cider vinegar, and stir to deglaze.
3. Add the cut potatoes, mushrooms, carrots and parsnips. Liberally season with salt and pepper. Saute the veggies for a couple minutes. 
4. Add the broth, apple cider/juice, liquid aminos and spices.
5. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes or until the veggies are cooked through. 
6. When the stew is nearly done, mix together dry dumpling ingredients. Test the stew, and when the spuds are soft and the carrots just slightly firm (or however you like your veggies), add the milk and oil. Stir batter briefly to combine.
7. Taste the stew for seasoning and remove the bay leaves. Stir well. Keeping the stew at a simmer, drop golf ball sized dough blobs into the pot. Plop dumplings in different areas of the pot to keep them from sticking together. You should get about a dozen dumplings.
8. Cover, simmer 10 minutes or until dumplings are done. A toothpick inserted into a dumpling should come out clean.

Remove dumplings before storing leftovers.
Closing Arguments
Nora: other than the chopping, this recipe is super simple and hands off. Great for reading on the couch while dinner cooks. The dumplings are sublime, so light and fluffy!
Josh: The dumplings are worth killing for. Be prepared to make extra because they are so fucking good with this stew.
Main

Baked Seitan Ribs

His Bite, Her BiteLeave a comment

Nora: Ribs were one of my absolute favorite restaurant splurge meals. Since I’m new to the veggie lifestyle I still have deeply-ingrained taste preferences for certain foods and these meatless Ribs totally hit the spot for me. (Veggie crumbles as taco meat is another Craving Buster, but that’s another post.) This recipe is insanely delicious and even has the fun “pull apart” quality meat ribs have. I was honestly shocked at how good these are and other than the lack of bones, they are completely realistic feeling/tasting. We’ve made these three times in three weeks.

Don’t be alarmed by the word seitan. It’s just wheat meat. You probably don’t have to go to the fancy grocery store since our Kroger carries it alongside all the Bob’s Red Mill fancy grain flours. If you are familiar with seitan, you’ll be happy to know this recipe does not require the long kneading and boiling/steaming/baking which usually produces seitan. Yes, this is weeknight friendly wheat meat! Rejoice!!! Also, this recipe PERFECTLY bakes half a bag of freezer fries simultaneously. This is the kind of high quality vegan content we have all been searching for!

The only negative to this recipe is it only makes two slabs (enough for two hungry people or maybe four with lots of sides). If you need more or want leftovers (you do) you will need to prepare this in two pans. The key to the meaty texture is contact with the pan edges and larger slabs will have mushy middles. We don’t have two small pans the same size, so currently we are doomed to eat all our ribs in one sitting.

Josh: Ribs are a weird thing to eat when you stop and think about it. Like… ribs, though? I digress. I never had ribs as a real boy, we didn’t have money for splurges like that and the idea of seeking ribs out was not on my radar. Then I joined the dark side of the force and began growing my incredible vegan super powers, so there was no going back. I would have never come up with the idea of eating ribs, would have never bothered with it. But Nora gets this idea to make ribs and so we cobble this together.

Wow. Just wow. We’ve made these ribs three times in less than a month. They’re ridiculously good. Firm and tough, tangy, sticky, actual finger licking good. The recipe is really easy to make thanks to our kitchen aid mixer. Mostly the recipe is waiting for the cook time to expire, which is useful when you have other things to accomplish in the evening but know you’re just going to hit the sofa after dinner no matter what.

In addition to being quick and easy and tasty, these ribs are affordable. Buy yourself some vital wheat gluten (seriously, if you don’t have this already GET IT TOGETHER because homemade seitan is delicious, versatile, and easy), some soy sauce, some nooch (read: nutritional yeast – we read the Thug Kitchen cookbook once and can’t think of Nooch any other way), and you’re already most of the way to cooking countless meaty vegan meals without breaking the bank. If nothing else, do it just to make these ribs. They’re spectacular.

Baked Seitan Ribs
Makes: Two slabs of ribs
Slightly adapted from Fat Free Vegan
Time: 5 minutes prep, 45 minutes to cook
Omnivore Index: slap it on a bun and Ronald McDonald himself would call it a McRib
Ingredients:
– 1c vital wheat gluten
– 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
– 2 tsp paprika
– 2 tsp onion powder
– 1 tsp garlic powder
– 3/4c water
– 2 Tbsp almond butter
– 1 Tbsp soy sauce
– 1 tsp liquid smoke
– 1c (ish) BBQ sauce (we use Sweet Baby Ray’s)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Spray grease a 9×9 metal pan.
2. Mix all ingredients except BBQ sauce and knead 60 seconds. I do it in the stand mixer but it wouldn’t be hard by hand.
3. Spread into the prepared pan, using the “kitty paws” technique with your fingertips as needed.
4. Using a small, sharp knife, cut dough down the middle. Turn pan 90 degrees and cut across 8 times to make 16 “riblets.”
5. Bake 25 minutes. Pull out of oven, baste with half the BBQ sauce. Using a spatula, flip each quarter of the ribs, taking care to flip “corner to corner,” with the crispy outer corners all swapped to the center of the pan and the soft inner edges all against the sides of the pan.
6. Baste with the other half of the BBQ sauce and bake 15-25 more minutes or until sauce is starting to caramelize and ribs are firm.
Closing Arguments
Nora: Make these ribs and eat them. Soon.
Josh: Holy shit these ribs are good. Sinfully good. They’ll make you think you accidentally broke vegan edge.