Tag: Junk food

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Vegan Thanksgiving Sandwich

His Bite, Her Bite1 Comment

Nora: This sandwich is a combo of The Moistmaker (a Thanksgiving sandwich mentioned in Friends which contains a gravy-soaked slice of bread) and the turkey sandwich we served at the diner I served at in High School. It is a BIG sandwich that does not require any side dishes. Bring a fork so you can salvage any delicious bits that escape the bun!

Josh: Thanksgiving leftovers don’t have to be leftover anymore. Take leftovers out of tomorrow and into today! Take the best of Thanksgiving and stick it on some bread. Gardein brand Turkey cutlets are delicious and crispy, and even come with their own gravy. Make some stuffing because the bakery rolls are not enough bread for this sandwich. Cranberry sauce gives some sweetness and some zest to the other flavors. And finally, crispy fried onions because crispy fried onions. You’ll faint, it’s so good. You’ll also make a mess eating this so prepare for a fully indulgent experience.

Vegan Thanksgiving Sandwich
Recipe by: HisBiteHerBite
Serves: 2, stuffed to the brim
Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
-1 pack (4 cutlets) Gardein Turk’y Cutlets
-1 gravy pouch from above-mentioned cutlets
-2 bakery hoagie rolls (NOT the kind you find by the sliced bread and buns. They are too mushy. Check the case where your grocery store bakery stocks the donuts.)
-2/3 can of cranberry sauce (save the rest for a midnight snack)
-1/2 bag of cubed stuffing
-vegan mayo
-2 tbsp vegan butter
-1 cup veggie broth
-1/4 cup crispy fried onions
Directions:
1. Cook the turkey cutlets in your oven or toaster oven for 20 minutes, flipping over halfway through cooking. Place the unopened gravy packet in a small dish of water to thaw.
2. After you flip the cutlets, melt the butter in a small sauce pan. Add broth and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in stuffing cubes, cover. Let sit 5 minutes.
3. Open the cranberry sauce and slice about as thin as the cutlets.
4. Slice the rolls lengthwise, coat the bottom with a thin layer of vegan mayo to prevent sogginess.
5. Pour thawed gravy into a tiny dish and microwave 30 seconds or until hot.
6. Assemble! Thusly: bottom bun with mayo, cutlets (side by side), cranberry sauce slices, stuffing (pressed down with fork), drizzle of gravy (or apply to top bun and let it soak in for less mess), crispy onions.
7. Press flat gently with your hands, then devour.
Closing Arguments
None needed, this feast speaks for itself.
Parts / Components

Cream Cheese

His Bite, Her Bite1 Comment

Nora: Well, it is a thick creamy spread that you can use in place of cream cheese.

Josh: It’s cream cheese, except non-dairy and homemade rather than expensive and processed. Do with it as you will, flavor it up, go wild, the world is your bagel and you get to make the cream cheese. Cashews are amazing, they can do anything.

Cream Cheese
Adapted From: Connoisseurus Veg
Time: 10 mins (if skipping cashew soak and blending extra with blender/food processor), or 4 hours (if soaking the cashews), or 25 minutes (if boiling the cashews instead of soaking)
Makes: Roughly 4.5oz
Omnivore Index: It is thick, creamy, and great for shmearing on stuff. You tell me.
Ingredients

1 cup (4.5 oz) cashews, soaked or boiled
2 tbsp nootch (nutritional yeast)
1/4 cup (4 tbsp) lemon juice
1/2 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
Recipe

-If soaking or boiling cashews, soak cashews 4 hours or boil for 15 minutes. Then drain cashews.
-Blend until smooth (approximately 1 minute, unless skipping soak/boil in which case blend for longer).
-Add everything else, stir or blend together.
-Chill before serving.

Closing Arguments
Nora: It’ll do.
Josh: It’s cream cheese. So… What else do I need to say?

Side Dishes

Garlicky Veggie Dip

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Nora: This is a mash-up of multiple different vegan cheese and cream cheese recipes. It never really came out as a good replacement for either of those things, but it is an excellent dip or spread. It’s sort of like hummus but with all kinds of zesty flavors in it. Scoop with veggies, crackers or chips, smear it on a burger, use it as a salad dressing… just whatever you do, make sure everyone around you eats it; this stuff is potent.

Josh: I am formerly a professional hummus maker, as in I used to make it for a vegetarian cafe, and I tell you that to say I know an awful lot about delicious, creamy dips. This veggie dip is amazing. Who doesn’t love garlic, for one? For two, who doesn’t love indulging in creamy dips? For three, cashews are full of great nutritional benefits, so why not make yumminess out of cashews? It goes well with chips, crackers, sliced veggies, bread, or even as a thick dressing for a salad (what? You mean you don’t use hummus as a salad dressing? Why the hell not?). Basically this is a great appetizer, side dish, or feature in a main meal that you will always want more of.

Garlicky Veggie Dip
By: His Bite, Her Bite
Serves: 6-8 along with other snacks
Time: 10 minutes active, 30 mins to 26 hours passive
Omnivore Index: if they eat hummus, they’ll eat this
Ingredients:
– 9oz raw cashews
– 2 Tbsp lemon juice
– 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
– 4 Tbsp oil
– 2 Tbsp garlic powder
– 1 tsp salt
– 1 tsp onion powder
– 4 Tbsp nutritional yeast
– 1 Tbsp spice blend (we use 21 Seasoning Salute from Trader Joe’s, but Everything Bagel seasoning or McCormick’s Montreal Steak would also be nice)
Directions:
1. Ideally, soak the cashews in water overnight, refrigerated (anywhere from 12-24 hours). If you forget to do that, quick soak the cashews by putting them in a saucepan with about 4 cups of water. You want the cashews to be covered with water, plus a few inches above them because swell quite a bit. Simmer the cashews for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cover. Let sit 20 minutes.
2. Drain the cashews, put in the blender with the wet ingredients, blend until smooth. Scrape down sides as needed. If your blender is struggling, add water one tablespoon at a time.
3. Transfer the cashew paste to a medium mixing/storage bowl and stir in dry ingredients.
4. Chill dip in the fridge for at least two hours so the spices can hydrate.
Closing Arguments
Nora: it’s hummus, but with more stuff in it. What’s not to love?
Josh: it’s like you won the lottery if the lottery was delicious and creamy and “winning” meant tasting it.
Loaded Junk Food · Main

Poutine Tots

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Nora: I remember when I first learned about poutine. Gravy… on fries. With cheese. It’s so obvious! Mashed potatoes but crunchy and with CHEESE. Ever since college I have never been able to say no to a basket of gravy-fries. If cooking them at home, we prefer tots because of their superior crunchiness when oven-baked. We haven’t been inducted to the air fryer club… yet. Treat yourself to some heady, heavy deliciousness. If it seems too decadent, just remind yourself (as I often do) that all vegan food is essentially a salad.

Josh: Our Canadian friends have a lot to teach the world about life. One of the most important things I’ve learned is how critical poutine is. Seriously, it’s amazing. It is gravy and cheese on potatoes. It’s a goddamn revelation. We’ve made poutine with all sorts of fries now but we have two clear favorites: waffle fries and, our champion, tater tots. We bake the fries to crispiness because we don’t like deep frying, but you can cook yours however you like as long as they get crispy. If you make the cheese/cheeze ahead of time to cut down overall cook time the night you’re making it, the recipe only takes maybe 20 minutes or so (whatever the time it takes to bake the fries). You won’t regret poutine, ever.

Poutine Tots
Serves: 2 generously (it’s real good, is all I’m saying), probably 3
Cook Time: 20 mins if you make the cheeze ahead of time (or 45 mins if you make the cheeze at the same time)
Omnivore Index: The vegan-ness of this doesn’t come into play because it’s incredible. The only question is whether you like gravy and cheese on spuds or not. (Nora: An omnivore will definitely know the cheeze is fake.)
Ingredients

Cheeze
-1/2 cup (2.25 oz) raw cashews
-1 cup water
-1/4 cup minus 1 teaspoon tapioca starch
-1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
-1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
-3/4 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Brown Gravy
-2 tablespoons oil
-1 small onion, diced
-4-5 button mushrooms, sliced
-2 cups veggie broth
-1 tablespoon soy sauce
-3 tablespoons corn starch

-Tots, bag of frozen or homemade
-Green Onions, for garnish
Recipe

Make the cashew cheese ahead of time so it has time to cool.
1. Boil cashews 10-15 min, until softened. Drain and rinse.
2. Add all cheeze ingredients and blend in high power blender until smooth, at least 1 minute. (Will appear to be watery, but fear not.)
3. Pour into small saucepan and heat on medium-high heat, stirring continuously and scraping the bottom. It will curdle and look a little gross but keep stirring until thickened and stretchy, about 5 mins.
4. Scrape into a shallow dish and chill in fridge at least 30 mins.
5. Once solid, scoop small “curds” onto the poutine with a teaspoon or melon baller.

Tots
1. Bake according to package directions. You want them very crispy!

Brown Gravy
1. Using a medium saucepan, sautee onions and mushrooms in oil until well browned.
2. Add broth and soy sauce
3. Make a cornstarch slurry in a small dish with 3tbsp cold water. Add to gravy, simmer until thickened, about two minutes. Do not boil, since this can break down the starch and cause the gravy to thin back out. Gravy will thicken as it cools.

Assemble
1. Build your meal in layers. For equal delight in every bite, make a layer of tots, topped with a layer of cheeze curds, topped with gravy, and then another layer of each in the same sequence.
2. Top with green onion
3. Smash
Notes

-in this instance we used frozen tater tots but any form of potatoes could work – whether that be another form of frozen potato or homemade fries (the important thing is some crispiness to offset the rest of the dish being soft foods)
Even the cats keep their eyes on this meatless dinner!
Closing Arguments
Nora: JUST GIVE THEM TO ME.
Josh: Cheesy gravy fries. Think about it. Potatoes with cheese and gravy. C’mon, it’s perfect.

Loaded Junk Food · Main

BBQ Cauliflower Pizza

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Who doesn’t love pizza? Even if you don’t love one pizza, there are so many others that can cater to your needs. It is a magical food, the ultimate delivery method of deliciousness that can be adapted to any situation and any craving.

This is arguably our favorite pizza. When it comes down to it, we make this pizza far more frequently than any other. It has the richness of a pizza with the cheese and barbecue sauce, the hardiness with the roasted cauliflower, and the protein with the chickpeas. Cheap to shop for, easy to prepare, and exceedingly delicious to eat. Plus the leftovers are just as good!

BBQ Cauliflower Pizza
Makes: dinner for four, or dinner and leftovers for two
Omnivore Index: Everyone will know this is a vegan pizza, and everyone who tries it will not mind at all.
Ingredients

–Quick Rise Pizza Dough (recipe)
-1 head of cauliflower
-Vegetable oil or equivalent
-Spices of choice (salt and pepper, steak seasoning, TraderJoe 21 Seasoning Salute – for a few examples)
-1 can of chickpeas, drained (you can save the aquafaba for other recipes)
-Babecue sauce of choice (we use Sweet Baby Ray’s)
-Cheddar or pepperjack nondairy cheese

Optional ingredient suggestions: this goes great with avocado slices!
Instructions

-Prepare the Quick Rise Pizza Dough and cover bowl to let rise in bowl (follow that recipe and then use these toppings to finish pizza)

-Clean and chop cauliflower into florets
-Put cauliflower into large bowl, drizzle with oil, and sprinkle in spices of your choice, then toss gently to distribute oil and seasoning
-Bake cauliflower on baking sheet at 425°F for 20 minutes
-Roll out dough after at least 20 minutes rising
-Remove cauliflower from oven
-Top dough with cauliflower first, then chickpeas
-Drizzle barbecue sauce across the pizza and top with cheese
-Bake in the oven at 525°F for 12 minutes, letting stand 5 minutes to cool before cutting and eating

-Optionally, top with green onions and avocado slices before serving
Closing Argument
This pizza has the satisfying hardiness of a bbq chicken pizza without any need for animal products. Topped with avocado for healthy fat, it really delivers maximum yum.