The Pantry Pocket

Portobello, Walnut and Tofu “Meatloaf” - recipe
Mac and Cashew Cheeze and Broccoli - recipe
Mashed Potatoes and Brown Gravy
Sauteed Garlic Kale

Sweet Curry!

Banana, pineapple, raisins, “chicken,” green and chick peas over brown rice.

I found a recipe for Banana Curry from Death By Curry (who’s site looks like it came from Angelfire circa 1995) and modified it some.

• 1 package of Gardein Chick’n Strips, Morningstar Meal Starters Chick’n Strips or you can use drained and cubed extra-firm tofu
• 1 can coconut milk
• 3 large or 4 medium bananas, split and cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup dried shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 tbs. curry powder
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 3/4 tsp. nutmeg 
• 2 tbs. crushed red pepper
• 2 tbs. Sambal Oelek
• 1 20 oz. can pineapple tidbits
• 1 14 oz. green peas
• 1 14 oz. can chick peas
• (optional) 1 14 oz. can straw mushrooms, drained.
• (optional) 1/4 cup cashews

Add the coconut milk over medium high heat then add and stir in the spices and sambal oelek. Add the rest of the ingredients except the bananas. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to low, add the bananas and cook for about 5 more minutes. Serve over rice and enjoy.

Vegan Veggie “Cheese-Steaks” with Garlic and Basil Seasoned Fries

I was craving something new so this is something I kind of came up with for the veggie mix.

• 1 green pepper (sliced)
• 1 sweet onion (sliced)
• 1 package (6-8 oz) of mushrooms (preferably portobello) sliced
• 3 jalpeno peppers (minced)
• 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 1 package (8 oz) of seitan (strips work best)
• 2 tablespoons of canola oil
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Prep all your veggies first and then heat up the oil to a large skillet or wok on medium high heat. Add your veggies then let them cook for a little while then add the seitan and spices.

While this is cooking I used this nutritional yeast cheese sauce recipe to make the “cheese” for my sandwiches. It turned out pretty good make sure you read some of the suggestions to the type of “cheese” you’re trying to create though.

And while all this is going on, I baked some fries in the oven. As soon as the were done, I slid in some multi-grain wheat rolls that I sliced open and slightly topped with some vegan margarine to get them a little toasty then added the mix and the cheese sauce on the bread and served with the fries topped with some seasonings.

This mix and cheese sauce recipe yielded about 6 pretty decent sized sandwiches and is way more on the veggie side than the “meaty” side. I definately enjoyed coming up with this and will be making it again soon!

-Chase

Sweet Curry with Organic Apples, Bananas and Onions, Seitan and Red Hot Jalapeno Jelly

I was looking for a recipe for a sweet curry that was pretty easy to throw together. I found one but had to substitute a lot of things to make it vegan. Here’s how I made it and I served it over some brown rice.

• 1 Tbsp: vegan margarine (canola oil may also work)
• 1 sweet onion - peeled and sliced
• 2 Tbsp: curry powder
• 1 apple - peeled and sliced (granny smith or golden delicious preferably) 
• 1 banana - sliced
• 1 Tbsp: brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp: jalapeno jelly (fig, apple or apricot jam/jelly may also work)
• 1 8 oz. package of seitan strips
• 1/2 cup: water
• 1 vegetable broth cube

1. Start by warming up the margarine/oil and adding the onions for a few minutes so they start to get clear.
2. Next add your curry powder, apple and banana. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes.
3. Add your brown sugar and jelly/jam and stir until it’s well absorbed into your mix.
4. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until it starts to thicken.

This had a very interesting, but really good, taste to it. It is a little “meat” heavy so you may want to use just half a package of seitan. I think the next time I may try and shred the apple because the texture slightly takes away from the rest of the ingredients. Even though I used the hot red jalapeno jelly, it wasn’t spicy at all so I may add a little cayenne pepper the next time as well.

-Chase

cleggie reblogged your photo: Sweet and Spicy Tofu over brown rice! I had some…

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could have the recipe for this? Its looks scrummyyy :)

Scrummyyy is exactly how it tasted hahaha. For you, I’ll tell you how I made it.

I diced the tofu yesterday and threw it in the freezer because frozen tofu has a totally different texture than refrigerated tofu. Today, I got them out, put them on a plate and microwaved them to thaw for four minutes. While that was going on I started some rice and prepped my sauce:

• 1/4 cup: soy sauce
• 4 tablespoon: rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoon: water
• 1 tablespoon: corn starch
• 1/4 cup: raw unbleached sugar
• 1 tablespoon: Sambal Oelek chili paste or sriracha sauce (or both!)
• 1 tablespoon: Cayenne pepper (optional)

In a saute pan over low heat, add your liquids then stir in the corn starch then add the rest. Add a few tablespoons of oil to a larger pan and start heating it. When the tofu is done thawing, press all the water out you can with a paper towel. In a bowl, add about a fourth of a cup of corn starch and add the tofu and mix with your hands until it’s coated. Add the coated tofu to the larger pan and stir for a few minutes. Then pour the sauce mix over your tofu and mix until its all coated and looks delicious and thickens along with the tofu. Probably about 4-5 minutes should be good then serve with rice and enjoy!

I’ve been craving pecan pie for a while and this is the very first pie I have ever made myself. Luckily for me, I was very happy it turned out tasting incredible. Since the recipe reviews said that some of them came out gelatinous, I was a little worried about how it would hold up. This one wasn’t at all. Maybe they didn’t cook the mix long enough or something? Maybe I’ll make one of these for my family and not let them know its vegan?

BBQ TVP on Toasted Sourdough with a side of Vegan Baked Garlicy Mac And “Cheese”

Finally finished all of the leftovers from the food I cooked last week so I wanted to make something new tonight. I started by making the recipe for the the mac and cheese. I added some minced garlic and used garlic salt instead of just regular. It came out a little runny and after reading the reviews on the recipe page I probably should have omitted the water. While it was baking, I started to make my own BBQ TVP mix:

• 7/8 cup: water
• 1 cup: TVP
• 1/2 cup: BBQ sauce (I used a sweet and spicy one)
• 3 tablespoon: ketchup
• 2 tablespoon: mustard

Boil the water. Put the TVP in a bowl then pour the boiling water over it, mix and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes. Once it rehydrates, add the rest of the ingredients and mix and you’ll have some awesome tasting BBQ TVP.

After I took the pasta out of the oven, I put the bread in for about 4 minutes just to get the bread nice and toasty. I did add a little extra BBQ sauce on the sandwich and had some spicy, sweet pickles on the side. Overall, it was amazing and I’ll be making something like this again soon!

Spicy African Sweet Potato Soup

Okay, it’s been a few days since any of us have posted anything and this is the reason why. I made this recipe but doubled it and I ended up with SO MUCH FOOD. My roommate and I have been eating soup for days now but it is exceptionally delicious! If you’re trying to make some for just you just make it how it is or maybe half it because it makes so much for so little money. The only thing I omitted was the celery and I added a little extra spice but this makes some perfect fall weather food to curl up with.

Vegan Biscuits and Soysage Gravy with Hash-Browns

This has to be one of the tastiest things I’ve ever made, wow. I found a cool step-by-step picture recipe from Chez Bettay’s site. Since I had purchased some soysage the other day from Whole Foods, I’ve been dying to make some biscuits and gravy. I halved the biscuit recipe but forgot to halve the gravy one so I ended up with way more gravy than I needed. I also used vanilla almond milk since I didn’t have regular so they ended up tasting really sweet and the cayenne and black pepper made them spicy, which is my favorite balance of tastes. Even though this was really messy, it was a lot of fun and well worth it end the end.

-Chase

Mini Chocolate Walnut Brownie Cakes topped with Orange Ginger Cayenne Cookies

Yeah, I came up with this because I’m awesome and I wanted to make something cool for my roommates birthday because she loves sweets and spicy food. Plus, I’m going to share with you how to make these little cuties so you can make your own!

Okay, first we’re going to make the brownie base. This recipe makes two dozen cupcake size treats so you’ll need enough cupcake pans for that. In a large bowl add and mix the following ingredients.

• 1 1/2 cup: unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup: unbleached raw sugar
• 1/2 cup: unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon: baking powder
• 1 teaspoon: salt
• 3/4 cup: water
• 3/4 cup: vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon: vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup: crushed walnut

Once you’ve got that mixed up, spray your cupcake pans with a light coat of oil and then scoop the mix with a large spoon into each section so each looks to be about 1/4 to 1/3 full. At this time, go ahead and preheat the oven to 350. Next, make the cookie batter by adding and mixing up the following list of ingredients in a large bowl.

• 1/3 cup: almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
• 1 tablespoon: flax seeds
• 1 cup: unbleached raw sugar
• 1/3 cup: brown sugar
• 1/2 cup: vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon: vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon: ground orange zest
• 1 teaspoon: ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon: ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon: ground cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon: ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon: salt
• 1 3/4 cups: unbleached all-purpose flour

Once you’ve got all that mixed up, using a small cookie scooper, drop a scoop of the cookie batter mix on top of each of your brownie mixes. They’ll have a slightly different consistency at this point and you can kind of push the cookie mix down a little so that the brownies hug the cookie mix. After all that, put them on in the oven on the center rack and bake them for about 30 minutes then let cool for about 10 minutes and enjoy!

If you have any of the cookie mix left over, you can use the cookie scooper with the rest and place on a cookie sheet and bake them for about 20 minutes.

-Chase

Spicy Pumpkin Stew

I tried this recipe from myrecipes.com but didn’t use any chicken. This is actually more like a curry and it turned out really good. The only thing I didn’t like about it was that the cubed pumpkin pieces kind of take away from the rest of the stew because they’re a different texture and don’t quite absorb the spices and seasonings. If I make this again, I’m definitely going to try mashing the pumpkin chunks up and adding some extra spices.

Vegan Potato Curry

I’ve been on a curry kick recently. I used this recipe but doubled everything except I used extra spices because I like mine very flavorful and spicy. This takes about 45 minutes to an hour including prep time. The longer you let it simmer, the thicker and better it gets. What I made yielded six large bowls of delicious curry and probably cost a total between $12 and $14. That’s just a little over $2 a meal!

Easy Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Brownies

I was in the mood for something sweet and felt like trying something new so I took an old recipe and spiced it up a little. This takes almost no time to throw together. Then just throw it in the oven and you’ll have a lot of yummy treats in half an hour.

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups raw unbleached sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 bananas
• 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350.
2. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Spread evenly into a 9x13 pan. (I used two 7x11 pans so mine were a little thinner)
4. Bake 25-30 minutes.
5. Let cool for 10 minutes than enjoy!

-Chase