For my dad’s birthday dinner, I decided to go with a BBQ theme. Since my ribs didn’t go quite as planned, I opted to make stuffed squash using the same stuffing mixture from the collard rolls. I found these cute little round squash, cut off the tops, and lightly steamed them. When they were cooled, I scooped out the insides. Stuffed with the pea, mushroom and BBQ mixture, they were delicious! (Once stuffed, btw, I put them in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes to heat through).

Side dishes consisted of cornbread muffins (yummy), Carrie’s Creamy Vegan Coleslaw (DELICIOUS!) and Baked Beans from Vegan Planet.

I first saw this recipe on Yeah… and thought I’d try it out as a possibility for when my parents visit next weekend. They are coming to celebrate my dad’s birthday, so I thought it would be nice to make/reinvent foods that he enjoys. I remember my mom making ribs for him when I was a kid, but I have to admit that I never really developed a fondness for them. They’re too human-like. I was never really a fan of anything that resembled my own body parts. Anyway, so I’m happy that I tried this recipe out first before trying to serve it to guests. They were edible and freakishly rib-like, but the flavor was a little weird to me. I think it may have been the paprika and I may the recipe again without adding it to see if it is better.

I did make my own BBQ sauce for them, which I’m pretty proud of. The sauce was a tad spicy, but really, really tasty. For a hearty side dish (aka a backup in case the ribs were unsuccessful), I made the delicious BBQ beans from Vegan Planet. I also modified the corn bread recipe from there and made the best cornbread I have ever had. Sooooo yummy! It’s a great book and not very expensive if you buy it from Amazon. I totally recommend it for your home library.

I’ve never been a big fan of seitan (made from wheat gluten). I’ve tried it a few times (purchased from the store) and even tried making it a couple of times, but I’ve found that it always turns out tasting funky with a really soft, mushy texture. Feeling adventurous and somewhat inspired from reading Vegan Dad’s blog, I decided to give one of his recipes a try. I settled on this recipe, except that I shaped it into patties before steaming and I did not make the stuffing. In the midst of making it, however, I discovered that I only had about a cup of wheat gluten and no poultry spice, so I omitted the poultry spice and cut back on the water by 1/4 cup. At the end, it was still a little too mushy feeling and I started adding oat flour until it thickened up a bit. Why oat flour? I have no idea… I guess it was just handy at the time.

Anyway, I did not have high hopes for this seitan recipe considering the amount of substitutions/additions/subtractions/etc. and I decided to make up a batch of nut burgers as a back up. I used a cookie scooper to scoop out the burger concoction onto a baking sheet, thus making nut balls. They turned out good, but a little on the crumbly side.

When the seitan was done steaming, I used this recipe to bread it. The only substitution there was panko bread crumbs in place of traditional because I love the crispiness from the panko. I baked the patties for about 15 minutes per side after spraying them with the oil.

So, the moment of truth… I cut into it, took a bite and, to my surprise, they were really, really good. I think I might be on to something here, so be on the look out for more seitan recipes in the future. I just had leftovers for lunch and it was still good (although better last night when the breading was still crisp).

For those converts who are missing chicken, this would be a really good recipe for you to try out. And for those who are not (yet) converts, this would be a really good recipe for you to try out. I just read something super gross about chicken that I didn’t know and will pass along. Apparently, they are kept so crammed in their cages that disease runs rampant. To keep the diseases in check, their feed is laced with small amounts of antibiotics and arsenic. Yes, arsenic. Doesn’t that sound delicious?!

On the side, I tried out a new recipe for cornbread, which didn’t impress me all that much. It was actually my attempt at veganizing it, so maybe that had something to do with it. I was good, but not what I was going for.  I have a few changes in mind, so I will try those out first before posting the recipe.

Last night, I made the baked beans recipe from Vegan Planet. I’ve made them a few times and it is one recipe that doesn’t disappoint– it’s just the right balance of sweet and spice.

As a side dish, I made some cornbread dressing muffins. I think I’ve only made these once before, when we were still eating eggs, so this was my first time winging it vegan style.

Cornbread Dressing

1 1/2 to 2 cups cornbread (I used the recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking)

1 onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 apple, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 T fresh sage, chopped

1 cup vegan sausage, chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 to 2 cups veg stock (or more depending on dryness of cornbread)

S&P to taste

In a large skillet, saute the onions, celery, apple, and garlic in about 1 T olive oil over medium heat. When they begin to get tender, add in the sausage and sage. When the sausage begins to brown, add in the cornbread, dried cranberries and enough of the veg stock to moisten the cornbread. Scoop the mixture into lightly greased muffin tins and bake at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the tops and sides begin to look crispy.

I used the leftovers from this recipe for the sausage. I think this recipe would have been better (definitely less spicy) had I used a breakfast type sausage. It was still good, but I will definitely try a different kind of sausage the next time I make it.

Matt has been asking for a bean soup and I didn’t get around to making it last week,so I decided to make it last night for dinner. I didn’t follow any recipe– just made it up as I went along according to taste and what I thought it needed:

Three Bean Soup

2 TB olive oil

1 stalk of celery, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

2 jalapeños, minced

1 cup corn kernels, fresh, frozen or canned

6 cups veg stock

1 can cannellini beans

1 can black beans

1 can pinto beans

2 TB chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the celery, onion, bell peppers, jalapeños, and garlic and cook for a few minutes until they start to get tender. Add the stock and spices and cook for about an hour. When the stock has reduced a bit, add the beans and cook another 30 minutes until the soup begins to thicken a bit. At the last minute, add the corn and taste for seasoning. Add S&P if needed.

Ours was garnished with some diced avocado lightly dressed with some lime juice, S&P, and cilantro. On the side, we had a big piece of vegan cornbread from The Joy of Vegan Baking. No picture of the cornbread, sorry. It was really good and I ate mine before I thought to take a photo of it. Matt loved the both the soup and the cornbread, and I will definitely be adding this to our list of regulars.

One note: some may be concerned about the heat level of this dish, considering that it has jalapeños and cayenne in it. It was probably almost a medium by my standards. If you are worried about that, leave out the jalapeños and/or the cayenne, but it wasn’t that spicy as is.