VeganMoFo 2017 #5: Recipe Round-Up: Veganize It

5th: Conversion meal – What would you make to convince an omni to convert?

In this day and age, there are so many replacement vegan products available that it is very easy to make vegan versions of so many favourite omni dishes. Food is such an important part of our daily lives, that the thought of giving up our favourites can be daunting. But you don't have to, you can just make it vegan! Convert the recipe, convert the omni. Will it be 100% exactly the same in taste and texture? Probably not completely. But it will taste good and hit the spot.

Veganize It by Robin Robertson is the perfect book for those looking to ease the transition, throw up some quality conversion meals, or are just love good vegan food. (I personally get cranky when people talk about vegan meats and cheeses as being 'conversion foods' for new vegans... you don't have to give up things you enjoy... and you can pry the Field Roast Apple Sage Sausage out of my cold dead hands.) Depending on how much time you want to spend in the kitchen, you can create your own products or you can buy them from the supermarket, Robin has options for both.

This is the first time I've posted about this book, so let's see what I've been eating! As mentioned, I am just doing mini round-ups for MoFo to ease the burden of reading so much, but I've made lots from here so keep an eye out for future posts!

Bacon-Topped Mac Uncheese: You know I can't resist a good mac and cheese, and look at this beauty! Oh my gosh, it is one of the best mac and cheeses I've had, it is so rich and cheesy and smoky. The sauce is a cashew based noochy sauce (my favourite type). For the bacon, I used some tempeh bacon, also from the book. This recipe was so easy, but you could use any sort of homemade or store bought bacon you wanted. I used 8oz of pasta, and got three servings (but I would have eaten more if I could!). So delicious.
Rating: Mac Uncheese :D, Tempeh Bacon :D



Beyond BLT: This recipe used more of that yummy tempeh bacon. The sandwich also has mayo (I used Vegenaise but there is a recipe in the book), spinach, tomato and avocado. I used some grainy sandwich bread, lightly toasted. I love BLTs, and this was a very satisfying sandwich.
Rating: :)



Mushroom Stroganoff: The book has a whole chapter dedicated to vegetable based favourites, like using delicious meaty mushrooms (a blend of portobello and white) in this stroganoff. I 100% left out the green capsicum and added some peas as well. You can either make your own cashew sour cream for the sauce, or use store bought. I made the sour cream recipe, which was very nice, though I did alter it slightly to remove the coconut oil (I just replaced it with a drizzle of canola oil for added richness, though I imagine mine was not quite as thick as the original). For the stroganoff, I got three serves with brown rice and baby spinach.
Rating: Stroganoff :), Sour Cream :)



Fettuccini Bolognese: This is a very filling dish, giving me 5 tasty serves. The recipe calls for finely ground seitan or tempeh, but I used a packet of Tofurky ground beef, and it also has some more of that yummy tempeh bacon in it. The book has a recipe for making your own pasta if you like, but I just used some straight from the packet! The sauce is tomato based, with the addition of cashew cream. I don't remember ever having a creamy addition to the 'spag bol' of my youth, but some Googling has educated me on the origins of true Italian bolognese. I ended up just adding half of the cashew cream though, and I left out adding any veggie broth to the sauce entirely, as it was looking very saucy. I only used 8oz pasta rather than 12-16oz, so I am glad I cut out some liquid or it would have been swimming.
Rating: Bolognese :), Cashew Cream :)



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post - Month of Sahara



Sahara didn't only love her polka dot bed and her basket, she also loved this fluffy pink bed that I bought for Dim Sim. No bed was safe from Sahara's attentions.