Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Gardein Beefless Tips with Spaghetti



So the picture is AWFUL, I know. It was not a great day for my crappy camera. I assure you, though, that this was DELICIOUS. I think it was the first time I've had Gardein's Beefless Tips. I sauteed for a bit with onions and garlic and then added frozen broccoli and Newman's Own Garden Peppers Sauce. The beefless tips became very juicy and took in a lot of the flavor of the sauce. These beefless tips would make AWESOME veggie kabobs and I really want to make those on the grill next summer.

I really like Gardein's products. Almost every one that I have tried is really delicious. I splurged on several of their products recently so I will have a few product reviews coming up.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

BBQ Seitan Ribz with Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli, and Cashew Cheez Sauce



I finally made those infamous bbq ribz from
Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. Totally worth it.

I somehow forgot the nutritional yeast and I did not have paprika at all and I used peanut butter for the tahini/nut butter. They still turned out great. I could have kneaded them a bit less and made them more thinly spread, but had quite a difficult time getting it spread out in the pan.



I made these with combination baking in the oven and grilling on the George Foreman Grill. I used Ken Davis BBQ Sauce, a favorite in my house.



Mr. Coconut liked the ribz so-so, he was more of a fan of the broccoli and cheez sauce. [on a small tangent...I have been OBSESSED with making perfect nacho cheez dip for tortilla chips this past week. I've made about 4-5 sauces in the last 7 days or so--that's a post for another day.]

This sauce was made from blending raw cashews with water, nutritional yeast flakes [nooch], mustard, pimentos, garlic salt, onion powder, and salt. The thing that has troubled me about cashew cheese is the consistency. I tried in the food processor and with a stick blender, and there was still too much grit for my taste - to the point where I was beginning to doubt all these recipes for "creamy" cashew cheez sauces.

Then I used The Magic Bullet and suddenly I understand how fantastic cashews can be for a cheese sauce! Creamy, light, airy. Delicious on broccoli!

I really liked the ribz and I am excited to try them again!