Indian Burgers

As promised, here is the burger recipe to go with the naan bun recipe. The burger is durable, but is better suited to the oven than the grill. 

INGREDIENTS
Makes 6 large burgers
- 1 medium onion, minced
- 1/2 cup coarsely grated zucchini
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups chopped cauliflower (small pieces)
- 2 cups small diced potato
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp ground fenugreek
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
- 1/4 cup chickpea flour

METHOD
1. Mix together onion, zucchini, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Blanch cauliflower and potato in boiling salted water for 5 mins. Remove from boiling water and plunge into cold water. Drain. Rinse again with cold water and drain well.
3. By this time the onion and zucchini should have released a bunch of water. Squeeze out as much water as you can with your hands and place onion/zuke mixture in a new bowl.
4. Add 2/3 of the potato/cauliflower mixture. Mash the remaining 1/3 of the mixture with a fork, and add to the bowl. Add the garlic, ginger, cilantro, spices and salt and mix well.
5. Add the gluten and chickpea flours and mix well.
6. If necessary, mush/squeeze the mixture with your hands to bring it together.
7. Line a baking sheet with parchment and lightly oil it.
8. Divide mixture into 6 and press into a ring mold to make the burgers. Mist with oil and place in the fridge to chill.
9. While burgers are chilling, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake burgers for 10 mins, then flip, spray with oil, and bake for another 10 mins. Let stand for 5 mins before serving.

As you can see from the pic, I served these with with onion rings on top. I used this recipe, but cut the onions into rings and fried them separately. I dressed the burgers with vegan mayo, green tomato chutney, lettuce, and tomato.

Naan Buns

When we were in Quebec City last week vegan food for the entire family was pretty hard to come by. We ended up eating at a burger place that had some vegan options: tofu on a bun, or something they called L'Indien. It was more like a large falafel on a bun, but the kids were more or less pleased with it. The idea is a good one, so I made my own version when I got home (caveat: I did not actually eat the original burger because fried food and me don't get along. Thanks, Crohn's!). First up, the naan bun. Next, the burger.

INGREDIENTS
Makes one dozen buns
- 2 cups warm soy milk
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp yeast
- 775g/1lb 11oz all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp oil

METHOD
1. Whisk sugar and lemon juice into the soy milk. Whisk in yeast and set aside to fully dissolve and get frothy.
2. Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
3. Add oil and yeast mixture to the flour and bring together into a dough. Knead for about 5 mins, or until smooth. Shape into a ball and placed in an oiled bowl, covered, to rise for an hour.
4. Divide the dough into 12 pieces and shape into boules. Press each boule into a flat, puck shape with your finger tips. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or two, depending on the size of your oven and baking stone). Mist buns with oil, then cover. Place another baking sheet on top of the buns (this will let them rise but keep the puck shape) and let rise for about 45 mins, or until almost doubled in size.
5. While bread is rising, place a baking stone on the middle shelf of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.
6. The buns work best if you bake them directly on the hot stone. I slide the parchment off the pan and on to the stone, but you could just put the pan right on the stone. In any event, brush the buns with water (top with poppy seeds if you want), and place in the oven. Reduce heat to 400 degrees.
7. Buns right on the stone will bake in 8-9 minutes. Buns on the sheet won't be far behind. Bake until buns are a deep golden brown and sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.
8. Cool on wire racks and enjoy!

Grilled Mushroom Caesar Salad

This is a recipe I developed over two years ago that never saw the light of day. With BBQ season now upon us I thought would dust it off. There is perhaps nothing I love more that a marinated, grilled oyster mushroom. And certainly everyone will think you’re a fun guy when you make this traditional side salad as the main meal—all done on the barbecue!

INGREDIENTS

Dressing:

·      ½ cup (125 mL) soy milk (more as needed)

·      ½ cup (125 mL) vegan mayonnaise

·      2 tsp (10 mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice

·      2 small cloves garlic, minced

·      1 tbsp minced capers

·      ½ tsp each light soy sauce, brown sugar

·      ¼ tsp each apple cider vinegar, mustard powder, onion powder

·      1 tsp miso

·      pinch ground ginger

·      salt and pepper to taste

Salad:

·      2 small hearts of romaine lettuce

·      ¼ cup (60 mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice

·      2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil

·      seasoned salt

·      16 large shitake mushrooms, stems removed

·      3/4 lb (375 g) oyster mushrooms, stems on

·      1/2 cup (125 mL) croutons

METHOD

Oil grill and preheat barbecue to med-high 

Dressing: 

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper and thin with more soy milk to get desired consistency. 

Salad: 

1. Slice romaine in half lengthwise, leaving core intact. 

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil, salt and cayenne. Lightly brush over cut side of romaine. Set romaine aside on a tray. 

3. Place mushrooms (cut oyster mushrooms into smaller pieces if needed) in remaining lemon juice mixture in a baking tray. Toss to coat. Season with seasoned salt. Let marinate for 15 mins 

4. Place romaine cut-side down on grill. Place mushrooms on grill. Barbecue romaine for about 3 mins on the oiled side, and mushrooms, about 3-5 mins per side. 

5. Set each romaine half on a plate. Divide shitake mushrooms evenly among the plates. Remove stems from oyster mushrooms and divide among the plates. Scatter with croutons. Drizzle with dressing. Serve.

1:15 Buns

Welcome to the new year! If your 2017 is going to be anything like my 2016, then you will need this recipe to get some rich bunly goodness into your meals post haste. They are a little more stodgy than a regular bun, but, hey, you can make these in one hour and 15 minutes and they taste better than anything from the grocery store. The key is to have a nice warm place to help the dough rise quickly. The baking powder also gives them a better oven rise.

Makes 6 buns
INGREDIENTS
- 15 oz bread flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp instant yeast
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 4 oz warm soy milk
- 5 oz warm water
- 1.5 oz oil

- warm soy milk for brushing
- sesame seeds

METHOD
0:00 - 10:00: Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and yeast. Whisk apple cider vinegar into the soy milk, then whisk in water. Add to flour along with the oil. Bring into a dough and knead until smooth. Shape into a ball.

10:00 - 30:00: Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place.

30:00 - 35:00: Shape dough into 6 boules. Place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten into more of a puck-like shape. Brush with warm soy milk.

35:00 - 50:00: Let buns rise in a warm place, brushing with soy milk one more time half way through  the rise. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

50:00 - 60:00: slash buns about 1/3 of the way through with a sharp knife. Brush once more with soy milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Finish the rise. The final buns won't have as much rise as a regular dough but don't worry, they have a good oven rise.

1:00:00 - 1:15:00: Bake the buns for 7.5 minutes, then rotate pan and bake for another 7.5 minutes. Cool and serve.

Bread Sticks

Vegan Daughter watched a movie at her friend's house last night and was intrigued with the bread sticks that came with their pizza order. She asked if I could make some for our pizza and movie night tonight. Vegan Son #3 is on a trip to Niagara Falls with his best friend this weekend, so I used his portion of pizza dough to make these. So, if you don't want to make six pizzas as my dough recipe  allows, consider making some bread sticks.

INGREDIENTS
- pizza dough
- 8 tsp onion powder
- 4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup nutritional yeast
- melted margarine

METHOD
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

1. Make the dough per the recipe (a half recipe will make 14 bread sticks). When dough has risen, make 60g boules, then roll into 10" ropes. 

2. Place ropes an inch or so apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Mist with oil, cover, and let rise until almost doubled. 

3. While dough is rising, pulse the onion powder, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast in a coffee grinder (or blender). 

4. When ready to bake, brush the the sticks with melted margarine. Top with the onion powder mixture (if you don't use it all, save the leftovers in a sealed container for next time).

5. Bake for 7 mins, liberally drizzle more melted margarine over the bread sticks, and bake for another 7 mins. 

6. Let cool on a wire rack, but eat while still warm.