Vegan Green Bean Casserole

This is another for real vegan recipe, not a vegan-except-for-the-chicken kind of recipe.
I love Green Bean Casserole, but I haven't eaten it because it's generally a canister of French's French fried Onions on a can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup & a can of Green Beans.

Enter the pawl-diet-friendly substitutions:
Leeks.
Cut the tail off.
Chop.
Mix with Bread Crumbs & Flour.

Bake, between 350 & 400 or whatever.
Keep an eye on it, it burns easy. And stir it occasionally. Also add a bit of Oil.

While the Leeks are baking, nip & chop the Beans.

This step is probably unnecessary, (actually it is, I baked it once after this without pre-cooking the beans and it turned out fine, but whatever)... Saute Garlic.
Add Beans.
Lightly Saute.

Chop Shiitake Mushrooms.

Combine everything (except the Leeks) in a baking dish.
1 can Coconut Milk to 1/4 Cup of Nutritional Yeast.
Season.
Cover & bake for about 40, 45 minutes.

I kinda quit taking pictures at this point, except for the Leeks.
They kinda got burnt. I used the oven downstairs, and it's an unconventional oven. Plus other people were in the upsatirs kitchen, including my Sister!
Things were a bit chaotic.

This was one of my contributions to the Thanksgiving dinner.
I also made Cranberry Sauce...

And these re-fried mashed potatoes.

Two other people brought green bean casserole. One girl bought all of her ingredients at a convenience store for under $3: 1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup, 1 Can Green Beans and, instead of the french fried onions... 1 bag of sour cream & onion Chips.

Classic.

Anyway...
After it's done baking, sprinkle the burnt...browned leeks on top.

Viola.

Pesto!

It's Basil season, which is good, because you need lots of Basil to make Pesto. And right now, we have lots of Basil.

Basil is pretty much the only key ingredient that I use in my Pesto recipe that is in traditional Pesto... I mean, ya know aside from salt & olive oil and lemon or lime or whatever.

Speaking of ingredients:
Clockwise, starting at 6p: Serrano Pepper (which I recommend not using), Garlic, Basil, Cashew pieces, Nutritional Yeast, Arugala, and Lemon in the middle.
Not pictured is Salt & Olive Oil.

The traditional Pesto recipe I know is non-vegan. I know it be as follows:
Basil, Walnuts, Salt, Olive Oil, Parmesan... Lime...?

But whatever, I like Cashews & Nutritional Yeast better than Walnuts & Parmesan, and they're cheaper.

On to the Unorthodox Vegan Pesto.
I have noticed that what you put down first affects the consistency of the recipe, like with the Raw Soup, Tomatoes first.

For some reason, Garlic & Cashews go first.
That's the consistency I like I guess.

Next is the Basil & Arugala, and the Serrano Pepper.

Followed by Nutritional Yeast & Lemon

And finally, Olive Oil.
I forgot to add Salt. But that's what taste tests are for.

Process.
You may have to use a rubber spatula or something to shove down some of the ingredients that were violently thrown up on the side of the reservoir, but it shouldn't be too difficult to get a nice even consistency.

Give it a taste.
You guessed it, needs Salt.
It is also, at this point, that I realized I would not recommend Serrano Pepper.

As it turns out, we have plenty of room so we can do it all over again with the ingredients we want in another layer.
Garlic, Cashews, Basil, Arugala, Salt, Lemon, Olive Oil, Nutritional Yeast

And process...
Taste test results are excellent, much better than before and maintains the same consistency, so this totally blows my theory about order of ingredients out of the processor.

But lo, we have more room for yet more Pesto.
So lets do it again. That last layer combo seemed to work.

Garlic, Cashews, Basil, Arugala, Lemon, Salt, Nutritional Yeast.

Taste test.

Yep, that works.

This goes good with Pasta, Toast & Crackers, but I'm making this for a stove-top version of Veggie & Rice Casserole, because the oven is still broken, which will be my next post.

Vegan Lasagna

Okay everybody's been doing pretty well so far with the recipes I've thrown at you, so now we're going to step it up a bit and do something a little more intense.
Vegan Lasagna.
And it's the real vegan, not like the vegan-except-for-the-chicken-and-the-egg kinda vegan.

So the Tempeh is optional, but if you're going to put it in you should start with it.
It's basically ground Beef in the form of crumbled Tempeh.
This is the recipe I use for Tempeh Tacos for our Spanish Immersion nights... or whenever, but especially then.
Start with these:
Tempeh, garlic, hot pepper, coconut oil (or whatever oil).

Heat oil, saute chopped Garlic & Pepper.
Crumble Tempeh as best you can, but don't worry it'll break down nicely as you cook it.

Tempeh is kinda dry, or spongy or whatever, so you need to be adding oil as you go as it's needed.
That's what the white chunks of love are in the pan, un-melted coconut oil.
Season it.
I use: Black & White Pepper, Paprika, Turmeric, Tamari & Balsamic Vinegar.
That vinegar bottle has a spray top. That business only works with rabbit food. That's why my finger is over the top, because spraying is ridiculous and I don't want to flood the Tempeh.

So once it's seasoned you basically cook it like ground beef.
This is what ground beef looks like.
For the record, I do not vouch for, nor endorse 'pinch my salt dot com.'
First of all, they don't use iron skillets, and it looks like most of their ingredients come from the can.
meh.
They do have better lighting though.

On to the sauce!
Gather the Veggies & Fungi.
As you can see there is a jar of what looks like Trader Joe's Sauce. I have been assured that it is not TJ's, but rather the leftovers of another batch from scratch who happened to re-use the TJ's jar.
This is what actually inspired this week's dish.
Thanks Lee, you are such an inspiration.
Also thanks for the kick-@$$ vacuum & the paint.

Anyway, clockwise spiral into madness starting at noon; Shiitake Mushrooms, Zucchini, Asparagus, Jalapeno Pepper, Heirloom Tomatoes, Garlic.

Chop all but the Tomatoes & saute on low in another pan.
You don't want to over cook the stuff. It still needs to simmer with the Tomatoes and then bake for 40 minutes.

So, in theory, any tomato will do, it just depends on what you're going for.
I am going for no less than awesome, and that is why I am using Heirloom Tomatoes.
If you are unfamiliar with Heirloom Tomatoes, treat yourself & familiarize yourself with them.

They are beautiful...

...and tasty
Other than that I don't know much else about them. I'm sure there's a history and stuff behind them.
Yep, there is. Thanks Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirloom_tomato

Well, enough with the past, we're here, and the time is now.
Chop them Tomatoes, we're gonna make their ancestors proud.
I actually only needed the 2 big ones because we're also using Lee's homemade sauce.
I'm not sure what he put in it, but I spied a few Artichoke Hearts.
Mix it up real good and simmer.
You don't need to cook it much, because it will, like I mentioned above, be baking for 40 minutes.

Now add the herbs.
That's Basil at the top, left to right we have Tarragon, Sage and of course Arugala.

You may have noticed that there is no Oregano. That's because Oregano is cliche and only posers use it.
But of course everything is optional. It's your stomach, put whatever you want in it. No judgment.

So chop up & add the herbs and let simmer for a minute or two more.

Then give it a taste.

Holy bawls.
That is awesome.

Turn off the heat and move on to your final asset.
Vegan Cheese sauce.
Counter-clockwise starting with the Lime: Lime, Honey, Tofu (firm), Nutritional Yeast, Egg, Coconut Milk.

I'm just kidding about the egg.
I was just checking to see if anyone would notice.

Throw everything in the Food Processor.
If you don't have a food processor, a blender will do, but good luck.

Yeah. Where's my wish list?
I wish I had a food processor.

Now, we assemble the masterpiece

Grease the pan.
Again, I have no idea if this works or not.

I still don't know the dimensions, but it serves 4-6.

Contrary to popular belief, you don't need to pre-cook the Noodles.
The sauce is usually saucy enough to soften them.
However, you may have difficulty getting the Noodles to fit in the bottom of the pan.
Fracture as necessary.

Add Sauce.

Add Tempeh.

Another layer of Noodles.

More Sauce.

Another layer of Noodles
Generally, 2 layers of Noodles is enough, but there were exactly enough Noodles for one more layer.

Add faux Cheese Sauce.
Spread it around.
Cover.
Stick it in the oven.

Bake for 30 minutes at 375-400.

Check it after 30.
I usually poke it with a fork.
The top layer of Noodles are not quite as tender as I like.
Re-cover and put it in for 10 more minutes.

So, I think there wasn't enough Sauciness for the amount of Noodles that were put in.
So, let's say it's cooked to your desiring.
Bake for a bit with the top off.
In theory, you bake it with the top off to brown the cheese, since we're not using real cheese, it almost seem like a moot point.
But, meh.
May as well brown the faux Cheese.

Whoah, look at that shadow.
Trippy.

Serve.
Whoah.
Trippy.

Okay here it is in normal lighting.
Serve with Beer & Garlic Bread.
Or Wine.
Ya know whatever.

And viola.

It was pretty good actually. The Tempeh really added to the mix.
The texture/consistency wasn't quite what I usually get, and I think it was because of the extra layer of Noodles.
The idea, as it makes sense to me, is that there is a layer of Sauce on top of each layer of Noodles, so the moisture from the sauce cooks the Noodles as it's baking.
More Sauce next time.

So the layers should basically be like this:
Noodle - Sauce - Cheese.

You do that twice.
That's basic lasagna as I understand it.

Most people put the (faux) Meat in the Sauce rather than having it's own layer like I did, but ya know, it really doesn't matter.

You do whatever you can get away with.
Noodle - Sauce - Meat - Noodle - Sauce - Noodle - Faux Cheese

Whatever works.