VEGAN BAKED ONION RINGS

HELLO VEGANS and non vegans alike. Its Spring!! I know I haven't been posting very much but its because I am moving:) My boyfriend and I decided to move to Campbell River where my parents live to help them and be out of the city for awhile. I'm really excited because my sisters are super awesome chefs and it'll be nice to have some partners in crime! I got a lot of positive responses when I posted some pictures of these bad boys so I figured it was about time I get posting a recipe. So if you don't hear from me in a while you know why! Stay tuned though because everything is about to get much more exciting for my blog:)

Keep cooking!

VEGAN BAKED ONION RINGS

1-2 large onion peeled and sliced

Batter

1 cup organic unbleached white flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of silk coconut almond milk blend

1 teaspoon organic apple cider vinegar

Breading

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 nutritional yeast

1/4 bobs red mill cornmeal

Steps
SERVES 2

Preheat your oven to 450F. Slice your onion up in 1/4 thick rings.

Make sure you push out all the silly little pieces that obviously won't make good onion rings. You want big circular pieces for this. Once all the onion you need to cut up is ready its time to make the batter. Combine all your dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Whisk together with a fork while dry so you can make sure there is no bumps in it at all. Add half of your almond milk and stir it in well. Then pour the other half into a measuring cup and add your apple cider vinegar. Add that mixture to your dough and keep stirring everything together. If your batter is too thin you can add a tablespoon of flour one at a time to thicken it. Once your batter is ready its time to get your breading together. Now this part can really be changed to whatever your preference is. I prefer to have a little crunch in my onion ring so I like adding things like cornmeal that give it a kick. If you prefer a smoother batter try just adding bread crumbs and nutritional yeast. I made my own bread crumbs by toasting some Silver Hills Squirrely bread then crushing it in my hand. Worked like a charm!

By this point your oven should be preheated so you'll want to oil a baking tray or line it with parchment paper.

Pick up a single onion ring with a fork and place it in your batter. Make sure the onion ring is completely covered with batter.  Pick it back up with the fork and let the excess batter drip off. Place the battered onion ring in your bread crumb dish and flip to cover both sides. Place the onion ring on your baking tray and repeat those steps until all onion rings are battered and ready to bake. Bake for 8 minutes, flip and bake for another 6 minutes. Take them out and remove from baking tray.  Place them on a plate with a paper towel to absorb some of the excess oil and allow them to cool.
I had mine with simply organic ketchup and it ruled:)
Enjoy!

We had ours with some Gardein Crispy tenders on the side. They we delis!
(there is links attached to the companies of products I used if you want to check them out!)

VEGAN SEITAN PINTO BEAN ROAST WITH STUFFING

It was thanksgiving the other day in Victoria BC. Which gives me an awesome opportunity to challenge myself. My boyfriend and I usually buy a little field roast quarter loaves for the two of us but since they have ceased shipping to Canada (article will explain) I decided to finally attempt to make my own stuffed roast. WHAT A SUCCESS IT WAS. IM SPEAKING IN CAPS BECAUSE I'M REALLY PROUD OF MYSELF. Making a roast vegan stylez is hard and this one I can confidently say you could feed your meat eatin' friends and they would love it. The stuffing really stepped it up a notch and made it seem like a real roast. 

This recipe also makes enough to invite friends over and have a big meal. I already took 8 large pieces off of it and I still have a quarter of the roast in my fridge. 

The stuffing was too good. It honestly tasted exactly like the kind I used to have back in my meat eating days. 

I used silver hills kings bread for the bread crumbs. If you want to turn your bread into bread crumbs just simply cut up your pieces into small cubes.  Around 1/2 inch in size. Preheat your oven to 400 F. Prepare a casserole dish with some olive oil and toss in your bread. Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil over top. Spice with whatever you would like. I used garlic powder, pepper and salt. Stir them around well so the oil is spread evenly and bake for 7 minutes or until bread is crispy and brown. 

RECIPE

Vegan Stuffing

5-6 piece of bread cut into bread crumbs = 3 cups bread crumbs

4 stalks celery, chopped fine

1/4 white onion, chopped fine

3 cloves of garlic, minced

half a shallot, diced

2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

1 teaspoon chili spice

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 drops liquid smoke

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

4 tablespoons garbanzo bean flour

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

STEPS

In a frying pan on medium heat saute your onion, garlic, shallot and celery until soft. Around 10 minutes. Add your bread crumbs, spices, liquid smoke, vegetable broth, garbanzo bean flour and nutritional yeast. Turn to low-med heat and mix everything together really well. Your breadcrumbs should absorb a lot of your vegetable broth but not all of it so if its too dry add some more vegetable broth, 1 tablespoon at a time. Until everything is moist, not soggy. Fry until all your liquids are absorbed. Around 7-10 minutes. Once your stuffing is ready remove from heat and allow it to cool before stuffing your roast!

*This recipe is great for stuffing the roast but if you want to bake some stuff on the side heres the steps, 

Preheat oven to 350 F. Separate your dry ingredients of your stuffing mix into two even batches. One in a frying pan and one in a oiled casserole dish. Cut your liquid ingredients in half for each mix. Add vegetable broth, liquid smoke, garbanzo bean flour and nutritional yeast to your casserole dish. Stir together well and place in your oven. Bake for 15 minutes or until all liquids are absorbed. 

RECIPE

VEGAN ROAST

1 can pinto beans, drained, blended

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten

4 teaspoons poultry seasoning 

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 1/4 cup vegetable broth

2 tablespoons soy sauce

6 drops liquid smoke 

STEPS

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a bowl combine all your dry ingredients and stir together well. Blend your pinto beans with 1 tablespoon of olive oil until smooth. *the bigger the beans are the harder it is to mix it into the gluten

Make a well in the middle of your gluten bowl and add your vegetable broth, soy sauce and liquid smoke.  Start to mix together well and pour your beans in, mixing while stirring. Knead with your hands for 5 minutes. This helps really blend your beans in with the mix. Once everything is mixed together well and your ball of goodness has formed prepare a place on the counter with a large piece of foil. (I used one that was 18' wide) Place your roast on the foil and begin to roll it out forming a rectangle. Roll it out well. If any pieces break its really easy to make it stick back together with your fingers by pinching it. It should be around a 1/4' to 1/2' thick. Any bigger and it won't roll well!  

Once your seitan is ready place a couple big spoonfuls of the stuffing on half of your roast. Make sure theres atleast an inch left on each side of the seitan. Flatten your stuffing down with the back of your spoon. Begin to roll from the side with the stuffing inward. Roll it slightly tight so you can make sure it sticks together but don't squish it. 

Once your roll is all together begin to pinch the open end with a fork. Pressing it into your roast. Make sure its completely blended together. Using your fingers to pinch any loose ends. 

Wrap your roast in foil and bake for 1 hour.