Vegan Curried Tomato Tofu versus The Perfect Pot Roast

Huh? Some of you may be confused by the title since it is like comparing apples and oranges or comparing cats and dogs. There are times though that one of our cats, Abby would some time imitate a dog. She would come when her name is called. The same is true for vegan food where some vegan meats would attempt to imitate real meat. Abby is still very independent like a cat so her imitation of a dog is very limited. Similar to vegan meat, it also attempts to taste like real meat but does a very poor job.

Don’t make a vegan dish just to copy a regular meat entrée because in many cases it just doesn’t work. One of my favorite Chinese dishes is tomato beef over rice. I made a vegan oil-free variation using tofu instead of beef and it was unbelievable. There is no reason to attempt to replace the beef with fake meat like Tofurkey. Cooking vegan dishes is a challenge in itself but to do it with no oil is double the challenge! Here is the recipe:

Vegetables
• 1/2 lb. of cremini mushrooms
• 1 tsp. chopped garlic
• 1 tsp. chopped ginger
• 1 tomato quartered (preferably heirloom)
• 1/3 cup sliced yellow onions
• 1/2 cup of firm tofu or baked tofu
• 1/4 lb. of fresh wide rice noodles
• 1/2 cup of chopped bell peppers (optional)
• 1/2 cup of chopped green onions (optional)

Sauce
• 2 tbsp. organic ketchup
• 1 tsp. curry powder
• 1 tbsp. Braggs Amino Acids
• 1 tbsp. corn starch
• 2 cups of vegetable stock
• White pepper to season

Mix all the sauce ingredients in a cup or a mug. The vegetable broth needs to be cold or else the corn starch will clump up. Set this aside. Boil some water and have it ready to cook the rice noodles. Toss in non-stick pan or a wok the onions, mushroom, garlic, and ginger without oil. Cook it for 30 seconds and then add some vegetable stock. The aromatics will cook in the liquid and still be brown as the stock evaporates. Stir fry for another 1-2 minutes and then add the tomatoes and tofu.

The most important thing to remember is not to overcook the vegetables. Cook for another minute and then add the sauce mixture. Continue to stir the sauce and vegetables so it will not clump up as the sauce will thicken up quickly. As soon as the sauce is thickened, turn off the heat. Throw the rice noodles in the boiling water. Loosen the rice noodles and cook for no more than 2 minutes. Drained the noodles onto a plate and immediately add the vegetable mixture to the rice noodles. You can add cilantro on top for taste if you like. The calorie on this dish is probably less than 600 and calorie from fat is under 50. For a typical Chinese version of this dish is probably double in both total calories and in fat calories.

Since I have not converted the rest of the family to vegan, I made a pot roast tonight as well. The perfect pressure cooker pot roast! My sister, Melanie bought for me a pressure cooker for my birthday. It is one cooking appliances that I used just as much as my Sous Vide machine. I’ve adopted a recipe that I found online and made it many times better. The original recipe is way too salty! Here is a healthier version of the recipe that makes the perfect pot roast:

• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 3 lbs. of chuck roast
• 1 large onion chopped
• 14 oz. organic beef broth (no salt)
• 3/4 lb. cremini mushroom
• 3 carrots chopped
• 1/2 oz. organic brown gravy mix
• 1 oz Italian and Ranch style dressing mix
• 4 cloves of fresh garlic

I never believed until now that good quality meat makes a lot of difference. Last week I used chuck roast that was grass fed that cost $5.99/lb from Metropolitan Market. Today I used a choice chuck roast from Safeway that cost $1.99/lb. The one from last week was significantly better! Who would guess this would be the case for chuck roast??

Heat the pressure cooker using the browning setting with the lid open. Dredge the pot roast with flour and brown on both sides. Add the chopped onions, garlic and mushroom to the pressure cooker.

In a small bowl mix the seasoning and the beef broth together. Pour the mixture into the pressure cooker. Do NOT add salt.  Seal the pressure cooker and set it for 75 minutes on high pressure (15psi).  I highly recommend after 75 minutes to allow the pressure cooker to "natural" pressure release. Essentially you want the cooker to cool down enough naturally to open the lid without releasing the pressure manually. This allow the meat to be more tender!  It takes 15-20 minutes the natural process to occur.

After opening the lid, take the meat out and set the pressure cooker back to browning. Add a corn starch mixture to thicken the gravy and place the meat back in the pressure cooker. Set the setting to keep warm before serving. I guarantee you that you'll have the perfect pot roast (so I was told).

Vegan versus Pot Roast? I'll let you decide :)

Real Men Can Be Vegans!

Wow, it has been forever since I updated my blog. Too much going on with life but no excuses :)  A couple of highlights and lowlights since my last blog about 6 months ago. Let's start with some lowlights:

• My cholesterol is at an all time high of 260! Why is it that I can never spell cholesterol?
• Too much good food has added a few extra pounds and I am at an all time high as of the first of July - 160lbs. This is definitely borderline overweight
• I confessed to my wife that my guilty pleasure had been getting a double order of fatty roast pork once a week at Uwajimaya grocery store in Bellevue. I guess it's better than cheating on something else!
• I had the worse meals possible during our trip to Kauai in June - daily spam masubi (you can get them fresh in the 7/11 store), saimen, and my favorite at the Hawaiian BBQ dive at the Honolulu airport: Loco Moco!  If you never had a loco moco before it's literally a heart attack on a plate. It's 2 servings of white rice, 2 large hamburger patties, 2 eggs sunnyside up, and loads of greasy gravy.
• Excercise - is that something that you do with the remote?
• I have snacking almost every night in front of the computer eating spam; sodium loaded canned soups; egg & rice; ice cream; sugar loaded iced tea; buttered popcorn; and way too much top ramen.

Looking back at the list one can only wonder if anything has changed. One thing has not changed is my love for cooking. In the last 6 months the dinner parties are still going strong both at my house and my friend's house in Bellevue. I'm still cooking multi-course meals experimenting with yummy ingredients and I even had the pleasure of cooking wild boar one night!  I even purchased a pressure cooker and made the absolutely best pot roast ever. I'll leave this for a different blog. 

So has anything else changed?  The answer is yes which is one of the main reasons why I'm writing this blog. After my wife and I left Hawaii we flew to Anchoarage, AK for a few days and then to Kodiak Island to stay with my wife's friends Angie and Jeff. They are absolutely the nicest couple we've met. Angie was telling me about how she went on a oil-free vegan diet based on a book called the Engine 2 Diet. I don't believe in diets since I've tried many over the years. She gave me the book and I read it.  During the 5 days Angie educated me about the diet and told me how her chloresterol had dropped 100 after 28 days. On our last day, I told her that I might give it a try but maybe do it halfway. My friends that know me well can tell you that I LOVE my meats, fats, and other badness.  There was no way I was going to do this or even stick with it.

Fast track 30 days later, I'm actually doing this diet 99.9% for the last 30 days. Yes, I cheated with nibbles of meats once in awhile. Here are some highlights:

• Exercise - I now run 2.5 miles 3 to 4 times a week! 
• Jeans that I bought 5 years ago that didn't fit before now fits! I need to purchase a new belt.
• I don't do portion control when I eat. I eat as much as I like consisting of great vegan foods like brown rice, whole grains, lots of veggies and fruits, tofu for protein, flax seed, soups with asian vegetables and noodles, and beans! Keep in mind that I hated black beans and brown rice before until I visited Trader Joes.
• I still snack at nights but it's always fresh fruits or a bowl of vegan soup
• I've learned that Trader Joe's is one of the best places to buy great food at a decent price.
• I don't snore anymore since starting the diet 30 days ago
• I lost 14lbs in 30 days!!!
• Vegan hot dogs are nasty but vegan corn dogs from Trader Joes rocks!

Don't get me wrong, I still cook lots of meats for my family and friends. I just don't eat it :)  It is tempting at time but I still love to cook. The last 30 days I made a couple of fabulous traditional paella, learn to cook pulled pork, brisket, smoked chicken, and smoked turkey on my friend's green egg, made yummy pot roast, and still eating vegan!  Real men can be vegan :)

I will continue on with the is blog with some great pressure cooker recipes and with awesome vegan recipes that I have discovered.