Tofurky Frozen Vegan Pizza in BOULDER!

Vegan Pepperoni Frozen Pizza?   That tastes good?  GET OUT OF THE CITY!   YES! It’s finally in Boulder at Whole Foods  after many months wait and we had to have a pizza party a few weeks ago to try them all out.   Tofurky Pizza comes in three flavours: pepperoni, cheese and sausage with peppers and grilled veggies.  Kids, this stuff is GREAT!   This is good for frozen pizza, period, much less vegan pizza.  The Turtle Island folks have done it again and they decided to be the very first vegan pepperoni pizza on the frozen aisle.      We used to love frozen pizza, it reminded us of our childhoods eating Totino’s Party Pizza and out of this box, the sight almost brought a tear to my eye.   I remembered my grandmother buying that particular brand of pizza for me to have on Saturdays as a treat when I’d go over to her house.  We’d have Kool Aid and Party Pizza.   (Admit it, this looks familiar!) :





This pizza  pie does our old fave justice with a similar dimension, crispy but light crust and CUBED pepperoni and a light (not gross) portion of Daiya cheese.  (In case you have been living under a rock, Daiya is the only non-dairy cheese that melts like the real thing and TASTES amazing– a review of that is underway for any of you rock-dwellers out there).    But where the old time Party Pizzas were a greasy, meat-slathered, sweet (on what I assume is a deep fried crust) kiddie-pie,  Tofurky Frozen Pepperoni Pizza is lean, vegan, cholesterol free,  high protein, critter-free  and all natural.  It’s an optimal choice for lactose intolerant, vegetarian or vegan diners.
I have always been on the look out for decent vegan pepperoni and have found most versions tasty, but not quite authentic. This stuff is amazing. The pepperoni tastes great and even has little “fat” globules and just the right texture (don’t start gagging – they replicated the authentic pepperoni flecks with brown rice) but isn’t as salty as the real stuff.    The crispy (but not card-board-crispy) crust is the best I’ve had on ANY frozen pizza.   The sauce was not my favourite element of this pizza, it could use a little saltiness or sweetness  to cut the acidic tomato-y bitterness but it was tasty nonetheless.  (* some of the taste testers thought the sauce was fabulous. )





The Cheese Pizza is REALLY good and, thankfully, it doesn’t have too much cheese on it. Diaya is a wonderful thing, but too much of a wonderful thing is not good. As with all cheeses, it turns gloppy or slimy if there is too much.  This is one you could spice up with your own fixins and toppings. The sauce tastes a little different on this version -and it might be my imagination, but it seems more delicate and less aggressively tomato-y and it pairs well with the mozzarella-cheddar mix of the cheese.  It’s also very “Tontio’s-esque”  but in a good way:




but my second favourite, behind the pepperoni Totino’s flashback of childhood, was THIS baby right here:





Of all the three varieties, this one is the most sophisticated.   This is a delicious combination of vegan sausage and grilled vegetables.  I wish they added a little more fennel to their  Italian sausage, but I add the fennel seeds on with a little dash of sea-salt.   Delicious!    The smokiness of the veggies and the savory sausage is a perfect match for the sauce and crispy crust. 
For 6 bucks and some change.. you can’t go wrong!!!

Note: I haven’t been up to blogging this year yet, as I’ve been very busy working, and also getting into a new dietary routine in which I am eating mainly unprocessed whole foods and limiting “white” and refined foods.  My rule is “single ingredients that are what they are.”   I will be posting some new recipes but I also wanted to post some reviews I’ve not had time to publish (like the above).   Of COURSE there will still be reviews from the “junk food” loving side of the family and I will still be sampling treats once a week.     After all, moderation in all things!  
~B~!

Belated St. Patty’s Day: Vegan Corned ‘Beef’ and Cabbage

My father has reported not missing much of his old meat-eating life but said he’d miss his corned beef and cabbage for St. Patty’s Day.  Eager to find a tasty replacement, I scoured the net and even thought about making this delicious recipe from Susan’s Fat Free Vegan Kitchen,  but I found that the recipes either sounded not corned-beefy-enough for my dad, or were long elaborate “make your own seitan with vital wheat gluten” affairs like the famous Bryanna’s recipe, and so I set off to create my own somewhat lazier version and concocted the following experiment. It was a big hit, even for the former carnivores and corned-beef lovers. I’m not the biggest “faux meat” lover in the world, but even I thought this made a good dish.   I didn’t think it tasted exactly like my memory of corned beef, but with the potatoes and horse-radish sauce it was very close (in a good way)!  One guest raved about how tasty the corned “beef” was and how great the texture was.  In the future I might experiment with making my own brining spices, cooking in beer, adjusting the spices but I was happy with the results. It took two days to create, but this dish was a big hit.  Better late than never, Erin Go Bragh!



Part 1 THE BRINE (corning the Seitan the day before)
You need:
Big glass or plastic bowl (no metal)
Non-reactive sauce pan
2 packages of Seitan … ( I used WestSoy brand which is seasoned with spices, garlic and soy sauce) *lightlife “steak”  style strips should work for this too
1 can of beets (non pickled)
1 tablespoon sea salt (or table salt)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons pickling spices *if you don’t have pickling spices you can make your own but note that for meatless corned beef the flavour of CLOVE is especially prominent. If you don’t like that taste, make your own or use less. To prevent spices from getting all over your corned seitan, you can make a sachet with cheese cloth or coffee filter tied with a string  to boil the spices in.
1 teaspoon dry mustard (ground mustard)
1/2  teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar or white vinegar
Pepper to taste.
3 cups water

Put the seitan in a large glass or plastic bowl, drain the beet juice into the bowl (reserve the beets for later use). The beet juice gives a nice pink corned-beef colour to the seitan but doesn’t adversely lend flavour. *I found it worked better when the seitan was chopped in somewhat smaller pieces for the beet juice to penetrate, it might help to use more beet juice or to brine for a longer period of time.
In the saucepan boil the water and spices for five minutes and then pour liquid over the seitan and beet juice in the bowl. Put your bowl in the fridge to brine, at least over night and through the next day until you make the rest of the feast.

 
Part TWO: COOKING DAY
Large stock pot or boiling pot
fry pan/sauté pan
large Pyrex roasting pan or large casserole pan
little salad bowl to mix “glaze” for the roasted corned seitan.
1 green cabbage chopped into large wedges
1lb New red potatoes cut in half (or small potatoes quartered) or as many as you like
Carrots quartered (as many as you like)
4 cups veggie broth ( Or 1 package Pacific Foods Low Sodium Vegetable Broth)
1/4 cup water
1 shallot minced
1 clove garlic minced
2 stalks of celery chopped into slices
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish  *Be sure to read labels many jarred horseradish contains milk ingredients to make it “creamy”. I got mine ("Bubbies" prepared horseradish) in the vegan section of Whole Foods.
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoon white wine vinegar (or any wine vinegar)
Vegan Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper (to taste) *optional
tablespoon parsley flakes
The Glaze:
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons brown sugar,
½ teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos or low sodium soy sauce

Directions:   Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

In the stock pot, place chopped garlic, shallots, and celery slices and sauté until the shallots and garlic are fragrant and translucent.  Add broth, water, 1 teaspoon vinegar, the horseradish, (1 tsp) dry mustard, carrots, potatoes and cabbage, bring liquids to a boil then cook covered, on medium heat  for 15 minutes or until cabbage is getting tender.

While the veggies are cooking, drain the brining liquid from the seitan that has been in your fridge overnight and brush off any large pickling spices  (you may also rinse the seitan but this will lighten the shade too) place in your frying pan or sauté pan and heat through (use a little of the broth to “sauté ”)  sprinkle on a little of the Vegan Worcestershire Sauce, a dash more of white vinegar, and a little more of the mustard  (if you like mustard)  as you cook the seitan just until heated through and set it off to the side.   (*You may also transfer seitan into the simmering veggies but this will cause your seitan to lose some of the pink colour)

In a little bowl, mix the 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard, 1/2 teaspoon Bragg’s Aminos or soy sauce and 2 tablespoons brown sugar until it forms a syrupy consistency (add a bit of broth or water if too thick) to make the glaze.

When the veggies are tender, transfer them (and the remaining broth/cooking liquid) into the roasting pan and place the seitan in the middle of the pan in a little “nest” created in the veggies.  Spoon broth over all exposed veggies/”meat” and then brush the top of the seitan with the “glaze” mixture  (which will create a nice crust on the tops of the corned setian ) top with parsley  and cook, uncovered in the oven for about 10-15 minutes (check periodically for browned potatoes and baste the corned seitan with broth if it’s drying out).

Serve with a side of  horseradish sauce (mix your desired amount of horseradish with vegan mayonnaise )  and vegan soda bread/rolls.   I made a side of steamed baby asparagus  :)

Blarney B