Veganomicon_ The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook - Isa Chandra Moskowitz [68]
Preheat the oven to 200°F. Preheat a greased grill pan (brush well with peanut oil or use a high-heat grill spray) over medium-high heat. Or, prepare a heavy skillet with enough peanut oil to lightly coat its surface, and preheat it.
Grill or fry each side of the tempeh pieces for 5 minutes. When each side is almost done, spoon some of the marinade over the tempeh and let it cook for 30 more seconds. Remove the tempeh from the heat and slice into thin strips. Keep warm, covered in foil in the oven while preparing and assembling tacos. Continue to heat your cast-iron grill or heavy skillet once the tempeh is done. Use a new cast iron skillet if your cast iron is too sticky, or wipe it down with a paper towel to continue.
To assemble the tacos:
Create a taco assembly line: tortillas, lime crema, slaw, sliced grilled tempeh, and garnishes. Heat a corn tortilla on the grill for 30 seconds, then flip the tortilla over and heat until it has become soft and pliable. Repeat with a second tortilla and arrange both, slightly overlapping, on a serving dish. We like to use two tortillas per taco (helps with piling on the fillings), but you can make smaller tacos using just one tortilla. If not serving immediately, stack the hot tortillas, wrap them tightly in foil, and keep them warm in the oven. Then, spread a little lime crema down the center of the tortillas, pile on some slaw, and top with the tempeh and then with any garnish you like. Drizzle on extra lime crema and hot sauce, if desired. Fold and eat.
BLACK BEAN BURGERS
MAKES 6
TIME: 30 MINUTES
Here’s a nice, wholesome Southwestern black bean burger. Everything’s been kept fairly simple so that you can top it with all sorts of things—cilantro sour cream (page 209), tropical salsa, guacamole, or all of the above. Plain old ketchup is fine, too. Also include your good friends lettuce, tomato, and red onion. Did we mention that these freeze well, too? Once cooked, pack them in a resealable plastic bag with sheets of waxed paper to separate them, then reheat in the oven at 350°F for about 25 to 30 minutes.
2 cups cooked or 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
½ cup vital wheat gluten
½ cup plain whole wheat bread crumbs
1 teaspoon chile powder
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon tomato paste (or ketchup)
¼ cup finely chopped cilantro (optional)
2 cloves garlic
½ small onion
About 2 tablespoons olive oil plus olive oil spray
Whole wheat buns
MASH THE beans with a fork in a mixing bowl. You don’t want to puree them; just get them mashed so that no whole beans are left, but you should leave some half beans.
Add the wheat gluten, bread crumbs, chile powder, cumin, water, and tomato paste (and cilantro, if using), but don’t mix yet. Use a microplane grater to grate the garlic in. (A garlic press or very well minced garlic works, too.) Use the large holes on a box grater to grate in the onion.
Mix everything together with a fork, and then proceed to knead with your hands, until the mixture is firm and uniformly mixed (about a minute).
Preheat a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Divide the burger mixture into six equal pieces. Roll each piece into a firm ball. Use your palm to press the ball down on a clean surface to form a patty that is about 1½ inch thick. Press so that the patty is flat on both sides. Make six patties.
Pour a thin layer of olive oil into the pan. Cook the patties three at a time for 5 minutes on each side, gently but firmly pressing down on them with a spatula. Spray with olive oil before turning over, for uniform browning. Once cooked, the patties should be very firm when you press down on them.
Serve warm on burger buns.
SNOBBY JOES
SERVES 4 TO 6
TIME: 60 MINUTES
Every vegan cookbook needs a sloppy joe recipe with the name changed around a bit, right? Well, this is