German Inspired Kale Soup with Whole Wheat Spaetzle

After canning a bushel of peaches today I really wasn’t much in the mood for cooking tonight, so I made soup. This is one of those clean out the refrigerator meals (like most soups) but it is different since it is flavored with German herbs. The German influence was driven by the desire to use the seitan beer brats. Once I had decided to make a German type of soup then I knew I wanted to make spaetzle.

Before today I had not made spaetzle without egg so I wasn’t quite certain it would work. My first attempt didn’t use tofu and the spaetzle texture wasn’t right. In fact, I hated the texture and immediately through it away. After considering the composition of egg (protein and fat) I decided to try the silken tofu and tahini dip I had in the refrigerator in place of egg. That substitution made a huge difference in the texture. The other change I made was to make the dough texture thicker (like a stiff waffle batter) and that should have also helped. Next time the only change I would make would be to add a little onion and garlic powder to the dough to give it more flavor, beyond that I think the recipe is perfect.

German Inspired Kale Soup with Whole Wheat Spaetzle
Serves 6

Soup Ingredients:

½ tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
3 leeks, finely chopped
3 green onion, finely chopped
6 carrots, finely diced
1 bok choy, finely shredded (or green cabbage)
10 kale leaves, finely shredded
8 cups of water (or enough to cover the vegetables)
1 ½ teaspoons of caraway seeds
½ teaspoon of poppy seeds
½ teaspoon of dry mustard
2 teaspoons of kosher salt
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
3 seitan beer brats, cut in half lengthwise, sliced into ½ moons

Spaetzle Ingredients:

1 cup of whole wheat flour
6 tablespoons of silken tofu, tahini, garlic sauce
6 tablespoons of water
½ teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon of dry mustard

Directions:

Sauté the leeks, green onion, and carrot in the olive oil until tender. Add the remaining soup ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes.

While the soup simmers make the spaetzle. Bring a pot of water to the bowl while you make the dough.

Combine the flour, salt, pepper and dry mustard and whisks to combine. Add the tofu and stir with a fork to combine. Add the water a tablespoon at a time, stirring with each addition until the dough resembles a waffle batter.

Using a spaetzle maker, large holed grater or strainer, scrape ¼ of the dough to the top of the spaetzle maker. Use a silicon spatula to press the dough through the maker and into the boiling water. The spaetzle will fall to the bottom of the pot and will rise when they are cooked (about a minute). Remove the floating spaetzle with a strainer to a bowl of cold water to keep them from sticking together. Continue making spaetzle using one quarter of the dough at a time until you are finished.

To serve the soup, place the hot vegetables and broth in the bottom of the bowl and top with spaetzle. The hot soup will warm the spaetzle. You don’t want them to cook the second time in the soup or they will be overcooked and mushy.

Refrigerate the soup and spaetzle separately so the spaetzle do not get water logged.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 323.6
Calories From Fat (16%) - 53.18

Total Fat - 6.1g
Saturated Fat - 0.83g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 1089.28mg
Potassium - 1039.96mg
Total Carbohydrates - 46.19g
Fiber - 7.23g
Sugar - 8.35g
Protein - 22.94g

Comments:

Much to my surprise my husband loved this soup. This was unexpected since he isn’t thrilled by kale and doesn’t like vinegar. When I asked what he liked about dinner tonight he told me it was caraway since I don’t normally cook with it.

Seitan Beer Brats

How many times have you seen the commercial for the Johnsville Brat Beer Hot tub? The commercial came on this morning and I decided my husband would like a healthy version of this, but with a twist of course. I was going to put the beer in the brat rather than the brat in the beer.

I grabbed my Charcuterie book to find out what was in bratwurst and surprisingly it is pork, white pepper, ginger and nutmeg with heavy cream and egg. This made me think that the commercial bratwurst sold in this country isn’t bratwurst at all. When I checked the Johnsville website no dairy or egg. However, the Johnsville Beer brat on the website sounds interesting and a better match for the beer idea. The Johnsville beer brat includes beer, lemon and sweetener. That is where I began the process.

To get a somewhat fatty (think squishy) texture to the sausages I added whole wheat bread crumbs soaked in beer and a little olive oil to the seitan mixture. I also thought garlic would be good in these. A little agave was added for sweetness, but not much. I tasted the wet mixture and decided not to add lemon to this batch, I wasn’t certain I wanted that flavor this time.

Seitan Beer Brats
Makes 8 large brats

Ingredients:

2 cups of whole wheat bread crumbs
2 tablespoons of onion flakes
12 ounces of ale or beer
¼ cup of water
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon of dry mustard
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
½ teaspoon of black pepper freshly ground
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced or grated on a microplane
1 teaspoon of agave
10 ounce box of vital wheat gluten
2 bay leaves

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients except the wheat gluten. Stir so that everything is evenly combined. You want the breadcrumbs and onion flakes to absorb the liquid. Allow the wet mixture to stand for at least 5 minutes. Check the texture of the breadcrumbs; if they are completely wet you can add the wheat gluten now. Knead to thoroughly combine the wet and dry ingredients. This mixture should feel much softer than regular seitan dough due to the amount of bread crumbs, that will be what gives the sausages the soft texture you are looking for.

Put the bay leaves in the bottom of your pressure cooker. Add the steamer insert and enough water to come to the bottom of the insert.

Remove 8 sheets of aluminum foil from the roll to form the sausages. You want pieces that are about 10 inches in length so the sausages have at least three layers of aluminum foil around them. This will make certain they retain their shape while cooking.

Place the seitan dough on a cutting board and cut into eight roughly equal pieces. Roll each piece of seitan into a fat snake and place it on a sheet of foil. Roll the foil around the seitan snake like you are rolling a burrito (with open sides). When the seitan dough is rolled up twist the ends of the aluminum foil tightly like a tootsie roll.

Place the wrapped seitan sausages into the pressure cooker. Bring the cooker to pressure and cook for 15 minutes. Allow the cooker to return to pressure naturally. Remove the sausages from the pressure cooker and allow them to cool until you can remove the aluminum foil without burning your fingers. This will take at least 15 minutes.

Place the unwrapped sausages in a container with a lid and refrigerate until you are ready to use them. They can also be wrapped individually in plastic cling film and put into a Ziploc freezer bag and stored in the freezer for at least a month.

These sausages can be used in recipes that call for bratwurst.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 222.5
Calories From Fat (18%) - 40.19

Total Fat - 4.53g
Saturated Fat - 0.67g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 196.53mg
Potassium - 110.93mg
Total Carbohydrates - 14.06g
Fiber - 1.5g
Sugar - 1.32g
Protein - 28.85g

Comments:

In the interest of full disclosure I will tell you that I am not a fan of beer. The only beer I ever liked was warm Guinness or Grolsch and that was a lifetime ago. If I am drinking it is red Italian wine (normally Brunello) 99% of the time. With that in mind these beer sausages are much better than I expected. The texture is definitely softer than normal seitan, but still firm enough to mimic a meaty bite.

You can expect to see a few meals with these in the coming days and weeks. I expect my husband will really like these.

Seitan and Crimini Stroganoff over Brown Basmati Rice

I haven’t made stroganoff for about a decade. The beef and sour cream version was a favorite of my family long before I became health conscious. I have one of the early versions of the New York Times Cookbook, which had a fantastic recipe for stroganoff. The version that I used to make from that book included Dijon mustard. While that isn’t a standard stroganoff ingredient it doesn’t seem like stroganoff to me without the Dijon.

This stroganoff flavor is mild and very reminiscent of the original. The lemon juice is used to replicate the acidity of the sour cream. The Worcestershire sauce helps to simulate a meat flavor. The coconut milk and cornstarch thicken the sauce without adding an excessive amount of fat.

Overall we thought this recipe was similar to the beef version we remember but a much healthier version. I love that the dish came in at 9% fat and with 38 grams of protein.

Seitan and Crimini Stroganoff over Brown Basmati Rice
Serves 6

Ingredients:

6 servings of Pressure Cooked Seitan Roast
1 red onion, sliced very thin
5 cloves of garlic, finely minced (allow to stand 10 minutes before cooking so that allicin will develop completely)
12 ounces of crimini mushrooms, sliced thin
1 cup of water, filtered
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
12.3 ounces of low fat silken tofu
½ cup of reduced fat coconut milk
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
1 teaspoon of vegan Worcestershire sauce, or to taste
1 tablespoon of fresh dill, minced – for garnish (optional)

1 ½ cups of brown basmati rice
3 cups of water, filtered

Directions:

Spray a heavy bottomed skillet with canola or olive and heat. Cook the onion and garlic until caramelized.

Start the brown rice in the pressure cooker so that it will be ready when the sauce is done.

Clean and slice the mushrooms into approximately ¼ inch slices. Add the mushrooms to the onion pan once the onions have caramelized. Cook the mushrooms for a few minutes so they will brown a little.

Add the water, lemon juice and Dijon mustard to the pan and turn up the heat to so that the liquid simmers.

Meanwhile slice the seitan as thinly as possible using a serrated knife. You want the final seitan to be thin strips, like for Chinese food. Add the seitan to the simmering pan. Cook to heat the seitan completely.

Put the silken tofu, coconut milk, cornstarch in the food processor until the tofu is completely smooth.

When the seitan is completely heated through add the tofu mixture and lower the heat to low. You want the liquid to very gently simmer. Stir to evenly incorporate the tofu into the pan liquid. Add as much Worcestershire as you like. I used approximately a teaspoon of Worcestershire to our dinner.

Taste for salt and pepper and serve over brown basmati rice. Garnish with fresh dill if desired.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 403.16
Calories From Fat (9%) - 34.85

Total Fat - 3.85g
Saturated Fat - 1.47g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 443.66mg
Potassium - 701.03mg
Total Carbohydrates - 53.62g
Fiber - 3g
Sugar - 2.17g
Protein - 38.46g

Comments:

We both thought the texture and mouth feel of the sauce was very close to the original. The flavor of the sauce was definitely “stroganoff like”. It would be difficult to replicate the flavor exactly without the consommé.

According to my husband it was delicious. Since my husband doesn’t normally rave I am going to say this meal is husband approved. I thought it was very good as well. My biggest compliant is that it wasn’t photogenic. I like my food to be pretty, and this has a pretty monotonous appearance. The taste made up for the lack of photogenic appearance.

Update:

This stroganoff reheats beautifully in the microwave. The dairy original doesn't reheat well in the microwave, so I was a little skeptical of how this recipe would reheat. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well it reheated. I used 60% power to reheat the leftovers and the sauce consistency remainded perfect and the seitan was tender.

Potato Salad with Fresh Dill, Lemon and Dijon

Potatoes are the most popular vegetable consumed in America. Unfortunately they are normally served in the form of french fries. Potatoes can be a healthy food. They are a good source of vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant. Potatoes are also a good source of fiber, which most American’s need to incorporate in their diet. They also contain compounds that have blood pressure lowering potential and neutralize cancer causing agents.

I cook my potatoes in the skin to preserve the maximum amount of nutrients. I also retain the skin in most recipes so that those vitamins are consumed rather than thrown away.

I buy organic potatoes whenever possible because potatoes are one of those foods that is highly sprayed with pesticides and whose soil is also treated with fungicides. I have read (although I can’t remember where) that the chemicals that are used on potato fields are so toxic, that the farmers stay out of the fields for days after the chemicals are applied.

This potato salad does included mayonnaise, which is not a particularly healthy condiment. However, the amount of mayonnaise is much less than you would find on the normal potato salad. I only use enough mayonnaise to moisten the potatoes.


Potato Salad with Fresh Dill, Lemon and Dijon
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

2 pounds of red potatoes
1 tablespoon of kosher salt
1 lemon, zest and juice
4 stalks of celery, finely diced
4 tablespoons of red onion, finely diced that was soaked in white vinegar for at least 30 minutes (drain onion of vinegar before adding)
5 - 6 tablespoons of vegan mayonnaise
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
¼ cup of fresh dill, finely minced
½ teaspoon of kosher salt
½ teaspoon of black pepper, freshly ground

Directions:

Scrub potatoes, put do no peel. Place potatoes in a heavy bottomed pot and cover with cold water. Add kosher salt to the cooking water and turn the heat to high. After 15 minutes pierce a potato with a thin knife blade to see if they are tender. If tender, drain the potatoes and return the potatoes to the still hot pot so that the maximum amount of cooking liquid will evaporate from the potatoes. If not tender, continue to cook for another 5 minutes and check again for tenderness. The exact cooking time of the potatoes will depend on the size of the potatoes you are using.

Meanwhile, zest and juice a lemon. Place zest in the bowl the dressing will be mixed in.

When the potatoes have cooled in the pot for 15 minutes, cut into bite size pieces and move to a cool container. Add the lemon juice to the still warm potatoes so that it will absorb the juice which will happen in 5 or 10 minutes.

Thoroughly combine the mayonnaise, mustard, dill, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Toss the red onion and celery into the mayonnaise and stir to combine.

Add the dressing to the room temperature potatoes and stir to evenly coat the potatoes with the dressing. Taste to see if any additional salt and pepper are required.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. The flavor will improve as the salad sits in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 249.28
Calories From Fat (45%)- 113.21

Total Fat - 12.82g
Saturated Fat - 0.97g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 299.37mg
Potassium - 994.73mg
Total Carbohydrates - 31.47g
Fiber - 3.6g
Sugar - 1.09g
Protein - 4.2g

Comments:

I like the flavor of this potato salad. It is a little acidic from the lemon juice, but not overly so. There is also a little tang from the dijon, although if you don't know it is in there you won't know exactly what you are tasting. The beautiful pink from the vinegar soaked red onions is lovely, as well as adding little acidic pops of flavor. This potato salad is not drenched in mayonnaise, but the salad is still moist without the unnecessary fat.

Agave Mustard

Why should you make your own mustard? Why shouldn’t you? Making mustard is so quick and easy. Once you make mustard you will wonder why you ever spent so much money of those little jars of mustard.

Did you know that mustard is part of the cruciferous family? Not only is mustard lower in fat and calories but also it is also full of phytonutrients that have been shown to have anti-cancer effects. Mustard is also a good source of both selenium and magnesium.

Mustard seeds come in black, brown and white. The black mustard seeds have the most pungent taste, the white mustard seeds are the most mild and are the ones used to make American yellow mustard. Brown mustard seeds have an acrid taste and are the type used to make Dijon mustard. The names of the seeds are misleading since the white mustard seeds are yellow in color, and the brown mustard seeds are a dark yellow.

Many health food stores and natural markets carry whole mustard seeds in large quantities. If you have access to whole seeds at a good price you can grind them yourself in a coffee grinder you only use for spices. Don’t use your regular coffee grinder or your coffee will never taste the same no mater how clean you think the grinder is. I tried this once many years ago and it wasn’t a good idea.

This mustard is a good basic recipe to build upon. Give it a try; you will be surprised how easy it is to make your own mustard.


Agave Mustard
Makes about 4 tablespoons

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of mustard powder (Coleman’s dry mustard)
1 tablespoon of water
½ teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (any vinegar will do)
½ tablespoon of canola oil
1 tablespoon of agave

Directions:

Mix the mustard, water and vinegar until a smooth thick paste forms. Add the oil and whisk until the oil has been incorporated. Stir the agave into the mustard.

Pour into a sterilized jar and refrigerate until needed.

Mustard is the most fiery 10 minutes after it is made. If you try the mustard early it will remind you of the mustard that you get with egg rolls. The mustard will mellow, as it is stored. It will lose much of its heat after being stored for a month.

Comments:

This mustard will be very fiery if you taste it right after you made it. Put it in the refrigerator and try it the next day. Alternately, you could try to use much less on your sandwich if you want to eat it right away. You can also add texture to the mustard with a few whole mustard seeds, or green peppercorns. A few coarsely ground black peppercorns would also be nice here also.

There are some things to keep in mind as you make your own mustard. The water activates the enzyme myrosinase, which makes the mustard fiery. To halt the enzyme an acidic liquid is added (vinegar, wine or beer). The more acidic the liquid the more it will reduce the heat, with the vinegar being the most acidic, then the wine, and finally the beer. Complimentary spices to use with mustard are: bay leaf, black pepper, chili, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, garlic, honey, parsley, tarragon and turmeric.

Making mustard is somewhat addictive if you love mustard the way I do. It is rewarding to take a few ingredients that I always have on hand and make a quick sandwich spread.