Maggie's Vegan Korean Beef/Rice Bowls

Hi friends. It's been a while. A looooooong while. The longest while between posts on my blog since I started it. So, here's the LesVegan scoop. 

1. Late last spring, our dean announced she was leaving. She and the president worked on figuring out who could take on parts of the dean role, as it would have been impossible to find a permanent person to start by July first. Two colleagues and I were asked (and agreed) to split the role. That's taken a lot of time and has been a steep learning curve. 
2. I've been, like most folks, bogged down by the emotional weight associated with swirling currents of a global pandemic, political uncertainty, and civil unrest (for good reason, when we look at continued pressure for racial justice in the US). 
3. Shana and I separated and are finalizing a divorce. The separation was sudden and the number of adjustments one makes after being with the same person for 16.5 years leads to a lot of mental and emotional work. I'm thankful to have supportive friends and family and that I'd already had a well-established relationship with a therapist. I'm well-loved and thriving. 

All of those things, plus more, led to shifts in my cooking and not enough time or energy to keep posting recipes. BUT, I think I'm back (at least sporadically), even though all of the things above are still happening. 

Thus, here's a new recipe that's easy and speedy and delicious: vegan Korean beef & rice bowls. I was inspired trying to use up food I had in my house, which included a weirdly large number of bags of Gardein Beefless Ground. I didn't want tacos or sloppy joes or chili, so I turned to the internet, found some ideas, and a delicious dinner was the happy result. I hope it's a great weeknight meal for you!

Lazy Dinner Teriyaki Tips

Can you believe I haven't posted a "Lazy Dinner" post since 2017?  With COVID shifting schedules and working from home, it's not like we haven't been eating lazy dinners... so I'm not sure why I haven't posted an new one! 

Anyway, this recipe is a a quintessential Lazy Dinner. It's really quick (relying on a faux meat product), super easy, and delicious. Plus, its versatile! If you don't want Asian flavors one evening, use the same technique but switch to different flavors. 

Maggie's Vegan Wild Rice Stuffing

A few years ago, I was FaceTiming with my sister, talking about our respective plans for Thanksgiving. We were heading to the home of some friends (remember when we could do that?!). Of course, the conversation turned to what we planned to eat. Among other things, I told her that I was planning to bring the wild rice stuffing we grew up eating and we both said, simultaneously, "because it's the only kind."

Fast-forward to Thanksgiving 2020, when COVID cases are out of control in much of the country and every major health official is telling us not to join together. With complicating layers of tradition, troubled historical legacies, a sense of unease pervading most of the US, a desire to be mindful about giving thanks, and an unknown future during the darkest months of the year, many of us may have a hard time feeling festive. However, food can bring a great sense of comfort and normalcy, especially when imbued with memories, as this stuffing is for me. 

Not pictured, all of the gravy that I pour on my stuffing.

Maggie's Rice Skillet Dinner

If you're friends with me and Shana on Facebook, you've likely seen her tag me under a recipe or share something to my wall with "veganize this?" or "make this for me?" and nothing else. As it turns out, she does that outside of social media, too. Years and years ago, Shana used to have a subscription to a magazine that no longer exists, but it often included recipes that were easy and quick to prepare and targeted at families with children. Recipes would get torn out of the magazine and excitedly waved in my line of sight. Sometimes they were made right away, but often they went into the giant stack of recipes I want to try.

When looking for a new dish to make a while ago, I stumbled upon one of those torn magazine-page recipes. It looked good, especially with the tweaks I was envisioning to make it both vegan and a one-dish dinner. With approval from Shana to try something new, the rice skillet dinner was a go and resounding success! Nothing fancy, just warm comforting goodness for when you're short on time but still want a delicious meal.

Oh, and make sure to use your largest skillet! A 12" is a necessity (or cut the recipe in half)!

Maggie's Asian Salad with Sesame Dressing

Last summer I kept looking for new ways to eat food that also involved the least amount of heating in my kitchen I could handle. For me, the obvious solution was meal-sized salads, but I had to do a bit of Shana convincing... When I got a begrudging approval for a salad as dinner, I knew it had to be a good one. Luckily, I found a winner with this salad, filled with beautiful colors, lots of texture, and Asian-inspired flavors.

The recent hot streak we experienced this summer was the perfect impetus to see if this salad was still a dinner time success. It still was! Mix and match ingredients to your own tastes, buy a pre-made salad dressing if you find one you like, or do whatever - this salad will still be delicious.

Amanda's Taco Soup

When we first moved to Richmond, we kept ending up at different grocery stores in town at the same time as another couple close to our age. In addition to them grocery shopping at the same stores and at the same time as us, we noticed that they never had meat, cheese, or eggs in their cart. At some point, we finally decided to introduce ourselves to them. In doing so, we found out that they are vegan, grew up around here, and are just plain awesome.

Since then, we've had great times with our "grocery store friends" (which is the name of our group text message). We have sporadic dinners, they come to vegan potluck, and Brent & Shana did carpentry school together.

When we eat together, we often ask Amanda to cook taco soup. It's seriously so good, on its own and with add-ins like faux cheese and avocado. I'd tried to replicate it, but mine was never as good. I finally asked for the recipe so that I can make it more often than our busy schedules align (plus, it feels rude to have her always making the four of us dinner!). With the string of cool summer weather we've been having in Indiana, this was a perfect meal for us to eat this week. It tastes like summer, doesn't heat up the kitchen (it's a crock pot recipe), and still warms your insides.

Maggie's Vegan Enchilasagna

The weather has finally turned into a chilly fall here in Indiana. It was a stark change, with plenty of memes going around. For me, the chilly weather means I'm excited to have the oven on and want to eat all the warm, cozy foods I can imagine.

Tonight, we had some new friends over for dinner and I made this enchilasagna recipe. One of them asked how the recipe emerged, which made me realize that dish was actually due to a series of kitchen misadventures. A while ago, I decided to bring my enchilada recipe to vegan potluck. All set to cook, I when I get home that I'm out of the rice I need for the recipe. I had other rice, but not enough time to cook it. In a pinch, I figured I would use quinoa instead, as inside the enchilada, no one would really notice. I had also planned ahead and planned to swap corn tortillas for the flour tortillas in order to make the dish gluten-free. I fill my first corn tortilla, being to wrap it up, and it breaks - it doesn't roll at all. I figure I just need to be gentle for the next one and gingerly try to roll a second corn tortilla. It broke, too. Short on time if we were going to get to dinner on time, I figured I'd just try a layered dish and call it a vegan enchilasagna. It was a hit! I'm sure it will be a hit for you and yours, too!

Yup, melting faux cheese! Plus, a bit of enchilasaga deconstruction in the back. 

Maggie's Savory Vegan Kugel

A few years ago, I was so excited to have successfully made a vegan version of Shana's Mommom's sweet kugel. Here's the problem: as delicious as it is, Shana kept saying that she didn't want to eat it for dinner because of its sweetness. But the comforting casserole texture kept coming to mind, until I finally decided I wanted to attempt a savory version.

Keeping the basic idea (tofu & noodles in a casserole), I played around with flavors and veggies until I found something amazing. The thin strips of veggies provide some subtle textural contrast, but it's the blend of spices - most notably the roasted garlic - that provide warmth and depth to this version of kugel. Hearty, savory, and comforting all at once, this kugel is a clear winner.

Having this tonight, before the whirlwind of our semesters starts in earnest, was just the comfort we both needed.

Maggie's Vegan Beer Bread

A while ago I was craving some bread, but I didn't want to knead and wait for dough to rise. While I could have made a sweet bread, like zucchini or apple spice, that wasn't where my taste buds were leading. In other words, I wanted fresh, homemade bread in no longer than it took to bake in my oven. After some creative, but ultimately fruitless, googling, I acquiesced to my breadless state.

Fast forward a week or so, to just before the Super Bowl, when I remembered that beer bread is a thing! This "aha!" moment meant that, with a good recipe, I could have a quick and non-sweet bread PLUS something to bring to the Super Bowl party we were attending.

Turning my attention to a different set of google search results, I found all sorts of recipes. Following my usual tendency, I picked one as an idea to build on, added my own twist and elements of other recipes, then popped the dough in the oven and crossed my fingers. What emerged from my oven was nothing short of magic. It was devoured at the Super Bowl party. I made a loaf a week or so ago and it didn't last long with just Shana and I eating it. I no longer have to exist in a breadless state.

Maggie's Vegan Cheesy Taco Mac

So... we went to a mac & cheese party this past weekend. No joke. Sounds like a weird place for a vegan to go. Nevertheless, go we did.

The mac & cheese party was hosted by Shana's former principal and her husband; it was their second annual mac & cheese party. They held their first event last year because getting tickets to the Indianapolis Return of the Mac festival was apparently really difficult. Our hosts planned very well! The party had 14 entries, which party goers tasted in small cups that rested perfectly in holes drilled into clipboards. This allowed you to take notes as you ate. After eating them all, you voted* (via google form) for your favorite entry in three categories: best overall, most innovative, and most gourmet.

After deciding to go, we debated just going for fun, but then Shana reminded me that she'd asked me to veganize a cheesy taco mac recipe she saw in one of those food videos. My first attempt to make this dish was a delicious success, but we hadn't had it in over a year! I was intrigued with the idea of adding a vegan entry to the mac & cheese party, but decided I needed to test it once more. A second successful result (with a few tweaks from the first) made me confident it would be okay as an entry.

As it turned out, we didn't win, but came in third in the best overall category and had the second most votes overall! Moreover, people didn't know it was vegan until Shana announced it after the votes were tallied. All in all, that makes this a winner in my book.

Filling a tasting cup to the brim (and then some)!

Lazy Dinner Paustages (Pasta and Vegan Sausages)

Sometimes a Lazy Dinner is just what you need.

The past few weeks have been incredibly busy for us. For two weeks straight, we had something on the calendar for every single night (and weekend days, too). Part of the busyness includes the classes Shana is taking, part of the busyness was due to the festivities surrounding the inauguration of Earlham's 18th President, and part of the busyness is that we like to see our friends. I loved all of our activities, but I also love that things have calmed down just a little, and we have the occasional evening with flexibility. Tonight was one of those nights.

We'd planned for easy meals all week (mostly), just because I knew that I wasn't going to want to spend a lot of energy on making dinners after all that we'd been doing. This dinner, paustages, was one we'd not had in a long time. It was quick and delicious; just perfect for hectic nights.

You may be wondering why we call this dinner paustages. Well, it's mostly because I love playing with words. While not a perfect example (we took some liberty with letter order), our made up dinner name is essentially a portmanteau, which is the combination of two words and their meanings. Common examples are things like smog (smoke + fog) or brunch (breakfast + lunch). Plus, paustages is just fun to say!

KMW's Vegan Honduran Black Bean Soup

It was this time two years ago that we were moving into our new house. We are so happy here and a lot of that has to with our neighbors. We have AWESOME neighbors.

One set of our across the street neighbors, Katie and Marc, work at one of the other colleges in town. Both of them are biological anthropologists. They do field work where they dig for bones or artifacts in carefully arranged grids. (And habits die hard; you should have seen them digging a very precise 3'x3' hole for a new tree they planted!) Although they do field work in a variety of places, one of their primary locations is Honduras.

A while back, they invited us over for dinner. They were a little worried about what vegan thing to cook, but then realized that a traditional meal they ate while doing field work in Honduras could easily be made vegan. Katie Neighbor* told me that two women, Rosa Hernandez and Elvia Martinez, in Copan, Honduras taught her the recipe. I'll never meet these women, but I am SO glad they shared with her. This black bean soup was so. freaking. good. Seriously good. The underlying flavor is layered and complex and round. Plus, each of us gets to personalize our own bowl with the via all sorts of add-ins. Finally, while I hate to tell anyone how to eat, whichever add-ins you choose, you simply must add the radishes! Yes, radishes.

Lazy Dinner Quesadillas

It's been quiet around these here parts, huh? I've got all sorts of backlogged recipes, plus, when spring rolls around I get sick of everything we've been eating over the winter, but still no blog posts. Sad for me (and you!).

But, here's a quick and easy Lazy Dinner (or lunch or snack or appetizer or whatever) to tide you all over until I actually get around to posting real things: quesadillas.

Lazy Dinner Quesadillas were something I would periodically eat when Shana was still working in Indianapolis. Without a plan to come home and make/eat dinner, I would often stay at school until mid-evening and then come home famished. I needed something that would fill my tummy in as little time as possible. By relying on a few convenience foods (e.g., vegan cheese shreds and store-bought tortillas), all I needed was a veggie or two (or three) to throw into the mix. Into a hot pan went my ingredients and a satisfying dinner emerged in under 5 minutes.

This particular LD Quesadilla was prompted by just a few caramelized onions left over from mujaddara we had with friends a few nights ago. The onions are soooooo good that we just couldn't waste them. Adding a few ripped spinach leaves and some vegan cheese and I was all set.

Smoky Rotini Dinner

The semester is over, my grades are entered, and I'm looking at all the things I neglected over the past few months. Although this blog is one of those neglected items, it hasn't been far from my mind. I have loads of new recipes lined up to post.

Although the weather the past couple of days was quite warm, the week before had been rainy and cool and reminiscent of fall, which led to Shana and I seeking warmth and comfort. Given that it was also finals week for me, we also needed speed and ease. Luckily, we've been enjoying just the thing over the past couple of months: this smokey, savory, and speedy dinner that we adapted from Robin Robertson's More Quick-Fix Vegan cookbook. I've had this cookbook for a while, but we hadn't given it much of a chance. If this recipe is anything like the others in this cookbook, I have a feeling we'll be coming back to it over and over.

But back to the food! This dish has so many amazing flavors and textures in it! Even though the ingredients list looks long, you can find what you need in nearly any grocery store and you really only need to be able to boil water to make it. With all that going for it, the complexity of the flavors makes this meal something you can serve at a dinner party. Just make sure to double what I've listed below, as you and your guests will go back for more.

You can't see them, but there are chickpeas hiding in there, too!

J & L's West African Peanut Stew

There is a big vegan event occurring in our small mid-western town: I've started a monthly vegan potluck! September was our first and was a great success. Although I knew many of the people who came the first night, there were still some folks new to me, and many of the people who came didn't really know each other. Regardless, we all laughed, shared feelings about how amazing it was to be able to eat everything on the table, and joked that it was nice to be in a place where we didn't have to explain our food choices or be "jokingly" offered a bit of someone's steak/burger/bacon. Our second potluck went as well as the first and November's gathering is just around the corner! We're building a little community of vegans, which is just so awesome.

For me, one of the most fun parts of these monthly gatherings (aside from feeling less isolated) is the ability to try and share new recipes with other vegans. After every potluck, we've compiled our recipes and shared them with the others on the email list. I've eaten some amazing new things and even my food neophobic wife has tried (and enjoyed) everything. The recipe below arrived at our first vegan potluck from our new vegan friends J & L (I'm not sure if they would want me to post their names, so I'm refraining). This dish was SO good that Shana and I have made it twice since our first potluck, which is more than we've made anything - aside from soup, because soup - since then. This really is a winner of a dish - delicious, easy, and inexpensive! You may even have all of the ingredients in your pantry already, so what are you waiting for?!

Lazy Dinner Not-Pigs in Blankets

Even though spring is supposedly on the way, the first two and half months of the year are always tricky for Shana and I when it comes to planning dinners. Our best laid meal plans are often dramatically destroyed by Mother Nature. We'll have planned a lovely dinner just to have a major snowstorm force Shana to stay in Indianapolis. Thus, I'm more often trying to figure out random things for me to eat (e.g., the other night I had Alice Salad and mini tater tots, simply because I had all of that on hand). Luckily, I've got a number of Lazy Dinners that are easy to do.

This is another one of those dinners where I don't remember how it started. Maybe we saw someone else eating them. Or maybe I saw a non-vegan recipe and decided to veganize it. Or maybe something else happened that was equally trivial. Whatever the reason, these not-pigs in blankets are SO easy I feel badly calling them a recipe. But I guess that makes them a perfect Lazy Dinner (or game-watching food or snack).

Now, before you go all crazy and start making these all the time, I just want to say up front that these are not - I repeat, NOT - the most healthy thing for you to eat. They rely on heavily processed fake meat and high-in-fat bread-in-a-can. Obviously that means they're delicious. It also obviously means don't eat them all the time! As a occasional Lazy Dinner, they're great.

Vegan Sun-dried Tomato Spread

Long ago, for much of high school and even some early college breaks, I worked at a bagel store called Bruegger's Bagels.* While working in the same place for so long, you get tired of eating the same things over and over, so I would experiment with new foods and food combinations over the years. It helped that while I was working there, Bruegger's started introducing new foods and expanding their menu. One of the new foods I tried was a sun-dried tomato spread. I had never been a big fan of sun-dried tomatoes, and I'm still not, but dang was this spread delicious. As time passed, I stopped working at Bruegger's and then went vegan. Although there's stuff for me to eat there as a vegan, the sun-dried tomato spread is not on that list; it contains cheese and gelatin.

I had essentially stopped thinking about this spread until a ridiculous craving for it hit me.  Luckily, it turns out a vegan version of this is super easy to make and just as delicious as I remember (and without the non-vegan bits). I brought this to school the other day to eat on a bagel sandwich (everything bagel + faux turkey + lettuce + spread = magic). I also shared some with some colleagues over lunch and I was rewarded with rave reviews! Many of them asked that I share the recipe. So, colleagues, here you go!

Lazy Dinner Bean Burritos

I'm procrastinating; I should be grading. However, I'm all set for my classes tomorrow and grading just doesn't sound fun (sorry, students, but it's not). I'll grade after I finish this post, I promise.

Since it's Tuesday night, I'm on my own for dinner, which means a Lazy Dinner. In the past couple of weeks, I've been really bad at cooking/eating at home the nights that Shana's gone. More recently, I've been grabbing food at the few places I can eat here in town. That's just silly. With the same effort it takes to drive across town, wait in line, and bring food home, I can stand in my kitchen in comfy clothes and eat delicious dinner for easily 1/3 of the price of me eating out.

Tonight my plan was Lazy Dinner Bean Burritos. This dinner is SO easy and so cheap. You can add whatever you'd like and make this dinner your own. If you need to scale up to make a quick dinner for 6, you can do it. Moreover, there's no need to actually buy things for this dinner, as you can make it with things you'd keep on hand. I did buy one thing for tonight, but that's just because I planned ahead. Had I planned better, I would have added a couple more ingredients. Oh well, that'll be for next time.

Hot and Creamy Vegan Artichoke Dip

I am in charge of a loosely-organized mostly-social group on my campus that consists of new(ish) faculty. We had a ton of new people arrive this year, so I've planned some events where people can get to know one another. As it turned out, many of the new folks to arrive on campus have small children, so I decided that a late afternoon weekend potluck might be just the thing for those new folk for whom an after-work happy hour would be a scheduling nightmare. (For the record, it was a great success and there were many small people happily running around.)

While talking with Shana about what we should bring to the potluck, she mentioned an old recipe of mine that I hadn't pulled out in a while - a hot artichoke dip. I used to make this all the time while in grad school; it was my go to recipe for bringing to football game viewing parties, someone-did-something-so-let's-celebrate parties, or really any time a group of people gathered together. It was quite popular and always devoured. In fact, I would bring it to a party, set it down, and people would descend upon it, barely talking until it was gone. When we moved to western NY, I ended up making it for a party, but it didn't go as fast. I started making other things, and we just kind of forgot about this recipe. Upon bringing it to this potluck, it was devoured!

Now, this is NOT a good for you recipe. It's high in fat, although because it is vegan, the corresponding non-vegan version would be very high in fat and cholesterol. Anyway, I just thought I would give you fair warning that this is definitely a once in a while type of treat. But wow, what a delicious treat.

Lazy Dinner "Turkey" Club

I'm teaching a May Term class for the first time right now (May Terms are a single class taught over 16 days). Since I've never taught a class like this, I had no idea how much work it would be. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving the class and my students (they are such a great bunch!), I'm just more busy and tired than I anticipated I would be after the semester ended. In addition, my busyness is overlapping with an increase in temperatures, which always makes me not want to eat any of the things we've been eating over the winter. Hot weather foods are hard.

Tonight, we opted to deviate from our meal plan, as neither one of us was interested in cooking or eating our planned dinner. Instead, we had Shana's all time favorite food from her college dining hall: "turkey" clubs. We actually started eating these sandwiches a while ago when Shana suddenly realized that we had all the vegan ingredients to make this sandwich. Most likely, it was Shana's discovery that vegan mayonnaise is delicious. In fact, I was admonished to tell you all that Shana has "very strong feelings" about vegan mayo. Actually, most people who try it think it's as good (or better) than non-vegan mayo. I don't feel as strongly as she does, but then again, I never really ate mayo in my pre-vegan days.

This is the ultimate in Lazy Dinners because the only cooking you need to do is the "bacon" and toasting the bread. Other than that, you just slap stuff together. Anyway, since I said I was busy, enough blabbering, here's the food!