Monday, April 4, 2011

Lunch prep

I've been crap about preparing my lunch to take to work lately. This morning I grabbed an avocado from the table and left. Yes, just an avocado. Of course I ended up getting a sandwich from the food court and adding my avocado to it. It was delicious, but not ideal. Today I stumbled upon a listing of America's Top 10 New Sandwiches - then the veganized version of them. It inspired me to start producing some mean sandwiches in my kitchen. Like anyone, I love a good sandwich. Yet somehow I rarely have bread on hand (ok, I don't keep bread in my kitchen because I'll eat it all within 12 hours of buying it.) and never have cold cuts (if you've been reminded of your family's history of heart issues but love cold cuts, don't go to the Sodium 101 website). Maybe there is something in the air, but I've been trying out new ingredients lately, so when I saw that Your Vegan Mom made her own mortadella, I decided to try it out. This required a trip to the grocery store, with a list and the balls to ask the bitchy girls who work there for their assistance. You know which grocery store I'm talking about. Things that were on my list: Firm Silken Tofu Bragg's Liquid Aminos Nutritional Yeast Mace Vital Wheat Gluten After asking questions, getting half-assed answers and doing some soul searching, I had everything on the list except for Bragg's Liquid Aminos. I substituted this with less soy sauce, as I Googled what it was and that's what liquid aminos are a substitute for. Ok, maybe liquid aminos has more protein, so I added a bit more tofu. If my mortadella ends up tasting like a maki gone wrong, I'll let you know. The recipe: 1 14-ounce package firm silken tofu 1/4 cup olive oil a little less than 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup red wine 2 tbsps white wine vinegar 2 tbsps maple syrup 3 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 cup nutritional yeast 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp white pepper 1 tsp ground mace 1 tsp ground coriander 2 cups vital wheat gluten The original recipe also called for olives. I forgot olives though, so this "meat" loaf should probably be called processed non-ham opposed to mortadella. Mix everything into a food processor except for the vital wheat gluten. Blend until almost smooth with little chunks of tofu to mimic the fat in mortadella. Realize that you have no aluminum foil, put on your Nikes and dash to the Quickie mart to get some. Jest with the guy working there when he asks if you're a new employee at the Italian restaurant next door. When you get home, mix the vital wheat gluten into your tofu mixture until you have a soft dough. Mold it into an oblong shape, and wrap in aluminum foil. Place in a dish and bake at 350 degrees for 2 hours. The result: I am quite satisifed that it came out looking like a processed loaf of meat, very similar to what you would see in the deli at the supermarket! You may as well make use of the 2 hours that your mortadella is cooking. I chose to do laundry, and make foccacia:

I haven't tasted any of this yet, so expect a lunch sandwich post soon. Time to enjoy the freshly laundered sheets that are also a result of this evening, ahhhh...