Eli's Plant-Based Kitchen

I am a Culinary Nutrition graduate and vegan home cook. I'm here to post what I make and hopefully inspire others to try more plant-based cuisine!

[elisplant-basedkitchen]

Turns out the 'boil your pasta in milk' trick also works for plant-based mac n chz!

I would guess that I used about 3 cups of soy milk and the same amount of veggie broth, though I sure water would be fine. Boiled it up (I did add salt here but not as much as usual for a pot of pasta water out of fear it'd get too salty) and then cooked about 12oz of dry elbow macaroni in it. Stir CONSTANTLY because the goal here is to use minimal liquid and your pasta will very quickly stick to the bottom of the pan. Once the pasta is al dente stir in nutritional yeast and/or vegan cheese shreds for cheesy flavor, then add whatever other seasonings you like. I believe I went for a bit of ground mustard (sounds weird but it helps mimic that cheesy tang), salt and pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and some gochujang. I like a little bit of heat to my mac and it gives the sauce a deeper orange color. I also stirred some white beans into mine but this is totally optional, I just had some leftover and wanted a bit of protein in there. Garnished with some more paprika and green onion. Boiling the pasta in milk eliminates the need to thicken your sauce because the starch from the pasta does it for you! I actually had to add a little water as I went to keep it from getting too thick!

[elisplant-basedkitchen]

Seitan 'steak' 2 ways

Grilled, sauteed mushrooms and cabbage, failed attempt at a blooming onion

Pan-seared, sauteed peppers and onions, fries

Seitan recipe adapted from here: https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/vegan-seitan-steak/#recipe

I used homemade low-sodium veggie broth instead of water, canned kidney beans instead of lentils, and ketchup instead of tomato paste (because I didn't feel like making another trip to the store)

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Stewed collard greens aren't the prettiest thing but dang are they wholesome

Followed this Food & Wine recipe (https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/tangy-braised-collard-greens-with-white-beans-and-lime) pretty much exactly, just subbed out coconut oil for the butter and used my own homemade veggie stock. Also added some good Carolina reaper hot sauce but it was good without. Served with brown rice because I am boring~

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Homemade Orange Tofu~

I am a sucker for Chinese takeout so I decided to use up some leftover veggies and cooked rice to make my own attempt at it.

So although it looks pretty for a photo, my wok absolutely is NOT big enough for the amount of food I cooked up here, everything would've been crazy soggy if I had cooked it together. I always make large amounts of a dish so I can have the leftovers for work lunches though so for something like this I cook the ingredients in batches so that everything gets nicely crisped up. Started by coating my pressed tofu slices in a little cornstarch and shallow-frying, then left it to drain on paper towels. Next I sauteed off the onion and bell pepper, removed that and put it in a bowel, cooked the celery and green onion stems (greens are for the very end), removed that, cooked the mushrooms, removed them, added the orange sauce to boil and simmer it until almost as thick as I wanted it, and finally threw everything back into the wok to combine with the sauce while it finished reducing. To do this you'll want to toss the initial oil used for the tofu (the starch will make it taste off and it'll be pretty spent anyway), and use minimal amounts of oil for each ingredient since you don't want anything to get too greasy.

I really love using high temperature, short time methods for cooking. It makes homemade meals much more accessible to busy people and although I feel that investing time in food is time well spent, there is a lot of value in having something quick as well. I feel like in Western cooking there's a widespread belief that low and slow is the best way to make great food and while that style of cooking is great for certain dishes (I'll always be craving some stewed collard greens), you can absolutely develop flavors in a short amount of time while also having more control over the texture of foods (vegetables in particular can be so versatile with cook times). This is only tangentially related to this orange tofu post so I'll end it here lol.

[elisplant-basedkitchen]

Spaghetti with "meat" sauce!

Been trying out meat and cheese substitutes more often lately to see which products work and I definitely enjoy Impossible brand bulk sausage. Used about half a tube in this recipe along with about a cup of cooked lentils, which ended up being a good balance of the flavor from the sausage and the nutritional value and texture of the lentils.

Also made this sauce from scratch with fresh Roma tomatoes so I'm pretty proud of that! I sauteed some bell pepper as well but those could be left out if chunky sauce isn't as much your thing. Cheese on top is vegan parmesan shreds, Wegmans store brand. It was good with flavor but definitely didn't melt much from just the heat of the sauce (or from the microwave when reheating actually) so you'd definitely have to cook it to get it to melt down completely.

Side dish is just some simple steamed broccoli, cauliflower, and kale.

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One of my favorite ways to use leftover fruit is to make a topping for pancakes! Simmered some apples, raspberries, apple cider, and just a pinch of sugar. Served with some cold brew made with beans from a local roaster.

[elisplant-basedkitchen]

Mac n Cheez made with vegan cheddar shreds from Aldi! Definitely comparable to more expensive brands like Daiya in my opinion, plenty of flavor and melts pretty well if you give it time. I've also eaten these shreds on salads so I can confirm they are good both cooked and straight out of the bag! This mac was also made with gluten free rotini that I picked up while at Aldi, so it is both vegan and gluten free!

I almost always make my mac with broccoli and green peas mixed in, mostly for added nutritional value but also for the color, texture, and flavor. Do y'all add mix-ins to your mac or have I committed an unforgivable sacrilege by adding things in?

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I am a dumpling novice but wanted to try out some new folds and get some practice! The best fold will always but the little "China cap" fold though I will fight anyone over this.

Filling is tofu (extra firm that I froze, thawed, and pressed well to give it a nice, chewy texture), garlic, ginger, water chestnut, green onion, and bok choy seasoning with a basic sauce containing soy sauce, msg, rice vinegar, sambal chili paste, and a pinch of sugar.

Dipping sauce is the simple peanut sauce that I use for everything: creamy peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sambal, garlic, ginger, and sugar (note how the dumpling filling has basically the same stuff lol).

As I made them I laid them all out onto my largest baking sheet, cooked what I wanted for dinner, and then threw the rest in the freezer. Laying them out on a tray helps keep them from forming into a single blob. I steamed this first plate using my bamboo steamer but I did also pan fry some from frozen and that worked great as well.

[elisplant-basedkitchen]

Red and green curries

Red curry has sweet potato, chickpeas and carrot with a side of brown rice, quinoa, and lentil mix. Green curry has baby bok choy, tofu, and green bell pepper with a blend of red and brown rice on the side. Both share mini king oyster mushrooms and snap peas.

I have been experimenting with different grains more lately to add some variety of texture and nutrition, but white rice is always a good choice here as well.

[elisplant-basedkitchen]

Breakfast for dinner is the best dinner

Components:

Roasted sweet potato

Roasted Brussels sprouts

Sauteed peppers and onions

Tofu and Impossible brand spicy sausage scramble (seasoned with nutritional yeast, yellow miso, and a dash of turmeric for color)

Hot sauce

The scramble ended up pretty salty with the combo of sausage and tofu with miso in it but the plain sweet potato and lightly seasoned veggies helped to balance that out. I don't normally use meat substitutes but my partner wanted to try some on a pizza so I had to find a way to use the rest. Pretty close to sausage from what I can remember, although it's been at least 8-10 years since I last had the real thing so take that as you will lol

[elisplant-basedkitchen]

Vegan pancakes with cinnamon apples, graham cracker crumbs, and maple syrup

Just used a basic pancake recipe with a little added cinnamon. Apples are granny smiths that I diced up and sauteed down with some sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest, and lemon juice.

[elisplant-basedkitchen]

Vegan pumpkin pie made from roasted sugar pumpkin~

One sugar pumpkin yielded the perfect amount of puree to make a pie! Never done pumpkin pie from scratch before and I'm glad I finally did, the pumpkin alone is so sweet even before adding the sugar and other ingredients. Only 1/2c sugar in the filling and it was plenty sweet for my taste (and my partner's as well). Crust made from graham cracker crumbs, a bit of sugar, and earth balance butter sticks.

[elisplant-basedkitchen]

Roasted Veg and Marinated Tofu Buddha Bowl

Grain/salad bowls are way overpriced at restaurants nowadays and while there's value in convenience, I find it equally convenient to prep large batches of ingredients and portion my lunches for the week. I don't usually get repetitive meal fatigue but many folks find that a barrier to healthy eating and meal prep, but all you need to switch this up is a few different dressing and topping options.

Components:

Mixed greens as a base (used kale and spinach here but spring mix or romaine would be other good options)

Store-bought rice, quinoa, and lentil mixed boiled in the rice cooker, with toasted pine nuts (can sub with any nuts or seeds) stirred in at the end of cooking for flavor and texture

Roasted veggies (for this I used sweet potato, cauliflower, zucchini, and chickpeas that I seasoned with salt, pepper, chili powder, and garam masala)

Marinated tofu (used BBQ sauce here but any kind of dressing or sauce would be great, you could cook the tofu if desired but I got too lazy at that point lol)

Banana peppers and kalamata olives, or any other toppings of choice

Homemade chili lime vinaigrette, which you could obviously sub for any dressing you like

[elisplant-basedkitchen]

Lemon ginger waffle with anko (sweet bean paste) and a drizzle maple syrup

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Whoops haven't made anything photo-worthy in forever, time to make pizza

Personal pizza with homemade caramelized onions, spinach, homemade pickled cherry peppers, banana peppers, mushrooms, and dairy-free mozzarella. Little drizzle of hot sauce and a sprinkle of crushed red pepper.

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Homemade boba never ends up the same as restaurant boba for me but man is it still satisfying.

Syrup is equal parts sugar, brown sugar, and water brought to a boil and then simmered until thick. Stir the syrup into some cooked bubbles, add ice, pour in tea of choice (used standard black tea today, which I brewed strong and chilled), then add coconut milk or creamer if desired. For this one I had some Silk non-dairy maple brown sugar creamer that complimented the syrup really nicely.

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Vegan banana pancakes with sneaky dark chocolate chips and sexy bourbon barrel maple syrup pour. If your local Aldi still has some of this syrup in stock I definitely recommend picking up a bottle. It's got a much richer flavor and thicker consistency than most maple syrups I've tried.