Betty Does: Meatloaf

UPDATE: Compassionate Action for Animals posted my review of Betty Goes Vegan.

For the holiday break, I have been set on completing my second cookbook review for Compassionate Action for Animals: Betty Goes Vegan by Annie and Dan Shannon. I got a boost in inspiration with the arrival of VegNews Best of edition which awarded Betty Goes Vegan Best New Cookbook for 2013! 

When I was a teenager, I decided to be a vegetarian which was not that easy of a thing in the 1990s in Northern Minnesota with the idea that you'd simply replace meat with faux meats. The options were meager: boca burgers or morningstar - neither of which were vegan. Twenty years later, I am impressed with the myriad of faux options available at the grocery stores and Target near my home. It is really becoming easier to make the transition from eating animals. That said, for some, there is still a dish that might weaken their resolve to make more compassionate food choices. When I was a teenager, it was my mom's meatloaf that ended my early stint as a vegetarian, so fitting that I sample one of the "meatloaf" recipes in Betty Goes Vegan.

The mexican meatloaf was pretty easy to make and fun to form and baste with the homemade bbq sauce. I really liked the look of the loaves out of the oven with the carmelized bbq glaze and the speckles of cilantro, onion and black beans. I used Gimme Lean ground beef style for the first time and was impressed at the flavor and consistency as a ground beef replacement. Even before I went vegan, I had started to add more vegetables and herbs to dishes like this which can be kind of heavy and bland otherwise (there is a reason we used to douse meatloaf in ketchup.) Adding the chili, cumin, garlic, cilantro, black beans, jalapenos, salsa and red onions definitely added some flavor, but the red onions didn't really cook down and were overpowering (maybe saute them in advance) and the spices weren't prominent enough for my liking. 

In addition to the mexican meatloaf, I made the vegan ranch dressing and while initially skeptical of all the ingredients, I was very impressed with the end result. The flavor popped and was reminiscent of the ranch I remember. This was great because with the exception of Native Foods (their ranch recipe is here) and Chicago Diner, I haven't really found a  vegan ranch dressing I like. As Annie and Dan warn though, I did find myself thinking about what else I could put the dressing on....thankfully in addition to the spinach salad I had a baked potato that was just begging to be a ranch baked potato!  

Betty Does: Cassoulet

UPDATE: Compassionate Action for Animals posted my review of Betty Goes Vegan.

Before my fiance went vegan our "go to" for celebrating special occasions was a french restaurant, Meritage. I loved to order the specials or the vegetable trio and revel in the symmetry of richness and delicacy that is french cuisine. He, on the other hand, was hooked on the cassoulet with its rich slow-cooked meld of beans and meats.

When I saw the cassoulet recipe in Betty Goes Vegan, I knew it has to be on my list for testing for my next cookbook review. If it came even close to the meal from Meritage, I knew what would be on my Valentine's Day menu as an homage to our special occasions of the past with a dollop of compassion in the vegan preparation. However, since cassoulet is really just a french name for casserole, hot dish or chili - a hearty one dish meal often filled with nostalgia for home cooking - there was a good chance this would be something different entirely. And it was.

First, I fell victim to the rush of not reading the recipe thoroughly. I saw the 20-30 minute prep time in the intro and thought I could make the dish after work; however, once I started I realized it was meant to cook in the slow cooker for 2-3 hours. Yikes! I also began to question how much richness the dish would have since the vegetables were added to the slow cooker raw rather than browning them first. I couldn't help myself later in the cooking process when I went off recipe to deglaze the pan that I browned the tofurky italian sausage and gardein scallopini in - the browned bits are the best part!!! 

The final deal breaker for this cassoulet being a substitute for the Meritage version was the consistency of the final product. Rather than a rich, almost creamy stew of beans this was a soup with abundant broth. Had we set out to make a bean soup we would have been satisfied with this outcome. With plenty of leftovers, I found the dish did develop in flavor on days 2 and 3, but it never broke down to that creamy rich goodness that comes when white beans melt away in to velvety sauce. 

Betty Does: Beefless Stroganoff

UPDATE: Compassionate Action for Animals posted my review of Betty Goes Vegan.

I finished the Vegan Eats World review for Compassionate Action for Animals (you can read it here)! After exploring French, Korean and Latin American cuisines, I thought it best to return to my roots for my next cookbook review. Enter Annie and Dan Shannon's Betty Goes Vegan. My mom had the orange Betty Crocker Cookbook with the full color photos I would page through drooling over the various colorful beverages and desserts as a kid. I would imagine myself as an adult serving frothy colorful beverages in strange shaped glasses to wash down fancy appetizers like the spaceship-like cheese orbs. I was a very popular hostess in my young imagination.

In the introduction to Betty Goes Vegan, that popular hostess is revealed as the inspiration of author Annie Shannon. She talks about adoring the image of Betty Crocker as the woman who does it all "with a smile and faux pearls." Let's be honest, that's not me, but many of the recipes in Betty Goes Vegan harken back to my childhood family dinners (perhaps it is because Betty Crocker was "born" in Minnesota (Minneapolis at General Mills to be exact.))

Beefless Stroganoff p.244

The first recipe I tested was Beefless Stroganoff (page 244) because of fond memories of eating this dish at the table in the kitchen with my family as a kid. Stroganoff is a Russian dish, but popular in many nordic countries. With its rich sour "cream" based "meaty" sauce served over a bed of pasta or potatoes, its no wonder cold climates (including my hometown on Minnesota's Iron Range) gravitate toward this hearty dish. Growing up it was about as non-vegan as a dish could be featuring beef and gravy with sour cream over egg noodles. It was also one of the recipes my mom made from that big orange Betty Crocker Cookbook, so I was excited to see how Betty Goes Vegan's version compared.

Why hello, Stroganoff!

The Betty Goes Vegan recipe is more sophisticated than the stroganoff I remember as a kid with red wine and fresh parsley brightening up the hearty, creamy dish. Piling on the portobellos and sliced olives instead of beef, the Betty Goes Vegan recipe doesn't feature a mock meat like many of the other recipes in the book. Instead of salt and worcestershire sauce, Betty Goes Vegan subs in a generous amount of Bragg's liquid aminos making the hubby remark on the saltiness and  2 teaspoons of blacked pepper (I couldn't believe that was accurate and cut the amount in half.) The dish was better the next day when the sauce had a chance to thicken and the flavors develop even more. If I made it again, I might try adding the flour in the Betty Crocker original recipe which would thicken the sauce and add a little more sour cream. All in all, I appreciated the ease of making the dish and the accessibility of the ingredients, and could see myself tinkering around with the recipe again.