Spicy Buffalo "chicken" wraps with Ranch

Hello Hello all! Hope everyone had a great weekend! So after a recent trip that I took to Native Foods to taste test their new Wild Buffalo Wrap, I was in love and I knew I had to come home and make my own Little House of Veggies version inspired by theirs. All I can say is that if you love spicy food, this meal is amazing and you will crave it again and again. I have made it (by request of my family) 3 times recently. We are not even close to being sick of it. I made my own seitan from scratch, but you can definitely get the store bought seitan for this also, or you could use Gardein vegan Chicken for an incredibly quick and easy meal! You all have to try this! Its that good! 

Spicy Buffalo 'Chicken' wraps with Ranch

serves 4-6

printable recipe

What You Need:

1 recipe Buffalo sauce, below

1 recipe Morgan's Ranch, below

1 batch of homemade seitan (recipe below) cut into thick strips, about 1 inch thick by 4-5 inches long, or store bought seitan, or Gardein vegan chicken

whole grain wraps

chopped romaine lettuce

shredded carrots

Making Seitan:

In a large mixing bowl, mix together about 5 cups all purpose flour and 1 cups white whole wheat, whole wheat pastry or regular whole wheat flower, and 1 cup of vital wheat gluten.

Mix the dry ingredients well, and then add in about 3-4 cups of water. Add slowly, and as soon as the mixture has come together in a nice ball that is sticky, but not sticking to anything. Knead the dough for a few minutes, and then let it rest for 10-20 minutes.

After letting the dough rest, fill a large bowl with water. Knead the dough under the water until the water is very white and milky. dump out the water and refill, repeating the process.  You will do this about 15 times until the water is pretty clear.  Your dough will look more like this when the rinsing process is done...

Make this into whatever shapes or sizes that you like. I usually make 1 large load that I can slice, cube, dice, cut into strips, etc.  I like to wrap the whole loaf up with cheesecloth to hold it together while it cooks.

Now it is ready to cook. Fill up a large soup pot with anything you want to cook it in. I like to use water with a touch of soy sauce and different herbs and spices. Cook for about 1 1/2 hours. Remove and let cool.  season with a pinch of salt and pepper or with whatever seasonings you will be cooking with.  Now you can dice, cut, fry, whatever you want to do with it. For this recipe I cut it into strips that were 1 inch thick by about 4-5 inches long.

Morgan's Vegan Ranch:

This is so easy! I make it all the time for dip/dressing/and sauce.

1/2 cup Veganaise (vegan mayo)

1/4 cup soymilk

handful of fresh parsley

1 tsp dried dill or 3 tsp fresh dill

1 tsp garlic powder

cracked black pepper

In a bowl add about 1/2 cup Veganaise (vegan mayo). To that add a handful of fresh parsley, a tsp of dried or 3 tsp fresh dill, 1 tsp garlic powder, crack of black pepper. Mix well, and then add soymilk to create the consistency of ranch dressing. About 1/4 cup or so. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Morgan's Spicy Buffalo Sauce:

1/4 cup Louisiana Hot Sauce

3 Tbsp. Earth Balance butter

1 tsp garlic powder

Melt the 3 Tbsp. of Earth Balance butter. To that add the Louisiana Hot Sauce and garlic powder.. Whisk well and set aside.

To Make the Buffalo Wraps:

In a bowl combine 1/2 cup flour, pinch of paprika, salt and pepper. Dredge the seitan strips in the flour mixture.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet (enough to just cover the bottom of the pan, 3-4 tbsp.). Pan fry the strips on both sides. Place the strips in the buffalo sauce and toss to coat.

In a whole grain wrap place lettuce, carrots, buffalo strips, and ranch dressing and ENJOY! Serve with celery stick, fruit, or chips.

Fettuccine with green beans, cherry tomatoes, ricotta, and lemony avocado sauce

Good morning bloggers! Hope the week and the new year is treating all of you well! I'm glad to hear the great response on the lasagna recipe! So I thought I would stick with the Italian (sorta) theme today.  What makes this recipe so delicious is the lemony avocado sauce. its sooooooo good and has a mild and light flavor. it  is a nice switch from the typical marinara sauces I always use. This is a very kid friendly recipe. All three of my little ones devoured it! And of course its good for you too! ENJOY!

Fettuccine with green beans, cherry tomatoes, ricotta and lemony avocado sauce

serves 4-6

printable recipe

What You Need:

1 package of whole grain fettuccine style noodles

1 recipe tofu ricotta (below)

1 recipe lemony avocado sauce (below)

2 c. halved cherry tomatoes

1 lb. green beans, blanched

Tofu Ricotta:

1 package (12-ounce) extra firm tofu, drained

juice of 1 lemon

1 clove garlic minced

1/4 cup flat leaf Italian parsley chopped

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp sea salt

Crumble tofu in a bowl. Add all of the other ingredients and incorporate well.

Lemony Avocado Sauce:

1 ripe avocado
juice of 1 lemon

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup Italian flat leaf parsley

1/4 tsp salt

pinch of cayenne pepper

3/4 cup water

In a vitamix or blender, blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust the salt.

For the pasta:

In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook according to the package instructions, until al dente. While the pasta cooks blanch or steam the green beans. Drain pasta.

In a serving platter add the noodles and toss well with the lemony avocado dressing. Add the tofu ricotta, tomatoes, and green beans and toss again to combine. Top with a little extra parsley and serve.

Sauteed vegetable lasagna with herbed tofu ricotta

Happy 2011 all my Little House of Veggie readers! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and enjoyed lots of good eats and good quality time with loved ones! I was so unbelievably busy during November and December, but I am back and ready to attack with a brand new year full of lots and lots of brand new and crazy delicious recipes. My hope is always to come up with recipes that are healthy, cruelty free and that can fool the most carnivorous of folks. When I receive emails from you saying that your meat loving loved ones  have loved a dish from my website, I could not be happier.  Positive feedback on the recipes is the greatest reward for me! I encourage all of you to get more adventurous and try new things this year and experience even more of the benefits to living a more vegan lifestyle. So, to start off the new year, I am posting something that almost everyone I know loves, and that is lasagna. It is also the dish that I get the most scepticism on when I mention it is vegan, considering that typically lasagna is loaded with meat and cheese. But trust me and give this a try. Not only is it made with whole grain noodles, but it is hearty and filling.  And I promise you your taste buds will be happy also! Hope you all enjoy!

Sauteed Vegetable Lasagna

 with herbed tofu ricotta

serves 8-10

printable recipe

What You Need:

1 package of whole wheat lasagna noodles (you will need about 8 noodles)

1 eggplant

2 zucchini

1 box of frozen spinach , thawed. Squeeze as much liquid out as possible.

2  24-ounce jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce (look for one that is vegan and has clean ingredients)

1 recipe for herbed tofu ricotta (below)

1/2 cup vegan mozzerella cheese, grated (reserve for the top of lasagna)

herbed tofu ricotta with cheese and tomatoes:

1 block (12-ounce) extra firm tofu, drained

juice of 1 lemon

1 clove garlic minced

1 cup fresh Italian parsley chopped

2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp sea salt

crack of black pepper

1/2 block of Follow Your Heart brand mozzerella vegan cheese, grated (or any other brand you like)

1 cup halved cherry tomatoes

Crumble tofu in a medium sized bowl. Add all other ingredients and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to use.

To Make the Lasagna:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bring a large pot of  salted water to a boil. Add the lasagna noodles and cook following package directions, until Al Dante.

While the noodles are cooking, in a heavy skillet, heat 2 Tbsp. of olive oil and add the eggplant, zucchini, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Saute until tender about 8 minutes.

Add the jarred spaghetti sauce and stir to combine.

Drain the lasagna noodles and rinse with cold water to prevent from sticking.

In a 9x11 inch Pyrex dish, began assembling the lasagna. Start by adding a little of the sauce mixture to the bottom of the dish. Then add your first layer of noodles, about 3 noodles. Next add more sauce, then some of the tofu ricotta, and then some of the spinach. Repeat again layering noodles, sauce, ricotta and spinach. Top the lasagna with the last 3 noodles and add just a tiny bit of sauce to the top to keep the noodles moist. Cover the dish with foil and bake covered for about 45 minutes, uncover, add the additional 1/2 cup of grated cheese tot he top and bake an extra 10 mintue until cheese melts.  Serve with some fresh Italian parsley on top.