Tag Archives: daiya

Daiya Cheese – Jack Style Wedge

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So… have you tried Daiya’s newest product yet?

This came for me at a time when I had already begun to shun vegan cheese due to it’s inherently processed nature. I’ve been sticking to the old skool, vegan classic, nooch (nutritional yeast) for pizza toppings and cheesy sauces. Then I heard about the wedge, and was mildly curious; so on our last shopping trip, I threw caution to the wind and picked one up.

Impression:


It comes in a handy resealable container, and in a nice block shape. Though it’s an almost creamy textured cheese, it’s still firm enough to cube or slice, but you can spread it on a cracker too.

The taste wasn’t quite what I expected. I mean, I guess I expected it to taste like real jack, which of course, it didn’t, but it didn’t taste like Daiya shreds either. What set it apart is that it didn’t have any of that overly sweet thing going on that the shreds do. While I like them on pizza and in baked Italian food, I can’t imagine just eating a hunk of that. I found that I couldn’t just sit there and eat it by itself at first, but that it made a lovely accompaniment to dried fruits like dates and raisins. In fact you can stuff the dates with it, and eat way too many.

Well, I guess all this taste testing got me used to the flavor because now I can eat a little piece of it, all by itself.

I recommend giving it a try if you haven’t already. I really like the texture, and am now hooked on the flavor. : )

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Cheeseburger Calzones (Vegan)

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It was time to use up my thawed & proofed pizza dough! (Whenever I order pizza from our local pizzaria I always order a dough ball too, wrap it in plastic wrap, and throw it in a bag in the freezer for another use.) Since the pizza rolls I made last time broke my pizza stone with their awesomeness, I made these on prepped cookie sheets this time. The tofu ricotta recipe here is similar to the one I use in my lasagna recipe. I used silken tofu, because that’s what I had on hand, and it worked great, and I adjusted the seasonings by taste. These were super delicious and filling! : )

Vegan Cheeseburger Calzones

1 large ball of pizza dough
pizza sauce
1 recipe tofu ricotta, below
2 burger patties, thawed, drained & crumbled (I used Gardein!)
Additional toppings (I used sliced kalamata olives)
vegan cheese (I used Daiya cheddar & mozzarella)

Tofu Ricotta

1 package firm or extra firm regular or silken tofu, lighty pressed & crumbled
1 tbsp. lemon juice
~1/2 c. nutritional yeast
2 tbsp. vegan parm, optional
Italian seasoning, salt & pepper to taste (crushed red pepper flakes would be good too, I just realized!)
~2/3 c. frozen, chopped spinach or greens, optional

Directions: Using a fork, combine all ingredients in a medium size bowl, and set aside.

Directions: Preheat oven to 425*F and prepare cookie sheets.

1. Knead dough lightly to squeeze out any air bubbles and divide into 4 pieces with a sharp knife. Roll out into circular shapes about 8″ in diameter.

2. You can either spread a thin layer of pizza sauce or not, up to you. If you do, make sure to leave about 2cm-1″ of space at the edge for sealing when you’re done.  Place about 1/4 of ricotta mixture on one half of the circle. Top with about 1/4 of crumbled burger. Add additional toppings and cover with shredded cheese. Fold plain half over and roll the edge to seal, crimping with your fingers. Cut 2-3 vent holes in the top.

3. Repeat with remaining dough and toppings.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes. I had to use both oven racks, so I switched the cookie sheets half-way through for an even bake. Let cool slightly and enjoy! Serve with additional pizza sauce for topping and/or dipping! : )

Cheesy Beefy Vegan Nachos Too!

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Some of my twitter friends (you know who you are) were talking about one of my very favoritest foods of all time over the last week… nachos! Here is my recipe for a slightly different version of my Cheesy Beefy Vegan Nachos. I added some extra seasoning & a can of beans to the beefy mix, and used some yummy canned salsa for the tomatoes. I also had to tell you about this really cute hydroponic lettuce that I found, which not only tasted great, but gave the nachos a punch of color, freshness, and texture.

Cheesy Beefy Vegan Nachos Too!

1 bag of Tortilla Chips

1 recipe for TVP, below
1 15 oz. can of beans, your choice  (I used Amy’s Organic refried beans with green chiles)
1-2 c. of shredded vegan cheese  (I used half Daiya cheddar and half Daiya pepperjack)
1 c. of shredded lettuce
1/2 c. of your favorite salsa

Beefy TVP:

1 c. of water
1 tbsp. liquid smoke
1 tbsp. vegan worcestershire
3 tbsp. taco seasoning (I use the recipe from VCF, see cookbooks on the write side of blog!)
1 c. of TVP

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, heat water, liquid smoke, worcestershire and seasoning to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in TVP. Let sit for 5 minutes, and mix in can of beans.

2. On a cookie sheet layer tortilla chips, TVP mixture, and cheese. Broil on high for 3 minutes. Top with lettuce and salsa just before serving.

Dig in and enjoy! Serve with a side of vegan sour cream, extra salsa and a bottle of hotsauce. : )

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Gluten-Free Garbanzo Crust Pizza

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I had been meaning to try this recipe since Daiya retweeted it on twitter recently. Not only because it gave me another use for my garbanzo flour (originally bought it for making vegan french toast), but also because my pizza stone broke on its last voyage into the oven making the vegan zombie’s pizza rolls. Thomas was up for the task, so I readied him with all the ingredients. It comes together in a blender (what the author used) or food processor, which is what he used. I put the dough blade in there thinking that was going to be the consistency, but surprisingly, it was more like a batter.

The crust stuck a lot, but I’ll take part of the blame. I hadn’t properly seasoned my skillet because it had been pretty non-stick after a few uses, but I will invest the time to do it right and give it the authentic cast iron properties it deserves. (Mine is le creuset, and thus enameled cast iron, not the exposed kind, so a little different.) Once we were able to get it out of the skillet, it was pretty delicious. The crust was a little crumbly, due in part to losing some of it’s foundation to the skillet, and part to the lack of gluten, but it was nicely seasoned with rosemary for extra flavor. Thomas topped ours with Daiya mozzarella, vegan sausage and sliced black olives. He doubled the recipe so we had 2 small pizzas, which were devoured completely by the two of us.

A really great gluten-free option for those of you that have that restriction!

Gardein Ultimate Beefless Burger Melt w/Daiya Cheddar and Chipotle Island Dressing

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I am SO happy to tell you that Gardein’s new ultimate beefless burgers are finally available! I can finally make tasty “steak” sandwiches of my very own just like the fancy vegan restaurants! They did not disappoint! This sandwich combines two of their delicious patties to make one delicious, protein packed, flavorful sandwich smothered in melty Daiya cheddar and topped with a yummy chipotle thousand island style sauce of my own creation. I was going to make AFR’s OMG baked onion rings, but we were too hungry to wait!

Ty’s Chipotle Island Dressing

(More than enough for 2-4 melts!)

1/4 c. vegan mayo (hello Vegenaise!)
2 tbsp. organic ketchup
2 tbsp. pickle relish
1 tbsp. adobe sauce from chipotle pepper can (for extra kick, mince a miniscule amount of a pepper.)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients really well in a large ramekin. (I used a fork!)

Burger Melt w/Daiya cheddar and Chipotle Island Dressing

Makes two doubles or four singles.

1 package Gardein Ultimate Beefless Burgers

4-8 pieces of bread, I used sprouted grain

Daiya cheddar vegan cheese shreds

above recipe for Chipotle Island Dressing

Directions:

1. Spray a large skillet with a little olive oil and raise to medium heat. Add burgers to hot skillet and brown on both sides. This takes about 4-5 minutes on each side.

2. Meanwhile, arrange bread slices on plates. Cover all pieces with Daiya cheddar. Toast in toaster oven as desired, and then Broil until cheese is melty. Return to plates.

3. Drizzle cheesy bread with sauce, add burgers, and assemble. Cut diagonally and serve with additional sauce and accoutrement as desired.

YUMMY!

Cheeseless Pizza + Daiya = Happy Vegan Pizza

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Okay, so there are quite a few choices for prepackaged frozen vegan pizzas out there now, most of which I think I’ve reviewed!  However, I still find that adding my own Daiya to either a home made pizza or a frozen cheeseless one still gives me the best results for my palate. I keep all 3 flavors of Daiya (though I still haven’t tried the pepperjack yet, but the reviews are awesome) in the freezer at all times. Keeping in the freezer lets you just use however much you need without the worry of it going bad after opening.

My two current faves are the Amy’s roasted veggie cheeseless pizza, and the 365/Whole Food house label personal size vegan cheeseless pizzas.

My frozen pizza making usually goes like this…

1. Preheat toaster oven. I use the convection setting. Remove pizza from box. Remove overwrap. Cut pizza box open and place pizza on it*.

2. Shake nutritional yeast, oregano, and crushed red peppers all over pizza. Top with preferred amount of Daiya cheese(s).

3. Bake 10 minutes. Cut into 4ths or 6ths or 8ths. Eat. YUM!

*this keeps everything clean. you can dress the pizza in the cut open box. put the pizza in to bake. shake out the mess, and then cut it back in the box. oh? you have some leftover? close the box, and put it in the fridge!

Whole Foods 365 Vegan Gluten-Free Rice Crust Pizza

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So here is my follow up to my review of their whole wheat crust version.  This was surprisingly great! Not only was the crust delicious, but the toppings were plentiful! Same great sauce and veggies as the whole wheat one. I’m not the gluten-free type, but I think I may have liked this just as much, if not better than the whole wheat one. I topped it with nutritional yeast, oregano, crushed red peppers and a handful of Daiya mozzarella before baking.

SO GOOD! And a wonderful, quick lunch.

PS – I bake for 10 minutes, at 425* on my toaster oven’s convection setting.

Freezer Vegan Cheddar Biscuits

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Just wanted to let you know about the success I had yesterday with thawing and baking my cheddar biscuit dough yesterday. Here’s a link to the recipe!. Since the recipe makes 20 biscuits, I like to freeze half the dough for another occasion. I was just a little worried about this particular batch, because it had been frozen for months! They came out just fine though. ; )

I pulled the dough out early in the morning, and let it thaw out in a covered and greased glass bowl.

By the afternoon it was ready and I used a sharp knife to cut it into quarters, and then halves to make 8 dough balls.

Which I placed into a lightly greased muffin pan, with water half filling the empty cups to prevent the pan from warping.

I then baked them in a preheated oven at 350*F for 25 minutes.

These are superb with a variety of meals, and make a nice breakfast or a yummy snack!

30 Minute Vegan’s Tempeh-Vegetable Enchiladas

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Tonight’s dinner is kicking off my recipe testing for The 30 Minute Vegan, a cookbook that I’ve had for months, and was meaning to get to. It has lots of raw dishes mixed in too, and I think initially this was a turn-off, but since I’ve decided that I want to be eating more raw, I pulled it back out. This, however, is not one of those dishes!

I liked the looks of this recipe, as it was getting late and we were hungry, and it seemed quick, easy, and required no stove top cooking. The assembly of these bad boys is where this went bad. Comparing the large bowl of filling to the small 8×8 pan didn’t leave me feeling confident, but trying to roll these corn tortillas proved to be an exercise in futility. They broke rather than rolled. It asks you to put a 1/2 cup of filling into each, and maybe it should be less (1/4)? So rather than get fed up, I improvised and ended up making a enchilada lasagna with torn up tortillas, filling, daiya cheddar and sauce in repeating layers. I made this in the toaster oven, so I covered it with aluminum foil for 13 of the 15 baking minutes for fear of burning it.

Btw, for those of you who were curious… The sauce was water, tomato paste, garlic, chili powder, cumin, thyme, sea salt, agave and soy sauce. (I used braggs.) The filling was crumbled tofu, onion, bell pepper, garlic, soy sauce (again, braggs), and black pepper.

That’s the 1/2 c. measuring cup in there. You can see how much filling there was!

Too much to really get a good roll going.

After 2 broke, I started on the lasagna method.

As it turned out, it tasted pretty good! Another of my fears had been that it wouldn’t be cooked through, and of course, this recipe’s instructions weren’t written for enchilada lasagna, but it could have used a little more time for everything to be HOT. I ate it with some vegan sour cream and we both added lots of hot sauce for heat. It was really filling too!

And here is a picture of Boris. I may try to occasionally include pix of the kitties at the end of posts, since one, if not both of them are always hanging out in the kitchen whenever I’m cooking. : )

Baked Penne with TVP

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so i really wanted some italian food for dinner tonight.  i also didn’t want to make a grocery trip & wanted to use some TVP. i went through a bunch of books for inspiration, and found the baked ziti in quick and easy vegan comfort food, pg. 123. mine is a little stepped up version since i had extra time to spend today, but her version would be great for a weekday.

the other nice thing is i have it in the fridge all ready to go until i’m ready to bake it.

ps- a frugal thing i’ve been doing is using vegan bouillion cubes for broth. a box of 8 cubes is about $2 and change, and makes 16 cups!

Baked Penne with TVP

Olive oil or butter for 9×13 pan

1 lb. of cooked short pasta, penne, ziti, etc.

1 c. veg broth
1.5 tsp. liquid smoke
1 c. TVP

1 jar of marinara sauce
1 14.5 oz can of diced/chopped/stewed tomatoes, drained
1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce
1/2 c. veg broth
1/2 c. onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. crushed red peppers, optional
1/2 c. nutritional yeast, optional
salt & pepper

2 c. shredded vegan mozzarella, i use daiya italian shreds
vegan parmesean, optional

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350* and cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Boil 1 cup of vegetable broth and liquid smoke in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat and add TVP. Stir until liquid is absorbed.

3. Return drained pasta to pot and add all ingredients except vegan mozzarella and vegan parm. the nutritional yeast gives it a nice creaminess.

4. Place half of pasta mixture into 9×13 prepared dish. Top with half of mozzarella and sprinkle with vegan parm, if using. Repeat layers.

5. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Broil on high for a few minutes to get a nice crust.