Sometimes it happes when I’m passing restaurants, bakeries and the likes. The scent of freshly baked goods or a certain dish turns up my appetite making me long for whatever it is in that very moment – and yes, even if I just ate. Don’t tell me you didn’t know that ;).
Sometimes, though, those cravings come out of nowhere yet still need to be satisfied. So here’s to a confession: I’m a convinced vegetarian and don’t ever feel deprived by my choice of foods. But there are still those days when I crave the hearty flavour of meat, its texture and taste. In consequence I’m finding way to get the meatiness without the meat.
So when that unshakeable longing for something ‘meaty’ hit on Tuesday I immediately knew what I wanted: Stroganoff. Which is funny because I’ve never had actual Boeuf Stroganoff. But it was the vegan option at my sister’s wedding – then featuring seitan. Only I didn’t have seitan at hand and am generally not the hugest fan of store-bought so I once more resorted to my favourite meaty vegetables again: mushrooms.
That was the beauty of discovering vegetarian dishes for me: playing with the meaty taste and texture resemblance of certain natural ingredients to create dishes that satisfied without desperately trying to mimic or replace meat. Quickly looking up some Stroganoff recipes online I got to work with what I had on hand and ended up with a satisfying plate of meatless meatiness.
Mushroom Stroganoff
- olive oil
- 1 small red onion, finely diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 6-7 mushrooms, sliced thinly
- 100 g/3.5 oz silken tofu
- 1 heaped tsp [white] cashew butter
- 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- pinch of cayenne pepper [optional]
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup chickpeas
- 1-2 medium-sized pickles, chopped
- 1/2 tbsp chopped parsley [I used frozen]
- 1 tsp of mustard [optional for a more authentic Stroganoff but I don’t like mustard so I omitted it]
1. Heat the olive oil and sauté the onion until lightly browned. Add the garlic and let cook for another two minutes.
2. Meanwhile blend the silken tofu, cashew butter, soy sauce and worcestershire sauce.
3. Add the mushrooms to the onions and cook until softended. Mix in the pickles and chickpeas.
4. Pour in the tofu sauce and season with the spices. Stir in the parsley.
5. Serve over either your grains of choice or cauliflower rice.
Mushrooms instead of meat, added chickpeas, … Once more this is by no means authentic but since we’re already at the topic of strange but good: why bother with traditions? It’s delicious on its own right and that’s what counts.
Happiness inducing today: As it’s still rather early I’ll go with a great Farmers’ Market haul including kabocha [finally again!] and apples – obviously knowing their names.
Do you ever crave foods you’ve never had before?
What are your favourite vegan/vegetarian ‘meaty’ recipes? Feel free to link me up in the comments for when the cravings hit the next time :).
So crazy, but I have been thinking about making a meatless stroganoff for weeks now…and I’ve never actually had the real deal either! I was thinking of using portobello mushrooms for mine cut into strips so it kinda has the look of the meaty one! 🙂
One of my favorite “meaty” dishes is my “Where’s the Beef Vegan Chili” I used homemade seitan in the original recipe, but it’s also great with just beans!
Great minds think alike :). I’d have used portobello mushrooms, too, but white button/cremini were on offer ;). I can’t wait to see what you come up with. And then I want an invitation for dinner!
Mmmh, your chili sounds great. Now I’m craving meatiness already again.
You are sooo right about the “meaty-ness” of mushrooms. This looks divine! Such pretty presentation… and its brown so good job! haha My favorite “meaty” meal also features mushrooms… grilled portobello burgers! And as per your request: http://thelittlehoneybee.com/2013/07/23/portobello-mushroom-burgers/
Hope the farmer’s market was wonderful!
Ooooh, I’ve had portobello mushroom burgers ages ago and had competely forgotten about them. Thanks for the reminder and your delicious-looking recipe. I’ll give it a try if I can track down those huge portobellos [hard to find over here].
This looks so good! I’ll put this recipe on my dinner list for next week.
What vegan vegan worcestershire sauce do you use? I haven’t found one yet.
My favorite ‘meaty’ vegan dish is tofu goulash. Here’s a similar recipe, I always just wing it:
If you give it a try I’d be so happy to hear what you think! I actually had a hard time finding a vegan Worcestershire sauce and recently got Colgin’s at Veganz. But I’ve heard Sanchon [organic] has a vegan one that should be more widely available, too.
I’m a huge tempeh fan! I eat meat but I think I would definitely choose tempeh over most meat. Especially a tempeh reuben 🙂
Even though I like tempeh I’ve yet to experiment much with it. I could use your recommendations – aside from sandwiches :).
This looks unbelievable ! Tempeh and beans are definitely my favorite meat substitutes but I live playing around with other ingredients too. I need to use mushrooms more often!
It seems like I should start using tempeh more often … Feel free to share your favourite recipes for it in your next mail :).
This looks fantastic! I’ve had a vegan stroganoff pinned to try for…. errrr… a couple of years. You’ve inspired me. It’s going to happen. After this competition. 😉
Thanks for linking up!
Don’t we all have those bazillion Pinterest recipes that we somehow never get around trying ;)?!
Hm, this recipe sounds delicous! I had recently craving for “Züricher Geschnetzeltes”, although I can’t really remember how it originally tasted. I used Seitan, selfmade, as an meat substitute.
Oh, I’ve never had Züricher Geschnetzeltes but it sounds like something I might like – veganized, of course. Do you have the recipe up on your blog?
Unfortunately not, it wasn’t really a recipe 😉 But I used twoodledrums “Seitan im Glas” recipe! And then just onions, mushrooms, some kind of nut butter or cream.