Vegetarian General Tso’s Chik’n

For as much as we love traditional ethnic foods, there is something to be said for those crazy Americanized ideas of what food should be in other countries.  Why try a traditional Chinese dish when you can try General Tso’s Chicken? It’s deep fried chicken covered in a sugar sauce! It’s brilliant! It barely resembles Chinese food! And it’s also delicious.

This recipe is no different.  And with two people working on it, one prepping while one watches the oil and frying, it’s also one of the easier setups.

In the end, I don’t know whom this General Tso is, but I salute his most-likely imaginary self for introducing cornstarch, soy sauce and sugar into such a delicious sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 package Trader Joe’s Chickenless Strips
• 1 Egg
• 3/4 cup Cornstarch
• 3 Tablespoons vegetable boullion
• vegetable oil
• 5 sliced green onions
• 2 Tablespoons minced ginger
• 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 1/3 cup vegetable broth
• 4 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 7 Tablespoons sugar
• Red pepper flakes to taste
• 2 Tablespoons vinegar

Directions

Cut the chik’n into 1 inch chunks.

Whisk egg with 2 Tbs. water. In a separate bowl mix cornstarch with veggie bouillon.

Heat oil, at least 1/4-1/2 inch deep, in a medium-sized pot.  Dip chik’n chunks into egg mixture then coat with cornstarch mixture. Fry in hot oil until golden brown. This may take several batches depending on your pot size.  Drain on paper towels.

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a separate pan fry the onions, ginger and garlic for about 2 minutes at a medium heat. When garlic starts to brown add the broth, soy sauce, sugar, pepper flakes and vinegar.

Whisk 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 4 tablespoons of cold water and add this to the pan, stirring to thicken the sauce. As soon as the sauce begins to thicken remove from heat and add the chik’n to the sauce.

Serve with cooked rice, or in our case Israeli couscous.

Serves 3

Vegetarian Pepperoni Stromboli

When preparing Italian food, does anyone else get that commercial stuck in their head that uses the catchy remix of Mambo Italiano?

You know the one:

Okay, well that wasn’t the actual commercial, but a drunk baby singing Dean Martin is, and will always be, hilarious.

My joy of cooking and baking has diminished these past couple months, which I can only blame myself for causing.  I became obsessed with fighting calories and looking for weight-fighting recipes that ultimately resulted in dishes that may have been good for us, but left more than barely a mark on our memories.  And for people who love food, love eating, and love sharing food with others, I don’t know if there’s anything worse you can do to a collection of ingredients.

And that’s where the stromboli comes in.  I’ve never once attempted making any other than a pizza with pizza dough.  If I were in a boardroom, I would be chastised for thinking inside such a very small box.  And it’s not as if a stromboli is breaking new grounds, but I feel I’ve made some great (unhealthy) strides in breaking free of tasteless Weight Watchers recipes and once again realizing cooking should be fun.  I may never be a chef, being able to come up with the grandest of ideas within minutes (thank you Top Chef for making me feel even more food-dumb than I usually do), but I can embrace my pop culture cookery.  Find something I like, change it by 10%, and hope I don’t get sued.

Aside from being a tad salty, and missing a nice marinara sauce for dipping, this recipe was quite tasty, and fairly simple.  I used Mark Bittman’s recipe for pizza dough from his invaluable How To Cook Everything Vegetarian.  I just added some black pepper, oregano and garlic to the dough since the stromboli itself isn’t seasoned.  The stromboli recipe was (barely) altered from a Real Simple recipe we found offering many uses for leftover pizza dough.  We replaced the salami they call for vegetarian pepperoni, and used a lower sodium provolone cheese.  Most of the prep time is spent either waiting for the dough to rise, or baking the stromboli.

Also, stromboli is a ridiculously fun word to say out loud.  You should try it.

Mark Bittman’s Pizza Dough

• 3 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup water

Combine the flour, yeast, salt, pepper and oregano in a mixing bowl.  Slowly add the water, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and garlic. Mix until the dough forms a ball and is slightly sticky to the touch. If the dough is dry, add more water a tablespoon at a time.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for a few seconds to form a smooth ball. Put the last tablespoon of olive oil in the bowl and toss the dough, coating it well.  Cover the bowl and let rise for 1-2 hours.

Veggie Pepperoni Stromboli

• 1 pound Pizza Dough (see above recipe)
• 1/4 pound veggie pepperoni (we used Yves brand)
• 4 cups fresh spinach, stemmed
• 1/2 pound sliced low-sodium provolone

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Form dough into a 12-by-15-inch rectangle. Top with salami, fresh spinach, and provolone. Working from a short end, roll up the dough. Place seam-side down on an oiled baking sheet; brush with olive oil.  Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Serves 4.