Vegan Bean and Beet Protein Patty

I had a vegan burger the other day at Red Robin (Keep It Simple: ancient grain and quinoa), and while I haven't tried to replicate the ingredients of this one, I tried another bean/beet centered recipe. As a carnivore who loves digging into a slab of grilled bovine, I have to say that this alone is probably not going to convert me from giving up my greenhouse-gas producing meat sources. After putting it on a bun slathered with deli mustard and homemade ketchup, and frying up the vegetarian patty with Tillamook Colby Jack cheese and plating it with some dill pickles, neither the taste nor texture even comes close to a real beef burger. Sad, I know.

As for cost, it's about the same as beef; unless you factor in the labor it takes to make these. Bringing the entire batch together took well over an hour of prep time. How I made this is not entirely vegan, since I used chicken broth to cook the dry lentils. And while I have all the ingredients on hand to make a vegan cheese sauce, the whole process seems daunting. My first foray into making vegan cheese with coconut cream as its base turned out disastrous and I hadn't thought about it for several years since then. Each patty is roughly 200 calories. After plating it as a "burger" like object, calorie count rises to around 500 from the dairy-based cheese and bun.

Makes 8 vegetarian patties.

The Foodening Blog: vegan bean and beet patties

Ingredients

1 can organic garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 can organic black beans, drained and rinsed
1 c cooked lentils, drained
1.5 c organic old fashioned oats
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 large portbello mushroom cap and stem, chopped
olive oil, for cooking

Directions

1. Chop the mushroom into 1/2" pieces, including the stem, and fry over medium heat in a pan with olive oil. Remove from heat and drain.

2. Blend half of all the ingredients together in a food processor. I have a 7-cup food processor and I had to pulse in batches. You should probably add the nutritional yeast early in because the blended stuff will be rather dry-ish.

2.5. Use a patty mould to press into patties. Place each patty onto a square of parchment paper or waxed paper.

3. Heat a frying pan with olive oil and add the patty. Once you flip the patty, you can add a slice of cheese (dairy or vegan), cover the pan and let the cheese melt. Total cooking time is less than 5 minutes after the pan initially heats up.

4. Serve with mustard, ketchup, dill pickles, and bun if desired. Personally, I would not eat these things as is. 

Baked Tofu with Celery and Pickled Radish

This is a multi-part recipe. The first stage is to marinate then bake the firm tofu to replicate the taste/texture of Trader Joe's pre-packaged baked tofu. The reason for doing this is that Trader Joe's marinade has onions in it and we all know from reading this blog that onions are the spawn of hell. Eventually, I'll find a recipe that allows me to make the pickled daikon radish that's used in this dish. I've done this with firm, medium firm, and extra firm tofu, the latter of which works well. I'll still "press" the extra firm tofu to drain the excess water from the tofu. If you have ever purchased pre-packaged baked tofu, you'll note that it is supremely dense. Also, Trader Joe's tofu is $3.69 for 7 oz and a standard 16 oz package of "fresh" organic tofu from the supermarket costs around $2. 

The Foodening Blog: Baked Tofu with Celery and Pickled Radish

Baked Tofu

Tofu marinade:

3 tbsp tamari (wheat-free) soy sauce
3 tbsp organic apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp raw honey
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tbsp filtered water
1/2 tsp sea salt
1.5 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp celery salt
1 block organic tofu, extra firm

Press. Before marinading the tofu, put the tofu on a clean plate and place a plate on top of the tofu. Put a heavy object (a bottle filled with water) on the top plate. Let it "press" out the excess water for a half hour. There will be more water exuded from medium firm tofu than from extra firm tofu. Discard this water.

Marinate. Combine marinade ingredients and pour over tofu in a container large enough so that the marinade and tofu can fit. I use a 3-cup resealable container. Let tofu marinade in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or longer.

Bake. Preheat oven to 425 F. In a metal or glass baking dish, either oil the bottom of the dish or add a bit more water to the marinade; or bake the tofu slightly covered. I did all three and didn't end up with dried/burnt marinade in the baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes. You can flip the tofu half way through baking, but I don't think it matters all that much.

Onto the second stage:

Ingredients

1 recipe baked tofu, sliced thin into matchsticks
3 organic celery stalks, sliced into matchsticks
1-2 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
1 6 oz jar of pickled radish
1 bunch cilantro, leaves only

Roughly chop the cilantro. Slice the celery and tofu into matchstick pieces. Add pickled radish and a splash of rice vinegar (can substitute apple cider vinegar). Mix well. Can refrigerate this until ready to serve.

Makes roughly 2 quarts (by volume).

Future note: The pickled radish is a specialty item; though most Asian grocery stores will carry it. And taste-wise, quick pickled radish recipes will not be a fair substitute for it.

Kitchen notes: Ninja Foodi review

I'd been thinking about getting an air fryer or a food dehydrator all year; but I couldn't quite get myself to commit on price for unit features for a single use appliance. The Ninja Foodi at my local Costco ($189.99 regular, $149.99 holiday sale) was already significantly below the retail price that can be found at Target ($229.99 regular), Amazon (currently $189.99 holiday sale), or my local Kroger-owned grocery store ($299.99 regular, $239.99 holiday sale). Shopping in Oregon saved me $12.60 in retail sales tax; and I picked up the unit a week before Thanksgiving. 

Item number: Ninja Foodi OP305CO

Product review:

The appliance itself is pretty big at 6.5 quarts. It's like having a columnar-shaped, medium sized microwave oven on the counter top. It stands tall enough to not fit inside nor under any of the kitchen cabinets; and the base unit is heavy enough to not want to move it from the kitchen counter. That said, if you can spare the counter space, it'll be a good complementary appliance for liquid-based cooking, "baking", air frying, and dehydrating. I have yet to try the dehydrating or slow cooker functions on the Foodi. And, I have no desire to make yogurt. That said, given the number of appliances that this replaces, it's good for homes or apartments with a small kitchen. Though, it might be a stretch to say that the Ninja Foodi is a multitool for your kitchen if you already have an oven/stove.

The hardest part about using the Foodi? Figuring out how the pressure cook lid fits onto the unit. like which way the lid turns and such. Probably took me a half hour to figure it out after unboxing.

Making food in the Foodi requires attention to detail and timing. Most pressure cooked or air fryer recipes need you to be attentive to timing for natural or quick release, and also to flip or stir the foods if air frying. It's not a single-use, set it and forget it appliance.

Time saved:

You are not going to save any time on ingredient prep. If you don't count that as part of how long it takes to make a recipe, you are deluding yourself into thinking that this appliance (and others like it, e.g., Instant Pot) will help you cook meals faster. 

It saves some time but not much; and it depends on what you are cooking. When you are making soft boiled eggs, it takes 7 minutes plus whatever time the unit needs to warm up and/or come up to low pressure. So the eggs that might take 10 minutes by stove method, might actually take 15 minutes in the pressure cooker. But you get perfectly cooked eggs in the Foodi and the eggs don't break or explode from the radical change in temperature from the fridge to boiling water like it does sometimes in a pot on the stove. Also, pay attention because even after the timer stops, the eggs will continue cooking as the unit cools down. Yes, you can burn eggs (in shell) if you leave the eggs in the Foodi and forget to quick release.

Beef stew by stove top has a cooking time of about an hour. In the Foodi, it still took an hour. 

Clean up:

The primary cooking bowl and air fryer basket are both nonstick surfaces and are easy to clean off with a soft rag and warm soapy water... if you wash immediately after removing food that has just been cooked. Clean the stainless steel racks that come with the Foodi if any food gets burnt or stuck on. Like most things in life, don't wait so long that cleaning becomes an actual chore.

Diversity of recipes:

Not so much. You would think there'd be more with Instant Pot debuting in 2010. Though, we have to thank the creative genius behind Instant Pot marketing for how popular these appliances are today. No longer are pressure cookers associated with the Boston Marathon or domestic terrorism. Now you can create delicious food in half the time with a pressure cooker. 

Just simple American recipes are out there, in cookbooks, on recipe blogs, and from manufacturer's websites.You can almost use Instant Pot and Ninja Foodi pressure cooker recipes interchangeably. You'll want to refer back to the food temp/cooking charts from Ninja. Apple sauce in an Instant Pot calls for more water than apple sauce in a Ninja Foodi. Also, most air fryer recipes will work with the Ninja Foodi Air Crisp settings. If using the crisping basket, this more volume than a standalone air fryer basket.

The Ninja Foodi is not a replacement for any food dish requiring the burnt/charred look for toast, baguettes, creme brulée, steak, or anything grilled via fire. Yes, it can do a frozen steak by pressure cooking and air frying; and it'll be cooked to medium-raw; but it won't have that just-got-off-the-grill look with the air fryer.

The more water-based your dish is, the more you're going to appreciate the cooking features of the Foodi.

Ninja Foodi Beef Stew

Taste-wise, this beef stew is spot on and comparable to what you'd get at a restaurant or knew what you were doing in the kitchen. Not sure what meat cut was used for this beef stew, typically leaner/tougher cuts are used for stew as it tends to cook longer. But, longer cooking does not make meat tender. It's the fat and marbling that makes that happen; and appropriate heat/time used to cook it. The texture of the beef is okay; cooked but not tender. 

TheFoodening Blog: Ninja Foodi Beef Stew

Ingredients

1 lb beef stew meat, cut into 1" pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
15 oz organic tomato sauce
2 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
2 organic carrots, peeled and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp beef bouillon (I use "Better than Buillon Beef Flavor")
2.5 c filtered water
2 tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp dry vermouth, optional
dried herbs: parsley, thyme, basil, paprika
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Soup thickener:

2 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp cold water, mixed together

Total cooking time: about an hour

Directions

1. Sear the meat in olive oil either stove top or using the saute function in the Ninja Foodi. Brown all the edges of the meat then transfer to the Ninja Foodi cooking pot.

2. As you are preparing the vegetables, set the Ninja Foodi to Saute. Add vermouth to deglaze the pot, carrots, potatoes, garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper.

3. Select "Pressure" and "Hi" on the cooker. Set the timer for 25 minutes.

4. Natural release 10 minutes, then quick release.

5. Stir in cornstarch mixture. It will thicken before serving.

Makes: 2 quarts

Ninja Foodi: Sriracha BBQ Chicken Wings (from raw frozen!)

This was the first item I made in the Ninja Foodi using both the pressure and air fryer features. In retrospect, it tastes as though I should have marinated the frozen chicken wings first, as they were bland and tasteless without the BBQ sauce that I added later in the air crisping step of this recipe. The crazy part is cooking frozen meat to perfectly cooked in the Ninja Foodi.

The cooking times on this recipe needs additional testing. After the pressure cooking phase, the wings were done. Any air frying would have added additional heat and time, making these somewhat dried out but "looking" the part of being broiled or fried. Total cooking time is too long if you want the outcome to be tender but crispy chicken wings.

TheFoodening Blog - Ninja Foodi Sriracha BBQ Chicken Wings

Recipe adapted from the basic Ninja Foodi cookbook that came with the unit.

Recipe: Fail

This is a fail because total cooking time is 40+ minutes -- the same amount of time that an oven-based recipe uses to get chicken to a minimum 165 F.

The original recipe calls for frozen chicken breasts which much denser than chicken wings. The cook time could have been halved for each step: PC and AF. And, the chicken, while frozen and raw, could have been marinated at least a half hour before cooking. The "fixed" directions, time, and temps are noted below.

Ingredients

2 lb raw chicken wings
1-2 c BBQ sauce (I used Trader Joe's Sriracha BBQ sauce)
1 c water
additional sriracha sauce, optional for more spicy

Add 1 c of bbq sauce and chicken wings to a resealable plastic bag or food storage container. Let the wings marinate for 30 minutes or longer in the fridge. In my first attempt, I did not marinate before cooking and applied the sauce at the Air Crisper step.

Pressure Cooker Directions

Place fry basket in pot. Add water to pot and chicken to fry basket. Select "Pressure" and "Hi". Set timer for 10 minutes. Start.

10 minutes natural release, then quick release.

Remove pressure cooking lid.

Air Crisper Directions

Select "Broil", Temp to 400 F, and Time for 10-15 minutes.

Toss or use a silicone pastry brush to apply more BBQ sauce to the wings.

Check at 5 minute intervals to see how crispy the wings are getting. Serve with additional BBQ sauce.