A couple months ago, I decided to enter the office chili cookoff. I’m a big fan of chili, but of course, there is one twist. I’m a vegan. This I thought could be an issue because if anyone who voted knew my entry was vegan, it might count against me. Also, someone could think someone else’s chili was vegan, and maybe cost someone a vote. So I entered my chili through another party who also was nice enough to bring a crockpot. It seems like a lot of extra shenanigans just for chili, and perhaps I overdid it, but it worked out ok.

My entry came tied for second…in a field of four. No one suspected it was vegan, though. I got a couple of really nice compliments from co-workers, and I let them in on it the subterfuge. One co-worker asked me for the recipe, and so after too long, I’m writing it down. I should also add, that my chili cooking is more like a process, than a specific recipe. I’m writing this down the best I can recollect and I hope that someone gets some use out of it:

Ingredients you’ll need

6 Boca ™ Burgers
3 cups textured vegetable protein
6 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes
2 cans Light Red Kidney Beans
2 cans Dark Red Kidney Beans
2 cans White Kidney Beans (also known as cannellini or fazolia beans)
12 chopped jalapeño peppers
3 sliced Bell peppers, any color and spice level will do
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1-2 cups bread flour
2 medium onions, diced (i prefer white)
brown sugar
mustard
paprika
chili powder
cumin
black pepper
salt
garlic powder
Predator Great White Shark Hot Sauce

Cooking Process

* Cut up Boca Burger into small chunks and with diced onions, fry in olive oil
* Put all tomatoes and beans in a large pot and slowly bring to boil, using all liquid
* Once at boil, turn down heat to low, and add peppers
* Slow cook for a couple hours before adding textured vegetable protein
* Add spices, hot sauce, and brown sugar to suit tastes
* To thicken chili, add bread flour to thicken to preference
* Slow cook until consistency and taste are both at desired levels

For the record, my version of this was called “Sweet & Spicy” in the contest, and I think it lived up to its name. I like a very spicy chili with an undercurrent of sweetness, and I was very happy with how it came out.

Well, that’s it, I hope someone gets something out of it.

The holidays can be a rough time if you’re trying to avoid really bad food, but those of us at Hell Food are not opposed to enjoying some treats here and there. After all, if you eat well and exercise year round, the holidays are not an issue. Moderation and consistency are always the key. Have a few treats and otherwise maintain your healthy habits and you will be fine.

This year, Kelly and I had a FSM themed holiday, and so our holiday meal was made up of Italian food. For this year’s dessert, I chose tiramasu. The last time I had tiramasu I wasn’t a vegan, so it was a challenge to find a good recipe. After doing some research I found a good one at the Insomniac Chef blog. After looking at the recipe, I felt I could make it without any issues. Here is the recipe from his site:

Sponge Cake:
(Based on recipe I found online by Candace Naomi Sakuda)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 1/3 cups water

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth and free of lumps. Pour batter into a greased 9 inch pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool complete and then slice it into lady finger shaped strips. Put the strips on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 18 minutes.

“Mascarpone”
8 oz Soy Cream Cheese (I used toffuti’s vegan cream cheese)
1/4 cup soy sour cream (I used toffuti’s vegan sour cream)
1/4 cup vegan cream (you can try silk coffee creamer but I used Alpro Soya Heavy Cream which you can buy here)
2 tablespoons Amaretto
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon agar (this is a vegan gelatine, I found some at a Korean grocery near my house but if you do not have that kind of thing near you you may have to buy some online)

Bring heavy cream to a boil in a small sauce pan and then dissolve the agar into it and allow it to cool to room temperature. Combine the cream/agar mix with all the other ingredients above and beat well. Put the mix in the fridge to set for several hours.

Coffee/Liquor Dip
1 cup expresso
3 tablespoons amaretto
3 tablespoons sugar

Combine these ingredients and put in the fridge to cool.

Topping
1 high quality dark chocolate bar, grated (store in the refrigerator)

To assemble the dessert dip the “lady fingers” you made into the coffee dip and lay them in a large deep dish. Pour the “mascarpone” over top of the cake. Sprinkel the “mascarpone” with the grated chocolate and then chill the entire dish in the refrigerator for an hour or until you are ready to serve.

I did make two small changes. First, I was unable to find sour cream that was vegan in time, so I instead used soy vanilla yogurt, and a little extra cream cheese. Also, I didn’t have the exact sized baking pan required, so I used a round 9 inch pan instead. I think both these changes would be immaterial to the overall product.

The result, in my opinion, was great. It tasted pretty good. The fake dessert cheese reminded me of real mascarpone cheese, and the chocolate bar I picked added another level of expresso taste that really gave it some kick. Kelly didn’t like it as much as I did; she preferred the frozen browni trifle I had made before. However, even she had to admit it came out pretty good. I would do this recipe again, maybe next year as well. So if you’re tiramasu fan and a vegan, I highly suggest this recipe.

References:
http://insomniacchef.blogspot.com/2007/04/vegan-tiramisu.html

Today I started off with the best breakfast that I have come up with:

4 scoops powder from Naturade’s Chocolate-flavored Meal Replacement
1 cup fat free soy milk
1 cup water
1 tablespoon instant coffee

Throw it all in a blender, and go. Tastes great, has a high protein count, and covers over half of all the nutrients I need in a day.

Inspired by last night’s Coast to Coast AM show with Dr. Neal Barnard, I am going to promise myself to be more active on Hell Food. I am going to do more theme type days, like “Food Review Friday”. I think this might help with the discipline needed to maintain this site.

Today, on a whim, I did a Google search for “fast food”. I noticed the first sponsored link was from KFC, that bastion of health food. The headline of the ad reads “KFC is Zero Trans Fat”. Trans fat, of course, is the trendy food product to hate these days. I’m not saying it’s good for you, but let’s not act as if trans fat is somehow responsible for our awful eating habits.

So, I decided to click on the ad and look at the nutritional information for a single piece of KFC Orginal Recipe Chicken Breast. What I found wasn’t surprising. A single piece has one third of your recommended daily intake of fat, one quarter of your recommended daily intake of saturated fat, forty percent of your daily intake of cholesterol, forty-three percent of your daily intake of sodium, and three hundred and sixty calories. All in just a single piece of chicken. How many people stop at just a single piece of chicken? Not many.

KFC’s chicken no longer has trans fat in it, but it still has high fat and high cholesterol for not much nutritional value. Remember, KFC doesn’t just sell you a single piece of chicken. They include biscuits, mashed potatoes, and cole slaw, all with similar unhealthy attributes. So while KFC can claim to no longer contain today’s deadly food fad, it can’t purport to be healthy. It’s not.

If you really want a filling meal try this:

1 whole wheat hamburger bun    - 140 calories
2 Original Vegan Boca Burgers  - 140 calories
1 tablespoon ketchup           - 15 calories
1 tablespoon mustard           - 0  calories
1 cup mixed vegetables         - 90 calories

Fry the burgers in a frying pan with some vegetable broth,
and stack the patties on the bun
so you have a double burger.  Just heat the
vegetables in a microwave, and serve.

The meal adds up to 385 calories, more than the single piece of chicken, but you will be a lot more satisfied after this meal. KFC just can’t compete with that.

While this recipe isn’t ground breaking, I found it to be a very filling meal for dinner:

3 slices whole grain bread ~ 300 calories
4 slices Peppered Tofurky Deli Slices ~ 140 calories
2 slices Soya Kaas Monterey Jack style soy cheese ~ 130 calories
2 tablespoons mustard

I stack the sandwich like this:

1 slice bread
2 Deli slices
1 slice of cheese
1 tablespoon mustard
1 slice bread
2 Deli slices
1 slice of cheese
1 slice of bread

I also added some carrots on the side, which added another 70 calories. Total for the meal was 640 calories, but it was very low fat, high fiber, and super filling. You will feel satisfied, without a feeling of sloth than overcome you when you eat a huge meal full of simple carbs and raw starches.

From the Vegan Lunch Box, the coolest f’in thing I’ve seen all week: The Magical Loaf Studio. The menu allows you to choose your own protein and carb sources, as well as nuts, veggies, and seasonings, and – voilà! – a customized recipe for your very own Adventist-style vegan dinner loaf.

Via the Veg Blog.

Today for lunch, I had a simple meal, plus I was snacking on sunflower seeds all morning:

2 oz sunflower seeds
3 cups steamed broccoli
16 oz spring water

Today for breakfast, I had:

2 cups Cheerios
1 cup fat free soy milk
8 oz apple cider
16 oz water

For dinner, I had the same as lunch:

1 piece of pita bread
1 cup of salad (lettuce, tomato, onion)
2 tablespoons hummus
16 oz water

Yesterday for lunch I had:

1 piece of pita bread
1 cup of salad (lettuce, tomato, onion)
2 tablespoons hummus
16 oz water