Vegan Cooking

Vegan Steddas
by Mimi Clark

In my 14 years of teaching vegan cooking classes there is only one thing that I cannot simulate and that is meringue, which is whipped egg whites. I can come close by beating the heck out of Ener-G egg replacer, but I usually end up making tofu whipped cream instead. Here then, is a list of vegan products that I use instead of (hence the term Stedda, first coined in 1990 by Marilyn and Harvey Diamond in their book, The American Vegetarian Cookbook from the Fit for Life Kitchen) their meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, and honey counterparts (*indicates recipe provided). Most of these items are available at natural foods stores, and more and more are appearing at conventional grocery stores:

Stedda		Use
Cow's milk		Rice, soy, almond, or oat milk
Butter		Non-hydrogenated spread such as Earth Balance or Spectrum Spread
Shortening		Non-hydrogenated Earth Balance or Spectrum Shortening
Sour Cream		Tofutti Better than Sour Cream (now non-hydrogenated), or make your own (recipe below)
Cream Cheese		Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese or Soymage Vegan Cream Cheese
Cheese		Avoid ones containing casein (a cow's milk protein). The ones that don't contain casein are Tofutti Slices (contain partially hydrogenated oil), VeganRella, Vegan Singles, Vegan Gourmet; Vegan Parmesan Cheese
Yogurt		Soy yogurts by WholeSoy, Silk, Nancy's, O'Soy
Frozen Yogurt		WholeSoy Cultured Soy (with live cultures!) in 8 awesome flavors
Ice Cream		Soy Delicious has many varieties including a decadent line, a fruit sweetened line, and novelty bars; Soy Dream, Rice Dream, novelties from Imagine Foods ; Tofutti pints, Tofutti Cuties, (sandwiches), Tofutti Fudge Bars from Tofutti
Beef		Gimme Lean Beef, Smart Ground from Lightlife Ground Round, Boca Crumbles soy protein/TVP, TVP flakes
Beef Strips		Smart Menu Beef Strips; Marinated Seitan, UnSteak
Chicken		Smart Menu Chik'n Strips (Lightlife); Dixie Diner Chicken Not; Chicken Style Seitan from WhiteWave
Turkey		Tofurky Deli Slices; Yves Deli Slices; Smart Deli Slices; Unturkey
Ribs		UnRibs Gardenburger Riblets
Sausage		Gimme Lean Sausage, Sausage Patties; Sunergia Soy Sausage Yves Veggie Sausage Links, Patties Tofurky Sausage , Soysage
Pepperoni		Yves Veggie Pizza Pepperoni, Lightlife Pepperoni
Canadian Bacon		Yves Veggie Canadian Bacon
Bacon		Smart Bacon, Fakin' Bacon (tempeh)
Eggs		For baking, use one of the following: Ener-G egg replacer (made of tapioca flour and potato starch), Flax seed "glop;" (recipe below) 1 tsp. baking powder; 1/2 tsp. arrowroot or cornstarch + 1/4 tsp. baking soda; 1 Tblsp. arrowroot or cornstarch + 3 Tblsp. water; 1 Tblsp. soy flour + 2 Tblsp. water; 1/2 tsp. lecithin + 1 tsp. baking powder; 5 Tblsp. pureed Mori Nu tofu; 1 Tblsp. vinegar.

Recipes Sour Cream: Process one box of Mori Nu Firm tofu, 1 tsp. sea salt, 2 tsp. lemon juice, 2 tsp. cider vinegar (add maple syrup or brown rice syrup for sweeter sour cream, or more lemon juice and vinegar for more sour taste). Add water to thin, if necessary.

Egg Replacer: In an airtight container, combine 1 cup potato starch with 3/4 cup tapioca flour and 2 tsp. baking powder. Mix well. For one egg: combine 1-1/2 tsp. powder with 2 Tblsp. water. Set aside to thicken before using.

Flax Seed Glop: Combine 1 Tblsp. ground flax seeds (you will need a spice mill or a coffee bean grinder to grind the seeds first) + 3 Tblsp. water; emulsify in blender for 2 minutes until thickened. Best to make about 4 "eggs" at a time and keep in jar in fridge until needed. Keeps about one week. Use 1/4 cup mixture for each egg.

Mimi teaches vegan cooking classes in Fairfax Station, VA, where she resides with her husband Garth, and her 14-year old daughter Sasha. Read Doh's interview with Sasha.

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Vegan Cooking

Vegan Steddasby Mimi Clark

Vegan Steddas
by Mimi Clark