only the best vegan wrap ever...

Today I enjoyed the best lunch I have ever packed for myself. I had a Southwestern Seitan Wrap with chipotle dressing. Can I say DE-LI-CI-OUS!! The fact that it was easy only makes it better. If you have seen one wrap you have seen them all. So instead, here is a picture of the filling:


I chose a whole wheat wrap for "nutrition" and portability, but this would probably be good also with crackers or on toast. (I often find wraps to be of dubious nutritious value... even though they are touted as the healthy alternative to regular bread. Plus it is harder to find vegan ones around here than it is to find vegan bread)

The filling consisted of (this is enough to make two) :

• lettuce (3-4 leaves)
• chopped spinach (1/4 cup or so)
  
• chicken style seitan (say 3-4 ounces)
• avocado (to taste... I used about 1/4 cup)
• scallions
• chopped bell peppers
  
• black beans (say 1/4 cup)
• corn (another 1/4 cup)
• chopped tomatoes (1/4 cup)
• vegan mayonaise (a few tablespoons)
• the adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers (to taste... I like it spicy)
• a few squirts lime juice
• vegan cheese shreds, if desired... (i didn't use these)

I mixed the mayo, chipotle sauce and tomatoes together SEPARATE from the other stuff and then combined them. That way the liquid from the tomatoes helped thin out the dressing a bit.

A list for C.W.

A very nice guy I work with is now eating vegetarian wraps for lunch to improve his general health. While he is not (yet...) a committed vegetarian or vegan, I offered to help him out by providing a list of easy and quick vegan spreads and sandwich ideas. I want to offer a special thank you to the nice vegans in the Fat Free Vegan Yahoo group for their suggestions!

So here goes:

1. Hummus with veggies on any bread
   


2. Peanut Butter and Jelly


3. A veggie sandwich (spinach, carrots, tomato and diced cucumbers) in whole wheat with Italian dressing in a pita
   


4. Vegetarian refried beans on tortilla with sliced bell peppers
   


5. A black bean burger with salsa on a small wheat bun
   


6. A black bean burger with guacamole on a small wheat bun
   


7. Hazelnut butter and banana


8. Seasoned Baked Tofu, lettuce, tomato and sprouts with dressing in a wrap


9. A "BLT" wrap using lettuce, diced tomatoes, vegan bacon bits and vegan mayo (trader joe's makes a good one that is even low fat)


10. Veggies of your choice on rye bread with crunchy mustard


11. A crusty baguette with tiniest drizzle of oil and lots of vinegar piled with lettuce, onions, olives, peppers, mushrooms, oregano and red pepper flakes before being toasted in a hot oven


12. A taco salad in a wrap with lettuce, tomatoes, black beans, corn and salsa or guacamole


13. A portobello mushroom marinated overnight in Balsamic vinaigrette, then grilled or panfried and served on a toasted bun with 'fixins.


14. Falafel made from a mix in a pita with lettuce, tomato and a Tahini based dressing.


15. almond butter and raisins


16. Vietnamese rice-paper wraps filled with veggies and any ginger or peanut dressing

See.... you have options and yet there is no meat or dairy which means no virtually no cholesterol and low saturated fat! There aren't any "weird" ingredients on here either... everything listed can be purchased through normal grocery stores and places like trader joe's.

Vegan lunch fit for a queen!

I am not a lunchbox blogger... I enjoy reading lunchbox blogs and try to pack myself healthy delicious bento-style lunch boxes but I tend not to write about them. Let's just say that it is not my "shtick"

(If you want to read an excellent vegan lunchbox blog check out: vegan lunch box by cookbook author Jennifer McCann or cafe veg news by the staff of Veg News Magazine)

However, today's lunch was just too good to pass up sharing. Today I picked up some wonderful produce at the store with no idea what I was going to do with everything. I have a tendency to do this. It's a bit of a problem... My typical solution is to place everything on the counter and treat it like a puzzle. I try to figure out how it all goes together.

After this trip I came home with (among other things) zucchini, yellow squash, portobello mushrooms, an assortment of peppers, sweet onions, and a small "Sicilian" eggplant. Hmm... there are some obvious choices I could make here but I was really craving a sandwich. After some digging around in the drawer where we keep bread, chips, cereal and things I unearthed some hot-dog buns... not exactly the basis for a gourmet meal but they got me thinking. Finally, I came up with a marinated vegetable hoagie on toasted buns with vegan cream cheeze. Feel free to replace the very plain (and less nutritious) hot-dog buns with a different type of bread. Later when I could find some brown rice tortillas I enjoyed the leftovers again and they were just as good!

Marinated Vegetable Hoagie

Ingredients:
1 yellow squash
1 zucchini
1 small eggplant
1 red pepper
1 cup chopped portobello mushrooms

for the dressing:
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup oil (I used canola)
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 TBS crunchy whole grain mustard
garlic powder
basil
freshly ground black pepper
(all to taste)

bread of your choice
vegan non-hydrogenated cream cheese

Method:

1. Chop all vegetables and put in a Tupperware container.
2. Mix dressing ingredients carefully, check and adjust seasoning.
3. Pour over vegetables and allow to marinate for at least one hour.
4. Pour vegetables and marinade in a 3 quart stock pot and simmer on low until vegetables are cooked to your preferred level on doneness and marinade is slightly reduced.
   
5. Strain veggies out of marinade and reserve for later if desired.
   
6. Toast bread, smear with cream "cheeze" and top with warm veggies.

Note: This makes enough for 6-8 sandwiches depending on the size and type of bread. I left my vegetables in the marinade while I was storing the leftovers.

When I took my lunch to work I didn't reheat it, I just ate it lukewarm. It was still delicious and tasty! The vegetables were satisfying, with a little sweet, tart tang from the vinegar and a creamy rich mouth feel due to the cream "cheeze".