Friday, July 27, 2007

Soul Food


It's not always easy to get creative with dinner, especially after you've been baking pies all day. But a girls still gotta eat, and so does her family. Here's something that I made last night, and actually remembered to photograph before we dug in.

I decided to try my hand at Susan's Barbecued Ribz from the Fatfree Vegan Kitchen. Let me just say that they are AMAZING! So, so good! They're also very easy to make, especially if you have a grill or cast iron grill pan. Don't double the recipe though, that was where I ran into a few little problems. Follow the recipe exactly. I also used smooth peanut butter and lots of BBQ sauce. Oh, and the Ribz are even more amazing the next day, after being chilled overnight.


To go with the Ribz, I cooked up some greens and some Mac & Cheeze (it was a Southern dinner after all). For the Mac & Cheeze, I used some brown rice penne pasta from Trader Joe's (love the stuff, but you could also use regular macaroni) and topped it with a variation of Bryanna Clark Grogan's Melty Chedda Cheeze recipe. It was a really delicious dinner. Thanks Susan and Bryanna for some awesome recipes! Here's my sauce recipe for you.

Julie's Version Of Bryanna's Melty Cheeze Sauce
makes about 2-1/2 cups

2 c. water (or you can use 1 cup water and 1 cup plain unsweetened soy milk)
2/3 c. nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon taco seasoning, optional
1/2 teaspoon sweet (Hungarian) paprika
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (pimenton)
1/2 teaspoon garlic granules
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons light miso
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup water or plain unsweetened soy milk to thin (or more as needed)
1 to 2 tablespoons Earth Balance (I use the whipped organic)
Salt to taste

Place the water, yeast, cornstarch, flour, taco seasoning, paprika, pimenton, garlic, salt, miso and lemon juice in blender, blending until smooth. Pour the mixture into a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously, until sauce is very thick.

Whisk in water or soy milk and Earth Balance, stirring until smooth and is thin enough to use as a sauce. Add salt to taste and drizzle immediately over cooked pasta and serve.

**This sauce is also really good on nachos. If using for nachos, use 1 to 2 tablespoons taco seasoning (or to taste) and add a little ground chipotle, cayenne or chopped Jalapenos for heat.

16 comments:

Julie said...

OOO I am always looking for a good cheeze sauce. Thanks for posting the recipe :]

Anonymous said...

looks awesome!

Sheree' said...

I so agree. Our family loves Susan's ribz. My daughter loves Susan's baked mac and cheese and I told her I would make some on Saturday, but I am going to try your cheese sauce this weekend instead! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. Did you make your BBQ sauce? If so can you share the recipe?

Amy said...

Mmmm yum. I'm going to have to give these Ribz a go I think. I got a bit scared off after making some before that I didn't like much.

And that cheese sauce sounds delicious too!

Vegan_Noodle said...

Your ribz look great! That's a recipe I"ve wanted to try as well. Thanks so much for the variation on the melty cheeze sauce, sounds like a winner!

julie hasson said...

Thanks! Yeah, I really love Susan's Ribz recipe. The cheezy sauce is good too, and I like that it's not a million calories. If you want it richer, you can always add more Earth Balance.

Veg-a-nut, I wish I could say that I made my own BBQ sauce, but it was out of a bottle. I think it was KC Masterpiece. I hope to have some time this summer to play with homemade sauce, but until then, it's KC.

Emilie said...

I am obsessed with Susan's ribz recipe, though I just make big pieces of it and through it on the grill or in a cast iron pan on the stove.

I'll have to try the cheese sauce, looks really good!

Diz Rivera said...

The picture made my stomach grumble. Looks so good. Can't wait to try this out.

KleoPatra said...

i think i died and went to heaven just THINKING about the ribz and cheez.

Thank you for this post!

spiceislandvegan said...

Julie and all,

The ribz are really really good! I tried them and I am addicted! I am thinking to make Chinese style BBQ or Sweet and Sour 'Pork' with it.

SIV

Rose said...

YUM!

Sheree' said...

Hi Julie,
We made these a couple days ago and they were devoured in a flash. Since we don't care for liquid smoke I added cumin to help with the smokey taste. It worked great! I also made your peach pie! Yumm-O!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

I LOVE soul food! This is really my kind of meal and no more excuses now that I have a Foreman grill and these recipes. :)

julie hasson said...

Vicki, these ribz are really amazing! The trick though is to use a lot of BBQ sauce. I keep flipping them over, brushing with more sauce until they are nice and sticky and caramelized. I also make 2 batches so I can have leftovers. They're awesome the next day.

Have fun with your Foreman grill!

Miss Rachel's Pantry said...

Mmm...delish! I'm going to add you to my blogroll so I remember to come back :)

(missrachelspantry.com/wp)

Sylvia said...

I'm not a huge fan of fake meat, but these actually look pretty good. I'm not quite into the vegan thing full force yet, but these recipes give great ideas and look delicious.
-Sylvia
Cigar Bunker