Vegan Diner (38 page)

4 tablespoons garbanzo bean flour

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons granulated onion or onion powder

1 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried parsley or 1 tablespoon fresh minced parsley, optional

½
teaspoon dried rubbed sage

½
teaspoon salt, optional

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Ground white pepper, to taste

In a heavy saucepan over high heat, whisk together the yeast, oat flour, and garbanzo flour, cooking until it smells toasty. Remove the saucepan from the heat, whisk in 2
½
cups of water, the soy sauce, onion, garlic, parsley, sage, salt, and peppers, whisking until mixture is smooth. Return saucepan to the heat, whisking constantly over high heat until gravy thickens and comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.

This gravy can be made ahead and reheated.

If you're looking
for a gluten-free gravy, this is your ticket. Just make sure to use wheat-free tamari and buy certified gluten-free oat flour (or rolled oats and grind your own flour in a blender or spice grinder).

Sometimes there's nothing like a great gravy to
liven up a dish, and this gravy is just the one to do it! Don't be surprised if you find yourself putting it on everything from toast to biscuits to seitan roasts.

MAKES ABOUT 3
½
CUPS

¼
cup nutritional yeast flakes

¼
cup unbleached all-purpose flour

¼
cup chickpea flour

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 cup plain unsweetened soymilk, plus more as needed

½
teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste

¼
teaspoon white pepper, or to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon non-hydrogenated vegan margarine

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the nutritional yeast flakes, all-purpose flour, and chickpea flour. Add 2 cups water, whisking well until smooth. Whisk in the soy sauce, soymilk, salt, and peppers.

Bring mixture to a simmer over medium to medium-high heat, whisking continuously. Cook until gravy is thickened to desired consistency, whisking continuously, about 5 minutes. Add more soymilk as needed to thin.

Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in the margarine, adding additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve gravy right away while hot.

Tip:
If you want to make this gravy gluten-free, one of my recipe testers discovered that it works really well to substitute
¼
cup Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour for the
¼
cup all-purpose flour called for in the recipe.

For years I found myself buying barbecue sauces,
not only because it's so easy to find at the store, but also because I just hadn't found a recipe I loved. Well, it all changed when I created this sweet and sticky barbecue sauce, and I can't imagine buying another one again. You'll be surprised at how easy this sauce is to make.

MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP

1 cup ketchup

¼
cup agave nectar

¼
cup light molasses

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons liquid smoke

¾
teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

½
teaspoon granulated onion or onion powder

In a medium saucepan, whisk together all the ingredients plus
¼
cup water, whisking until smooth.

Over medium heat, bring mixture to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring frequently for 30 minutes. For a really thick sauce, simmer an additional 15 minutes.

Let the sauce cool completely and refrigerate until ready to use.

Variation:
For a spicier sauce, add about 1 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper to taste.

This recipe is
even better when made with organic ketchup. Although any ketchup will work here, organic ketchup doesn't contain high-fructose corn syrup and tastes great.

There are so many different styles of BBQ sauce, and
everyone has their own personal favorite. I really like adding a little drizzle of this very vinegary sauce along with lots of the Rough Rider Barbeque Sauce (see opposite page) on the Q sandwiches (
page 96
). It balances the sweetness of the Rough Rider Sauce, adding another dimension.

MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS

1 cup cider vinegar

¼
cup ketchup

2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

1
½
teaspoons fine sea salt

½
teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

½
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a medium container, whisk together the vinegar and ketchup until smooth.

In a small saucepan, heat
½
cup of water, the brown sugar, salt, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Simmer just until sugar and salt are dissolved.

Remove from heat and add to the vinegar mixture, whisking until combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Tip:
This sauce will keep refrigerated for weeks. I like to store it in a canning jar or an old salad dressing bottle. I didn't grow up eating much ketchup, other than using it as a dip for fries or on a burger. But I've come to like it as an ingredient in BBQ sauce. So if you're leery of adding ketchup to your sauce, don't be. You can also reach for the organic versions, which are wonderful in the sauce recipes and can be found at most grocery and health food stores these days.

I love to serve cranberry sauce with seitan roast,
mashed potatoes, and gravy, but it's also equally at home on top of a sliced seitan sandwich. Cranberries are also a great source of antioxidants. Although you may be tempted to cut down on the sugar in this recipe, it's a pretty tart sauce.

MAKES 2
¼
CUPS