Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Beer, BBQ and Baseball

Beer, BBQ, and baseball.... pressed in a live or die situation, I'd choose baseball, but life just wouldn't be the same without any one! My kids both play, I coach, and baseball is a BIG deal in our home. The fact that PETA rated our ballpark the #1 veg friendly one in the country and the fact that some of our favorite players (Barry Zito & Brian Wilson) are rumored to be veg is just a MAJOR bonus!

The season brings out the "Humm Baby!" in our family. Give us a Giants game, warm evening, good company, great food and drinks and life just can't get any better.

When we went vegan, it was winter. It never occurred to me that veganism would reach so far into my life that even baseball was affected! Not that this is a bad thing, but the first game I watched as a vegan left me staring sullenly at my fire-less grill. It didn't help when a friend joked, "that beer's vegan, right?" WHAT?!?! Some beers aren't vegan? Shit. I swear, that is the only thing ever that made me rethink my decision!

So, I truly thought part of my life was over (the April through October part, anyways). The first thing I did was research beer (thank you Google). In case this is something you worry about here is super helpful a list: http://www.barnivore.com/. Because it's the filtration process and not the actual drink that uses animal products, it doesn't bother me personally so much. I've chosen to only purchase vegan friendly beer, but I'm an equal opportunity drinker : )

The second thing I did was look up vegan BBQ recipes.  And I want to share our absolute, hands down,  favorite one with you! It's vegan ribz. I know what you're thinking- - What?! Ribs? Vegan? Ohhhh yyyeeaahhh. It was my son's favorite food as an omni (I know, eeewwww!) so I was so excited to find a veg version for him!




As I've said before, I am not a inventor in the kitchen. Thank you once again to Susan V. for this amazing dish!!



http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/05/barbecued-seitan-ribz.html

From Susan:

Barbecued Seitan Ribz

Like Veggeroni, this seitan is baked dry rather than boiled. The results are a little spongier than Veggeroni, less dense, but I think the texture is perfect for absorbing the flavor of the barbecue sauce. You'll be amazed at how easy this recipe comes together using your favorite bottled sauce.

1 cup vital wheat gluten
2 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons tahini or other nut butter
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1 tablespoon soy sauce
about 1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce

Preheat the oven to 350 and lightly spray an 8x8 baking dish with canola oil. Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix the water with the nut butter, Liquid Smoke, and soy sauce and add it to the dry ingredients. Stir to mix well and then knead lightly in the bowl for a couple of minutes.

Put the dough into the baking dish and flatten it so that it evenly fills the pan. Take a sharp knife and cut it into 8 strips; then turn the pan and cut those strips in half to form 16 pieces.

Put it in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. While it's cooking prepare your grill.

Remove it from the oven and carefully re-cut each strip, going over each cut to make sure that the ribz will pull apart easily later. Generously brush the top with barbecue sauce. Take it to the grill and invert the whole baking dish onto the grill (or use a large spatula to lift the seitan out, placing it sauce-side down on the grill). Brush the top of the seitan with more sauce.

Watch it closely to make sure that it doesn't burn. When sufficiently brown on one side, turn over and cook the other side, adding more sauce, if necessary. When done, remove to a platter and cut or pull apart the individual ribs to serve.


Hope you enjoy! We sure did (but enjoyed the Giants kicking butt even more!)


Play ball!

xo,
Sarah

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