Vegan with a Vengeance

“Mom, no prepackaged foods, for the love of God!” One day she came over armed with the recipe and was determined to somehow force it into the cookbook. We came up with this recipe instead, and now everyone is happy.
    2 tablespoons olive oil
    1 medium-size onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
    3 cloves garlic, minced
    2 cups finely chopped mushrooms
    1 tablespoon chile powder
    1 teaspoon salt
    1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
    Â¼ cup water
    Â½ cup quinoa
    4 large red bell peppers
    1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
    1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
    Fresh cilantro for garnish
    In a saucepan over medium heat, sauté the onions in the olive oil for 3 to 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and mushrooms; sauté about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms have released their moisture. Stir in the chile powder and salt. Add the quinoa and 1 cup of the tomato sauce (reserve the rest) and the water, lower the heat and cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring once.
    Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare the peppers: Boil a pot of water. Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds. Boil the peppers for 5 minutes and then drain them.
    Combine the beans and maple syrup with the cooked quinoa mixture. Stuff each pepper with filling and stand them upright in a baking dish. Pour the remaining tomato sauce over the peppers and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, garnish with cilantro, and serve.

Fresh Mango Summer Rolls
    MAKES 30 ROLLS
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    Crisp vegetables and sweet mango make these the perfect treat for a hot summer’s night, when the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. The noodles are the only things that require cooking, and they’re done in 10 minutes. You should be able to find rice noodles and wrappers in the ethnic foods section of a well-stocked supermarket, at a health food store, or at an Asian grocery. My sister supplied me with the dipping sauce recipe; I’m not sure where she got the recipe so if she “borrowed” it from you, I apologize in advance.
    1 mango, peeled and sliced into matchsticks (see Punk Points, page 154)
    1 cup bean sprouts, or seedless cucumber, sliced into matchsticks
    Â½ cup fresh cilantro leaves
    4 ounces very thin rice noodles
    Â¼ cup roasted peanuts, very finely chopped
    20 rice paper wrappers (plus extra in case some tear)
    Thai Dipping Sauce (recipe follows)
    Boil a medium-size pot of water. Turn off the heat and add the noodles. Let them soak for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain the noodles and run them under cold water until they feel cold. Transfer them to a bowl and begin your rolls.
    Have ready a pie pan or large wide bowl filled with hot water (tap water is fine) and clean counter space or a cutting board. Place the rice paper wrappers, two at a time, into the water until they are flexible (30 seconds to a minute). Carefully remove from water and lay flat on a clean surface. In the lower two-thirds of the roll, place a tablespoon of noodles and sprinkle a few of the chopped peanuts (about ½ a teaspoon) over them. On top of that place five or six mango strips and on top of that place six or seven bean sprouts and three or four cilantro leaves. Fold the left and right sides over the filling, then take the bottom of the wrapper and begin rolling. It may take a couple of tries to get it right, but keep it up and you’re on your way to summer roll heaven. Keep wrapped and chilled until ready to eat and serve with small fingerbowls of the dipping sauce below.

Thai Dipping Sauce
    MAKES ¾ CUP
    Â¼ cup rice vinegar
    Â¼ cup water
    1 teaspoon Asian chile oil
    1 garlic clove, minced
    3 tablespoons roasted peanuts, chopped
    1½ teaspoons sugar
    Mix all the ingredients together and chill until ready to serve.

Seitan- and Herb-Stuffed Mushrooms
    MAKES 30 LARGE MUSHROOMS
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    These make great hors d’oeuvres or appetizers to an Italian meal. They are very omnifriendly so don’t hesitate to serve them to your Uncle Ted who still thinks that passing you turkey at Thanksgiving is the funniest joke ever.
    â…“ cup walnuts
    30 large (about 2 inches in diameter) white mushrooms (about 1½ pounds), wiped clean
    Â½ cup seitan, diced as small as you can make it
    3 tablespoons olive oil
    1 small onion, very finely chopped (1 cup)
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    Â¼ teaspoon dried thyme
    Â¼ teaspoon dried basil
    Â¼ teaspoon dried oregano
    Â½ teaspoon salt
    Several