White Pepper Vegan Turkey Shawarma with Chipotle Tomato Relish + Roasted Artichoke Sage Tahini Paste

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Since I've already broached the topic of "What I'm Thankful For" in last week's post, this week I'm looking towards the future and how I want to improve upon my life. In fact, I've already purchased my 2010 planner. For once, I intend to use it past January. My ultimate goal by the end of next year is to be completely financially independent as self-employed. My acting career has served me very well over the past 6 years, but the Writers Guild strike definitely hit everyone in "The Industry". 

I grew up in a family full of financial planners and stock brokers. Instead of Goodnight Moon, I had pop-up books like "Don't Break The Piggy Bank" and "How to Make Your Allowance Work For You!" I'm kidding. I loved Goodnight Moon. I will say my Dad properly instilled me with a deep-seated fear of reckless spending. One day during my teenage years, he gave me a calculator device that revealed how buying a cup of coffee and a pack of cigarettes each day will add up over 1 month, 1 year, etc.. 

7 years later, the only thing I don't have a panic attack over buying are ingredients for recipes. A focal point of improvement this year will be my financial mental-health, and learning how to chill out about it. On a related note, if you are in the Los Angeles area and own any kind of business, please hire me. The job market is flooded with actors that couldn't work during the strike. If you want to keep seeing fancy recipes here, I need separate income to bankroll my Grocery Fund. 

Pros: I'm smart. I'm overly punctual. I absorb information like a sponge, and I can try to make you laugh when you're feeling stressed. I'm also not that bad looking and tend to smell nice, so you won't mind having me around. My only limitation is that I'd like to work days as opposed to evenings, but it's not a deal breaker. 

Alright, that pretty much takes care of my third intention: Find a job while the Entertainment Industry recovers. 

My final intention is to be a better friend. Anyone familiar with lesbian relationships knows that we tend to sink into oblivion when we're in a stable relationship. The term "Cat Lesbian" can easily be linked to this behavior. I have indeed holed myself up in my domestic lesbian haven, and it's time for me to get out and live it up a little more. As I reach my mid-twenties, I've realized I have the more in common with 70-year-old women. This doesn't mean it's time to hang up my dancing shoes, put away my eye glitter and let my amazing tolerance for alcohol dissipate. 

I'm going to push myself to plan a party to set the final intention up for success. In case you're wondering, no, I don't really wear eye glitter. It just reminds me of sprinkles.

White Pepper Vegan Turkey Shawarma with Chipotle Tomato Relish + Roasted Artichoke Sage Tahini Paste

For the Shawarma:

• 1 batch of Vegan Turkey, cooked in one large piece (recipe follows, or sub Vegan Chicken)
• 2 Yellow Onions, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 TBSP Turmeric
• 2 tsp Kosher Salt
• 2 tsp Ground Coriander
• 1 tsp Ground Cumin
• 2 tsp White Pepper
• 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided (amounts indicated in recipe)
• 8 Whole Pitas
• 1 cup of Pickled Eggplant, thinly sliced (or thinly sliced Pickled Cucumber)

Slice the giant piece of Turkey Seitan into 8 cutlets. Take a large, shallow baking dish that's large enough for all the cutlets, then place the cutlets in the baking dish. 

Combine all the spices together in a small bowl. Place the sliced onion in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of the spice blend and drizzle 2 TBSP of the Olive Oil over top of them, turning them over to make sure both sides are coated well. 

Sprinkle the remainder of the spice blend over both sides of the Vegan Turkey cutlets, using your hands to rub the spice blend in well. Drizzle 4 TBSP of olive oil over top of the cutlets, again turning to make sure both sides are coated. Cover both the "Turkey" and the "Onions", then place in the refrigerator for 4-8 hours. 

Pre-heat your oven to the "Keep Warm" setting, or between 150 and 200 degrees F. After the 4-8 hours of chilling time, rub a grill pan or your grill rack with olive oil and get it pre-heating. 

Brush each pita bread with enough olive oil to coat well. Grill slices of onion until beginning to soften, about 4 minutes per side. Grill the Vegan Turkey cutlets until browned and warmed through, about 3 minutes per side. Finally, grill the pita bread until you get some nice grill marks, about 2 minutes per side. 

Place on a baking rack in the oven to keep warm until ready to assemble the shawarma. Place the Vegan Turkey Cutlets and onion slices on a cutting surface....

Make a kind of sandwich, placing a "Turkey" cutlet on the top and bottom, then onion slices in the middle. Thinly slice the cutlet sandwich crosswise, repeating the process until all the "Turkey" and onions have been thinly sliced. 

Transfer the sliced "Turkey" and onions to a large bowl. Place even amounts of the "Turkey"/Onion mixture on each pita bread, top with Chipotle Tomato Relish, Pickled Eggplant, and Roasted Garlic, Sage and Artichoke Tahini Sauce.

 

Roasted Garlic, Sage and Artichoke Tahini Paste

• 1 1/2 cups Tahini
• 1 can of Artichoke Hearts, drained
• 1 whole bulb of Garlic
• Olive Oil, for drizzling on Garlic
• 2 tsp Fresh Sage, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 cup Hot Water
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Peel away the outer layers of skin on the garlic bulb, then slice of the top 1/4-1/2 inch of the bulb so that the cloves are exposed. Place the piece of garlic on a sheet of aluminum foil, then drizzle the bulb with olive oil so that it's coated well. Wrap the garlic up in foil and bake in the preheated oven for 1/2 hour. Set aside to cool. Pulse the Artichoke Hearts several times in a food processor or blender to break them up a bit. Once the garlic is cool, squeeze out the cloves into a food processor or blender, then add the remaining ingredients. Blend until the mixture becomes a smooth paste. Taste for salt and pepper. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

 

Chipotle Tomato Relish

• 1 1/4 lb Vine Ripened Tomatoes, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup Red Onion, finely chopped
• 2 Dried Chipotle Peppers, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 1/8 cup + 1 TBSP Lemon Juice
• Handful of Flat Leaf Italian Parsley, chopped
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

Combine all of the above ingredients in a medium sized bowl, then taste for salt and pepper. Keep covered and refrigerated until ready to use.

Vegan Turkey

Vegan Turkey Dough

• 1 cup Vital Wheat Gluten
• 1/3 cup No Chicken Broth
• 1/3 cup White Ale
• 1/3 cup Vegan Heavy Cream

For the Broth...

• 4 cups prepared Better Than Bouillon's No Chicken Broth
• 2 cups Low Sodium Vegetable Stock
• 1 cup of Dry White Wine (I use Chardonnay)
• 1/2 can of Light Ale
• 1 1/4 cup Vegan Heavy Cream
• 1 TBSP Lemon Juice
• 1/4 cup Mirin
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp Yellow Mustard Powder
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 2 Stalk of Celery, sliced
• 1 TBSP Mellow White Miso Paste

Combine all of the broth ingredients EXCEPT the mellow white miso paste in a very large stock pot. Bring to a boil, then add the mellow white miso paste and stir until dissolved. Whisk together the liquids for the dough (No Chicken Broth, White Ale and Heavy Cream), then by mix with the vital wheat gluten and knead until it’s completely mixed. 

Squeeze out any excess liquid, then depending on the recipe you're using the vegan turkey for, either shape into one large rectangle or flatten the dough into a circle and and use a sharp knife or kitchen shears to cut into four pie wedge “Turkey Breast” shaped pieces. Drop the dough into the pot of boiling broth, reduce heat to simmer, and cover the pot with a lid. 

Let the seitan simmer for about an hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes. Once done cooking, drain the Turkey Seitan well. Place the pieces (or piece) of seitan on top of a drying rack, then allow it to drain for a few hours to achieve that "dry" element that real turkey has. 

Use as directed in any of my vegan turkey recipes, or substitute for real turkey in one of your favorites!