Curried Carrot Soup

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. Things have been a bit nuts in the homestead, with the semester coming to an end and the dissertation "coming along" in a real way. I haven't been cooking as much as normal, so posting would be pretty lame and repetitive (ha! boca burgers again! ha! pizza again!). But I did find this jem that I made and apparently didn't report on. It's the curried carrot soup from one of the Kramer books (who knows, I have a couple of them). It was very easy and very good. Coconut milk, carrots, curry powder, some other stuff and love. And it looks good too!

Baked Tofu with Asparagus

Quick and easy tonight. The tofu was iron chefed. I put soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, oil, oregano, and red pepper flakes in a baking dish and added some water and sliced tofu. It went into the oven for 20 minutes, got flipped, and then back in for another 20 minutes. It worked really well and I didn't even have to press it! I roasted some asparagus on the side, dressed with oil, salt and pepper.

Calzone with Spicy Seitan

This meal was a lot of fun. I can't remember why I wanted to do something complex this week, but I've been in a good mood. The diss is coming along, my students aren't driving me too batty, and making new stuff is fun. My buddy Megan was telling me about how she made some smokie moz cheeze from the Uncheese Cookbook. After a mixed review, she offered to give me some. I thought, sweet! What could I do with this? Some ideas went thought and I ended up with calzones. However, our scheduals didn't line up (Thursday is her busy day - she is also a PhD student) and I was left cheezeless. So I told Scoots and DR to get some FYH while I made Soyrizo Seitan. Yeah, you heard it: seitan made with soyrizo. It was pretty good! I've included the recipe below. I would suggest BLENDING THE HECK out of the wet mix. I just mixed it and it was, um, fun kneading the seitan. I made pizza dough and wrapped hunks of baked seitan in with some cheeze. The sauce (yum!) was silken tofu blended with a little agave, lemon juice, and spices, including a touch of cinnamon. It was savory and sweet and went well with the spicy calzones.

Soyrizo Seitan

wet
1/2 package (1 "link") vegan soyrizo
1 c tomato juice

dry
2 c VWG
1/4 c (or so) nutritional yeast
spices: garlic powder, onion powder, paprika. I didn't measure. :)

Blend the wet together (if you want soyrizo chunks, just mix). Mix into the dry, adding a little more tomato juice (1/4 c or so total) to make a nice dough. Knead it for a bit and allow to rest for the gluten to relax. Cook as desired. I rolled mine into a fat log in foil because it was very delicate because of the chunks'o'soyrizo. I baked it for a while in the oven and then unwrapped it and sliced it up. The soyrizo adds a lot of flavor and gives it a looser texture. Megan and I have talked about messing around with mixing different protiens with the VWG to see what textures we get. I guess adding soyrizo doesn't do anything great, but it isn't too shabby!

Roasted Fennel and Beet Salad

Yeah, I thought I was nuts too when I came up with this. I had a ton of beets (thanks to Cammers and my CSA box) and some fennel that needed to be eaten, so I thought about what to do with them. I figured I would roast them and add them to some grain dish, similar to how I have dished up roasted veggies in the past. However, when I got my CSA box and it's gallons of salad mixes, I decided to just toss them on top of the lettuce with some dressing. For the dressing, I made the spicy mustard dressing in Veganomicon, subbing in agave for maple syrup. It was fantastic enough that DR ate her beets and then even snunk some into the salad she packed herself for work tomorrow. Winner! I love roasted anythings. Roasted fennel is up there with foods that make me drool.

Fettuccine with Leeks and Butternut Squash

Okay, I have to admit I used whole wheat "normal" spagetti noodles for this, but to each their own. This is a recipe from Pirello's Cooking the Whole Foods Way, which is 100 percent vegan if you get the newest edition. She as a vegan (pretty sure she said that) macrobiotics past and has a cooking show on PBS. My friend and I used to watch the PBS cooking shows a couple years back, but I don't remember ever seeing this show. Anyways, it is a fantastic cookbook with lots of fun and new ideas in it--something for every mood. I especially like that she uses a lot of different veggies in different ways than my other books. It is also cool that she talks a lot about her journeys with vegan and macro (she is a cancer surviver) and how the recipes really promote health and life. This recipe was pretty good, although the dinner crew wasn't thrilled. The sauce is leeks and squash that are cooked with some spices and liquids and then blended into a puree, which is then used on the pasta like a sauce. I made some frozen mixed veggies to go with them, but they are under my "pile" in the bowl. For fun (and because I had one) I included some fennel greens.

Lentil and Butternut Squash Stew

This is a recipe from Students Go Vegan and a repeat make for me! It is a very easy and fast recipe and I'm not sure why I don't make it more often. It is lentils and butternut squash (duh) but it also has a touch of cumin in it, a little cinnamon (!!!) and, to finish it off, ORANGE JUICE! The juice really rocks the flavors out. This time, I used some leftover canned pineapple juice I "found" in my freezer (surprising I find anything in there), which was equally good. The leftover squash (it was HUGE - I made a double batch and still had squash left even though I added extra) got roasted with a little oil and salt and used as a fancy topping. We are clever at chez Puppy.

Mixed Veg Delight

I went back to the "everything and the kitchen sink" style dinners to try to clear out some odds and ends I had piling up in the fridge. Here, I roasted a head of cauliflower and some green beans with oil and salt/pepper. Then I braised some random greens and splashed them with some oil and balsamic vinegar. For the "main dish" I boiled some lentils with chopped sun dried tomatoes and garlic and then splashed on some vinegar and oil. Very simple but very good, especially when tossed on top of some quinoa. Sadly (and strange enough), the next day I was eating some of these lentils/quinoa for lunch at school and they tasted oddly simular to boiled chicken (or at least how I remember it tasting like...).

Tortillas with Cilantro Sour Creme

I got a TON of cilantro to try out the cilantro sour creme in Veganomicon. I was planning on making some enchiladas (inspired by the vcon kale and potato enchiladas) but, in getting my 9x13 pan out, I discovered that it somehow got chipped and had to go to Pyrex heaven. So we went and got a vegan pizza instead.

So tonight I got out the cilantro and whipped up some of this tasty sauce. It made a ton and we might need to be eating it for the next year, but it was worth it. It's flexible and could be used in a lot of ways. I served it with some potato tortillas, which were corn tortillas stuffed with cumin, cilantro, and lime seasoned mashed potatos. It was delish!

Potato and Leek Soup

We got leeks in our CSA box this week. Leeks are a nice treat, since they are expensive and we don't buy them on a regular basis. So I hunted down a recipe on vegweb that was easy, fast, and used what I had available in my kitchen. The winner was this soup, which came together in a flash and tasted good.

Marinated Orange Tofu

Marinated orange tofu seemed like a really good idea at some point but I never got around to posting the picture. But then I found it in my "spring cleaning" (or would it be fall cleaning?) of the computer and decided to pop it on here. I love me some good tofu and advocate tofu love for all, so posting anything good and tofu related is good. Yes.

This night we had it with some stir fry veggies, noodles, and pot stickers.

Roasted Veggies and Kale Salad

I don't need to comment on this. If you read this blog, you know the BP-DR household loves oven roasted veggies. I did pair it with a kale salad from vegweb, which was quite nice. Even DR ate the kale and "liked" it!

Fudgey Brownie!

One of the "big" questions of the vegan world is which is better: fudgey or cakey brownies? I've never thought about it much, but I did have an interest in finding a good, fudgey brownie since it could give me some bragging rights. So when my Vegatarian Times came with a brownie recipe in it, I decided to give it a whirl. The first time, I forgot the sugar. The brownies were still good, just not too sweet. The second time I made them Cammers came over with some butter pecan soy icecream and we had a feast. The recipe has a banana in it, so they have a mild banana flavor. They were very fudgy though.

Homegrown Tomato Pizza

I went to visit my homie RC the other day, who found the cutest kitteh ever running in the street by her house. She couldn't' find a shelter to take him, the BF fell in love, and now they have cat #3. We were planning on giving him a bath to clean him up, but our scheduals didn't line up well enough to give time to that. On the way out, she gave me some big tomatos from her garden. Oh boi! as DR would say (tomatos *might* win over potatoes in her book). I made a seasoned pizza crust and put the sliced tomatos on top. I also added some chopped orange bell pepper we had in our CSA box.

Seasoned Pizza Crust
1 c warm water
1 TB sugar
1 tsp yeast
big splash olive oil
2-3 c flour
2 TB nutritional yeast (aka nootch)
1 tsp "green" herbs (oragano, thyme, whatever)
1 tsp salt

Proof the yeast in the water with the sugar. After it's foaming and going, add everythign else and kneed until smooth, adding flour as needed. Let rise for 1-2 hours or use right away. I guess this is just pizza crust with stuff added. But it is still good.

Corn Potato Soup

Haven't I made this before? Another "invented" soup (one of the things I like about knowing how to cook - I don't need recipes for most stuff!) that has potatoes, corn, and vegan bacon bits added for some adventure. I used some chickybaby seasoning from my homie's upcoming cookbook. I will have to talk about that when it comes out. I helped test a mess of recipes and it will be good!

Un-Meat Loaf

DR really likes "family style" kinds of dinners. I define "family style" as anything that involves mashed potatoes. So I made this un-meat loaf I found on vegweb. I then went to make mashed potatoes but, with both DR and Cammers seeking some dinnertime chow, I discovered I was short on potatoes. In a moment of creativity, I added a box of frozen pureed butternut squash. I was worried that DR would dislike the "healthier" potatoes (mashed potatoes being one of her favorite foods EVER), but she won't stop talking about them now. I think I found a squash convert!
We also had some of the leftover bread from yesterday to go with it. Yum!

Homemade Bread

I didn't use a recipe, I just winged it. I was inspired in part by The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen, which has a nice chapter talking about about how to make break. So I invented this simple yeast bread. Well, not so much "invented" as just "made."

One thing he talked about was cutting the bread on top to help it rise during baking. I guess this is true: it did get bigger than most of my loafs AND it looked totally cool.

Pasta with Oven Roasted Onion and Swiss Chard

I got the idea to make a "fancy dinner" for DR since I've been slacking in the kitchen. So I got out my copy of The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen (mostly vegan - a fantastic book!) and made pasta with oven roasted onion and swiss chard. For interest, I added some carrots that I also roasted in the oven. It was really tasty! What I love about this cookbook is that all the recipes (well, most) are vegan, including the baked goods, and they are "fancy" in a "I can bust this out in an hour for dinner with minimal effort" kind of way.

Peaking out in the corner is a loaf of fresh bread I made. I just I was feeling quite adventurous.

Taco Salad

I made a really fantastic taco salad. It has mushrooms, beans, tomatos, and homemade tofu sour cream.

Mac'n Cheeze

Humm. Mac'n Cheeze. I keep trying out different recipes in hopes of finding one I really like. So far, this one is the winner.

For the record, as we say on vw, the posts will be slow and lazy for the next bit. The semester started and I have a three-load, dissertation, and job market to manage. Therefore, I don't cook dinner.

What am I eating?

Mujardarah

Mujardarah is one of my favorite dishes. Other than caramelizing the onions, it is very quick and easy to put together. Not much bother.

At first, DR was not excited, because she doesn't like grains for some reason. Well, not "dislike" but she definably doesn't go out of her way to eat them. But, heck, you toss some caramelized onions in there and she'll eat them done, leftovers and all!

Peanut butter Banana Cupcakes

Banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting. Yum. Thanks Dink for coming to the ALB and encouraging me to make these beasts. They were quite good. Next time, I'll make the green tea ones. Or whatever else you want.

Squash Adventure

I honestly can't tell you what this is. I found several pictures from before I went to Boston and, while I remember eating them, I have no idea what it is. This was squash and eggplant in a seasoned tomato sauce. I added some leftover pasta shells that DR had made the day before. The greenbeans were from our CSA box (well, all the veggies were!) and I tossed it on top of some quinoa.

BBQ Pizza

This was easy enough. What do you do with leftover BBQ seitan? Make pizza. I used the crust(quick and basic!) and the pom bbq sauce
from VWAV. The seitan was from "memory" (whatever that is, these days!). I added some olives and mushrooms. It was a great pizza and even better cold the next day!

White Cake!

On vegweb, the issue came up about how to make a good vegan white cake. I've never had "issue" with any (vegan) cake, but some wanted a vanilla tasting cake that was dense but light in texture (not sure how that works.... its been too long since I've had "omni cake." Regardless, several of us have made it our mission to try to figure this mess out. My attempt, seen here, is the chocolate cake that works well, subbing cornstarch for the cocoa powder. It tasted good, but I don't think it is what they were looking for. THHF thought of using icewater and got good results; this is my next plan of attack. However, the cupcakes I made this weekend had a nice "dense fluffy" to them. Perhaps the trick is to MESS THEM UP.

Sweet Rice Salad

One of my favorite "its hot and I don't wanna eat!" dishes is cold rice salad. It's easy to make, doesn't' involve the oven, but still provides all the flavor and texture I like from more complex recipes. I have a basic "recipe" I use when making rice salads, but it's easy to sub in what you have or what you like. Essentially, this one is chopped veggies (celery, carrots, green onion) mixed with equal parts short grain brown rice, spelt, and brown lentils (all cooked first!). The dressing is raspberry balsamic vinegar (best_score_ever!), a little salt, and olive oil. After it sat in the fridge for a day, the raspberry flavor really came out in the grains. It was super good! Oh, and I like to add nuts to theses. This one had pecans. YUM! And currents. As you can see, I can't remember what I put in my foods most of the time. Good think I only buy vegan food, which makes everything I made vegan by default!

Summer Corn Soup

Today we had the Summer Corn Chowder (or whatever the whole name is) from Vcon. I don't know what made me think it was a good idea to make soup, since it was 10000 degrees out, but I did it anyways. Actually, this started with a fennel bulb I got in my weekly CSA box. I don't like fennel (or anything with a licorice taste) so I was looking for a recipe that might hide it well. This recipe did the trick! It was pretty quick and easy, seeing that I even got really badass and made my own broth in the pressure cooker. I was going to get fresh corn but it was mega pricey at the store (3 for 2 bucks!). So I said "screw that!" and used frozen. Yumm, corn. DR and Cammers were pleased, to say the least, as they sweated their way though a couple bowls of the stuff.

Raw Green Salad!

Another day that it was too hot to cook. I decided to clean out the veggie load from the CSA and make a big salad. Actually, DR wanted salad so I made one for her. And me. I was feeling a bit lazy.

Greens, zucchini, mushrooms, avocado, almonds and raw flax oil. The colors went well together.

Cold Noodles and Chard

This was a "cheater" recipe since I essentially took the Cold Udon Noodles from VWAV and stole the sauce recipe to adapt to what I had chilin' in my kitchen: buckwheat noodles, chard, and a mega lack of peanut butter. Cammers was coming over and I knew he had peanut butter so I told him to bring it with for dinner, since I was making noodles. He showed up with a jar of White Chocolate Wonderful. Great. I yelled at him. I managed to find a little spicy peanut butter to make this dish and it worked pretty well. DR confirmed her dislike of chard. I got dinner done.

Tofu Salsa Scramble

I figured out the fastest, easiest way to make tofu when you don't feel like cooking: scramble, add salsa, nooch. Heat and eat! So easy! So fast! Such a crown pleaser! But this time I went a big beyond this "easy" model and first fried up some hashbrowns, which added some potato goodness to the tofu scramble. DR was quite pleased by this, since she loves potatoes. I tossed a ripe avocado on top. I swear, for having few ingredients, this tasted fantastic! Much better than my crappy picture of it suggests. The avocado with the salsa-tofu.... totally yum.

Black Bean Sauce on Brocolli

Tonight Scoots and I decided to make DR a nice dinner for when she got home from work. She dislikes work, especially a) when she has a full day to work and b) she has to work the weekend.

As I worked on some dumplings, Scoots developed a black bean sauce that went on some broccoli. They were both quite pleased with this dish (I had a smoothie, since I wasn't feeling up to anything heavy), but I doubt it will come back again. If I remember right, the sauce is a can of beans, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, veggie broth, and ???? all blended together and dumped on some steamed broccoli.

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

From Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. They are great. Just gaze at the porn-ness of them.

On a fantastic note, I did make that powdered sugar you see on top myself. Sugar, cornstarch, and my vitamix. I feel like I have mega vegan points now: +++++++ for me.

Roasted Mushrooms and Squash

Many might think it's stupid to turn the oven on in the middle of the summer, when its 80+ degrees out, but i just couldn't help but make some roasted veggies. Honestly, if you don't have AC, how much hotter can the oven make the house?

Here, I cut up mushrooms, squash, and a box of tofu, marinated it in oil and vinegar and then roasted them. Served them on top of some couscous. I've noticed that I've been couscous happy lately. I don't know why I started eating it, since I'm more of a grain vs. pasta type of kid. But i think my first introduction to couscous was by a former lover, and I think that story would be nice to share since most of my posts are just about sexy food things. Couscous is the remains of my sexy former lover, I guess.

Quick Veggie Bowl

One of the advantages of being vegan is that I tend to collect a lot of random veggies in the fridge. Every once in a while, it is time to clean out the fridge. Some might fret at this task. I just cook everything up and let DR have at them.

Here, I have some corn and kale, which had been hanging around for a bit and needed to be eaten. I also have some mushrooms (because those are always nice to eat). The CSA box gave us some nice little potatoes (DR's fav!) so I boiled those to add a little something special to the meal. Quick, easy, and DR approved.

Couscous and Greens

This was a really quick dinner I tossed together to use up some of the braising greens I found in my CSA box. Mushrooms and greens, lightly cooked in a little oil and vinegar and then tossed on top of some couscous. It doesn't get easier than that.

Grilled Veggie Pizza

Pizza. The way it was meant to be perhaps. Or not.

A lot of nonvegans wonder how it is possible to make a vegan pizza. Well, first, it is possible. Second, there are a lot of ways to go about making it. The first, and perhaps more "traditional" way, involves making it just like a "normal" pizza - get some vegan cheese, some vegan toppings, and go to town.

While that is good and all, there are times I just want something lighter and more wholesome. So enter this new pizza: grilled veggie pizza. I made some dough with chicky baby seasoning added (essentially, nooch and other spices). For the topping, I sliced zucchinis, mushrooms, and tomatoes and mixed them in a bowl with chopped olives, roasted red peppers, and fresh basil. Then I coated it all with a good splash of oil and baked it until the veggies were tender and the crust golden. It was, in all honesty, one of the best pizzas I've ever had.

Soyrizo Mac'n'Cheez-o

One of the new items that DR and I have been picking up at the store is Soyrizo, which is essentially a vegan spicy sauage product. It isn't firm and slicable like sausage but it more like really overcooked ground meat. Anyways, it's our new love.

I came up with this dish for dinner because we were hungry and I was feeling lazy. I remember I sent the recipe in to Vegweb, but sadly for you all, you will have to wait until it is posted to find out what exactly went on here. I remember pasta, corn, soyrizo, a can of diced tomatos. Beyond that, I'm not sure. It was a nice quick meal with yummy leftovers, so it might be worth it to keep an eye out for it.

Saucy Pasta and Greens

The other night we were feeling too lazy to do what we wanted with the braising greens, which involved something with quinoa and indian spices that I was cooking up in my head, so I went to the old fall back: pasta and greens.

The pasta is a "secret recipe" that isn't much of a secret. DR wanted mac'n'cheese, I wanted normal pasta, so I made a half and half sauce: half cheeze sauce, half regular red sauce. Mix them together and they are great! I used the mac'n'cheeze recipe from the new Vegetarian Times that is very easy and surprisingly good! It's also nut free, for any nut free people out there.
On the side, I made some mixed greens that we got in our CSA box (kale, bok choy, and ??? green). I cooked them with a little oil and balsamic vinegar. They were great! I love me some greens.

Raw Salad!

DR and I went in on a CSA box with our friends M and J. They wanted to do one, but the website for our farm said it was enough to feed a family of four, so they decided to find someone to split it with (on this note, we were looking at our box and wondering what this family was eating, since there was about enough produce for 3 meals in there!).

We decided to divide everything in half and so I went home with a half-head of leaf lettuce, ready to make a salad since lettuce doesn't fair well for too long in the fridge. I ripped and cleaned it up and put it in a 4 quart bowl with carrots, cucumber, mushrooms, sprouts, raw almonds, and probably some other things I can't remember! DR and I ate the whole thing with some dressings. The dressings weren't raw, but they were vegan-yummy!

Indian, again!

I've made it a mini mission of mine to photograph all the Indian recipes on vegweb. So far, things have been good!

Starting in the upper right corner, we have a zucchini and tomato curry. Yum! Next, corn usal. At least that is how I think it is spelt. Next is the winner for the night, mushroom curry. I could eat a gallon of this stuff! Finally is some Afghani-style curry with beans, spinach, and sweet potato. It was good, but spicy! I tossed it all on lime-cilantro rice. There isn't a recipe for that, I just made rice and put some lime juice on it and then mixed in the rest of the cilantro.

Save the Tuna!

The other night I made the Save the Tuna Pate out of Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. It was a carrot base mixed with a creamy dressing and other flavor bits. DR had to work this afternoon so I tossed a couple wraps together for us before she left. Here, I put some of the STT pate with some homegrown sprouts (so easy, why would anyone buy them?). It was a nice, filling lunch, but the flavor was missing that little something something I couldn't put my finger on. Oh well, there is always next time. It might be my general unimpressedness (yeah, I made that up!) with raw sunflower seed cremes.

Basil Lime Raw Slaw

I've been reading raw books recently (as I think I do every spring or so) and decided to make some slaw using some ingredients I had around the house. I sent this into vegweb, so I will link to it rather than type it out since I'm working with a braced wrist (not sure what is wrong, but it hurts!). It was a nice, sweet salad. I had found a raw slaw I really liked somewhere on the internet and I can't, for the life of me, find it again. This isn't anywhere close except for the currents (these are great in slaw!). If you find what I'm thinking about, send it my way. I know the dressing was lemon juice and raw almond butter, if that helps.

Creamy Curry Dressing

Tonight I got a bug in my tummy for some salad. The store had heads of iceburg (yum!) for a buck, so I thought it would be good to make a dressing to go on top of a hunk of it. I came up with this beast of a dressing.

Creamy Curry Dressing

1/3 c Vegan mayo
2-3 TB lemon juice
1/2 tsp curry powder
salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients together. It should be a little runny, not thick like a spread. I know I tend to have different ideas about what things taste like than the average bear, so taste it for salt/pepper and adjust. This is a nice lemony dressing with a little curry kick.

Matar Paneer Indian Peas and "Cheese"

I was having something short of a panic attack when I found this recipe to make for dinner. I went to the dentist today to get a filling redone (the first fell out!) and so I was trying to find something I could eat with 2/3 of my mouth numb. Anyways, I have been pretty bad about updating this blog because I've been mega busy. The semester ended, but my work never seems to! I got my grades in and I've been working on the big tasks for the summer: dissertation, course preps (two new, one repeat), and preparing to go back on the job market in the fall. And I got jury duty. BOO.

Baked Tofu Dinner

Tonight was a "creative adventure" in the world of tofu. I found that frozen silken tofu gets a really fun texture to it, so I got on some kind of vegan "shake and bake" kick. I made a coating with whole wheat flour, chicky baby seasoning (from the test kitchen), and some other spices I had around. I then coated the sliced, pressed tofu and baked it. For the sides, I made mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy and steamed fresh broccoli (DR was quite pleased!). Bad for me, I forgot about the tofu for a bit and it got a little over crispy (and by crispy I mean rock hard!). In the end, everything tasted good soaked in gravy.

Drunken Thai Rice

This recipe is a hybrid disaster from the Test Kitchen. I made the shitake mushroom sauce (now removed from the book) and was going to make the dish that used it, drunken thai noodles, but the store didn't have rice noodles! So I mixed it up using some long grain brown rice. It was pretty good! It has tofu, cilantro, basil, and green onions. There was something magical going on in that dish, because it really made me feel good eating it. I think it was the basil-cilantro mix.

To-fish with Tartar Sauce

(Yet) another Test Kitchen recipe, this time for a tofu-fish. I wasn't looking forward to the to-fish as much as I was the tartar sauce--yum! One thing I liked in my prevegan days was french fries with tartar sauce. I wasn't a big fan of the tofu (too greasy and savory for me!) but the tartar sauce was good with my potato wedges!

Apricot Pecan Tempeh Wrap

I came up with this in response to trying to use up some parsley I had left over from other dish. These turned out really good. The fruit and nuts compliment the tempeh.

Apricot Pecan Tempeh Wrap

1 package tempeh
1 splash soy sauce

handful of dried apricots, chopped
handful of pecans, roughly chopped
1/2 c fresh parsley, roughly chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
Vegan mayo (as needed)
squirt mustard

Cut the tempeh up and add to a small frypan. Cover with water and add soy sauce. Boil for about ten minutes. Drain, and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Crumble up the tempeh and add to the mix. Stir in the vegan mayo until the mix is coated to your satisfaction (I know I like less mayo, I know others who like more!). Taste and add salt/pepper or whatever else seems good.

I rolled this up in some tortillas I had for a quick lunch.

Crouching Garlic, Hidden Peanut

Here is a recipe that you can make if you're not a Test Kitchen member! This lovely Crouching Garlic, Hidden Peanut is from vegweb.com. Some of my favorite midweek dinners involve a bag of broccoli, a box of tofu, and some sauce tossed in there for good measure. The peanuts in this dish really set it over the top!

Green Thai Curry

Another test kitchen recipe. Green Thai Curry!

Tempura Asparagus Nori Rolls

If you were looking for something very special and very good, look no further than these tempura asparagus nori rolls. They are like sushi, but the asparagus is battered, fried, rolled up, and served with a salty-sweet sesame sauce. I just about burned the house down (again--I need to reinvest in a deep fryer) trying to fry these on the stove but the danger and efforts were well worth it.