Fast Fresh Vegan

Mexi Veggies and Quesadillas

2011-04-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

Yup, that's right. Yum! This was a quick meal to make and very tasty. I made quick quesadillas with Diaya and corn tortillas. Quinoa for another tasty grain. The main attraction was my mexi mushrooms and corn. Cook some mushroom slices. Add corn bits. Season with mexi seasonings. I don't even remember what I put in there - chili powder, oregano.... other stuff? I like to wing it when I cook so this turned out well!

thai inspired soup

2011-03-05T06:08:00.000-08:00

okay, so i know it isn't very fair that i've been posting test recipes lately. well, lately meaning "i finally started blogging on here again and, oh look! what pics do i have in my camera." anyways, something is better than nothing, right? a thai inspired soup for the new book full of veggies with a light coconut-citrus broth. ohhh! i've made this twice so far.

i do testing for my buddy tess, who blogs over at radiant health, inner wealth. she has ton of awesome vegan recipes and words of inspiration. her blog is free therepy on the web! she is also a very talented recipe author and has two books out and more in the works. i've been testing for her kiddo book (kid friendly vegan recipes) and for (i think?) weight loss. it is hard to think of it as "weight loss" when i don't think of myself as a) being on a diet or b) when the recipes are soo tasty!

if you love cooking, try some of her recipes out. this is an excellent tomato soup recipe. tomato soup not your thing? try something else - use her labels to explore her free tasty recipes. then become her fan and friend and maybe you too can recipe test!

Seasme Lime Kale Chips

2011-03-04T18:56:00.000-08:00

Yum, raw kale chips! The recipe is top secret (from my buddy Tess' book in the works) but they are pretty tasty! And the photo looks good too :)

Soyrizo Scramble

2010-07-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

Here is what you would call a very quick and easy dish. After eating a pound of carrots thoughout the day (don't ask), I wanted something a little less... healthy?... for dinner. Not that this isn't healthy, but it is definatly a little more processed than I normally go.

I decided to put a scramble together. DR wanted sushi, I was tired and feeling lazy. This hit the spot. I put the scramble on a whole wheat bagel and added diced avocado on top. YUM.

Soyrizo Scramble

1 pound (or so) firm tofu, drained
1 - 12 ounce package soyrizo
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
Juice from 1 lemon
2 teaspoons dill
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Salt, pepper, and other seasons to taste (I use a non-salt spice and herb blend)
Bagels and avocado, to serve

In a preheated medium skillet, add soyrizo and fry a bit until warm. Add in tofu, mashing into small crumbles and mixing it into the soyrizo. Add nutritional yeast, lemon juice, dill, soy sauce, and spices and cook 5 minutes or so, until hot and everything is mixed together.

Place mixture on top of toasted bagel and top with avocado. YUM.

Couscous and chickpea salad with olives and walnuts

2010-07-20T13:14:00.000-07:00

I was looking in Supermarket Vegan for some quick and easy ideas and stumbled across this recipe. I like beans, DR likes olives and pasta, so it seemed like a good recipe to try. I used chickpeas that I pressure cooked (yummy!) and subbed pine nuts for the walnuts.

Either way, this was a nice dish. The flavors are light and it was good in the summer heat. Not sure if it will be in the regular rotation, but it was good. Here I have it budded up with a hummus wrap I made for LF, since she likes more "hearty" dishes.

Tuscan style white bean quesadillas with artichokes and sun dried tomatoes

2010-07-19T08:32:00.001-07:00

Long title, tasty dish. I've been reminded by a couple friends that my blog had been un-updated for quite a while....opps! I can't even figure out where to start explaining that one. Disinterest in cooking? Check. Working a lot? Check. Free time taken up with going to the gym? Check.

Regardless, I am going to attempt amends for this. These quesadillas are from Supermarket Vegan, a nice little book full of fast and fresh recipe ideas. The idea for the book is that it uses ingredients found in most grocery stores (score!) and, as a result, tends to have a lot of stuff I have in my house already. These are very tasty with sour creamy sauce (my fav) or pasta sauce (DR's fav). Using beans instead of cheese in quesadillas isn't something I'm new to but it works fantastically. Black beans and sweet potatoes are another winning combo. Yes!

Teriyaki Double Take

2010-01-18T18:31:00.000-08:00

Teriyaki double take! I made this sauce from vegweb.com and DR liked it so much I made two dishes with it!

First, teriyaki tofu wrap. Press, slice, marinade. Bake and wrap with some spinach. Second, I used the marinade to soak some homemade seitan (from vcon) before frying it up in a pan. I steamed some broccoli on the side and then tossed them together. Cashew bits completed the dish. Both were quick, easy, and very tasty!

Three Bean Salad

2010-01-15T16:58:00.000-08:00

This is another test recipe for my friend's new book. I love making her recipes - easy, fresh, and she has a special talent for combining fun flavors in new ways!

This salad called for a can of mixed beans - black, pinto and another one I forget. I've never seen these in my life! Apparently upstate NY lacks mixed beans. Or I need to look harder.

Beans are a great salad addition, especially if you dress them in something tasty. These have lime as a dominant flavor and are awesome after soaking in the fridge for a couple days. This mix is garbanzo beans, black beans, and edamame.

BBQ Tofu with Mac and Kale-Shroom

2010-01-06T16:42:00.000-08:00

This was a quick meal put together on the desire from the crew for something "tofu" and "mac'n'cheese"--a pretty standard love affair at my house.

The tofu is simply pressed and baked with bbq sauce from the store. I kicked myself afterwards since Vegan Table has a SIMPLE homemade recipe. Live and learn - at least the bottle will be fun to reuse!

Mac'n'cheese is also Vegan Table. I LOVE this recipe and my crew love the cheese sauce it makes. I like how light it is. It is also runny enough to slop up into the noodles.

Lastly, kale and mushrooms. I roasted the mushrooms in oil and vinegar and added them to the kale, which I like to make in my steamer (so easy!). Splash on a little more vinegar and you're set!

Mustardy Tofu with Quinoa and Kale

2009-12-30T16:10:00.001-08:00

Another round of recipe testing. This time, a mustardy dressing that I decided to slather on some tofu. Looks cute, no?

Also tried my hand at the quinoa again, adding a lot more garlic. *drool* Good stuff!

The last bit here is my "go to" kale recipe. DR doesn't like kale but she'll eat it if I make it this way. Steam the kale and then drizzle with a touch each roasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Toss well and chow down!

Simple Split Pea Soup

2009-12-29T16:45:00.000-08:00

I've been neglectful of the blog for quit a while it seems. I don't even know what I've been doing to take up my time but I do know what I wasn't doing -- a lot of interesting cooking! The semester kicked my butt. On the bright side, I got the next dissertation chapter DONE and discovered that teaching 4 classes won't kill me.

So now that it is a break period, what is a little vegan to do? How about cook and eat and test some sweet recipes for my friend's new cookbook that will be coming out soon. I'm not sure if I can introduce you to these recipes yet, but I will tell you about this split pea soup I made. YUM. So simple. As you can see, you see carrots and celery. There are also peas in there. I ate a bowl and went back for another and realized I was stuffed!

Oven Glazed Tofu with Garlic Quinoa

2009-12-28T21:53:00.000-08:00

YUM! Another test recipe for my friend's new cookbook. I've only tried a handful of recipes so far but this book will be a winner just like her first book, Radiant Health, Inner Wealth. You can actually order this book online or check out her blog for some of the recipes from this book.

This is a simple baked tofu with an amazing quinoa under it--it has like half a head of garlic in it but is made in a fun way so you don't kill any vampires. I want to make more with twice the garlic but need to get more quinoa first. :D

Cajun Tofu Wrap

2009-12-26T16:00:00.000-08:00

This wrap is too good for words. I'll stop typing now.

Actually, making this for the test kitchen reminded me of how YUMMY tofu is in a wrap. Yummy and easy. My mind was blown.

Fried Veggie Rice

2009-08-17T14:34:00.000-07:00

This is called "things to do with leftover rice." Actually, it is simple: you fry it! DR asked me to make her a lunch to pack the other day and I tossed this quick spread together based on a recipe I found on vegweb. I would post the recipe but vegweb is slower than molasses today. Shesh.

Pepper Curry

2009-07-05T19:01:00.000-07:00

I've made this recipe before and I was thinking about it when I went on the hunt for a curry to make for DR. I remembered it as easy (bonus) and simple (double bonus). So I made it again. It met those criteria but something was missing - not sure what. The flavor just wasn't where I remembered it being. Oh well. Maybe it was the fancy curry powder I used....

But it is good overall. Tofu, broccoli, sweet bell peppers, baby corn, water chestnuts, and other goodies over rice.

Beet and Avocado Salad

2009-07-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

This was a very simple salad. We always get a lot of beets in our CSA box and recently we have been liking them more and more. I guess they are growing on us! I steamed the beets and let them cool before slicing them. I also cut up some lettuce and avocado and tossed it with the mustard dressing in VCon. Ground hazelnuts finished it off. Simple and yummy!

Asian-style Seitan and Kale Salad

2009-06-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

Since purchasing my steamer, I've been making a TON of kale (if you haven't noticed in the more recent posts). It makes cooking greens sooo easy - wash and insert. Steam. Eat.

This dish was an attempt to making something that the crew I was feeding (DR and LF) would like. I had the seitan left over from lunch meatz adventures. Here, I steamed the kale to soften it before plunging it in cold water to cool it off. After spinning it to remove the water, I was left with a nice base for this salad. I added avocado, seitan, onion, asperigus and carrot. The dressing is seasme oil, soy sauce, rice vinigar, and some seasme seeds. Very quick and very good! Kale and avocado are like a dream together.

Blueberry Cheezecake

2009-06-27T18:55:00.000-07:00

Cheesecake for DR's birthday. This is the second time I've made this recipe and I added lots more lemon - lemon zest, lemon juice. Wait, it already had lemon juice. But still, it needed more lemon to be a LEMON cheesecake.

But it was good. We ate the whole thing quicker than I want to admit.

Enchiladas!

2009-06-23T19:39:00.000-07:00

There is nothing I can say about these enchiladas. They are the best thing I can make. Everyone loves them. Blah blah enchiladas!

The filling is brown rice, "burger" crumbles, and a ton of mushrooms. I cook this and add some chili powder and cumin. Fill tortillas and drown in sauce. Interestingly enough, the sauce is actually from a Betty Crocker cookbook my mom gave me for my 21st birthday. It is the only recipe I use because it is very easy and very tasty.

The sour cream sauce is actually a new recipe I came up with. It is raw! Cashews blended with apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, a little salt and some water. DR loves it and keeps asking about it. I guess I'll have to make it more often.

Pasta with Chard and Mushrooms

2009-06-22T22:33:00.000-07:00

Here is one of my creations using the lunch meat seitan. As I noted in my last post, this stuff is awesome.

The pasta is very basic and easy. Saute an onion in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, add sliced mushrooms and cook until they are soft and ready to rumble. Add chopped seitan.

Meanwhile, boil water and add pasta. During the last 2 minutes or so of cooking, add in washed and chopped chard. Drain and then toss with the onion/mushroom/seitan mixture. Add a little salt and balsamic vinegar and stir to combine. Ta da!

Veggie Lunch Meat

2009-06-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

Lunch meatz. Oh my, this stuff is good. I decided to invest in a plug in steamer (both to save on gas but also because my little steamer can't handle our vegan veggie load!). I knew that some recipe writers were making steamed seitans, so I decided to get to work on it. I found this recipe on Vegan Dad's blog for veggie lunch meat. OMG this stuff is GOLD. Easy to make and the flavor is mellow enough to cook with but also tasty just cut up and munched on. I've made some recipes with it recently. I'll be making this more often. I can't wait to try some different flavors.

Mushroom Gravy and Kale

2009-06-20T13:07:00.001-07:00

It is pretty obvious that DR and I took the KALE CHALLENGE this last week. All that means is that we bought a TON of kale to eat and we will eat it all!

DR really likes mushrooms and she likes gravy, so I made the Awesome Mushroom Gravy from vegweb. She had hers with kale and steamed potato and I made some brown rice to add to my plate. It was a nice, quick dinner and the gravy was mighty tasty! I think gravy gets a bad rap for being fattening or boring, but I've seen so many awesome ways different vegan recipes have used gravy - full of veggies and good things - that I think it is a good part of a balanced vegan diet! It makes me want some tempeh sausage gravy with biscuits. Yum!

Kale and Seitan

2009-06-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

I came up with this recipe the other day. I just put it over on vegweb, so that is really exciting! I made the "lunch meat" recipe from vegandad's blog, which is a bean-gluten loaf that is steamed and then baked to a yummy finish. It works really well in this recipe since it absorbed the "juices" well and held its shape.

This recipe is also good if you mash avocado into the cold leftovers, as I found out the next day. Enjoy!

Kale and Seitan

1 huge bunch of kale (about 8-10 cups sliced)
2 c seitan, sliced, cubed or chopped
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp ginger
2 TB canola oil
1 tsp sesame oil
2 TB soy sauce
2 TB rice vinegar

Clean and chop kale. Steam for 5-10 minutes, or until bright green and softer. You could also dunk it in boiling water for a couple of minutes, uncovered, under bright green if you don't have a steamer.

Meanwhile, slice the onion into thin half moons and mince the garlic and ginger. Heat the oils in a large skillet or wok over medium heat and add the onion, ginger, and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are just translucent. Add sliced seitan (if it is packaged in water, drain it first) and stir to heat though.

Around this time the kale should be done. Take the kale and add it to the skillet/wok and stir to combine. Heat for a couple more minutes or until kale is done to your liking. I tend to like it pretty "crunchy."

Turn off heat. Sprinkle on the soy sauce and rice vinegar and stir to mix everything together. Enjoy! You may want to add the soy sauce and vinegar to taste. I have given approximate measures but I don't measure it.

Candy!

2009-04-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

My friend Megan and I went on a candy making adventure. And hamz. But the post here is about candy! We are prepping up for the Egg-less Extravaganza this weekend. It will be fun. Vegan potlucks are always fun.

Anyways, the candies of the day included York-a-like Peppermint Patties, caramels, marshmallows, choco-nut clusters (Veg Times, above), and peanut butter cups (from our brains).

The choco-nut clusters were easy enough. Melt chocolate (here, semisweet). Put in cup. Insert goodies. For some I used a raw nut and fruit mix (almonds, pecans, walnuts, cranberries, etc) and the other I used candied ginger and sesame seeds. Fancy!

The other event of the day was the Peanutbutter Bac'n Candies. Megan made some "truffle style" (rolled in chocolate and then in bac'ns) but my pics of them look like crap. So, instead, I have my PB Bac'n Cup. Yup. The filling is peanutbutter with bac'n bits in it. This is coated in chocolate and topped with more bac'n. What is the world coming to? Needless to say, we made them for our boys.

Herbed Tofu Lasagna with Zucchini

2009-04-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

I made this for Easter dinner (see below post re: "Easter"). I asked DR what she wanted and this is what she gave me. The recipe is in the April 2006 VegTimes and I had to make some creative adjustments to deal with the fact that the grocery store I went to was having a bad produce day. I only had two zucchinis, so I added some frozen artichoke hearts. This was a good sub! I also forgot about picking up fresh herbs (well, half forgot: the parsley looked bad and basil was not found). As a result, I used some dried italian herbs in the tofu filling, which was suprisingly easy and tasty. The addition of some toasted pine nuts is what made it a winner. I think.

Turnovers!

2009-04-12T14:04:00.000-07:00

For Easter Weekend (not that we celebrate it; DR is more into celebrating bunnies and baskets of candy) I made some mixed berry turnover using the puff pastry that was left over from the loaf I made for Cougi's dinner. My freezer likes to burn things quickly, so this seemed like a great way to get around that issue.

The idea was very easy. Thaw dough. Open up (mine was folded in thirds) and dump berries in the middle. Fold sides over. Bake. Cool. Eat. Yum! I plated them with some soy vanilla icecream and a blueberry sauce I picked up at Trader Joes. It tastes good on everything.

Yukon Gold and Baby Spinach Masala

2009-04-08T15:17:00.000-07:00

Again, I'm on a big kick with the newest issue of VegTimes. They have a set of 30 minute recipes based on coconut milk, so when I saw this recipe I decided I would pick up what I needed to make it happen. It's a really easy recipe: potatoes are steamed and then mixed with a spiced coconut milk. Spinach is added and then you eat it. Well, there is also lime juice, cilantro, and lots of garlic and ginger (which was fun to cut up together). I used my awesome slicer to cut up the onions. Not sure why I don't do that more often....

Tom Kha Tofu

2009-04-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

I went though a few ideas for dinner tonight before stumbling across this recipe in the March '09 Vegetarian Times. I was on the hunt for a quick and easy noodle stir fry dish and discovered that the one I was thinking about making involved things I didn't have. I'm pretty flexible in subbing out veg and whatnot, but not so great at subbing out key condiments that don't have a viable sub. I ran across this soup and commented that it met the dinner requirement: used the veggies we had and tofu, which DR had started pressing while I was coming home from work. I've always been a bit iffy about coconut milk based soups, but I gave it a whirl. It was good! DR ate two bowls and kept making happy sounds. I better not loose this--I'm sure we'll be making it again. This reminded me of why I like VegTimes - lots of really quick recipes. I should be better about making recipes out of them more often!

Raw Sushi

2009-04-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

I found a ton of pictures in my "food to post" folder (lovingly called "food porn" on my desktop) that got pushed to the sides as I worked on other things. So i decided to post them all on different days. To make myself look cool.

This is an experiment in raw sushi. Sprouts, avocado, mango, and carrots rolled into sweet and crunchy little bites. I really started to like avocado and mango together with both my introduction to the Mango Sushi Wrap (from the now missing Beans and Greens) and from a tempeh with avocado/mango salsa recipe from my friend Tess's cookbook. It's a fantastic book and totally worth the green. All I have to say is YUM.

African Beans with Polenta

2009-04-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

I can't for the life of me remember where this recipe came from. It was either in a cookbook or on vegweb.com, but I remember having my eye on it for a while before I got to making it. It is an African dish (it kind of annoys me that it is "African" vs. more specific - the whole monoculture thing bothers me since Africa is a VERY diverse place. But again, I don't complain about all the Indian dishes I make. I'll have to think about this some).

The dish was easy to make. Cook down some onions, add coconut milk and spices (mostly turmeric, hence the awesome color). Pressure cook some pinto beans and add to the mess. Cook up some soft polenta. Make balls with polenta and add to bean mix. Done. Now that I think about it, I think this is in Students Go Vegan. The fact checker me would check but the lazy me who is blogging and chatting with a ladyfriend will not. :D

Tofu, Carrots, Cabbage

2009-04-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

I went on a big macrobiotic kick over winter vacation (always into something I guess!) and started to play around with macro cooking. I wouldn't say this is a great example of a macro meal, but it is more macro than anything else I normally make. I really like how simple macro meals are - no fuss, easy.

This meal is a scrambled tofu, boiled carrots, and fermented red cabbage (this is the kind of stuff that makes my dreams come true - it melts in your mouth AND is tangy!)

Cougi's Special Day

2009-03-22T18:20:00.000-07:00

I've been really really bad about updating the blog - it's been like 2 plus months! The semester has been nuts (to say the least). At first, three preps seemed okay but I find that the grading never stops. Oh well, live and learn.

This meal I put together for DR and Cammers to celebrate the one year anniversary of the passing of our beloved Cougi. I wanted to do something "homemade" and wholesome, to keep DR happy. But I didn't want to do anything too normal. So enter: Phillo wrapped bean and nut loaf.

This loaf is from a little "vegetarian" cookbook that I got for a couple bucks at the craft store. If you craft at all, you know what I'm talking about. Most of the recipes are not vegan, but most can be converted easy by swapping out dairy for subs. The best recipe from here to date is this loaf. I first made it a couple years ago for Easter when I hosted "the boys" from the lab at my old apartment (I guess that was over two years ago.... regardless). I made two and one fell on the floor. I stood there in shock and sadness and S picked it up off the floor. I can't remember how it found its way to the trash, but it did becaue it was covered in cat fur.

Along with the loaf, i made some kale, roasted carrots, and mashed potatos and gravy. Yum.

Lentils Ballz and Pasta

2009-01-10T12:39:00.000-08:00

I was helping my friend RC pull wallpaper in her new house and she had made some veggie soup with "lentil balls" in it for lunch. I was impressed enough trying them in the soup that I decided to make some for dinner. She used the Chickpea Cutlet recipe from Vcon, subbing in french lentils for the beans. I only had red lentils, so I used those in the recipe, along with some good sourdough we picked up at Honest Weight. Paired them with pasta and this made a pretty quick and nice meal. I think these would be good in a sandwich also.

Carrot-Beet Salad with Raw Sundried Tomato Cheeze

2009-01-07T15:47:00.000-08:00

It as been a while since I've posted. Finals, winter break, sickness, holidays, family visiting, and other random madness (snow storms!) left me with just a bit of time to keep from going crazy! I did spend some time thinking about life and figuring out how to deal with some of the issues I've been having on a personal level. This lead to some heavy reading in macrobiotics and raw foods. I'm not sure where things will really end up in terms of my diet and cooking, but for now I'm working on cleaning things up!!

I've been inspired by the raw chat thread on vegweb so I decided to make some raw stuff today. I have some crackers (sweet apricot flavor) in my dehydrator and I made some quite excellent sundried tomato cheese from Ani Phyo's book Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. It was a bit thick, so I used a scoop to make "cheese balls" for the top of this salad. The base is spinach and the pink "stuff" is carrot and beet that were grated in my food processor. Ha, that made a mess! Topped it with sunflour seeds and some flax oil. The cheese is really strong, but tasty. It would be easy to thin it down to make a spread or dressing.

Curried Carrot Soup

2008-11-29T12:32:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-18T19:01:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-02T18:46:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-30T18:41:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-20T17:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-17T17:16:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-16T17:13:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-16T17:09:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

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

Mac'n Cheeze

2008-09-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-05T20:25:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-12T18:58:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-09T18:56:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-08T18:52:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-15T18:58:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-14T18:54:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-12T20:23:00.002-07:00

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

2008-07-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-02T20:21:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-05T12:06:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-03T19:15:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-01T12:45:00.001-07:00

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

2008-05-31T20:21:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

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"

2008-05-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-18T17:37:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

(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

2008-05-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

Another test kitchen recipe. Green Thai Curry!

Tempura Asparagus Nori Rolls

2008-05-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

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.

Crusted Tempeh with Avocado-Mango Salsa

2008-04-07T18:08:00.000-07:00

Another recipe from the "secret test kitchen." Looking at all the good recipes on the test list, you might be seeing a whole lot of them over the next week! I will have to post a link to the cookbook when it is out, since you'll be wanting to buy it when it comes out. Actually, the author is featured last month over at vegcooking. Ha, checking it out, you can see the recipe at the bottom of her page, along with lots of other yummy ones!

I decided to try this because I had all the ingredients in the fridge--wow! The tempeh is seasoned and fried and then topped with a savory avocado-mango salsa flavored with coconut, lime, and other things (how much can I say? It's a secret test kitchen!). My camera died while I was taking pictures, so boo--the picture is the best of the bad. I also made some giant avocado rolls for DR, since she had to work late and has been waiting for the avocados to be ready for a couple days. She is always in "sushi mode"!

Moong Dal

2008-04-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

This was my first recipe from a friend's cookbook that several of us from vegweb are testing out. I was going though those she sent us and knew I was going to eat this tonight. It's more complex than the Indian dishes I usually make--ones that involve oil/spices, add lentils/water/whatever, and cook into mushland. This involved a yellow pea dhal and a spiced tomato mix that got stirred in at the end. DR really liked the use of coconut oil in it. I just liked it, plain and simple. I made some more of the potatoes and spinach that DR likes for a side.

Kale, tomato, beans

2008-04-06T17:59:00.001-07:00

Last night was a nice veggie heavy "stew" dish. I bought a huge mess of kale at the store and was looking around for a recipe to make. DR really likes tomatos, so I started there and found this recipe. It's called "Pretty Easy Bean Dish" and the author is right--it was pretty easy! It was fun using the fresh kale. I had about 8 cups of it that needed to get cooked down into about 3 cups. I love greens.

I made some garlic toast on the side. It was quite good! I had run out of my pasta spice blend and so I created something following the label--italian blend, paprika, pepper, ginger, some other stuff I can't remember...

Dahl and Company!

2008-04-02T15:36:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why I went all out for dinner tonight. School was busy today and I was productive. Perhaps it was the lack of structured meals today. Who knows? Perhaps I just need to get my mind off of things not related to things I enjoy. cooking is the perfect distraction.

Anyways, DR loves potatoes (as you all know) and we both love Indian inspired dish. I decided to use up some ingredients I had in the fridge--a sweet potato, spinach, mint--and hunted for recipes that fit this bill. I totally raided recipes from my home away from home on the internet and found a trio of yummy dishes: Sweet Potato Dahl, Indian Spinach and Potatoes, and Grilled Naan. I also made some Mango Chutney and brown rice to help round out the meal. I used some mint instead of cilantro in the chutney and doubled the spices in the Dahl. This all tasted very nice once I mixed it up on my plate and chowed down, using my naan as my spoon.

Mushroom Potato Soup

2008-04-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

DR really likes potatoes (actually, I can't stress this enough!). She also likes mushrooms. So I thought, why not combine them both into a soup? Tonight, I pulled out the pressure cooker and came up with this soup.

Mushroom Potato Soup
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 carrot, peeled and cubed
1 stalk celery, sliced up
2 c white mushrooms, sliced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 TB olive oil
4 c veggie broth

Place all the veggies and oil into pressure cooker. Over medium heat, cook for about 5 minutes, or until veggies start to soften and the pot smells fragrant. Add stock and lock on lid. Bring pot to pressure and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let the pressure come down naturally. Soup is done! Wasn't that fast?

Alternatively, you can just simmer everything until the veggies are cooked. However, since I received my PC as a gift last year, I like to blast my soups to doneness! Its nice because it lets me have a fresh, homecooked dinner in a little bit of time.

Pasta with Mixed Veg

2008-03-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

Tonight I tossed together a very simple dinner using some leftovers in the fridge. DR wanted me to use buckwheat noodles, but I vetoed that idea in favor of whole wheat pasta. The sauce is olive oil, mushrooms, the leftover asparagus/mushrooms from Za'tar the other night, spinach, and some chopped up leftover canned tomatoes and their juice. I added a little salt and Italian seasoning and tossed it all with the pasta. Very good! On the side, I cut up some romaine and put a little orange-sesame dressing on it. Part of me thought we had some dressing in the house, but the OS one was it!

I've been having some issues getting good pictures the past few days. My hands have been more shaky than normal from my medication (or it just too cold in my apartment!). My plan is to set up a mini-photography area in the house with good light and (hopefully) a tripod to get the shakies out, but I think my camera, on lower battery, is also part of the issue. Who knows?!

Stromboli

2008-03-30T17:33:00.001-07:00

DR and I had a good time at the potluck today. I'm sure pictures will follow! I was thinking about dinner. I had leftover cheeze, seitan'o'greatness, and some pizza dough from the potluck. I was thinking of making a pizza when DR suggested Stromboli. I've never had a "real" Stromboli, but the idea of rolling everything into the dough and baking it seemed like a good plan.

Essentially, I took about 1/2 c mushrooms, 1 c cheeze, and the end hunks from the SOG and blasted them in the vitamix until they were all chopped. I when mixed them together and spread them onto the dough, which I had spread out in a large rectangle on the counter. I rolled it up and stuck it in the oven. Yum!

Za'atar Mushrooms and Asparagus

2008-03-29T18:40:00.000-07:00

Tossed this together for dinner tonight. Not too shabby for a last minute meal! Za'atar is a blend of spices, herbs, and seeds used in the cuisine of several Middle Eastern countries. The one I have is a Lebanese blend that my friend J gave me!

Za'atar Mushrooms and Asparagus
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 lb asparagus, broken into 1 inch pieces
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 TB Za'atar spice blend (this is a Lebonese spice I believe. I'll have to wiki it)

Steam sautée the mushrooms, asparagus, and garlic over medium heat, adding water to keep things from sticking. Sprinkle in the za'atar. Continue cooking until veggies are done to your preference.

Here, I made some amaranth and served the veggies on top. It was pretty decent. This was my first time making amaranth and I'm not sure how I feel about it. A bit salty for me! It also looks a little sketchy to me so I might try making flour with the rest of it if round two of trying it doesn't work out.

Spinach Dip

2008-03-29T14:36:00.000-07:00

S, DR and I are hitting up a vegan potluck tomorrow! We're excited to see all our friends and have been working on preparing some tasty dishes to take along. Among them is this spinach dip, which I just tossed together. I spent some time hunting for a recipe that used what we had in the house, but didn't find one. This one is really good.

Spinach Dip
1 box silken firm tofu (Mori-Nu)
1 c thawed frozen chopped spinach (drained)
1/2 c vegan mayo
2 cloves garlic
1 packet vegan onion soup mix (don't ask why I had this in the house!)
1 TB lemon juice

Combine everything in a food processor or vitamix and blend until combined. Refrigerate overnight to let the flavors develop. However, I will admit that it tastes pretty good fresh out of the food processor!

Makes 2 cups

Veggie Mac'n'Cheeze

2008-03-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight we decided to go downhome with some classic comfort food: mac'n'cheese. I've been eating a lot of junk this week (as much as a vegan can do that!) and wanted to make a healthier version of mac'n'cheese. I had spent a little time in the afternoon making some uncheese for a potluck I'm going this weekend so I tossed some of the leftover stuff in the vitamix and ended up with this creation. It still needs a little work, but it was a nice blander cheezy dish. It also makes a gallon, so its good if you have a crew to feed.

Mac'n'Cheeze with Mushrooms and Spinach.
1 palmetto (from a jar)
1/3 c nutritional yeast
2 c water
2 cloves garlic
1 squirt of prepared mustard
2 handfuls (1 c?) raw almonds
splash of soysauce
1/2 silken firm tofu
2 spoons tahini (2-3 TB)
generous squirt of lemon juice
1 tsp onion powder
2 heaping spoons cornstarch

Combine all of the above in a blender and blend until smooth. You can add in spices or whatever you like--this is a base recipe by far!

Next, place 8 oz (about 2-3 cups) sliced mushrooms in a large frypan with a dash of oil and a little water. Cook on medium heat for about ten minutes, or until they are soft and juicy looking. Add in 2 c frozen chopped spinach (or a few handfuls fresh) and heat until cooked though. Pour in the cheeze mix from the blender and bring to a low boil for a few minutes. This will result in a thickened cheeze sauce.

To serve, pour onto pasta. This amount made enough sauce for one pound of elbow macaroni.

Lentils and Friends

2008-03-27T17:18:00.001-07:00

Tonight: Lentils. They are such an innocent staple in the vegan kitchen. However, with the right spices and a little effort, they can be transformed into a lot of great dishes, such as these Tamarind Lentils from Veganomicon. A couple friends had been touting the wonders of this dish, and I finially got around to making them (which is odd it took so long, since I cook Indian dishes several times a week!). It's pretty simple to make--lentils, some spices, and a tamarind-agave-tomato paste stirred in at the end to add some goodness. I replaced the tamarind paste and sweetner with some yummy tamarind chutney my friend J got me last month. They added just the right "yumm" factor for this dish! I served them on some brown long grain rice and added some quick, fun samosas on the side.