now doesn't that look good? i wasn't ambitious enough to make a vegan gyro, so i had it with a bagel and tofutti cream cheese. i love eating green beans prepared like this. i ate the whole bowl over an entire week, every night as a side or main dish. they're super easy to make. i topped the beans with homemade vegan parmesan. i never measure, but i use the following: nooch, granulated garlic, 6-8 raw almonds, sea salt, sesame seeds, and sun dried tomato basil ms. dash. i put it all in a coffee grinder and get an awesome tasting faux parmesan. i imagine it would be rad on popcorn, but i'm not much of a popcorn eater.
i'm a bonafide cookie monster. i love the chocolate chip cookie recipe from VWAV, but i tried this one from vegan-a-go-go. the recipe is very similar-(i found the dough texture to be the same--crumbly), but these came out a little better than the VWAV ones. i like to make my cookies by pressing the dough in muffin tins, half-way full, so you get a very thick cookie cup. they are even better fresh outta the oven and served ala mode with some soy delicious or rice dream.
this isn't really about lentil soup. it's kind of a chicken soup for the soul entry, but i changed the title because as you know, chicken soup ain't vegan. this blog entry is dedicated to La Belle Vegan. i've visited her blog and am inspired by her bravery to discuss that part of her life with the world.
just look at that awesomeness! check out that crunchy assed coating! this is a much better choice because you're saving some chix from death row, but i'd be lyin' if i told you eating fried foods is good for you. the tempeh was great with the gravy, but i thought it would have been even better with some cole slaw, buttermilk biscuits, and a tall glass of sweet tea. i didn't have time to make those, i was just samplin' the platter. i don't eat fried foods too often anymore because my tummy can't take it. i'm super excited about this cook book of hers.
ever heard of a foodgasm? it's that moan one makes after they've taken a bite out of something really good. i usually release foodgasms when eating desserts, but i couldn't hold myself back after nomming this bowl of soup. and believe you me, i'm picky about soup.
yeah, yeah--i'd teach you but i'd have to charge. seriously, i don't use a measured recipe. i'll give you the 411 on what i put into it and if you wanna be brave and try it, go ahead. i find most people prefer their own scrambles anyway. mine comes out tasting the same each time.
a while back, i made a timbale. in italian it means, "thimble". what's-her-face from everyday italian on the food network says it means 'drum'. when i saw that episode, i just wanted to make it vegan, which i did. i thought i'd share with y'all how to put one together:
2. in a separate skillet, mix your filling. shown above is a mixture of baby spinach, garlic, olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, white beans, vegan donny mostarella cheez, and millet. i cooked my millet first in a rice steamer.
3. put the filling on top of the eggplant. don't over fill it, or you won't be able to do the next step.
4. take those drooping petals and fold them in like you're folding a sweater. the package should be tight and neat. use the ugly grilled pieces on top if you have bits of the innards poking out.
5. i baked mine for about 30 minutes. let it sit for about 5-8 mins outta the oven. to present, put a plate on top of the spring form pan and turn it upside down, like you would a pineapple upside down cake. garnish with basil if you're feeling fancy.
6. here's the finished product. the challenge i have is keeping the pieces intact when serving. it usually looks like a blob. i garnished the piece with some marinara sauce. it was mighty effin' tasty, if you ask me. even my non-eggplant eatin' spouse ate this.
of course i didn't eat the bacon with the cookies. i am a sucker for sweet and savory, but not in this case. i tested vegan crunk's bringin' home the tempeh bacon (shown above) for her southern cook book. again, i can't disclose the ingredients, but i can say that it has tempeh in it. duh. this tasted different from the bacon in VWAV, just in case you were wondering. it made a very nice sammich.
these are the sparkly ginger molasses cookies from VWAV. these were really, really good. pardon the shitty photo, but these darlins really do sparkle with the loving glow of turbinado crystals. i want to try another molasses cookie recipe in the near future: delaware cry babies. anyone ever heard of them? my co-worker made them once (in my pregan days) and they were super soft, fluffy, and chewy--like a cake masquerading as a cookie. i just don't know if veganizing it will work. i'll let you know how it works out.
these cookies also make a gnarly soy delicious ice cream sammich.
comedian jim gaffigan talks about how people just can't stop with a bite of tasty food, someone always wants to add something to it. well, he's right. i couldn't just stop with bananas and nuts in the banana nut muffin recipe from vegan-a-go-go. i'm a bonafide nut slut. i didn't have walnuts, so i subbed hazelnuts and pecans. i had some dried cranberries taking up space in the pantry, so i added those too. the result: a flavor explosion that would make the grill pop outta a vegan gangsta's mouth. banana-fanna-fo-fanna-pecan-hazelnut-cranberry muffins. holy shit, these were awesome!
i think i've talked about this before. before becoming a mommy, i worked full-time in a juvenile detention center. it was a difficult but rewarding job. the hardest part was dealing with my co-workers, not the children. anyway, i went from FT to PT after having my little blasto, and now i work there one sunday a month for $8.50 an hour. why do i do this? well, i get to see the kids, but i also have access to this HUGE industrial kitchen all by myself. after i'm done slingin' the nasty ravioli to the chillins, i bring in my own groceries and make food for my family. i put the said nommables in tupperware and freeze. it's a good system, and it's nice to have time in a kitchen and really focus.
here's my punk rock tofu press. i put the tofu between two plates and set a big-assed can of apple butter to squeeze the excess water out. it usually takes 4 bouts of 20 minutes to get it perfect.
i'm a seitan worshipper. thank g-d i'm not allergic to wheat, because i don't know what i'd do without the lord of the meat substitute underworld. shown above is raw seitan after i've mixed in spices and water.
now, here it is cut into chunks before boiling. seitan takes on the flavor of what you knead into it and what you boil it in. i like to make a broth with nooch, ms. dash, bragg's, and the eye of a newt. JK! seriously, i throw all sorts of shit in that pot.
here it is after being boiled AND baked. baking after boiling the seitan gives it a super meaty texture.
voila! here's the finished product. this batch came out tasting very beef like. perfect for fajitas. yes, it's true--making seitan takes time, but it is really worth the work. for $4 i can make a few batches to freeze. commercially made seitan costs at least $5 at the food co-op.
in an episode of south park, the very adorable butters was able to summon biggie smalls by saying his name three times while looking in the mirror. what would happen if you said "chipotle chickpea chili"? this phe-NOM-enal supper by vegan crunk would appear out of thin air: chili and granny's corn casserole. i assure you mr. smalls would take a bite and say awwww hell yeah.
i got a hankerin' for some pad-thai inspired dish and thought we didn't have any sweet chili sauce. i scored some Serrano and jalapeno chiles at the food bank, so i kind of guessed what would go in it and made it myself. it turned out mild, but good! as always, i don't have a recipe but here's what went in it:
i've been testing recipes from jo stepaniak's book the ultimate uncheese cookbook. for those of you who don't know (and i suspect live in a cave) it is a bible of uncheez recipes for vegans, the lactose intolerant, or a combo of both.
since i didn't want to eat strong cheez all week, i cut up the fishloaf of donny and put him in the freezer. i'll make another post in the future to let you know how this cheez handles being frozen. prior to this experiment, i put it to the melting test and made a quesadilla shown below.
again, it doesn't melt well. maybe it would have if i had sliced it thinner. the tanginess complimented the beans, salsa, and soy sour cream quite nicely.
i was able to make 7 bars. i'm sure i could have made a total of 10 smaller ones, truer to larabar size. if i had to spend actual money with cheap-o ingredients, the cost would have been about $10 to get everything, and that would definitely make more than one batch. so to answer the question, "is making these bars really cost effective?" yes, if you go cheap. no if you go organic.
you can't make me skip dessert, ever. and you'll never catch me doing something stupid like being on a diet. i'm addicted to sweets and figure in a world where there are so many other vices, say being shitty to others, smoking, drinking, voting republican, or shoplifting-- i can live with this one. featured above is a s'mores brownie ala mode-(i think i got the recipe from fatfree vegan-(but added my own substitutions to make it full of fat), and below is my favorite dessert, miki's pumpkin bread-(sans nuts) from La Dolce Vegan, or randomhag.com.
is there a food you can't live without? what is it?
i know, i know. first butternut squash lasagna, then lima bean hummus, and now this. have i lost my mind or what? black beans on a pizza?!?!
sometimes i feel like doin' a little experimenting in tha kitchen. get the fuck outta here, really? yep. i took a can of lima beans and made hummus out of them and ((using a heavy metal falsetto)) IT WAS AWESOME! don't get too excited, it's not like i invented the wheel. anyone can make hummus out of any kind of bean, really. you just need to make sure you use good olive oil, tahini, garlic, and lemon juice. i paired this stuff with some buttered/fried pita bread and some fettuccine salad with balsamic vinegar, sun dried tomatoes, spinach, and artichoke hearts.
i've said this before, i'm not one of those vegans will screw up their faces and state they've never liked meat, dairy, or eggs. i loved all three very much. BUT, after learning about how animals sacrifice themselves for the sakes of our bellies, i have made a decision to refrain from consuming any animal products. one of the foods i miss most is cheesecake. for chanukkah, i scored the ultimate uncheese cookbook by jo stepniak. i zoomed in on the gazebo cheesecake recipe and tried it.
i'm testing for vegan crunk's southern cookbook. this picture is of the cinnamon pecan waffles. they were VERY tasty, but i cannot disclose the recipe because it is classified information. call me crazy, but i don't wanna get my ass kicked by a southern belle because i'm a bettin' she could do a number on me, even in her hoop skirt. with a name like jewbacca, i'm sure you think i'm super-tuff but i assure you that i'm a giant wuss.
taken with my phone camera: tofu scramble, hashbrowns, miso happy gravy and biscuits 
my plentiful plate from the siam house in bloomington, ina week or so before x-mas, vin and i carved out some time to have a lunch date-(just the two of us, no bebeh) and we went to one of my favorite buffets at the siam house. thai food isn't hard to veganize, but typically is made with fish sauce, so you have to be a good pain-in-the-ass-vegan and ask ahead of time. i did and the management informed me that the vegetarian items are not made with fish sauce. that's the cool thing about b-town. there are so many veg heads here that many places know what a vegan is and will happily make something vegan for you if they don't have anything on the menu. i had a helping of the cold veggie salad, mango sticky rice with plantains, and some red curry tofu. it was soooo good.
