Weekend Batch Cooking... The Key to Vegan Living

Leftovers are something I consider a necessity, especially as a vegan. There are some nights when I'm just too lazy or busy to cook so leftovers are my best friend... This weekend I made:

Tofu Scramble with carrots, kidney beans, black olives, Viva Vegan's Sofrito, cherry tomatoes, and parsley along with deep fried tempeh "bacon" slathered with cheapy maple syrup :)

Garbanzo Bean Salad Sandwich Spread with minced celery and green onions for the veggies

"Chicken" Fajitas seasoned with taco seasoning and lime, Soy Curls as the meat sub

I also made VegWeb's Tofu Sour Cream, it was alright... Maybe it will taste better tomorrow once it sets a bit more

VegWeb's Minestrone Soup, I leave out the pasta and add extra veggies... SOOOO GOOD!!!

I also made a huge batch of Teriyaki Tofu but I figure you know what it looks like already so I won't bore you with another photo ;)

Tofu Tofu & Ummmmm Tofu

I've been pretty busy, lazy, and poor lately so I've been making tofu dishes quite often. Here are some pics of some recent easy peasy dishes I've made...

Tofu Scramble with Corn, Avocados, Cherry Tomatoes, Parsley, and Viva Vegan's Sofrito (Slow cooked green bell pepper, onion, and garlic)

Teriyaki Tofu Stirfry with Cauliflower and Green Onions

Deep Fried Jerk Tofu with Onions, Bell Peppers, Carrots, Corn, and Deep Fried Sweet Potatoes

Vegan MOFO: This weekend I made...

Yesterday I made an one of my all time favorites, an amazing Tofu Scramble.

Ingredients:

14 oz block extra firm tofu (not pressed)
1/2 a green bell pepper, diced
1/2 an onion, diced
A few baby carrots, diced (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Black salt (kalma namak) to taste or just regular sea salt

Directions:

- Turn burner to medium heat and add olive oil, bell pepper, onion, and carrots. Crumble the tofu with your fingers over the pan to add it to the pan too.
- Cook up the tofu and veggies, stirring occasionally, until you tofu turns golden. Once golden, add all of your spices. If you are using black salt sprinkle it on your scramble right before eating it, if you are using regular salt add it along with the rest of the spices.

Today I made my favorite recipe in the whole wide world, Viva Vegan's Peruvian Seitan Skewers... Yummmmmmm

VWAV's Scrambled Tofu and VegWeb's 'Cheezy' Roasted Potatoes

This weekend I tried VWAV's recipe for Scrambled Tofu and thought it was pretty good, but I've had better. I think tofu scrambles are in the same category as garbanzo bean salad sandwiches though to us vegans in that everyone has their own personal way of making it. I thought the scramble was a little too heavy on the nutritional yeast and needed some bell peppers in it for sure but I followed the recipe exactly as written. I served mine up with some salsa and sliced avocado... Yum!

I also made VegWeb's 'Cheezy' Roasted Potatoes. I used multicolor fingerling potatoes and they seriously melted in your mouth! I didn't notice these being at all 'cheezy' tasting but they were still both beautiful and delicious, give 'em a try!

More "Sausage" Crumbles

I can't get enough of these Sausage Crumbles! I had some leftover from making Stuffed Peppers and just want to sprinkle these magical crumbles on everything! So far I put them in a tofu scramble...

And on my Papa John's Pizza (I ordered 2 pizzas: Olive+Green Bell Pepper+Onion+Mushroom and Jalapeno+Pineapple, no cheese of course)... Yessss I'm moving cut me some slack!

Delicious Bagel Spread & More Vegan Nachos!

Today I was busy making a batch of both Red and White Seitan and Empanadas from my Viva Vegan! cookbook so that I would have leftovers to use up this coming week. I really love this cookbook, so sorry that I can't seem to shut up about it.

So today I kept the meals I actually ate pretty easy.

For breakfast I had a bagel, smothered in vegan cream cheese (Tofutti Brand) and topped with a mixture of half a mashed banana and some strawberry jam... Yum!

For lunch I had some more Vegan Nachos, topped with some unusual extras like pan fried Red Seitan and Pickled Red Onions, both from Viva Vegan!

Dinner was a few of the Empanadas I made today, served up with a delicious green sauce  from Viva Vegan! called "So good, so green dipping sauce (Green aji sauce)." This sauce is awesome with the Empanadas and also makes for a good salad dressing. The sauce is a mix ingredients such as lime, cilantro, green onions, romaine lettuce and vegan mayo. I added probably double the amount of vegan mayo called for though cause I love my sauces and dressings creamy.

Mandarin Orange & Banana Smoothie + Grilled Tofurkey Sandwiches

I made a delicious Mandarin Orange & Banana Smoothie this morning and I want to share it with you!

Ingredients:

- 1 huge frozen banana or 1 and 1/2 medium-sized frozen bananas
- 1 11 oz can of peeled mandarin orange slices, drained (I love to drink the juice the slices sit in!)
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup vanilla non-dairy milk of preference

Directions:

- Start off with 1/2 cup of "milk" and blend all ingredients in a blender.
- Add additional "milk" if needed.

I also have to share my new favorite sandwich: Grilled Hickory Smoked Tofurkey Sandwiches!

Ingredients:

- 2 slices of your favorite vegan bread (Mine is Oroweat Potato Bread)
- 4 slices of Hickory Smoked Tofurkey Deli Slices 
- About a tablespoon of both Vegan Mayo and Tofutti Vegan Cream Cheese
- About a tablespoon of thinly sliced green onions (Optional)
- Vegan Buttery Spread for frying

Directions:

- Slather vegan cream cheese on one slice of bread, vegan mayo on the other.
- Sprinkle green onions on top of one slathered side of bread, deli slices on the other.
- Put the two loaded sides of bread together.
- Heat up some vegan butter in the fry pan, add the sandwich. Fry one side until lightly charred. Scoop the sandwich up, add more vegan butter to the pan and fry the other side of the sandwich the same way.
- Cut your sandwich in half and enjoy! You can dip the sandwich in ketchup if you feel the need but I thought it was amazing as is!

Vegan Sausage Mc Muffins with "Egg"

This recipe totally satisfied my craving for a good breakfast sandwich. My BF loved them too!

Ingredients:

- 1 log of Lightlife Gimme Lean Vegan Sausage, optional
- 8 vegan English Muffins
- Vegenaise & Ketchup, optional
- 1 14 oz block Extra Firm Tofu (Drained only, not pressed, not previously frozen and thawed)
- Oil for frying

Rub Mix:

- 4 tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
- 1 teaspoon Black Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric

Directions:

- Shape the vegan sausage into 8 patties.
- Fry the vegan sausage in some oil until lightly browned on both sides, set aside on a plate covered with a few paper towels.
- While your vegan sausage is cooking, cut tofu width-wise into 8 slices.
- Place all rub mix ingredients in a shallow pie pan or tupperware and mix around.
- Coat the tofu by placing 1 slab at a time into the container of rub mix and shaking it around, turning over if needed. Place the coated tofu on a plate. You will probably have a bit of rub mix leftover, discard it.
- When your sausage is done cooking, add some more oil to the pan and fry up your coated tofu. Fry your coated tofu slabs until they are a bit crispy and golden on both sides.
- Place cooked tofu eggs on a plate with paper towels.
- Time to assemble your sandwich! Toast english muffins in the toaster, slather the toasted english muffins with some Vegenaise, then top with the vegan sausage and tofu egg. Dip in ketchup.

Breakfast Style Tostadas

I had some leftovers to use up from earlier this week and decided to use these leftovers as toppings for my Breakfast Style Tostadas.

My leftovers included some Tofu Scramble. I strongly recommend only making 1/4 the amount of cheez sauce for this recipe and adding 1/2 tablespoon white miso paste to the sauce (It gives it a cheezy flavor don't ask me how or why). I also added a bit of black salt  to the tofu to give it an "eggy" smell and taste.

 I also had some leftover Soyrizo sauteed with some veggies (Onions, bell peppers, and potatoes) to use as a tostada topping.

Ingredients:

Tofu Scramble and/or Soyrizo leftovers
Rice Vegan American Flavored Cheese Slices
Guacamole (Mashed Avocado + Salt + Lime Juice)
Diced Tomatoes
Thinly sliced Romaine Lettuce
Ketchup or Hot Sauce for drizzling
Whatever else your little heart desires!

Directions:

- Microwave about 1/2 cup of leftovers for each tostada shell.
- Placed 1/2 cup of leftovers on top of each tostada shell, add the vegan cheese slice and microwave for 30 seconds more.
- Top heated leftovers + vegan cheese with remaining tostada toppings.

Watermelon Smoothie

Ingredients:
1 cup mini seedless watermelon, diced
1 frozen banana
3 frozen strawberries
1 tablespoon light agave nectar
Water as needed

Directions:

Basically throw all your ingredients in a blender and blend. I recommend making sure the watermelon is closest to the blender blades to ensure easier blending.

Vegweb's Crazy Good Banana Muffins

Wow, these Crazy Good Banana Muffins off VegWeb were crazy good!

I only made a few changes:

- I used 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour and used 1 cup all purpose flour.
- I added about 1/4 cup dried cranberries because I wanted to use them up.

These turned out fantastic! Strong banana flavor and super moist... Yum :)

Roasted Breakfast Potatoes

I have made this recipe from VegWeb a few times now, whenever I am feeling like a hearty breakfast, and it always turns out fantastic... This time I used cooking spray instead of olive oil to cut down on fat and it turned out perfect again!

I also made some scrambled tofu to go along with my potatoes, but didn't like the flavoring of that particular recipe... For scrambled tofu, I like this recipe off Vegweb much better (I would halve or even quarter the cheeze sauce though) or even this one. Scrambled tofu is the bomb... you should try it! Eggy-ness sans the cholesterol!