Garbanzo Salad Sandwiches, Veggie Pizza, and Teriyaki Tofu Stirfry

Today I made Garbanzo Bean Salad Sandwiches, veggies incorporated into the salad this time were green onions and bell peppers... I toasted some bread, slathered one side with AVK's Cheezy Mayo, slathered the other side with vegan mayo, topped with the Garbanzo Bean Salad, seaweed seasoning, romaine, and tomato.

Next up was some leftover pizza from this weekend served up with some Vegan Ranch. The pizza toppings included Tofurkey Italian Sausages, red onion, spinach, mushrooms, bell peppers, and a few slices of tomato. I used TJ's refrigerated pizza sauce and TJ's refrigerated whole wheat pizza dough... Shit's bomb!

Lastly, I cooked up a Cornstarch Coated Teriyaki Tofu and Broccoli Stirfry for a coworkers lunch tomorrow ($5) and some leftovers for me to indulge in.

VWAV and some other stuffsssss

I have a deep love for easy teriyaki peasy tofu stirfys... To coat or not to coat my tofu with cornstarch is always the question... Coat is usually, pretty much always the winner! I have been making my own teriyaki sauce lately, basically just a mixture of garlic, ginger, Bragg's (or soy sauce), brown sugar, pepper, and maybe some sesame oil. I have also been adding crushed red pepper flakes to give the dish some spice. And I found this jar of garlic ginger paste at the Persian market that makes things so much easier to throw together.

My first teriyaki tofu stirfry was coated tofu with some carrots, collard greens, broccoli, asparagus, and onions for the veggies... Fail proof as usual.

 The second teriyaki tofu stirfry was coated as well and as always, delicious! For the veggies I used the carrots, onions, edamame, and asparagus.

 I made my weekly batch of fat free refried beans, this was my little dipping setup served with tortilla chips :)

I made a super delicious cherry banana smoothie, made with 1 non frozen banana, 2 big handfuls of frozen cherries and a cup of vanilla soy milk... Fantastical!

I made a double batch of VWAV's Chickpea Cutlets cause of all the hype they come with, along with VWAV's Mushroom Gravy and some of my homemade mashed potatoes that I seasoned with garlic and dried parsley... The Cutlets were a total fail for me, I baked them and they seemed undercooked so I left them in the oven for longer, forgot about them and they turned out hard as a brick so I threw them away... This pick shows the underdone Cutlet. The Gravy was awesome though!

Lastly, I made VWAV's tried and true Stuffed Peppers which I have pretty much mastered. I always use 5 peppers instead of 4 and when I'm selling them to coworkers, I cut them in half for easier tupperware packing. I mix in the cilantro now and probably double the amount instead of using it as a garnish. Legit as always.

Peace, Love, and Veganess <3

Teaching Newbies How To Cook Tofu And Make Other Vegan Goodies

I often here people saying, "Oh vegan sounds so hard. I don't know how to cook. What can I eat that isn't meat?" and it goes on and on and on... I always offer up a friendly, "Well come over to my house anytime and I will show you how to cook a few things." This past weekend a coworker came over to do just that. She has really made an awesome effort to eat mostly vegan but always eats such boring stuff and ends up complaining about it (plain spinach, lazy salads, etc). This weekend I showed her how to make Chickpea Salad Sandwich Spread, Viva Vegan's Red Seitan (A recipe not for a beginner but since I was making some anyways I wanted her to watch), and some cornstarch coated, fried, teriyaki tofu with creole seasoned steamed veggies on the side.

The teriyaki tofu was drained, pressed, and cubed and shaken around in a bag with about 1/4 cup of cornstarch. I then fried the tofu until golden and added some thick teriyaki sauce and green onions. Turned out perfect as usual! To go with the tofu, I cut up some of the random veggies she brought over: broccoli, celery, and cabbage. I put a little water in the pan and added the broccoli and celery first, then covered the pan with a lid. Within a few minutes the broccoli looked tender and I added the cabbage and a little more water and mixed everything around with a generous amount of creole seasoning until the cabbage was cooked. Perfect!

Vegweb's Super Yummy Cheesy Pot Pie

I made this Super Yummy Cheesy Pot Pie for dinner tonight and thought it was pretty yummy. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars this time around but next time I'm sure it will be even better!

***Update: I thought this pot pie was much better the second day as leftovers!***

I used the veggies listed in the recipe but doubled the broccoli, added half a chopped white onion, and used Melty Cheese for the vegan cheese sauce. I also made my own pie shell using the empanada dough recipe for "Richer Wheat Dough" out of Viva Vegan!

 Things I did wrong:

- I should have nuked the potatoes for longer than the other veggies because they weren't cooked all the way when my pot pie was done.
- Next time I will use only half the empanada dough recipe and roll it much thinner, my crust was too thick.
- I should have used the whole recipe of Melty Cheese. I saved some (Like 1/2 cup) to feed my addiction to Vegan Nachos.... Oops
- Also make sure to have a pan under whatever you're baking the pot pie in, mine started bubbling over and got all over my oven.
- I should have added more spices to jazz the filling up. I did add salt and pepper even though the recipe didn't call for it but the pot pie was still a bit bland.

A Quick Dinner & Strawberry "Ice Cream"

Last night, I ate mainly leftovers... Seitan and Broccoli paired with some leftover fried rice.

I also had half a bag of cabbage and carrot coleslaw mix (About 5 cups) and a big zucchini (Cut into small pieces) that needed to be used up. I decided to make a quick Asian-style veggie stirfry by adding:

- 1 T Sesame oil
- 1 T Red Chili Flakes
- 1 T jarred Garlic
- 2 T Braggs
- 2 T Mirin
- 4 T Green Onions

Dinner was cooked up (And nuked up) in about 5 minutes!

For dessert I had some Strawberry Ice Cream and it was sooooooo good! The recipe I got off VegWeb always seemed sketchy to me because of the oil but it turned out excellent! The recipe is for Vanilla Ice Cream but I wanted Strawberry.

I doubled the recipe, added 2 handfuls of frozen strawberries, used canola oil (For the Slald Oil), raw sugar (For the fructose), 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (Didn't specify), and used vanilla almond milk (Instead of plain soy milk). It took about 20 minutes in my ice cream maker. Don't forget, I doubled the recipe!

Barbecue Tofu and Lots of Veggies!

Tomorrow I am off to Vegas for my birthday for 3 days, so I will make sure to take lots of vegan foodie pics while I am there and give some restaurant recommendations and reviews!

Tonight, I had some veggies and tofu to use up so I made Barbecue Tofu, Roasted-Garlic-Creole-Flavored-Zucchini, and Pan-Fried-Creole-Seasoned-Broccoli! These are really not even recipes just quick and easy meal ideas.

For creole seasoning THIS BRAND is the most fantastic seasoning on the planet... Great in soups and on any type of veggie! Buy this brand seriously, I have tried others.

The Barbecue Tofu was way easy:

- Press the tofu for about 20 minutes and cut it into cubes.
- Place the cubes into a gallon sized ziploc, add about 1/4 cup of cornstarch and shake the bag for 30 seconds.
- Fry up the tofu in a tablespoon-ish of oil until golden on all sides, turn off the heat, and add 1 cup* of barbecue sauce. Mix the tofu around in the pan until the tofu is evenly coated.

*I used only 1/2 cup in the picture and ended up putting the tofu back in the pan and adding another 1/2 cup... The saucier the better!

For the Roasted Creole Flavored Zucchini: 

- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Cut up the zucchini (As many as you want to use) width wise in thumb sized slices, then half those slices width wise. Place slices in a large glass casserole dish.
- Press 4 cloves of garlic (Optional) and add that to the dish as well.
- Spray zucchini with cooking spray and sprinkle generously with creole. Shake the pan around for a minute so everything gets coated.
- Roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle more creole if needed.

Pan-Fried Creole Seasoned Broccoli:

- Grab as many broccoli florets as you feel like eating.
- Fry them up in some olive oil or cooking spray.
- Once you broccoli is to the crunchiness of your liking, add a generous amount of creole.
- Mix the broccoli around a bit more in the pan to coat the broccoli evenly.
- Broccoli is better on the crisper side versus mushy... Yuck.

Teriyaki "Beef"

This dish is super easy-peasy... Made it in like 15 minutes.

Ingredients:

- 3 cups Seitan, cut into chunks (Store bought or My Go-To Recipe)
- 1/4 cup Cornstarch
- 4 big handfuls fresh broccoli florets
- Half a container (4 oz.) of Mushrooms, halved or quartered depending on size
- Sesame seeds for garnish
- Oil for frying
Sauce:
- 1/2 cup Trader Joe's Soyaki Teriyaki Sauce or Soy Vay Veri Veri Teryaki Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon Water

Directions:

- Place seitan chunks in a gallon-sized ziploc bag. Add the 1/4 cup of cornstarch, close the bag, and shake for a minute until seitan chunks are more evenly coated.
- Add about a tablespoon of oil to a large heated fry-pan or wok. Add coated seitan and fry up till the seitan turns golden.
- Meanwhile, mix together the 1 tablespoon of both cornstarch and water and add it to the 1/2 cup of teryaki sauce and mix it up.
- Add broccoli to the pan with a bit more oil if needed. Once the broccoli is bright green and beginning to de-crisp add the sauce and mushrooms.
- Cook a few more minutes or until the mushrooms are cooked to your liking. The sauce will thicken really fast because of the added cornstarch so that will be the least of your concerns.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with rice.

Trader Joe's Frozen Fried Rice & Quinoa Mixes + Seitan Stirfry!

Wow. So making a flavorful side dish just became easier and guilt free too! Trader Joe's sells some amazing frozen grain mixes that are low in fat, calories, AND SODIUM! Gosh, I swear anything you buy prepackaged these days has like half your daily serving of sodium in 1 baby-sized portion! So these are a lifesaver. I always add extra stuff to them to make them full of both veggies and flavor.

First off, here is the Vegetable Fried Rice. 

I added about a cup of frozen veggies (A mix of peas, carrots, and corn) as well as some diced white and green onions. Fried it up in a a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Then added 2 tablespoons chili paste and 2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce. I cooked it until you could hardly see any of the sauce left in the pan.

I had this rice with some leftover Teriyaki Tofu with Cornstarch Coating.

Tonight, I cooked up another grain mix, Quinoa Duo with Vegetable Melange. It kind of has a Middle Eastern flavor though it said "Product of France" on the bag so, I dunno.

I cooked this in a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Added a big handful of chopped kale, half a can of garbanzos, a big handful of julienned carrots, and a spoonful of chili paste.

And, since I made a batch of my Crock-Pot Seitan over the weekend, I decided to make a stirfry to go along with the Quinoa.

I sliced up maybe 3 cups of seitan and fried it up in a few tablespoons of olive oil until it started to turn golden. Then I added some broccoli to the pan. Then I added some eggplant a few minutes later along with about 1/2 cup of Trader Joe's Soyaki Sauce (Soy Vay brand tastes the same too) and 1/4 cup mirin. I cooked everything until most of the liquid was absorbed.

Teriyaki Tofu with Cornstarch Coating

Ever since making VegWeb's General Tao's Tofu I have been in love with fried tofu coated with cornstarch. The one thing that I wasn't so thrilled about however was how much time it took to coat each little piece. I remember reading somewhere that the trick is to just put the tofu in a ziploc bag with the cornstarch and shake it for a few minutes to easily coat the tofu... Problem solved!

This time around I had a brand new bottle of Teryaki Sauce from Trader Joe's so I decided to put it to good use for this recipe. Just to let you know at this point in time I have hardly any fresh veggies in my house. Your favorite fresh veggies added towards the end of frying the tofu would be awesome in this dish. Think asparagus, zucchini, red bell pepper, broccoli, green onions, etc.

Ingredients:

- 1 block Extra Firm Tofu*, drained and pressed
- 1/2 cup Cornstarch
- 1 & 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 5 tablespoons Water
- 3 tablespoons Oil
- 8 ounces Frozen Broccoli Florets
- 1/2 cup Carrots, julienned
- 1/2 cup Teriyaki Sauce: Soy Vay or Trader Joe's brand taste identical
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon Water

* I used tofu that had been frozen and thawed to produce a more "meaty" texture

Directions:
- Cut drained and pressed tofu into cubes.
- Coat with Ener-G and water mixture.
- Take your 1/2 cup of cornstarch and put half of it in the bottom of a gallon sized ziploc bag. Add coated tofu and then the other half of the cornstarch on top. Shake for a minute until the tofu looks evenly coated with the cornstarch.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a wok. Add tofu and fry until golden on all sides.
- While tofu is frying quickly make your sauce by mixing together teryaki sauce and cornstarch mixed with water.
- Add frozen broccoli florets and let them cook for a minute.
- Add teriyaki sauce mixture, it should thicken in a minute or two.
- Once sauce begins to thicken add julienned carrots. Mix around for a minute and serve.

Quick & Easy Seitan & Broccoli

INGREDIENTS:

- 3 cups seitan, cut into small chunks (I used the Seitan in a Crock-Pot recipe)
- 4 cups frozen broccoli florets
- 1/2 cup vegetarian stir-fry sauce (I used Lee Kum Kee brand)
- Olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

- Brown seitan chunks and in olive oil in a non-stick fry-pan. This should take about 10 minutes.
- Add frozen broccoli florets and cook for a few more minutes until broccoli is defrosted.
- Turn off heat and add vegetarian stir-fry sauce. Stir around until all your seitan and broccoli are coated evenly.

Serve with rice.

Makes: 3 servings
Preparation time: 2 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes