The Post-A-Thon... 2011 Week 42 and Korean Potatos Recipe

Hey peeps! As you all know, I batch cook and eat leftovers. It makes being vegan easy on me as I prefer to eat homemade food whenever possible since I know what I am putting in it! I had lots of leftovers to eat all week for lunch and dinner. Lunch is usually a big salad for me everyday or soup and dinner is the meal I like to eat something spectacular. Here are some of the things I consumed this week.

Last weekend I made some bomb nachos using almond pulp from making almond milk and subbing it (I used double the amount) for the cashews in the Melty Cheese recipe (So if you made the whole recipe it would be 1/2 cup alomond pulp). I also added a little white miso to give the nooch sauce a sharp chedddary taste. Very good!

Tofu is such an easy thing to throw together into an easy meal. Two of my current favorite dishes are VW's General Tao's Tofu and SP's Spicy Eggplant with Tofu. I make them almost weekly.

General Tao's Tofu with brown rice fried up with sesame oil, garlic, Braggs, S&P, and kale.

Spicy Eggplant with Tofu topped with Sriracha and paired with brown rice fried up with frozen peas and corn, Braggs, and Sriracha.

Spicy Eggplant with Tofu paired with Maple Glazed Brussles and brown and white rice fried up with frozen peas, Braggs, Sriracha, and kale.

VWAV's Stuffed Bell Peppers were a centerpiece of many meals this week with fried rice of some sort or Homemade Refried Beans for pairing.

 VWAV's Stuffed Bell Peppers paired with white rice fried up with peas, kale, Braggs, avocado, salsa and cilantro. This fried rice remix was my favorite of the entire week. Most days I would take leftover fried rice or just plain rice and rejazz or just jazz it up. Rice is so versatile and easy to make into an awesome side dish in minutes. I just cook it in the morning while I am getting ready for work in my rice cooker and then let it cool down during the day and it's ready to fry up when I get home from work... Simple planning peoples!

VWAV's Stuffed Bell Peppers topped with some chipotle mayo type drizzle, Roasted Rosemary+Sage+MapleSyrup+S&P Carrots, and Homemade Refired Beans.

VWAV's Stuffed Bell Peppers topped with vegan sour cream, Homemade Refried Beans topped with cabbage, cilantro, and hot sauce

Korean Potatoes

Korean Potatoes Recipe

Ingredients:

2.5 pounds baby potatoes (Red, White, or PURPLE), halved

1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced

1/2 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

1 T cornstarch mixed with 2 T water

Sauce:

1 T sesame oil

10 cracks black pepper

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup garlic, minced

1/2 cup Braggs or Soy Sauce

1/2 cup water

Directions:

Place potatoes in a large pot and spread evenly

Whisk sauce ingredients and add to the potatoes.

Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling turn the heat to a simmer. 

Cook the potatoes for 15 minutes and mix then top with sliced yellow onions, cover and cook for another   15 minutes and mix again. The potatoes should be done by now, if not cook them covered for a bit longer. 

Add the cornstarch + water slurry and the green onions and mix until the sauce thickens.  

Korean Potatoes with brown rice fried with Braggs, Sriracha, frozen peas and corn, and plain cashews.

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

Today I made quite a few things...

First off was a practically weekly double batch of Viva Vegan's Yellow Garlic Rice, I added some minced onion to the rice as well that needed to be used up

I also roasted some brussels sprouts at 450F for about 20 minutes in a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Yummmmm brussles :)

Carrots were next up for roasting. I roasted them at 425F for about 20 minutes in some olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and rosemary... I thought they were too lemony so I coated them with a little pure maple syrup and they were divine.

Fajitas were up next using Trader Joe's "Beef Strips", bell pepper, onion, and some taco seasoning.

Next up was Trader Joe's Soyrizo that I added to some nuked and pan fried potatoes and thinly sliced onions for a burrito or taco filling later in the week.

I made some random Asian-y stirfry that came alright... Just crumbled tofu, Chinese 5 spice (Don't think I enjoy this flavor), Braggs, edamame, spinach, chili paste, and green onions... I ended up using this to stuff wontons since it wasn't that fantastical LOL.

Another TVP chunk teriyaki stirfry was made with the rest of the asparagus I had around added. This is good stuffed in wontons or on top of rice.

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

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

Rainbow Salad

I love salad people! I eat it almost everyday drenched in Vegan Ranch. I always make a bunch at a time (Think 3 heads of romaine) and put it in a gallon sized ziploc so I can have a quick and amazing salad with only 1 days worth of chopping!

Here's my salad for this week: Romaine, Red Bell Pepper, Green Onions, Black Olives, Purple Cabbage, Carrots, Corn, Edamame, Black Beans (I add these day of so they don't get gross), and Grilled Teriyaki Tofu... Delish! I also really like peas in my salad but was sadly out.

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!

Creole Roasted Carrots

I love carrots, especially roasted and if you didn't know already, my favorite seasoning in the whole wide world is Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning!

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 375F
- Get as many handfuls of baby carrots that you feel like eating and put them into a glass baking dish
- Spray the carrots with a bunch of cooking spray and season the carrots generously with creole and shake everything around a bit
- Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, turning the carrots halfway.