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

An unplanned Mexican themed week 1/3-1/9/11

I started off the week with some bomb homemade potato salad... So yummy!

This week I ate a lot, and I mean a lot of bean burritos, tacos, enchiladas, nachos, etc.

I make a big batch of refried beans every week: Soak 2 cups of dry pintos overnight in water, rinse, boil them for 2 to 2.5 hours on medium heat with a quartered and peeled onion, 4 bay leafs, and s & p, drain and remove bay leafs, whirl the beans in a food processor with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of pickled jalapenos and some added salt to taste... perfection every time!

Bean and brown rice enchiladas topped with salsa, guac, olives, and Tofutti sour cream

I also had some leftover Viva Vegan Red Seitan that got thrown into this weeks Mexican mix in tacos, enchiladas and even piled on nachos:

Tacos made with Viva Vegan Red Seitan sauteed with onions, topped with Tofutti Sour Cream, guac, refried beans, and cilantro

I also made the tacos into enchiladas by just rolling these puppies up and covering them in salsa

I also pan fried the seitan and put it top of some nachos... These nachos weren't that great since I didn't have any plain soymilk to make Melty Cheese, I just used the cheese recipe from VW's Cheesy Bean and Cheese Enchiladas, it was alright

I decided to try a homemade tofu marinade I found on VW... called Tasty Tofu! A Zesty Herb Marinade... I added only half the oil and thought it turned out pretty good, though not even close to as good as my Teriyaki Tofu

It was pretty tasty heated up and placed in a sandwich though :)

Today I snacked on some sushi rice (calrose rice + rice vinegar + sugar + salt) and some roasted seaweed slices :)

I also made my insanely loved Vegan Taco Soup... I'm selling a few bowls to coworkers next week for some cash for salad... Score! Love this stuff and ate a bowl topped with Tofutti Sour Cream... Heavenly! I always sub about 1/2-1 cup TVP for the vegan beef crumbles... Just add it in along with the canned veggies.

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

Vegan MOFO: A Spin on VegWeb's Cheesy Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

I've made VegWeb's Cheesy Bean and Cheese Enchiladas about 3 or 4 times now and they always turn out fantastic! This time around I switched up the recipe a bit to use up some of the my leftovers.

Here's what I did:

- I added 1/2 cup of TVP to the mixture and a tablespoon of taco seasoning
- Subbed a can of hominy for 1 of the cans of beans
- Subbed some sliced mini bell peppers instead of using 1 of the onions
- Threw in a chopped tomato
- Added probably double the amount of olives
- Added half a can of corn
- Used a smallish can of green enchilada sauce for 1 casserole full and red taco sauce for the other
- I used corn tortillas this time instead of flour

It turned out pretty darn tasty but I had so much filing I wiped out an entire package of corn tortillas! Looks like leftovers for the next week for me. I'm going to try to do my best with Vegan Mofo, I won't always have new foodie pics but I will post just to say, "Hey look what I ate today!"

My Favorite Recipe: Viva Vegan's Peruvian Seitan Skewers

Viva Vegan's Peruvian Seitan Skewers are the bomb, seriously! Especially served up with some fresh homemade guacamole. I tend to leave out potatoes when I make these now because I always have bell peppers and onions on hand but potatoes I rarely buy at the moment. I've made them probably about 5 times now and these skewers never get old... You must buy this cookbook it is worth its weight in gold!

VegWeb's Creamy Sundried Tomato Dip and Some Leftovers

 I had an extra tub of Tofutti Vegan Cream Cheese and a bit of sundried tomatoes in oil that needed to be used up so I decided to make VegWeb's Creamy Sundried Tomato Dip. I am pretty broke and didn't have the chives or even green onions on hand so I subbed 3 tablespoons minced yellow onion and also added 2 extra cloves of garlic. I used about a half a cup of sundried tomatoes (Mine came julienned and I wasn't sure how much to use so I just finished the bottle). The dip came out fantastic and tasted heavenly dipped with wheat thins!

Leftovers for last nights dinner were awesome courtesy of Viva Vegan. I had leftover Drunken Beans with Seitan Chorizo and Latin Baked Tofu, heaven on Earth my friends.

Viva Vegan's Latin Baked Tofu and Drunken Beans with Seitan Chorizo

Wow! Viva Vegan almost never fails in the recipe department! Tonight I made Latin Baked Tofu and the marinade was killer... Red wine, red wine vinegar, olive oil (I omitted this), tomato paste, soy sauce, garlic, cumin and oregano.

The Drunken Beans with Seitan Chorizo was awesome as well! Home-cooked pinto beans with onions, roasted serranos, some of her amazing Chorizo Seitan Sausages, oregano, chili powder, cumin, diced tomatoes, Mexican beer (I used a can of Bud), and tequila... Garnished with onions, cilantro, lime juice, and pickled jalapenos.... OMG yum... But it did take 3 hours to make so I was really hungry by the time I got my little vegan hands on the goods!

Viva Vegan's Chorizo Seitan Sausages and some Latin Inspired Quinoa (Take 2)

 Viva Vegan's Chorizo Seitan Sausages are way yum, loaded with many spices and a wonderful addition to some Latin Inspired Quinoa I made tonight. 3 Sausage recipe makes 6 sausages (I got 7) and I used 3 in this recipe.

Ingredients (Mostly Approximations):

- 3 Viva Vegan Chorizo Seitan Sausages, you could sub a few Field Roast Chipotle Vegan Sausages, cut into bite sized chunks
- 1 teaspoon olive oil and veggie broth as needed (You can use more oil, I'm trying to get away from using it)
- 1/4 a large white onion, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 mini sweet bell peppers, cut into thin rings
- 1/2 cup black beans
- 1/2 cup corn
- 1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup black olives, sliced
- 1/2 to 1 cup diced tomatoes (I used canned so probably only used 1/2 cup)
- Cilantro to taste (I only had a few tablespoons left)
- 1.5 cups leftover quinoa
- 1 teaspoon each chili powder, oregano, and cumin
- Mexican hot sauce to taste

Directions:

- Fry your sausages in a little oil until they begin to brown.
- Add onions, garlic, and bell peppers and a little veggie broth and cook until onions are translucent, adding more veggie broth if needed to prevent sticking.
- Add ALL the remaining ingredients and mix around until everything is heated through.
- Serve with avocado slices or a dollop of vegan sour cream.

Stuffed Peppers (Again... Yes I know!)

Yes my friends, I made stuffed peppers again! This time I used my own recipe since I had some leftovers that needed to be used up. The leftovers were a "Mexican" mushroom stirfry concoction that I made last weekend which consisted of thinly sliced crimini mushrooms, onions, corn, olives, black beans, and a tomato. I added this mixture to some leftover quinoa and used that to stuff the peppers. I boil the peppers first for 5 minutes, then drain, stuff, and bake them at 350F for 20 minutes. Then I topped them with minced cilantro. I thought they were a little bland but good with some salsa and vegan sour cream on top. I think they would have been better if I added some salsa or tomato sauce to the stuffing mixture.

Sorry I haven't been posting as much I just have so many leftovers that I still need to eat... Ethiopian Seitan, Jerk Seitan, 'Cheezy' Potatoes, Tofu Scramble, and now 3 leftover Stuffed Peppers are added to the list!

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!

VWAV's Jerk Seitan and More Stuffed Peppers!

VWAV's seitan recipes are more of an acquired taste for people not used to eating seitan. My bro loved all the seitan recipes from Viva Vegan but VWAV, not so much, so I have lots of leftovers in the fridge right now. Oh well, more for me! Jerk Seitan is flavored with onions, ginger, lime, soy sauce (I used Braggs), olive oil (I left it out), maple syrup, thyme, allspice, cinnamon, cayenne, and nutmeg... It tasted pretty darn amazing! I didn't marinate the seitan because I forgot to read the directions before I started, dang it. I also didn't follow her cooking directions as I browned the seitan first, then added half the sauce along with the bell peppers and onions (I don't like mine overly cooked), then dumped the rest of the sauce in about 5 minutes later.

I also made VWAV's Black Bean, Mushroom, and Quinoa- Stuffed Peppers again so I could give it to a friend as a bday gift (I got to save 4 for myself, score!) and they were amazing as usual. I will definitely be making this recipe again and again!

Taco Style Seitan and Creamy Refried Beans

Tonight I wanted a quick and easy dinner and had a big batch of Refried Beans sitting in the fridge. I needed something "Mexican-y" to go along with the beans so Taco Style Seitan was the plan.

Taco Style Seitan:

- 4 cups seitan cut into small chunks, (I used 2 loaves of Red Seitan from Viva Vegan)
- 2 small or 1 large bell pepper, cut into small chunks
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, cut into small chunks
- 6 crimini mushrooms, sliced
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/4 cup cilantro, minced
- A drizzle of olive oil for frying

Directions:
- Fry up the seitan chunks in oil over medium high heat until they blacken a bit.
- Add the bell peppers and onions and fry for a few more minutes until they soften to your liking (I prefer mine not to be overly cooked).
- Add the criminis, taco seasoning, and water. Cook until the criminis begin to soften.
- Add the cilantro and stir everything around to get it coated evenly.

Creamy Refried Beans:

- 1 pound dried pinto beans, soaked overnight, then rinsed
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 to 1.5 teaspoons sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- A few jalapenos, chopped (optional)

- 1 onion, chopped

Directions:

- Place all ingredients into a big pot and cover with about 1.5 inches of water.
- Bring everything to a boil, then cover and everything simmer for 2 hours.
- Drain your beans in a metal colander and pick out the bay leaves.
- Place your cooked bean and onion mixture into a food processor and let it do its magic for a minute or two.
- Taste and see if additional salt is needed and don't ruin your beans by over-salting them!

See you don't need oil or lard to make creamy refried beans, just use a food processor!