Easy Meals Always Seem Asian Themed These Days...

I think I consume an Asian themed dinner the majority of the week... Stirfry's are so easy to "Slop" together whether they develop in the form of a rice, noodle, or tofu based dish... Seems that I always have the items on hand to throw together some bomb fried rice! Pictured above is fried rice: Room temp (or cold) cooked Calrose rice, ALWAYS seasoned with Bragg's, Sweet Chili Sauce, Rooster Sauce and fried up in some olive oil... The additions to the base recipe this time were some frozen mixed veggies, diced red onion, and diced homemade baked teriyaki tofu.

Above is some fried rice with the same base seasonings. I then added leftover Japanese eggplant that I had sauteed with garlic and sweet chili sauce some julienned carrots and sauteed diced yellow onions.

And next we move to the INFAMOUS RAMEN NOODLE... Maruchan Oriental Flavor BITCHES and they also have a Spicy Flavor (BE A VEGAN & READ DEM INGREDIENTS) that is vegan as well that can be purchased 5/$1 at your local 99 Cents Only Store... I am not saying this is vegan health food that will have you shitting rainbows and flying with unicorns but it tastes GOOD. I always cook the noodles first but not too much, strain and rinse them with cold water and set aside, use some noodle cooking liquid/ broth/ water to cook up the veggies (Here was some sliced red onion and a pre-chopped broccoli carrot mix), then drain extra liquid, add seasoning packets and noodles, mix and eat :) LET'S MOVE RIGHT ALONG...

Tofu Stirfry's... Vegan staple here kids... If you have a Tofu Press (I have the Xpress) your life is that much easier... Or you can be a damn granola-hippie and do the old heavy-pot-on-top-of-tofu-wrapped-in-paper-towels-method (TREE KILLER!!! CALL THE VEGAN POLICE!! TREES FEEL PAIN TOO OMG)... Anyways, take the drained and pressed firm tofu, cut it into cubes and pan fry that bean patty until it's golden on all sides (The best you can), then pair with some special sauce.. The night I made this, Veggie Broth, Bragg's, Agave, Garlic, and Chili Flakes tickled my fancy... Threw in some broccoli florets at the same time and paired my stirfry with some freshly cooked Calrose (aka "sticky") rice.

Pictured above is another tofu stirfry with sauteed Japanese Eggplant, Bamboo Shoots, String Beans, Onions and Boy Choy for the veggies... A spin off from a Thai Green Curry recipe from a cookbook my friend facebook messaged me... The sauce was sugar, coconut milk, green curry paste, Bragg's and veggie broth, thickened with a cornstarch slurry.

Peace.Love.Vegan

Amy

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

The Post-A-Thon... Massive Unload Part 2

Part 2 of the Post-A-Thon will be called...

Slop: What you do when you don't have much money but need to eat some random food... 

You slop together what you have and pray it works... My slop skills have gotten pretty good, mind you, from lots of trial and error when my vegan slop journey began, 2.5 years ago :)

I eat a lot of rice and quinoa... as far as rice goes, I usually stick to my ever evolving, modification love child, Sweet and Spicy Fried Rice... All you need is cold cooked calrose rice, Braggs or soy sauce, Thai sweet chili sauce, and sriracha or chili paste, and oil... Then veggies (fresh or frozen), maybe some baked tofu if you have it... Honestly, whatever you have on hand that would taste legit in an Asian style rice dish here are a few examples: 

This version was frozen mixed veggies, onions, pickled diakon radish, and teriyaki baked tofu

This version was frozen peas and green beans, mushrooms, teriyaki baked tofu, and avocado added at the end <3

When it comes to quinoa, I enjoy it in slop stirfry dishes... I use cold quinoa cooked in my rice cooker (1 cup quinoa (rinsed), 2 cups veggie broth, and some cracked pepper) and add it at the end of cooking the rest of the ingredients in a slop dish. A few examples:

Indian slop: Pan fried drained and pressed tofu seasoned up with Indian spices, chickpeas seasoned with Indian spices, onions, bell peppers, canned diced tomatoes or tomato sauce (cannot remember), garlic, and quinoa, topped with cilantro.

Very similar dish but ran out of cilantro so not as purdy :(

I made a "Curry" (Quinoa underneath), with many of the same ingredients as before in addition to canned baby corn and coconut milk. I had cilantro this time :)

Tofu is such a go to protein for me because it is cheap, easy to quickly make, and delicious... This is a tofu stirfry where the tofu was coated with cornstarch, then fried until golden, next I added bells and onions, then some La Choy brand Sweet and Sour Sauce I had sitting in the fridge as well as some garlic chili paste.

I made a vegan lasagna but had extra noodles and lasagna fillings, so I slopped this together to make an easy pasta type meal (I gave the entire tray of lasagna I cooked to my grandma cause she loves it).

Part 3 of the Post-A-Thon... Cookies, Wontons, Viva Vegan, and Soup

Robek's now has not only vegan smoothies but vegan cookies, check em out! I couldn't contain myself and bought 2 flavors: Oatmeal and Pumpkin... yummmmmm :)

I also made some vegan cream cheese wontons since I had some wonton wrappers to use up... This was the first time I made these puppies without my deep fryer (It was gross so I just threw the damn thing out) and they turned out spectacular :)

Viva Vegan cooking was in the rotation again so I tried a new recipe, Arroz con Seitan, and this is definitely a new favorite from the book!

I also made a tried and true favorite from the book, Mojo Oven-Roasted Seitan and Cilantro-Lime Rice, perfection...

I also made some Tomato Quinoa Soup from my friends blog and thought it turned out alright, it was kind of bland, so I added more tomato flavor in the form of tomato paste... It definitely thickened up as leftovers and I thought it could use some spice as well... Definitely edible but nothing to get wet over...

VegWeb's Grilled Avocado Sammie's... I slather one side with vegan mayo and the other with vegan cream cheese :)

My Sweet & Spicy Fried Rice... Always a easy peasy meal when I need food fast!

My first attempt at Portobello Burgers turned out tasty... I marinated these in garlic salt, pepper, olive oil, Braggs, and balsamic vinegar and baked at 400F for 35ish minutes, flipping halfway... I wanted to try the recipe out of Vegan Table for these but the damn cookbook vanished!

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.

Today's Quick Meals: Sweet & Spicy Fried Rice and Taco Soup

Tonight I made a pretty much weekly batch of Taco Soup to provide myself with a few meals and to sell the rest to coworkers. This is a foul proof recipe, I've never had any complaints... I served it with the usual dollop of Tofutti Sour Cream and added some green onions (Cilantro would have been better).

I also had some random veggies leftover from making sushi as well as a bunch of Baked Teriyaki Tofu and a batch of scold stick rice from my rice cooker so I decided on another tried and true recipe: Sweet & Spicy Fried Rice. The rice included about a cup of frozen mixed veggies, grated carrots, pickled daikon, spicy daikon, green onions, and Baked Teriyaki Tofu... I served it up with some roasted, seasoned seaweed slices.

Sunday Cooking and VWAV Reviews

I cooked a shit ton of food today and probably spent half the day on the kitchen, which me being the odd ball that I am, and not having a car at the moment, actually enjoyed it.

I started off my cooking frenzy with VWAV's Carrot Raisin Muffins. These turned out pretty good and I got 2 extra muffins out of the recipe. I thought these could be a bit sweeter (never mind i just ate another one), my brother thought they were fantastic. I give this recipe 4 out of 5 stars.

Next up, was VWAV's Lemon Gem Cupcakes. These were an epic fail for me but I do admit, I really suck at making desserts and baking. First off, the cupcakes didn't rise much and ended up sinking once they got out of the oven. No big deal right?

I will just cover them with the frosting. I go to make the frosting, another epic fail. I used EB buttery sticks for the recipe and something went wrong and I had to maybe double the powdered sugar and it was still runny and now way too sweet. Next fail, the cupcakes stuck to the liners. I was pissed, I ate a few, and threw the rest away :(

I then made my weekly batch of jalapeno flavored refried beans and

4 Rainbow Salads for my work lunches

Next, I had some brussles that needed to be used up so I prepped them (discarding gross leaves, cutting off the stem, and slicing them in half), coated them with some cooking spray and seasoned them with S&P and roasted them at 350F for 30 minutes (bigger ones might take a bit longer)... Feakin delish!

I then proceeded to make VWAV's Curried Split Pea Soup and this was a winner! First time cooking with split peas and this turned out great, thank God.

I also made VWAV's BBQ Pomegranate Tofu and it turned out alright. I left off the pomegranate seed topping cause that just seemed like a pain in the ass to do. The texture of the baked tofu was awesome but again, another BBQ sauce recipe from this book that just didn't tickle my fancy, too tomato-ey and sweet, and way too much for this recipe! I say you could easily half the BBQ sauce meant to bake the tofu in, I didn't even put the full amount on the tofu and ended up scraping the sauce off. It was way too much! Not a complete fail, but I won't be making this again. Though I will use her tofu baking technique: 2 tablespoons oil + 1 tablespoon Braggs, cut the tofu into 8 pieces, place tofu in the oil and Braggs mixture until completely coated, bake at 350 F for 30 minutes, turn over after 15, and add sauce and bake an additional 15 minutes. Perfect texture!

 Lastly, I made a batch pf Viva Vegan's Yellow Garlic Rice, I always make this dish when I have some cilantro to use up, I also used half an onion too and sauteed it along with the garlic... Yum

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.