Online Recipe Reviews: Buffalo Tofu Sammies, Melty Cheese, Cauliflower Poppers, and Pad Thai

I love the internet and I love saving trees whenever possible by looking up online recipes and refraining from printing them out to add to my massive "Online Recipe Book/Binder"... I learned how to cook this way and met some awesome vegans in the process! VegWeb.com was where I got started (I don't log in much anymore due to some fucked up viruses that are supposedly not an issue anymore) and learned the skills I needed to be self sufficient :)

The 2 pictures above are of a Buffalo Tofu Sandwich (I had leftover homemade buffalo sauce from Spork Fed that needed to be used up)... Can't even imagine store bought slathered on this but my bestie said these were amazing even with the store bought buffalo sauce!

Melty Cheese from VegWeb is my go to "Nooch" sauce... Love me some vegan nachos... Sinfully delicious always! I almost prefer it to Daiya sometimes as I prefer homemade grub :)

Cauliflower Poppers from VegWeb are also a staple at the pad... You seriously know you are awesome when your drunken munchies consist of cauliflower... LOVE THIS RECIPE... Don't even measure anymore... Something to remember: If there is too much liquid left in the pan when the cauliflower is done cooking dump it out near the end and brown the cauli a little. (I have been pan frying these a lot more recently than roasting because it is quicker)

Lastly, Pad Thai! Love 2 recipes, one of which my future husband, The Vegan Zombie, created and the other HERE (Which I photographed). 

Peace.Love.Vegan,

Amy

Cooking From Cookbooks: Spork Fed

A goal of mine for 2013 is to go through my 20-something vegan cookbooks and use them all. Spork Fed is the cookbook I chose for this post. I received the book as a gift from a longtime vegan friend of mine, Don, who didn't find much use for the book so shipped it to me :) (Along with 3 other cookbooks he hadn't even mentioned he would send) Vegans are such generous and kind people it baffles me sometimes.

I went through the book and chose to make Spicy Seitan Buffalo Wings (Made with the books recipe for Chicken-Style Seitan) & Southwest Black Bean and Corn Mini Burgers (With Smokey Paprika Cashew Cheese which I skipped). I also planned on making a few other dishes that never panned out because I was too busy and the ingredients ended up going bad :(

The Spicy Seitan Buffalo Wings were good. I loved the fact that the recipe included an additional recipe for Buffalo Wing Sauce so that I didn't have to resort to bottled crap with all of it's weird chemicals and colorings (Yes I use this shit, but I am trying to get away from using anything processed and containing chemicals for ingredients... Baby Steps).

The recipe in this book for Chicken-Style Seitan was also good, but I have made better versions of seitan. The method used here was boiling which resulted in a bit of a rubbery texture. I prefer steaming seitan or baking it. I also used the entire batch of Seitan (The recipe says to use a little over half) and still had extra breading and Buffalo Sauce. Here is the Chicken-Style Seitan before I used it in the Wings recipe:

To summarize my experience: I would say that the Spicy Seitan Buffalo Wings recipe is perfectly legit to serve to vegans that are down with seitan. I didn't mind the rubbery-ness of the seitan because it was breaded and saucey, plus I paired it with my homemade vegan ranch and some mashed potatoes. The Buffalo Sauce was great and I will probably use it as a replacement for bottled crap... It is thicker but still very good and I have some leftover that I plan on using to make some Buffalo Tofu Sammies this week!

Next up was the Southwest Black Bean and Corn Mini Burgers. These were okay. I know the authors said you really need to make the Smokey Paprika Cashew Cheese to make this recipe a hit and I did skip it and replaced it with Daiya. The burgers held together fine with some extra breadcrumbs added. I got through eating them all throughout the week but these aren't something I would bother making again... Still looking for a veggie burger recipe that tastes better than just plain old store bought stuff so that I feel like all the effort is worth it.

Overall, Spork Fed is a mediocre vegan cookbook... A lot of fancy stuff which would probably be good if I had the time and energy to find all the ingredients and construct the recipe... I have met the authors in person and they are both very lovely ladies and I am more than positive that if I had more time, I would have more fun with the book.

Next up with cookbook reviews is Color Me Vegan =)

Peace.Love.Vegan

Amy

The Post-A-Thon... 2011 Week 43 and 44

I have been eating and I have been taking pictures amongst all the drama and craziness in my life... Time to get back to normalcy and lay low... Let's get real

Let's start off with polishing off some leftovers... Spicy Eggplant with Tofu and some fried rice... I have really started to dig Japanese eggplant if you can't tell by now.

My last VWAV Stuffed Bell Pepper topped with vegan sour cream and paired with Homemade Refried Beans garnished with fresh tomatoes, cilantro, and green cabbage.

Viva Vegan's Potato and Kale Soup... Never bother with making the vegan chorizo anymore cause it's like an extra hour or so of effort and I like the soup as is.

I love me some brussels and these are the rest of the Maple Brussels I made... I ate them for breakfast cause I'm weird like that... Dipped in barbecue sauce... Don't judge

I love that vegan food doesn't go bad fast! Seriously, leftovers can sit in my fridge for practically 2 weeks for the most part without getting gross... That's awesome!

I made a batch of Crock Pot Seitan a few weekends ago and finally did something with it!

I sliced half the batch of seitan into strips, shook the strips in a ziplock with some cornstarch, fried the coated strips in oil, once they were nice and golden I turned off the heat and added some barbecue sauce and stirred to evenly coat... Served these puppies up with some Japanese eggplant that I fried in oil and coated with sweet chili sauce and some kale salad.

Here is the Kale Salad (Before I slopped some of the end of it onto the dish above) in all it's glory. Recipe HERE (Scroll down halfway to Tess Challis)... Lemme get that Kale Salad!

I found a tube of Soy Chorizo AT THE 99 CENTS STORE! I fried it up with some chopped green bells, onion, and garlic and made my skinny ass some tacos. Here they are topped with Homemade Refried Beans, vegan sour cream, green cabbage, and cilantro.

Here they are again with sliced shrooms, vegan sour cream, green cabbage, and cilantro.

I also made some brown mexican inspired fried rice colored with Viva Vegan's Annatto Infused Oil, cumin, oregano, S&P, onions, garlic, and cilantro... Topped with some chunky homemade guac.

I made VWAV's Hummus again... Legit, though my tahini was kinda whack and I could tell this was much lower in fat and creaminess because of it... I don't mind though since it was for my next creation...

VegWeb's Fresh Folds with Balsamic Reduced Caramelized Onions... Oh my! Delicious <3

Folded in all it's sloppy glory <3

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

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.

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.

Lazy Dinner

So I just can't get enough of these Grilled Tofurkey Sandwiches!!! This time I had 2 english muffins to use up... Fantastic as usual!

I also made a cake referred to as "Pouding Chomeur" from The Vegan Mouse and it was pretty good, but definitely not very pretty... I was planning on taking it to the monthly birthday celebration at my work but decided against it. I would give the cake 3.5 out of 5 stars though for taste.

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.

Sandwiches! Tofurkey Peppered & Grilled Cheeze

So I think I officially overdosed on Chickpea Salad Sandwiches so I've had to switch it up a bit!

 First off, I love Tofurkey Peppered Vegan Lunch Meat!!! You must try it now it is awesome. I made my first sandwich with...

Ingredients:
2 slices of Bread
4 slices of Tofurkey Peppered Vegan Lunch Meat
Vegenasie (Vegan Mayo)
Yellow Mustard
Thinly sliced Red Bell Pepper
Avocado slices
Romaine Lettuce...
Tomato slices would've been good but of course I was out

My second sandwich was a Grilled Cheeze. I had some leftover cheeze sauce from the Tofu Scramble I made last week, so I decided to use the leftovers to make a Grilled Cheeze.

To make the Cheeze Sauce and have some leftovers (I know it looks kinda gross above but trust me it's good):

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Flour
2 tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 cup Water
1/4 teaspoon Yellow Mustard
1 tablespoon Vegan Margarine
1/2 tablespoon Light Miso

Directions:

Mix first 3 ingredients together in sauce pan. Add water and mix thoroughly. Heat on medium until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add mustard, margarine, and miso. Stir until everything is smooth and creamy.

I know you guys now how to make a Grilled Cheeze so I am not going to explain it.

I also added some vegan mayo to one of the sandwiches and thought it tasted awesome as well! I always dip my Grilled Cheeze's in ketchup... I love ketchup!

Lazy College Kid's Easy Falafel

Lazy College Kid's Easy Falafel is another easy recipe that I make quite often off of VegWeb. I serve it just like the recipe suggests: In a pita with hummus, lettuce, tomato, and dill pickles. It is fantastic this way. I bake my falafel balls for 30 minutes at 375 F. This time I added an extra tablespoon or two of chopped parsley and 1 teaspoon of curry powder, this is not really necessary though.

Easy Chik'n Ranch Wraps

INGREDIENTS:
- Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Chik'n Strips (you can use another brand if you can't find these)
- Shredded romaine
- Vegan ranch dressing
- Oil

DIRECTIONS:

- Fry frozen chik'n strips in oil until lightly browned, I like to cut them up further with my spatula as I'm cooking them. Once browned, dump the chik'n strips into a bowl and set aside.
- Using the same fry pan, heat up your flour tortillas. Once heated place on a plate and top with shredded romaine and vegan ranch.
Wrap up and enjoy! So simple and delicious :)

Preparation time: 1 minute
Cooking time: 5 minutes