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

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 11

I have decided I will continue the "Massive Unload" theme... I had a week full of eating bizarrely paired leftovers and a crazy weekend... Here are some slop worthy photos for real foodies haha:

 Slop Style #1: Indian Potato Cauliflower dish, Teriyaki Baked Tofu, Roasted Broccoli, all smothered in Miso Gravy with minced baby bellas added while heating the gravy leftovers (Why did I not think of the shroom addition earlier?!)

Slop Style #2: Roasted Broccoli, Creole Roasted Carrots, Indian Potato Cauliflower dish, Indian Eggplant Potato dish, and remainder of the Miso (And now baby bella) Gravy smothered on top.

I did do a bunch of cooking and food prep yesterday (Saturday) and today (Sunday) to kind of calm my nerves for the remainder of the week. I have food to eat for the entire week in my fridge ready to go so I can relax! I made some Vegan Ranch and prepped a huge container of salad base (Romaine, cabbage, and carrots) and have containers full of prepared add ins: Kidneys, sliced black olives, corn, green onions, cilantro, and cubed teriyaki baked tofu so that lunches will be a breeze! I also made VWAV's Black Bean, Mushroom, and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers, VW's General Tao's Tofu, Brown Rice, Calrose Rice, Life Enchanting Lentil Soup (Recipe received from the Mother unit, I will see if I can find a link), Spicy Eggplant with Tofu, and Maple Glazed Brussels. I do plan on making a batch of Crock Pot Seitan for an easy "Meaty" item to pair easily with items for din din.

Today I made Vegan Nachos, but subbed some almond pulp (Moist from just making plain almond milk) for the cashews. I also used almond milk instead of the usual soy for this recipe and it worked out beautifully! I will be doing this now indefinitely as I have an indefinite supply of almond pulp! These bad boys had the "Cheeze", VW's Sausage Crumbles, homemade refried beans, black olives, homemade guac, tomatoes, vegan sour cream, and green onions as toppings... Score!

I also made a huge pot (12 cups of just liquid homies) of Life Enchanting Lentil Soup. I love soup, maybe it's a vegan thing? I just love how warm and comforting it is and how many healthy ingredients you can jam pack into one serving :) Soup for me all this week... Squeeee <3 I will probably jazz it up with some additional spices and throw in some precut kale.

Lastly, I had a huge 2 pound bag of brussels from Costco that needed to be roasted and slathered in something. I have been reading Leafygreensandme for awhile and this lady is such an amazing cook that it scares the crap out of me quite frankly... I can only aspire to be such an amazing cook and recipe writer! Her recipe for Maple Glazed Brussles Sprouts was right up my alley, read: 4 INGREDIENTS THAT I HAVE ON HAND! I love her technique though with cooking down the maple syrup! My stupid ass would have just tossed the brussels in maple syrup without cooking it down so that it coats the sprouts ever so perfectly! I COULD EAT THESE ALL DAY EVERYDAY!

Go make some!

Peace, Love, and Veganism <3

Gravy and Indian... Yup

^ Not together, though I am not guaranteeing this will never happen... I will welcome you to my bizarre world of food pairing, seriously bizarre peoples... This is one of the reasons I usually just show the dish alone and not the actual plate I eat. Ha! I will let you in to my world, just this once for my gravy posts:) Kidding...

So first, I had potatoes, which grew into parsley garlic mashed potatoes, these mashed potatoes felt a little nakee (Yup that's how I say it) and wanted a good slathering of gravy. I made two different types of gravy, both from VegWeb and my nakee mashed potatoes were satisfied.

First off was Vegetarian "Chicken" Gravy. This was very good gravy! I used the Superior Touch's No Chicken Bouillon which is good stuff! I am happy that this is easy to find now that Mother's Market stopped carrying No-Chicken Broth Powder in the bulk bins :(

(Mashed Potatoes with Vegetarian Chicken Gravy, Creole Seasoned Roasted Zucchini and Poblano Peppers, and Tofu Scramble)

Next off was Miso Gravy. This was alright, I used white miso and I think I would have liked it better with red. I added some poultry seasoning and a few extra tablespoons of flour to thicken it more. Not bad but not insanely good. I was happy to use up some of the miso paste that has been parked in my fridge for the past few months.

(Mashed Potatoes with Miso Gravy, Baked Teriyaki Tofu, and Easy Elotes)

On to the Indian! Manjula's Kitchen is such an awesome resource to learn how to cook some easy and tasty Indian Food. I've made both these dishes before but this time around I tweaked them a little!

Aloo Gobi with green peas added this time as she suggests and I doubled the green chili's, diced them, and added them in with the "paste". Loved it!

Aloo Baingan was much better this time around! I doubled the spice/ paste ingredients except for the salt which made the dish so much better since last time this was really mild and bland in my opinion.

Peace, Love, and Veganess <3

Recipes I've Posted On VegWeb

Here are pictures of a few of the recipes I've submitted on VegWeb. The first 2, I make ALL THE TIME... The last one, Pico de Gallo, I've only made once but it was heavenly :)

Vegan Taco Soup 

Nowadays, I omit the vegan ground "beef" crumbles and saute the onion and garlic in water to eliminate needless fat. I also add TVP usually towards the end of cooking (The fine granule kind, not chunks), about 3/4 cup and mix in to incorporate, as it cooks quickly.

My go to recipe for Potato Salad... Yummmm, think I might have to make some again this weekend!

Lastly, Pico de Gallo!

The recipe still hasn't been fixed on VegWeb but basically forget the liquid part in the directions! Just chop everything and mix it together, the tomatoes will omit enough juices on their own.

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

The Post-A-Thon... Massive Unload Part 3

VegWeb Recipe Pics and Reviews:

The first day I was vegan, I googled "Vegan Recipes" and found VegWeb, and all I can say is, "Thank God for VegWeb!" I was a pretty new cook in general before I went vegan and I can tell you that making vegan food never crossed my mind...VegWeb can pretty much take the credit for teaching me how to cook not just even vegan, but in general. I have come a long way and have screwed up countless times but screwing up teaches you what NOT to ever do again :)

My favorite recipe on VegWeb so far is Baha Tofu Tacos with Cilantro Coleslaw and my recipe for Vegan Tarter Sauce. The only change I have made is to double the amount of cabbage in the slaw but leave the rest the same.

This is my second favorite recipe on VegWeb, a simplified version of General Tao's Tofu. To simplify this recipe, I don't freeze the tofu, I use ginger garlic paste in place of the minced ginger and garlic, and I omit the sherry. If I have no veggies in my house (THE HORROR) I even admit the green onions and half the sauce which I did above.

I've made this Pumpkin Pie a few times as well (Never made the crust part), it requires at least 15 minutes additional baking time for me if I remember correctly. I dolloped some Cashew Cream on top as well (Modifications include soaking cashews, replacing water with vanilla almond milk and using less of it).

Above is VegWeb's Chipotle Roasted Red Pepper Chowder. This soup will be in the regular rotation once it cools down again. Love it! I can't wait to try it in a bread bowl <3

This is my go to pasta salad recipe, Southern Macaroni Salad (With bowties obviously above), I add the dressing right before serving this because it always soaks into the pasta too much for me (Others on on VegWeb disagree with my thoughts so I'm probably doing something wrong!).

Lastly, what do you do when you want salsa but have no tomatoes and pretty scarce ingredients around? Halve this recipe of  Salsa Delicioso!!!! My modifications were :Used petite diced tomatoes instead of stewed, used garlic powder instead of fresh (Have no idea how much, accidentally dumped more than I meant to cause the cap fell off but still so so good!), fresh jalapeno instead of serrano (2 fatty ones not seeded cause I like spice), and left out the oil cause it just seemed unnecessary, and omitted the cilantro.

Check out VegWeb! It's my home away from home <3

Peace, Love, Vegan <3

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

Round Two of the Vegan Food Porn Post-A-Thon... VegWeb's Potato Angel's

Okay here we go again! A few weekends ago, I made a tried and true favorite with a new twist: VegWeb's Potato Angels! This time, I added black salt (an Indian spice that gives dishes and "eggy" flavor) and OMG did this taste like a deviled egg (Well the yellow filling definitely did)... This was so good I swear you could use the filling (made out of potatoes, vegan mayo, yellow mustard, minced onions, pepper, black salt, and paprika) as spread for vegan egg salad sammies... Seriously legit folks... Get off your ass and get some black salt, look at this!

I served the Angel's alongside some tofu that I baked in Braggs and Olive Oil (find the technique in Viva Vegan) at 400F for 20 minutes and another 15 minutes or so slathered in store bought barbecue sauce, served with some roasted brussels sprouts...

The "Egg Salad" was served alongside some slices of Vegan Dad's Lunch Meat, thickly sliced and smothered in ketchup, served with roasted carrots and brussels...

Oh ya, and I also made some vegan sushi cause I can't go long without my fix... This was pretty simple since I didn't have much on hand... Just avocado, carrots, pickled radish and cucumber.