Newly Single and Hating It

For anyone who cares, I recently ended a relationship with someone I loved for 4 years. It was not my choice but I will survive hopefully...

So if you might be wondering why I'm not posting as much well, you guessed it, I don't feel like doing much of anything...

Everything happens for a reason though, only time will tell the purpose of all this pain. At least my dogs still love me :)

Viva Vegan's Zesty Orange Mojo Baked Tofu and Cilantro-Lime Rice

 Viva Vegan's "Zesty Orange Mojo Baked Tofu" and "Cilantro-Lime Rice" are 2 more yummy recipes out of this amazing cookbook! Here is the recipe for the tofu on another blog!

 I thought the "Zesty Orange Mojo Baked Tofu" could have gone a little easier on the orange peel (I googled it and 1 orange zest equals about 2 tablespoons, I think only 1 tablespoon would have been better) but other than that it was delicious. I also grated the garlic because to me, it is much easier than mincing it or chopping it small.

 This is the second time now than I made the "Cilantro-Lime Rice" and this is a recipe I will be making often. I think 20 minutes cooking time is far too long. 15 would be better as my rice was a bit dry. I still needed the added salt, even though I used veggie broth, maybe the broth cubes I have aren't that salty compared to other brands, I dunno. I also doubled the amount of green onions and cilantro and added about a teaspoon of garlic powder to the recipe.

Viva Vegan's Peruvian Seitan and Potato Skewers

Wow this recipe for "Peruvian Seitan and Potato Skewers" is flippin' fantastic! I included all veggies that were optional (Red bell pepper, onion, and small waxy potatoes) and because of this, I thought the recipe could use a little more marinade for the potatoes, but it was still to die for! I also don't have a barbecue so I just broiled these puppies for 10 minutes, flipping them halfway.

Geese people, invest in THIS COOKBOOK already! Basic ingredients (For a So Cal vegan anyways) and easy recipes... My kind of cookbook! I am making theses skewers again probably Friday, considering I found 3 full packs of skewers while moving, whoops...

More "Sausage" Crumbles

I can't get enough of these Sausage Crumbles! I had some leftover from making Stuffed Peppers and just want to sprinkle these magical crumbles on everything! So far I put them in a tofu scramble...

And on my Papa John's Pizza (I ordered 2 pizzas: Olive+Green Bell Pepper+Onion+Mushroom and Jalapeno+Pineapple, no cheese of course)... Yessss I'm moving cut me some slack!

Vegweb's Stuffed Peppers

So I finally decided on a VegWeb recipe for making Stuffed Peppers and they turned out pretty good but I think their are probably better recipes out there so my search is not over!

 The filling in these surprisingly wasn't flavorful enough for me except for the Sausage Crumbles which I plan on making all the time now... I swear on my life these crumbles taste like the real sausage they put on pizza and all you need is a bunch of spices and TVP  to make them! On a sad note, my vegan cheeze slices never melted and turned into a hard plastic-y substance so I peeled the slices off and sprinkled a bit of Daiya Mozzarella on top instead.

Latin Inspired Quinoa

 Ingredients:

- 2 cups Red Seitan*, cut into chunks
- 1/2 a White Onion, sliced
- 1 huge Jalapeno (Mine amounted to 1/3 cup), de-seeded and minced
- 1 Tomato (Seedy mucous removed, about 1/2 cup total), cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup Black Olives, sliced
- 1/2 cup Beans, I used white beans
- 2-1/2 cups cold leftover Quinoa**
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon or more Cayenne, optional if you want more heat
- 1 tablespoon Nutritional Yeast
- Juice of 1 Lime, about a tablespoon
- 1/4 cup Cilantro, minced
- Oil for frying

Directions:

- Pan fry seitan chunks in a little oil (Add more whenever needed throughout this recipe) until they are browned a bit, not burnt.
- Add onion and jalapeno and cook until onion begins to turn translucent.
- Add tomato, black olives, beans, quinoa, lime and spices, cook until hot.
- Once everything is hot, add cilantro and mix everything a few times and serve.
- Feel free to add any veggies you think would be good in this. I liked this dish topped with avocado slices and some vegan sour cream on the side!

*You don't have to use Viva Vegan's Red Seitan, you could use another seitan recipe or even store bought seitan. The Red Seitan I use is seasoned with Braggs, tomato paste, garlic, cumin, and oregano. So, if you are using plain seitan just flavor it up a bit with, at least, cumin and oregano and you will be fine. You could even add some minced garlic as your frying up the onion and jalapeno.*

**I cooked my quinoa in veggie broth so it was already a bit seasoned**

CPK's Veganized Barbecue Chik'n Pizza

I made my favorite pizza again last night... CPK's Veganized Barbecue Chik'n Pizza! I didn't have red onions so I used some white and green. I am also pretty much over vegan cheese substitutes so I left my pizza cheeze free and globed on some Vegan Ranch... Perfection!

Before Baking

After

Viva Vegan's Red Chile-Seitan and Black Bean-Sweet Potato Tamales

Last weekend I spent almost all Sunday making a BOATLOAD of tamales from my Viva Vegan cookbook. The picture above is only half of what I actually made! I made 2 batches each of both Red Chile-Seitan and Black Bean-Sweet Potato Tamales which should have produced 96 tamales (2 dozen per batch) I got about maybe 75 to 80 which is still a ton. All this hard work paid off however, as I have had easy meals and lunches all week and have had plenty of tamales to share with curious coworkers.

 

I have to say I love the Red Chile-Seitan tamales the most, Red Seitan + Red Chile Sauce + thinly sliced red bell peppers and onions.

The Black Bean-Sweet Potato Tamales were also good but I ended up stuffing the majority of the tamales with mainly black beans as there was definitely not enough sweet potatoes to go around. Next time, I might halve the amount of black beans and double the amount of sweet potatoes.

The Best Vegan Meatloaf!

I have been searching for some good vegan meatloaf and have had a handful of failed attempts thus far. After my latest failed attempt, I remembered how awesome Vegan Dad's recipe for Veggie Lunch Meat was and how much it reminded me of meatloaf. So what did I do? I used Vegan Dad's recipe and technique and added a few veggies to make this more well, meatloaf-y. Success at last! I cannot wait to make this again!

Vegan Meatloaf:

- Cut up 1 cup of peeled carrots and half a medium white onion into small pieces and sautee until tender in some water or oil, add 1/2 cup frozen corn towards the end of cooking, set aside.
- Make Vegan Dad's Veggie Lunch Meat Recipe and add the cooked veggies to the gluten flour the same time you add the blended ingredients and mix everything together. Some veggies may fall out of the gluten ball but that's okay, you can just fold them in or press them on top of your gluten loaves before they get wrapped in foil.

- I broke the gluten ball into 4 pieces and made mini meatloaf's the same way you would make the big loaf but just steam for 45 minutes (Flip loaves around halfway through steaming) and bake for 45 minutes.
- The last 15 minutes of baking, take the gluten loaves out of the foil (Be careful) and place them on some parchment paper. Top the loaves with ketchup and finish baking them.

This vegan meatloaf also makes fantastic meatloaf sandwiches. Just slice it and place it toasted bread slathered with vegan mayo, add some romaine if you want.

Party Time! Savory Spinach Dip & Dill Dip

Another weekend and another get together with my friends, which means time to whip up some amazing vegan dips! I found the following recipe for Spinach Dip on the side of a Silken Tofu package! Silken Tofu can be found on the regular old aisle at a health food store, as it doesn't need to be refrigerated.

Ingredients:

1 package Mori-Nu Silken Soft Tofu, drained
1.75 oz. package Onion Soup Mix (I use Lipton)
1/2 cup Vegan Mayo
3 large cloves Garlic, peeled
10 oz. Frozen Chopped Spinach, thawed and drained well (I squeeze as hard as I can to get the water out)
8 oz. can Sliced Water Chestnuts, drained
1/4 cup Green Onions, thinly sliced

Directions:

Drain tofu and pat with paper towels.
Place tofu in food processor, blend until smooth.
Add onion soup mix, mayo, and garlic. Blend.
Add spinach, blend.
Add water chestnuts and thinly sliced green onions. Pulse just until chunky.
Refrigerate at least an hour before serving.

The Dill Dip is even easier thanks to Simply Organic and their fantastic packets of Dill DipAll you need to do is mix the packet of dill dip with 2 cups of vegan sour cream (Which is 1 tub plus another 1/2 cup Tofutti Vegan Sour Cream). So yummy!

Vegweb's "They Won't Know It's Vegan Lasagna"

Vegweb's "They Won't Know It's Vegan Lasagna" is fantastic! This was my first time ever making a lasagna (Pathetic I know) and my first time making tofu ricotta, so many firsts tonight!

Changes and suggestions:

- I used an entire package of Tofurkey Italian Sausages (4 links) instead of the "Ground meat" substitute because it was what I had on hand. I sliced the "Sausages" into thin rounds and browned them a bit in some oil beforehand.
- For veggies I used carrots, broccoli florets, button mushrooms, and 1 bunch of fresh spinach (Stems removed). I cut all these veggies into smallish pieces (Except the spinach) and cooked them until tender. The spinach I didn't cook, I just layered it on fresh.
- I only needed like 2 cups of pasta sauce as well... Nowhere close to 2 jars! I did need the 3 cans of tomato sauce though.
- I didn't add the fake cheeze on top because fake cheeze is typically pretty gross.
- I thought the tofu ricotta in this recipe was fantastic without the vegan cream cheese added, once I added the vegan cream cheese the mixture became hard to spread so I just had it in 1 layer, it was still totally tasty though!

Vegweb's Oven Roasted Cauliflower with Rosemary and Garlic

If you love cauliflower, or at least like it, try this recipe: Oven Roasted Cauliflower with Rosemary and Garlic! Please follow the directions and let your cauliflower marinate. The first time I didn't let it marinate, I didn't like this recipe much, the second time I did let it marinate and WOW! Very delicious!

Yes... More Vegan Sushi

If you can't tell already, I love me some vegan sushi! I made some for dinner tonight to share with my sister and it turned out fabulous as usual. Tonight's filling included baked teriyaki tofu, carrots, pickled radish, avocado, cucumber, and a new addition... green onions which will now be a regular. I admit that I'm kind of weird, I dip my sushi in Thai Sweet Chili Sauce my sister is even weirder as she prefers Creamy Chipotle Sauce... Don't tell but I think it's good too!

Sushi Fillings: 

Over the weekend I made a BOAT-LOAD of tamales from Viva Vegan, I will be posting about them soon!

Vegweb's Vegan Date Cake

Vegweb's Vegan Date Cake is fabulous. My Step Mom has made this cake for me before but I thought it wasn't as flavorful. So this time, I followed another vegwebber's suggestion and added some spices: 1 tablespoon each of ground ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. I also made heart-shaped cupcakes and baked them for 15 to 20 minutes. Perfect!

Quick Dinner: Breaded Tofu + Roasted Brussels + Leftover Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

I went shopping for clothes today after work so I didn't have much time to whip up a fancy dinner. I knew I had a block of frozen and thawed tofu pressing in my tofu press as well as some brussles sprouts that I had prepped the night before (Nasty outer leaves removed, stem cut, sliced in half lengthwise). I decided I would make some breaded fried tofu tonight since I had some leftover mashed potatoes and gravy from the night before and thought the two would go together nicely.

Breaded Tofu:

Ingredients:
- 1 block extra firm tofu, pressed and cut into cubes (mine had been frozen and thawed)
- 1 tablespoon Ener-g Egg Replacer mixed with 6 tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs, more if needed (I used these bread crumbs they're gluten free)
- 1 tablespoon Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
- Oil for frying, I almost always use olive oil

***I also added a few cups of broccoli florets and seasoned them with some nut yeast, garlic powder, salt, and pepper... probably better without but I have a bunch of broccoli I need to use up***

Directions:

- Coat tofu with Ener-g and water mixture and place coated tofu in a big ziploc bag.
- Add bread crumbs and creole and shake the bag until the tofu is battered.
- Heat a big wok with a few tablespoons of oil, add tofu and fry until golden
- These are yummy dipped in barbecue sauce or ketchup

For the roasted brussels, check out my post on Roasting Veggies. I seasoned these with some minced garlic, creole, and olive oil.