BBQ Chik'n Sammies with Coleslaw and Yuca Patties

MoFo Post #10!!! Halfway there! (Whoooaaaaa, livin' on a prayer) I'm sorry, I had to. 

Fun Fact: Today I learned that when talking about the food, it's spelled Yuca with one c. Yucca with two c's is actually a plant or something. I definitely spelled it with two c's last night. Meh.

Most of the meals I make involve lots of chopping, slicing, dicing, stirring, cooking, etc. I lik hands on meals that I have to tend to from start to finish. It is part of the experience for me, when I put a lot of time, energy and love into something and it comes out delicious, I am happy with myself. Even when I make quick and easy meals for lazy nights, the love is still always there. I can't help it,cooking makes me happy.

I started out today with no thoughts or plans for dinner until a coworker and I started talking about how awesome avocados are and all the things we like to and want to do with them. We spent quite a while going back and forth, sending links to recipes and photos. After that I I had avocado on the brain so when I went over to Trader Joe's on my break I planned on picking one up for a snack and hopefully finding some inspiration for dinner.

As I was wandering around with my single avocado in hand I saw the Chicken-Less Pulled Chicken in BBQ Sauce. I thought it would be tasty on a sub or hamburger roll. When I think of bbq sammies, I instantly think of the toppings I can put on them. And coleslaw. My avocado was no longer going to be used as a snack, I was putting that little fucker on a sandwich. Once that was settled, my mind went immediately to coleslaw and how long it had been since I had made any. Remembering I had a jar of Veganaise in the bfs fridge, I quickly sought out cabbage. Being lazy thought I bought a bag of already shredded cabbage and a bag of carrot shreds. I never ever do that, I always try to grate, shred, whatever else my own vegetables. Again, part of the experience for me.

The chicken had a really meaty texture thought the sauce was a little sweeter and more tomatoey(it's a word now) than I prefer but overall, I loved it and piled on a burger bun with sliced pickle, tomato and avocado, it was fantastic.

I also had some leftover mashed yuca from dinner last night and thought it would be fun to form it into little patties and bake them up. I rolled them into little balls in my hands, flattened them out and put them on a baking sheet in the oven at 375 for about 15 minutes. When I went to check on them they weren't really crisping up on the outside and didn't want to let me flip them without falling apart. Instead of giving up, I jacked the heat up to 500 and gave them some more time. 7 or so minutes later they were starting to get nice and golden and I was able to flip them. I baked them for another 10 or so minutes and ended up with something more perfect than the mashed yuca they previously were. They had nice golden tops and bottoms and the insides were so creamy. These would be fantastic alongside some tofu scramble and some veggie bacon for brunch.


From start to finish this meal was so unbelievably easy and delicious and even though I took more shortcuts than I normally would, I was very pleased with myself for throwing together such an awesome meal.

Sorry for the craptastic photos. I didn't have the energy or patience to fuss with lighting or anything tonight.

Chili Lime Tofu, Mango BBQ Beans and Mashed Yucca

So I took a little under a week off from MoFo but I'm back. Life was getting a little hectic and expensive so the last real meal (and by real, I mean anything anybody may want to read about) I made was the Pumpkin Baked Ziti. Normally I do a lot of cooking on the weekends but this weekend I was feeling super lazy and I also have been at the bfs with all 3 dogs for a few days so cooking a big meal wasn't at the top of my list.

Speaking of the dogs, we took them to the park today. Before I get to the food, take a look at my 3 adorable vegan pups!

Gizmo - My little princess

Daine - The love of my life

Hero - She is a Dog Meat Trade Rescue and my little mountain goat

Since I wasn't super motivated to put energy into cooking but still wanted a good home cooked meal I wanted to make something super low maintenance but still healthy. My copy of Appetite for Reduction was laying around my guys kitchen so I turned to that for inspiration. I decided on Chili Lime Tofu, Cilantro Lime Yuca, Mango BBQ Beans and some wilted spinach.

When I got to the market I was super distracted so when buying the tofu, instead of grabbing a block of firm tofu I accidentally grabbed the pre-cubed kind. I didn't realize it until the beans had already been cooking for a  bit so I didn't have time to go back. I had to make it work. Initially, before I realized I had bought tiny cubes of tofu, I was intending on a 100% Latin American inspired meal but I modified things a bit and even though the tofu didn't have all Latin flavor, because I used some soy sauce, it was still fuckin' awesome and worked really well with everything else.

When I decided to make the Mango BBQ Beans, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about them. I don't like mango. At all. My guys loves it so I decided to make them. I used to love mango though, in my early 20s (and pre-vegan days)I would make a Thai style mango sauce all the time to serve over non-vegan proteins. Even after I went vegetarian, and then vegan, I would still make the same sauce and serve it with tofu or fake chicken and I still loved it. I don't know what happened, the last year or two, my tastebuds have changed I guess. I did end up loving these beans though, probably because the mango wasn't the main taste in the dish. The sweetness of the fruit complimented what would have otherwise been a really tangy sauce

The yucca, oh the yucca, I love this starchy little tuber so so much. I have only ever had yucca fries with a cilantro chutney dipping sauce, but I could eat my weight in that shit. I already knew the cilantro in the recipe would be a good match but I wasn't sure how I felt about the lime so I made some changes. I did use lime, just a tiny bit though and added a little Earth Balance and a tablespoon or two of Galaxy Vegan Cream Cheese. I did cheat though, I initially had fresh yucca in my cart but once I hit the frozen section and saw a bag of it already peeled, I switched them out.

For the tofu, since I ended up with tiny cubes of tofu, I clearly couldn't press it or dry fry it like I wanted so I decided, after draining them, to toss them in a little bit of chili powder and bake them on a sheet for about 15 minutes to get some of the moisture out. Once they were done I tossed them in a pan with the sauce and cooked it until it was more like a glaze.

When I cook for my guy, I always give him his plate first so he can start eating while I am plating and photographing mine. After about 2 bites, he was hollering from the living room how fantastic it was! Success? Yes! I agree with him, I was super proud of myself when I finally sat down to eat mine. AFR has not let me down yet.

Vegan MoFo - BBQ Seitan and Ice Cream Sandwiches

I've been going nonstop all day it feels good to finally sit down and blog! My day started an hour earlier than I would have liked it to thanks to the Daylight Savings Time stuff. I thought clocks switched tonight but apparently it was last night. I had my alarm clock set for 8 so when it went off and I started getting out of bed I looked at my cell phone and realized it was really only 7. I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn't. Usually if I wake up earlier than I need to, or just don't feel like getting up, I can stay in bed and Gizmo will stay sleeping. The second I lift my head, sit up or make any noise she is wide awake and in my face ready to go. That's what happened this morning. I'll just go to bed a little earlier than normal tonight to make up for it.

Even though I've been going going going all day, I've been home and in my sweats so that was a plus. And I got to spend a lot of time with my dogs, even bigger plus. I started my day with a few small buckwheat pancakes that my mom made. I was a little hesitant because I always imagined buckwheat as a bland starchy thing but I was wrong. These little pancakes she made were great. Even just plain, which is how I had my first two. My third had a little smear of Earth Balance and a drizzle of agave nectar. I am definitely going to be looking more into using buckwheat now!

After breakfast I decided to make use of the new running gear I got so I leashed up my 12 year old bloodhound and went for an hour long walk/jog/run. It was really cold out, he's old and I'm out of shape so we alternated. Hopefully if I/we keep up with it, it will be more running than walking!

I spent the rest of my day cooking, doing dishes, making Gizmo's food for the next month and stoking the fire for Gizmo and Dain to lay in front of it all afternoon.

While Gimli followed me everywhere I went, ALL day.

Today was the day I decided I was going to face my seitan fears and just make it. I didn't want to do anything too complicated with it since it was my first time so I went with the Simple Seitan recipe in Veganomicon. After I mixed everything together I started getting a little discouraged because it didn't look appetizing, at all, but I was determined to see this through.

After I got it boiled, simmered, strained and cooled I took a cutlet out of the fridge and sliced it up

While I had the seitan simmering, I was also making the Backyard BBQ Sauce from Veganomicon. It has been years since I have made homemade BBQ sauce so I was really excited about this. I did make a few changes though. I used shallots instead of onion, I added wayyyyy more garlic than the original 4 cloves, I used brown sugar instead of white, apple cider vinegar instead of white, no liquid smoke, can of diced tomatoes with zesty jalapenos, and a healthy squirt of ketchup. I let that simmer for the entire hour the seitan was cooking and when it was done I threw it in the Vitamix to smooth it out. This is a really versatile sauce that can be changed however you like, mine came out more of a sweet and spicy version which is just fine with me.

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I wasn't really hungry for a meal but I was really anxious to try the seitan so I took my slices and lightly fried them in a skillet. When they were heated through I gave them a coating of the BBQ sauce and cooked for another minute or two. While that was cooking I grated some Follow Your Heart Monterey Jack and warmed a pocketless pita in the microwave. It made the perfect little snack wrap. The seitan was perfectly firm but still tender. And also slightly chewy and meaty. I will definitely make it a few more times exactly as the recipe is to make sure I have the hang of it before I start changing and adding things. All in all my first time seitan was a sucess. I don't what I've been so afraid of!

Prior to eating my snack wrap, while the the BBQ sauce and seitan were still cooling in the fridge I decided to make some ice cream sandwiches. I started out with the basic chocolate chip cookie recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar but added a little dash of cinnamon to the dough. Usually when I make these cookies I am able to roll them into little balls in my hand so I figured these would be perfect because I'd be able to control the size and shape better than a regular drop cookie. For some reason todays batch did not want to be rolled at all. It was a gooey mess when I tried. I quickly gave up and grabbed and ice cream scoop. I did my best to make sure they were all the same size and shape even though I knew they were going to spread alot more than normal due to the wetter than usual dough. They still came out great, albeit a little thinner than usual due to the spreading. After the cookies cooled I pulled a pint of my favorite coconut ice cream out of the freezer and went to work scooping the ice cream and pressing the cookies together. Once they were pressed together I rolled them in flaked coconut, wrapped them up and tossed them in the freezer. I just had one and it was the perfect little dessert. Two cookies and a small serving of ice cream all together in a sandwich? Yes, please.

That, my friends, was the perfect end to a long day in the kitchen.