Quick MoFo Roundup and SPECULOOS!

If I could post about everything I've starred in Google Reader, have emailed myself, or bookmarked so far in MoFo, we'd be here for days. I haven't been commenting on as many blogs as I'd like to either so I thought I'd throw together a quick post about some of the things I am dying to try.

One of the very first things that really caught the attention of my stomach was the Quinoa Edamame Salad over at Eating Beautiful. I am obsessed with the Warm Chickpea Artichoke and Quinoa Salad that I make so this gorgeous salad is right up my alley and I can't wait to give it a try!

If I had to pick one thing to list as my favorite thing about fall, without a doubt it's pumpkin! Especially if it is in baked goods! One of these Sundays I am going to get up early enough to make these Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls from Hell Yeah It's Vegan! for breakfast. If I close my eyes and try really hard, I can almost smell them! While you are there, check out the Warm Cabbage Salad that was posted yesterday. It looks fantastic!

The Pumpkin Pie Smoothie over at Veggie Fixation has me craving a smoothie in the worst way. Such a quick way to get your pumpkin fix!

I have never cooked with fresh pumpkin before, I think I've always been a little intimidated by it. Sure, I'll carve the shit out of a jack-o-lantern and roast up the seeds, but that's as close as I've come to cooking with fresh pumpkin in any way. It is definitely something that has been on my list of things to do and I think this recipe for Roasted Sugar Pumpkin & Collard Crustless Quiche from Manifest Vegan is going to be the one to get me to do it! Sugar pumpkins are small enough that I won't feel like a huge failure if I fuck it up, but this recipe also seems straight forward enough that I wont.


Oh, and in other news, my bf scored some Speculoos cookies at the dollar store! He bought them thinking they were biscotti but when I realized and explained with ridiculous enthusiam (more than one should have at 7 am, unless of course you've just discovered a package of biscoff in your bfs kitchen) what he had actually bought, I think he might have thought I was nuts. Until he tried them. I've gotta go to the dollar store asap and clear out their stock.

Also, thanks to a ppk peep, I learned the why they are called Biscoff here in the good ole USA. When you combine the words 'biscuit' and 'coffee' that is what you get and because these are clearly "Europe's favorite cookie with coffee" it only makes sense.

Lentil Sheperd's Pie with Caulipots - MoFo Post 5!

The gray and rainy weather stuck around another day so yet again, I found myself craving comfort food. Thinking back to the Sheperd's Pie I was going to go get the night before, I decided to make some at home. I knew I wouldn't have the patience to cook everything, put it all together in a baking dish and then wait for it to cook some more so I turned to the Upside-Down Lentil Sheperd's Pie and Caulipots from Appetite for Reduction.

This was the quickest and tastiest Sheperd's Pie (vegan or pregan) I've ever made. Being the rule breaker I am, I couldn't follow the ingredients perfectly. I omitted the zucchini, subbed oregano for tarragon, increased the worcestershire sauce(I like a saucy shep pie) and added frozen corn when I was adding the peas. Oh yeah, I didn't have du Puy lentils either so I used green. No bigs. A scoop of Caulipots (also #9 on the PPK 100 list!) topped with a scoop of the lentil mix and a side of steamed broccoli was the perfect meal for a crappy day like today.

PPK 100: #23 Camera+ for iPhone

So remember when I said I wanted to do/buy/eat/cook as many of the things on the PPK 100 list as I could before the end of the year? Even though I haven't been posting about it, I am working on it. Slowly. I'm going to start with #23 on the list: Camera+ for iPhone. I don't have an iPhone but I do have an iTouch. The app is slightly different for the touch vs the phone but overall, you get the same types of photos.

I use this app a lot, mostly for pictures of my dogs but I have gotten some pretty sweet food photos too. It gives you some fantastic filtering options to really change the look of the original photo. I highly recommend it to anyone with an iPhone, iTouch or whatever other platform you can get it on. Here are a few of the photos I've taken with it:

Doing The PPK 100!

)Photo from http://www.theppk.com/2012/01/the-post-punk-kitchen-100/ )

Sure, it came out on January 6 and its now mid-February but hey, who's keeping track? When this super awesome list of 100 best vegan things/foods/places/recipes/anything in 2011 came out, I read it, I thought to myself on quite a few of the items "ooohhh I want to cook/eat/buy/whatever that!" Then a thread got started in the Kitchen where peeps are starting to keep track of all the ones they can check off their lists as they go along in 2012. I wanna play too guys!!!! I actually did post about my intentions in the thread and am going to come up with some way to keep myself organized on this venture. Other than printing the list and scribbling things off as I go along, then probably losing it and then forgetting all about it.

Yeah yeah, I've started cookbook challenges and Mofo a million times over and not followed through, but this time it's different! There is no set goal, no time limit(okay, well before Dec 31 so I can be ready for next year's Top 100 list, but whateves) and no pressure! I am just going to check things off (and blog about them) as I complete them intentionally, or not, from now until the rest of the year. 

There are a few things on the list I have technically done, but I'm not sure if I've done them in 2012 or event recently enough in 2011 to remember enough worth blogging about. I will not go in order, and I probably wont do more than a few a month, but it will be fun to try out some new things!

So there it is folks, just another little plot to get myself blogging and cooking more. I'm going to go print out all the recipes/links/products that I can definitely achieve and go from there!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Cookbook Challenge Week 10 - Viva Vegan - Creamy Potato Soup with Avocado and Brazilian Braised Kale

Another week, another book! This time it is Viva Vegan!

I've been so sick all week I have not had any energy to cook anything. I did however force myself to make this soup the other night and even though I should have been in bed resting it was totally worth making the trip to the grocery store and actually doing something other than heating a frozen Tofutti Pizza(which are friggen amazing by the way). From start to finish this meal took me much longer than it should have but I was pretty slow moving thanks to the exhaustion this cold has graced me with. On a normal night this would be a pretty quick and easy meal, the longest part actually being cooking the potatoes in the broth but it's only 30 minutes and it's inactive time so you can prep other things or relax on the couch.

This soup consists of garlic, onion, cumin, veggie broth, potatoes, vegan sour cream and a few other things I am probably forgetting(I am too lazy to go get the book) and is topped with a fresh little mix of onion and cilantro tossed with lime juice. I used lime and lemon because I was feeling frisky! Actually, I think I was mid-fever so I grabbed a lemon and started juicing it before I realized it wasn't a lime but, who cares. That little topping is then topped with diced avocado. The crunch and tang of the onion/citrus mix really goes so well with the mild creamy texture of the avocados. When those two are mixed with the soup, watch out because it's a friggen party in your mouth. No joke. I will be honest though, I couldn't find ripe enough avocados so I had to microwave mine to soften it(gasp!).

I have a HUGE love/hate relationship with cooked greens. It's mostly hate. I always try to give them a shot and most of the time I just don't like them. Fresh raw greens, I will eat the shit out of them, but as soon as they are cooked they get all wilty and I just can't stomach the texture. The one green I have had the most success with cooked though is kale. I don't cook it very often but I do enjoy it almost all of the times I have had it. It is extremely good for you and much heartier than something like cooked spinach(blech!). I went with the Brazilian Braised Kale recipe which uses liquid smoke. I like the dish but honestly think I would almost be able to say I loved it had I left out the liquid smoke. It was still pretty good and all I really cared about was getting something healthy in me.

I am still sick but am going to try my best to summon the energy to cook at least one more meal from this book before weeks end. There are so many excellent recipes that I am looking forward to trying.

Cookbook Challenge - Week 9 - Yellow Rose Recipes

Oh, hey guys. How's it going? I haven't been around much lately and I've been missing you. The past few weeks I have been so exhausted at night and have had zero motivation to drag my ass into the kitchen to cook anything worth writing about. Until now. Remember that Cookbook Challenge I was doing? I haven't posted anything about that in weeks because I didn't have some of the books(and the other reasons above) but I am pretty excited to jump back in for the last few weeks of it.

The book for the past week was Yellow Rose Recipes written by the lovely Joanna Vaught. YRR has tons of easy and awesome recipes complete with adorable illustrations and some drool-worthy photos. I was so excited when Joanna busted out about a dozen copies of this book from her personal stash to sell to some of us PPKers who didn't have it yet.

I made the Penne Alfredo and the Very Berry Muffins. Both were extremely easy and were omni-approved by my best friend Diane.

The Penne Alfredo is a really versatile dish. It didn't remind me of the Alfredos of my pregan past but I really can't say that's a bad thing. In the time it took to boil the pasta the sauce was cooked up and ready! The "sauce" for this alfredo was thick, creamy and stuck to the penne but wasn't very saucy if that makes any sense. The Alfredos I am used to are fat laden cream and cheese based sauces while this one consisted of mostly soymilk, raw cashews, garlic. Much easier on your waistline but still very satisfying. After the sauce had cooked I gave it a whirl in the Vita-mix to make it extra smooth, tossed it with some fresh parsley and rosemary and that was that!

Next up were the Very Berry Muffins. I've had a box of Ener-G Egg Replacer sitting in the cabinet forever but I had never used it until this recipe. These muffins came out pretty good but I can't say that I love them, at least not yet. I used a mix of raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. I have a huge love/hate relationship with blueberries but I think if I had used just them and not mixed berries I would have loved the muffins a lot more. I sliced one in half, smeared it with Earth Balance and toasted it up in a skillet and had a nice little treat for myself Saturday morning though!

It felt great to be back in the kitchen cooking again so stay tuned this week for the latest book of the Cookbook Challenge, Viva Vegan

Cookbook Challenge Week 4. VwaV - Seitan Portobello Stroganoff

I really can't believe it's already Week 4. Halfway through no less! I have been slacking the past week or so, for Week 3 I only made 2 recipes out of the 3 I had planned. But this week is all about Vegan with a Vengeance. This is the first vegan cookbook I owned, my mom gave it to me for Christmas 2 years ago while I was still a vegetarian. As much as I love all of my vegan cookbooks, especially Veganomicon, this one will always be my favorite. I've made some pretty badass dishes from it that I know I will keep going back to because they are just that good.

For the Cookbook Challenge I decided to step out of my comfort zone of tried and true recipes and try some new stuff(except the seitan, I've made that before.) Technically I made 3 recipes from the book on Sunday but 2 went together for a meal and the other was just dessert so I am still planning on making at least one more good meal and maybe another dessert by weeks end.

I decided to make Seitan Portobello Stroganoff with homemade seitan, homemade pasta and Coconut Heaven Cupcakes. I definitely had my work cut out for me. I spent the entire day in the kitchen!

Let's start with the pasta...

I haven't busted out my pasta machine in a few years so I figured no better time than now to dust it off and crank out some sheets of fresh fettuccine to go with the Stroganoff. I forgot how easy it actually is and now that I've been reminded I can see more fresh pasta in my cooking future. Probably only on weekends though, it is easy but a little time consuming. The results are so much more worth your time than the $1 you spend on a package of dried shit at the grocery store. It cooks almost instantly, it has a fresh taste and you can customize the dough however you want by adding different flours, seasonings, oils or even pureed greens. I kept it simple for this recipe just in case my pasta making skills had disappeared. Luckily they are still here! I am really looking forward to trying out some different flavor and flour combinations to create the perfect pasta but in the meantime I will give you the recipe I used.

Fresh Vegan Pasta

1 2/3 cup flour - I used AP
2/3 cup water
1/2 tspn salt
1 tspn garlic powder
1 tblspn truffle oil (or olive oil if thats what you have)

On the counter or in your mixing bowl(I took the lazy Kitchenaid route) Dump the flour, salt and garlic powder into a little mountain.

Using your finger make a well in the middle, like a volcano.

Pour the water and oil into the well and using a wooden spoon or your dough hook mix until it comes together to form a dough.

Dump onto floured surface and using your hands(don't forget to flour them too!) knead for about 5 minutes, adding more flour if the dough is too sticky.

Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes, I cover it in saran wrap for this step.

Once rested divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Taking the first section using your hands roughly make the dough into a rectangle shape and start running through your pasta machine on the thickest setting 2-3 times.

Repeat with every setting going down to thin out the dough. Dust with flour as needed.

At this point the pasta sheet should be very long. I cut it in half or thirds(depending on the length I would like my noodles to be) and then run each shorter sheet through the pasta cutter.

Put on a drying rack, hang on a broom or door for at least 30 minutes before cooking. If you are going to store them, dry them out for longer and seal in a bag with as much air removed as possible. You can also freeze the noodles prior to cooking.

When ready to cook, bring water to a boil and submerge noodles. Once the water comes back to a boil and the noodles float to the top, they are done. This will vary from 30 seconds to 3 minutes depending on thickness and freshness of the pasta.

Now onto the Seitan Portobello Stroganoff. If you are a PPKer reading this, than I know I am not the only one who is chuckling at the word "stroganoff.' I've never had any type of stroganoff before this one(are there different kinds?) so I didn't know what to expect, except deliciousness of course! I got what I expected, and more. It looks like something a mean old cafeteria lady who reeks of cigarettes would plop onto your plate in school, or maybe even prison. Don't let the looks fool you into thinking it will be as unappetizing as it looks. This dish is packing some serious flavor on so many levels. It is so hearty and savory with a nice little kick at the end from the dijon mustard. I promise you, make this recipe and you will love it.

Last but definitely not least, let's talk about the Coconut Heaven Cupcakes. Using the word 'heaven' in the title is no joke. These cupcakes really are like dying and going to heaven(if you believe in that sort of thing). If you are a cupcake lover and especially a coconut lover, these babies are for you! Coconut cupcake with coconut frosting, hell yes. There is something about shredded coconut that gets me every time, I just can't say no. I only shared these cupcakes with a few people but heard only awesome things that these are going to become a standard cupcake for me. I have recently started using vanilla bean paste in place of vanilla extract in my baked goods and have noticed  huge difference in flavor. The biggest difference though was in these cupcakes, the vanilla and coconut flavors were totally balanced so neither one was too overpowering. Although it is much more expensive, the level of flavor it adds is worth the extra money for the paste. All those little black specks you see in the frosting in the picture below isn't a screw up, or pepper or any other weird shit, it's actually the vanilla!

Week 3 - Urban Vegan - Philly Portobello Cheese Steak

This is the first recipe I have made from Urban Vegan and it was awesome! It is quick, cheap, easy and delicious. All of my favorite things! I halved the recipe and it still made a ton. And, I can't ever leave well enough alone so I made a few changes and additions. I'm not posting the entire recipe so if you want it, google it, email me or better yet, go buy the book! You won't be disappointed.

The original recipe called for 8 portobellos finely chopped. And like I said, I halved it, I still had to use 2 cutting boards to hold just 4 mushroom caps! I added a dash of Tabasco A-1 sauce while the shrooms were cooking for a little more flavor.

Before I cooked the mushrooms I caramelized some onion because really, what is a cheese "steak" without any onion? Next time I need to remember to grab a green pepper.  After the mushrooms and onion were all cooked up it was time to assemble: French roll slathered with Veganaise, hots, the caramelized onion, lettuce, tomato, pickles, some sliced Follow Your Heart Mozzarella(recipe called for cheddar but Mozz was all there was in the fridge) and last but definitely not least was the mushrooms!

And seriously, what is a quick comforting meal without some tots?

Cookbook Challenge. Week 2. Vcon - Chili Cornmeal Crusted Tofu Po' Boy

I'll admit that I've never had a Po' Boy in my pregan days but if I did, I would imagine this would blow any meat filled one out of the water. Seriously. From beginning to end this recipe is a winner all the way. I had been planning on making this recipe since I saw Veganomicon in the Cookbook Challenge book list and it finally happened today!

Today is my last day of freedom before starting a new job tomorrow so I wanted to make something really awesome since my cooking time is going to be much more limited now. I probably could have picked a more involved recipe, but this one has had me drooling for quite awhile.

Coleslaw is something I've been really missing since going vegan and I just haven't gotten around to making it. I made it first thing in the morning because I was feeling super motivated and I'm really glad I did. Right after I made it I obviously had to try it, you know, to make sure it tasted good! It was awesome. It was even more awesome after sitting in the fridge for a few hours getting all extra delicious! I used a mix of purple and green cabbage as well as some grated carrot. Purple cabbage is also called red cabbage, but it's all purple, no red!

 
It is also something that I could eat bowls of and never get sick of. The perfect snack or lazy lunch for me is a huge bowl of shredded purple cabbage tossed (Read: drowned) with balsamic vinegar. I've mentioned my love of balsamic before, and I will probably mention it a million more times, but when it's combined with the cabbage, it's the best.

The slaw dressing was really friggen fantastic too! The right mixture of Veganaise, rice or soy milk, some lemon juice, salt and pepper is very similar to what I remember non-vegan coleslaw dressing to taste like. Score! I love when I make something that reminds me of something I used to love back in the day.

 The Chile Cornmeal Crusted Tofu is a great companion to the coolness of the slaw. According to the recipe you can bake or fry it. I chose to bake it for 2 reasons. 1. Tofu + frying + me = 95% chance of disaster. 2. My mother was asking me all sorts of questions about the nutritional info for her new diet. Questions to which I had no answers and since I am never one to leave a loved one (especially my mom!) drooling over food they can't eat baking it was obviously the healthier choice. I also feel that that the baking really helped in keeping the crust on. If I fried it, I'm sure it would have all just floated off into the oil until I was left with nothing but greasy tofu triangles.

The cornmeal mix that the tofu was to be dredged in was packing some serious flavor. Tons of chili powder, cayenne, cumin, lime zest and salt will give your taste buds a much welcomed wake up call!

I set up my little tofu factory line and got to work soaking and dredging. And then baking. (Don't be fooled by the random ingredients on the counter, our spice cabinet is always overflowing onto the counter tops)

After the tofu was all baked up and crispy it was time to assemble my sub! A nice slathering of chipotle mayo(adobe sauce mixed with some Veganaise), a heap of coleslaw, some pickle slices and of course the tofu! All of this was put into a toasty sub roll and then devoured. Overall, I love this recipe. And again, I'm really glad I went with baking it, it made it so much easier to make, clean and then not feel all full of grease afterward. So Mom, if you are reading this, thanks for being on a diet! <3

Cookbook Challenge. Week 1. AFR-40 Clove Chickpea and Broccoli

If there was ever an easy, healthy and delicious meal made up specifically for me, this would be it. This was really one of the easiest recipes I have ever made from a cookbook. With only a few ingredients, 1 cutting board, 1 baking dish and a ton of garlic, you really can't go wrong. This is without a doubt going to become a staple in my cooking!

While the recipe says "40 clove" it really doesn't have that many. It only has 10! It's really so simple that it doesn't call for a huge long post about it. Throw some broccoli, chickpeas and smashed garlic into a baking dish sprinkled with some olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano and lemon zest. Bake for 30 minutes, add some veggie broth and bake 15 more minutes. I cooked up some brown rice to serve it with and I had the perfect lazy night meal!That's it! Dinner is done! 

The slight crunchiness the slightly browned bits of broccoli with the tenderness of the chickpeas and garlic with the veggie broth spooned over a bowl of brown rice really hits the spot on a cold snowy New England night. I highly recommend you make this dish. Soon.

I'm sad to see the week end for Appetite for Reduction but at the same time I am very excited to see the week for Veganomicon start. I love that cookbook so much and have made quite a few recipes from it since I bought it over the summer but am definitely looking forward to trying out some new ones so stay tuned next week for more vegan goodness!

Cookbook Challenge. Week 1. AFR-Creamy Mushroom Fettuccine

I really can't go wrong with anything in this cookbook! 3rd winner in a row! The thing I have liked most about the recipes I have made so far from AFR is that it only takes one serving to fill me up, more often than not I find myself going back for seconds, not the case here. On the menu for tonight was Creamy Mushroom Fettuccine. I was a little hesitant to make this recipe because I either love recipes with mushrooms or I hate them, but since I am obsessed with anything that has balsamic vinegar I decided to give it a go. And I am so glad I did! I made this recipe exactly as it was written except that I added one crown of chopped broccoli that I had leftover from making Mac and Trees last night, and I used white cooking wine since I had no dry white wine. I also made garlic bread on the side to sop up the extra mushroom goodness.

I sauteed the garlic and threw in the mushrooms, broccoli and some thyme and cooked them for about 5 minutes and then I added the cooking wine and let that cook down. Next up was some Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup mixed with some cornstarch. After that thickened up I added some balsamic vinegar and after that was the cooked fettuccine.Topped with some chopped green onion, it was perfection.

Let's talk about my garlic bread now.... If they had garlic bread contests I'm pretty confident I would win. No joke, it's fucking awesome. I think everyone needs to experience this garlic bread so I will share my recipe with you...

Fuckin Awesome Garlic Bread

1 loaf of Italian Bread cut lengthwise down the middle(I only use one half, if you want to use both, double everything below)

4 tbspn olive oil

3 cloves garlic minced

1 tbspn dried rosemary crushed

1 tspn crushed red pepper

1 tspn salt

1 tspn black pepper

nooch

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350

In a small cast iron skillet heat the olive oil on low and add all ingredients, except nooch. Let heat for a few minutes to release all of the flavors into the oil. 

Using a pastry brush, brush oil onto the bread and scoop all leftover garlic and seasoning from pan onto the bread and spread out. Sprinkle nooch on top of the bread. 

Bake for about 10 minutes or until bread is getting golden brown and toasty but the inside still has some freshness and chewiness. 

Slice, sop up any sauce on your plate and fall in love.

So really, if I haven't convinced you to go buy this cookbook yet, I don't know what else to do. Except post more delicious recipes? Ok fine........... But only one or two more and then I'm moving on to Veganomicon for Week 2 of The Cookbook Challenge so you're on your own!

Cookbook Challenge. Week 1. AFR-Buffalo Tempeh and Mac & Trees with Easy Breezy Cheezy Sauce

We are only a day into the Cookbook Challenge and I have already seen so many great meals cooked by other PPKers. There is not a menu in the Table of Contents that I am not interested in cooking. I may or may not have already said this, but if you don't own this book, buy it!

On the menu for tonight was Buffalo Tempeh and Mac and Trees with Easy Breezy Cheezy Sauce. The second meal I made from Appetite for Reduction was another winner. I made a few minor modifications out of necessity but it wasn't anything that would make a difference in the way the recipe turned out.

The Buffalo Tempeh was made according to the recipe with the exception that I used fresh garlic and onion instead of the granules because I didn't have them. I cooked them down in a little EB before adding cayenne sauce, veg broth and oregano. I would have never thought to add oregano to hot sauce before, especially because I think hot sauce is good on its own but the flavor it brought was great. I usually don't steam tempeh before I cook it but I really do feel it helped it to absorb the marinade and made the texture better.

I have read the Mac and Trees recipe a few times while flipping through the book and again while making my shopping list, I'm not gonna lie, it took me until I actually bought the broccoli to get the "Trees" part. I should have gotten it sooner because growing up my dad always pretended like broccoli was a little tree with little tiny birdies living in it. Now, thinking back, I'm surprised I even ate broccoli that I though contained little baby birdies. Anyways, the Mac and Trees was simple to make, I subbed rotini for macaroni because for some reason the pasta aisle at Whole Foods tonight was barren, maybe due to the impending snow storm we are supposed to get in the Northeast tomorrow night/Wednesday. I think rotini holds sauce better anyways so I wasn't completely devastated.

The Cheezy Sauce was a nooch based sauce which was awesome, but to be honest, I can't really ever tell a difference in any of the nooch based sauces I've made in my vegan life. They all have different ingredients but they always taste very much the same. Again, not complaining, I love a nooch sauce as much as any vegan. After the tempeh was done cooking and the nooch sauce was all mixed in with the pasta I drizzled some of the leftover buffalo sauce over my plate of pasta . As an omni I never actually had buffalo mac, but if I did, I would have to say the vegan version is better. Not only is it better for you, it just tastes awesome.

This was a really hearty meal that left me feeling full after a small bowl and knowing that it was relatively good for me made it taste even better. Just like the lettuce wraps and fried rice I made last night, this is absolutely going to become a staple in my recipe repertoire.

PPK Cookbook Challenge. Week 1. AFR - Lettuce Wraps and Unfried Rice

I posted the other day about the Cookbook Challenge we are doing over at The PPK, and I am using it as an opportunity to not only use some of the cookbooks I have and have never used, but also as a chance to get some more blogging in.The Challenge technically starts tomorrow but I started today just because it's always easier to cook on Sundays for some reason. Up this week is Appetite for Reduction.

I got Appetite for Reduction for Christmas and haven't cooked anything from it until today. I made the Lettuce Wraps with Hoison-Mustard Tofu and the Unfried Fried Rice. Both were super easy to throw together and tasted awesome. When I make lettuce wraps I usually make a copycat version of P.F. Changs tofu lettuce wraps complete with the crispy fried cellophane noodles. While the AFR recipe didn't call for crispy fried noodles, it was definitely an awesome dish, and much healthier! Normally, I can't leave well enough alone and always change something about a recipe, but this one was almost perfect as is. The only change I made was an addition, to the hoison-mustard sauce, I added an extra teaspoon of mustard, but instead of adding the same yellow mustard, the extra teaspoon was Dave's Insanity Mustard. The sauce was really delicious as is, but I like things hotter. The hot mustard really took it to another level, both flavor-wise and heat-wise.

I can't remember the last time I made any sort of fried rice at home, I think it was when I was an omni, but I have had it on a few occasions as a veg while drunk and having Chinese food as the only option for late night eats. I make a lot of rice, but I usually just make plain jasmine rice and top it with whatever random stir fry Im cooking up. The Unfried Fried Rice recipe is such an awesome base to build your favorite fried rice, but without as much oil and other junk.I made the rice an hour or so in advance so it could cool and not get mushy when getting reheated. The recipe called for Brown or Jasmine rice, which I unfortunately didn't have, but white instant rice subbed just fine. I used reduced sodium soy sauce and added petite peas and fresh bean sprouts just before cooking adding the rice to make it healthier and more flavorful. I love the way the little peas pop in your mouth combined with the slight crunch the sprouts have when added in. I really can't imagine eating any sort of fried rice without them.

After a long afternoon this was the perfect meal to make. Fast. Easy. Healthy. Delicious. I am really looking forward to making more recipes from this cookbook!

Cookbook Challenge

Get excited! Starting next week some of us crazy vegans over at The PPK are doing a 12 week cookbook challenge. We will be cooking 3 different recipes per week out of of the chosen cookbook for that week. It's a really great chance for people to work their way through some of the cookbooks we all have but may have not used or just don't use enough. Here is the lineup:

January 10 - Appetite for Reduction
January 17 - Veganomicon
January 24 - Urban Vegan
January 31 - Vegan with a Vengeance
February 7 - Eat, Drink & Be Vegan
February 14 - FREE choice week - Choose any cookbook. Dessert cookbook will be Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World or other.
February 21 - 500 Vegan Recipes
February 28 - American Vegan Kitchen
March 7 - Yellow Rose Recipes
March 14 - Viva Vegan
March 21 - Vegan Brunch
March 28 - Final Week! Free choice - choose any cookbook. Dessert cookbook will be Vegan cookies Invade your Cookie Jar or other.

I own most of them and for the ones that I don't I will be getting the recipes online or from some lovely ppkers who are willing to email me some =) Hopefully I will see this one through to the end and not burnout like I did for MoFo. I am off to start putting together my recipe list!

Faux Tuna Salad

This is going to be a quick post because I'm tired, being lazy and watching The Veg Edge on The Cooking Channel. Finally, a cooking show focused on vegetarian and vegan cooking! So far it's been really great, it has focused on 5 cities and some really great veg chefs, including Isa Chandra Moskowitz

I've been trying to get better about making things in advance to bring to work for lunch so I can start eating healthier(I haven't been the healthiest vegan lately) and stop spending as money on takeout. On of my favorite lunches as an omni was a tuna sandwich and when I went vegetarian I came to terms with the fact that I wouldn't be eating them anymore and went on with my life. I have googled vegan versions of just about every favorite dish I had as an omni and I almost always found a recipe that seemed good. I always thought any tuna alternative would probably be gross so I never bothered looking into it until I stumbled onto one. It was awhile ago so I can't remember how and where I heard about it but I decided to look more into it. I found so many recipes using chickpeas as the base and mixed with veganaise, some even had nori to help give it a "fishy" flavor. I decided to forget the recipes and just run with the idea and see what happened. The first time I made it I think I only mixed some mashed chickpeas, veganaise, salt, pepper and garlic powder and I fell in love. I instantly knew this was something that could make its way into my lunches and it was even better with pickles mixed in!

I've been having to get up earlier lately so I don't have the time in the morning or the energy at lunch to prepare lunch for the next day. It had been awhile since I had a faux tuna sandwich so I decided to make a big batch of it to keep in the fridge at work. I threw one can of drained chickpeas into the food processor to chop them up and mixed them in a bowl with veganaise, salt, pepper, garlic powder, a pinch of cayenne and shredded carrot.

This is the perfect quick lunch to throw on bread with a slice of Follow Your Heart Monterey Jack and some sliced pickles and a side of chips.

Honestly, I am too tired to write anything else so that's it for tonight.

I suck at MoFo. And a survey.

  Wow, I suck. I haven't blogged in a little over a week. So much for posting 5x a week for MoFo... I am going to try my best to get back on track this week. For now here is a survey that was put together over at The PPK. If you want to do it too, feel free to take it from my blog or from the Google Doc I saved it in. Epic Vegan MoFo Survey.


What's your favorite spice or spice blend? Garlic. Or Chili Powder. I can't choose just one. That's like choosing a favorite pet or child to me.

You have $20 to spend on fresh groceries and produce for the whole week (with a fairly well stocked pantry of dry goods, legumes, grains, and spices). what do you buy?
Almond Milk, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrots, red cabbage, tofu, coconut milk yogurt

What's your favorite way to make tofu? Baked balsamic glazed

Vegan guilty pleasure? I'm becoming a cupcake addict

If you could make anyone vegan, who would it be? Probably Ted Nugent, he's a pretty obnoxious omni

If you could only read one other vegan blog, what would it be? I'd take the PPK forums over one single blog any day! I wouldn't be able to choose.

Were you always interested in cooking, or did veganism change the way you saw and interacted with food? I've always loved to cook, veganism has just made it better. It's more of an adventure now.

Excluding analogues, what new things have you tried that you probably wouldn't have as an omni? Quinoa .It freaked me out a little at first

What is the one vegan staple that everyone seems to love, but you can't get behind? I can't say there is one.

What was your first "wow, I'm such a stereotypical vegan" moment? Oh god, I don't know. Probably when I was getting ready to go to my first protest.

First recipe you veganized? Stuffed Shells. Mmmmm I love tofu ricotta

What would you like to veganize, but haven't yet? The KFC Double Down. It looks disgusting but part of me wants to know how gross it really is. And a friend requested I veganize it for him

Favorite kitchen utensil/appliance? My kitchenaid stand mixer. I've had it for 9 years and I would die without it

Most disastrous kitchen failure? The chickpea cutlets I made the other day, I ground them to finely so no matter how long I cooked them they were crispy on the outside but raw and doughy on the inside.

First vegan cookbook? Vegan With a Vengeance

What question about being vegan do you HATE answering? "Where do you get your protein?"

If you could tell the world one thing about vegans, what would it be? We aren't the crazy ones...

Funniest vegetable? I can't say that I find humor in veggies, unless they are a freak of nature that looks like a penis

What is a family recipe you have veganized? We don't really have family recipes but my mom does make some AMAZING stuffed mushrooms that I am going to veganize this holiday season

Weirdest food combination ? Nothing is too weird for me

Is there something you wish you could veganize, but can't/couldn't? Nope, if it isn't already vegan or can't be veganized, I don't want it

Favorite ways to prepare tofu, seitan, tempeh, any other vegan proteins? with BBQ sauce

Are your pets vegan? if so, what do you feed them? tell us about having vegan furbabies! Yes, Gizmo is vegan. She is on a mix of homemade food made up of grains, sweet taters, veggies, fruit and beans mixed with a little Natural Balance for crunch. She also gets all the Vegedog supplements mixed into her food as well.

Favorite non-dairy milk? Unsweetened Almond Milk all the way.

What’s one “vegan myth” you’d like to squash? That we are all dirty hairy hippies.

 

THE Vegan MoFo Quiche

Not only have I been slacking on my blog in general but I have already starting slacking at MoFo. It's day 4 of Mofo and this is only my 2nd post. I am going to blame it on my lack of eating blog-worthy food for the past 2 days in addition to my awful jet lag. Adjusting back to East Coast time sucks. My first post was in California and I was half asleep so I'm a little disappointed in the beginning of my first ever MoFo, but the quiche I made tonight will totally make up for it. And I dedicated it to Vegan MoFo, keep reading, you'll see.

I was cruising around the PPK forums like I normally do all day and saw that someone had posted questions about a quiche. Then a ppker suggested the Broccoli Quiche from Vegan Brunch. I check out the recipe and decided that I needed to make it. I love making vegan versions of things I used to love as an omni and vegetarian, but for some reason quiche never crossed my mind. Maybe it's because I get weird about tofu? I mean, I love it and eat it all the time, but sometimes it just creeps/grosses me out. Whatever the reason was that I had never made or even thought to make one is beyond me but now that I have experienced the greatness that is vegan quiche, watch out world, I'm gonna go quiche crazy!!!!!

For the pie crust, I just used a basic recipe that I have no idea where I got it from, I printed it out on a Word doc awhile back and just now got around to actually using it. For this I also added some garlic powder and black pepper. For a sweet version for desserts add 1 tblspn powdered sugar.

1 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tspn salt
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening
3-5 tblspns ice cold water

Mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening using either food processor or two knives criss-crossing until you have small pea size lumps of dough.
Add water 2 tablspns at a time until dough stays together when pinched.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate about 20 minutes.
Remove and roll to size and shape needed.
Pre-bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes before adding filling.

 
I used Isa's recipe but changed a few things. Well, added is a better word. I added a handful of nooch. Yes, a handful. I keep it in a HUGE Tupperware container so I can scoop or grab however much I need. That, and it's the only Tupperware big enough to store the massive amounts I buy at a time. You can never have enough nooch.

I also doubled the mustard and added a layer of halved grape tomatoes inside of the quiche. I put about 2/3 of the quiche mix in the crust, put the layers of tomatoes and then another layer of quiche.

The letters were much thicker then the actual crust and for some reason the letters didn't want to brown up, even after a few minutes under the broiler so I gave up, but they came out perfectly crisp on the outside and flaky on the inside.

My dedication to you dear MoFoers!

I couldn't find my pie plate so I used a square one, but it worked out really well. I also made a nooch sauce to drizzle all over the piece on my plate. Just some veggie broth brought to a boil with a small amount of cornstarch mixed with cold water, a handful of nooch, salt, pepper and garlic powder. By the time I was done cooking I was so starving that I couldn't let it cool. I had to cut right into it. Now my tongue is burnt but it was definitely worth it!

I promise I will get to my Halloween post sometime before MoFo is over! For now, I have a few blogs to check out and then I need sleep! Hasta luego peeps!