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.

Polenta, Beans, Cashew Cream and Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes!

I meant to write this post last week. Oops.

I wasn't intending to make a Mexican type meal for Cinco de Mayo last week but it ended up happening. The night before I had started a pot of polenta and simmered and mashed some black beans but by the time I was done I wasn't hungry anymore so I stuck them in the fridge and decided to wait.

I had never made polenta before so I didn't really know what to expect. I took a cup of cornmeal and threw it in some boiling water with some cumin, chipotle powder, cayenne and garlic and simmered it for about 15 minutes. I then put it in an 8x8 pan to set up in the fridge so I could slice and fry it. I started frying them in oil in a skillet but it wasn't working out very well so I busted out the electric counter top skillet and sprayed with a little canola. Other than the slight malfunction I ran into when I was trying to run it at the same time as the microwave on the same outlet and tripped the fuse it went really easily. They crisped up on the outside much better than they were turning out on the stove.

I also had a huge can of black beans that I cooked up with tons of  sauteed garlic, onion and cumin. After letting them simmer for awhile I took about half and gave them a whirl in the food processor to mash them up into more of a refried bean consistency.

The beans and polenta would have been an awesome dinner as is but I took it up another level with a cashew cream sauce. I had about a cup of cashews that had been soaking overnight,  I whipped them up in the VitaMix with some water, salt, lime juice, lime zest and cilantro. It did come out a little thinner than I would have liked but it's my own fault, I added a little too much water but it came out great either way. Lime and cilantro both have such fresh bold flavors and once they are combined with the creamy coolness of the cashews you are left with a refreshing cream sauce perfect for topping any sort of Mexican or Latin inspired dish.

I even found the motivation to make dessert and wanted to keep with the Cinco de Mayo theme so I decided on Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes complete with cayenne pepper! I have never tried a chocolate cupcake with cayenne and never thought I would make them either but I am so glad I did. I used a basic vegan chocolate cupcake recipe and added some cinnamon, nutmeg and almost a teaspoon of cayenne. Topped only with powdered sugar and cocoa powder they look like an innocent little treat and at first bite they taste that way too. Give it a second and you can taste and feel the spice coming through. They aren't spicy in the way that you will start sweating or feel like your tongue is burning, its more like a gentle kick to your taste buds.

Cookbook Challenge Week 4. VwaV - White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup

Trying to keep up with the Cookbook Challenge, trying to create my own recipes, working, trying to have a social life and getting enough sleep while still getting up before the sun has been extremely difficult the past 2 weeks so I have decided to take the next week off from the challenge. I also don't own the book for Week 5, Eat, Drink and Be Vegan, though I could very well just google some recipes, I have decided a break is in order. In addition to all that, I am now the proud owner of my very first DSLR, my dad bought me a used Nikon D40. I am beyond excited to learn how to use it and see the quality of my photos increase. That being said, I have no idea how to use it so I want to take my time and photograph whatever I am eating but without the (self imposed) pressure of cooking a few meals a night from scratch from a cookbook. I will still be blogging though, it will just be shorter posts with not so detailed recipes. Now, I will leave you with the last  thing I made from Vegan with a Vengeance for Week 4.

When I started this challenge I decided I was only going to use recipes that I had never made before but I cheated. I have made the White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup before and all week leading up to Thursday I couldn't stop thinking about it. It is such a simple soup to prepare but is so full of flavor and filling I couldn't not make it again. There aren't many ingredients but the combination of them all works in a way I could have never imagined. After I roasted the garlic I sauteed up some onion and threw most of everything else in the pot. After giving it a go in the VitaMix I was left with creamy perfection. I sprinkled the soup with a little more salt and pepper and a few drops of truffle oil for some extra deliciousness. As if the soup wasn't already awesome enough it was even better with a piece of chewy rosemary ciabatta toast dipped in it.

Cookbook Challenge. Week 2. Vcon - Spaghetti and Beanballs

So I've clearly been slacking in my Cookbook Challenge this week but I'm back! I knew that yesterday was going to be a very long, freezing snowy day so I would want something fairly easy, filling and comforting for dinner to get my weekend of relaxing off to the right start. I decided Spaghetti and Beanballs from Veganomicon would fit the bill. I had never  made this recipe before and really didn't have many expectations other than a full belly.

I'm not going to talk much about the spaghetti because, well, it's just spaghetti. I didn't do anything special to it. I even got so lazy as to add a jar of pre-made sauce(gasp!)

Now that the pasta is out of the way, lets talk about the beanballs. I liked them, but I unfortunately can't say that I loved them. I think part of the reason it was only like and not love was my fault though. I didn't realize until after I started cooking the balls that I had used only a 15 ounce can of beans while the recipe called for a 20 ounce can. It is only a small difference in amounts but when I used the full amounts of the other ingredients without the proper amount of beans I think it threw the recipe off a little. I chose to bake them because I was too lazy to stand over the stove frying them, and they felt pretty delicate so I didn't want them to fall apart. They crisped up nicely on the outside but even with a longer cooking time than the recipe called for the insides were slightly mushy. Maybe they are supposed to be that way and I was expecting something else because I had never made them? Who knows. And still, even though I wasn't crazy over them, they definitely hit the spot last night and will make them again in the future but will take more care to use the proper amounts.

 And I am totally using the leftovers for a beanball sub for lunch!

MoFo Mish Mash Veggie Soup

So after my last post(all of like 2 hours ago) I was really beating myself up over not regularly posting for MoFo (how else am I going to become a famous vegan blogger?!?! I kid, I kid) so what did I do? I headed straight into the kitchen to make something. The thing was, I didn't feel like actually cooking anything or making a mess but in addition to wanting something to blog about, I actually needed to eat dinner too. I had (and still have) a ton of leftover broth from a batch of seitan I made the other day and some veggies that really needed to be cooked so I decided a little chopping wouldn't be so bad.

I wasn't sure how the combination of the different flavors was going to be but it was perfect. The sweetness of the potatoes, the buttery cauliflower, the kick of the poblano combined with the "meatiness" of the beans really was surprisingly delicious and definitely hit the spot.

I am really proud of myself for also actually writing it down as I went along so I can remember what I did in the future. I apologize in advance for the terrible photo below but to be honest, my camera is in my car, it's locked and the keys are upstairs, I can't find my slippers and I don't want to get my favorite purple tube socks wet and dirty so using my cell phone was really the only option.. Okay, I'm just lazy.

Anyways, on to the soup:

Mish Mash Veggie Soup

The great thing about this soup is the freedom of substitution if you don't have one or some of the ingredients. This was literally a soup I made just to clean out some of the stuff in the fridge. This would be really great with green beans, kale, diced tomato or whatever other veggie you like in soup

2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 poblano pepper, chopped
2 tblspn olive oil
1 14 oz can of beans(your preference, I used kidney)
5 1/2 cup veggie broth (I used the leftover broth from making Seitan the night before)
1 lg sweet potato cut into bite size pieces
1/2 head of cauliflower cut into bite size pieces
Salt
Pepper
Other seasonings to taste.

Heat olive oil in soup pot and add garlic, shallot and poblano. Cook until garlic and shallot are tender and translucent.

Add veggie broth, veggies and beans. Cook until sweet potato is fork tender, about 15 minutes.

Scoop out about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of veggies only and put in Vitamix or food processor and puree until smooth. Add back into soup and stir to combine. You can do this with more veggies if you like a thicker broth, just be sure to use more veggies than the recipe originally calls for otherwise there won't be much to the soup.

Serve.