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.

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