Not Your Average 'Fu

This could just as easily be called Vegan Brunch: Preview Review or How I Became a Foodie. I want to take a little time to introduce my self: my name is Monique. It's pronounced with an umpty. No, wait. That doesn't quite work.

So my mother just finally started reading my blog. I know! No love. Anyway, we were talking the other day about how I absolutely loathed cooking as a child. My sister would always be right up under my mom and dad in the kitchen. Cooking bored me and I didn't understand it. In fact, I didn't start cooking until I began the process of going vegetarian. That involved mostly salads, processed foods, and the occasional veggie paella. Even when I went vegan, I stuck to the simpler cookbooks. Books that only required me to open some cans and add some prepackaged soy product. The first time I thought vegan cooking could be incredibly inspired was when I got Vegan with a Vengeance.

I picked it up at the bookstore because everybody was talking about it. I wanted to know what the fuss was about. After my squee settled down to a quiet calm, I panicked. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to pull any of it off. The recipes were simple enough, but would I be able to turn the omnis in my life into believers? I mean, as much as I don't care what omnis think about veganism...I want them to like my food. I want to place it on a table, hear their reaction, then see their eyes widen in disbelief that something so good could taste better than the best udder pus injected food. Yum!

And it worked. I did the menu for my wedding's rehearsal brunch three years ago. We cooked most of the food at home and brought it to my friend's house (who conveniently lived down the street from the venue). I don't remember most of the menu, but I do remember my friend turning to me and saying that the VWAV pancakes were "Hot fire!"

That, my friends, is when I became a foodie. This is the reason I will continue to purchase anything with Isa and/or Terry's name on it. The recipes they create have the ability to turn omnis into believers.

Last night I made it about halfway through Vegan Brunch. I basically read everything except the actual directions for the recipes. There's definitely some funny in there and tons of really good tips. I did manage to make one recipe, though. The Beer Battered Tofu (pictured above) is super simple and very tasty. It is fantastically crunchy. I plan to batter many, many things in my future. My batter isn't incredibly dark because I had a medium colored beer. I hit the poor, battered tofu with a splash of lime and topped everything with a simplified version of the corn salsa I talked about two posts down.

Simplified Corn and Pepper Salsa
1 cup fresh frozen corn, thawed
1 roma tomato, diced
1 smedium* orange bell pepper, diced (any color will do, but orange makes it purty)
1 green onion, thinly sliced
small fist full of cilantro, minced (1/4 to 1/3 cup depending on your fists)
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt to taste

Place everything into a bowl or container and stir/shake to your hearts content. This is super good when ice cold. Also, I forgot the jalapeno and garlic this time...and it was still good.

My husband and I should go shopping sometime this weekend so a big review is coming. And maybe even a photo blog.

*smedium is a term coined by a friend of mine for when something says medium but is kinda small. go for a smallish medium pepper...or not.