VeganMoFo VIII: Kaiserschmarrn

The thing I love most about Wednesdays is that I get to redeem myself.  I originally made this recipe in 2011 when I was trying to veganize meals from Best Thing I Ever Ate.  Wolfgang Puck was describing this Austrian pancake dish, and I decided to try it.  However, I mostly just kept making mistakes and getting enraged that I couldn't conquer some pancakes.

This time, I just used this fancy recipe that includes blackberries and peaches.  I substituted in my own pancake recipe (halved and with slight modification).  It made one large pancake and went really well with everything!  Recipe included below.

Fruity, pancakey goodness

Giant Pancake for Kaiserschmarrn

¾ cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp nutmeg

¾ cups non-dairy milk

2 Tbsp maple syrup or agave

1 Tbsp unsweetened apple sauce

1 Tbsp oil

½ tsp vanilla

Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the mixing bowl and stir everything until just mixed. Pour pancake batter into greased large skillet heated over medium high. Flip when bubbles are seen throughout and the edges look dry. Proceed with the linked recipe.

Without a doubt, I'd say this redemption challenge was a huge success! Plus, it was way less stressful than my first attempt three years ago. Haha.

Why I Hate Apple Pie

My disdain for apple pie knows no bounds.  I hate it on a few levels.  First of all, the kinda pies I like are the stir and dump kind.  Just mixing all ingredients and pouring them in a crust is as invested as I like to get with pie.  So, I absolutely loathe peeling, chopping, and coring a bunch of apples for pie.  This year, I figured I'd throw the boy a friggin bone to see what dessert he wanted because he hates lemon and I was for realsies making lemon mousse pie.  Naturally, he said "apple," the most boring of all the pies.  My hatred is irrational, but what can I say.  Still...it was good pie (cosmos apple).

full spread, but the potatoes aren't pictured

This year went by in a freaking blur.  I didn't prep as much as last year, but we were eating pretty much on schedule.  Onto the menu...

Thanksgiving 2011

Bryanna's Soy and Seitan Turkey

Cornbread stuffing

Gravy

Cranberry Sauce

Mashed Potatoes

Green Bean Casserole

Mac and Cheese

Yams

Unity Inn Rolls

Salad

Cosmos Apple and Lemon Mousse Pies

Rad Whip

2 Buck Chuck all day, son!

mashed potatoes

there's some mac in that sea of cheese

As you can see, I love me some Tyler Florence.  My favorites this year: soy and seitan turkey, pies, rolls, and Alton Brown's mac and cheese.  Seriously.  I will never ever make another mac and cheese for Thanksgiving.  Easily subbed (I used blended silken tofu for the egg), and absolutely wonderful.  More expensive than I generally like, but definitely worth it.

green bean casserole w/ croutons instead of nasty onions

candied yams

Things I'd improve on: green beans, yams, cranberry sauce, and gravy.  The green beans were most excellent (those croutons are legit!), but I wanted more of a creamy base to tie everything together.  Though, I will definitely make this again with that minor tweak.  The yams were too sweet for my liking.  The cranberries were not sweet enough.  And the gravy...blech.  I just didn't like it so I made a quick poultry gravy.  Overall, we had a fantastic day and got drunk off of $2 wine.  Awesome!

roast was marinated in sparkling cider and roasted with carrots and onions

Happy Leftovers Day!  I'm buying nothing, doing nothing, and don't plan to leave my pajamas.

VeganMoFo V: Best Thing I Never Ate-Tyler Florence Edition

Technically, this isn't from Best Thing I Never Ate.  I just love Tyler Florence and Tyler's Ultimate.  I think his food is some of the most gorgeously shot food on the Food Network.  On the rare occasions that dude makes something veganizable, I'm totally there.

I've been wanting to make his ultimate Swedish meatballs for years.  Well, last night I did.  Totally amazeballs.

lingonberry sauce, mashed taters, meatballs, gravy, pickled cukes

The meal has three elements.  He serves the meatballs with these amazing potatoes and pickled cucumbers.  Tyler also does not skimp on the fat.  I didn't use nearly as much as he said, though adding a wee bit of olive oil to the potatoes made them super amazing.  Best potatoes ever!

For the meatballs, I just tweaked an albondigas recipe I've been working on.  It worked out fine, though I'm thinking about trying to make them soy and gluten free.  Anyway, the recipe I used last night is below.

this totally tastes like thanksgiving

Swedish Meatballs
1½ cups textured vegetable protein granules
1 cup beef flavored or regular vegetable broth
1 tsp marmite or 2 tsp dark miso
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp vegan worcestershire or steak sauce

4 Tbsp oil or margarine

1 small onion, minced
½ cup non-dairy milk

1½ tsp ground allspice

salt and black pepper to taste

2 bread slices, crusts removed, soaked in non-dairy milk
¾ cup vital wheat gluten

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a large cookie sheet with non stick spray.  Bring the broth, marmite, olive oil, soy sauce, and worcestershire to a boil over medium heat.  Pour over the tvp to rehydrate. Meanwhile, heat the oil or margarine in a large skillet.  Cook the onion until translucent.  Mix the onion with the tvp before adding the milk, allspice, salt and pepper.  Squeeze the excess milk from the bread slices and add them to the tvp mixture.  Combine everything thoroughly before mixing in the vital wheat gluten.  Roll into walnut sized balls and place on greased cooking sheet.

Spray the tops with more non-stick spray and bake for 20 minutes.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes while you prepare the gravy.

So...  Am I the only nerd with a thorough outline for next year's MoFo?  I already know and am researching my theme.  I feel way too disorganized this year.  Excited for this to come around again.  Tomorrow I can finally catch up on blogs.  Woo!

VeganMoFo V: Best Thing I Never Ate-Wolfgang Puck Edition

We've entered the stage of MoFo where I completely veer from my plans and just go with the flow (mostly).  I was trying to think about what I wanted to do for this blog, when I caught this beauty on a recorded episode of Best Thing I Ever Ate.  It was the one with dishes as good as Mom's cooking.  Well, Wolfgang Puck described these decadent, eggy Austrian pancake things called kaiserschmarrn.  What follows is the most defeating and hysterical account of recipe making I've ever encountered.

kaiserschmarrn on a bed of strawberry sauce

The recipe seemed easy enough: a pancake (eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla, milk), raisins (or cranberries if you live with a raisin hater), and rum.  My first attempt, I went with this recipe.  I used Ener G to replace the egg.  Big mistake.  I think Ener G is officially my nemesis.  It made everything super gummy and gross.  I'm gonna have to break up with it for good.  I never even use the stuff.

My second attempt, I just modified my own pancake recipe.  I added yogurt for an egginess and baking powder for the leavening.  Something went horribly wrong and it tasted bitter.  I started chewing it, but it just fell out of my mouth because it was so horrible.  As in...my jaw unhinged because I couldn't even process how bad it was.  Era was laughing at me.

By this time, I pledged I would lock myself in the bedroom if I didn't get a pancake out of this.  So I went back and did it again.  I think it was a success.  Don't ask me if it tastes like kaiserschmarrn because I've never had it before.  It tasted like an eggy pancake.  I think if I make this again, though, I'd use the Vegan Brunch omelet as a reference.  I'm thinking silken tofu would get more of the texture needed.

Tomorrow is another Mandy Moore day!  Hooray!  For now, I have geology and English to do.  Hope everybody had a great weekend.

VeganMoFo V: Best Thing I Never Ate-Bobby Flay Edition

Have you ever had a meal that changed your freaking life?  That's how I feel today.  I got some sleep, aced my exam, and just finished eating the best burger I've ever had.  This wonderfully awesome gem comes from the burger episode of Best Thing I Ever Ate.  Technically, this should be the adorably Southern Claire Robinson's edition, but it's all about Bobby.

why, hello!

So, Claire was describing a wonderful burger from Bobby's Burger Palace.  This thing is called the Buffalo Burger.  Hot sauce is cooked right into, it and it's topped with this blue cheese sauce (just the sauce recipe, and you probably only need half).  But the kicker is that Claire gets that bad boy crunchified.  We're talking chips on the burger!  Hallelujah, holla back!  This thing is so super killer.

this burger is made of awesome

A couple of weeks ago, while at the library, I spotted Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries, and Shakes.  I need this thing in my life.  The pictures are gorgeous, and everything seems to be completely veganizable.  Plus, the shake section is totally out of this world!  Everything I made today came from that book.  For the burger, though, I used Tami's All-American Incrediburger (replacing some water with hot sauce and brushing with more hot sauce).  Best homemade veggie burger I've ever had!  I've had that thing marked in American Vegan Kitchen forever!  So glad I finally made it!

ah, my sweet, liquid marshmallow

Last, but certainly not least, I made Bobby's Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake!  So good.  I used Veganomicon's ice cream recipe and just followed Bobby's shake recipe.  It was fantabulous.  The only thing I suggest is to go with unsweetened milk AND use an ice cream that is less sweet if you go with store bought.  All that marshmallow action is enough to make you climb the walls.  Seriously...Bobby Flay is a genius.  If I wasn't he wasn't married, I'd totally let him birth my babies.

Vegan MoFo V: Malasadas and Haupia

It's Tuesday, so that's when I get my international thug thizzle on.  Technically, this is Hawaiian.  But, I've never heard of it before.

I learned about this wonderful thing while watching Best Thing I Ever Ate.  The Chairman of Iron Chef America, Mark Dacascos, was talking about the best thing he ever had on a road trip.  This recipe comes from the actual location: Leonard's Bakery in Hawaii.

these are basically donuts.  delicious, coconutty donuts.

The only way I changed the recipe was that I reduced the nutmeg to ½ teaspoon (not fresh), and I used a combo of flax and yogurt for the eggs (2 Tbsp flax in ½ cup water and ½ cup yogurt).  Then you let them rise, and fry those bad boys.  Coat in cinnamon sugar and stuff with haupia (recipe is at the bottom), which is a coconut pudding.  Delish.

I'm also gonna try to bake the rest of the batch because I'm a rebel, Dottie.  But these are super easy to make either way.

i'm all up inside ya...much like jazz

I would totally make these again.  They would be perfect for a pajama jam if I ever want to get all House Party 2 up in herre.

Tomorrow, I'm doing something colorful that could also be considered a food memory.  Also, I'm so stupid excited about what I'm doing for Halloween.

Here are some hints:
1. It's a horror movie marathon menu.
2. There will be cake.
3. The movies involve creatures of the night.

VeganMoFo V: Best Thing I Never Ate-Michael Symon Edition

Any friend of mine will tell you I have an obsession with teeth and smiles.  Michael Symon's smile lights up the entire universe.  Plus, I seriously love his bald head.  Love it!  He can birth my fictitious babies any time.  I seriously love this man.  Ha.  Anyway, dude was on Best Thing I Ever Ate (the one about combos) and started talking about this dish at Lucky's Cafe.  Cheddar and scallion biscuits, eggs, sausage gravy, and potatoes.  Say whaaaaat?!

I obsessed about this for several days.  It was kinda weird that I was so in love with the idea because I HATED sausage gravy and biscuits as a kid.  There was a traumatic incident with a babysitter feeding it to us every single day while her family ate straight-up feasts.  When I told my mom I hated it, the babysitter started feeding me cold jelly sandwiches.  How the crap did this woman have a license to watch kids?  Digressing.  I veganized the dish based off of ol' Mikey boy's description. There are several components to this.  You can easily substitute store bought sausage or something.

Also, this is not what you'd call low fat.  This is Sunday-morning-rockin'-sweatpants-gym-tomorrow type food.

Southern Cheddar Scallion Biscuits
(makes 12)

I usually make 8 of these, but smaller biscuits work better with the gravy component.

2 ½ to 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp fine sea salt

½ tsp baking soda

⅓ cup vegetable shortening

1 cup shredded vegan cheddar

½ cup finely sliced green onions

1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix the non-dairy milk and vinegar together in a liquid measuring cup. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together until combined. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Mix in the cheese and green onions.  Stir in the curdled milk until the dough comes together. Knead gently to form into a ball, adding more flour until dough is easy to work with.

Pour the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and roll out to desired thickness. Use a biscuit cutter or knife to cut out 12 biscuits. Place them on a lightly greased cake pan (I use a square 8x8). Bake for 25-28 minutes, until golden brown.

biscuity goodness

Country Gravy

For a thinner gravy, only use half the tempeh sausage.  If, however, you like yourself a thick and spicy gravy...add it all, sucka!

2 Tbsp canola oil

¼ cup unbleached all purpose flour

½ small yellow onion, minced

2 cups unsweetened non dairy milk

⅛ tsp nutmeg

Spicy Tempeh Sausage (recipe below)

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the canola oil in a large saucepan over medium.  Add the flour and stir until slightly golden.  Mix in the onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Whisk in the milk and stir constantly until the gravy starts bubbling.  Add the nutmeg and tempeh sausage.  Heat to desired thickness.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Spicy Tempeh Sausage

This tempeh sausage has a nice kick from the crushed red pepper and cayenne. Feel free to adjust the heat to suit your personal tastes. This also makes a great addition to breakfast tacos.

8 oz tempeh, steamed for 10 minutes and crumbled

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp Garlic Pepper or granulated garlic

1 tsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp rubbed sage

½ tsp crushed red pepper

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

⅛ tsp nutmeg

½ cup vegetable broth

½ tsp fine sea salt, more or less to taste

pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a saucepan. Add in the crumbled tempeh and cook for about 2 minutes. Add in the fennel seeds, Garlic Pepper, poultry seasoning, rubbed sage, crushed red pepper, cayenne pepper and nutmeg. Cook for 1 more minute. Pour in the vegetable broth, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the liquid is reduced, about 5 minutes. Add the salt and pepper to taste.

hiding under all that gravy is some tofu, biscuits, and potatoes

To build the above plate, it's just biscuits, a basic tofu scramble, gravy, green onions, and a side of potatoes.  If you wanna go hard, add some ketchup and Cholula to those potatoes.  Oh, yeah.

Tomorrow will be my first Mandy Moore Monday!  Hootie hoo!  Now, I'm off to do homework, write a round up, and maybe even relax a little.

Green Eggz N Hamm and PB&J French Toast Sticks

Green tofu and seitan ham just doesn't have the same ring to it.  Ha ha.  So, for VeganMoFo I was supposed to do a Food Network Friday featuring these two recipes.  It was funny.  I was actually watching Food Network that week (which I rarely do since my class started) and the show was about green eggs and ham and pb&j pancakes!  I was pretty stoked.  It fit in with my food memories theme, but I never got around to making it last month.

This morning I decided to make it finally.  Instead of spending a bunch of time veganizing the recipes, I just went with what I knew.  Plus, it took forever because I made pesto, seitan and pesto jack (more on that later) from scratch before I started making the scramble.  So I opted to make pb&j French toast sticks instead of the pancakes.

For the tofu, I made a scramble out of zucchini, spinach, and red bell pepper (for color).  I salted and sauteed the vegetables until soft and a lot of the liquid was gone.  Then I added the crumbled tofu and cooked for about 10 minutes more.  I turned off the heat and stirred in huge spoonfuls of pesto until it was geen enough for me.

I ended up using Isa's recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance.  I made two changes based on what I had.  I did 2 cups basil and 1 cup spinach.  I also did half toasted sunflower seeds and half toasted pepitas instead of the walnuts.  Era and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I wasn't expecting much from the French toast, but it was so freaking good!  Of course, this means that I didn't write the recipe down.  The batter was simple: So Delicious plain unsweetened coconut milk, some creamy natural peanut butter, chickpea flour, whole wheat pastry flour, cinnamon, and vanilla.  I've gotta recreate this stuff.

I topped it with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and some cherry preserves.  I love breakfast so freaking much!!!!

Back to the pesto jack...I got it in my head to tweak The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook's jack block uncheese.  Last year I made the pepper jack, but I remember it being too oniony.  Plus, I wanted to try to make it feel less jellied.  The result wasn't great.  It wasn't bad, but I upped the cashews and didn't change the other spices enough so the flavor wasn't as well rounded as I'd like.  The texture was better than I remembered though.  I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Vegan MoFo III: Seitan Veronique

Here's a story of some ugly food porn.  That was a-mocking me with its homely looks.  Seriously, why does something that tastes so good have to look so horrible?  Anyway, I do have a story for you.

Back when I first began cooking seitan, I was watching Food Network a lot and saw Ray Ray making chicken veronique.  I didn't know what it was, but the idea of tangy mustardy goodness and sweet 'n' juicy grapes intrigued me.  So I kinda just threw it together.  It was a very fond memory of that time.  It was the first house that Era and I lived in and I sorta miss that place.  He grew up in the house, so I'm sure he misses it more.

Since it's Food Network Friday and we're doing budget week, I thought I'd share this recipe with you.  Not as budget friendly as I'd like (damn grapes!), but super tasty.  If you are not a mustard lover, this probably won't be your cup of tea.

Seitan Veronique w/ Couscous and Roasted Asparagus

(Adapted from Rachael Ray's recipe)

1 1/2 pound asparagus

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, stripped from 6 to 7 sprigs
Coarse salt and pepper
2 tablespoons vegan margarine, cut into pieces
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (plus more for a slurry)*
1 batch seitan (enough to serve 4, about a pound)
1/2 cup white wine, eyeball it
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth, divided
1 cup thick, non-dairy milk
1/4 cup grainy, stone-ground mustard
1 1/2 cups, about 1/2 pound, seedless red grapes, halved
2 cups couscous

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Trim tough ends off asparagus. Place asparagus in a large bowl and toss with about 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of chopped thyme leaves and salt and pepper. Spread the asparagus out on a cookie sheet and roast 10 to 12 minutes until the asparagus is tender and crispy at the tips.

Heat a large skillet over medium to medium high heat; add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons margarine to the pan. Place flour in a shallow dish. Season with pepper then dredge the seitan in flour and add it to the pan. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes until browned. Add wine and scrape up browned bits as wine cooks down and bubbles, 30 seconds. Add 1/2 cup broth to skillet. Combine non-dairy milk and mustard and add to stock. Add grapes to the pan and turn seitan and grapes to coat and combine with the sauce. Simmer 5 minutes over low heat.  Season to taste.

Bring remaining 2 cups vegetable broth and remaining tablespoon of fresh thyme to a boil in a small pot. Add couscous. Put a tight fitting lid on pot and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

*IF THE SAUCE ISN'T THICK ENOUGH ONCE YOU ADD THE SEITAN IN, MAKE A SLURRY AND DRIZZLE IT IN A LITTLE AT A TIME UNTIL IT THICKENS TO YOUR LIKING.

Price Breakdown**
Seitan Veronique(serves 4)-$2.28

• vital wheat gluten-$0.67
• chickpea flour-$0.11
• red grapes-$1.50...Albertsons' grapes are crazy expensive

Couscous (serves 4 with leftovers)-$1.05
Asparagus (serves 4)-$1.78

Total Spent on a 30 Minute Meal-$5.56 or $1.39 per person!  Well, add a few cents for the fresh thyme and margarine but you get the picture.

**All price breakdowns are assuming you have basic things like flour, oil, non dairy milk, common spices, etc. Everything else will be factored in. Also, the price listed is based on the amount used in the recipe.

More to come tomorrow and I promise some photos.  But, for now, I only have this picture of my plantain bread.  It sunk so you can barely see the almond decor on top.  The stuff is seriously insanely good.  And filled with flax-y goodness.

WWBBM? and Other Random Things

Happy Sunday, all! It's a glorious sunshiny day. I'm sure when I step outside my joy will be ruined because it will feel like armpit. Go humidity!

So, yesterday I had Food Network playing in the background when something caught my attention. I don't know if you've ever seen What Would Brian Boitano Make, but that show is absolutely hilarious. It's got the insanity of Alton Brown without all the science. It's out there, and I love it! It was really bizarre that the first episode I saw was about freaking bacon, though. I think I like him enough to continue to watch.

Anyway...I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things to do at stores is to try new items. I don't eat processed stuff too often, but every once in a while I'll try something new. On a trip to world market last month, I stumbled upon melon flavored Ramune.

Stupid me for not getting a pic of the top because that's the best. If you've never had it, it's a Japanese carbonated drink that you open by tapping a marble into the bottle. The marble gets lodged into a chamber so it's completely safe and super awesome. I have to say that melon is my favorite one now. So delcious and refreshing.

Whenever I get to go to my vegan store, I usually get one new thing to try. This time, I really wanted to try soy free and gluten free stuff. Then I saw the knishes! Sweet lord. If you've never tried Klassic Knish they are super good. I really like the spinach one. I also tried Coconut Bliss Cherry Amaretto ice cream which was creamy but not too rich. I thought the cherries could have been more prominent, though. I think I like Turtle Mountain's coconut milk line better because it has more flavor.

I also got to try Enjoy Life's soft baked chocolate chip cookies. I remember stumbling upon this brand about 2 years ago in Texas. The company is gluten, soy, nut, dairy, and casein free. A lot of their products are vegan which makes me happy.

Going mostly gluten free and becoming less soy dependent is not unlike going vegan for the first time. It was seriously overwhelming until I calmed down and saw that there are options. I'm still looking for gluten free flour, though. I know that Bob's Red Mill sells one, but does anybody know about a homemade recipe using a combo of different flours?  That would make my life easier because I can't find the premade stuff anywhere.

Now, I leave you with this kick ass Isa tester (for her weight loss/healthy eating book).  This was delicious!

Caribbean Curry Black Eyed Peas With Plantains and Jerk Asparagus

I'm gonna test some more Isa recipes today and tomorrow so more to come...  Have a safe and happy weekend.

Airing of Grievances

I want to apologize for my absence. A piece of my laptop broke and I've been grudgingly using a Mac. I hope everybody had a glorious 4th! I made some bomb ass strawberry coladas, which is unheard of for me. I am not what one would call a mixologist. I have been known to completely ruin martinis and micheladas. Onto the good stuff...

While watching Food Network today, I felt this intense feeling. I was watching The Next Food Network Star and some show about tablescapes (you know the one) and feeling super bitter that FN does not take vegetarianism seriously. I'm about to get Kanye on y'all. FOOD NETWORK DOES NOT LIKE VEGETARIANS. Yeah. I said it.

If I have to watch another piece of asparagus get violated by a blanket of pork, I may just do an Excorcist style projectile vomit all over my television. The strange thing, y'all, is that Bobby Flay has the most vegan friendly show on there unless I'm missing something. Hear me out. He often has substantial vegetable sides that are completely vegan or easily veganizable. Also his marinades are often vegan. Plus, he never disrespects the vegetables by slathering them in butter and covering them in cheese. I have nothing but mad crazy booty love for Bobby Flay. My love for this man is ridiculous.

Anyway. I had this idea. Stop me if this already exists...Vegan/Veg*n Food Network. An online recipe and cooking show database with vegetarian and vegan cooking shows. No meat for you! I'm kinda sick of being considered a niche market. It's insulting. People want to see vegetable recipes that don't involve bacon and salads that aren't slabs of meat garnished with greens. Amiright?! Somebody who isn't as big of an artistic flake as me should totally make this happen. If we can't have a show on a television network, we damn sure should make our own network!

Also, I'm totally going to start doing an online show. I have too many opinions and too much time on my hands not to make this happen now. It will probably start out more as a video blog and hopefully become more awesome. More on this later. For now, I leave you with a fiery passion to change America's mindset on veganism and some Viva Vegan by Terry Hope Romero testing photos.

quicker red posole garnished with pickled red onions, avocado and cilantro


yellow rice with garlic


black bean and plantain pupusas covered in simple latin tomato sauce, rainbow chard with capers and raisins, avocado


un-tres leches cake!!!

Not testers...just me cooking it up:

brownie topped with homemade caramel ice cream


bbq sauce and rice recipes I'm working on

jalapeno and cilantro hummus recipe that my friend gave me

Memorializing Memorial Day Weekend

Yesterday, I felt completely wretched all day so I want to offer my deepest apology to Sunny Anderson for my previous post. In all the times I've poked at tv personalities, I never imagined any of them would read it...and I was completely mortified. I just want to take this time to make it clear to anybody reading this blog that the tone is incredibly light hearted. I don't take myself too seriously and I damn sure don't hate anybody (except for one ex boyfriend, but that's a different story). Now, I feel a lot better saying that.

I hope everybody had an absolutely fantastic weekend! I know I did. Even though we didn't have a grill, it felt like a barbeque weekend. After we finished the leftovers from our Jamaican meal, we had some coconut rice to use up. So, I made an eggplant recipe that I saw on Grill It! last week. It's pretty amazing. I used one large American eggplant instead of the Japanese ones. I also salted my eggplant to take the bitterness out. This is not the best picture, but the flavor was on point and super simple. Note: if you don't want to make a garlic paste, I suggest grating the garlic on a microplane...which is what I did.

Grilled Eggplant with Garlic Sauce and Mint
BY BOBBY FLAY (recipe originally found here)

1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
4 Asian eggplants, halved lengthwise
Vegetable oil
Chopped fresh mint or cilantro leaves

Directions
Make a paste by smashing the garlic with a little salt and add to a small bowl. Whisk in the vinegar, soy, sesame oil, and red chili flakes.

Heat grill to high. Brush eggplant with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until slightly charred and just cooked through. Slice each half into 1/2-inch slices and place on a platter. Drizzle with the vinegar mixture and sprinkle with mint or cilantro.

Yesterday I made a sorta combination of the jackfruit carnitas and Vcon's baja tempeh tacos. I used jackfruit but flavored it with beer, olive oil, ancho chili powder, onions, garlic, cumin, and salt. I cooked it in the oven on 375 for about an hour and a half, adding more beer as the liquid was absorbed. I also made some more of Eddie G's tortillas, Isa's spicy pinto sausages, and Ani Phyo's red pepper corn salsa (substituted orange pepper and salted to taste). Served everything up with plenty of fresh avocado and beer. It was delicious.

Aaaaand...now I'm back to the rawness. Made a large batch of Ani Phyo's raw donut holes (added cocoa to half and cinnamon to the others). I'll be enjoying some of those babies with some cinnamon Dunkin Donuts coffee thanks to Kmouse's post where she mentioned cardamom coffee. I also have some leftover salsa so I see a big salad in my future.

Anyway, I promise original recipes super soon. I'm working on a mango ginger lemonade recipe and some strawberry colada paletas for a project that might be coming. I should know within two weeks. I am stoked!

Happy Tuesday everybody.

Jamaica Me Crazy

It's Memorial Day weekend so I've allowed myself to eat more cooked foods. I was watching the Food Network last week and saw this episode of Cooking for Real that involved Jamaican food. Well, I got a super craving for the Jerk Seitan and Coconut Rice in VWAV.

First of all, I should probably say that I generally hate Cooking for Real and Sunny Anderson. Every time I watch her show, she mispronounces something. That's a huge pet peeve of mine. If you say jalapeno without pronouncing the enye, then you are dead to me! Dead, I say! But I did like that she had a completely vegan mango and avocado salad.

Plus, I threw in some fried platanos for good measure. That's "plantains" for all you people who don't know your Spanish. It was a good move.

I also made some cucumber juice. It's an incredibly refreshing drink made from English cucumbers. Though, I have to say that I thought it was a bit sweet. Even when I added ice. I will definitely cut back on the sugar, but it was delicious!

Mean Green Cucumber Juice
BY SUNNY ANDERSON (recipe originally found here)

2 English cucumbers
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups water
cheesecloth

Directions
Peel the cucumbers, saving the peels. Grate cucumber flesh on a box grater. In a medium saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil. When sugar dissolves, add the grated cucumber and simmer until cucumber is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

In a blender, puree reserved cucumber peel and cucumber syrup until smooth. Line a strainer with cheese cloth over a bowl. Strain cucumber mixture. Gather cheesecloth in 1 hand to squeeze out all of the juice. Chill until cool, about 1 hour. Serve in glasses over ice.

I guess grilling season is officially here! I really wish we hadn't left ours in San Antonio. Although, I saw this nifty thing today on how to turn a flower pot into a grill. Color me intrigued...

VeganMoFo: In the Voice of Rachael Ray

Hey guys! Welcome to 30 Minute Meals. A few years ago, I made an interesting pizza casserole. Well dontcha know, FoodNetwork.com decided to make its navigation as complicated as possible so I couldn't find the recipe. Well, I decided to make something for all our veggie friends today. I promise that it is supremely YUM-O!

So, you want to start off with a little EVOO. Add some thinly sliced onion and cook until translucent. Meanwhile, chop all your veggies and boil a pot of water for your pasta. Want to know what I added? You betcha! Garlic, orange and red bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, kalamatas and capers. Get those little guys a cookin'! Then you'll add your favorite spices. For me...that's fennel seed, rubbed sage, salt, and crushed red pepper.

Now you want to add pizza sauce. Use your favorite recipe. Today, I used canned crushed tomatoes, garlic, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, soy creamer, ground cashews, salt and pepper. When everything's done just mix the sauce, pasta and veggies together and throw the whole thing in a casserole dish. Top with soy cheeze if you like...and heat in the oven. How good is that?!

While everything's cooking, I'll take this time to tell you that my family calls red wine vinegar "everyday vinegar." ::snort:: That has nothing to do with this recipe, but it's something you guys should know, ya know? Also Worcestersheershire sauce has everything but the kitchen sink in it! It's got anchovies and juniper berries and-- ERROR! ERROR! Girl, you know it's-- Girl, you know it's-- Girl, you know it's-- Girl, you know it's--

True. Worcestersheershire has nothing to do with this meal. It's just something everybody should know. Like how serving this over romaine lettuce is beyond delicious. Just sayin'.

VeganMoFo: Chickpea Croquettes

Well, howdy y'all! I decided to veganize this Paula Deen recipe for salmon croquettes today. It seemed easy enough and didn't require too many ingredients.

So I made chickpea croquettes. I kept the recipe super basic so I didn't stray too much from Deen's recipe. The next time I make these, I will definitely add some bell pepper...maybe even Old Bay seasoning. The recipe is very adaptable to personal tastes. I served these with some tartar sauce. I ran out of dill relish so I had to use capers.

Chickpea Croquettes
*Note: This recipe has only been tested once.  Prepare at your own risk*
1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp Vegenaise
juice of 1/2 a small lemon (less if you don't like zing!)
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp kelp powder
2 green onions, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste

bread crumbs
nonstick spray (seriously...do NOT try this with oil like the original recipe)

Mash chickpeas in a medium bowl until fairly uniform, but they still have distinct shape. Mix in the Vegenaise, lemon juice, bread crumbs and kelp powder. Stir in the green onions. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Heat nonstick spray in a medium skillet over medium heat. Divide the chickpea mixture into four balls and flatten into patties. Cover with bread crumbs before frying. Cook until golden brown on both sides.