Ever get a craving for some horribly awful food?  Like, you know it tastes bad and bad for you, but somehow that doesn’t matter.  I (Laura)  have never had a McMuffin in my life. Yet, suddenly, many many years into my veganhood, I really wanted one.  So we used a vegan english muffin (it wasn’t that good), Gimme Lean sausage (also, not great), Toffuti american cheese slices (not fantastic, but at least it melted) and some faux scrambled eggs (VERY good!).  We made it an open-faced muffin sandwich, and the parts added up to a tasty meal that satisfied the craving.  As a side we had swiss chard gently braised in veggie stock with some garlic.  One day we’d like to make an up-scale version of this (with better bread, cheese, and sausage).  And yes, we realize the photo looks funny.

Faux Scrambled Eggs

Ingredients:
-1 pkg firm silken tofu
-2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
-1/4 tsp turmeric
-1/2 tsp black pepper
-1/4 tsp sea salt
-1/4 tsp black salt (find it at an Indian grocery- it adds eggy smell/flavor)

Process:
1. Heat a little olive oil in a non-stick skillet (the non-stick is important).  Add the tofu and break it up well with a spatula, into small little bits.  Fry for about 2 minutes on high.
2. Add the nutritional yeast, turmeric, black pepper, and sea salt.  Keep cooking on high for about 6 minutes, stirring/flipping every so often to get the tofu browned.
3. Remove from heat and add black salt, stirring well.

We thought this was a novel idea– until we googled it. Ok it’s been done before. But we did it anyhow, our own style. It was pretty good.  Try it if you are feeling like eating something funny!

Ingredients:
-4 flour tortillas, edges cut to make 4 squares
-1 can refried beans
-2 cups spanish rice (we used broken rice cooked in water, 2 T tomato paste, 1 tsp basil, 1 tsp oregano)
-1/4 lb extra firm tofu
-1/2 package taco seasoning
-2 jalapenos, sliced thinly with seeds removed
-guacamole
-salsa
-Sour Supreme
-cilantro

Procedure:
1. Heat the refried beans in a pot and cook your spanish rice.
2. Slice tofu into 1/4 inch rectangles.  Mix taco seasoning with about 1/4 cup water. In a skillet, cook the tofu in the taco seasoning over medium high heat until the tofu has absorbed all the water/seasoning.  Remove from heat, and when cooled enough to touch, cut into strips.
3. Here comes the fun part! Place a tortilla square on a bamboo sushi mat.  Place a layer of rice on the tortilla as if you were doing when making regular sushi.  Then, spoon some beans across the rice, then layer a strip of tofu and jalapenos. Roll it up and seal with a bit of refried beans (it makes good glue).
4. Garnish with cilantro, and use the guacamole, salsa, and sour supreme as you would wasabi and ginger.  Eat it and giggle!

Homemade green curry paste is easy and SO delicious!!! We made ours in the food processor. Then we added it to sauteed tofu and veggies (broccoli, bell pepper, onions) along with a can of lite coconut milk.  After about 10 minutes on a low simmer, we served it over rice with toppings (pistachios, cilantro, cucumber).  We highly suggest you try it!!

Green Curry Paste:
-4 cloves of garlic
-6 green onions
-3 jalepenos **
-1 inch of fresh ginger, chopped
-2 stalks  of lemongrass, chopped
-juice of 2 limes
-1 c fresh cilantro
-1 c fresh basil
-2 T kafir lime leaves, chopped
-1 tsp coriander powder
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp black pepper
-1/8 c olive oil (or whatever is needed to get your ingredients moving in the processor)

Procedure:  Whirl everything in the food processor until a smooth paste.

**We used one whole jalepeno, then 2 seeded ones.  Our curry was pretty spicy. If you like it less spicy, seed all of your jalepenos.

What better way to celebrate the holidays than spending 3 hours cooking up a fantastic Indian meal?  We hit up India Sweets and Spices for our hard-to-find ingredients, then followed recipes from assorted cookbooks and websites, since we don’t know enough about Indian cooking to freestyle it.  Here is what we made:

– Fresh Chinese Parsley and Mint Chutney from “World of the East Vegetarian Cooking” by Madhur Jaffrey. We used plain coconut yogurt.

– Tamarind Chutney from here.

– Samosas from “World of the East Vegetarian Cooking” by Madhur Jaffrey. We used shortening instead of butter.

– Chana Masala from here. We used a 28 oz can of chopped tomatoes rather than the 6  tablespoons tomatoes  + 1 cup of water. We also let it simmer for awhile.

– Cauliflower and Potatoes from “World of the East Vegetarian Cooking” by Madhur Jaffrey.

– Chapatis bread from “How it All Vegan” by Barnard and Kramer

Seriously, this was as authentic-tasting as we can imagine, and VERY spicy! Happy Tummies for Happy Holidays!!

It’s been awhile since we last blogged… we experienced the immense loss of our doggie Grommit who died very suddenly of cancer. He was a huge part of our cooking, seeing as he was always around to eat up anything we’d accidentally drop on the floor and ready to beg at every moment. It’s been hard to be motivated without him around, but we know he’s in a better place and his memory will always be close to our hearts.

Thanks to our friend Jason, we are finally back to blogging. We made this spinach bread for a party and he encouraged us to blog the recipe. So we made it again the next night! The bread is something Ed’s mom used to make for him growing up (not a vegan version though). Alongside the bread we have some potatoes. I was craving Shakey’s Mojo Potatoes that I used to have a long time ago, and while these aren’t really the same at all, I think they capture the spirit pretty well without being fried.

Spinach Bread

Ingredients:
-1 package fresh pizza dough
-2 bunches of spinach, chopped
-2 links of Field Roast sausage, chopped
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1/2 package Follow Your Heart mozzarella, grated
-red chili flake
-olive oil
-salt and pepper to taste
-1 T nutritional yeast

Procedure:
1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Take the pizza dough out of the fridge and let it rest for at least 45 minutes. Meanwhile, rinse your spinach REALLY well by soaking it in a sinkful of cold water, then remove. I did this three times, or until there is no trace of dirt in the water.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Blanche the spinach for about 4 minutes, or until nice and soft. Drain the spinach in a colander and rinse with cold water to cool it down a bit. Then put the spinach in cheesecloth and squeeze out the water. This takes a little while because there’s a LOT of water in that spinach. Try to get as much as possible out– you want this stuff dry.
3. In a large saute pan, heat 2 T olive oil over medium high heat. Add Field Roast and cook until browned. Turn heat to medium low. Add spinach, garlic, and chili flake to taste. You can add salt and pepper at this point as well. Allow the mixture to sit over the heat as you work with the dough.
4. Roll out the pizza dough into a large, long rectangle. You’ll most likely need to use flour so that the dough doesn’t stick to the rolling pin. Sprinkle a little olive oil on a parchment-lined baking pan and transfer the dough to it. Spread the spinach mixture in a line across the center of the rectangle, getting about 1/2 inch from the ends. Sprinkle the cheese on top, and then add more red chili flake if you want.
5. Fold the short ends in over the filling a bit, then roll the other sides over the top, pinching a bit to seal the ends. Rub a little olive oil all over your bread, then sprinkle with nutritional yeast. The whole thing should resemble a huge burrito.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until top feels crispy and the bottom is a little golden. Allow to cool a few minutes before slicing, as the cheese will be nice and melty!

“Mojo” Potatoes

Ingredients:
-2 russett potatoes, sliced into rounds about 1/4 inch thick
-1 cup Veganaise
-1 cup panko breadcrumbs (we had italian ones)
-1 tsp Johnny’s seafood seasoning
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp pepper

Procedure:
1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment.
2. Put the Veganaise in one bowl, and the breadcrumbs, Johnny’s, salt, and pepper in another bowl. Bread each potato slice by first coating with Veganaise, then coating with breadcrumbs. You have to kinda slather the Veganaise on, but it does work pretty well to get the breadcrumbs to stick. Place the breaded potatoes in an even layer on the parchment.
3. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs are browned and crispy, and the potatoes are soft in the center. You’ll need to take one out to try it and make sure it’s done!

Our second slow cooker meal from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker was the Miso-Braised Tofu and Shallots. This was extremely easy and absolutely delicious! Sliced shallots and tofu cooked for 4 hours in a broth of tamari and miso. We added red chili flake, which added just the right amount of spice. Like the last recipe we made, we feel a little garlic would have just brought this dish to the next level. We decided to get our garlic fix by sauteing some broccolini with garlic as a side dish. We will definitely make this dish again. it was really flavorful and actually did taste like it took more effort than it did!

I’m not a fan of these long work hours, but these slow cooker meals are making it much more bearable!

Taking on a new job can be challenging. Somehow I am now suddenly away from home for nearly 12 hours a day.  Our fun evening cooking time has been taken away from us during the weeknights, since we don’t really want to be eating dinner at 10 pm. We decided to explore the whole slow cooking idea, so that our meals will be waiting for us when we’re ready to eat.  We bought the book Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker to help us out, since we have relatively little experience with slow cookers.  The book looks amazing, with all of the recipes being either vegan or easily veganized.  The main dish recipes all look pretty amazing, so we have decided to just do one recipe at a time starting from the beginning.

The Farmhouse Fricassee (consisting of potatoes, carrots, shallots, green beans, tomatoes and tempeh cooked in veggie broth) was pretty darn tasty. We agree that the addition of garlic and the omission of tarragon would have made the dish better.  Perhaps some rosemary would have been a better herb for our tastes.  Next time!

We went on a date last week to Lili Patisserie, which is now serving dinner. There isn’t anything vegan on the menu. However, Lili is a genius! We just listed the kinds of foods we like and dislike, and she made up one of the most flavorful, satisfying meals ever! Seriously, this would rival the most high-end vegan cuisine out there. This is the same sort of experience we’ve had going there for breakfast as well.

Our dinner consisted of gently baked tofu and potatoes, topped with a scrumptious tomato sauce with morel mushrooms. In the center was the most deliciously garlic spinach. Every bite was just amazing.

If you live in Portland, we encourage you to check out Lili’s little restaurant!

(p.s. sorry for the bad iPhone photo)

My manager Laurie brought in the most GORGEOUS red ripe tomatoes, which were just dying to be made into salsa! Very simply we mixed 3 large tomatoes, a small onion, a jalapeno, a handful of cilantro, and some salt and pepper. So delicious! We decided to make a meal of it with sides of lettuce, corn, beans, guacamole (just an avocado, minced garlic, and seasoning salt), and some chips we made by frying up 2 corn tortillas cut in triangles. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that!

We are proud of ourselves. This meal is one of the tastiest we’ve made. The sweetness of the fritters, the acidity of the black bean salad, and the heat of the chipotle cream worked together *perfectly*! The textures were amazing as well- crispy, creamy, fresh. It was surprisingly easy to make as well, considering there are 3 components. Really, the fritters are the only things that demand a little attention.

Fritters Ingredients:
-4 medium zucchinis, shredded
-2 ears of corn
-1 clove garlic, minced
-1 1/2 c flour
-2 tsp egg replacer powder
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
-3/4 c soy milk
-salt and pepper to taste
-vegetable oil for frying

Procedure:
1. Put the shredded zucchini in cheesecloth and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, egg replacer and baking powder. Mix well to incorporate dry ingredients. Add soy milk until dough is sticky but not runny. Add zucchini, corn, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.
3. Heat about 1/2 c vegetable oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Spoon approximately 1/3 cup portions of the dough into the oil and cook until golden and crispy. We took ours until they were brown on both sides, since we like it that way.
4. Drain on paper towels.

Chipotle Cream Ingredients:
-1/2 package of silken tofu
-juice of 1/2 lemon
-1 full chipotle in adobo with a little bit of the sauce*
-1 clove garlic
-2 T Veganaise
-1 tsp salt
-3 T olive oil**
Procedure:
1. Add all ingredients except the olive oil to a food processor. Blend until completely incorporated and creamy and smooth.
2. While blending, drizzle in the olive oil. This will thicken the cream.
*Our cream was VERY spicy– add less chipotle if you can’t take the heat.
**We didn’t really measure the olive oil, so 3T is approximate. Just add it until the cream is a nice consistency.

Black Bean Salad Ingredients:
-2 tomatoes, chopped
-1 small red onion, chopped
-1 small garlic, minced
-zest and juice of one lemon
-1/4 c cilantro, chopped
-1 can black beans, drained and washed
-1/4 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp pepper
-1/2 tsp cumin
-1 T olive oil
Procedure:
1. Mix everything up in a bowl.