Spicy Fries w/Special Sauces

   

It's Vegan MoFo, Day 5!

Time for a classic: homemade french fries! I adapted this recipe from the one in Vegan with a Vengeance, and always serve it with two special dipping sauces: sriracha vegenaise and curry ketchup. Both sauces are extremely easy to make, but are still very special. 

Actually, this entire recipe so easy that I almost gave it one of my "For Really Lazy People" epithets, but I got weirdly attached to the name I'd already chosen.  

The following recipe makes 1 large serving.

S p i c y  F r i e s  w /  S p e c i a l  S a u c e s

Ingredients

For the fries:

1 very large russet potato

olive oil*, 2 TB-ish

paprika

cayenne pepper

oregano

chili powder

sea salt

freshly ground tricolor** pepper

For the sauces:

sriracha

Vegenaise

ketchup

curry powder

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Rinse and scrub the potato until clean. I leave the skin on mine - it looks better and adds interesting texture - but some people may choose to peel it off at this point. 
3. Slice potato length-wise into 1/4'' strips. 
4. In a large bowl, combine the olive oil and spices. The first 4 spices are listed in order of most to least, in terms of how much I use. Lots of paprika, a fair amount of cayenne, and just a tiny bit of both the oregano and the chili powder. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.
5. Toss potatoes in bowl until strips are mostly coated. 
6. Bake on a lightly oiled cookie sheet, for 30-32 minutes, flipping them about 20 minutes through.
7. While the fries bake, prepare your sauces. In a small bowl, mix a few TB of Vegenaise with as many squirts of sriracha as you like, and in a separate small bowl, mix a few TB of ketchup with as many shakes of curry powder as you like. Using a chopstick or similar, stir each sauce until ingredients are fully blended. 

Notes

*Any oil with a high smoke point will do. I used Spanish olive oil, which I love for its buttery-ness.

**The tricolor pepper gives these fries such a great flavor - and it's so colorful - but black pepper will do if you can't find tricolor!

Polenta Bruschetta

It's Vegan MoFo, Day 4!

Today's recipe uses leftovers from yesterday's Californian Bruschetta recipe, with the addition of sauteed spinach and Kalamata olives, and polenta instead of bread. You can mix and match the toppings however you like. Makes a great appetizer, party snack, or meal on its own.

Toppings combinations, from left to right: sauteed spinach + tomato mix + sliced olives; ricotta mix + tomato mix; ricotta mix + tomato mix + sliced olives

P o l e n t a  B r u s ch e t t a

Ingredients

tofu ricotta mixture

tomato basil mixture

pre-cooked roll of polenta*

olive oil

2 cups fresh baby spinach, sauteed (optional)

Kalamata olives, sliced (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Lightly oil a cookie sheet. 
3. Slice polenta log into 1/2'' slices (the log I used made about 12 slices).
4. Cover each slice with any combination of the following: a heaping spoonful of the ricotta mixture, a heaping spoonful of the tomato basil mixture, a spoonful of sauteed spinach, and a few slices of Kalamata olives.
5. Bake in oven for 18-20 minutes.

Notes

*I used the 18oz package of organic, pre-cooked polenta, from Trader Joe's

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P.S. I missed the deadline to sign up for the Vegan MoFo RSS feed/blogroll, so if you enjoy my posts, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE it if you added me to your feed! 

If you aren't sure how, here's an illustrated how-to guide I created! Or, if you're using feedly, you can simply enter "chooseyourownfoodchain" in the search box, click on my site, then add me! 

Here's my RSS feed url, if you need it: http://chooseyourownfoodchain.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

P.P.S. You can also find me on Instagram 

(http://instagram.com/megvegmeg). :)

Californian Bruschetta

It's Vegan Mofo, Day 3!

Tonight I made what I'm calling a "Californian" variation on an old Italian favorite: bruschetta. Why Californian? Because it's healthier (ahem, it's vegan), and as ya'll know, California is notorious for its healthy lifestyles, and because I used sourdough bread, which although I've read originated in ancient Egypt before spreading to Northern Europe and then to Northern California, is considered a staple bread here in all of California. 

Because it's so late, I'm just going to post some teaser photos for now, and I'll be posting the full recipe tomorrow.  The recipe is now posted, below the photos!

tofu ricotta, which is also used in my famous Stuffed Shells recipe!

The bruschetta mixture of tomatoes et al.

Finito. Bella, salubre, e deliziosa!

C a l i f o r n i a n  B r u s c h e t t a

Ingredients

Sourdough bread, sliced 

(I used San Luis Sourdough, but any kind will do!)

For the tofu ricotta:

1 package (~16oz) of firm tofu

1/2 cup (or slightly more) of Vegenaise

2 to 3 TB nutritional yeast

1 tsp salt

2 tsp dried parsley

2 tsp dried basil

2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

For the tomato mixture:

2 1/2 large tomatoes*, chopped

1 cup basil leaves, cut Chiffonade style

2 garlic cloves, minced and sauteed

2 TB olive oil

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

sea salt, to taste

freshly ground pepper**, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F***
2. In a large bowl, mix the olive oil and balsamic. Add the rest of the tomato mixture ingredients, and toss well. It's best if you can let it marinate for an hour, but not totally necessary.
3. Pat the tofu dry, and mash into a bowl. Add the remaining ricotta ingredients, and mash with a fork until all is blended. 
4. Lightly oil a baking sheet and/or lightly oil both sides of each slice of bread.
5. Add heaping spoonfuls of ricotta mixture to each slice of bread. Bake slices in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until ricotta has slightly darkened and firmed. 
6. Top with generous heaps of fresh tomato mixture and serve! This would make a great party appetizer, but is also good on its own! 

Notes:

*I used what I had, which was 1/2 beefsteak tomato (don't you hate the name?), 1 large garden tomato, & 1 cup of cherry tomatoes. The latter of the two, I picked from my neighbor's garden. I'll have to ask her what kind the garden tomato was. But 2 1/2 large tomatoes, whatever kind, should approximate the amount I used just fine.

**I really love using rainbow peppercorns. I buy mine at Trader Joe's.

***If you plan to let your tomato mixture marinate for an hour or so, no need to preheat your oven right away.

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P.S. I missed the deadline to sign up for the Vegan MoFo RSS feed/blogroll, so if you enjoy my posts, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE it if you added me to your feed! 

If you aren't sure how, here's an illustrated how-to guide I created! Or, if you're using feedly, you can simply enter "chooseyourownfoodchain" in the search box, click on my site, then add me! 

Here's my RSS feed url, if you need it: http://chooseyourownfoodchain.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

P.P.S. You can also find me on Instagram 

(http://instagram.com/megvegmeg). :)

Pad Thai with Zucchini Noodles & Rice Noodles

 

It's Vegan MoFo, Day 2!

I posted two how-two guides earlier, to help folks who are having trouble setting up their feeds and/or adding individual blogs to their feeds, so I'm only now posting my recipe of the day.

I'd never made this dish before, and I must say, I'm already pretty fond of it. In fact, it might be a new staple. It's a recipe that I adapted from The Stoner Vegan's recipe, "Peanut Noodles." I even brought it with me tonight to share with my weekly creative writing group, and I think it was a pretty big hit. ;)

Without further ado, I bring you...

P a d  T h a i  w/  Z u c c h i n i  N o o d l e s  &  R i c e  N o o d l e s 

Ingredients

8 to 10 oz of rice noodles, cooked according to package* 

1 large zucchini, julienned

1/2 large yellow onion, sliced into short half moons

sesame oil**

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup water

3 TB tamari***

powdered ginger (or fresh), to taste

sea salt, to taste

1 lime****

1 carrot, shaved

2 green onions, sliced thinly

*I used over half a box of Thai Kitchen brand's "stir-fry rice noodles."

**I used spicy sesame oil, because I like hot foods, but whatever you fancy.

***You could use soy sauce or shoyu if you don't have tamari. And if you want to make this dish gluten free, use tamari but just make sure it doesn't contain wheat.

****Don't skip the lime. It's the magic ingredient, trust me.

1. In a large wok, saute the onion in the sesame oil until onion is fairly translucent.
2. Add zucchini to wok. Toss periodically.
3. Add the water, then the peanut butter. Stir well, until peanut butter is fully blended, but being careful not to break the zucchini.
4. Add the tamari, ginger, and sea salt. Toss.
5. Add the (already cooked) noodles. Toss.
6. Squeeze 1/2 (or more) lime over the mixture. Toss.
7. To serve, top with shaved carrots, sliced green onions, and lime wedges from the remaining part of the lime. Bonus: If you have fresh cilantro, that'd make a great topping, as well. 

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P.S. I missed the deadline to sign up for the Vegan MoFo RSS feed/blogroll, so if you enjoy my posts, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE it if you added me to your feed! 

If you aren't sure how to do it, here's an illustrated how-to guide I created! But if you're using feedly, you can simply enter "chooseyourownfoodchain" in the search box, click on my site, then add me! 

Here's my RSS feed url, if you need it: http://chooseyourownfoodchain.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

P.P.S. You can also find me on Instagram 

(http://instagram.com/megvegmeg). 

MoFo Scramble! w/Wilted Arugula & Tempeh Bacon

It's Vegan MoFo, Day 1!

And now, let's start this off right with a little tofu scramble.

My favorite tofu scramble recipe has always been the one in Isa Chandra Moskowitz's time-honored Vegan with a Vengeance, and probably always will be.

The version I created today was inspired in part by Isa's classic recipe, and also by chooseveg.org's 10 Meatless Meals You Can Make in 10 Minutes, my own laziness, it's-too-hot-to-cook, I-can't-wait-an-hour-to-eat, these-are-the-ingredients-I-have, and sometimes-I-can't-bare-to-measure-things. Sometimes, I can't help myself but add a few things here and there, so I won't call this recipe very quick and easy, but it is fairly so.

One little note: The fennel seed is really the magic in this recipe, so if you're going to skip a spice, don't skip that one!

M o F o  S c r a m b l e  

w /  W i l t e d  A r u g u l a   &  T e m p e h  B a c o n

Ingredients

onion, 1/2, diced

garlic, 1 clove, minced

firm tofu, 1 block

tempeh bacon, 3 strips (I used Tofurkey's Smokey Maple Bacon Strips)

nutritional yeast, 1/4 cup or less

1 lemon

fresh arugula, 2 generous handfuls

curry powder

tumeric

cumin

fennel seeds

sea salt & pepper

1. Saute garlic and onions in vegetable oil (or whatever oil you have).
2. Prepare the spice mixture in a small bowl. Use equal parts curry powder and tumeric, and only a little cumin. Use maybe a teaspoon of fennel seeds, first crushing them in between your fingers. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add spice mix to pan. Saute for another minute or two. 
4. Crumble tofu into pan. You can kind of squeeze it through your fists, which is a nice little trick for two reasons: it's the next best thing to pressing the tofu beforehand (which I didn't feel like doing) and it serves to add water to the pan, which you need to do anyway to deglaze it. 
5. Squeeze half of the lemon over the pan. 
6. Add the nutritional yeast, then the tempeh bacon (I broke the strips into small squares). 
7. Continue to saute until mix is clumpy, deglazing pan with splashes of water as needed. 
8. Squeeze other half of lemon over the pan.
9. Stir in the arugula and let it wilt before serving. 

I like my tofu scramble with a cup (or three) of strong, French-pressed coffee. Maybe some hot sauce, too. Enjoy!

P.S. I missed the deadline to sign up for the Vegan MoFo RSS feed / blogroll, so if you enjoy my posts, please add me to your feed! If you aren't sure how to do it, here's an illustrated how-to guide I created!

Here's my feed url:

 http://chooseyourownfoodchain.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

You can also find me on Instagram (http://instagram.com/megvegmeg). 

Vegan Chicken Salad, Recipe #2

Here's another take on tempeh-based vegan "chicken" salad. It requires a little more shopping/ingredients, and a little more effort, compared to my Vegan Chicken Salad For Really Lazy People recipe ...but it's totally worth it!

~

V e g a n  C h i c k e n  S a l a d , 

R e c i p e # 2

~

Ingredients:

To Saute:

1/2 package tempeh, crumbled

approx. 2 TB peanut oil

To Chop

3 stalks celery, finely diced

1 carrot, peeled and finely diced

3 scallions, finely sliced

approx. 1/3 cup pickles, finely diced (I used 3 kosher dill spears)

optional: chop up some of the leaves from the celery stalks

To Mix

4 TB Vegenaise

1 TB (scant) yellow mustard

2 TB freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 (heaping) tsp dried dill

1 to 2 tsp mustard seed

1 tsp celery seed

turmeric powder, enough to give it color

sea salt, to taste

freshly ground black or tricolor pepper, to taste (I used tricolor)

~

Method:

Whisk together the "to mix" ingredients in a large bowl. Add the "to chop" ingredients to the mixture. Stir thoroughly to coat all pieces. 

Heat a small portion of the peanut oil and saute mustard seeds until they go "pop." Be careful not to burn! Drain excess oil and set seeds aside.

Add the rest of the oil to the now-empty pan and heat. Slowly crumble tempeh into pan. Aim to crumble into small bits. Saute until all bits are a light, golden-brown.

Combine the sauteed tempeh and mustard seeds with the rest of the ingredients. Stir thoroughly. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

~

~

Serving Ideas and Tips:

If you let this mixture sit in your fridge for a while before eating, the flavors will really combine nicely. I found that the lemon juice was slightly overpowering immediately after I'd made this, but once I let it sit for a day or so in the fridge, the flavors had melded together beautifully, and the amount of lemon was perfect. If you plan on eating this right away, perhaps experiment with the amount of lemon you use. 

Use for a sandwich with red onion, tomato, and lettuce; as a spread for toast points or baked pita; as a dip for crunchy vegetables (large leaves of romaine are excellent for scooping and rolling); in a flour wrap; or anything else you can think of! 

Lemon Miso Salad Dressing

What I love about this salad dressing is its simplicity and that it's mega-lemon-y. And, so long as you already have these ingredients, it's SO EASY to make. You know how I love cooking endeavors that start with minimal effort and end with astronomical flavor (aka, lazy cooking!). 

~

L e m o n  M i s o  S a l a d  D r e s s i n g 

~

Ingredients

3 tsp yellow miso

juice of half a large lemon

2 TB tahini
1 TB mild-flavored oil, such as sunflower seed oil

1 TB rice vinegar (or less)

1 TB agave (or more)

1 TB Bragg's Amino Liquids (or use tamari)

ground ginger, a pinch

sea salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

~

Method

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork or whisk. I also threw in some of the pulp from my lemon, for extra flavor bursts and added texture.

~

Serving Ideas

Serve by tossing with your favorite green salad. I enjoyed mine tossed with a simple mix of romaine and grape tomatoes, topped with black beans.

Back!

Good day, readers! It's been ever so long since I've posted and I'm glad to be back!

In the time between then and now, I've adopted a beautiful mixed-breed puppy, who I named Adelaide. She is my heart. She's also called to mind some interesting vegan-related issues, which I will share with you in the coming posts, in no particular order.

Me & Adelaide, on our way to hike at Griffith Park

Issue #1: Can dogs thrive - not just survive - but thrive on a vegan diet? 

In short, here is my opinion on vegan diets for dogs: I think there is a good chance, based on the reading I've done, that a dog can survive and thrive on a vegan diet, BUT I don't feel that deep-level certainty I feel about vegan diets for humans. I am absolutely without-a-doubt sure that humans can thrive like hell on a vegan diet, but I need more evidence (or maybe just a sign?) to feel that sure about veganism for dogs. Also, I really want to feel that sure about it for dogs, but I am trying to hold my bias. I want to know what other vegans with dogs (or anyone who's seriously considered feeding their dog a vegan diet) think about this, so please share in the comments!!! 

I've experimented with feeding Adelaide different sorts of vegan meals. I've never been able to find V-Dog in stores, but I've heard good things about that brand of vegan dog food. We've tried Natural Balance's vegan dry and wet foods, but it seems like it's not very nutritional - it's not "bad" per se, but doesn't have a lot of nutritionally rich ingredients, in my opinion.

This is v-dog, a vegan dog food that people tell me is awesome. I want to try it for Adelaide.

Recently, I saw something that gave a recommended ratio for a vegan meal for dogs: 2 parts high protein ingredients: 1 part green and/or orange vegetable: 1 part whole grain/oat. I can't remember the source, but that sounds reasonable to me.

Often, especially when I run low on store-bought doggie food, I will make up my own blend of store-bought food and one or more of the following "human" ingredients: brown rice, mashed up chickpeas, raw broccoli (she goes nuts for raw broccoli, it's funny), boiled carrots, baked apple pieces, parsley flakes, pumpkin puree or sweet potato puree from a can, quinoa, raw lettuce. I typically use store-bought food that contains meat, although once in a while I will leave meat out of the picture completely. For meat-containing commercial foods, lately I've been experimenting with Merrick's Puppy Formula, Pure Vita Chicken & Brown Rice, The Honest Kitchen's "Natural Dehydrated" food (just add water), and Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried raw meat patties. I don't feel super good about this, nor do I feel "more okay" with using meat that's said to be free range, raw, organic, or any of that other bullshit (also, not all of these brands make those claims, though some do). The reason I went for these specific brands was because they seem to contain less crap and more actual nutrient-containing ingredients.

A concoction of peas, brown rice, carrot, apple, and store-bought dog food that I recently made Adelaide. Doesn't look that appetizing, but she LOVED it.

Adelaide also loves peanut butter, bananas, and berries. I use these more as snack items because I read that it's best not to mix fruits in meals (something about digestion I think?). And peanut butter is just too much like crack for my dog, so I give it to her as a "high value" treat. For real, she gets like a power trip from certain types of treats. I've had to ban Kongs in my house for this reason. :)

Soooo sleepy... :)

Again, I want to know, what are your thoughts? Ideas? Stuff you've tried and seen good results or bad results? I'm interested in knowing as much as I can! Please share freely in the comments section below. :)

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

I've been meaning to make this pie since, man, something like 2008, when my then-roommate, Muckford, made it for the first time. WOW, that was good cake. I've taken his recipe and published it here, with a few alterations.

I'll be honest; Muckford's was WAY better. Sadly, I don't know what he did to make it better, but I'm guessing it's because he's simply a good baker. Baking does not come as naturally to me as other culinary skills, although I do a great job of faking it. :-)

V e g a n  P u m p k i n  P i e  C h e e s e c a k e

Ingredients:
8 ounces Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese - Look for the non-hydrogenated version in the yellow container.
12 ounces light firm silken tofu - Or extra-firm
1/2 cup agave nectar - Or unrefined sugar, which is what I used
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup pumpkin puree - Canned, not pumpkin pie mix
2 teaspoons rum - Optional. I used it. Not sure what it added.
3 tablespoons brown sugar or natural, unrefined sugar - I used the latter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg - I wish I'd used this! I used dried, ground nutmeg, instead.

1 pre-made 8-inch graham cracker crust

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Put the first set of ingredients (toffuti through vanilla) in a food processor and puree until completely smooth. It should be silky smooth--not chalky or lumpy.

Remove a cup of this mixture from the processor and spread it in the bottom of the crust.

Add the next set of ingredients (pumpkin through nutmeg) to the ingredients remaining in the food processor and process until well blended. Smooth it carefully over the white layer in the crust, heaping it slightly in the middle. Bake until the center is almost set, about 50-60 minutes. Insert a toothpick. If it comes out liquidy and cold, give it more time, until the center is firm. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 3 hours. Serve to delighted guests.

Vegan Meals for $3 or Less

The Peta2 blog features a series of vegan recipes that cost $3 or less called "$3 Dish of the Day."

Right now I'm extra-superduper brokey-broke-broke, so I thought, what better time to try some of these recipes than now??

Here is a list of recipes that look I thought looked particularly delectable! And, as peta2 promises, each costs no more than $3 each to make. Some are old familiars, others are interesting twists on old familiars. :)

Split Pea Soup

Soy Chorizo Spinach Hash
 
Sloppy Joe Lentil Wraps

Tasty Baked Potatoes

Pimp My Ramen <--These are only $0.32 to make!!!!


I can't wait to try some of these!!! If you have any other recommendations for super cheap vegan recipes, please do pass them on! :)

yours,
foodchain

Vegan MoFo! Post #4: Raw Vegan Ice Cream at Home for PENNIES!

That's right. Forget about that $6.99 raw vegan grocery store-bought stuff. You can make it at home for WAAAY cheaper! 

About a year ago, I wrote about making raw vegan ice cream out of frozen bananas using the idea I'd read about on Choosing Raw. This stuff is amazing. Seriously, if you've never tried this before, YOU MUST TRY IT RIGHT NOW. It's everything you could want in a homemade ice cream recipe - fast, easy, cheap, healthy, versatile, and delicious. Oh, and kind of magical.

Anyway, this recipe is a staple of my own personal Barebones Vegan Kitchen, and yet I'd never paused to snap a photo of the finished product - until now.

The frozen banana chunks being whipped into ice cream by the food processor.

The final product. Kinda looks like ice cream, right?

And now you have photographic evidence.

Here's what I do:

Ingredients:
-A bunch of bananas

(yeah, that's it.)

Chop each banana into quarters (or whatever) and freeze them. You'll probably want to keep them in the freezer for at least 8 hours, if not longer. I like to keep mine in a re-usable plastic container to keep them from freezer burn.

When the bananas are frozen solid, put them in a food processor and process them until they form a custard-y, creamy texture. You may be tempted to add water at first, but trust me, just let them do their magic. :-)

Eat plain or top with melted vegan chocolate, melted peanut butter, chopped mango, coconut shreds...whatever you love!

Vegan MoFo! Post #3: Capellini with Vodka Sauce

Foods of Various Cultures...

Hands down, my favorite pasta variety is capellini. I love the delicate texture, and how the thinness provides more surface area to pick up even the lightest of sauces and flavors.

That said, vodka sauce is not, by any means, a light sauce. It's okay. It's still a great pairing, trust me.

It is common in Italian cuisine to use alcohol to bring out the flavor in tomatoes and other vegetables. This is often accomplished with wine, but vodka sauce uses, well, vodka. This was my first time making vodka sauce and I totally winged it. I didn't even know I was going to be making vodka sauce until mid-way through the process of making it. If you tend to shy away from free-style cooking, I encourage you to experiment with whatever's in your kitchen. No recipe, no plan, just go with it and feel liberated! When it comes to cooking, I'm a firm believer in not having firm beliefs. This is why there is jalapeno in my vodka sauce.

So, in the spirit of experimentation, take this recipe as a guideline rather than a formula!

C a p e l l i n i  w i t h  V o d k a  S a u c e

Ingredients:
1/2 red onion, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced 
3 large-ish roma tomatoes, diced
2 cups of mushrooms, diced - I used white button
1 1/2 cups basil, cut into fine shreds
1/3 cup French Onion style Tofutti cream cheese 
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup tomato paste 
2 ounces of vodka (or, one and a half shots)
sea salt to taste 

Saute the onions until softened. Add the jalapeno and garlic, then the tomatoes, then the mushrooms and 1 cup of the basil.

Heat some olive oil in a separate, large pot. Add the tomato paste and cook until almost boiling. Add the ingredients from above, along with the vodka, olive oil and water. Stir. Add the cream cheese and stir until evenly distributed (the sauce should lighten). Bring to a boil and then immediately turn down to simmer. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Salt to your taste.

When serving, garnish with the remainder of the finely shredded basil.

What I'd Do Differently Next Time:
Incorporate the vodka earlier. I think this would enhance the flavors of the vegetables even more than adding the vodka when I did. Use more roma tomatoes.

I served this with a side of broccoli and Tofurkey Italian sausage.

The Barebones Vegan: Another Quick Dish for Less

Orzo-Steamed Spinach

I'm going to tell you about a recent dish that my boyfriend and I invented, called "Orzo-Steamed Spinach." Well, technically, it was mostly me that invented it, but I'll give him credit for getting me to love orzo. :-)

There are a lot of ways in which this dish is awesome. Allow me to elaborate...

• It can be made in less than 10 minutes.
• Its ingredients are either very cheap or, if they're expensive, they are the kind that last a long time. I have listed the prices after each item on the "shopping list" for this dish, below. Although the Earth Balance is pricey, it will last you a while, provided you use it as a condiment and not for baking. Same goes for the sea salt and pepper, which you may even already have. As for the organic baby spinach, it's much more economical to buy the huge container, as the price per ounce is significantly less than that of the smaller containers (trust me, I checked!). Plus, it's a hearty vegetable, so you won't have to worry about it rapidly going bad, so long as you keep it refrigerated.
• It's a great way to consume a large portion of green vegetables without having to go the salad or green smoothie route (which you may be sick of!)
• You only have to dirty one pot, yet you get two hot foods.
• Cheap and/or long-lasting ingredients, plus quickness (seriously under 10 minutes to make!!!), means that it's the perfect "eating for several days in a row" meal when you're mega-busy and don't have time or feel like meal-planning - like during finals week! or a week when you have to work late every night! or while you're writing your dissertation, like me!
• It's really delicious, despite its simplicity! 
 

So here's your ingredients shopping list:

1. a box of "orzo" which is a type of pasta shaped like little, flat footballs (1 store-brand box costs about $0.99 or less here in LA)
2. Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread (usually about $5.99)
3. the huge, 16 oz plastic container of organic baby spinach (I think this cost me something like $5.39)
4. sea salt (prices vary depending on container size)
5. black pepper (prices vary depending on container size)


And here's the recipe:

I'm not going to list the ingredients because they're just the 5 grocery-list items above. So, what you do is cook at least a couple "servings" (say, 1/3 of the box) according to the package instructions. When the orzo is done, stir in a teaspoon or more of the Earth Balance and mix it up real good. Hey, you could even use olive oil if you wanted. Put a mound (really, go nuts) of the fresh spinach on a plate. Cover the spinach some of/all of the hot orzo. Sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper. Wait a few minutes for the hot orzo to "cook" the spinach a bit. Makes more than enough for one person.

This is meant to be a light meal or an accompaniment to something else, say, a heap of white beans (which are also cheap and easy to prepare!).

My camera phone doesn't really do it justice, but you get the idea. In this particular photo, you'll see I added some yellow peppers. This was only because we had some from our CSA and I wanted to try them out.

For other cheap, easy ways to be vegan, see my other Barebones Vegan posts.

Deathrow Mac 'n Cheese

It's about time I post about this recipe. If I were famous for a recipe, or famous at all, really, it would be because of Deathrow Mac 'n Cheese.

A brief history is in order. The recipe itself was inspired by a google search long ago, when I came across this recipe. 

I decided to alter it a bit to suit my own personal tastes, which ultimately evolved into my signature recipe below. 

The name, "Deathrow" comes from my friends, AJ and R, who declared it the meal they'd want for their last, should they ever find themselves on death row. Yes, people think it's that good. AJ liked it so much that she even adapted the recipe a bit and posted her version of it on her blog, here. I've also been told, by an omnivore who does not like the dairy version of mac 'n cheese, that this tastes amazing. Like I said, lots of credibility for this dish.

Here's the recipe:

D e a t h r o w  M a c  ' n  C h e e s e 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups plain soymilk (unsweetened kind)
1 cup water
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 cup nutritional yeast
2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 block of firm tofu
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon of German-style mustard (I have mad love for inglehoffer's stone ground mustard)
2/3 a bag of mozzarella Daiya cheese shreds 
1.5 pounds/1.5 boxes of brown rice pasta, either the mini shells or the elbow macaroni variety


Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine all ingredients except for the Daiya and pasta into a blender, and blend until smooth. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box/bag. Once the pasta is done, drain and spread evenly into a casserole pan. Pour the blender mixture over the pasta, and stir around until it is fully integrated throughout the pasta. Do the same for the mozzarella Daiya, and save some to sprinkle over the top.

Bake in the oven for approximately 30 minutes (or slightly more or less, depending on your oven). The cheesy mix should be bubbling and the pasta should look slightly goldened/browned.

Highly recomended: Serve with kale salad.

Note 1: You may be skeptical about the brown rice pasta, but one time I didn't have any other kind on hand, so I used that, and the results were amazing. The other party guests even said that it was particularly good compared to how it usually tastes! So I now make it exclusively with brown rice pasta.

Note 2: This makes a lot and keeps well in the fridge. To reheat, just put it back in the oven or microwave. 

Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you come up with your own variation that you love!

Junkaaay Mondaaay Pita Pizza

There exists a junkie in all of us.

I'm sick with a cold (for the first time in OVER A YEAR!!) which means I am pounding lots of health food and vitamins today. However, for dinner, I decided I really needed some junk. It just felt right.

One of the things I love about being vegan is that my concept of what constitutes "junk" is probably still a lot healthier than average. Yep, my pita pizza has whole wheat "crust," no cholesterol, and, best of all, it's cruelty free.

P i t a  P i z z a  C Y o F C - S t y l e

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pita bread from Trader Joe's (the regular size)
Arrabiata pasta sauce, also from Trader Joe's
Daiya cheese, mozzarella style
Olive oil

If using a regular oven, preheat it to 375. Otherwise, a toaster oven or your oven's broiler is fine. Drizzle some olive oil over a piece of pita bread and spread it around evenly. Make sure the "back" of the pita bread is facing up (you want the concave bowl shape so nothing spills out). Next, spread some Arrabiata sauce on top. Finally, add a generous sprinkling of Daiya (mine is usually so generous I can hardly call it a "sprinkling"). Bake in your oven/broiler/toaster oven for approximately 12 minutes (less for broilers, more for regular ovens, about the same for toaster ovens). You'll know it's done when the cheese is bubbling and the bread is a little crispy.

I like to top mine with dried, crushed red pepper for an extra spicy kick.

Get yr junk on.

What's your favorite do-it-yourself pizza?

Nanny Foodchain's Tarallucci Cookies! My FAVORITE

Like, oh my god, my favorite cookies ever were the ones my late Grandmother ("Nanny") used to make every xmas. She called them "tattalouch" but I think the more widely-known name is "tarralucci." Let's call them that so that people searching the vast interweb can find this recipe.

I've been wanting to resurrect this recipe for a few years now, but as the original recipe was not vegan, I knew it'd be a challenge. I also knew I could do it, and this year, I did. So here you go, the veganized version of Nanny Foodchain's "tattalouch"/tarralucci cookies.

N a n n y  F o o d c h a i n ' s  T a r r a l u c c i  C o o k i e s   O M G  M y  F a v o r i t e  E v e r 

Dough Ingredients:

5 cups flour
6 tsp of Ener-G Egg Replacer + 8 TB of water, thoroughly mixed together
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup Earth Balance
1 cup unrefined sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup vanilla soy milk
1 tsp lemon extract (a little more if you're feeling lucky, or use lemon zest if you're feeling fancy)
1 tsp vanilla

Icing Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar that's not processed through bone char
However much vanilla soy milk it takes to make the mixture into a pasty liquid
1 tsp lemon extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. After you mix the dough ingredients together, flour your hands, then take a chunk at a time and roll it between your hands until it forms a log. You'll want the log to be roughly the size of a small dog's turd. Think maybe the size of the turd of, say, a 2-month old Pitbull puppy named Sprinkles at a kill-facility. Once you have your log, twist it into a little, swirly pile. Repeat this process until you have no more dough.

Bake for roughly 10 minutes. Maybe more. The bottom of each "pile" should be golden brown around the outside. The insides will be cake-like.

Don't wait for the cookies to cool. Take your icing mixture and spoon it over each cookie. If you want, decorate by sprinkling Florida Crystals or some other form of vegan sprinkles on top. Hey, adopting Sprinkles is vegan, by the way.


Another hey, sometimes Nanny Foodchain liked to dye the dough red and green. You could probably get yourself just a little beet juice and dye the dough a nice pink OR red. Not sure if food coloring is vegan. I haven't used it in years. Anyone know?

I just want to bite into that lemony, vanillay, cakey goodness.

Swirly piles!!!!

haaaaaay.

And did you know these cookies are famous now?

Mama Foodchain's Pasta E Fagioli

When I was visiting my family in Pennsylvania for ThanksLiving last week, I had the luxury of trying out my mom's new soup recipe. It is inspired from a recipe she'd found in the newspaper, which she veganized specifically for me (Mama Foodchain is not vegan herself...yet). It's pretty simple to make and yet it tastes fabulous. So lovely on a cold day.

The soup is awesome the way it is written below, but if you're looking to add more greens, Mama Foodchain and I both agreed that the perfect ingredients to include would be lima beans, chopped okra, or spinach.

M a ma  F o o d c h a i n ' s  P a s t a  E  F a g i o l i

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups canned chickpeas
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Sea salt, to taste
14 oz. can of chopped tomatoes
3/4 can tomato paste (standard-sized can)
6 cups vegetable stock
1 cup elbow macaroni
Ground black pepper, to taste
Nutritional yeast, to taste
Love

Rinse the chickpeas and set aside. In a large saucepan, heat the oil. Add the onion, garlic, rosemary, pepper flakes, and salt. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the onion has softened.

Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, stock, and chickpeas. Bring to a boil.

Remove the rosemary stalk. Add the rosemary leaves and the nutritional yeast to the pasta. Reduce to a simmer and cook approximately 12 minutes, or until the pasta is tender. Serve with love.


I don't have a photo of this. Sometimes with delicious food, I completely forget about taking photos. So instead, here are some photos from my visit to Animal Acres on my birthday this year. In case you're wondering, my birthday was November 27th, and I do accept late presents if you're so inclined. ;)

Cowboy the calf, who's grown a LOT since the last I saw him! They just found a forever home for him, too.

Goats do like to pose with humans, in case you didn't know.

Have you ever seen more bliss than this?

Just relaxing in the shade. Most of the other cows were doing the same when I took this.

Vegan MoFo! Post #14 Magic Marinade Tofu.

I'm back. And I've got a pretty tasty marine recipe to share with you. I invented this recipe late at night in Pennsylvania on Thanksgiving Eve. I had some leftover tofu that I used to make Deathrow Mac 'n Cheese (recipe for that forthcoming) that I just had to bake.

I used whatever I could find in my mom's kitchen. I thought the result was pretty delicious, but don't take my word for it - my 5-year-old cousin loved it. In fact, she gave it a literal "thumbs up." This is why it's called "magic" marinade. ;)

M a g i c  M a r i n a d e  T o f u

Ingredients:

3 oz Pineapple Orange Juice (1/2 of one of those little cans)
3 TB soy sauce
2 TB rice vinegar
1 TB sesame oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp hot cherry peppers (the chopped up kind you'd put on a sandwich)
1/2 tsp salt

12 oz of tofu (3/4 a standard block), pressed for a few hours

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well.  Pour some into the bottom of a wide, shallow bowl. Place rectangular stripes of tofu on top. Pour more marinade over the tofu. Make sure each piece is saturated. Cover and allow to marinate in the fridge overnight (or at least 30 minutes if you're really in a hurry). Place the tofu on a cookie sheet in an oven pre-heated to 350 degrees F. Bake for approximately 15 minutes on each side.

Allowing the magic to seep in.