The Vegan Ronin

2011-09-20T23:07:00.001+09:00

MOVED MOVED MOVED MOVED MOVED!
Vegan Ronin has moved to:http://theveganronin.wordpress.com/

It is easier for me to update, so that means more food for you! In fact there is a new post there right now, hurry! Go!

Oh, and a VEGAN RONIN FACEBOOK page too, so you can get updates when they happen!

This page will remain in limbo. I am updating some of the older posts too, but they will only be updated on the new site.I am also starting a new bento page as well. So come on over to: http://theveganronin.wordpress.com/

PEACE OUT!
xoVR

Just letting you know

2010-08-28T06:03:00.004+09:00

that my edamame chocolate bar was featured in Ladies' Home Journal this month (Sept 2010). You can buy it and other flavors here. ^_^ Awesomeness!

I also got married.
I am also permanently moving to London in a week.
This means fun new foods for all of us! Yayyyyyy!

Mini Quiche!

2010-08-27T23:21:00.003+09:00

I made these for my wedding brunch, perfect little finger foods!

For a normal-sized quiche, please see the recipe HERE

Pan:
Standard non-stick cupcake pan

Dough:
Pre-made roll-out crust

Filling (from my quiche recipe):

1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1 lb. your choice veggies (broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, red peppers, etc), cooked to just done
Any add ins like vegan ham or cheeze
1 lb firm tofu, drained
1/2 cup soy milk
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon turmeric

Heat oven to 350.

1. Cook onion and garlic until golden, and add veggies and heat until soft.

2. In blender, puree tofu, soymilk, mustard, salt, nutmeg, pepper, and nutritional yeast, until smooth.

3. Pour into large bowl and add the onion and veggie mixture and any extra vegan cheezes/faux meats. Combine well. Taste for seasoning.

4. Roll out dough to no more than 1/4" thick. (If using pre-cut sheets, roll together.) Using a knife, cut 12 squares large enough to fit into the cupcake cups, about 4"x4"

5. Lay dough into cups, making sure they are pressed into the bottom. Style the dough tops to your taste- over the edges, straight up, twisted, etc.

6. Spoon mixture into each cup until they are all full.

7. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Pistachio-Crusted Tofu with Ponzu Sauce

2010-08-27T07:28:00.004+09:00

I have a subscription to Bon Appetit magazine, and this month (Sept 10) one of their featured "Meatless Mains" sounded awesome. So awesome in fact, I wanted to pass it on before I even try it! So let us know if you make it!

*Note: Some ponzu sauce has fish in it, read carefully!

Original link HERE

Pistachio-Crusted Tofu with Ponzu Sauce
Ponzu, a citrus-infused soy sauce, can be found in the Asian foods section of some supermarkets.
2 servings

* PREP:35M
* TOTAL:50M

Recipe by the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen
September 2010
Ingredients

* 1 12-ounce package organic firm tofu, drained
* 1/4 cup ponzu
* 1/2 cup unsalted natural pistachios (about 2 1/2 ounces)
* 1/4 cup (vegan) mayonnaise
* 2 tablespoons peanut oil

*
TECH TIP
Coating the tofu works best if you use one hand for wet ingredients and the other for dry. With your dominant hand ("wet" hand), coat the tofu in the mayo. With the other hand ("dry" hand), press the tofu into the ground nuts. The wet-hand, dry-hand method is a tidy way to coat food for frying.

Preparation

*
Cut tofu in half crosswise, then cut each piece in half horizontally, forming 4 rectangles. Press between paper towels to dry. Pour ponzu into shallow bowl or pie dish. Add tofu rectangles to ponzu and marinate 15 minutes, turning occasionally.
*
Meanwhile, pulse nuts in processor until finely ground (do not allow to turn to paste). Transfer to another shallow bowl.
*
Pat tofu dry. Sprinkle with pepper. Whisk mayonnaise into ponzu in bowl. Working with 1 tofu piece at a time, coat with ponzu mayonnaise and place in bowl with ground pistachios. Turn to coat; press so nuts adhere. Place tofu on rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tofu, ponzu mayonnaise, and pistachios.
*
Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add tofu; cook until golden and heated through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Spoon remaining ponzu mayonnaise onto plates. Top with tofu and serve.

Man that sounds awesome! Maybe with a drizzle of sriatcha sauce or chili oil on top and some pan-fried Brussels sprouts in the side with a little ponzu dressing. MMMMM!

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

2010-07-20T06:17:00.001+09:00

It's that time of the year. You have zucchini coming out of your ears! Or courgette coming out of your nose. Your choice.

And what's there before those delicious squashes? Delicious squash blossoms!

Now, you want to pick the bigger blossoms. Those are the male flowers and will not be producing anything. You also don't want to pick ALL the male blossoms at once, you do want squash babies don't you? (The smaller ones are female, and you can hand-pollinate by pulling out the stamen in the male and rubbing the pollen in the female flower. Boom! Squash baby).

Ok, here we go:

Male squash blossoms, cleaned
Vegan cream cheeze
Herbs De Provence
Salt
Oil for frying

1. Wash the blossoms. You can also clean out the inside, and the little leafy bits at the bottom of the blossom, but I just keep it as it is. Less work! Unless you're deathly allergic to pollen.. then clean it out!

2. Mix a spoonful of cream cheeze with the dried herbs and a sprinkle of salt. You will need one spoonful per blossom.

3. Heat the frying pan on medium, then add a little oil just to cover the pan.

4. Put a spoonful of the cream cheeze into the blossom, and close the petals around the filling.

5. Fry on each side until golden brown!

Want to eat other flowers? Here is a handy little guide I just found! http://whatscookingamerica.net/EdibleFlowers/EdibleFlowersMain.htm

Vegan Takoyaki

2010-01-28T00:24:00.001+09:00

Previously, I have made Tofu Takoyaki. Very delicious, but not authentic. Well that's going to change! If you want to get super technical, this is called "Konnyakuyaki".
This is a very specific recipe, needing out-of-the-ordinary equipment and ingredients. I have tried to offer replacements where possible.

Hardware:
Takoyaki pan
toothpick or skewer
canola oil for greasing

Batter:
2 C Vegan takoyaki powder mix
OR
2 Cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1 C cold dashi stock (water soaked with konbu OR mixed with instant konbu granules)
2 Tbsp oil
extra cold water (if needed)

Filling:
Konnyaku* block (not noodles), cut into squares (or mushrooms halves)
Red pickled ginger, chopped
Green onions, chopped
Tempura bits (tenkasu), optional

Toppings:
Takoyaki/okonomiyaki/tonkatsu sauce (whichever you can find vegan will do)
Vegan mayo
Nori powder (fine cut seaweed)

Preheat the takoyaki pan. Traditionally, over the stove, or turn on the electric type.

1. Stir all the batter ingredients together. It should be a runny medium batter, if not, add the cold water little by little.

2. Grease the takoyaki pan with a paper towel dipped in oil.

3. Spoon in the batter to overfill the cups.

4. Place a square of konnyaku in the center of each cup.

5. As is starts to cook, sprinkle the ginger and onions and tempura bits on top.

6. Now comes the tricky part. Turning. After a minute, using your skewer/toothpick, you grab the edge of the takoyaki ball and flip it over half way so the other side can start to cook. Pick up the spilled over filling and shove it in there too. Keep continuously rotating them until they are completely round and golden brown.

Here is a video, it shows all of these cooking steps.

7. Once they are golden and firm, place them on your plate. Drizzle your sauce and mayo on top, with a sprinkling of nori flakes. You are ready to eat!

*My host family told my konnyaku is a "sea potato". This..... is not true. Even though it is often called a "yam", it isn't that either! This "potato" is made into flour and has hijiki added to it for the color. It has a jiggly texture a lot of people don't like at first, and the taste can be too "fishy" sometimes. But it is a perfect replacement for octopus legs in this recipe!

Fast Awesome Pizza Dough

2009-12-27T00:19:00.002+09:00

I love making me some pizzas. I hate waiting hours for dat pizza dough to rise. SOLUTION!

(Cue really loud fast music)
10 MINUTE DOUGH!
PIZZA DOUGH!
PUT IT IN YOUR MOUTH!
PIZZA DOUGH!
GRAAAHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Now that my career as a hardcore singer is secure, here is what you need for two regular pizzas or one big, thick pizza:

2 - 3 C flour*
1 package yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1/2 tsp salt
1 C warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp dried herbs of your choice, optional (basil, oregano, rosemary, chili powder, etc)

*Your amount of flour used will depend on the type you use. Ex) with an unbleached white, it is about 2 1/2 cups.

SSUUUUUPPPPPPRRRRREEEEEMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEE

1. In a large bowl, mix 2 C flour, yeast, salt, and herbs.

2. Mix in warm water and olive oil.

3. You want a soft dough, but not a dry one. Mix/knead the dough by continuing to add flour by 1/4 C if needed.

4. Once you have a nice dough, knead for about 5 min on a floured surface until it is smooth and elastic.

5. Place back in bowl, cover with a slightly damp cloth, Let rise 10 minutes.

6. Preheat oven for 400 for normal pizzas, 375 for thick pizza.

7. Form the dough into balls and roll out to desired shape/thickness.

8. Oil pans and place dough on it. (*You can sprinkle cornmeal on the pan before you put the dough on it, if you're into that kinda thing)

9. Poke holes in the bottom and load up with sauces and toppings!

10. Bake 20-30 min or until golden brown.

Or make 6 mini pizzas you can bake in the toaster oven!
Protip: arugula on top! Boom!

PROTIP: Only need one pizza? Go ahead and bake a plain crust for 5 minutes, then put it in the freezer for later baking!

PROTIP: Calzones! Need I say more?

Yuba

2009-11-21T23:25:00.000+09:00

Yuba (tofu skin in Japanese) is a very delicate dish that is very easy to make! The time you put in to it is so worth it!

Ingredients:

Soy milk*
Soy sauce
Scallions, sliced (optional)
Wasabi paste (optional)

1 C soy milk = one serving.

*If possible, use a pure soy milk with no additives. Store bought is fine though, it's just a pinch sweeter.

Equipment:

Non-stick frying pan/skillet (NOT sauce pan)
Chopsticks or spatula
Small dessert bowl

1. In your frying pan, pour soy milk and heat on low-medium.

2. In a couple minutes, a slight skin will start to form on the top. When a skin has formed over the entire top (not just the center), use the chopsticks or spatula to start from the sides to pick up the ENTIRE skin in one piece. (It's totally ok if it rips, no one will know).

3. Place skin in the little bowl.

4. Repeat until all the soy milk is used. If making extra, pour in more soy milk as it gets low.

5. Pour a little soy sauce around the yuba. Add a pinch of wasabi on top and garnish with sliced scallions and present!

Amazing fresh and warm, but still great cold!
Mix wasabi with soy sauce before eating. Enjoy!

Awesome Mushroom Sauce

2009-10-17T00:20:00.008+09:00

This sauce is so simple, yet mind-blowingly good!
You can use it on pasta, tofu slabs, a savory non-Asian stir fry... anything really!
Morel mushrooms work the best in this, but any number of mushrooms and mushrooms mixes could work in this (make sure they are fresh or re-hydrated. Fresh are available around May).

Awesome Mushroom Sauce (with bonus fried mushrooms)

1/3 C onion, diced
1/3 C red pepper, diced
4 T margarine

2 T flour
1 t sugar
1 T soy sauce
1 or 2 C vegetable broth (for a thick or soupy sauce)

1 lb fresh mushrooms, Morels suggested

1/2 lb (8oz) pasta, angel hair suggested

I love them so much. Changed the world of mushrooms for me!

1. Saute onions and peppers in 2 Tablespoons of margarine for 1 minute.

2. In a separate, medium sauce pan on medium heat, melt remaining 2 Tbsp of margarine with flour, sugar, and soy sauce. Mix well until thick and starting to bubble. This is your roux to make a thick, luscious sauce!

3. Turn to low heat. Mix in broth, mushrooms, onions and peppers. (My preference is to lean towards 1 C broth for a thick pasta sauce)

4.Cover and cook for 30 min. When done, feel free to taste for salt and fresh ground pepper

5. While sauce is cooking, cook pasta according to directions and drain.

6. Mix sauce with pasta or ladle sauce on top. YUMMMMMMYYYYY

PRO TIP: Knock yourself by adding extra veggies to stage 3. Peas, carrots, eggplant, etc. These are also good veggies to cut in large pieces for a stir fry to use with this sauce.

Original recipe on The Great Morel.com Full of lots of great Morel tips and eats!

Tofu with white button mushrooms and scallions

** BONUS ROUND ** BONUS ROUND ** BONUS ROUND ** BONUS ROUND **

Pan fried mushrooms to go on top! (as shown in top photo)
Once again, this works best with morels.

Toss mushrooms in flour, and pan fry in hot margarine until crispy, golden brown! Heaven!

Bourgeois Breakfast Buddies

2009-09-15T00:57:00.004+09:00

This is just a fancier version of my Breakfast Buddies morning sandwiches. Instead of using a biscuit as the "bun", I have used croissant dough! Mmmm.

You will need:
Prepared polenta, firm. (This is your "egg")
Vegan sausage
Vegan cheeze

Add or omit anything else you like! (onions, faux ham, better than bacon, Hollandaise sauce, etc)

Take the croissant dough, and make it into a triangle shape.
(If using stuff in the can, they probably already will be, if not, roll out and cut)

Place goodies in the middle, take one of the triangle edges and fold it over your filling, connecting with the other side of the dough. Take the two left over edges and connect them in the middle. Bake as directed!

Simple and fancy! Win!

Cashew Cheddar Cheeze Spread

2009-08-04T14:56:00.005+09:00

Well, I finally broke down and joined Twitter. I am not "tweeting", but signed up because bands and what not have twitter-only news and such. However, most of my followings are now food related. Twitter has pushed me farther into the foodie realm. That is where I stumbled upon this recipe from Pretty Smart Raw Food Ideas.

CASHEW CHEDDAR CHEEZE

1 C raw cashews, soaked 1 – 2 hrs., and drained
1/3 lg orange (or red) bell pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
1 t onion powder
1/2 t sea salt
1 T chili seasoning, or to taste (optional)
Water to just cover cashews ***Pour in a little at a time, this is WAY too much water.

* Combine all ingredients in the VitaMix (or a high-speed blender) and process until smooth.
* Refrigerate for up to 1 week.

It is best the next day I think, when the flavors have time to develop. Fresh, it still has a taste of cashews, but then the sharpness of the "cheddar cheeze" hits you. Yum. It has the texture of hummus, and is just as good on crackers and carrot sticks!

It may be blasphemy to put a raw spread on a cooked food, but it's still delicious! I saved some to put on a grilled cheeze. Of course it's not ooey-gooey since it is a spread, but it has great flavor and you can pile it on because it is way healthier than the processed fake-cheezes.

Grilled Cheeze with fresh basil and tomatoes.
MMMMMMMM

Green Bean Casserole

2009-07-15T08:51:00.005+09:00

I'll be honest. The thought of the traditional green bean casserole turns my stomach. Lifeless, canned green beans with salty, fake onion thingies on top? No thanks.

I recently had some fresh green beans, and wanted to do something special with them. Something saucy!
I made my own casserole based on this recipe for Green Bean Casserole Redux at Chow.com. And boy oh boy, was it ever good!

Like everything, I just eyeballed it. I used what I had on hand, which was a handful of green beans, enoki mushrooms, powdered garlic & thyme, and onions instead of shallots. No biggie, still delicious! I also used individual bowls to bake it in.

Green Bean Casserole Redux

* Béchamel Sauce (warmed) [Vegan Ronin's Béchamel Recipe]
* 1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans, ends trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1/2 pound fresh cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 teaspoons minced thyme leaves
* 5 medium shallots, sliced (about 1 1/3 cups)
* 3/4 cup flour for dusting shallots
* 2 cups vegetable oil for frying

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add green beans and cook until bright green and just tender, about 6 minutes; drain in a colander and rinse under cold water until cold. Set aside.

2. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot and shimmering, add mushrooms and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are brown on edges, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.

3. Combine green beans, mushroom mixture, béchamel sauce, and thyme in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Transfer into a 2-1/2-quart baking dish and set aside.

4. Dust sliced shallots in flour and shake off excess. Set aside.

5. Pour vegetable oil into a large 10-inch frying pan (should be 1 inch deep). Heat over medium-high heat to 350°F, about 4 minutes.

6. Fry shallots in batches, until light golden brown on edges, about 2 minutes. Remove to a paper-towel-lined plate and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

7. Top casserole with fried shallots and bake in oven until shallots are golden and crispy and casserole is bubbly and heated through, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Vegan Empanadas

2009-03-08T02:13:00.007+09:00

Empanada: a stuffed bread or pastry. South American empanadas are normally small and semi-circular. Thanks Wiki!

This recipe is from Vegetarian Times: March 2009, pg 85.

I followed the recipe in general, I will put my comments and ideas in regular (parentheses) but everything else in italics is 100% VT. Photos are mine of course.

Banana and Black Bean Empanadas
Serves 6
A more healthful variation on the classic Argentinean pastry, these empanadas call for whole-wheat flour and are baked instead of deep-fried.

CRUST
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-pupose flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. chili powder
4 Tbs. cold soy margarine, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 Tbs. white wine vinegar

FILLING
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (1 cup)
1 cup cooked black beans
1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp.)
2 bananas, peeled and diced (1 cup)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 ts. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp. red pepper sauce, such as Tabasco

(If you DO NOT want/have bananas, use 2 CUPS of whatever. Corn, chopped peppers, more beans, spinach, fake meat, etc)

1. To make Crust: Sift flours salt, and chili powder into a bowl. Mix in margarine with fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk together applesauce, vinegar, and 1/3 cup cold water in a separate bowl. Stir applesauce mixture into flour mixture until texture dough forms, adding up to 1/4 cup more water if necessary. (I used 1/2 C of water- just remember add it slowly, not all at once!) Knead on lightly floured surface until dough comes together. Form into ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill 1 hour, or overnight.

2. To make Filling, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion 4 to 5 minutes, or until soft and translucent. Add beans and garlic, reduce heat to medium, and cook 3 minutes. Stir in bananas, cumin, cayenne, and coriander, and cook 2 minutes, or until bananas begin to break down and spices are fragrant. Remove from heat, and stir in cilantro and red pepper sauce.

3. Preheat oven to 400F. (Depending on your oven- wait until you're done rolling the dough, otherwise you will be wasting A LOT of energy) Divide dough into 12 balls. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll out each ball to 6-inch round (1/4-inch thick) on lightly floured work surface. Fill with 2 Tbs. Filling (More like 3 Tbs to fill it up with non-banana filling) and brush edges of pastry with water. Fold dough circle in half, press to close, and crimp edges with fork to seal.

Transfer to prepared baking sheet, and repeat with remaining dough balls and Filling. chill 10 minutes. Bake empanadas 20 minutes, or until golden brown and crusty. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet before serving.
(I would brush a little oil on top before baking to give it some crunch)

I used the rest of my can of black beans, mixed peppers, corn, and veggie steak strips in my empanadas.
The spice mix is nice. The dough is really good and I would like to use it again to make calzones or Cornish pasties. It's a little soft- not a lot of crispiness, which is why I suggested the oil. They seem to be a bit dry though. You cannot add sauce to the inside or the dough won't be crisp. So some salsa or heated enchilada sauce might be nice to have on hand.
Reheat leftovers in the toaster oven- totally awesome.

YUM!

Sausages!!

2009-03-02T08:40:00.006+09:00

Thank you! Thank you Vegan Dad! For being totally super awesome!

This recipe is obviously from Vegan Dad: Homemade Sausages. They are dead easy to make, super customizable (more spicy? more savory? no prob!), half or double the recipe... can I say more? You won't being buying fakes from the store anymore!
Pro-tip: Fennel seed is the KEY to awesome sausageness, try not to skip it!

INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup cold vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, grated (with a microplane, or very finely minced)
- 1 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seed, crushed
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Several dashes fresh black pepper

METHOD
1. Before mixing your ingredients, get your steaming apparatus ready, bring water to a full boil. The rest of the recipe comes together very quickly.
2. Have ready 6 sheets of tin foil. In a large bowl, mash the pinto beans until no whole ones are left. Throw all the other ingredients together in the order listed and mix with a fork. Divide dough into 6 even parts. Place one part of dough into tin foil and mold into about a 5 inch log. Wrap dough in tin foil, like a tootsie roll. Don’t worry too much about shaping it, it will snap into shape while it’s steaming because this recipe is awesome.
3. Place wrapped sausages in steamer and steam for 40 minutes.

With Japanese curry

Sausage with onions and ketchup. No need to hide all those flavors!

The Vegan's Hundred

2008-12-04T08:28:00.004+09:00

This is the vegan list in response to 100 things every omnivore should try, by BitterSweet.

I got an 84/100. Looks like I have a few things to make!
Update: Oct 09: 88/100

1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
5) Pass it on!

1. Natto
2. Green Smoothie
3. Tofu Scramble
4. Haggis
5. Mangosteen
6. Creme brulee
7. Fondue
8. Marmite/Vegemite
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Nachos
12. Authentic soba noodles
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Taco from a street cart
16. Boba Tea
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza
20. Vanilla ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Ceviche
24. Rice and beans
25. Knish
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper (pureed)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Caviar
29. Baklava
30. Pate
31. Wasabi peas
32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Mango lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Mulled cider
37. Scones with buttery spread and jam
38. Vodka jelly (Jell-o)
39. Gumbo
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Dahl
44. Homemade Soymilk
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas
48. Vegetable Sushi
49. Glazed doughnut
50. Seaweed
51. Prickly pear (I've eaten cactus, but not sure what kind)
52. Umeboshi
53. Tofurkey
54. Sheese
55. Cotton candy
56. Gnocchi
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59. Scrapple (Did grow up with it in the house though)
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Soy curls
63. Chickpea cutlets
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Smoked tofu
69. Fried plantain
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Corn on the cob
75. Whipped cream, straight from the can
76. Pomegranate
77. Fauxstess Cupcake
78. Mashed potatoes with gravy
79. Jerky
80. Croissants
81. French onion soup
82. Savory crepes
83. Tings
84. A meal at Candle 79
85. Moussaka
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. Macaroni and “cheese”
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. White chocolate
91. Seitan
92. Kimchi (might be my most hated food)
93. Butterscotch chips
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Chili with chocolate
96. Bagel and Tofutti
97. Potato milk
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Raw cookie dough

How about you?

Pheww

2008-10-29T16:43:00.003+09:00

"Geez Vegan Ronin," you may be thinking, "you've been quiet for a month and now a flood of delicious recipes! I may have a mind explosion trying to figure out which one to make first!"

I may have been quiet faithful readers, but I was not dormant. I am returning to the States in a few days and want to make sure this will tide you over for a week!

I have plenty of things lined up for you! But tonight I must continue to prepare for my vegetarian cooking demo for some Japanese housewives! Maybe you'll learn a thing or two from it later =)

Enjoy the many recipes!!!

Shoujin ryouri

2008-10-29T16:14:00.007+09:00

"Shoujin ryouri （精進料理) is a type of vegan cuisine that was developed by Japanese Buddhist monks. It is based on a foundation of vegetables and rice, and various vegetable proteins."

It is also amazing and amazingly hard to find on average in Japan, because the Japanese love to make the EXACT SAME FOOD but put fish stock in it (stocks, sauces, soups, dips, EVERYTHING).

So if you are in Japan, head up to Koya-san in Wakayama Prefecture which is littered with vegan monks and shoujin ryouri abound!

Before we get to cooking, lets take a look at some real traditional shoujin ryouri (top left, clockwise):

Dinner:Gomatofu (sesame seed block), green konyakku, rice noodles, fruit, mustard dipping sauce, beer, wakame soup with tofu skin and gluten balls, oily soup (in center) with tofu skin and veggies, hot green tea, pickled vegetables, rice

Dinner:Soba (buckwheat noodles) with mushrooms, pears, vegetable tempura, stuffed tofu, koyadofu (dried tofu), konbu seaweed

Breakfast: tofu burger, wrapped seaweed, stick potatoes with plum sauce ("eggs"), soy jerky, miso soup with gluten chunks, hot green tea, rice, pickled veggies, cold greens (center)

Lunch: gomatofu, veggie & fruit tempura, tempura dipping sauce, hot soba soup, cold veggies: koyadofu, konbu, veggies, tofu burger & soy jerky, rice, pickled vegetables, and cold greens (center)

After eating all this amazing food, I wanted to make my own version of shoujin ryouri... so I did!

Black goma tofu, dengaku eggplant with extra sauce, tandoori veggies, rice with beans and grains, soba noodle soup with gluten balls (fu), tempura & curry salt, tempeh bacon, stir fry rice noodles

Tempura: sweet potato, kabocha pumpkin, broccoli, mushrooms with mix of curry powder & salt to dip them in, tempeh bacon, rice noodles stir fry (soy sauce & sesame oil)

Tandoori veggie kebabs: Mix of tandoori paste and oil which I marinated tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, and tofu, then grilled.

Dengaku Eggplant: Dengaku- sweet miso sauce is a mix of miso, sugar, mirin and stock. Placed on eggplant then grilled with sesame seeds on top.

Goma tofu: Actually, there's no tofu in it! It is sesame seeds crushed an pressed together to look like a block of tofu. Serve with soy sauce and wasabi. It is one of my favorite foods.

Let this bring inspiration to make your own mini-feast!!! The only thing that's holding you back are how many plates you have =)

British Scones

2008-10-29T15:17:00.003+09:00

British scones are different than American scones. They're not flaky and are more like a soft, slightly sweet biscuit. Eat them warm with jam! British omni-monkey approved.

Vegan Scones by Charlotte O'Leary

8oz self-raising flour*
1 tsp baking powder
1½oz soya margarine, plus extra for greasing
2 tbsp caster sugar
150ml/4¼fl oz soya milk, plus extra for glazing
To serve
strawberry jam

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, and rub in the soya margarine until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Add the sugar and mix together thoroughly.
4. Make a well in the middle of the mixture, and slowly pour in the soya milk, stirring with a metal spoon. Bring the mixture together until it forms a dough.
5. Generously flour a large board and knead the dough for five minutes. Roll it out to a thickness of about 2.5cm/1in and, using a fluted 9cm/3in cutter, cut rounds from the dough.
6. Place the rounds on a greased and floured non-stick baking tray, and glaze the top using the extra soya milk.
7. Cook in the top of the oven for about 15 minutes, until a deep golden brown colour.
8. Leave to cool.
9. Serve with strawberry jam.

This recipe is from the BBC vegetarian recipe site.

*Make your own self-rising flour, Mix:
1 C flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Pot stickers

2008-10-29T14:49:00.006+09:00

a.k.a. gyoza or Chinese dumplings

This recipe is pretty organic, working with what you have! I think mushrooms make a pretty good filling (in lieu of fake meat), I added some tofu just to bulk it up.

Mushrooms (pack), diced
Onions (1/2), diced
Tofu (1/2 block), drained & crumbled
carrot (1/2 stick),
sesame oil*
small bowl of water

Pack of pot sticker wrappers**
oil for frying

*Sesame oil really makes this meal, so try to use it!
**Big grocery stores don't really carry vegan wrappers, but little Asian stores do.

1. Stir fry all the veggies and tofu together with a little sesame oil until all the vegetables are soft and the liquid is gone. Remove from heat.

2. Place about a small tablespoon size scoop of filling in the middle of a wrapper.

3. Dab your finger in the bowl of water and rub along half of the edge of the wrapper, making a semi circle. This will keep it together.

4. Bring edges together and pinch together while trying to make sure the air is pressed out. (There are also pot sticker presser which makes it a little easier!).

5. When you are finished, heat a frying pan on medium heat. Place pot stickers in pan and cover with a lid to steam the top (you will not flip them).

6. When the bottom is nice and brown, flip them out onto a plate!

Serve with a soy dipping sauce!

Maple smoked tempeh bacon

2008-10-29T14:40:00.003+09:00

Just a nice little snack!

1 pack of tempeh
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp Chipotle Tabasco sauce (or liquid smoke)
1/4 tsp salt
oil

1. Cut tempeh into strips

2. Mix soy sauce, maple syrup, Tabasco sauce, and salt in a shallow bowl or container.

3. Place tempeh strips in mixture to soak.

4. Marinate for one hour, turning at least once.

5. In an oiled frying pan on med-low heat, fry tempeh strips for about 5 minutes each side until crispy!
OR
Place in toaster over and toast til crispy!

Eat by themselves, in a sandwich with lettuce & tomato, in a salad, etc!

Tofu Tonkatsu

2008-10-29T14:17:00.003+09:00

Tonkatsu, a fried pork cutlet, is a very popular dish in Japan. Imagine my surprise when I opened up The Asian Vegan Kitchen by Hema Parekh and saw its fatty fried vegan twin staring back at me! You use freeze dried tofu (called "koyadofu") which gives it a nice texture when rehydrated. It even passed omni-monkey's taste test. It's a little work, but SO worth it!

This is the exact recipe from The Asian Vegan Kitchen and you NEED to go buy this AWESOME book RIGHT NOW!!

"8 cakes koyadofu, about 6 ounces (170g) in total
All-purpose flour for dusting
1 C (125g) all-purpose flour
1/2 C (120 ml) water
1 C (100g) breadcrumbs (panko)
Vegetable oil for deep frying
Shredded white cabbage, for garnish
Lemon wedges, for garnish
Tonkatsu sauce

SIMMERING SAUCE:
2 C (480 ml) dashi stock
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon mirin
1/2 inch (1 cm) cube fresh giner, peeled and grated
1/2 teaspoon grated garlic

I used 5 large blocks that was about 6oz/170g

1. Soak the koyadofu cakes in hot water for 10 minutes, then drain.

2. In a saucepan use a large pan!!, combine the simmering sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. Put in the drained koyadofu and simmer for 8-10 minutes over medium heat, until all the liquid is absorbed.

3. Dab the koyadofu in the dusting flour. Mix 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup of water to make a thick paste. Dip the floured koyadofu in the flour-and-water paste, then roll each cake int he bread crumbs. Set aside.

4. Heat the oil for deep-frying to 350F (180C). Slide the breaded tofu pieces into the oil in batches and deep-fry until crisp and golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot with shredded cabbage, lemon wedges, and tonkatsu sauce."

Eggplant Rice Bowl

2008-09-29T08:24:00.005+09:00

"Gyuu-don" in Japan is a popular beef rice bowl. Gross I know. But don't worry! A super tastier & healthier rice bowl is ready to take it's place as Number One!

EGGPLANT RICE BOWL!
"Nasu-don"

makes 4 bowls

2 medium Asian eggplants (or one regular large eggplant)
1 onion, chopped
1 C "dashi" (konbu, wakame, or vegetable stock)
1/4 C + 1 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp mirin (rice vinegar)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 C water + 2 Tbsp cornstarch

Short grain rice, cooked (bout 4 cups)

Toppings:
grated ginger (the kind in the tube. or pickled ginger works well too)
scallions

1. Cut eggplants in half

2. Grill the eggplants until the skin is wrinkly and just starting to char.
Try broiling them in the oven, or on a high temp close to the heat source in your toaster oven. For a last resort, try a creme brulee torch!

3. Place them in an ice bath for 5 minutes.

4. While waiting, place dashi stock, soy sauce, vinegars, and sugar in a pan on medium heat and bring to a simmer.

5. After the ice bath, peel the eggplants and discard the skins (the smell will tempt you, but don't eat them yet!)

6. Cut each eggplant in four long strips and then cut those in half, giving you 8 pieces.

7. Add eggplant and onion to broth. Simmer for 10 minutes.

8. Slowly pour in the cornstarch/water mixture. Stir constantly until it thickens.

9. Pour over rice. Top with scallions and ginger. Dig in! (Oh it's so good!)

No eggplants? No worries! Use any veggies on hand with the same sauce.

Lentil dahl with sweet veggie couscous

2008-09-18T17:27:00.004+09:00

Oh, such a wonderful little lunch!

A veggie sandwich with homemade big bread and tofu mayo.
Sweet Couscous from the McDougall Diet online cookbook.
Lentil Dahl by Gellian McKeith's You Are What You Eat.

Lentil dahl with vegetables

Ingredients
Serves 4

1 cup of red split lentils per person

1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground coriander
pinch of cayenne
½ a cauliflower
1 stalk of broccoli
½ a turnip
1 tsp garam masala
tamari
nori flakes

Put the lentils in a large pan with PLENTY of water. Bring to the boil and skim off any scum that appears.

Turn down the heat, add the spices, except the garam masala, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the chopped vegetables, tamari and garam masala and cook until the vegetables are soft.

Serve the dahl on top of the rice and sprinkle with nori flakes.

I obviously used brown lentils just fine and 1 cup makes a TON. If you want lots of leftovers, go ahead and double it! I also just used veggies at hand & no nori.

Sweet Couscous
Servings: 2
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 minutes

1/3 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup couscous
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 tablespoons brown sugar*
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Place all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Let rest for 3 minutes. Top with sliced bananas, if desired.
*Original recipe calls for honey.

Oh man, this is so good! The contrasting tastes with steamed vegetables and the dahl on the side are amazing!

Omni Dinner Pleasers #2

2008-09-02T17:35:00.003+09:00

Another successful dinner party where omnis eat delicious vegan food without even realizing it!
Hopefully this will be many in a continuing series that will inspire you when you need to impress!

Menu:
Mexican Herb Biscuits
Salad with sesame dressing
Taco Casserole
Mexican Rice
Flan

I started with a spin on the two big winners (biscuits & croutons) of the last Omni Dinner series.

*Appetizer*

Mexican Herb Biscuits (Ronin Recipe)
I altered the spices to include oregano, garlic, cumin, and paprika.
Awesome.

*Salad*

Fresh salad with croutons
Lettuce with avocado, tomato, onion, homemade sesame dressing (Ronin Recipe) and homemade garlic-rosemary croutons.
Croutons:
Bread, olive oil, garlic powder, rosemary
Lightly rub bread with oil, shake on garlic powder and rosemary. Rub into the bread. Cut into squares, place in toaster oven oil side up. Toast until light brown.

*Main 1*

Taco Casserole (Ronin Recipe)

I cannot tell you how many times I have made this for all sorts of occasions, and it always goes down so well. It really is a staple in my recipe repertoire because it is so EASY and FLEXIBLE!
This time I used kidney beans, onion, peppers, stewed tomatoes, and corn plus one packet of taco seasoning and some hot sauce (baked in 2 small pans).
Served on the side:
Salsa, Avocados, Onions, Tomatoes, Lettuce, and hot sauce of course!

*Main 2*
Mexican Rice
(not pictured)

Prepare and start cooking rice as you normally would. Half way through the cooking process, stir in:
Stewed tomatoes, mince onion, garlic powder, salt, dash of paprika, dash of turmeric, and mixed chopped vegetables (corn, carrot, peas...). Add more spice as desired.
Finish cooking as usual. Give it a good stir before you serve. MMMM!

*Dessert*
Flan

A.K.A.: Creme Caramel or Custard.

Vegan box mixes of flan are actually fairly easy to find. Try checking the Latin food section (Goya brand is vegan). Just follow the box directions and use soymilk!

Here is a recipe for Vegan Caramel Flan by VegCooking Blog. I have not tried this to know how good it is.

Sit back and enjoy the compliments!

Sesame Dressing

2008-08-24T15:15:00.002+09:00

Zomg hrksjfkdsjfdkdhhd drrooooooooooool

1/2 C Mayonnaise (Vegan Ronin recipe!)
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp golden sesame seeds

Put them all together and stir!
Refrigerate and store in an airtight container.

Oh man this is SO GOOD on salads. Boring lame salads no more!

Ronin's fav: lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado, sesame dressing and garlic/rosemary croûtons.

Vegan Mayonnaise

2008-08-24T14:55:00.006+09:00

This was created as sort of a mish-mash of various recipes and suggestions.
It is OMNI-APPROVED. Two weeks later, Omni-monkey is still impressed by its flavor.

1 tub of soft or silken tofu
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp mustard

1/4 C oil (vegetable, canola, your pick)

1. In a food processor or blender, mix everything BUT the oil until nice and smooth.

2. Turn processor/blender ON. Through the opening at the top of most processors/blenders, SLOWLY drizzle the oil in a small stream.
*This lets the fats emulsify together to bind & thicken*

3. After you have finished pouring all the oil, CONTINUE letting it blend for another minute.

4. Check for taste (mainly salt). The consistency will still be a little runny. THIS IS NORMAL!

5. Transfer into an airtight container. CHILL at least one hour. The consistency should be thick and spreadable.

This will keep at least a couple of weeks if stored properly. Makes around 2 cups.

Vegan cooking for the omni family

2008-08-04T23:56:00.003+09:00

Yes you too can wow your omni family! Bold flavors will erase any doubts they ever had!
Use this as a template to pump up your own hearty meal.

Menu:
Sage biscuits
Fresh salad and croûtons
Polenta with roasted red peppers
Homemade ravioli
Garlic Brussels sprouts
Fresh fruit in phyllo cups

*Appetizer*
Sage Biscuits

Recipe here
Fast and easy and a crowd pleaser!

*Salad*
Fresh salad & croutons

Use any combo of veggies for the salad. The croûtons are what really make this!
Croutons:
Bread (fresh is best!), olive oil, garlic powder, rosemary
Lightly rub bread with oil, shake on garlic powder and rosemary. Rub into the bread. Cut into squares, place in toaster oven oil side up. Toast until light brown.

*Side*
Garlic Brussels Sprouts

How to clean & cook Brussels Sprouts:
Rinse them well. Chop off the stem and peel off the outside layer of dirty leaves. Make an X with your knife in the bottom of the stem (to cook evenly). Steam for about 5-8 minutes (until they are bright green). You could also boil them for a little less time.
While sprouts are cooking, prepare a skillet with a splash of oil and minced, fresh garlic over medium heat. When sprouts are done, add them to the skillet. Roll around in the hot garlic for about one minute. Serve immediately.

*Main 1*
Polenta with roasted red peppers

Make polenta according to box (if using cornmeal, use corn mush recipe and let it rest & cool). Use a boullion cube/broth for extra flavor. I chopped pre-bought roasted red peppers and mixed them into the much before it set. I used decorative cookie cutters to cut out designs from the peppers for the top.

*Main 2*
Handmade Ravioli

Dough: Recipe here. I added chopped basil to this. Maybe because I only had regular unbleached flour, but I needed a lot of extra flour to roll it out in my machine.

Filling: Basil, soy chorizo, roasted red pepper. (I really wanted a faux-meat free dinner. Ideally, I would have used a mushroom/artichoke filling, but my aunt is allergic to mushrooms.)

Assembly: Pass a piece of dough a few times through a pasta roller, setting the dough to get thinner one or two times, until you have a long piece of dough. Repeat. Place 1.5-2 tsps of filling on top of one strip of dough, every few inches. Brush water around the edge of the filling. Place second dough strip on top, pressing down around the filling, sealing it in while pressing the air out. Take a ravioli stamper (or cookie cutter) and cut out ravioli.
When finished, boil only a couple minutes until they float to the top.
Refrigerate or freeze any extra non-cooked ones.

Sauce: I make a 4+ hour sauce that is totally worth the time. For basic instruction, watch it here. (I will have a post completely about it soon.)

*Dessert*
Fruit filled phyllo cups

Prepare phyllo (thaw & layer) according to box directions. To make cups, press into a muffin pan.
Fruit mix: Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries (chopped), apples (chopped). Toss with lemon juice (to prevent browning and to add flavor). Sprinkle with cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg.
Opt- add brown sugar or agave nectar (suitable for diabetics) for some sweetness.

Spoon into baked cups right before serving.

Let the feast begin!

Vegetarian Chinese Chicken

2008-07-01T22:39:00.005+09:00

I randomly stumbled across this recipe and it sounded interesting. It certainly didn't taste like chicken, but maybe Chinese chicken is just a fun thing to call it. It was tasty at any rate! It was chewy with a nice bite of soy sauce and can be eaten burrito style if you wish! Thanks JenYu's grandma!!

Just look at the simple ingredients!

1/2 cup shitake mushrooms, sliced thin and squeezed dry
1/2 cup bamboo shoots strips, squeezed dry
2 pkgs of dried tofu skin sheets
1/2 cup soy sauce
dash sesame oil
1/4 cup sugar

READ THE WHOLE RECIPE HERE

Ingredients

Getting ready to roll it up

Dinner is prepared!

Sage Biscuits

2008-06-28T04:58:00.006+09:00

It is really hard to find food that highlights an herb itself. Usually it's the herb highlighting another food. So I was so pleased when I ran across this (American) biscuit recipe at TheHerbalGarden.com!

The best part is, they're super easy, fast, and tasty! And can easily be halved or doubled.

2 C self-rising flour (DIY recipe)
1/4 C vegan mayonnaise
2 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
1 C non-dairy milk

Optional extra herbs to throw in: chives, parsley, thyme, dill, or sage
I added fresh thyme in this recipe

1. Combine all the ingredients and mix well. It will be a bit sticky.

Learn from my mistake, do NOT use a whisk!

2. Divide the dough into the cups of a 12 compartment greased (or non-stick) muffin pan

Silicone liners means no oil!

3.Bake for 12-15 minutes at 400 degrees, until a light golden brown.

Addicting!

Let the recipes commence!

2008-06-27T01:03:00.001+09:00

I have been traveling around, it is true. I've also been busy with my new website www.chocoagogo.com!

But I have lots to put up, so don't worry!

Stuffed Mushrooms

2008-06-27T00:50:00.003+09:00

This was a historic recipe growing up at my house, with the base recipe surpassing 1977! How retro!

12 large mushrooms
2 Tbsp margarine
1 medium onion, finely chopped
¼ C green peppers
½ C vegetarian pepperoni, diced (opt)
1 clove garlic, minced
½ C crushed round crackers (appx 15 crackers)
3 tbsp nutritional yeast (opt)
1 Tbsp parsley
1 Tbsp oregano
1/3 C vegetable (or no-chicken) broth
Salt to taste

325 degrees

1. Remove stems. Chop and set aside.

2. Clean the rest of the mushroom and drain caps on a towel.

3. Melt margarine in skillet. Add onion, pepper, pepperoni, garlic, and mushroom stems. I used soy chorizo.

4. Cook until tender, but not brown.

5. Add crackers, nutritional yeast, parsley, and oregano. Mix well.

6. Stir in broth. Add salt to taste.

With broth

7. When stuffing all sticks together, it is done. You may need to add more crackers for it to thicken up.

Ready for stuffing!

8. Spoon stuffing into the caps.

9. Place caps in a shallow baking pan with ¼” of water covering the bottom.

I used leftover vegetable broth

10. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes at 325 degrees.

I added a little vegan cheese for fun. Enjoy!

Vegan Crab Cakes

2008-04-23T05:48:00.005+09:00

I've been toying around with this for a couple of weeks, and these are definitely taste sensations!

2 slices of bread (any type)
2 Tbsp non-dairy milk
1 Tbsp vegan mayo
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp parsley flakes
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning (copy-cat recipe)
1 lb firm tofu, drained & pressed
salt to taste (no more than 1/4 tsp)

1. In a mixing bowl, tear up the bread into small pieces. Add the milk to moisten the bread. It will be a little sticky.

2. Except for the salt, add & mix the remaining ingredients, crumbling the tofu. Now add the salt to taste.

3. Mix with your hands to make sure the tofu is really crumbled up and everything is all stuck together.

4. Heat a frying pan on medium heat, with just a little bit of oil.

5. Form the mix into (about) 10 patties. Pat them with pressure to make sure the air is out, and that they will stick together.
*Note: Make a thinner, normal sized patty as compared to the very thick normal crab cakes. They are easier to handle, cook better, and have more lovely golden crunch.

6. Fry until golden brown (just a few minutes). Be gentle when flipping the patties.

Avoid fattie patties like the one in the back! Keep them thin!

7. Eat! Enjoy any way you please. On their own with a little mayo, in a sandwich, in a salad, etc.
Makes 10 patties on average.

Mock Tuna Spread

2008-04-18T00:46:00.004+09:00

This is from The Mcdougall Quick and Easy Cookbook (which I highly recommend) and by golly if it doesn't really taste like tuna salad. Great for a snack on a warm day!

1 15oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/4 C finely chopped onion
1/4 C finely chpped green onions
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 C tofu mayonnaise

Place beans in a food processor and process until coarsely chopped OR mash with a bean masher. Don't over process to a smooth consistency.

Place in a bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Mix well. Chill at least one hour to blend the flavors.

Recipe Hint: Add 2 tablespoons of pickle relish to thie spread to jazz it up. We like this spread oncrackers or toasted fat-free crumpets.

Makes 2 cups. Prep time: 15 min. Chilling time: 1 hour.

I highly recommend adding the relish. I also add a shake of paprika. Sometimes I eat it by itself, other times I serve it on toasted whole grain bread with lettuce and avocado. num num.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

2008-04-12T04:32:00.005+09:00

I never had sticky toffee pudding in the UK. Mama Ronin did however, and was absolutely ga-ga over the stuff.. and after making this, you will be too!
This vegan version will rival any traditional sticky toffee pudding recipe. Hands down. Seriously worth the effort.

Possible confusion note: STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING IS NOT ACTUALLY PUDDING! It's a wonderful, sponge cake soaked in syrup.

The original recipe is HERE from The Vegetarian Cookery School. So my metric friends can use that link directly to make it.

Here is the recipe converted to standard:

Ingredients for sponge cake

1 1/8 C soy milk
6 Tbsp water
1 1/2 C dates
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 C (=8 Tbsp) vegan margarine
3/4 C soft brown sugar (loose, not packed)
1 1/3 C white self raising flour
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Ingredients for toffee sauce

5 Tbsp golden syrup
1 1/4 C soft brown sugar (loose, not packed)
1/2 C + 2 Tbsp (= 10Tbsp) vegan margarine
6 Tbsp soy creamer
1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375F-190C-Gas5.

2. Line a 8" x 8" (20cmx 20cm) shallow cake tin with baking parchment.

3. Chop the dates in half & put them in a small saucepan and cover with the soy milk & water & simmer until the dates are soft.

4. Take off the heat & stir in the baking soda, which will froth as you add it to the date mixture. Leave to cool.

5. Beat together the margarine & sugar until pale & creamy.

6. Add the date mixture & stir in.

7. Mix the spices into the flour. Sieve the flour & fold into the sponge mixture.

8. Spoon the sponge mixture into the prepared tin.

9. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30minutes or until cooked & the sponge bounces back when pressed.

10. To make the sauce: melt the syrup, margarine, sugar & vanilla essence in a small saucepan & simmer for 5 minutes without stirring. Leave to cool slightly & then stir in the soy creamer.

11. Prick the pudding all over & pour half the hot toffee sauce over the pudding. Serve the rest of the sauce with the pudding & if you like a scoop of vanilla soy ice cream.

This stuff is definitely for special occasions. It's so good you'll gain 5 lbs just looking at it!!!

Taco Casserole

2008-04-04T03:00:00.004+09:00

At first, "Taco Casserole" kinda seems like one of those dishes that comes from one of those families who make cheeseburger-roni with tater tots on top...
But let me tell you, this is pretty tasty and you can make it as healthy or unhealthy as you like!

You will need:

3 cups meat substitute such as:
-vegetarian beef crumbles
-TVP (small crumbles)
-tofu
-choice of beans
(or a combination of any)

Taco seasoning
1 can of kidney beans, drained
1 1/2 C biscuit mix (DIY recipe)
1 C non-dairy milk

Any optional toppings you want such as:
Tomatoes, chopped
Lettuce
Black olives, sliced
Chili peppers
Avocados
Salsa
Vegan cheese
Vegan sour cream
Etc.

1. Heat oven to 400F (200C) and grease an 8" baking dish.

2. Follow the taco seasoning directions and mix with any or all meat substitute combinations. Stir in kidney beans.

I used tofu and TVP

3. Once everything is combined and seasoned, put the delicious bean mixture into the baking dish. (If using vegan cheese, sprinkle this on top now).

I added a can of chilis on top

4. In a bowl, combine the biscuit mix and non-dairy milk. One mixed, pour over top the mixture.

5.Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until lightly brown on top.

As an afterthought, I decided to add a little Tofutti cheese

6. Add toppings and serve!

Tomato, avocado, salsa verde, lettuce.

This makes about 6-8 delicious portions.
Just writing about it makes me want to go make it again. Perhaps I will!

Creamiest Vegan Mac n' Cheez EVER

2008-03-29T00:10:00.007+09:00

Now, I stole this from Lindy Loo of Yeah, That "Vegan" Shit who stole it from RosemaryAmey, and I'm stealing the whole thing so I ain't gotta type nuttin' out.

Lindy Loo personally warned me about how amazing and addicting this recipe. First you start with a little sneaking sauce out of the pan, then you progress to eating it before it's even baked. Soon, you're eating it just to feel normal and you're stealing money out of your mom's purse to go buy more elbow macaroni.

Now, I like nutritional yeast sauces, but even the claims of the best weren't that good (like Veganomicon's for example. AWFUL), so I took her words wth a grain of salt. I usually stuck with actual vegan cheez to make my Mac fixes. And MaMa Ronin always made it in a crock pot. I never ate baked macaroni! Especially not with, good Lord, CRUNCHY bits on top!

I did not heed Lindy Loo's words, and now I keep shoveling it my mouth despite my stomach not being able to hold any more of it. YOU WILL BE A BELIEVER!

Vegan macaroni and cheese

You will need to have three pots bubbling away on the top of the stove
First pot: Pasta

2 cups uncooked macaroni
water

1. Bring water to a boil.
2. Add pasta.
3. Cook until done.
4. Drain.

Second pot: White sauce

1/4 cup vegan margarine
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups vegan soydrink

1. Combine margarine, flour, and salt over low heat.
2. When it bubbles, gradually add the soydrink.
3. Cook and stir until it is thick and begins to bubble.
4. Remove from heat and add the "cheese" from the third pot.

Third pot: "Cheese"

1/4 cup "good tasting" nutritional yeast
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water
2 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1. Mix nutritional yeast, cornstarch, flour, and salt in a small saucepan.
2. Add water, oil, and mustard.
3. Cook and stir until it thickens and bubbles.
4. Add it to the white sauce from the second pot.

**Note from VR: I like to add a little paprika or hot sauce here, just to give it something extra**

Putting it together

cracker crumbs or bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Mix cooked pasta with "cheese" sauce.
3. Pour into a greased casserole dish.
4. Top with cracker crumbs or bread crumbs.
5. Bake for 30 minutes.

Note: The leftovers start to thicken up, but at this point in the addiction, it won't matter to you. You'll be scooping it out of the fridge cold in a fit of midnight cheez sweat.

You may notice some green bits in there. I was so hopped up on sauce that I had to mix elbows and tri-color fusilli (corkscrews) just to get my full fix.

Personal macaroni baked dishes:

Traditional Lasagna with Béchamel Sauce

2008-03-27T01:58:00.005+09:00

I've been making and eating this so much in the past weeks no wonder I couldn't update!

AND IT TOTALLY FOOLS OMNIS!

Our European brothers and sisters make lasagna a little differently than we do in North America. They use a white (Béchamel) sauce, where as we just tend to pile on mountains of cheese (which I have made before if you rather make that lasagna.)

You will need:
12 pieces of lasagna
Tomato sauce
Béchamel Sauce
Any veggies or fake meat crumbles (opt)
-recipes following them-

OVEN: 350F (180C)

1. Cook lasagna according to box.
(that no-bake lasagna is a waste of money)

2.Combine and simmer tomato sauce
(Or use 2 jars of purchased marinara sauce & skip to #3)

TOMATO SAUCE RECIPE:
1 reg size can of diced or stewed tomatoes (about 14 oz)
1 reg size can of tomato sauce
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic
pinch of nutmeg

-Put everything in a pot, bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer until ready to be used. (This will cook down some excess liquid and make it more flavorful) If, after cooking, it's too chunky for your tastes, use a potato masher.

3. Make Béchamel Sauce

BECHAMEL SAUCE RECIPE:
4 Tbsp margarine
1/3 C flour
2 1/4 C non-dairy milk
1/4 C nutritional yeast (opt)
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
salt to taste
pinch of nutmeg

-On low heat melt the margarine. Take off heat.
-Slowly sift flour in while stirring.
-Add the non-dairy milk a little at a time while stirring.
-Bring to a boil while stirring slowly. It will thicken.
-Take off heat. Add nutritional yeast, salt and nutmeg.

NOTE: If you are using soymilk, it will taste a little sweet. Do not worry! Once baked, you won't notice it at all.
Traditionally, this is where you would add in some crumbled cheese. Feel free to add in vegan cheeze, or even crumbled tofu for texture, but it honestly doesn't need it.

4. If using veggies, lightly sauté any "hard" veggies like squash, peppers, or eggplant. "Soft" veggies like mushrooms and spinach can be used raw. Also sauté any veggie meats you wish to use.

5. Grease a lasagna or casserole dish (10" x 12") with margarine. Place a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom.

6.Layer the bottom with 4 pieces of lasagna. Cover with a layer of tomato sauce and then the béchamel sauce. Add layer of veggies and faux-meat.

7. Repeat step six.

8. Lay your final 4 lasagna pieces on top. Cover with tomato sauce then béchamel sauce.

9. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.

10. Let cool for 10 minutes (this lets the lasagna set-up so you don't have scalding hot sauce oozing everywhere).

DIG IN!!

I enjoy mine plain, with no extra frills. I did crumble half a block of firm tofu for the first one to texture, but like I said it's not necessary.
The picture above I made was for an extended family get together. I didn't say anything and no one knew none-the-wiser. It was deliciously fantastic!
Except for soymilk, it is a traditional recipe, so your relatives won't get as scared as if it were made from tofu!!

Haggis & Mashed Root Vegetables

2008-03-12T23:05:00.005+09:00

When I went to Scotland, I fell in love with veggie haggis. I've had canned veggie haggis since, and it's just not the same. So this satisfies those cravings! And any recipe that encourages whiskey is ok with me!

Notes:
*Veggie haggis is spicy, and this is no exception. If you're not a spicy fan, cut the cayenne in half.
*If you skip making the mashed root, you will only need ONE med/large turnip/rutabaga (4oz worth).
*I used reg olive oil in place of all the others
*Please read through the recipe first. Any extras will be in italics or parentheses

Haggis and mashed root vegetables
From Vegan: Over 90 Mouthwatering Recipes for All Occasions

Prep: 15 min/ Cook: 1 hour/ Serves: 4

HAGGIS:

1 lb (500g) rutabaga (swede), turnip (peeled) or squash, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped fresh root ginger

2 oz (50g) coconut oil
1 1/4 C (4oz/125g) porridge oats (non quick-cooking oatmeal)
1 onion, chopped
4 mushrooms, chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
7 oz (200g) cooked kidney beans, chopped (about 3/4 of a can)
1/2 C (2oz/50g) shelled walnuts, chopped (or walnut meal)
2 Tbsp rapeseed oil
3 tsp yeast extract (like Marmite)
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp chopped parsley
1 tsp chopped thyme
1 tsp chopped sage
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp lime juice (= 1/2 fresh lime)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp whisky or balsamic vinegar

POTATO MASH:
1 1/4 lb (625g) potatoes, quartered
1 1/4oz (30g) vegan margarine
1 Tbsp soya cream
1/2 tsp chopped rosemary
salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C/ gas mark 4). Place 12 oz (375g) of the swede (rutabaga) in a large saucepan of water, add the fresh root ginger, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Put the potatoes for the mash in another large saucepan of cold water, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes, until soft.

2. Meanwhile, heat 1oz (25g) of the coconut oil in a large non-stick frying pan and gently toast the oats for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until golden brown (mine took about 5). Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

3. Heat the remaining coconut oil, then gently fry the remaining swede with the onion, mushrooms and carrot for about 10 minutes until the swede starts to soften. Add the kidney beans and stir until hot. Transfer the fried vegetables to the bowl of oats, then add all the remaining haggis ingredients. (The mix smells great!)

*At this point, I would pulse it a few times in a food processor, just to give it a finer texture*

Turnip, onion, mushrooms, carrot, kidney beans

4. Divide the mixture between four 3 1/4 inch (8 cm) oven-proof ramekins, cover with foil and place in a deep roasting tin half-filled with boiling water. Bake for 30 minutes.

I just used one dish (sitting in the boiling water)

5. Reheat the boiled swede, then drain and mash with half the margarine and salt and pepper. Reheat the boiled potatoes, then rain and mash with the soya cream, the remaining margarine and the rosemary.

6. Remove the ramekins fromt he oven, run a sharp knife around the edge of each one, then turn out on to warmed plates. Add 2 spoonfuls of each mash to the plates and serve this vegan version of the traditional Scottish sheep's sausage with a tot of whisky.

Makes an excellent baked potato topping!!

BONUS:
While chopping veggies I came across a Siamese Mushroom!

Ghanaian One Pot Curry

2008-03-10T03:23:00.007+09:00

or stew. I will already tell you this "recipe" is a gem; quick, healthy, and you would have to try real hard to screw up.

I came across this while researching a couple from BBC America's Last Restaurant Standing (it broadcasted last year as The Restaurant on regular BBC) who cook Ghanaian food.

I stumbled upon a volunteer's site about traditional Ghana culture and food.

And there was the Universal Method for cooking one-pot stews and curries.
It gives very easy instructions and some example recipes.

I have done this twice in the past week, using up veggies and adding different liquids. Mine turned out more Indian, as I used Indian spices and curry paste for the base. (And MaMa Ronin proclaims it's better than our yummy Indian restaurant's!)

The picture above is made with onions, garlic, spices, veg bratwurst, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, broccoli, & peas.

The picture at the end is made with onions, garlic, spices, veg bratwurst, tomatoes, potatoes, spinach, mushrooms & peas.

You will need:
A big pot
Any veggies you have!
Spices (such as garlic, cumin, paprika, etc) or something like curry paste
Fake meat or tofu (opt)
Liquid (opt) (like water, broth, coconut milk, etc)

Start chopping your onion while the oil is heating. While that sautees, start chopping the next batch to go in, while that sautees, start with the next batch, etc. No time is wasted, it's great.

-I started with a little oil on low/med heat, chopped onion and garlic, spices (I used a couple of spoonfuls of curry paste). Sautee.

-Add the "meat category" & sautee. I used chopped Tofurky's Bratwurst.

-I add chopped potatoes now too to soak up some of those lovely spices. I also add chunks of tomatoes so they can start to simmer and stew. (Now would be the time to add the rest of your "Class B" food like beans, carrots, broccoli, eggplant, etc.). Sautee just a minute or two for the spices to start to coat and absorb.

(Shown: 1 onion, 2 med potatoes, 2 tomatoes, 2 garlic cloves, 1 brat)

-Add your liquid now if you choose. Try to add just enough to cover the potatoes. From here on out the pictures are with coconut milk. In the picture at the top I used water to finish as a stew. Or add a little and have the potatoes steam to have more of a dry curry.

-Simmer about 10 minutes (more or less depending on your chunks) or until potatoes are done.

-At the end of the cooking time add the veggies in "Class B" that cook quickly, such as frozen peas and mushrooms. I would stir in spinach right before serving.

Isn't that color amazing!?

It takes around 20 minutes from start to finish. That's just about the same time it takes to cook some rice to go along with it! I used Basmati rice cooked with saffron threads.

Full of veggies and flavor, you can't go wrong!

Simple things

2008-02-27T04:27:00.003+09:00

I think when you don't eat certain things for a long time you sort of forget about them. So here is a refresher for your mouth for those no-fuss lazy days.

Pizza Bites!

Sauce and a little Tofutti cheeze on mini bagels, top with bac'n bits (and they taste just like the frozen ones, heartburn and all!). Also good with mushrooms!
Bake 350F for 10min.
Note- I dropped these on the floor right after I took the photo. I still ate them.

Turn a simple bag of ramen into a lovely soup!
Here we have Wizard and Astronaut flavors from the Asian grocery store. They smelled like Pringles.

Before you add your instant noodles, throw in any left over veggies. Boil chunks of things like carrot, onion, cabbage, mushrooms, & faux-ham for about 5 minutes, then add your noodles & base. Stir in green onions and spinach or bok choy after you put it in a bowl. Turn cheap noodles into a warm hearty soup!

Vegan Tofu Takoyaki

2008-02-11T10:10:00.002+09:00

Takoyaki is a Japanese dish that translates to "fried octopus balls." And that's "balls" as in the shape of dish! It is a piece of octopus covered in batter and cooked in special takoyaki-iron that produces the ball shape. Osaka is very famous for its takoyaki.

I decided to translate & alter an authentic Japanese tofu takoyaki recipe so that the rubbery filling is a mushroom! I'm a genius, I know.

Ingredients:
1 tub of 14 oz extra firm tofu, drained & pressed
14 small-medium sized white button mushrooms, extruding stem bottoms cut off
1/4 heaping cup of flour

Ingredients PART 2:
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 green onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp pickled ginger, chopped (or 1/2 tsp ground ginger)
1 Tbsp golden sesame seeds

frying oil
metal tongs

Toppings (opt)- Use all of these for an authentic eating experience (I did leave out the fish flakes though!):
-Okonomiyaki sauce (available at any Asian grocer- check ingredients) BBQ sauce is an acceptable substitute
-mayo, drizzled
-nori (seaweed) flakes

I say 14 mushrooms, but in reality, you may use more or less depending on the size of your mushrooms

1. Heat oil on medium in a deep dish pan to start to heat up.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix all of PART 2 from the ingredients.

3. Crumble tofu into same mixing bowl. Mix well with hands, fork, potato masher, etc. Make sure the tofu is finely mashed. No chunks.

4. Mix in flour well. It should thicken into a "dough" immediately.

5. Take a palm full of dough and place a mushroom on top of it.

6. Start to work the dough around the mushroom until "just covered." Squeeze around between your cupped palms to distribute the dough around more evenly. This also squishes out any excess air.

7. Place in hot oil. Fry a minute each side until golden. Turn using a pair of tongs. (If you didn't have a lot of oil/deep pan like me, you may have to turn the mushroom on its side to cook as well).

8. Place on paper towel to drain excess oil.

Enjoy with your toppings!

Chocolatey News!

2008-02-05T05:51:00.002+09:00

http://chocoagogo.etsy.com

FEB 5th (tomorrow) I will be launching my vegan chocolate online store!
I'm nervous and excited to see how it will do. Especially with Valentine's Day coming up, vegans and vegan sweeties will now have a nice quality chocolate to munch on!

Here is a sneak peak just for you Ronin readers! Items will be different types of pretzels, chocolate covered Oreos and a nice mixed box of chocolate.

Peanut Butter wrapped pretzels

Butterscotch Tuxedo pretzels

Dark chocolate Oreos

Sprinkle-tastic pretzels

Zoom in of the mixed box of chocos

So please tell your friends! =)

Homestyle Vegan Chicken Fingers

2008-02-05T05:38:00.002+09:00

This is based practically entirely on my General Tso's Tofu.

This is for more of a spicier Cajun vegan finger, so replace any spices with what you see fit!

2 C dried bean curd skin/peel
2 C veg. chicken broth (1 bouillon cube = 2 C broth)
1 C cornstarch
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
1/2 tsp oregano, dried
1/4 tsp cumin, ground
1/4 tsp garlic powder

1. Boil 2 C of water and add bouillon cube. Stir until dissolved.

2. Put dried tofu in a bowl. Pour 1 C of broth over to cover tofu. Stir around.

3. Let sit for 10-15 minutes (whenever you don't feel any hard parts). You may need to add more broth as needed.

4. Place cornstarch and spices in a tall bowl. Stir with a fork.

5. Heat 1/4" of oil in frying pan on Med/Med-High heat. Drop a small piece of batter in (a little of the cornflour + a little broth). When it sizzles, it's ready. (BE CAREFUL OF NOT GETTING ANY LIQUID IN THE OIL!)

6. When tofu is ready, drain the excess broth (don't let it sit in it).

7. One at a time, place about 10 soaked tofu bits in the bowl of cornstarch. Gently swirl it around to cover completely. They should look dry. If moisture is coming through, give them another swirl.

8. Gently place in the oil. Fry each side about 4-5 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to drain on a paper towel.

9. Repeat 7 & 8 in small batches until all gone (duh).

Serve with your favorite sauce! I used BBQ sauce and a homemade ranch.

*Dried tofu skin is ideal. I bought mine at an Asian grocery store.

Poppers!

2008-01-31T05:22:00.002+09:00

Well Vegan: Over 90 Mouthwatering Recipes for All Occasions calls it Crispy, stuffed peppaew peppers .

I don't know what a peppadew is, and the grocery store certainly didn't have any. They are smaller and the recipe calls for 8. I used a variety of larger peppers that included jalapeño, poblano and a mild banana pepper.

You can also easily play with the filling ingredients.

If you do not have plain yogurt on hand, slowly add your milk so the batter isn't runny (like mine was!).

Prep: 15 min
Cooking: 20 min
serves: 2

8 tsp vegan cream cheese
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 Tbsp parsley, chopped
8 peppadew peppers, tops removed and seeded
1/2 C strong white flour
1/2 C (125 ml) rice or soy milk
1 Tbsp vegan yogurt
1 tsp arrowroot
1 tsp vegan bouillon powder
1 tsp finely grated lime rind
1 Tbsp coconut oil
sesame seeds for sprinkling

1.Oil a baking sheet. Preheat oven to 350F (180C)

2. Place cream cheese, garlic an parsley in a bowl and mix together thoroughly. Put a teaspoonful of the cream cheese mixture into each pepper.

3. Place flour, milk, yogurt, arrowroot, bouillon powder and lime rind in a small bowl or jug and mix well to make a stiff batter.

4. Dip each stuffed pepper into the batter to coat the outside, then place on the prepared baking sheet.

5. Sprinkle the peppers with the oil and sesame seeds, then bake for about 7 minutes. Baste, then return to the oven for a further 7-10 minutes, until crisp.

Mapo Dofu/ Mabo Tofu

2008-01-25T05:50:00.003+09:00

This is the best I've ever had! And smells divine!
This dish is popular in China and Japan. Spicy and warm with the smoothness of tofu.

1 box silken-firm tofu
1/2 C beef-style crumbles (or TVP bits, slightly moistened)
3 Tbsp sesame oil
1 chili pepper, minced (or 3 Tbsp mild chili powder)
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp soy sauce + 1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch + 1/2C water

green onions for garnish

If you don't have silken, a regular tub of tofu is fine. Also reg oil is fine too, still yummy! Exactness is just for optimum results! Honestly, it's just as good without the crumbles.

1. Carefully wrap tofu in a tea towel or paper towels to soak up the excess liquid. Set aside.

2. Heat oil on medium heat and add garlic, onions and chili pepper. Fry until onions are soft.

***NOTE: To regulate spiciness, use chili powder. Start step #2 with 1 Tbsp of chili powder. Add an additional 1 Tbsp for every step until spiciness is desired.***

3. Cut tofu into about 1 cm squares while waiting (about 48 squares)

4. Add vegetarian "beef" crumbles until it darkens a bit.

5. Add soy sauce and sugar mixture.

6. GENTLY add tofu. Silken tofu is very very delicate. Lightly push everything around to mix.

7. Cover and cook for 10 minutes on med-low heat.

8. Add cornstarch and water mixture. Gently stir, it will thicken immediately.

9. Taste, and add chili powder/hot sauce to your liking.

10. If you like, garnish with green onions and serve alone or with a side of rice.

ENJOY!

If you are pressed for time or are lazy, you can buy a pre-made Mapo sauce pouch in varying spiciness at any Asian grocer. Usually vegan, but you always double check don't you my beautiful readers? Just add your own tofu and crumbles!

General Tso's Tofu

2008-01-19T01:58:00.003+09:00

Well bite my ass and call me Sally! I had another recipe lined up for today, but last night was such an incredible success, I couldn't wait to share it. I figured out how to make restaurant-style General Tso's Tofu. Ready?

2 C dried bean curd skin/peel
2 C broth (1 bouillon cube = 2 C broth)
1 C cornflour
1 C General Tso's Sauce (recipe)
vegetable oil for frying
1 green onion, chopped (or regular onion)
some dried chili peppers (or slices of red pepper)

This makes 4 good portions.

(notes about ingredients following recipe)

Instructions:

You'll probably serve this with rice, so start it now to make sure it'll be ready

1. Boil 2 C of water and add bouillon cube. Stir until dissolved.

2. Put dried tofu in a bowl. Pour 1 C of broth over to cover tofu. Stir around.

3. Let sit for 10-15 minutes (whenever you don't feel any hard parts). You may need to add more broth as needed.

4. While soaking, chop your green onion/onion and dried chilis/red peppers. Place cornstarch in a tall bowl.

5. Heat 1/4" of oil in frying pan on Med/Med-High heat. Drop an onion chunk in. When it sizzles, it's ready. (BE CAREFUL OF NOT GETTING ANY LIQUID IN THE OIL!)

6. When tofu is ready, drain the excess broth.

7. One at a time, place about 10 soaked tofu bits in the bowl of cornstarch. Gently swirl it around to cover completely. They should look dry. If moisture is coming through, give them another swirl.

8. Gently place in the oil. Fry each side about 4-5 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to drain on a paper towel.

9. Repeat 7 & 8 in small batches until all gone (duh).

10. On your last batch, heat up another frying pan and on low-med sauté your onion and peppers.

11. When veggies are soft, add the fried tofu chunks and sauce. Mix around until sauce is heated.

Serve hot with a side of rice!

NOTES:
*Dried tofu skin is ideal. I bought mine at an Asian grocery store.

You could also rehydrate other types of tofu and have this still work I'm sure.

*Vegetarian chicken bouillon works the best.

*Save your leftover broth for another recipe, or for a base for a small bowl of soup.

*I use IRON CHEF brand General Tso's Sauce. It's got the right kick to it and it doesn't use high fructose corn syrup.

*OIL PRECAUTIONS! Make sure your pan is completely dry before adding oil. Make sure your hands and any freshly rinsed utensils are DRY. One accidental water drop in the oil will cause it pop and splatter! You or someone else could get burned or ruin your favorite shirt! No one needs that.

*It's very easy to half or double this recipe, so do as you please! =)

Mild Coconut Curry

2008-01-17T07:28:00.001+09:00

From Vegan: Over 90 Mouthwatering Recipes for All Occasions.

I said I liked this book, and there is more to come!

This is really good. After always hating Thai food, within the past six months I have been slowly coming around to it. Coconut curry doesn't taste like coconut at all! But it gives it such a creamy taste, almost reminiscent of mac & cheeze.

NOTES: I had no Thai ingredients lying around, and in fact, what I made is completely different from the book.
I did NOT use: potatoes, lemon grass, lentils, coconut oil, cumin, green beas, peppers, or corn. I used lime juice from a bottle.
I DID use tofu, onions, garlic, mushrooms, zucchini, yellow squash, and eggplant. I used spinach instead of parsley. Goes to show, use what ya got!
I simmered the tofu in the coconut milk while the other ingredients were sizzling. I used a boat load of Yellow Thai Curry powder and salt.

2 med potatoes
1 lemon grass stalk
4 Tbsp Puy lentils
1 T coconut oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
6 mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
4oz/125g green beans
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped (courgette)
8oz/250g frozen sweet corn
1 (300ml) can of coconut milk
juice of one lime
1 Tbsp chopped parsley (coriander)

1. Put the potatoes, lemon grass and lentils into a medium saucepan and add enough boiling water to just cover the tops of the potatoes. Retuen to the boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes.

2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion, garlic, mushrooms, turmeric and cumin until the onion is soft. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the parsley, and stir well.

3. Remove the lemon grass from the lentil pan, then add the lentil mixture to the onion mixture.

4. Simmer everything for about 10 minutes, or until the lentils are soft, then add the chopped parsley.

5. Serve with brown basmati rice cooked with a few cardamom pods, plus warm naan bread.

YUM

Spicy Avocado Toast

2008-01-11T06:28:00.000+09:00

The British love things on toast. Beans on toast. Spaghetti hoops on toast. "Fish" fingers on toast. And now (drum roll!) there is avocado on toast! Now you're talking!

From Vegan: Over 90 mouthwatering recipes for all occasions

1 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp roughly chopped avocado
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green chili, finely chopped (opt)
2 pinches of nutmeg
2 slices rye bread
4 tsp of hempseed oil or pumpkin seed oil
salt & pepper

Garnish:
1 sm spoonful of chopped parsley or seaweed flakes
2 slices of lime

1. Heat the oil in a small saucepan, then add the avocado, onion, chili and nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Fry gently until onion is soft.

2. Lightly toast the rye bread.

3. Drizzle the hempseed oil on to the toast, then spoon the hot avocado mixture on top.

4. Arrange the toast on warm plates, sprinkle with parsley and garnish with the lime slices

EASY right? I took a lot of liberties with this recipe (whole avocado, leftover onion, chili powder, lime juice, etc). But that just proves how versatile and flexible this is! You can't really go wrong when it comes to avocado. Note it made more than what is shown in the picture.

The Ronin Returns

2008-01-10T05:48:00.001+09:00

Loyal fans! I have survived the cloudy depths of the UK and emerged bearing incredible gifts for your taste buds future glee!

First of all, I possibly bought one of the most awesome cookbooks:

Vegan: Over 90 Mouthwatering Recipes for All Occasions

Made in association with The Vegan Society, this British food themed book is full of easy, delicious looking meals. I want to eat everything in it (sans beet soup. gross. sorry).

So stay tuned for recipes and pictures from it in the days to come.
I am trying to aim to update this everyday or every-other-day.

And now:
DELICIOUS FOOD THE REST OF THE WORLD IS MISSING OUT ON

Homemade phyllo parcel filled with mushrooms, leeks, chestnuts, onions, etc. Roasted potatoes, Brussels sprouts, carrots, parsnips, peas.

Mixed mushroom and ale pie with minty mushy peas an chunky chips. Ginger tofu cheesecake with rhubarb compote. From Mildred's in London. (Go there, all veg, tons of vegan options).

Real Scottish Breakfast. Vegetarian haggis, potato triangles, baked beans & toast, fried mushrooms and baked tomato.

Vegetable curry baked potato with vegetarian haggis samosa.

Plus lots of other homemade stuff. It's all awesome. Go eat it.

Christmas Tree Cake

2007-12-24T00:33:00.001+09:00

Made with the chocolate cake, chocolate icing and buttercreme frosting from The Joy of Vegan Baking. NUM NUM NUM And also some butterscotch chocolate stars!

I will be out ronining again.. umm in an hour so expect some magical foreign cookin' in the coming weeks!

Beancurd Fish

2007-12-04T05:06:00.001+09:00

This is a fish made of bean curd:

This is the inside of a bean curd fish head:

This is pan fried bean curd fish:

How to coat and pan fry:
you need-
a bowl of flour
a bowl of seasoned breadcrumbs or panko (you can add your own Italian spices and paprika)
a bowl of soy milk with a squirt of lemon juice

MAKE SURE YOU DESIGNATE A "DRY" HAND AND A "WET" HAND
You don't want your hands gettin' all goopy!

1. Dredge 'fish' in flour
2. Dredge in milk
3. Dredge in breadcrumbs

Place in a PREHEATED oiled pan on medium heat. Pan fry on both sides until golden brown!

BONUS: Tartar sauce
3 parts Vegenaise
2 parts relish
equals yum!

Have a great dinner!

TIP: DO NOT EAT raw. Doesn't taste very good. But fine once cooked!

Homemade Tofurky

2007-11-30T09:45:00.002+09:00

Homemade Tofu Turkey is WAAAYY better than that other stuff.

Recipe

HINTS

Press the tofu first, and then FREEZE it. Then let it thaw out the day before you intend to bake it.
After repressing, stuffing and turning it out in a dish, go ahead and take a brush to baste it. Let is sit maybe 30 min marinading in that BEFORE cooking. (If you put it on while cooking, it just makes a salty skin and does not absorb into the tofu)
Cook at 350 not 400. Bake 1 hour covered. take the cover off and baste again
(keep cover off). 30 min later baste again (should be the last of the marinade). 30 min later you're done!
Let's eat!

For this Tofurky I only used 3 blocks of tofu, so adjust your cooking time and marinade as needed!

QUICHE

2007-11-30T09:24:00.005+09:00

The basic recipe to work off of is here.

Ingredients

1 ready made pie crust-pre cook for 10 minutes
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1 lb. your choice veggies (broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, red peppers, etc), cooked to just done
Any add ins like vegan ham or cheeze
1 lb firm tofu, drained
1/2 cup soy milk
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Cook your veggie of choice until just soft. Cook onion and garlic until golden, and add veggie and heat through. In blender, puree tofu, soymilk, mustard, salt, nutmeg, pepper, and soy cheese, until smooth. Pour into large bowl and add the onion and veggie mixture. Combine well. Taste for seasoning. Pour into pre-cooked pie shell, and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 35-40 minutes or until quiche is set (you may need to put foil around the crust if getting too dark). After 25 minutes, brush top of quiche with olive oil to brown. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before cutting.

HINTS FOR THE BEST

SHELL:
I use a pre-made pie shell. Follow the directions for baking and cook it empty for a little under its directions (ie- cook 12 min. you should only cook it 10).
Depending on your oven, you may need to add some foil or a pie ring around your crust to keep it from getting too brown.

QUICHE:
1. The BEST is 1 tub of water packed soft tofu (not silken though). If you can't get that, firm is still perfectly fine.
2. Press the tofu
3. Puree with the spices.
4. Fold in all the veggies.
Add some chopped up veggie meat and veggie cheese in it too. num num.

This was filled with portobello, spinach, onion, and broccoli.
I brought this baby to Lindy Loo's (of Yeah That "Vegan" Shit fame) big to-do. An omni couldn't tell it was vegan, so that's a sign of a great quiche. And you're lookin' at it!

Other photos:

Garlic Shrimp and angel hair

2007-11-30T08:58:00.001+09:00

I like saying "shrimps" so shut it. Shrimps are cute, and I don't like saying "I ate shrimp," so I dub their new vegan name... 'Rimpies! Or maybe Shrimpens. Shrimplies? Shrimpy MaGee? Shirmples? You tell me.

I found these Shrimples in a large Asian supermarket.

1. Cook your angel hair pasta.

2. In the meantime, on med-low melt a bunch of butter in a skillet. Put in as much chopped garlic as you like and your THAWED shrimples. (Allow a few hours of defrosting on your counter top before using)

Oddly enough, as the shrimples cook, they do turn a little pink! Maybe it was my imagination, but I don't think so.

3. Drain pasta when cooked and tossed with garlic butter sauce, shrimpies, and a pinch of Italian seasoning.
(Salt for taste if you want to, you probably won't need it though.)

RESULT: They do smell like shrimp. My mom thought they were too chewy. But they taste fine and if you wait a few minutes after cooking, they soften up. AND they squirt delicious butter garlic sauce in your mouth when you bite into them! AWESOME!

Big Gluten Ball stir fry

2007-11-21T03:10:00.001+09:00

I made my great return to the Asian Supermarket after a year and a half. And they got some new stock, including a myriad of veggie meats. I also bought some ramen packages with nothing other than a picture of a wizard* on the front. But I will save that for another time. Today, I focus on BIG GLUTEN BALLS!!!

This mysterious package laid eyes on me and new I was a sucker. And for 89 cents how could I say "no"?

I soaked the mysterious balls and stir fried them with mushrooms as directed by LimingXu. A little squishy, but not bad. I think I will stuff them next time!

*Punch teh Wizared

Gourmet gnocchi dinner with awesome marinara

2007-11-21T01:49:00.001+09:00

This entry will be divided into three parts.

You will need:
1. fancy gnocchi
2. expensive mushrooms
3. sauce

equals this (plus extra ramblings!):

1. GNOCCHI
There is this store I have a love-hate relationship with. They have an excellent variety of gourmet and international goods. But because I am not a middle-aged woman with a giant SUV with an overpriced purse with a scowl on my face, I get treated like scum. (Hey, the reason I buy discount clothes is so I can buy fancy food! Jerks!) So I go in there with ripped jeans to mess with their heads. (Oddly, the cashiers are ALWAYS nice. And an older man stocking made conversation with me. Most of the staff acted like I wasn't even there though.) SO I bought basil gnocchi at this establishment. Put them in boiling water and as soon as they float they are DONE. Do not wait a second longer!

2. FANCY PANTS MUSHROOMS
Same store. The only reason I bought them was for the fact they were $300/lb.

I re-hydrated them with warm water and a splash of cooking sherry for about 30 min.
I simmered them very quickly in the liquid I had soaked them in. I used a separate pan and did it right before I plated the dish to keep the optimum flavor.
I will say, I'm totally sold. My taste buds have been opened to a whole new world of mushrooms. It was earthy but light. They were magnificent!

3. THE SAUCE
Most celebrated chefs hate vegetarians. I don't even want to know their opinion on vegans. I don't know if Heston Blumenthal is a hater, but he has one of the top restaurants in the world and his food science is fascinatingly mind-blowing. I knew if I were to make an amazing sauce... I would have to find a recipe of his.

I used this recipe.

I know it's for pizza sauce, but it still works since the video stops before it turns into sauce. I didn't use a pressure cooker, just boiled everything covered for a bit (make sure it doesn't burn to the bottom though!) Toss it with the gnocchi and topped with the mushrooms. All the simple flavors are divine.

I only used 4 large tomatoes. I used pre-chopped garlic an dried herbs minus the bay leaves. I pressed the tomato innards through the sieve and didn't use the seeds.

BONUS: When you finally open the oven door after a few hours (I did 200F for like 3-4 hours) the smell is amazzzinnngggg. I chopped up the cooked tomatoes before I put them in the sauce pan.

I know it's a lot of work for something you could make in a blender or by opening a jar. But Oh My Zeus, it is SO worth it. I've never had such a wonderful tomato sauce. Thanks Heston!

For dessert I got these giant spice-cake shaped pretzels dipped in chocolate from Germany. MMMMMM.

Tofu eggs

2007-11-21T01:38:00.002+09:00

My mom has recently gone full blown vegetarian. Hurray! I came home the other day and she was eating a make-shift omelet for lunch and I decided I wanted one too.

I used silken firm tofu*, which really is the best texture for eggs. I pressed it and cut it into 4 thin slabs. I only used two (half of the box) here. Silken tofu falls apart very easily, so that's why it's all crazy looking.

I made a rub of turmeric and garlic and rubbed (duh) it all over the slices.
I heated some oil in a skillet (on medium) and added the tofu. I added a splash of soy sauce. After a few minutes, or until the other side looks yellow and slightly browned, carefully flip the tofu. At this point I added a slice of Follow Your Heart mozzarella to the top of the slabs. If there is room in the pan you can also add any veggies you want to sauté. Cover the pan with a big lid or foil until cheese is soft (about 4-5 min).

*The unrefrigerated kind in the small cardboard box.

TVP Rendang

2007-11-21T01:33:00.003+09:00

I soaked some TVP in warm water with a dash of soy sauce for about 20 minutes.
I stir fried them with peppers and onions and padang (a spicy peanut) sauce until it cooked down. Viola!

I used to be really scared of peanut sauce and veggies. It just seemed wrong. But, I'm expanding my palate and as long as it is vegan I will eat it*!

*Except cucumbers because I'm allergic to them. And olives because they taste like butt.

Brussels Bites

2007-11-03T02:12:00.000+09:00

So I had a remark that there is not enough "how-to" any more here. I guess I agree, so here we go! A completely original recipe.

Did you know it's Brussels sprouts, not Brussel sprouts? The more you know!

Brussels Bites
I know it's not a very good name, but suck it.

How to clean & cook Brussels Sprouts:
Rinse them well. Peel off the outside layer of leaves and chop off the stem. Make an X with your knife in the bottom of the stem (to cook better). Steam for about 5 minutes (until they are bright green). But for this recipe, maybe only 3 minutes.

Pan fry some Tofurky Beer Brat medallions with oil and garlic, and toss in the Brussels sprouts with it for a few more minutes.

Next, get some pre-made croissant dough. Depending on how many sprouts you have, you may have to put the precut pieces back together and then re-cut out how many pieces of dough you need.

Place one medallion and sprout in the croissant square. Then wrap the dough around the two, slightly patting it into a ball, trying to get the air out. Repeat with the rest. Try and work quickly if possible. Bake by the croissant directions (about 10 minutes until golden brown). Enjoy!

I also made standard mashed potatoes as a side, along with portobella and onion gravy. I've become awesome at making gravy from scratch. It involves browned flour, oil for the fat, water and soy sauce. Usually though in some mushrooms at the end.
Here is a good basic gravy recipe until you can get a handle on it yourself. Seriously, cooking it in that order is the key to good gravy.

Bibimbap

2007-10-24T05:56:00.001+09:00

My first real taste of Korean food, from a Korean restaurant.
I had Bibimbap, minus egg and meat.
It comes out super hot, and you have to stir all the stuff around in the bowl before the rice sticks to the sides. So the rice gets kinda crunchy and good with all this other stuff mixed in. Good, but not amazing.

Kim-chi still may be one of the most disgusting things on earth.

Chocolicious bites

2007-10-24T05:55:00.001+09:00

Somewhere between brownie and cake, with melted chocolate and a walnut!
It was as delicious as it looks.

Japanese food

2007-10-24T05:42:00.001+09:00

Two seasonal autumn packages.

Tofu salad.

Cold grilled eggplant sushi with ginger on top.

THE lasagna

2007-10-24T05:13:00.001+09:00

From top to bottom: topless, top on, sliced

Make it yourself, there is no going back!
Sometimes I will even just make the cheez to use on other things it's so amazing. I usually up the 'butter', 'mayo' and nutritional yeast. It just makes it tastier!! Silken tofu does work best texture-wise, but regular style is just as delicious.

First Class Food

2007-10-24T04:52:00.001+09:00

My last flight I treated myself to first class. The two dishes during the 12 hour flight included a nice selection of fresh-ish cold (bland) veggies and hot (bland) veggies, fruit, a small side of rice and a piece of bread, with a snack of mixed nuts. I was left pining for more carbs and starving when we landed. While first class has a nice food tray for anyone to go get something from, my only selection was an under-ripe banana that I passed on. Dinner was just as pathetic so I didn't even bother to take a picture.

Sad to think my economy meals had more flavor and left me stuffed.
So NorthWest Airways, if you are reading this, please don't take the term "rabbit food" so literal next time please. And FYI, butter is not vegan.

Mushroom ravioli and polenta bites

2007-10-24T04:44:00.000+09:00

Ok, It's not really ravioli, although that's what Vegetarian Times called it (similar recipe, skip the cheese and add garlic and rosemary). All you need is gyoza/wonton wrappers (most are NOT vegan so read carefully. Asian food stores are your best bet over supermarket brands). Lightly pan fry! No sauce needed with 'butter', garlic and onions!
Also made cute polenta bites, which I made using small cookie cutters. Sauce is pure tomato sauce mixed with artichoke hearts (until creamy) and a dash of nutmeg. Num!

Breakfast Buddies Pot luck

2007-10-24T04:38:00.004+09:00

I have given these guys their official name, Breakfast Buddies! Let the "mc" rule your language no more! I made mini Breakfast Buddies with Gimme Lean sausage for a potluck. They were a big hit and that makes me very happy! My recipe is super easy. Try them with any of your fav fixin's!

Old Country Food, Take me home

2007-10-24T04:34:00.001+09:00

Garlic Brussels spouts, polenta and Tofurky Beer Brats with onions.

Vegan Japan

2007-08-02T08:58:00.002+09:00

I'll (try to) spare the talk and get on with the pretty pictures!

Mr. Young Men
Kyoto (Teramachi & Shijo)
Okonomiyaki

Tofu Okonomiyaki
(shown with miso soup with fried tofu)

Osaka is the famous place to get this cuisine, but Mr Young Men is accomidating and has a ton of options. Just ask for no eggs, mayo, or katsuo-bushi (fish flakes).

Cafe Peace
Kyoto (Demachiyanagi)
International vegan

Brown rice, tvp chikn in a tomato sauce, fries, potato salad, hijiki salad, cabbage and veggie salad, pear jelly dessert.

Kareage- fried chikn in a crispy potato basket with tortilla chips and sweet tomato sauce.

Not pictured: Soy Mince & Chive Chijimi (korean 'pancake') and almond and chocolate poundcake for dessert. The almond poundcake was one of the best things I've eaten in a long time.

Nara National Museum cafe
Nara
Chinese style cafe

Chewy sweet and sour tvp on a bed of greens and chinese buns to pick it all up with!

Maman Terrace
Osaka (Shinsaibashi)
Macrobiotic

Way over priced. I got a nice plate of food and my mom got almost nothing for the same price. Good, but not recommended.

Breaded chickpea drum sticks with bamboo. Also a side of aglio e olio.

Pumpkin cake with an orange glaze with crunchy pumpkin pellets and puffed rice to the side. Also a soy cappucchino.

Brown Rice Cafe & Deli
Tokyo (OmoteSando/Aoyama)
Macrobiotic

I've never been in the actual cafe, I love the deli too much. It's my favorite place!
I got my usual veggie burger and a brown rice ratatoulle pocket (past post). And for dessert?

Chocolate Tofu Torte. MMMMMMM It was like mousse!

Der Akkord
Tokyo (Omotesando/Aoyama)
German, Vegan, Macrobiotic bakery

Right down the road from Brown Rice, this bakery gives out samples and has a great array of baked goods for us vegans!

I had an apple jam pie, coconut banana cake, and curry bread (curried veggies and rice baked inside pastry).

Pure Cafe
Tokyo (Aoyama/Omotesando)
Vegan Cafe

Pure Cafe, better known for its (now defunct store front) sister store Cafe Eight, is located in an Aveda. Sadly its website is lacking photos of this wonderfully place and its food. They have a small ever changing menu, as well as breakfast!

Vegetable Torte. Sauteed veggies on a lovely crust covered in a nutrtional yeast and tofu cheez sauce. MM!

Tiramisu. The end.

Fish and Chips

2007-08-02T08:54:00.003+09:00

Made VGML's Fish and Chips for my British omni monkey and my mom. Success!

Chana Masala

2007-07-12T18:25:00.002+09:00

Indian chick pea curry and rice! Also made some more jalebi to make it a whole dinner!

Japanese Tofu Burgers

2007-07-12T18:20:00.005+09:00

(Recipe coming soon)

This is a Japanese tofu burger (ganmodoki) which is vegan, and it is moist as well! It has tofu, oil, carrots, potatoes, burdock (a root), and Jews ear are the basic things in it. It was made for Buddhist vegan cuisine, although recipes I have seen online all contain egg =/

Ps-Jews ear is apparently an ear-shaped fungus. I had never heard of this and you can imagine my surprise when that came up on my electronic dictionary. I also thought burdock was a type of fish (I have no idea why), phew!

I love 'em! I hope I can find them back in the States (note: you can in some Asian grocery stores). My new thing is cutting them in half and having them as open face sandwiches.

Here it is displayed with sautéed onions and mushrooms, BBQ sauce and lettuce on lightly toasted bread. wow seriously.

MeatyBalls

2007-07-11T15:33:00.001+09:00

Made with Gimme Lean sausage-style (didn't have beef style) bread crumbs and spices (Italian seasonings), then baked.

MizuYokan

2007-07-11T15:26:00.002+09:00

These are sweets from Japan called mizu-yokan. They are made from sweet beans, but agar agar is used to give it a slightly jiggly gelatin texture. Most are just reddish, these a fancy pants ones!
The one on the left is coffee flavored, and the other one just tasted like sweet beans. I only bought it because it was cute.

Beer battered mushrooms

2007-07-11T15:19:00.002+09:00

Beer battered mushrooms the size of your fist.

I love the west.

This can be achieved with any batter or even tempura mix and deep fried.

Sweet and Sour TVP Pork

2007-07-11T15:11:00.001+09:00

First, you will need some chunky TVP (texturized vegetable protein)

I altered this recipe from http://www.jewish-food.org/recipes/tvpswees.htm

Yield: 4 servings

* 1 cup TVP chunks
* 1 tablespoon ketchup
* 1 3/4 cups hot water
* 1 cup carrots - (1 large carrot), sliced
* 1 green pepper, large chop
* 1 cup water
* 20 ounces pineapple chunks, canned in juice
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup cider vinegar
* 2 tablespoons cornstarch
* 1/4 cup tamari (or soy sauce)

Combine first three. Simmer in a covered pan until tender, but not mushy. (20-30 minutes) I add a little soy sauce and more sugar in with the TVP when boiling, gives it more flavor.

Bring 1 cup water to a boil and add carrots and green pepper.

Cover, return to boil and cook for 2 minutes to crisp-tender. Remove from heat, drain, reserving liquid. Return liquid to pan and add juice from pineapple. Bring the liquid to a boil, adding sugar and vinegar.

In a small bowl, combine rest.

Stir the cornstarch mixture into the hot liquid, the sauce will thicken and come to a boil almost at once.

After I drain the extra liquid from boiling the TVP, I pan fry the TVP to give it a crispier outside.
SAVE the leftover broth and add it to the veggie/pineapple broth.

Add the cooked TVP, the carrots and green peppers and pineapple to the sauce. Serve on rice or crisp chow mein noodles. This can be made ahead and reheated later and then served on rice or noodles.

Other ways you can make it:

This baby was non-traditional and included cleaning out the fridge:
Onions
Green peppers
Eggplant
Broccoli
Scallions
Avocado!

Even the omni-monkey honestly declared that it was better than the veggie sweet and sour pork at the fancy restaurant in Hong Kong. Wow!

Brown Rice Cafe in Tokyo

2007-07-11T14:45:00.002+09:00

While I didn't go to the cafe (because the wait was too long and I was starving), I went to their deli right beside it.
It was amazing. It's macrobiotic, although most of it is vegan. They know all their farmers and get food fresh.
I will be coming back here every time I'm in Tokyo.

Veggie burger.
The miso sauce really made this the best damn veggie burger I've ever had. Fo' real.

A sloppy-joe type rice mixture in a fried tofu skin pouch with grilled veggies.
Good, but I would have chosen the Mexican style one they had over this.

Mini fruit and walnut tortes and mini tofu (cheesecake) torte.
Cheesecake still tasted a bit beany with lemon. Not complaining though. The fruit and walnut glazed torte had a brown rice crust and was AMAZING.

Brown Rice Cafe, A++++++ Will do business with again!!!!!!1

Map.
Take the Tokyo Metro (subway) to station Omotesando (by Harajuku). Go to exit A1. Hitch a left at the intersection in front of you. It's on your right after about a 30 second walk.

Gnocchi

2007-07-11T14:37:00.000+09:00

Just with some marinara sauce and some Mozzeralla Sheese. At first Mozzarella tastes like mozzarella, then it kinda tastes like glue. But it's growing on me in small amounts mixed with other things.

Pronounced: "Nyoh-khi"

Jalebi

2007-05-29T19:18:00.002+09:00

To continue the Indian kick is a nice Indian dessert: Jalebi.
(although in some parts of the country it is eaten with breakfast)
I actually had only ever had this at one Indian restaurant, and only occasionally at their buffet (the rest of the time they had Galub Jamun. I would watch bitterly while who ever I dragged there that day would eat them in ecstasy. I've never had them, but I will try to make them soon enough). Anyways, I would stuff them in my face but never found out what they were called. Finally some dedicated interwebz searchin not only yielded their name, but A VIDEO on how to make them. I used Manjula's recipe.

After frying:

After soaking:

The ones I had were bright orange, but then again these ARE homemade, not full of dyes. And damn, they are tasty (especially if they sit for a few minutes.. if you can hold out!!).

STORY
I haven't had dinner yet and I these are almost gone. I just hope it doesn't end the same way as when I was in my single-digits and I was helping my Grammie make rosettes (read=pretty elephant ears) and I ate so many covered with so much powdered sugar, that I still not only have a food adversion to it ump-teen years later, but the smell also makes me sick. (holy crap that was one sentence) These are pretty similar, if they were covered in powder rather than syrup I would have been ill.

Note: I didn't have gram flour, so I used bran instead. The consistancy was very runny, so I added a little flour at a time until it was the thickness she had. I also feel half a pinch of saffron would have been better. I have a little bit of syrup left too.

Indian Curry

2007-05-29T19:08:00.001+09:00

Since the turn of the millennium, there has been an epic battle.
Which do I like better, Indian or Mexican?
In the motherland, I could make my own Mexican food if I had a craving.
But Indian food is a bit trickier with its wonderful blended spices. The more often I ate Indian, the more my cravings drove me mad until I could get my next fix. I suspect much like nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

I had a nice vegetable curry the other day and decided to do something where the base was pureed veggies to give it the nice "thick and creamy" texture.

Boil:
potatoes
onion
broccoli stems
carrots

When potatoes are nearly ready, ladle half of the veg and broth into a blender with part of a tomato. Blend! (I also added a can of drained white beans for a thickener. Good, but I think I'll leave it out next time and just up the potato ratio).
In the meantime add broccoli and cauliflower florets to cook. Throw in any other veg you want. (I also threw in some tofu burgers for kicks, to be like paneer?)
Stir in a couple spoonfulls of Curry paste, along with the blended goodness. Mix until everything is heated through.

I served it with saffron rice and some cashews on top just to be kinky.

Mac and Sheese

2007-05-29T18:54:00.001+09:00

Ahhh, comfort food!
Mama Ronin's macaroni and cheese could not be beat. I think I've got it down after years of toil!
For the best Mac and Cheez, start with a roux.

Finely chop some onion.
Lightly sautee in butter or oil (a little more than you need for the onions)
Add some flour and stir until all mixed.

Still on med-low to med heat:
Add non-dairy milk and stir.
Add block vegan cheez (I used mild cheddar Sheese)
Stir until as melted as possible.

Season with a squirt of yellow mustard (secret ingredient), a shake of salt, and a shake of paprika (as you like it).

Mix in pasta and add fresh pepper!!

I was never into baked Mac and Cheese, but I guess you could do that if you want.

With the leftover sauce, it will mostly solidify. Heat backup with some more 'milk'. You may need some more seasonings because of this.

Vegan Desserts!

2007-05-16T16:18:00.002+09:00

Eat your heart out vegan haters!

Aww, the simple desserts!

Banana Split

Bananas! Vanilla Rice Cream! Vegan Hot Fudge! Frozen raspberries! Almond slices! Soyatoo whipped cream!! BOO YAH!

Root Beer Float

Bulldog Root Beer and Vanilla Rice Cream! I know the whipped cream wasn't necessary, but it was too good not to add some =D

BBQ PIZZA

2007-05-16T15:11:00.001+09:00

Before:

CRUST
Ok, first the no yeast herb crust from HOW IT ALL VEGAN is like, the best thing ever. I use it all the time (but I use nutritional yeast instead of vegan parmesan, add extra herbs and extra garlic powder!). I would recommend baking it 5 minutes before piling on stuff.

SAUCE
I made an alfredo sauce. Get some tofu (soft or silken if possible, but if not, no biggie), cube it and boil it for 5 minutes to get rid of the beany flavor. I add some boullion and add like 3/4 cup of water slowly while blending it all. If I need some more herbs or salt, I throw it in. (This can be used as an alfredo pasta sauce too!)

THE GOODS
Fresh spinach
chunked portabella
chopped fire roasted peppers
chopped onion
Cubed Riblets (set out to thaw for about 10 min)
Cheddar Sheese (I used a fancy hard-cheese hand held grater thingy that you turn and it spits it out- like shaved ice!)

After:

Holy crap I think my mom is more in love with this than I am!!
Like I said, the Sheese doesn't melt so much as get soft, but that's fine!

**I usually pan fry Chikn Strips with BBQ sauce for this, but the riblets were handy and still totally good!**

Portabella burger

2007-05-16T15:01:00.001+09:00

This monster is stacked high!! You need:
Portabella cap
Fire roasted peppers and their marinade (or fresh bell pepper slices and a good dressing/marinade).
Eggplant slices
Spinach
Sheese
Toasted bread

Marinade the portabella, peppers, and eggplant in a big baking dish. I used the marinade that the peppers were packed in, but any good marinade will do. Let soak for a MINIMUM of 10 minutes each side.
Cover dish (with lid or foil) and bake 375 for 10ish minutes. Take cover off and cook another 5 (or under mushroom is nice and soft. It will have shrunk a little.)

Assemble to your likings and grab a napkin!
This is one of those sandwiches that you have to hold on to and eat the entire thing because if you put it down you can never pick it all up again!

Super delicious.

*TIP: If you buy portabellas by the pound at stores, pull off their stem before you buy them! Ditchin` that weight saves you some cash!!

Enchiladas!

2007-05-16T14:54:00.001+09:00

MMMMMMM!
I sauteed onion and orange peppers with the Chikn Strip Starters.
While that was sizzling, I rinsed a can of black beans and seasoned it with lime juice and parsley (if I had cilantro I would have used that).
I added chunks of the amazing Medium Cheddar Sheese, wrapped it in tortillas, placed in a baking dish and added enchilada sauce around them, with a drizzle on top with a little Sheese. Bake 350 for 15 min (or when sauce is bubbling).

*Note that Sheese doesn't really melt, it just gets really soft. It's still the best cheese substitute out there though!

Chik patty sandwich

2007-05-16T14:48:00.002+09:00

Chik Patties how I've missed thee!!

On toasted grain bread with fresh spinach and Veganaise.
On the side is artichoke hearts and edamame and homemade apple sauce.

I never ate edamame (soy beans) and frankly it looked scary. Now, I love it.
Get yourself some edamame still in it's pod.
They will probably be frozen so boil it on low heat it for about 15 minutes. Drain and toss with salt. I usually eat them cold, but slightly warm is nice too! Just squeeze them out of the pod into your mouth! The slight salty tatse on the pod to your lips is divine!

Lunch break v.2

2007-04-27T19:34:00.001+09:00

I am going to visit the motherland for a week, so I will leave you with this!

I got a new lunch box and containers only because I could not resist the cute.

Inside is a PBJ, carrots and pretzels and 2 lil carmalized biscuits.

PS- Guac and pretzels are the wave of the future!

THE Tofu Omelet

2007-04-27T19:28:00.001+09:00

It takes about 20 minutes, but it’s worth it.

The Omelet.
What you need:
1 tub of silken tofu (firm is ok too)
1/4 C flour
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp turmeric
2-3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Pre-sautéed veggies of your choice
Lightly oiled large skillet/frying pan
Blender/food processor

1. Press the tofu.

2. BLEND tofu flour, baking powder, oil, soy sauce, turmeric, and garlic until creamy.

4.Mix! You may need to add more flour, just enough so it’s thicker and kind of sticks to itself.

*POINT* Turmeric and soy sauce are the key points in making delicious egg replicas.

Pour in a lightly oiled frying pan on low heat. Smooth out as much as possible.

Soon, the edges will start to look suspiciously like egg. It will turn more yellow, and the top will dry out. When it is firm to the touch, and doesn’t jiggle when you give the pan a shake, its done!

**While this is cooking, start the hash browns below, and sauté the veggies you want to use as well.**

Slide it out of the pan and add the veggies. Fold over.

(Blended)

(Hand mixed)

DEVOUR!

As seen above:
Campfire Hash browns.
I’ve been using the “campfire” foil pouch technique a lot lately. Simply chop yr taters, drizzle with the slightest of oil, and a pinch of salt. Wrap those babies up in foil and throw in the toaster oven. Put it on the highest heat (hey, it’s replicating a campfire!) for about 15 minutes.

Pesto

2007-04-18T15:02:00.001+09:00

It’s been a magical food find week. A jar of garlic puree, a jar of basil puree, tri-color swirl-shaped pasta and fresh spinach! I’m sure you know what that equals!
Pesto!!
Pesto is usually wrought with cheese, and chopping up your own basil can get expensive (depending where you live I guess). So the jar of pureed basil from Peru was a little investment, but well worth the money.

EASY PESTO
Sautee minced garlic (or a small spoonful of garlic paste/puree)
Add a spoonful of basil
(I also added a spoonful of left over cheez sauce)-opt
Add cooked pasta (drained and rinsed in cold water- to stop cooking)
Mix until coated and warm, add fresh spinach and toss.
You got yourself a quick delicious meal buddy!

Ok I swear this was more green than brown like the picture. At any rate, superb!
(I saved the tricolor pasta from my lunch the next day ^_^)

Banana pouch

2007-04-16T19:05:00.001+09:00

How could I not buy it?
Coincidentally, now I often have bananas at lunch!

Enjoy all the new posts!

Breakfast Buddies

2007-04-16T18:38:00.003+09:00

EDIT: I have named these "Breakfast Buddies" and their glory can be seen in an updated version HERE! =)

Advisory Warning: This post uses filthy language. I'll give you a hint, it starts with M and rhymes with mcdonalds (not worthy of capitalization).

Like most veggies, I was not raised vegan. Thus, sometimes guilty cravings creep in every now and then. Sometimes, I want a mcdonalds breakfast sandwich biscuit. THANKFULLY, I have a healthy alternative that quenches those cravings!

1st make polenta. This will be your 'egg'.
1 part polenta (corn meal/grits) & a few shakes of salt: 3 parts water
slowly add polenta to boiling water, constantly stirring until thick. Stir a minute or two more or until polenta pulls away from the pan sides. Pour into a container and let cool until firm. While cooling...

2nd, make biscuits (American type)! You can make them super easy with Bisquik, or there's plenty of biscuit recipes all over the web (basic uses: flour, baking powder, salt, oil, and 'milk').

3rd cut biscuits in half. slice polenta and place on each biscuit half. Add a slice of cheez, and maybe a little soy-sage if you're feeling a bit saucy. Place in toaster oven on a low-med heat for about 2-3 minutes.

4th Enjoy them open-faced or put the sides back together for a monster craving smasher.

I ended up eating them open face because they were too tall! The fella on the left has some fake shredded pork on it (I like them better plain).

YUM!!
Polenta really can make wonder-foods!

Curry Udon

2007-04-16T18:16:00.001+09:00

Curry Udon is probably my favorite food ever.
It's indulgent, succulent, full of fat and calories and all that bad stuff that makes it tastes so good.
Japanese curry is very different from Indian curry*. It's smooth, savory, thick and mild (if you want).

You will need

-Veggies. Staples are onion and carrot chunks. Broccoli is nice too. No more than 3 veg, it'll clog up the soup.

From your local Asian market:
-Box of curry. Comes in mild to hot. Not all are veg, but Golden Curry is (has MSG in it though).
-Bag of udon. This is PREMADE udon. Big thick noodles, either refrigerated or frozen. No dry noodles, those are blasphemous.

Sautee half an onion and a carrot for about 3 minutes.
Add about 2 cups of water, bring to a boil, then let simmer for about 10 minutes. (Add broccoli at the 5 minute mark).
Take off heat.

In your curry box, there will be two sections. each of those can break into 4 chunks. Break off one chunk, and stir in until dissolved.
Return to heat for about 5 minutes.
You want it to be soupy, so if it gets a little thick, just add some more water.

Frozen udon boils in a few minutes, and refrigerated udon noodles only take a minute.

Add to your curry, and then a big soup bowl!

As I transfered it to my bowl I added sliced age tofu- flavorless fried poofy tofu. Cuz yknow, I didn't feel there were enough calories in this.

For curry rice, do not use as much water, so it is like a very thick gravy to ladle over your rice. Add potatoes to the cooking process, as well as any other veggies. I love this a lot too! It is a treat for me, I don't eat this bad all the time =p

* ok food snobs, I'm just using the term "curry" for the generic main stream meaning. I know Indian food can have many different types of curry.

Spring Smoothie

2007-04-06T09:34:00.000+09:00

First off, April is my 10 year vegiversary. Yay. But next month is my 6yr veganniversary, so there will be many yummy celebration food to look forward to!

I made a smoothie this morning that reminded me it was spring. Must be the wonderful pastel colors, along with the flowers my parents sent me.

I froze some strawberries and put them in the blender, added some frozen blueberries and covered them in soymilk. Blend!

Tip: Make sure you cut off the strawberry leaves before freezing! Makes things a lot easier!

Pierogi Power!

2007-04-06T09:26:00.001+09:00

Thanks to LittleVehgen for reminding me I haven’t eaten pierogi in at least 8 months. So sad seeing that I love them so much. So I decided to make some too!

First, I know it is a sad fact not everyone knows what pierogi are. Thankfully, Wiki has a good entry on it (and different ways to make it).

I halved her dough recipe, giving me about 20 pierogi. I boiled 2 big potatoes* (only needed one though) with half of a minced onion. I mashed them up with salt, garlic powder, and a pinch of thyme.

I do not have a rolling pin nor a cookie cutter. So using small portions of dough, I treated it like a pizza crust dough and then rolled it out with a coffee mug, and used the mug’s mouth to cut out circle and stretch them out a little more. Scoop a little potato mixture up and squeeze it into a ball and place on the dough. Wet the lip of the dough and pinch shut all the way around.

TIP: Before sealing the dough completely, give it a few pats to make sure all the air it out of it first. You can thank Alton Brown for that tip.

Fresh boiled pierogi takes only about 1 minute or so to cook (when it floats, it’s done. Overcooked piergoi will be slimy and chewy.) If you freeze your pierogi, it still only takes about 3 minutes to cook (same rules apply).

I am part Polish, so I learned to eat them the Polish way. After they are boiled, have a heated skillet with some oil ready. Place pierogi and chopped onions in at the same time. Keep on a low/med heat and allow the onions to caramelize and piergoi to turn golden (turning occasionally).

Serve hot! You can eat as it, or add some vegan sour cream, or some people even add salsa (I don’t think I could handle that.)

*Because there’s only one thing worse than instant potatoes, and that’s olives. Next in the line of grossness after instant potatoes are reheated mashed potatoes. And it’s mashed, not smashed. IMO =)

Tofu Stirfry

2007-04-05T10:48:00.002+09:00

No biggie, just something easy that is often whipped up on a Friday night.

Cut up some firm tofu. I'm usually too busy/lazy to wrap it in a towel, so I just throw it straight into the frying pan. On low, let it sizzle. When it is a bit golden (with holes) on the other side, flip and add a splash of soy sauce for it to absorb. Sizzle some more.
Add
Garlic, Onion, Peppers, Bok Choy stalks (and frozen broccoli)
Fry until soft. Add mushrooms (and fresh broccoli).
Right before you serve, stir in the bok choy leafs until slightly wilted.
Serve over rice and add a favorite sauce if you like!

You can't see it but I used brown rice cooked with a little saffron.

Japanese Enkai food

2007-04-05T09:30:00.001+09:00

I did not make any of this but wanted to share the food that I had at my work party (called an enkai).

The layouts

Carrot, bamboo, fried tofu, green things. And I think the pink thing is made out of fish, I don't know why it was there. I didn't eat it.

Green konyakku, dandelion, shredded daikon, sticky potato strips, shiso leaf, spicy purple sprouts and wasabi.

Spring rolls with sweet chili sauce and pink seaweed.

Veggie Tempura

Fried tofu and eggplant

Cold green (tea?) soba with nori.

For dessert we had rice and pickled veggies with miso soup and fresh fruit.

Trifle

2007-04-03T11:26:00.001+09:00

My dude is British and I have heard him say “trifle” a few times in his craving-fits. I had never heard of trifle, the word itself reminds me of “tripe” something my grandfather used to eat. So that was a put off. In reality, it is a dessert. It sounded odd, but the image search yielded eyeball satisfaction. I decided to surprise him.

Trifle is true DIY do-what-you-want layered dessert. Every recipe I looked at was remarkably different. The skeleton of the recipe seems to be: Layer ladyfingers (sponge fingers), fresh/canned fruit, custard, and whipped cream. Do what you will from there. Some use regular sponge cake as the base, and some add jam in between those cakes. In the past 20 years, Jell-o (jelly) has been added in with the fruit! So many options! Hey that's great, but lemme get a handle on things before going experiementing. So I emailed his sister to ask what they ate at home.

Abracavegan!

(I couldn’t get anything fancy to put it in!)

Top to bottom, my layers:

Whipped cream
Custard
Jello (Jelly)
Fruit
Sponge cake

Starting with the bottom layer:

Sponge Cake (click for recipe)

This is FREAKIN delicious and I added a bit of lemon juice with the water. Wonderful.

Cool cake, slice and make your bottom layer

I lined the sides with strawberries at this point

Can/Tin/Fresh fruit

Pour canned fruit and jello over cake.

I actually soaked fresh strawberry slices in canned tropical fruit syrup while I was making the cake so it would have the sugary goodness. I poured the fruit over first to let it soak up a bit before the jello (because that seems weird to me). (I used the tropical fruit in another cake).

Agar Agar Jello

I used Apple-White grape juice instead of water (still added just a small amount of sugar though). I reduced the recipe by a third, but it still needed a bit more agar. I only used a small portion, maybe a cup- enough to not go over the cake before absorbing.

Pour over cake with fruit while still hot. Let it set in fridge

***If you are pouring this into a glass container, cup, etc, make sure it was HEAT TEMPERED, otherwise it will shatter at this stage***

Custard

I wish it were a little bit thicker- next time add more cornstarch. I added a pinch of cinnamon and it was overwhelming. Delicious, but maybe skip it. (First I made a custard on the back of an Australian no-egg powder box. Don’t, it’s gross.)

Let custard cool, stirring once in a while to avoid a skin. Add on top of fruit, let set.

Whipped Cream

I thought if I did this by hand it would be fluffier. Wrong. While the blender still keeps it runny, not as runny if you do it by hand. Still great tasting though.

Top your trifle off with it right before you serve it.

The result? Sure it wasn’t the trifle he was used to (and I had nothing to gage it against) but he loved it! I thought it tasted like a giant over indulgent strawberry shortcake- yum! He raved about the real sponge cake bottom. Me too, that sponge cake is magical, I'm tellin' ya!

Strawberry Shortcake!

2007-03-27T11:24:00.001+09:00

I had some strawberries, and I woke up craving strawberry shortcake. I think I’ve only attempted it once in the past 6 years. The time I did, the shortcake I made was more like a sweeter (American) biscuit. Not what I was looking for.

I mixed some of my dry batter mix (this stuff makes pancakes, donuts, cakes, etc… So whenever I need a sweet cake-like concoction, I turn to it) in with a bit of oil, soymilk, and vanilla. Put it in a muffin liner and put it in the toaster oven (following the instructions for pound cake).

Next was the whipped cream. At home I get a giant frozen can of non-dairy whip from a bulk restaurant store (GFS -no membership required!). You mix the liquid for about 15 minutes and it whips right up! It tastes like real whip cream, and not like nasty Hip Whip. However… this is not an option. I used a recipe from How It All Vegan.

SOY MILK WHIPPED CREAM:
1/4 cup soy milk
2-4 tbsp sweetener
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tsp of cornstarch
1/2 cup oil

In food processor or blender, blend together the milk, sweetener, vanilla, and cornstarch. Slowly drizzle in the oil while the blender is running. Blend until smooth and creamy. Chill for 1 hour before using. Makes approx. 3/4 cup.

It is not really fluffy and kinda runny. I used 3 Tbsp of maple syrup, I will cut it down to 2 next time (and I have a sweet tooth!). NOTE: Do not mix this by hand to give it more "umph". It does not work. Maybe try a hand mixer? or more cornstarch...

Assemble and chow down!

BBQ!

2007-03-27T11:12:00.000+09:00

1. My BBQ definition: it is an activity, not a food.
2. I bought a grill! I busted out my new small grill and put it on my small patio and put tiny veg kabobs on it!
3. Flames!

My neighbor and I had green pepper, onion, mushroom, and tofu patty on our sticks. We also had some Japanese pumpkin on the other sticks.

Since I haven't found lighter fluid for regular charcoal, I had to buy self-starting briquettes. This gave off a terrible chemical smell and flavor. I do not recommend using it!

Spring Rolls

2007-03-26T10:56:00.001+09:00

Spring rolls have become a recurring food in my life. Gone from never to once every month or so. When I discovered I could eat and enjoyed these little treats at home, I would use my Fry Daddy for prepacked ones (so bad for you, but soo good). I then graduated to making my own and giving them a very thin layer of oil and baking them so they were still crispy. Two weeks ago my friend was making spring rolls and did nothing at all to them! Just ate them! I joined in and they were de-lish-ous. Less time, less oil and fat, and more raw veg! I'm in!

I just used up fresh veg pieces I had laying around. Strips of fresh carrot, onion, green pepper, mushroom, and lettuce(for extra crunch!) with a smidge of avocado I was finishing up. I did not have any rice noodles (thus the lettuce to help fill it up). Dip your rice wrapper in watter for about 5 seconds, place ingredients at the bottom, and roll up like a tight burrito! I dipped them in sweet chili sauce, but any soy-sauced based sauce or liquid would be tasty too!

Sammiches, Guac, and Polenta fries

2007-03-01T19:38:00.001+09:00

With my new love of working with yeast and a realization that I had a small pouch of rare whole wheat flour I had stored away, it was bread time baby!!

Look at that golden whole wheat mama!!

But moving on...

Fresh warm bread sandwich= onion, tomato, and some sort of lettuce. And guacamole ^_^
Polenta fries. With guacamole ^_^
Fresh carrot slices.

I actually had two sandwiches the bread was so good =#)

Guac
Seriously, the best I've ever had and I can't believe I made it. This makes about 2/3 cup?

1 ripe avocado
1/3 tomato chopped
squirt of lemon juice
couple shakes of garlic powder
salt (opt)
couple dashes of garlic Tabasco sauce (opt)

Mash together!
If you don't eat it all at once, make sure you keep the avocado pit and put it in with the guac in your airtight container. Keeps it greener longer.

Polenta Fries
Make polenta.
Once set, chop into fry-sized sticks.
Place in the toaster oven. 350F/175F for 10 minutes. Flip. Bake 10 minutes more.
If you want them more crispy, just keep 'em goin'! They will be crispy on the outside and softer/chewier on the inside.