Dinner with Family

Dinner with my kids, my parents and my sisters (and a bro-in-law). We celebrated my Dad's 65th birthday last night in vegetarian style!



My brother-in-law being tortured by my littlest Sprout.


Some yummy Pineapple Veggie Fresh Spring Rolls for our appetizer...



Sorry. I didn't take any more photos. The meal was too yummy and the company too good.

Tastier? Eh... How About Some Asparagus Soup?

My wonderful - and VEGAN friend "Froggy" (whom I met at VeggieBoards) was in town recently and we spent the afternoon at Pike Place Market in Seattle. In our wanderings throughout the market stalls, we ran across this sign. Couldn't resist a picture.

Seriously. Check out their slogan... "Whey Tastier Pork". Gives me the willies...

Needless to say we did NOT make any purchases, at this stop anyway.

A bit further down the market we did find a market vendor with rows and rows of beautiful Walla Walla asparagus. (I went to college in the Walla Walla valley, and became absolutely spoiled by the abundance of wonderful, tiny, tender, spring asparagus that grows in the rich soil there.)

Finally it's time for my favorite spring recipe... Asparagus Soup!

This stuff is so easy and so good, the ultimate veggie 'comfort food' since I LOVE soups AND asparagus!

I originally posted the recipe over at Veggieboards, but recently had a friend ask me to add it to the list in my blog, so, here ya go!

--------------------------------

1 pound fresh asparagus
3/4 cup chopped Walla Walla sweet onion (or a leek works great here too!)
1/2 cup vegetarian 'chicken-flavor' broth
1 Tbsp. Earth Balance or other margerine
2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 1/4 cups vegetarian "chicken-flavor" broth
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup soy yogurt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup vegan Parmesan cheese (optional, but really adds to finished product)

Place asparagus and onion in a pan with the 1/2 cup broth. Bring broth and veggies to a boil, turn down the heat and let simmer until the vegetables are tender.
If you want to be fancy - save a few asparagus tips for garnish.
Place all the remaining cooked vegetables and broth in an electric blender or food processor and puree until smooth (I use an immersion or "boat-moter" type blender and blend CAREFULLY right in the pan thn save in a bowl or something.
Melt margerine in the pan that was used for simmering the asparagus and onions. Stir while sprinkling flour, salt, and pepper into the margerine. Don't let the flour brown!
Let the mixture cook 2 minutes.
Stir in remaining 1 1/4 cups of broth and increase the heat.
Continue stirring until the mixture comes to a boil. Stir the vegetable puree and soymilk into the saucepan. Whisk yogurt into the mixture, followed by lemon juice. Stir until heated through, then ladle into bowls.

Garnish with reserved asparagus tips.
Sprinkle with Parmesan "cheese" if desired.


This is the absolute perfect "spring" comfort food for me (I think I said that already?) ... sometimes I'll garnish with fresh Lemon Thyme from my herb garden - a match made in heaven!

Mashed Sweet 'Taters

More produce from the winter farmer's market: ---> --->

I had several of these beautiful "Southern Ruby" sweet potatoes from a local farm that specializes in wonderful heirloom vegetables.
They really look pretty orange to me, OK, maybe slightly 'redder' than other sweet potatoes. (And what is UP with my pictures on Blogger lately? Either they post weird, don't post at all, or are blurry! ACK!)


At any rate - I needed to use the potatoes up, and wasn't feeling in the least bit creative, so I simply boiled them, slipped the skins off and mashed them with a little maple syrup, Earth Balance and vegetable broth.

Served 'em with a H-U-G-E green salad and that's pretty much all.
Sooooo yummy.

In case you needed convincing that these things are good for you - from the Texas Sweet Potato Growers website:

"As a main dish or prepared as a dessert, the sweet potato is a nutritious and economical food. One baked sweet potato (3 1/2 ounce serving) provides over 8,800 IU of vitamin A or about twice the recommended daily allowance, yet it
contains only 141 calories making it valuable for the weight watcher. This nutritious vegetable provides 42 percent of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for vitamin C, 16 percent of the RDA for calcium, 10 percent of the RDA for
iron, and 8 percent of the RDA for thiamine for healthy adults. It is low in sodium and is a good source of fiber and other important vitamins and minerals.
A complex carbohydrate food source, it provides beta carotene which may be a factor in reducing the risk of certain cancers.
For the most food value, choose sweet potatoes of a deep orange color. "

Thai Sweet-and-Hot Cole Slaw

Time to use up the cabbage!

(I swear, not everything I make is fried!) OK, so today I had several heads of cabbage from the winter farmer's market, as well as some cilantro I'd been meaning to use, so I made this wonderful spicy "sort-of-Thai" coleslaw! It keeps well for several days, which is great, since only one of my Sprouts is helping me get through it... usually I make it in the summer but two heads of cabbage took up too much 'fridge room so I had to do SOMETHING!

I love the bright colors as you assemble this salad, the purple cabbage and orange carrots especially, are such a pretty contrast!

Thai Style Cole-Slaw

3 Tbsp. soy sauce

1/3 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice (from 3 to 4 limes - oh please use fresh! I have issues with that bottled stuff!)

1/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. sesame oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, grated (less if you're not crazy about ginger)

1 or 2 jalapeno chiles, minced or to taste

1 small green cabbage, cored and very thinly sliced or coarsley shredded (or use 1/2 red and 1/2 green)

2 medium carrots, peeled and grated

1 small red onion, very thinly sliced or 4 green onions (scallions) sliced thin as far up into the green part as possible

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

Dressing: Pour the soy sauce, sesame oil and lime juice into a small bowl, add the sugar and stir until it is dissolved. Add the garlic, ginger and jalapenos. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

1/2 hour or so before serving, put the cabbage, carrots and red onion into a large bowl and mix together. Pour the dressing over, toss again, cover and refrigerate.

To serve, toss the cabbage mixture in the dressing and put on serving platter. Add half the cilantro, toss with tongs and scatter the remaining cilantro on top.

I could eat this stuff for days on end but it never lasts that long! It gets a little "wilted" and juicy the second or third day but it is still really good! It's GREAT in a taco shell with crispy tempeh too!

Bryanna's "Beefy Seitan" = Chicken-Fried Steak

Friday Night, what to make for dinner... I always debate this on the drive home from work.
It's the one night of the week my Sprouts and I are all home at dinner time - together! No basketball or choir practice, no snowboarding, no youth group, no tutoring, no working late. It's the one night I know we'll actually sit down at the table, so I like it to be, at least a little bit special...

So I decided to use the seitan I'd made from Bryanna Clark Grogan's "Beefy Seitan" Recipe a couple weeks ago, (and frozen it for future use*).

*(I'm weird about seitan that way, once I've gone to all the work to make it, I'm usually tired of looking at the stuff and not interested in eating it.)

I had been thinking about making a Brocolli-Beef stir-fry thingy, but the Sprouts had other ideas: baked potatoes and "chik" nuggets" were their request. So, no big deal, stir-fry is just as good another day and I'm usually willing to let them make menu suggestions.
Alas, no nuggets to be found in the freezer, and the seitan was already defrosted, so I decided to try my hand at turning 'beefy' seitan into good ol' American 'chicken-fried' steak.

(Not being a meat eater, I had never understood why beef was called "chicken" anything... made no sense. But I guess it's the breading, pan frying and gravy that make it similar to fried chicken? I don't know. Doesn't matter really, this may not be anything close but that's what it makes me think of... Heck, call it whatever you want, I figure anything fried and covered in gravy should be called heaven on a plate :)

"Chicken-Fried-Style" Beefy Seitan Nuggets

• 1/2 recipe "Beefy Seitan", already cooked, cooled and cut into nugget-size pieces, about 24 pcs. or so (my "steaks" always turn out pretty big so I cut them apart into 3 or 4 pieces each)
• 1/4 cup soymilk
• 2 Tb. vegenaise (or blended silken tofu)
• 1/2 cup fine, dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 Tb. nutritional yeast
• 2 Tb. cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp. each: sage, salt, onion powder, black pepper

Cut seitan into small pieces. Pat dry. Whisk soymilk and vegenaise (or blended silken tofu) together. Set aside. Mix dry ingredients in another bowl.

Heat 1/2 inch oil in skillet. (I like coconut oil here, or peanut oil is good too). Dip seitan in soymilk mixture and then roll in crumbs. Place carefully in hot skillet and fry on medium heat until golden and crunchy - 3 - 4 minutes. Turn carefully and fry other side. Remove to paper towel to drain, keep warm in oven if doing two batches. Continue until all "nuggets" are done.

Here's the gravy I did tonight. Maybe not my favorite recipe, but I'll post it, just the same 'cause it's quick and easy. This was on a card they hand out at the co-op near the bulk bins, so I can't really give anyone credit.

Un-Chik Gravy

• 2 tablespoons soy margarine
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning or sage
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• dash salt, to taste
• dash of pepper
• 2 cups vegetarian 'chicken' broth
• OR: 1 vegetarian bouillon cube dissolved in 2 cups boiling water
• OR: 1 cup broth and 1 cup soymilk for a creamy gravy.

Melt the soy margarine in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, and let it bubble a moment. Add nutritional yeast, and seasonings, stirring quickly with a whisk.
Add the broth, (and/or soymilk if you want it creamy) stirring until blended. Continue cooking and stirring for 5 minutes, or until thick, adjust seasonings to your taste.

My littlest Sprout came home sick from school today. Her tummy was upset but she wanted chicken soup (vegetarian of course). We had leftover Chicken Coconut soup from last night, which, dispite it's name, was pretty light, so I reheated some of that and she was happy on the couch with PBS and the cats for company.

I "invented" this soup by combining two of our family favorites: "Chicken" Noodle and Thai Coconut, though I think there is a form of it available in some thai restaurants... Yum.

Thai Coconut Chicken-Noodle Soup

2 stalks lemongrass OR 4 Tbsp. frozen prepared lemongrass
1 package Thai rice noodles
1 thumb-size piece ginger, thinly sliced into matchstick-like pieces
4-6 cups vegetable broth or vegetarian "chicken" broth (6 cups serves 3-4 people)
1/2 package firm tofu, cubed and browned, OR wheat gluten or soy chicken (or other meat substitute), cut into bite-size pieces (I use Morning Star Soy Chicken Strips)
1 head broccoli, chopped into florets including stems
1-2 cups Chinese cabbage, chopped into bite-size pieces - like bok choy or Napa Cabbage works well...

1-2 carrots, sliced
2-3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 can good-quality coconut milk
roughly 1 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped if leaves are large
Optional: Thai or Vietnamese chilli sauce

Put the rice noodles in a pan of boiling water.

Cover the pot and turn off the heat. Allow the noodles to soak in the hot water while you make the soup.
Place broth in a soup pot along with lemongrass (include left-over stalk pieces), ginger, and tofu or "Chicken-style" seitan.

Let it boil, then turn down to simmer while you chop up the vegetables.

Add the chopped carrots first, then the broccoli and finally the cabbage.

Stir it and simmer 2 more minutes.
Add the coconut milk and stir in. Reduce heat as low as possible.
Add soy sauce. If you prefer your soup spicy, add 1-2 tsp. chilli sauce (OR simply serve it on the side for those who like it).
Do a taste test - if it's too salty (this depends on how salty your broth is), add 1 to 2 Tbsp. lime juice.
Check rice noodles to make sure they are cooked (if still a little hard, boil briefly). Drain the noodles and add to soup.

Serve with fresh cilantro or basil sprinkled over.

Major Yum.

Thursday Thirteen: Something a little fun and different.

Thirteen Things about Fairly Odd Tofu Mom 1.) I'm terrified of thunder and lightning storms, but little else. 2.) I started out homeschooling my oldest daughter, but ended up having to go back to work, so my kids attend private school now - still a huge home school fan though I wouldn't change the way things worked out for anything. 3.) Without my trusty rice-cooker, I can't cook rice to save my life. 30+ years of attempting and it never turned out 'till friends took pity and gave me my wonderful rice cooker! 4.) I'm allergic to cats even though we own three. 5.) Except for parsnips, I think there's no vegetarian food - fruit, vegetable, beans or grain, that I don't like. 6.) Even though I call myself a "life-long vegetarian" there was a brief period in college where I ate fish - because other so-called vegetarians convinced me that vegetarians DID eat fish, and I really couldn't find any information to the contrary... I'm so glad there's more information out there for people now. 7.) I was considering making the change to veganism for quite some time, but really got serious about it 3 years ago, due very much to the influence, support and information provided by my good friends Shaun, Dee, Anthony, Brandon, Jessica, Jennifer and others over at VeggieBoards.com 8.) We just got done with the huge, lengthy, and very messy project of remodeling our garage into a laundry-room and bedroom for my oldest Sprout. WHAT a mess! Hmmm.. maybe I should post pix. 9.) My two older Sprouts are leaving for Mission trips to Ecuador in a few weeks and I'm going to miss them like crazy and be depressed for days and eat nothing but chips and chocolate (yeah, yeah, I know they'll have a wonderful time and all, secretly I really am thrilled and so proud of them!). 10.) I'm a huge fan of Food Network, and even though nothing is ever vegan it's fun to try and "veganize" their recipes in my head as I watch. 11.) I changed my eating and exercise habits drastically and lost 75+ pounds two years ago, but somehow got sidetracked and quit before I reached a reasonable goal. (Obviously I still have a LONG ways to go!)I haven't gained it back even with the goodies I do eat, but need to jump-start the whole "losing" trend again. 12.) I love to travel and even though I haven't gone anywhere too exciting, some fun places include hanging with friends, family - people I love - in San Jose, Albuquerque, Phoenix and Denver whenever I've saved up pennies or frequent flyer miles. Looking forward to a possible trip to Boston this summer to hang with Veggie Friends! Woo! 13.) I am the most frugal person you will ever meet, though usually don't say a lot about my tightwad habits. Our family has a pretty limited budget, most weeks, and yet I always manage to stretch it a l-o-n-g ways. Yeah, that's about all for today...

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Thai Night Out!

Went to Thai with my oldest Sprout, and my girlfriend* Sherrill, tonight. It was fabulous, of course. Woo! No cooking for me!

(*OK, and lest we're confused, that's 'girlfriend' used in the old-fashioned sense, as in: "long-time, platonic, good friend who is a female or girl" not meaning "someone I'm in a romantic relationship with". Sheesh people, can a person not have friends of the same gender without e-mails trying to correct my use of a word describing a relationship. As if it's anyone's business what sort of friends, of what gender, I have anyway.)

Uh, yeah, OK, end of rant...sorry, didn't see that one coming!

Anyway, moving on.

Thai food.

Our little redneck town has been blessed with three wonderfully veg-friendly Thai restaurants, the jewel of which is Ayothaya, a sparkling example of how wonderfully fresh and original Thai food can be - The restaurant is lovely, the staff courteous and fast (they know our names and favorite dishes and greet us like family when we come in the door! This probably speaks more to the amount of times we stop in here rather than their memory skills - heh...) and the food is amazingly delicious, beautiful, and (important for me) affordable.

Now, they do serve regular "omni" dishes, but most everything is "vegan-izable". They don't use fish or shrimp products in their sauces, and they're very contientous and respectful of our family's vegetarian preferences.

(The name "Ayothaya", by the way, comes from the ancient capitol city of Siam, part of what is now Bangkok, Thailand.) If I sound like a restaurant reviewer, it's true - I can't stop raving about this place.

Tonight we had fresh spring rolls with a plum/peanut sauce, Pad Thai, Sen Mei, Panang Curry, some vegetabl-y-basil thing and Pineapple Fried Rice. All of it, amazing and plenty to take home for later.

I got a couple pictures, even though people looked at me oddly. Yay for Thai food.

Falafel!

Falafel Rocks Our Friday!

I've got a huge tub of dried garbanzos/chickpeas in my pantry, mostly we cook them and use them for soups or hummus, but today I soaked too many for the crock pot; and since I tend to love all things fried (obviously!) and spicy, I decided to use the extra chickpeas to make falafel.

It's been ages since I'd made these wondermous little goodies, my kids couldn't even remember if they liked them! (How sad!)

Of course, there was much discussion with my older girls as to whether the online "Falafel Game" really had anything to do with the actual falafel. Yeah, um, I don't know. But the game is a hoot.

While you're waiting for the things to cook, I recommend playing a couple rounds to get you in a falafel-ish mood. (The games developers describe it as: "...a fun and humorous game, which appeals to both adults and children, English and Hebrew versions of the game are available. Enjoy and Bon Appetit!". This is just hysterical to me for some reason, I'm just strange that way and I haven't had my coffee yet, so...).
But I digress.

ANYWAY! In all seriousness - In searching for a recipe using the raw (well, soaked) beans, I ran across this one for Spicy Falafels from fellow blogger Verdant San Francisco. I've always loved the recipes from Tommy that I've tried, and these were no exception. PERFECT blend of spices and all, we LOVED it!!

So, no recipe for me to type out today, just a link (above) and a really fun game which you know you're dying to try, and a picture of our crunchy, spicy, fried falafel goodness (and a picture that continues to elude me and remain itty-bitty for some freakish reason known only to the Blogspot gods).

Yummy perfect falafels today.

That is all.

Watermelon in the Middle of Winter!

One of my old high school classmates - and very best friend - came up from California just to hang out with us last week.

The kids call him Uncle Barry since they've known him longer than their REAL uncles, though he's not technically related I guess. He did get my youngest her very own kitten last visit, so I'm thinking of possibly revoking his "Uncle" status however...
We had a great visit, and even though he's not in any way vegan, he loved everything we cooked. And even better, he treated us to our FAVORITE restaurant, "Rock Pizza" where they do tons of cheesy-meaty gourmet pizzas of course, but they also do the most amazing vegan pizza in the world... and make the best margaritas as you can probably tell.....but I digress.

Anyway, somehow, Barry decided I did not have nearly enough fruit in my kitchen to suit his California tastes, so he surprised us with a whole bunch of goodies one evening... wheeeee... even though they were probably imported in from Australia or god-knows where at this time of year... WOW! What fun we had with all the stuff, I can't even remember what all, but it looked so pretty filling up my kitchen counters - including apricots, peaches and.... WATERMELON!

Now, even with 5 of us in the house, we couldn't eat that much watermelon all at once, so I decided to make some our favorite Watermelon Salsa Salad that is so fun and reminds me of summer. Well, OK, the only time I have ever MADE this is in the summer. (There's a similar recipe in this month's Vegetarian Times I believe that reminded me of this recipe, sorta...).

I know, I know... Watermelon and Salsa sound weird together, but trust me, this works with the lime and mint and jalapeno.... YUM! (Don't bother though, if you don't have access to fresh mint though. Dried just does not do it.)

Well, I was lazy and did not peel the cucumber tonight, and it was fine, but I will remember to cut the cubes smaller next time, it was a bit ...chunky...

Watermelon-Mint Salsa Salad

1/4 lime juice
2 T. sugar
3 cups + diced watermelon (seeded, of course)

1 cucumber (peeled, seeded and diced)
1/2 cup finely chopped mild, sweet onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

1 T. finely grated fresh ginger

1 tsp. finely grated lime zest
2 T. finely minced jalapenos or to taste

Whisk lime juice, zest, ginger and sugar in large bowl until sugar dissolves. Add watermelon and all remaining ingredients; toss gently.

Serve well chilled - with chips if you want, though we just eat the stuff with spoons!

It's also good with optional ingredients: Sometimes I'll add a cup of honeydew or canteloupe melon cubes, mango, strawberries or small pineapple cubes. :drool:

Vegan Peppermint Patties for Valentine's

I ran into this recipe for Vegan Peppermint Patties over at Vegan-Licious' blog last month. It looked so interesting and since my middle Sprout is insanely addicted to the things, we decided to give them a try for a family Valentine's Day cooking adventure...

(Oh, and in case you're wondering, Peppermint Patties at the regular ol' grocery store usually have those wretched dairy products in them.)

So we got all the (very few, really) ingredients and my 13-year-old vegan-cooking-star-to-be whipped these things up ALL BY HERSELF! I was so impressed!

OH MY GOSH! {{faints}} They were amazing!

Now, by the time I got new batteries in my camera, the "good" looking ones had been EATEN; and they are sorta hard to photograph and not end up looking like little brown chocolate blobs...

But trust me ...wow....

They turned out so incredibly good. And they were so so so so EASY!

I have nothing more to say.

Except TRY THESE THINGS!

I love my 'Sprouts'!

Have I mentioned how much I love my Sprouts lately!?!

And as a matter-of-fact, here they are "modeling" our fabulous new shirts from Purely Decadent (those awesome dairy-free Ice-"cream" people at Turtle Mountain products!! Did I mention I love this stuff too??!!)

OK, so I'm still not sure if I'll actually let the girls wear their tee shirts just ANYWHERE (ahem!) but they are pretty fun.

Yeah, that's all. Just showing off my kids and having a little VEGAN fun...

Cooking Hall of Shame

OK, we all have kitchen disasters, and I had a particularly spectacular one tonight. Just thought I'd share. Well, actually my KIDS thought I should share. I don't always agree with their sense of humor. (And it'd sure help my ego if some of YOU posted your disasters too!)

I made a new seitan ("gluten") recipe that I hadn't tried before. I'm not going to say what recipe, because others might like it, or get discouraged by my horrible efforts...

Anyway, it seemed alright after steaming it. (It looks OK, don't you think?) except maybe a little tasteless... well, in fact, VERY tasteles - definitely more bland than many I've made. And I did follow the recipe to the letter. (Hey - usually I make GOOD seitan!)

I should have stopped here, with the tasteless stuff... but I didn't let that phase me, because, I reasoned, seitan is usually perked up by whatever you cook it in, or with...

So I forged ahead - decided to try a sweet and sour recipe that I'd heard was soo-oo-oo good. It calls for covering the slices of seitan in sauce and baking at 375° for 45 min until sauce is thick and flavorful... should have been pretty good...

So, I whipped up the sweet and sour sauce, poured it over the seitan slices, and baked it.

Only I'd accidentally set my oven at 475°!! So, yeah, you all know what happened. Hard, dry char-blackened seitan slices greeted me when I opened the oven door. They were completely unsalvagable. Totally blackened, dried out beyond recognition... and we tried the un-burned parts... they STILL didn't taste like anything inside. Even the dog wouldn't touch them, and she'll eat ANYTHING!

Ugh... so depressing... I need to go eat chocolate.

Enjoy a laugh at my expense... :D

Valentine's Treats!

So for Valentine's this year, I decided to skip the gift-giving of sugary, non-vegan, and expensive artificially flavored candy hearts and junk, and give useful and interesting if not pretty, gifts instead. So with my Sprouts' help and advice (!) we assembled some pretty cool-looking "Cookie-Mix-In-A-Jar" and "Soup-in-a-Jar" mixes. They looked so pretty I had to share a picture.

The soup mix (on the left) is one I found online and sadly, I don't remember where, but it's got layers of barley, red lentils, split peas, tiny star pastas, vegetarian 'chicken' bullion powder, herbs, a bay leaf, dehydrated onion and oatmeal! We did a test batch and the soup turns out really yummy! Hopefully even though the jars look pretty, people will use them!

The cookie recipe on the right is one we've had in our family forever (I think my Grandma copied it from an oatmeal carton years ago...) but I now use vegan ingredients. I simply layered the ingredients and included instructions on a cutesy card, for adding the liquid ingredients and making cookies...

Chocolate-Chip, Oatmeal, Dried Cranberry Cookie Mix-In-A-Jar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips (some Guittard and Ghirardelli, Safeway brand and even Wal-Mart semi-sweet chips are vegan)
1 1/2 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup chopped pecans or hazelnuts
1/2 cup raisins or (my choice) dried cranberries

A large canning funnel helps here, as well as something to firmly tamp down the ingredients.
Put white sugar in 1 quart wide-mouth jar. Press brown sugar down firmly in a layer over white sugar.
Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in small bowl. Place flour mixture on top of brown sugar.
Layer remaining ingredients in order listed above, pressing firmly after each layer. Seal with lid and decorate with fabric and ribbon.
------------
RECIPE TO ATTACH (I used vegan instructions for my vegan friends of course):
Beat 1/2 cup (1 stick) softened margarine (I prefer Earth Balance) 1 large egg (or vegan option: 4 Tbsp. silken tofu blended until liquidy or equiv. Egg Replacer), and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until blended. Add cookie mix; mix well, breaking up any clumps. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in preheated 375° F. oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
------------------

HAPPY VALENTINE'S Everyone!

Superbowl Snacks: (Roasted 'Popcorn'-style Cauliflower, edition 2.0)

So even though I could care less about the game, my kids are fans, and besides, the ads are fun...

We went to a friend's for the afternoon (and for the big screen), and of course, there were all the typical Superbowl type snack items: Nachos, chips, dips, pizza, burgers, veggies and Ranch, etc., etc. We brought pretzels, pita chips, hummus, tortilla chips and salsa (which I didn't get a picture of, since they were pretty standard fare) but, by request, I made my Oven Roasted, "Popcorn"-style, Cauliflower snacks.

Only this time, I figured I could improve on (or at least change) the original recipe with garlic, fresh herbs, etc...
I ended up completely inventing my own version... Everyone went bonkers for the things, even the cheesy burgers-and-beer crowd. And the best part? The kids kept saying "I can't believe I'm eating cauliflower!" I love that!

Since my friends read this blog (Hi Sherrill!) they demanded the recipe show up on their computer screens post-haste (whatever happened to scribbling it out on a good old-fashioned recipe card?).

Make two batches. A 7-year-old can inhale almost an entire batch if left alone, unattended in the kitchen for ten minutes during half-time. Not that I would know from experience or anything...

Oven-Roasted Garlic-and-Herb Cauliflower Bites

1 head cauliflower, broken into little bite-size flower-ettes

2 cloves garlic, peeled

handful fresh herbs (I used a couple sprigs rosemary, parsley and sage that are still growing in my garden)

4 Tbsp. good olive oil

2 cups fine, dry, seasoned breadcrumbs

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Break cauliflower into small flower-ettes, about as big around as a quarter.
Place in a large bowl.

Put garlic, herbs and olive oil into bowl of food processor and blend until garlic is completely blended.
Or use an immersion blender in a tall, narrow container to liquify the garlic, oil and herbs.

Pour oil mixture over cauliflower.
Stir until all cauliflower bits are evenly coated.
It actually work better and breaks less cauliflower if you toss with your hands until all the cauliflower is coated evenly.

Pour breadcrumbs over.
Toss carefully again untill all breadcrumbs are stuck on to cauliflower. Depending on how dry the crumbs are, or other factors, you might need more crumbs.
The cauliflower bites should be evenly coated and dry.
Lift carefully onto a shallow sided 9 X 12 baking pan.
Roast 10 - 15 minutes or until tender-soft when pierced with a fork.

Serve with vegan ranch or my kids eat 'em with ketchup :P
Happy Weekend y'all.

Olivia's Incredibly Famous Breakfast Potatoes and 'Brats'.

So my 13-year-old "middle Sprout" considers herself quite the cook (OK, I admit, she's an awesome cook in her own right).

Tonight for supper she wanted to make her "famous" potatoes and decided they belonged in Mom's (my) food blog. Her potatoes ARE famous - or at least very-frequently-requested among friends and family. And believe me, they're NOT just for breakfast, though for some reason, that's what we've always called them.

Anyone spending the night at our place is usually treated to these babies the next morning. And what a treat they are. Perfectly seasoned, melt-in-your-mouth crispy-brown home-fried potatoes with chunks of vegan bratwurst-style "Bavarian sausage" and onion. Mmmm.

I've had so many people ask for the "secret" to the recipe, but as far as I can tell, there really isn't any great "secret", just a little time, patience and taste-testing... I think most of us just don't take the time to actually COOK real home-fried potatoes anymore, relying instead on those frozen, microwaved, flash-cooked, pressed-together atrocities that fast food places try to pass off as "potatoes". Blehh...

OK, I swear not everything we make around here is FRIED (there's the evil word yet again) though for some reason the last few posts have all mentioned the word. *sigh* What can I say? We go on jags. Doesn't everyone?
The "bratwurst" added to these are a newer vegan "sausage" product made by the Canadian company, Yves. They can be hard to find, but it happens to be the one brand my kids really like, so that's what we use here. Never gotten any complaints, even from those omnivores who've eaten (gobbled) these. Use whatever product you prefer, or skip them, though they do add a nice touch.

So... the potatoes. I paid attention this time (actually when my kids are in the kitchen, I always pay attention), took notes and pictures, and here ya go!!

Breakfast (or anytime!) Potatoes and Brats

6 Yukon Gold Potatoes, boiled until barely tender.
1 sweet onion (like a Maui or Walla Walla)
2 or 3 Yves vegan bratwurst (Bavarian sausage-style) links, "classic" flavor

coconut oil
Lawry's (or similar style) all-purpose seasoned salt
garlic and onion powder
black pepper

In my daughter's words, (she imagines herself the next Food Network star...) here's what you do:
"These work best in an electric skillet. I don't know why, just do them that way. That's the secret.
To start, melt a spoonful (about 1 Tbsp.) coconut oil in the electric skillet - only use coconut oil. Nothing else works right.

Then, since onions hurt your eyes, have your Mom cut the onion into smallish chunk-things. (Take off the peel of the onion first of course). Put the onion in the skillet. Turn the heat on low while you cut up the potatoes. The onions should barely be turning clear when you add the potatoes.

For the potatoes: While they're still warm from boiling, cut the potatoes into medium-large chunks. Like each potato is cut into about ten pieces or so. Put in the pan with the onions and turn heat up to med. high.

Cover pan and cook about 5 min (check a couple times until you get the hang of how hot your pan is...) until getting nicely crisp and med brown on the bottom. Turn in big "sections" don't break them up. (All the potatoes and onions will stick together but that's OK) Leave alone, covered for another 5 minutes or so until the next side browns.

While the potatoes brown, cut the sausage into thick slices.

Now stir and break the large "sections" of potatoes and onions apart and then 'smoosh' them all flat in the pan. Season to taste, a couple good shakes (a little more heavily than you might think you need) with Season salt, garlic and onion powders and black pepper. Gently stir seasonings in.
Put sausage pieces in the pan and stir in and 'smoosh' flat again. Brown the potatoes on one side again, and turn after a few minutes again. Do this a couple more times, stirring and breaking apart and gently 'smooshing' until potatoes are falling-apart with crusty brown pieces and the sausages are browned too..
Serve with lots of ketchup and Tabasco."

Tempeh Adovada

Another New Mexico favorite, "Carne Adovada" gets remade today... woo!

First, a disclaimer: If you're a green-and-red-blooded native New Mexican food purist who cannot stand the idea of your region's precious and traditional recipe being vegan-ized, read no further... (and I do understand and apologise - heh).

However, if you're vegan, yet still want to enjoy the rich, colorful, spicy flavors of the Southwest - or you're just curious what the heck I'm yammering about, read on.

Carne Adovada is traditionally made from chunks of pork, marinated and cooked in a sauce of ground New Mexican red chiles and other flavors... it's either cooked in the oven or slow cooker until the flavors absorb and the pork literally falls apart and the sauce is very thick.

Well, since my darling Albuquerque friend, Shaun, sent me home from my last visit with every imaginable New Mexican goody, I've been cooking up a storm of yummy, spicy, mouth (and eye)-watering VEGAN hotness. One of the items I wanted to experiment with was this envelope of Carne Adovada Seasoning. I'd heard so many people sing the praises of this dish, I just had to try a vegan version, regardless if it was "authentic" or not...

At first I thought this dry mix was a commercial short-cut "tourist" version of the seasonings, but then I saw (Food Network) Bobby Flay do an episode about carne adovada and he said the best and most 'authentic' thing to use was a mix very similar to what I had. So I was inspired...

For those who feel obligated to point out discrepancies in my methods or results, yes, I know, I KNOW it's "not even close" to real dead-animal Carne Adovada, so, call it 'Red Chile Tempeh' or something less offensive to you. I had fun experimenting and the end result, whatever you choose to call it, is amazing and delicious...

Tempeh Adovada

1 1-or-2 oz. package dry Carne Adovada spice mix
a mixture of 1/2 water and 1/2 red wine, (as much liquid as is called for on the spice package)
2 packages Tempeh (I used flax-seed tempeh because I love the texture)
2 Tb. oil

1.) Put spice mix into a plastic or non-reactive metal bowl. Add amount of liquid per package instructions. (As noted above, I use 1/2 water and 1/2 red wine but all water is good too).
Stir.
2.) Slice the tempeh into strips (a little less than 1/2 inch thick).
3.) Put strips into sauce and carefully stir.
4.) Marinate in fridge a couple hours. If it absorbs all the liquid, add more water. It shouldn't be "soupy" though.
5.) Heat oven to 300°. Put tempeh and sauce into glass baking dish. Drizzle with oil and stir.
6.) Bake tempeh until sauce is sticky and mostly evaporated or absorbed, stirring carefully every 1/2 hour or as needed to prevent it from totally sticking - It'll take at least an hour, probably longer; time will vary according to amount of liquid, how much tempeh absorbs, and type of tempeh.

If you stir the tempeh too hard, it'll crumble into mush. I use a wide, flat spatula and sorta lift it and move it around...

Serve with tortillas (or, sacrilege - my kids like it over rice!). Good stuff! Leftovers reheat wonderfully and make an awesome burrito filling!!

I think next time, I'd like to try it with TVP chunks in the crock pot though, to better imitate the "meat" texture. And of course, I need to let Shaun try it, since he's far more an "authority" on things New Mexican. Stay tuned.

Roasted Cauliflower "Popcorn"

My favorite produce market, Tacoma Boys, had cauliflower on sale, 2 heads for a buck this week!

Woo! You can't beat that, and I happen to LOVE cauliflower, so I got a couple along with my usual assortment of produce when I shopped yesterday. I'd been wanting to try the "Roasted Cauliflower Popcorn" recipe from 101cookbooks.com for a while and this looked like a good excuse...

So, just the pictures today, (and not all that great a pic), but you get the idea. The Popcorn Cauliflower was really good though, if you have some cauliflower around, you MUST try it!! My friend that was over for the evening even asked me to bring it for the Superbowl party... I'm not sure how it'd go over with the "nachos and meatballs" TV crowd, but I'm willing to give it a try, cause it's pretty tasty!

The cauliflower is broken into little flower-ettes and roasted in the oven with herb-y breadcrumbs. Hard to explain exactly how interesting and yummy the stuff is, you need to try it yourself! Great comfort food for a night of TV and munchies.

Curry Veggies and Tofu

I had a bunch of tofu to use up last week, so I cubed it, browned it in some coconut oil, and then froze those cubes.

So this week when I was feeling tired, (lazy) and not very creative, but craving tofu and curry, it was SOOO easy to whip this together!

Yellow Curry, Tofu and Veggies

1 Tb. Aroy-D brand yellow curry paste

(I'm posting a picture because people keep asking where I find vegan Thai curry paste.

This brand, Aroy-D, makes a very authentic, but vegan, Thai-style curry paste that does NOT have shrimp paste, fish paste, bonito or any other non-vegan nastiness in it.

It's a million times more flavorful than the bland 'supermarket' varities, so give it a try if you get a chance!

Read your labels though, many curry pastes are not vegan. I find it at my local Asian market.)

1 can coconut milk
Aprox. 1 lb. tofu, cubed and fried until brown.
2 cups veggies*

*This is PERFECT for leftovers!!
Most veggies (except peas) should be cooked or partially cooked through before adding to curry.
Other good choices are cauliflower, peas, white or sweet potato cubes, mushroms, garbanzos, green beans, tomatoes or okra.

To put it all together:
Wisk curry paste and coconut milk together over med. heat until curry paste is mixed in completely and sauce is heated though.

Add fried tofu cubes, as much as you'd like. Simmer in curry sauce until tofu is hot, about 10 minutes.

Add 2 cups (or more if you want) cooked or partially cooked veggies - I used leftover zucchini and frozen peas tonight. Simmer until veggies are heated thru and done to your preference - this won't take long if they're already partially cooked.

Serve over steamed rice.

Sweet and Sour "Chicken"

OK, this is one of those embarassing 'recipes' that people rave over, and yet I really don't do anything but throw a few things together...

Another of those "almost fools the omni's" sort of thing...

Quick and Easy, Sweet and Sour 'Chicken' and Veggies


1 Package "Health is Wealth" chicken-free "nuggets" (or vegan nugget type thing of your choice)
1 red bell pepper- cut in chunks
1 green bell pepper - cut in chunks
2 plum tomatoes- cut in chunks
1/2 sweet onion - cut in chunks
1 12 oz. can pineapple tidbits, drained
1 cup Wing Yip Sweet and Sour Sauce (or your favorite bottled sweet-and-sour sauce)
Thaw the nuggets (leave package at room temperature a 1/2 hour or so. Cut the "nuggets" into quarters.

Brown the nugget pieces in oil until crispy. Set aside.

Stir fry peppers and onion until tender-crisp.
Add tomatoes, pineapple and Sweet and Sour sauce.
Simmer for 5 - 10 min until sauce is hot.
If there doesn't seem to be enough sauce, add a little of the pineapple juice you drained from the can.
Add "chicken" chunks, simmer another 2- 3 minutes.
Serve over hot rice.

This also works great with cubes of browned tofu or tempeh but they usually take a bit longer to brown.

Quinoa-Peanut Veggie Soup (from Africa)

Made soup again tonight. Thought I'd post the recipe...

This is another family favorite (one of those rare things everyone actually likes!) I made it long before I had Sprouts to cook for - (and long before quinoa was readily available. I had to mail order it... 'cause way back then, I thought it was so unique and "exotic").

I originally got the recipe from a college roommate and gradually changed it to suit my tastes over the years - I like it 'cause it's fairly quick and easy (and healthy) - my kids think the subtle jalapeno heat and mild peanut butter taste combo is great for soup!

OK, I confess... they're also amused with the way the quinoa cooks up and it's little "tail" separates - they say it looks like little worms in the soup, which, I guess if you didn't know better, might make you wonder. Either way, don't be frightened off by my description - it's good stuff.

So, a little bit of bragging here: I originally posted this recipe over at my favorite Vegetarian forums, Veggieboards.com.
Cookbook author Nava Atlas (yes, of cookbook fame) saw it there, tried it (and evidently liked it as much as we do!) and asked to include it in her latest cookbook "Vegetarian Soups for all Seasons". Woo!

So (shameless self-promotion) check out the book! Actually every recipe I've tried from the book is great - (if you have the book, you already know this). I happen to LOVE soup anyway and this is an awesome collection. But enough about that, here's my recipe (oh, it's on page 47 in the book, I think?) just in case you're interested:

Quinoa-Peanut Soup

2 Tb margarine
1 chopped onion or 2 med. leeks sliced (I prefer leeks, use all of white and tender part of green)
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed (I use more)
1 fresh jalapeno, minced (Again, I use more)
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 diced celery stalks, with leaves (I usually leave this out, cause I don't care for celery all that much)
2 small diced zucchini
1 large sweet potato, diced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
4 cup vegetable stock (I use the "non-chicken" style broth)
1/2 cup quinoa, (some brands say to rinse and drain before using - I never have..)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 dash cayenne pepper or to taste (I use more!!)
1/2 cup chunky organic peanut butter, no honey or sugar

Wear rubber gloves to prepare fresh jalapeno pepper if you need to - or just be careful.
In a large heavy-bottomed soup pot, melt margarine over medium-high heat. When margarine is hot and bubbly, add all veggies, and cumin and oregano.
Saute 10 -15 minutes, or until vegetables are softened.
Add stock, quinoa, black pepper and cayenne. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover.
Simmer until quinoa is cooked and veggies are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Add peanut butter, using a wisk to blend in completely, and simmer another 10 minutes. Taste, and adjust seasonings.
(I almost always throw grated fresh ginger in there somewhere but it's not necessary).

Tacos with Pan-Fried Corn Tortilla 'Shells'.

Friday night dinner has always been "Mexican Night" in our house. And these tacos are probably our all-time favorite. OK, so maybe they're not authentically "Mexican" and if the title is confusing, we don't actually make our corn tortillas from scratch, but we take the soft corn tortillas (sometimes called "raw" or "uncooked" soft corn tortillas - like you'd use for enchiladas) and we fry them briefly until they're lightly golden, tender and slightly crispy. They are insanely good!
None of those cold, hard, brittle, stale store-bought taco shells for us!

The Sprouts have me make these every time they have guests over, and no matter how many we make, they're always INHALED... I think they manage to fool most omnivore types pretty well, as I've never had one of their little non-vegetarian friends (or anyone!) turn their nose up at them or ask questions about the "weird vegetarian meat"...

Home-Made Tacos

-- 24 soft corn tortillas

(being that I'm rather partial to all things New Mexican, I happen to like the ones from Mi Ranchito Foods in Silver City, NM, but obviously any soft corn tortilla will work)
-- Oil for frying.

(I like refined coconut oil, it leaves them the most tender, yet crispy, but not greasy at all! Soybean oil works pretty well too.)

*****
-- 1 package Boca Crumbles, crumbled Gimme Lean or 2 cups reconstituted TVP granules
-- 1 8 - 10 oz. can chopped tomatoes (I like RoTel brand but they may be too spicy for some...)
-- 1 cup frozen corn
-- 1/2 cup salsa

-- 1/2 cup water (may need more, some burger tends to dry out)
-- 1 can black beans, rinsed and well drained
-- 1 Tb. dry taco seasoning (use a commercial blend or make your own with cumin, chili powder, cayenne, oregano, etc...)

******
taco "fixins" according to preference:
- shredded lettuce (or cabbage is awesome!!)
- tomatoes
- onions
- chopped fresh cilantro
- olives
- Tofutti Sour Supreme (vegan sour cream)
- shredded vegan "cheese
- guacamole or cubes of avocado
- leftover 'Spanish Rice'

- chopped fresh jalapenos

- fire roasted green chile sauce

- salsa

To fry the tortillas:
(Yes, I said "FRY". No-one claimed these were low calorie!)
Heat 1/4 inch oil in cast iron skillet.
When very hot (but NOT smoking!) lay corn tortilla in. It will puff up in 15 - 30 seconds.
Fry for another 10 seconds or so, until just starting to get golden spots.
Flip carefully with tongs.
Fry another 20 seconds or until starting to brown. Using tongs, remove to paper towel.
Here's the the tricky part!
Quickly blot excess oil with a folded paper towel. (Careful, they're HOT!!)
Fold in half quickly before they start to cool.
Keep warm in covered dish in low oven.

Continue process until all tortillas are fried.

As you get the hang of it it gets easier. You can do several at a time, they'll overlap a bit but they still cook up just fine. (It's much easier than it sounds).

Taco "Meat" Filling:

Crumble burger in frying pan with a small bit of oil.

Add corn and beans and start to warm.

Puree salsa, tomatoes, water and seasoning in blender or food processor.

Add to burger mixture. Simmer on low while cooking taco shells. You may need to add water, depending on how much the burger absorbs and how long it simmers. It shouldn't be dry and it shouldn't be overly juicy...

Add the fixin's!

Shred, slice, chop, grate... Prepare whatever condiments you prefer.

Serve taco "meat" filling and other goodies in bowls and let everyone dig in and make their own tacos just how they like them!

Winter Veggies

This afternoon my Mom gave me some awesome garden-fresh beets, orange carrots, parsnips, garlic and these really cool carrots called (honestly)Cosmic Purple Carrots.

Check them out! Well, the picture isn't all that great, but trust me, they're bright purple with an orange center.

I'm lucky. My mom has root veggies all winter long in her garden and she's always experimenting with unusual varities - (summer and winter). These purple carrots were definitely different but they taste pretty much like any other sweet carrot.

And no, lest anyone worry, these aren't some genetically-engineered weirdness. They're actually an heirloom variety. With a little (highly scientific) 'Google' research I discovered that carrots used to come in many colors, mostly reds and purples, until the Dutch in the 17th century bred the carrot orange to honor their national colors.

Interesting.

So what to do with all this colorful, garden goodness?

Again, no specific recipe - I just scrubbed the veggies, cut them up, (about 4 cups total) and tossed in a baking dish with some halved garlic cloves, olive oil and kosher salt.

Then I roasted 'em at 400 degrees for about an hour until tender.

They turned out great!

<<-- Finished result. The veggies were soooooooo sweet and intense, the garlic mellow and 'roasted'. Drool.

Some orange juice would have been yummy I think? I may add some cracked pepper, rosemary and/or thyme another time too.

Rich, Garlicky Scalloped Potatoes Alfredo

We needed some "comfort food" tonight after all this snow and ice and winter nastiness. By request, I made one of our latest favorites - Garlicky Scalloped Potatoes Alfredo, and added your basic shredded-carrot and raisin salad and brocolli for supper. Seemed to make everyone happy!

Here's the potato recipe. It's a huge hit every time I make it, and perfect for those not-vegan-friendly potlucks where all the omnis peers at your food looking for chunks of tofu...

This is a variation on a Scalloped Potato dish made by a friend over at VeggieBoards, though I modified it somewhat for my very garlic-obsessed family. I thought since I'd changed it a bit, it was OK to post it here, but my apologies if not. Just know I'm in no way claiming it's an original creation of mine...

Anyway, so if you're not quite so garlic-crazy you can cut down on the amount, though it does mellow a great deal during cooking...

Garlic Scalloped Potatoes

8 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (the only kind to use here!)

1 large, sweet onion (Walla Walla Sweet - I live in Washington, what can I say...)

3 cups boiling non-dairy (I like soy here, plain, NOT vanilla obviously!) milk

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup vegan Tofutti "sour cream"
1 tbsp paprika

2 tsp black pepper

3 tsp each onion powder & garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt

4 - 8 cloves fresh garlic, run thru garlic press or food processor
seasoned bread crumbs for the topping.

Preheat oven to 400 F.
If you're using a thick-skinned baking potato, you may want to peel them. I use "Yukon Gold" which have very thin, tender skins, so I just scrub them really well and leave the skins on.
Slice the potatoes and onion as thin as you can - I use a mandolin slicer. Place an even layer of them into a 9"x13" baking pan. sprinkle with some of the flour, salt and paprika

Heat your milk to boiling and add the vegan "sour cream" plus all the spices and seasonings (except flour, salt and paprika). Add pressed (or food-processed) garlic cloves. Whisk until the sour cream has melted into the hot milk and then pour a layer over the potatoes.

Add another layer of potato slices, and repeat the flour, spices sprinkling and more hot 'milk' sauce. Do this until all potato slices are used up and top with final layer of sauce.
Cover the pan tightly with a lid or foil and bake for 45 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender when you poke them with a knife. Add the topping (seasoned bread crumbs), and place under the broiler for 2 - 3 minutes or until it's browned. Serve hot. Often I don't add bread crumbs and it's just fine too...

Makes enough for 4 - 6 people. (Well, that's the theory, though I always have to make double for the 4 of us!!)

What's the Excitement Over TOFURKY?

OK, so I'm evidently the only vegan on the planet who hadn't experienced Tofurky for the Holidays yet... And I guess I was beginning to get curious about what I was missing. Or wondering if I was missing anything, really?

Quoting from Turtle Island's website, the manufacturer of Tofurky says "The Tofurky Roast is a pre-cooked vegetarian feast designed to be the delicious centerpiece of your holiday or everyday meal. Made from a revolutionary tofu-wheat protein blend, Tofurky is known for its incredible, turkey-like texture and flavor. "
Interesting.

I admit, my family (who happen to be mostly vegetarian) prefers the "veggie nut-loaf" or "neatball" -type main dishes at their holiday feasts (and they ARE feasts), so I never was inclined to bother with a Tofurky. Since I hadn't grown up with turkey on my Holiday table, I didn't suddenly feel the need to have a turkey-like replacement as the centerpiece.

I can also see, however, if you've always had a dead-bird main course, you might feel the need for something similar at Thanksgiving (Christmas/Easter/whatever) and I think this fills the bill.

Well, OK, for New Years, I had dinner with my friend Shaun, and he'd been raving about this Tofurky thing, we decided to cook ourselves Tofurky, mashed 'taters and all the fixins... What fun we had making everything!

I have to say, the legend that is Tofurky lived up to the hype. My highly professional opinion? Yum. It was very good!

If you (like me) haven't ever had Tofurky before, well it comes frozen. You thaw it and then bake it. It's this round-ish-shaped log of soy-wheat-tofu product and it's stuffed with a bit of rice "stuffing" (which, in my opinion they needen't have bothered with, since it didn't add much overall.)

Shaun said it had a tendancy to dry out slightly in the baking, so we basted the heck out of it, with an olive oil-fresh sage-garlic 'marinade' that we whipped up in the blender; then just followed the baking directions on the package, brushing it with the mixture every so often.

While the Tofurky baked, we made mashed potatoes; cornbread dressing with fresh sage, celery, onions and pecans; and Tofurky brand gravy... and it all turned out SOOOO yum! Oh man! The Tofurky wasn't dry, it had a really good flavor, and everything worked out so well together....

I think the only part I wasn't totally crazy about was the Tofurky gravy. It wasn't all that "turkey" flavored. Mainly just salty. I can make better, and even though it was very dark colored, it was sorta ...watery...
It was good, but I guess I prefer my gravy a little richer - maybe with just a wee bit of wine, or maybe soymilk added?

Anyway. It was all extremely tasty, lots of fun, and well worth the price and the wait for cooking time! So, no recipes today, just a couple pictures from the turkey-free Tofurky dinner we enjoyed.

Happy New Year to you and yours. I've so enjoyed everyone else's great recipes, pictures and blogs. Keep up the good work.

Christmas Dinner with Family

Christmas Dinner was at my parents', as usual. Plenty of siblings, spouses, sisters and yummy food (don't know how much shows in the picture, but you sorta get the idea). My family is mostly vegetarian anyway, so we all contribute vegetarian food for large get-togethers such as this. And lucky for me, most everyone brings at least one vegan dish as well, so I'm always well-fed. (Yeah, like that's a problem!!).

This year's spread included stuffed mushrooms, a centerpiece dish of vegan "meatballs" with gravy, a beautiful salad with shredded carrots, jicama and beets as garnish, ranch dressing (made vegan just for me thankyou!) several types of rolls, mashed 'taters, fresh cranberry-tangerine relish, sweet potato gratin, green beans, orange-sauce beets, holiday wild rice pilaf, and a "relish tray" with veggies, assorted pickles and olives and stuff...

Whew! I gained 10 pounds just re-reading that paragraph!

OK, so this Christmas, I collected a couple recipes to share: My Holiday Rice, my Mom's Non-Meat Balls and Mushroom-Wine Gravy, and my sister's Stuffed Mushrooms. All of it yum-a-licious and wonderfully vegan, here you go....

Holiday Rice

1/2 cup uncooked wild rice
3 cups vegetarian un-chicken broth, divided
1 cup apple juice
3/4 cup uncooked jasmine rice (white or brown)
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pistachios or hazelnuts
2 Tb. minced fresh sage
1 tsp. onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 Tb. brown sugar

Rinse wild rice in fine strainer under cold running water. Drain. Combine wild rice, 1-1/2 cups veg-chicken broth and apple juice in 2-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer, covered, about 45 minutes or until rice is tender. Drain.
Meanwhile, combine jasmine rice and remaining 1-1/2 cups broth in separate 2-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer, covered, 12 to 15 minutes. (I just cook the white rice in my rice-cooker with broth)
Stir apricots and cranberries into white rice; simmer 5 minutes or until rice is tender and fluffy and liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat. Let stand covered 5 minutes or until fruit is tender; set aside.
Melt Earth Balance in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir 5 to 6 minutes until tender. Stir in nuts and sage. Cook and stir 2 minutes.
Add rice mixtures to skillet. Add remaining ingredients; cook and stir over medium heat about 2 minutes or until heated through, taste and adjust seasonings if needed.

Non-Meatballs with Mushroom Gravy

1 cup firm tofu, mashed (not the silken variety found in vacuum-packed cartons)
½ cup wheat germ
¼ cup parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
½ Tbsp. onion powder
½ tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
¼ tsp. each - oregano, garlic powder and sage
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. soy sauce

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl and roll into small balls. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Spray oil over the top of the balls for a more crispy texture. Bake for 30 minutes until browned. Serve warm.

Gravy

2/3 cup vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ cup onions, chopped
2/3 cup flour
½ tsp. ground sage
2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
4 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 ½ cups water
¼ cup dry red wine
1/3 cup sliced mushrooms, sauteed in margarine until soft
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a medium saucepan and sauté onions and garlic. When onions are tender and translucent, stir in the flour, nutritional yeast and sage to form a paste. Slowly add water, soy sauce and wine, stirring constantly. When gravy starts to thicken, stir in the mushrooms, salt and pepper.
Add more water if necessary to thin the gravy. Pour over "meatballs" and heat in a casserole dish and serve.

Stuffed Mushrooms

16 large button mushrooms (or other mushrooms of choice), washed well
3 T. olive oil, divided
8 oz. firm tofu, frozen, and thawed
1/4 cup onion, finely diced
1/4 cup celery, finely diced
1/4 cup green onion, thinly sliced
1 T. garlic, minced
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
2 T. nutritional yeast flakes
2 T. freshly chopped parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Lightly oil (or spray with vegetable oil) a large baking dish and set aside. Remove the stems from the mushrooms, roughly dice the stems, and set aside.
In a non-stick skillet, place 1 T. olive oil and the mushroom caps, and saute for 2 minutes per side. Remove the mushroom caps from the skillet, transfer to a large plate, and set aside.
Using your fingers, crumble the thawed tofu into a small bowl and set aside. In the same non-stick skillet, saute the reserved mushroom stems, onion, celery, and green onion in the remaining olive oil, for 5 minutes to soften.
Add the crumbled tofu, garlic, and thyme, and saute an additional 2-3 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Remove the skillet from the heat, add the remaining ingredients, stir well to combine, and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Fill the mushroom caps with warm filling, slightly mounding the tops, and place them in the prepared baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until the mushroom caps are heated through and slightly browned on top. Transfer to a decorative platter for service and serve immediately. Yum!