broccoli almond seitan

keen on quinoa

this quinoa salad was nutritious and filling. the added bonus is that it was also delicious and easy to make. i'll tell you what i did, so you don't have to bother with extra nonsense of the real recipe.

the quinoa

1 cup uncooked quinoa

1 1/2 cups cold water

1/2 tsp salt

the others

1/2 or more of a hot pepper, minced

2 or more cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 of a green pepper, sliced or diced

1/2 of another color pepper, sliced or diced

1 tsp cumin

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 or more handfuls of cherry tomatoes, sliced

2 or more scallions, sliced

the dressing

2 tbsp lime juice, fresh

1/4 cup olive oil

a little cilantro (i use dried because i don't like cilantro)

salt & pepper to taste

a pinch of cayenne or chili powder

to make the quinoa

soak it in cold water for a while to remove the bitterness (1/2 hour was recommended, but who has that kind of time?). rinse it a few times and put it back in the pot. add 1 1/2 cups cold water and the salt. bring to a boil. reduce heat, cover, and cook for 15 minutes. when it is finished, set it aside to cool a bit.

the salad

saute the garlic and hot pepper in oil until the garlic browns a bit. then add the bell peppers and cumin. saute for a few minutes.

in a bowl, stir up the dressing ingredients. check the flavor for necessary adjusting.

mix everything in a large bowl, adding the quinoa last so you can get the amount that is right for you.

the eating

serve it hot or cold. it would probably make a great burrito stuffer, but we ate it with chips and salsa. feel free to try some guacamole or margaritas or something else exciting on the side as well.

thanksgiving

the thanksgiving 2008 rundown: salad with squash, wild mushrooms, apple, and homemade dressing, roasted brussel sprouts, corn, garlic mashed redskins, chickpea cutlets, brown gravy, and field roast. paired with pacifico, trader joe's wine, and peanut butter chocolate pie, this was an all-out fantastic meal.

ingredients piled high in anticipation.

introducing.....the field roast!

delicious pie that's a cinch to make.

blend/process 1/2 C melted chocolate chips, 1/2 C creamy peanutbutter, and 1 package of mori-nu silken tofu. then put it in a pie crust & chill.

time to give thanks, relax and enjoy.

something dutch (apparently)

joe claims this dish to be a dutch dish.  i've never heard of it, so i can't say for sure.  we put some yves ground turkey onto a baguette with some mushroom gravy.  preface it with a salad, throw it next to a side of garlic mashed potatoes and corn, and you've got yourself a true meat and potatoes meal.

vegans vote for obama

the night of the long-awaited election, a few vegans in brooklyn enjoyed some black bean burgers and beer.  we all voted yes for the burgers, but the race was on between sierra nevada pale ale (obama) and budweiser (mccain).  after florida did two counts of the ballots (no kidding), obama was the winner.

the vegans were pleased to elect a vp who won't kill game from a chopper, and they were also pleased that california passed proposal 2, banning gestation crates, battery cages, and the like.

vegans in the kitchen making difficult decisions about toppings and candidates and the like.

election center 2008.  l to r: various news sites, cnn.com live, cnn map

oops!

i guess i have turned into a bad blogger.  an entire month has elapsed without an update.  now i have a few posts built up, but not as many as you would think.  this kitchen has seen many nights of rice and beans or other simple fare.  we've also had two families come to visit, which meant a lot of vegan nights out (which were all fantastic, of course).

to whet your appetite for me perhaps blogging again, here is a picture of some fancier than normal rice and beans that were consumed quite some time ago.  (ok, you will have to excuse the strange looking guac there, but we didn't have any sort of liquid to add, except salsa.  kind of pathetic, i know)

magical mystery tacos?

according to the recipe i found, these are linda mccartney's tofu tacos. whether that's true or not, they were easy to make and tasted great.

pineapple lentils

these little lentils cooked themselves on saturday afternoon. all the more time to fold laundry!

note: i used only 2 cups of dried lentils and 5 cups of water. i kept everything else the same. i know the ingredients sound pretty bland, but this does taste quite nice. it's a great reprieve from taste bud overload.

cupcake in a pod!

i haven't even eaten this yet, but it's too cute to not love. it's such a sweet little cupcake pod. it's from 'snice in brooklyn (where we also enjoyed a triple decker club and sesame chicken wrap).

brooklyn pancakes

years ago, pancakes and i had a falling out on the side of a highway in rhode island.  we have since resolved our issues and begun loving each other again.  these pancakes come from vegan with a vengeance, which was born and bred in brooklyn.  isa always knows what she's doing, so, of course, these are fantastic.  the only problem is that joe won't let me eat them every day, even though i ask at least that often.

tempeh chicken salad

joe is constantly seeking out the best soy dogs and vegan chicken salad. i found a recipe online and modified it a bit to get the right taste. my recipe is below.

tempeh chicken salad

1 large block of tempeh

3/4 C vegan mayo

1 long celery

small onion, chopped

2 t mustard

3 t soy sauce or braggs

1 clove garlic, minced

boil a small pot of water and boil the tempeh for 10 minutes. when cool enough, dice the tempeh into very small bits. mix together all the ingredients well.

tofu stir fry

this stir fry was great, and it whipped up in just a couple of minutes.  our brooklyn grocery store has tons of vegan options (5 kinds of tempeh, 2 brands of tofu, hundreds of soy dogs), so we bought a package of teriyaki marinaded tofu cutlets.  they were easy to work with because no pressing was required to get the right texture.

the tofu even comes with char lines!

i now have a small kitchen.

one of the things missing from our tiny kitchen is a blender or food processor, so i have been compiling a list of things i wish i could eat but am restricted from making. i'm sure this list will turn out to be far from complete, but these are just the things i've come up with so far.

philly (minus the cheesesteak)

while we were waiting for our chinatown bus to take us from philadelphia to new york, we went into a large market and found a vegetarian cafe, the basic 4.  needless to say, we were thrilled to have an opportunity for a vegan fast-food style breakfast.  we had a tofu scramble sandwich, home fries, and a mango smoothie.

our food came wrapped in newsprint!  that's rare for vegan fare.

tofu scramble sandwich

home fries with onions, peppers, and cayenne

mango smoothie

other appetizer-y things.

when jason and holli came, we also made some potato wedges with chili dip, tostones (seen in the previous post), and hummus with oiled and pressed french bread.

chili dip for roasted potatoes

since i am in new york, and the cookbook containing the chili dip recipe is in michigan, here is how i would make it while winging it brooklyn style.

olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small can diced/chopped tomatoes

1 jalapeno or other hot pepper

some balsamic vinegar...?

a teeny bit of cilantro (for garnish)

s&p, to taste

in a small saucepan, sauté the onions and garlic in some olive oil for a few minutes. when the onions are soft, add the rest of the ingredients. allow the mixture to simmer for at least 5 minutes.

it seems to me that there must be some balsamic vinegar in here, but i can't remember for sure. perhaps just add 1T and hope it tastes right.

the leftover dip was really tasty when we ate it cold on those delicious pretzel cracker things.

summer soups.

one weekend in august we turned a trip to the market into two wonderful summer soups. we made gazpacho and velvet corn soup. both were wonderfully cool against the august heat, and we fully enjoyed an evening with jason and holli.

many mix-ins for our gazpacho

i can't remember exactly how we made the gazpacho because we combined ideas from several recipes, but here is the recipe for the velvet corn soup, which i found at NPR online.

cold velvet corn soup

makes 4 to 6 servings
6 ears of fresh corn, husked
2 leeks, white parts only
4 cups vegetable stock
1 clove garlic
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
chopped scallions for garnish

rub the ears of corn with a towel to remove the last silk threads. cut the kernels off of the cob into a large mixing bowl. break the cobs in half and put them into a stockpot.

halve the white part of the leeks lengthwise and rinse them well. chop them coarsely and place in the stockpot. add all remaining ingredients except corn kernels. bring the soup to a boil and simmer for 25 minutes.

remove corn cobs and the bay leaf and discard. add the corn kernels and simmer for 5 more minutes. using a blender on high, puree the soup in batches. (the recipe suggested to strain the soup through a sieve, but we just blended it very well and served as is.) after blending, chill the soup for at least 4 hours before serving.

mock duck.

it's uncanny (seriously, no pun intended) how much this gluten seems like meat.  the texture is quite convincing, and this little can of "meat" is just over a dollar.  we're just careful at our oriental market to grab the least dusty and least faded can.

with a little vegetarian stir fry sauce from the same market, a mongolian duck stir-fry whips up in just a few minutes.

sushi.

we had tried our hand at sushi a couple of times before this summer,  but this time we decided to perfect our skills.  we bought the proper rice and followed the veganomicon recipe for the filling.

tempeh, vegan mayo, sesame oil, and sriracha sauce made up our filling

pressing the rice - cover the bottom 2/3 of the nori

all the supplies are handy - fillings, rice, and water to clean off the sticky rice

ready to roll

reapplying my sandwich rolling skills with the bamboo mat

a cutco knife makes a clean cut

inside-out roll

delicious, of course

update: banana muffin recipe

here is the recipe for the chocolate chip banana muffins posted earlier this summer

ingredients:

1/2 C butter

1 t vanilla

3/4 C sugar

egg replacer for 2 eggs (1 egg = 2T H2O + 2T cornstarch)

1 1/4 C flour

3/4 C oats

1 t baking soda

2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1 C over-ripe bananas, mashed

3/4 C vegan chocolate chips (optional, but delightful)

preparations:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. cream butter, sugar, and vanilla. add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each. (i also make sure to mix up the eggs with a fork while pouring to ensure all the cornstarch stays in the water).

3. in a second bowl, mix flour, oats, salt, soda, and powder.

4. add the dry mix to the wet mix in two additions.

5. add mashed bananas and mix.

6. add chocolate chips.

7. i make mine in a mini muffin tin, but either will work well. grease it and bake the batter for about 25 minutes.

marble cupcakes

these little delights come from vegan cupcakes take over the world.

ginger peanut tofu salad

this is one of joe's favorites.  i generally prefer not to have it, but i would feel guilty hiding the recipe for him, so i still get the ingredients for it occasionally.  the recipe is from the mercy for animals website.

chocolate chip banana muffins

more stir-fried pasta

iron

who doesn't love a tofu scramble out of a new cast iron pan?

summer grilling

last week we tested out our house's grill with dave and some vegan dogs and burgers.  the $4 veggie rack was a worthwhile purchase at meijer, but the eco-goo lighting gel was interesting.

chips at guacamole to start

the new veggie grill rack

joe's soy dogs

vegan burger topped with the veggies and guac