day 2

it is clearly the second day of school. i am caught up with studying, and by 7:30am i had made dinner. trust me, this won't last long.

pizza (for breakfast)

in a break from our usual saturday morning fare of scrambles and pancakes, we made a pizza for breakfast a few weeks ago. we started by oiling a crust and sprinkling garlic power around the edge. then we loaded it up with marinara, onions, mushrooms, olives, yellow and red roasted peppers, and crumbled seasoned tempeh. before eating it, we drizzled a bit of vegan ranch on top. dig in, fork required.

kale chips

these chips are really tasty and very quick to make. just wash and tear up some kale and toss it with olive oil and sea salt. bake the kale for 10-15 minutes at 350° until crispy. yum!

pesto

when the basil was bountiful at the market, we picked up a bunch to make vegan pesto. we had plenty of basil for two batches and froze most of it. mom recommended that we use an ice cube tray, which has worked out perfectly. the only trouble is, we're using it up way too fast. our stock will never last us until next summer.

vegan pesto
· 1 1/2 cups fresh basil
· 1/3 cup olive oil
· 1/2 cup each pine nuts & walnuts
· 5 cloves garlic
· 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
· 3/4 teaspoon salt
· 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

preparation
combine all ingredients in a food processor until nuts are ground. pesto should still have texture and not be completely smooth. too easy!

this dinner was two veganomicon recipes on one plate. chickpea quinoa pilaf with broiled tofu. the tofu was quite simple, but very good.


the next day, the left over tofu showed up as cold sandwiches for lunch.

i have nothing witty to say about this right now. i'm being pressed to post, so there is no humor to be had. maybe i can find a funnier food in my photo library.

bruschetta

there is not much to say about this one, except DELICIOUS. i can't wait until summer produces some fresh heirloom tomatoes to top our toast with.

our basil plant, grown with love

tasty appetizer or dinner, whichever you please

quesadillas

joe and i thought these quesadillas were delicious. we found the sauce to be a tasty substitute to cheese, but it surely didn't taste like cheese. these vegan quesadillas are probably best suited to vegans.


here's how to make them:

ingredients
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup plain soy milk
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon stoneground mustard
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
(or just whichever of the spices you have on hand)

2 tablespoons salsa
tortillas
optional fillings: mushrooms, peppers, onions (all pre-sauteed)

put all sauce ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. pour the mixture into a medium non-stick saucepan, add the salsa, and stir as you bring to a boil. reduce heat and continue to cook, stirring, for at least 2 minutes after boiling. sauce should be thick and smooth.

heat a large, non-stick skillet. place 1 tortilla in the skillet and spread some of the "cheese" over the tortilla. add other toppings on top of the cheese. cover with another tortilla and cook for a minute or two, until the bottom tortilla is golden browned. flip the whole thing over and cook until the bottom tortilla has browned. remove from pan and slice into quarters. serve with additional salsa.

new york bagels

bagel world was one of our favorites. saturday morning bagels became our brooklyn tradition. i even learned to like the vegan cream cheeses!

our typical route, along the residential streets

choices, choices

thrilled to have a bagel (and no coat in november)

vegan junk

now that i have a camera again, i was able to get my old pictures loaded. here is some vegan junk food from foodswings in brooklyn. vegans, too, need our occasional fast food fix.

"chicken" wings with fries and vegan bleu cheese dressing

chick'n bac'n ranch salad

butterfinger shake - chocolate soy ice cream with chico-stick candies

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

market day

i was pleased to find out that there is a great reward for biking to the farmer's market on a warm saturday morning. it includes strawberries and avocado reubens (and a pound of lovely asparagus to enjoy later).

all it takes is some vegan thousand island with sauerkraut and sliced avocado (having an awesome cast iron sandwich press doesn't hurt, either)

stir-fry pasta with tempeh

this is another old one - a quick saturday afternoon dinner before work.  i can't remember exactly how to make it, but it started with some tempeh and left-over pasta.  after that it was just some stir-frying with olive oil, braggs, wine, and spices -- delightful.

coconut milk curry

unfortunately, i don't have any pictures of this one with my new camera.  it's very tasty, even if it doesn't look as pretty.