Balsamic Baked Tofu Caprese Sandwich & Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Caprese sandwiches are not so vegan. Therefore, I made an original recipe gone vegan!

Balsamic Baked Tofu Caprese Sandwich

* Prep Time: 1 day

* Cook Time: 30 minute








  * Ingredients (for balsamic baked tofu):

• 1/2 block extra firm tofu - sliced into 1/2 in. slabs
• 4 cloves garlic - minced
• 1/2 of medium sweet onion - cut in half and sliced thin lengthwise*
• Several sprigs of fresh rosemary plus 2 tablespoons of chopped rosemary
• 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup of vegetable broth
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Sea salt - to taste
• Black pepper - to taste

* Ingredients (for caprese sandwich):

• 1 large tomato - sliced*
• 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• Sea salt - to taste
• Black pepper - to taste
• 6 fresh basil leaves - medium size*
• Soy mozzarella - thinly sliced*
• Fresh sourdough bread - sliced*
• Spray cooking oil

* Recipe:

1. Start with balsamic baked tofu. This will need to marinate for at least 2 hour up to 24 hours (which is the best option if you have the time). Take the tofu block and cut into slabs. Take several paper towels, place tofu slabs on them, place several more paper towels on top of tofu slabs. Pat them dry with paper towels to remove most moisture.
2. Sprinkle each side of tofu slabs with herbs (rosemary, sea salt, black pepper).
3. Place rosemary sprigs, onion, and garlic on a medium sized baking tray. Lay tofu slabs on top of vegetables.
4. Whisk together vinegar, olive oil, and vegetable broth. Spoon over vegetables in baking tray. Cover with tin foil and let it marinate for 2-24 hours in the refrigerator.
5. When done marinating, pre-heat oven to 375°. Take tin foil off of baking tray, flip over tofu slabs, and spoon marinade over tofu. Bake for 10-13 minutes.
6. Remove baking tray from oven, spoon marinade over tofu slabs again, bake for another 15 minutes.
7. For additional baking, broil for 2-3 minutes.
8. To make sandwich, begin by mixing vinegar, olive oil, sea salt, and black and pepper in a small bowl. Take sliced tomato and let marinate one side for a bit, then flip to the other side.
9. Take pieces of sliced bread, spray with cooking oil on one side, and toast in large frying pan over medium heat. Flip, spray with cooking oil, and let the other side brown. While this side is toasting, place soy mozzarella on bread and let it melt.
10. Take one piece of sliced bread with cheese, place basil leaves on the bread, then several pieces of tofu slab. Add onion/rosemary/garlic mixture from baking pan to top of tofu slab on the bread. Add tomato slice on top of that. Top with another piece of toasted bread.

* Notes: You can also use red onion. Depending on how many sandwich you make, you will need more or less basil leaves. Same goes with the bread slices and tomato. Make sure to double check that the sourdough bread is vegan and contains no animal by-product. The soy mozzarella I used was Follow Your Heart brand.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

* Prep Time: 15 minutes

* Cook Time: 40 minutes

* Ingredients:

• 5-7 cloves of garlic
• 10 baby red potatoes - peeled, cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup soy milk - add more to taste
• Sea salt - to taste
• Black pepper - to taste
• Garlic salt - to taste
• Onion powder - to taste
• Several dashes of nutmeg
• 3-4 tablespoons of soy butter (or to taste)
• 1 tablespoon fresh chives - chopped (add more to taste)

* Recipe:

1. Place garlic (unpeeled) in baking sheet and bake at 450° for 25 minutes or until soft.
2. While garlic is in the oven, cook potatoes over medium to high heat in pot for 15-20 minutes or until tender.
3. Drain potatoes into a strainer, set aside to dry for a bit.
4. Take garlic cloves and squeeze them out of peel. In a small bowl, mash garlic with a fork until paste-like.
5. Place potatoes in large bowl, add garlic paste, spices, and soy milk. Mash. Add soy butter. Mix well. Add chives, whisk everything several more times.
6. Adjust seasoning and soy butter to taste.

Starting to think about my annual Thanksgiving day feast. This website has a lot of great ideas. Pre-plan consists of these mini pot pies with my mom's original mashed potato recipe along with French onion soup. Possibly homemade cranberry sauce and homemade rolls.

Christmas plans are also in the making. An extensive list of homemade crafts to give has been made, as well as my annual baking extravaganza for the cookie tins. This year will mark my first with vegan dog cupcake tins too. Look for my upcoming holiday blogs! They will be filled with good food, vino, and crafty fun.

Vegan Fried Rice

A while back, I repaid a friend for helping me build most of my apartment's furniture by cooking him some yum veg Asian food. I made Nasu Dengaku (nasu is "eggplant" in Japanese). Using this excellent recipe from the FatFree Vegan Kitchen blog, it turned out most tasty!

Nasu Dengaku

Along with this eggplant dish, I made a vegan fried rice with random veggies I had at hand.

Vegan Fried Rice

* Prep Time: 15 minutes
* Cook Time: 30 minutes









 
* Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons soy butter (add more to taste)
• 4 cloves garlic - minced
• 1/2 of medium red onion - chopped
• 1 cup of green beans - chopped
• 1/2 cup carrots - chopped
• 1/2 cup of white mushroom - sliced*
• 1/3rd cup of bell pepper - red/yellow/green/orange (optional)
• 1/3rd cup of peas (optional)
• 1/3rd block of firm tofu - cut into cubes
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce (add more to taste)
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1-2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• several dashes of sea salt
• several dashes of black pepper
• dash of basil (ground)
• 2 cups of pre-cooked rice - white or brown*

* Recipe:

1. Add soy butter to wok and allow to melt.
2. Next, add the onions and garlic. Cook until the onion becomes translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. Place all vegetables into wok, mix well with onion, garlic, and soy butter. Cook for 5-7 minutes.
4. Add pre-cooked rice (use whatever method you normally do to cook rice) to wok and mix well with vegetables.
5. Put soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, and spices in pot and mix well with rice and vegetables.
6. Allow to cook for a several minutes, mixing every so often.

* Notes: Feel free to use shiitake mushrooms instead of white button mushrooms. For this recipe, I used white rice.


Tonight, after some oishii (tasty) sushi, a buddy and I went over to Wicker Park and had some crazy lab science-like vegan ice cream with vanilla tea. iCream Cafe makes the ice cream and sorbet from scratch right in front of you! Not only is it neat to watch, it is very vegan-friendly. They have soy ice cream for a base (or you could choose sorbet), add a flavor (we did mint), then add a topping (ours was oreo & sprinkles).


Check it out for a tasty treat!


Ratings...
Nasu Dengaku: 5/5


For Halloween, I was a 1940s sailor pin-up girl. In the next couple posts, I will post a tutorial on how to do the vintage 'do I was sporting.


'Ta for now!

Vegetable Couscous Pilaf with Sauteed Baby Vegetables

After a very long hiatus, I am back and ready to cook up a storm! Below is one of my new favorite, tasty, original recipes.

Vegetable Couscous Pilaf with Sauteed Baby Vegetables

* Prep Time: 20 minutes

* Cook Time: 40 minutes

 * Ingredients (for couscous):

• 1 tablespoon soy butter*
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic - minced
• 1/3rd of red onion - chopped
• 1/2 cup of mushrooms - chopped
• 1/3rd cup of peas*
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh chives - chopped
• 1 baby zucchini - chopped
• 2 baby carrots - chopped
• 2 baby squash - chopped (yellow or green)
• dash of onion powder
• dash of thyme
• dash of garlic powder
• dash of garlic salt
• several dashes of black pepper
• several dashes of sea salt
• dash of cumin
• dash of parsley
• dash of caraway
• dash of paparika
• dash of oregano (ground)
• dash of oregano (leaves)
• 1-1 1/2 cups vegetable stock (add more if needed when cooking)
• 1-2 tablespoons of white wine
• 1 package of couscous
• top with soy parmesan (optional)*

* Ingredients (for sauteed baby vegetables):

• 1/2-1 cup of water
• several baby carrots
• several baby zucchini
• several baby squash (green and yellow)
• several baby red potatoes
• several small mushrooms (keep steams on)
• several pieces of asparagus
• 1/3 of red onion - sliced into thin, long pieces
• several green beans (optional)
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives - chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• dash of garlic salt
• dash of onion powder
• dash of garlic powder
• dash of oregano (leaves)
• dash of thyme
• dash of rosemary
• dash of parsley
• several dashes of black pepper
• several dashes of sea salt

* Recipe:

1. Begin with couscous. Place soy butter and olive oil in medium size pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, wait until onions are translucent (about 5 minutes).
2. Add all vegetables and spices to pot with onions and garlic, cook until tender (5-8 minutes).
3. Insert couscous, vegetable stock, and white wine. Keep adding more stock if couscous does not become soft over time. Let cook over medium heat with lid on until couscous is soft (10-15 minutes). Make sure the vegetables and couscous are well mixed together.
4. While couscous is cooking, start on the baby vegetables. Using a large pan, add all baby vegetables, asparagus, green beans (optional), red onion, mushrooms, and water (in small increments). Cover and let steam. Keep checking and adding more water as the vegetables soak it in. Once tender, you are done with this step (5-7 minutes).
5. Keep stirring that couscous while you are working on the baby vegetables so it does not stick to the pot.
6. Add the olive oil, chives, and spices to the pan with baby vegetables. Let them saute for about 5-7 minutes.
7. Once couscous is done, place on plate. Top with the sauteed baby vegetables.
8. Finish with several dashes of soy parmesan (optional).

* Notes: For soy butter, I use the vegan Earth Balance. The peas I used were frozen, feel free to use fresh ones. The best soy parmesan brand I have come across is Galaxy Nutritional Foods Vegan Topping.

I have a many more recipes to add, just do not have time now. More soon, promise!

Quick review: Vegan foodies like myself often are in despair over a good vegan cheese. A long time ago, I decided it simply does not exist. In the last couple months, this local Chicago nut cheese company has proved my vegan cheese woes wrong. Check out Ste Martaen Vegan Cheese. Currently, one can only buy it at Delicious Cafe, located in North Center on 3827 N. Lincoln Ave. Though, rumor has it, they will be selling Ste Martaen at the new, giant Whole Foods in Chicago soon.

This colby nut cheese has become a favorite of mine to use for grilled cheese sandwiches.

Also, check out their smoked gouda cheese and try out this marinated tofu sandwich recipe. Delish!

Toodles! (for now)

Apologies, I have no kitchen for now until August. Cooking is a smidge hard.

So... MIA for now.

Summer Is Here - Time for Chilled Soups!

Over the last couple weeks, I have acquired several amazing cookbooks. Not all of them are vegan or vegetarian. The list includes: Best Loved Food of the 50s, Pretty Party Cakes, Bake Me, I'm Yours... Cupcake!, Vegetarian Suppers, Betty Crocker Easy Everyday Vegetarian, and Vegetarian Cooking Commonsense Guide. The last book was bought by the boy as a present, hoorah! Also - this book: Don't Throw It, Grow It! It's really cool and tells you how to grow crops and herbs from your vegetable seeds in your kitchen. Basically, it is kitchen gardening. So far, I've really liked using the 50s book for my dad and apparently the meat-based dishes have been excellent. Pretty Party Cakes and Bake Me, I'm Yours... Cupcake! are fancy pastry chef books but they look oh-so-cute. I need to have a party sometime now! Vegetarian Suppers has proved some great recipes out of there too. My bookshelf has overflown to the floor now... Eeep!

Every week I get a grocery box from New Leaf Natural Grocery. It is a local, organic health food store in Roger's Park by Loyola. In this box, there is $15 worth of local (well - as local as possible), organic produce, fruits and vegetables. I love this box because it makes me experiment with different vegetables I wouldn't normally buy. Oftentimes, I have no idea what kind of vegetable it is. For isntance, how many of you have cooked with black carrots? Hah.

This weekend, I went out to the 'burbs and visited Mitsuwa Marketplace. Here, I got the ingredients to make inari and vegan wonton soup. I also bought shochu and for those who do not know the wonders of chu-hi, please look up how to make homemade chu-hi drinks out of shochu ASAP! In Japan, they sell cans of it at conbini's (convienent stores) for cheap. It's an excellent and different kind of drunk. Anyways, back to the food. The wonton soup ended up to be desired. I will not post the recipe because of that. Oh well, time to experiment some more! The inari I bought pre-packaged and made the sushi rice myself in my personal rice cooker (it's so tiny and cute!).

I've made another care box for the month of May too. Can't post pictures just yet, it has not arrived. But, it is very well done and let's just say my kitchen was messy after wards and I had to go to the 'burbs to get something needed for it.

This is a really easy recipe.

Miso Cucumbers and Shitake Mushrooms.

* Prep Time: 5-10 minutes

* Cook Time: mix!

* Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons miso paste
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil or stir fry oil - not olive oil, though
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon salt
• water - to taste
• 1/2 a cumcumber - chopped
• 5 fresh shitake mushrooms - chopped

* Recipe:

1. Mix all ingrediants by hand in small bowl - add as much water to taste depending on how thick you want the dressing.
2. Chop up some cucumbers and fresh shitake mushrooms.
3. Mix the vegetables and the dressing!

* Notes: None! Enjoy!

Sweet & Sour Soy Meat w/ Rice

* Prep Time: 5 minutes

* Cook Time: 20 minutes

* Ingredients:

• 1/2 an onion - chopped
• 1/3 ginger root - minced
• 3 cloves of garlic - minced or pressed
• 2 tablespoons stir fry oil
• 1.5 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 cup of fresh shitake mushrooms - chopped
• 2 mini bok choy heads - chopped
• 2 cups of soy meat - boiled & drained
• dash of garlic powder
• dash of onion powder
• 2 dashes of sea salt
• dash of black pepper
• half a bottle of Kikkoman Sweet & Sour Sauce
• 1 cup of white rice - cooked

* Recipe:

1. Put soy meat in small pot with boiling water and let it become soft. Let it cook while doing the below directions and then set aside when it is done. Drain.
2. Cook your rice in whatever way you wish - microwave, rice cooker, stove top. Let it cook while doing the below directions and then set aside when it is done.
3. Put the onion, ginger, and garlic in a deep frying pan or wok with the stir fry oil. Fry until the onion is translucent. Add all the spices.
4. Add the soy meat, the vegetables, and the Kikkoman Sweet & Sour Sauce. Stir until everything is completed covered in the sauce.
5. Add the wok ingredients to a bowl of white rice!

* Notes: I was lazy and used pre-bottled sweet & sour sauce. This is a quick fix meal for a lazy evening. Also - instead of soy meat, you can use tempeh or tofu. Tofu would probably taste better. For soy meat, I use Now Textured Soy Protein (which is actually the correct wording for soy meat). You can find it at most health food stores, if not online then. In my experience, where you can find vegan food in Tokyo, they love textured soy protein!

Organic Summer Chilled Carrot Ginger Soup

* Prep Time: 10 minutes

* Cook Time: 30 minutes

* Ingredients:

• 1/2 an organic onion - chopped
• 1/3 organic ginger root - minced
• 2 tablespoons organic olive oil
• 8 small-medium organic carrots - chopped
• dash of organic sea salt
• dash of organic black pepper
• dash of organic ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons organic coriander
• 3 cups of organic vegetable bullion

* Recipe:

1. Place the chopped onion and ginger root in a small pot with the olive oil. Cook until onion is translucent.
2. Add the spices and the carrots. Cook for a few minutes, mixing.
3. Add the vegetable bullion. Boil until the carrots are soft.
4. In batches, blend the soup in a blender.

* Notes: While this recipe does not have to be organic, I just happened to make it that way. I used Organic Gourmet vegetable bullion which you should be able to find most places.

'Ta for now!

Miss Suzy Q

Now to the cooking. When in Groton/New London, the boy and I made stir fry, though I did not take any pictures. It was pretty basic: Asian rice noodles, veggies, vegetarian stir fry sauce. We also made chicken enchiladas and margarita's at the same time, haha.

As stated before, I like to make care boxes. Here is yet another gloriously themed box, Easter! I refused to tote this crap in a suitcase across the country, so I mailed it. Besides, its more fun that way. You all know you like to get homemade packages in the mail to dig through, admit it. (I had enough stuff for him from myself and his mother and his sister - half my suitcase was his stuff, don't ask.) This is not all of what was in the box, but you get the idea. I'm going to make the boyfriend fat with all the baked goodies and candy I send, haha. I put a blueberry cake in there, which I posted about in a previous entry. For the trip, I hand-sewed a drawstring bag in old merchant looking ships (try from like 1700s) and put vegan stout cookies in it (leave me alone, they are sailors and I like themes! - hello look at my care box). Plus, I told him to share. The link is the recipe. As it states, most stout in not vegan. I used Young's Double Chocolate Stout, which is vegan. I'm starting to think it is the only vegan stout out there. The link on the "drawstring bag" text is the tutorial as to how one makes it. Also, I carried homemade fortune cookies with me all the way there. It was hard. I had to put them in my messenger bag and make sure I didn't crush them the whole trip. The things I do for baking and being super girlfriend-y!

Oh, so there was this debacle with a coffee cake I baked around this same time. It sort of went nutty on me. I'm blaming the tin baking trays I use. Nothing ever turns out in the right amount of time or the way it is exactly supposed to be in those. I need to obtain ceramic ones. Let's just say, the nice top caved inside the actual cake, it overflowed as a result in the oven, started to burn on the oven floor, caused the condo to smell like burnt cake, and overall was a mess. But, I salvaged it. I hope it is good?

This summer, I am creating an apartment balcony vegetable garden (as I'll actually be in Chicago for more than a month at a time). I have most of my necessary tools to do so. I will begin in two weeks. It is going to be all organic. My balcony is going to be oh so cute with its vegetables, herbs, flowers, little ducks and bunny garden figurines (I'm so girly, it's sickening), little mosaic solar powered lamps, miniature gas grill, and my sweet bicycle. I am going to have to industrial velcro the figurines and the lamps so they don't blow 21 floors over the edge. Eep.

Couple more links on balcony gardening: More apt. gardening, tips on how & what to grow in hanging baskets, and the Topsy Turvy Hanging Tomato basket (which I really want but unfortunately, I can not hang things). Oh, I ordered my organic seeds from Seeds of Change.

This website is incredible, by the way. I'm in love. Go vintage and old things in general.

Above is my homemade Ginger Carrot Beet (& Sweet Potato) Soup recipe. When I make my own recipes, I don't really follow any measurement levels, I just sort of go with it. So, these directions may be a bit odd, haha, but I bet it will taste good when it is done!

* Prep Time: 15 minutes

* Cook Time: 45 minutes

* Ingredients:

• 1 large beet (diced)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 of a medium onion (chopped)
• 3-4 large carrots (diced)
• 1/3rd small ginger root (minced)
• 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 4 cups of vegetable stock
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2-1 teaspoon ground ginger
• dash of onion powder
• dash of garlic salt
• dash of all-purpose seasoning
• dash of oregano
• dash of dried dill weed
• Optional: 2-3 small sweet potatoes (diced)

* Recipe:

1. Add olive oil and all the spices to medium pot. Add chopped onions and sautee until translucent.
2. While onions are cooking, peel the beet and carrots (and sweet potatoes if using). Chop 'em up.
3. As the onions begin to cook, add the garlic and ginger root to the pot.
4. Add the carrots, cook for 5 minutes.
5. Put the beets (and sweet potatoes) in and the vegetable stock. Simmer for 30-40 minutes.
6. Optional: when done cooking, put in a blender to make a puree. I was too lazy, clearly, and it was good just as it cooked.

* Notes: I used black carrots for this recipe which is why the soup base looks so beet colored (black carrots have the same coloring and dying affect that beets have). Okay, so I really like spices (I have a whole freaking cabinent of them), so don't mind me with all my dashes of this and that. You don't have to, I'm just weird, haha. Oh, I had some sweet potatoes lying around so I added those too. Not normal to this soup, I know, but it was good! Ah, and you'll notice in my picture, I don't chop too fine. I like big pieces of vegetables in my soup, but if you are putting this in a blender, I would advise to chop as small as possible.

Indian Spiced Lentils & Vegetables

* Prep Time: 15 minutes
* Cook Time: 1+ hour
* Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 bag of lentils (sorry - my mother gave me the lentils in a baggie, not sure of the measureent quantity)
• 3/4th of medium onion (chopped)
• 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 4 carrots (chopped)
• 3/4th of a bag of green beans (chopped)
• 4 small sweet potatoes (skinned and chopped)
• 1/3rd a head of cauliflower (chopped)
• 1 can of diced tomatoes w/ juice
• 5 cups or more of vegetable stock
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• dash of oregano
• dash of all-purpose seasoning
• dash of dried dill weed
• dash of nutmeg
• dash of thyme
• dash of ground ginger root
• several dashes of dried sage
• dash of garlic salt
• dash of onion powder
• dash of garlic powder
• several dashes of turmeric
• several dashes of cumin
• several dashes of dried parsley
• pinch of coriander
• pinch of celery seed

* Recipe:

1. Place chopped onions and garlic in bigger pot with olive oil and the spices. Cook until the onions are translucent.
2. Add the carrots, green beans, sweet potato, cauliflower, and tomato. Cook for 5-10 minutes.
3. Add the lentils and the vegetable stock. Cover lentils + 1 more cup of stock.
4. Cook until the vegetable and lentils are soft. Keep adding stock if it evaporates.

* Notes: I didn't make mine into a soup per say, it was like half submerged or less. I also lacked a can of diced tomatoes, so I used cherry red's that I cut up and squished. Used orange cauliflower too.

Indian Spiced Potatoes & Vegetables

* Prep Time: 15 minutes
* Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
* Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 small baby red potatoes (diced)
• 1/2 of medium onion (chopped)
• 1/2 cup of pine nuts
• 1 cup of frozen peas
• 2-3 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
• 3-4 teaspoons of masala
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• dash of oregano
• dash of all-purpose seasoning
• dash of dried dill weed
• dash of nutmeg
• dash of thyme
• dash of ground ginger root
• several dashes of dried sage
• dash of garlic salt
• dash of onion powder
• dash of garlic powder
• several dashes of turmeric
• several dashes of cumin
• several dashes of dried parsley
• pinch of coriander
• pinch of celery seed

* Recipe:

1. Place chopped onions in medium pot with olive oil and the spices. Cook with the pine nuts until the onions are translucent.
2. Add the potatoes and mix well with masala and dijon. Add the water. Cook for 20 or so minutes.
3. Add the peas and cook until they are no longer frozen.
4. Cook until the vegetables are soft.

* Notes: So, this dish should look yellow in color, FYI. Keep adding turmeric if you wish. I personally like it a lot.

Indian Spiced Rice

* Prep Time: 15 minutes
* Cook Time: 30 minutes
* Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups of white rice
• 1/2 of medium onion (chopped)
• 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 2 small bell peppers (chopped)
• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 1/2 cup of pine nuts
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• dash of thyme
• dash of ground ginger root
• dash of garlic salt
• dash of onion powder
• dash of garlic powder
• several dashes of turmeric
• several dashes of cumin
• pinch of coriander

* Recipe:

1. Place chopped onions and garlic in medium frying pan with olive oil and the spices. Cook until the onions are translucent.
2. In the mean time, cook your rice in a rice cooker or in the microwave or the stove (follow whatever directions you need for the device you use to cook it).
3. Add the bell peppers, pine nuts, and raisins.
4. Cook until the vegetables are soft.
5. Add to the rice - mix it up well!

* Notes: Again, this should be yellow in color. Add more turmeric if you wish. I used green bell peppers, just fyi.




I was missing curry powder for all the Indian recipes and each should have had at least a teaspoon. Add that to all the dishes if you plan on making these.

Gretschka Kasha (Buckwheat Pilaf)

So, this is a traditional Russian recipe gone vegan. My mother translated it into English for me from my aunt.


* Prep Time: 15 minutes
* Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
* Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups of buckwheat (gretschka kasha)
• 2 cups of water
• 1/2 of medium onion (chopped)
• 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 1 medium bell pepper (chopped)
• 2-3 carrots (diced)
• 1/2 bag of green beans (chopped)
• 1/3rd of a block of tofu (diced)
• 3 stalks of green onion (chopped)
• Lots of mushrooms - use a variety! (chopped)
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• dash of parsley
• several dashes of dried dill weed
• dash of garlic salt
• dash of onion powder
• dash of garlic powder

* Recipe:

1. Put the buckwheat in a large pot with water. Let it boil and then turn it down to a simmer. Keep a lid on it the whole time.
2. Place chopped onions and garlic in medium frying pan with olive oil and the spices. Cook until the onions are translucent.
3. Add peppers, green beans, tofu, mushrooms, and green onions to the onion mix. Stir fry it until the vegetables are cooked/soft.
4. Simmer the buckwheat until it is completely cooked and soft. You may need to add more water during this process.
5. When buckwheat is done cooking, add the stir fry vegetables to the pot and mix thoroughly.

* Notes: You should be able to find buckwheat with the ethnic food section of your normal grocery store. It will probably be located near the Jewish food.


Oh, over Easter, I made a carrot cake out of The Joy of Vegan Baking. It was a HUGE hit. I also made some more cornbread, also a hit. I really recommend the carrot cake, yum!


Use Tofutti for the cream cheese frosting of the carrot cake. You should be able to find it at most groceries that have a vegan/vegetarian/special diet section. If not, try a health food store.

Vegan Stout Cookies: 5/5!
Fortune Cookies: 3/5 (these were hard to make and REALLY sugary)
Carrot Cake: 5/5!
Cornbread: 5/5


Until I cook some more!

Vegan Connecticut & Vegan Boston

I feel like I've cooked a lot in the past two weeks, but I do not have enough photographic evidence to back this statement. I have, in fact, but not all vegan and forgot to take the pictures, of course. The pops won't eat solely vegan (though, my mother will) so, I get to experiment with other cooking ingredients. I never get to try what I eat, but I hear it's tasty and get the critiques, haha.

I'm fairly certain I have made potatoes and cabbage (see recipe in previous entry) 4 times this month, though. That's a whole lot of cabbage, eek. Onward.

So, two weekends ago, I went to see the boyfriend in CT. I thus tried out an organic cafe called Mangetout in downtown New London, CT. It was quite tasty. The owner was sweet. We traded vegan cupcake secrets and I recommended some vegan cookbooks to her. They open for breakfast, brunch, and lunch, no dinner. They have at least one vegan menu item each day (their menus change daily) and several vegan dessert options, again all organic.

I had the edamame hummus wrap with a soy latte. I also took a chocolate nut fudge bar to go so I could split it with the boy. He really liked it which was funny because earlier I had given him and his roommate a chocolate Earth ball (it's tiny) and he was complaining that vegan chocolate is gross. Touche!

Lunch!

After my lunch, I meandered around downtown New London and came across two things I was hoping I would eventually run into. First, Fiddleheads, a co-op in New London. It is quite new in its location and is sort of empty for the space, but I was told another row was being added later that week. They had quite a few vegan products that are hard to come by unless you go to a health food store or order online.

They also had local vendors inside selling their own produce or wares. Included were hand knitted items and home made jams. One woman has her own farm and was selling her own vegetables, herbs, and fruits. I bought a bag of homemade dried apple pieces. They dry out the slices on a pole which they rotate over heat for 24 hours. It was possibly the best dried fruit I have ever had. Oh my goodness, it was so sweet!


Check out the woman's farm at her website: Purity Farm


She was showing me pictures of her grandchildren at the farm, too cute.


After my exciting vegan finds, I needed coffee. A city girl can only go so long without another latte in tote. Therefore, I went to Bean & Leaf (a world without Starbucks within literal reach is bizarre, refreshing, and shows that I a) live in a metropolis & b) traveling is good).


Support local things, people!


I went to Boston for the day. Many of you know how I like to find all possible things vegan in new big cities (or any city, probably). And I did! I was surprised Boston did not have more vegetarian or vegan places upon doing my research before I left, I must say. Usually larger cities thrive on it. I managed to find two places, though one was closed (probably because it is in the Financial District and this was a Saturday). It is called Milk Street Cafe. The place I went to for lunch was in Chinatown, My Thai Vegan Cafe. It was awesome! I highly recommend this place for some Asian vegan fusion food. One of the things I miss since I had gone vegetarian/vegan was won ton soup. I'm too lazy to make it myself (though I've had wonton wrappers in my freezer now for 3/4th of a year in prepartion to make said soup) and I've never come across a vegan one yet. Low and behold, my dream came true and the added bonus? It was super tasty! I had a Thai Basil Salad to finish. Mmm!

Possibly one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth!

Mmm, doesn't this look good?!


I'm starting to think I should have my own Rachael Ray - esque Food Network show where I go around the country/world finding vegan restaurants and showcasing them. Hardy Har. Recipes in the next entry, this has gone on too long for one!

Loyola University Chicago's Vegetarian Week 2009

The week of Monday, March 16th to Saturday, March 21st was Loyola University Chicago's first Vegetarian Week (2009). Our agenda consisted of:

• Bake Sale: We had a bake sale to raise money for the group and we gave out free dorm-friendly recipe CDs!
• Colleen Patrick Goudreau Event: Author, activist, and chef spoke on behalf of the vegan lifestyle
• Ethnic Dinner: We had vegan food from 9 local ethnic restaurants around Roger's Park showcasing how vegetarianism fits into the culture
• PAWS Volunteering: Kitty City!

To kick off the week, we had a bake sale in Damen Hall. We made about $76! Not bad at all. The recipe CDs were a hit and the free vegetarian literature was gone by the end of the event. I made some vegan stout cupcakes out of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, oatmeal raisin cookies out of The Joy of Vegan Baking, and Irish Whiskey Cake (the recipe link is in the St. Patrick's Day post) for the sale.

Photo of Alexis, Paula, and Colleen. Taken by Sam Chen.

Speech description:

From Excuse-itarian to Vegetarian: Addressing the Blocks that Keep People from Making Changes:

Combining humor and wisdom to tackle the most popular excuses for not eating a plant-based diet, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau leaves no rationalization unexposed and offers sound and practical tips for living a life that reflects the values of sustainability, compassion, and simplicity.

We had a great turn out, at least 75-80 people came! Also, free food thanks to VegFund (hummus, vegetables, and vegan cookies). If anyone would like a recording of the speech, I have a copy I can e-mail you. It lasted about 45 minutes, plus Q&A and some book signing. Check out her podcasts on her website and buy her book, The Joy of Vegan Baking. She'll be coming out with a new book soon, The Vegan Table. The morning after the speech, Colleen and I had breakfast at Blind Faith in Evanston. It was quite tasty! I had the tofu scramble made vegan and she had the breakfast burrito made vegan sans the tortilla.

Photo of Paula and Colleen. Taken by Sam Chen.

The Ethnic Dinner was really tasty, haha. We had dishes from 9 local Roger's Park restaurants. Cuisines included: Ethiopian, Thai, Mediterranean, Italian, Chinese, Indian, Latin American, and American (dessert = chocolate cake!). All dishes were vegan. We had laminated sheets on the tables explaining how the vegetarian diet fits into that culture's cuisine plus laminated sheets of the restaurant list and cuisine (with ingredients).

Scanned article from the Phoenix, Loyola's school paper.

Last event on the week's agenda was volunteering at PAWS Chicago. There are pictures of this from a previous post regarding that weekend (retro bar crawl!)

Thank you Colleen for being the star of Veg Week and helping make it a huge success! Here's to Vegetarian Week 2010! :]

The Luck of the Irish &... Some Blueberry Cake!

For St. Patrick's Day this year, my friend and I made a vegan dinner before going to see The Tossers (I've seen them 3 times in the past year... I think I may like Chicago Irish punk too much). Before our cooking extravaganza, I had made Irish Soda Bread a couple days before and froze it. I used the recipe out of The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (check out her website and listen to the podcasts!: Compassionate Cooks).

Note: do not use a bread maker to make the soda bread! I found over breakfast with Colleen (this story is for entirely different blog post - I organized an event at Loyola last week where she came and spoke about veganism!) that it kneads the bread too much. Use a pan and stick it in the oven.

I made about 7 loaves or more of bread that week, mostly Irish Soda Bread, but also the Mediterranean Olive Bread and the Cornbread out of The Joy of Vegan Baking. The overall rating seemed to be that the soda bread and the cornbread were much better than the olive bread, according to my parents (who got one of each of these breads). Also - I do not recommend freezing the bread and then shipping it. Just ship, no freeze. I mail a lot of baked goods now-a-days, so I'm trying to learn about shipping goodies.

The St. Pat's Day meal consisted of Irish Stew and Cabbage and Potatoes gone vegan. I used this Irish Stew recipe, but added some oregano (2 teaspoons) and celery (2 stalks - chopped) to it too.

Cabbage & Potatoes

* Prep Time: 15 minutes

* Cook Time: 40 minutes

* Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons soy butter
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 head of cabbage (shredded)
• 3 Yukon Gold potatoes (diced and sliced)
• 1 white onion (cut up - diced)
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1-2 tablespoons of lager and/or water
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

* Recipe:

1. Add soy butter and olive oil to a medium sized pot and allow to melt.
2. Next, dice and slice the potatoes and add to the pot.
3. Allow the potatoes to become golden brown (10-15 min) and then add the cut up onion, salt, and pepper.
4. After the onions have become translucent (5-8 minutes), add the shredded cabbage.
5. The cabbage will begin to wilt. As it does this, add the red wine vinegar and the lager and/or water.
6. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes.

* Notes: If you feel, add more soy butter or olive oil as the cabbage begins to wilt. Stir during this process and mix it with the onion and potato. For the lager, I use Harp's which is vegan.

Yummy!

So, we ate the stew and sopped it up with the soda bread and had the cabbage and potatoes on the side. Now, dessert was quite special. We made Vegan Irish Whiskey Cake using this recipe. It turned out very good! We used Bushmill's whiskey for it. It was quite soft and delicious. I sold the left over cake at a bake sale that Monday and people were a bit skeptical of the idea of whiskey cake. I had to keep telling them it was coffee whiskey cake. Those that did try it agreed that is was amazing! I also sold Chocolate Stout Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Surprisingly not a lot of people knew what stout was? Or they were not expecting it in a cupcake. Make sure your stout is vegan, though! Check out Barnivore!

The other night I made a blueberry cake loaf. I used The Joy of Vegan Baking yet again (I do love that book - it is so well organized!). I recommend using fresh blueberries to frozen ones. The juice liked to melt on me from the frozen ones. Or at least microwave them a bit and drain the juice if you go the frozen route. Check out the result:

Hopefully he keeps as he is currently in off in a box somewhere in route via USPS.

Lastly, I am very into creating care packages. Here is a gloriously themed St. Patrick's Day care box. There was a lot of different random things in the box for the boyfriend but to note there was a loaf of the Irish Soda Bread and some Sugar Cookies w/ Green Sprinkles (I used the Sugar Cookie recipe from Colleen's baking book - told you I love that book). I recommend not over baking them... as I did. I went a smidge too long and they got rather crispy, needless-to-say. My father who also got some said he dunked them in his coffee in the morning and sopped them up with his ice cream at night and they were tasty. Apologies to boyfriend, dad, and boyfriend's dad for hard cookies!!

If you have care box ideas, send them. I'm obsessed. My desire is to be a vegan punk rock Betty Crocker and I think I'm succeeding, haha. Just sent out the Easter one which I will show you pictures of later, I am sure (after he gets it).

Ratings...

Irish Soda Bread: 5/5

Mediterranean Olive Bread: 4/5?

Cornbread: 5/5

Irish Stew: 3.5/5 (I think it could have been better... I feel something needs to be added to the broth. I will probably mess around one day and figure out what!)

Irish Whiskey Cake: 5/5

Vegan Chocolate Stout Cupcakes: 5/5 (everyone loves these things... I have non-vegans asking me for the recipe all the time!)

Blueberry Cake: unknown (no one has had it yet!)

Sugar Cookies: 4/5 (because I fail, I need a rematch!)

Shamrock in the beer foam. <3