twigs and leaves

since this blog seems to revolve solely around evening meals, I thought I would make it a point to document everything today. I could say it’s a good example of what a vegan eats on a daily basis, though that wouldn’t be entirely true, as we eat a huge variety of foods and each day is remarkably different than the last. I suppose that in itself could serve as an excellent example of the fact that we are NOT limited or deprived in any way, as omnivorous people generally assume. in fact, I would wager that we have a greater variety than most omnivores do, as I’ve noticed that people tend to eat the same 5-7 meals over and over again. we do not rely on “fake” foods, such as processed meat analogues [though we eat them occasionally] or convenience foods. nor do we rely on supplements, I might add!

anyhoo.

Breakfast:

pumpkin oatmeal topped with blueberries, still frosty from the freezer [I heart frozen fruit].

rolled oats, flax seeds, raw cane sugar, soy milk, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, allspice, ginger & nutmeg. and blueberries, of course.

Lunch:

grilled chickpea-cheese sandwich & tomato-spinach soup. sooo so so good.

I whipped up the chickpea cheese the other day with some leftover garbanzos, completely improv, and it turned out to be amazing. thoroughly mashed chickpeas, a splash of soy milk, tahini, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, paprika, turmeric, garlic, nutmeg, salt & a pinch of sugar. I wrote down what I did & plan to make it regularly, just so that I can eat this!

the tomato-spinach soup, I must confess, was just a prepared can of store-brand tomato soup [it's vegan] plus some simmered chopped frozen spinach. simple & delicious.

Dessert [because it's essential!]:

no-bakes! this is my mother’s recipe, and I discovered many moons ago that it is very easily veganized. I made these this afternoon after having developed a severe case of chocolate cravings.

these are really simple and homey and nostalgic, at least to me they are. my brother and I practically grew up on them, along with spaghetti-o’s and tuna casserole. yep. this is actually a halved recipe, so feel free to double it. when doubling, if you’re using canola oil, reduce the amount by about 2 tablespoons [about 1/3 cup oil rather than half]. warning: this recipe can occasionally be a bit finicky, and every so often the cookies refuse to set. I’d say about 1 out of 10 times it happens [it happens when made with cow's milk & butter, too]. I’m assuming it has to do with the weather, or the cooking time (like accidentally letting it boil too long or not long enough), so don’t worry if it doesn’t work the first time. they are still delicious, even if they have to be eaten with a spoon.

No-Bake Cookies

1 cup sugar
2 Tbs. cocoa powder
1/4 cup soy or rice milk
1/4 cup vegan margarine or canola oil
(I usually use canola oil)
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

in a medium saucepan, combine the sugar & the cocoa until there are no lumps in the cocoa. stir in the soy milk & turn on the flame. add the margarine/oil and bring to a rolling boil. allow to boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. when a minute has passed, stir in the peanut butter & the vanilla. when the peanut butter has melted completely add the oats and mix well. remove from heat immediately and drop by large spoonfuls onto waxed paper. let stand to set. makes about 13 cookies, depending on their size.

I also consumed a package of trail mix [cashews, almonds, dried cherries & raisins] when Jeremy and I went to Border’s today to read for a bit.

Dinner:

chili cornmeal-crusted tofu from veganomicon, plus confetti rice. the giant fork makes everything look really tiny, which was most certainly not the case.

the confetti rice was an improv recipe, and it was awesome. jasmine rice, vegetable broth, onion, red bell pepper, corn, frozen peas, paprika, garlic, cumin, turmeric, salt & black pepper. I think I might have thrown some nutritional yeast in there as well.

the tofu was alright. we ate it with ketchup, cool kids that we are, which improved its palatability quite a bit. a bit like fish sticks. I plan on changing the seasonings & leaving out the lime zest entirely [a lot of work for a girl with no microplane grater]. there was also a heck of a lot of breading & soymilk left, so I threw that in the fridge [in tupperware, I mean] and I suppose I’ll have to find a use for it this weekend, perhaps in some corn bread or something. hm.

the end.

veganomicon

finally! and for only $17 [thanks to a %40-off coupon, and to my wonderful husband who buys me things!]

monday night I made the chickpea cutlets, which were fantastic, and served it up with mashed potatoes and from-scratch poultry-style yellow gravy. this is currently my favorite gravy, because, well, it is amazing. we had white sweet corn on the side.

last night I decided to try the Mac Daddy with broccoli, which is supposed to be a vegan version of macaroni and cheese.

I admittedly had high expectations in regards to this recipe, given that I have yet to come across a moskowitz/romero recipe that I haven’t liked. and I REALLY hate to say it, but… Jeremy and I were very disappointed. I REALLY wanted to like it, I really really did. but… mac and cheese? not even close. and yes, we have had vegan mac & cheese in the past that came quite close to the real thing. this wasn’t too bad, it was edible, but it tasted more like a really lemony pasta salad than anything [ew], and I doubt that I will make it again. oh well.

this evening we had veganomicon herb-scalloped potatoes [incredible!]

…and since the chickpea cutlets turned out so well before, I decided to tweak the recipe a little and make sausage patties instead. black-eyed peas instead of chickpeas, the negation of paprika, soy sauce & lemon and the addition of sausage-style herbs & spices. I decided to bake them instead of frying [the book has a baking option], which was a mistake, as they came out rather dry, but they were still good. on the side I sautéed some leftover white corn, sweet peas & spinach with a little thyme, garlic, vinegar, black pepper & salt. crazy good, and quite pretty as well.

I also now have portable nooch, to carry with me wherever I go. you know, in case of emergency.

and I recently discovered vegan milk chocolate [rice milk, that is]! I didn’t even realize it existed! holy crap.

my life is now complete.

^some pictures taken during our ride home from evansville.

chickpea madness. among other things.

^chickpea noodle soup. gorgeous, and darn good as well.

^curried chickpeas and kale.

^vegan tacos. green peppers, onions, mushrooms, boca grounds, various seasonings, corn tortillas and homemade vegan nacho cheese sauce. =kickass.

^tempeh sausage, broccoli and whole wheat rotini in a soy bechamel sauce.

lilacs!

hail seitan!

sweet and sour seitan with broccoli, mushrooms and baby corn, served over jasmine rice. we had this tuesday night.

we purchase our seitan [sold as "mock duck meat" or "fried gluten"] from Saigon Market, an awesome little oriental grocery store in downtown South Bend. it’s less expensive [$1.25 per can] and, more importantly, MUCH better than any prepared/packaged seitan we’ve tried elsewhere, believe you me.

on monday we had baked lasagna rolls, which means tofu ricotta.

this is the same recipe I used for the cheese on our pizza, though in that instance I used 3/4 of package of mori-nu silken tofu. the use of tahini gives it a mozzarella-like bitterness.

Tofu Ricotta

1/2 lb. firm to extra firm tofu [not silken], drained and patted dry
3 T. nutritional yeast
1/2 – 1 T. sesame tahini, according to taste [optional]
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
pinch black pepper

in a small bowl using a sturdy fork, mash the tofu thoroughly. add the remaining ingredients and mash together until everything is evenly incorporated.

to the prepared ricotta I also added 1/2 cup thawed chopped frozen spinach.

to make the lasagna rolls, I spread the tofu ricotta evenly on four cooked & cooled whole-wheat lasagna noodles.

then, roll them up gently but snugly.

then, place them in a lightly-oiled glass/ceramic baking dish with a layer of tomato sauce underneath.

cover with tomato sauce & lightly sauteed vegetables. you can top it with additional soy cheese, if desired [I just used veggies].

then cover with foil and bake in a 400 degree oven for 35-40 minutes.

serve with loaves and loaves of fresh garlic bread.

next time, I plan to leave out the tomato sauce and smother it with homemade tofu alfredo (“fufredo”) sauce instead. holy crap.

an excess of rhubarb

this was really simple to make, and even if it hadn’t been simple it would’ve been worth it. it was also an excellent [and likely repeatable] way to make use of the rhubarb that is currently attempting to take over the side of the house. strawberries too are in peak season, and compliment the tartness of rhubarb marvelously, or so I’ve been told. I suppose I could stretch the truth a little and call this healthy, what with the 8 cups of fresh fruit, the use of whole grains, and omega-3 rich flax, but I think the amount of sugar sort of negates its dietary goodness. but only slightly.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

for the topping:
1/2 C. whole wheat flour
1/4 C. unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 C. quick cooking oats
1 T. milled flax seeds
1/2 C. granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
dash salt
1/3 C. canola oil

for the filling:
4 C. hulled & halved strawberries
4 C. chopped rhubarb
2/3 C. granulated sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1 T. orange zest, optional

preheat the oven to 400°F.

in a medium bowl combine the flours, oats, flax seeds, sugar, nutmeg and salt and blend thoroughly. drizzle in the canola oil and mix well, using your hands to incorporate everything evenly if necessary. set aside.

in a large bowl combine the strawberries and the rhubarb. add the sugar and cornstarch and fold in, turning the fruit gently until everything is mixed thoroughly. spoon the mixture into a lightly oiled 2-quart baking dish. cover the fruit mixture evenly with the topping, patting it down gently with your hands.

bake for 35-40 minutes or until the filling is bubbly and the topping is lightly browned.

spring [and all its gorgeousness] is here at last. this was taken in our back yard amongst the uncut grass.

homemade vegan pizza, and other such lunacy

sexy. and sexier:

so I recently rededicated myself to veganism [I'd slipped rather stupidly into lacto-vegetarianism] and I plan on remaining that way permanently. I vow to do so, in fact. I also want to move towards a more whole foods-centric lifestyle, as I think we’ve been relying far too heavily on processed foods [meat analogues, particularly]. whole foods are less expensive, anyway. what’s cheaper or healthier or more culinarily satisfying than relying on literally thousands of varieties of legumes, grains and locally grown fruits and vegetables? and what’s more revolutionary? what could possibly be more punk? absolutely nothing, that’s what.
this evening we had homemade vegan pizza while watching juno with the fam. well, homemade with the exception of the sauce, which came from a can [I briefly considered making my own but was too lazy].  the crust was yeastless unfortunately, as my live active yeast had apparently de-activated at some point and was unusable. so I made like the irish and used baking soda in its stead, which seemed to work splendidly [and also shortened the preparation time considerably]. whole wheat flour was used as well. and a dusting of cornmeal. yay pizza!

the “cheese” was a sort of hybrid concoction influenced primarily by tofu-ricotta and soy mozzarella recipes I have experimented with in the past. Jeremy seemed to enjoy it, so I suppose it was a success!

half cheese for Jeremy, half spinach for me.

(as a result, I got excited and had to take hundreds of pictures from every conceivable angle, of course.)

earlier this week I made Chickpea Broccoli Casserole from VwaV, though I changed it up quite a bit. I’d been discouraged from trying it before because of Isa’s description of it as “bland”, but I decided to try it anyway and perk it up a bit. nutritional yeast, garlic, parsley, thyme and black pepper were added, and I also made seasoned bread crumbs and sprinkled them on top of the dish rather than mixing them in (as the original recipe indicated). I served it up with homemade garlic bread.

yay chickpeas!