Taquitos

Taquitos is Spanish for awesome little fried rolled up goodness. 

You could really stuff anything in here but here are two basic options:
-Refried beans and mushrooms
-Potato

For the beans and shrooms one, saute chopped mushrooms with chopped onions, stir in beans.  Add some garlic, salt, a touch of hot sauce.  Spoon a thin line of the stuffing in a corn tortilla and roll it up tight.  Fry these puppies and blot on paper towels.  Don't worry if some tortillas tear, it's inevitable.   

For the potato version, boil the potatoes until soft, salt and pepper them a touch and do the rest the same. 
Top with salsa, Tofutti sour cream, etc.  Eat them before they get soggy.  Shouldn't be a problem though. 

Baked Apples

Not only are these delicious treats that are relatively healthy, but people will no doubt be impressed because they look so gourmet and like you slaved.

You'll need:
4 green apples
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons margarine
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
just a little crushed nuts/raisins(optional)

Scoop out the core from top of the apple, leaving a well. Do not cut all the way through. Stuff each apple with 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 1 tablespoon butter. Place in a shallow baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon. Insert optional ingredients if you like. Bake for at least 15 minutes (at 350), a little longer is fine if you like the apples a bit more golden and tender.

Thanksgiving Ideas: Tofurky

Every homemade veggie turkey I've tried has been a letdown. While some folks may want to avoid processed foods like this or save money (the Tofurky roast runs about 10-15 bucks) this is a tasty and hearty addition to Thanksgiving.
Will you family make fun of you based on its silly name? You betcha.
But will you love every bite? You betcha.

Thanksgiving Ideas: Rice Pilaf

This is a recipe from an article in the Huffington Post. This rice pilaf is filling and a touch gourmet.

1 teaspoon avocado or olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 cup button mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh corn kernels
1 carrot, diced
small handful slivered almonds
small handful dried cranberries, unsweetened
1 cup long grain or basmati brown rice
1/4 cup wild rice
sea salt
3 cups spring or filtered water

In a deep, heavy pot, heat the oil. Saute the onion with a pinch of salt until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add the almonds and cranberries and saute until well-coated with oil. Stir in the balance of veggies and saute with a pinch of salt for 1-2 minutes more. Spread the vegetables evenly over the bottom of the pot and top with the rices. Gently add the water and a pinch of sea salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer over low heat for about 45 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is fluffy. Remove from heat and allow to stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir well and remove to a serving bowl. Garnish with fresh parsley sprigs.

Thanksgiving Ideas: Sweet Potato Pie

Make everybody happy (except the weirdos who don't like sweet potato pie) by a bringing an awesome pie to Thanksgiving.
Vegsource.com brings us this beauty

2 cups cooked sweet potatoes
1 cup soymilk
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 Tbsp oil
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp powdered ginger
1/4 tsp powdered cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Mash or blend sweet potatoes in food processor. Add remaining ingredients and mix completely. Pour mixture into unbaked vegan pie crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Here's a good homemade vegan crust recipe if you want to go that route.

Thanksgiving Ideas: Buttery Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts are a surprisingly taste veggie. They have a beautiful color and the creaminess here will impress.

Adapted this from a Tasteofhome.com recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cup veggie broth
1/3 cup white wine
4-1/2 teaspoons margarine
dash of black pepper
about a pound of brussels sprouts
dash of salt

Directions:
In a large saucepan, combine the margarine, broth, wine and pepper; bring to a boil. Add brussels sprouts. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 6-9 minutes or until tender. Drain and transfer to a bowl. Sprinkle with salt and remaining pepper. Yield: 6 servings.

Thanksgiving Ideas: Green Bean Casserole

Break out your french fried onions and prepare to impress your non-vegan family with this recipe by Liz Cherry.

BBQ Tofu

A very easy and tasty way to prepare that daunting white block of tofu is to turn it into BBQ tofu. Preheat the oven at 350. Take the tofu out of the package and squeeze as much water as you can out of it. Wrap it in a cheesecloth or paper towel and put a book or similarly heavy object and come back to it in a fifteen minutes or so. Next, cut the tofu in thick slices. place in a glass cooking dish and drench in barbeque sauce. Pop in the oven for about 40 minutes. It's not the fanciest thing, but allows you time and energy to prepare all the sides or knit or whatever while it bakes. A friend of mine adds sliced peaces to the top and it does in fact add the mouth party. Tastes great, looks great.

Apple Asian Slaw-Southern Summer Feast

We're almost done with the Southern Summer Feast and adding a non-southern entry. You could of course do a traditional cole slaw, but I get bored easily and tried this variation.

Veggies:
1 green apple
about half a head of cabbage
sesame seeds (sprinkle as you like)
(would also be good with carrots, bell pepper, etc.)

Dressing:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup veggie oil
2 tbl soy sauce
a tiny amount of sesame oil

Stir up dressing, toss with veggies, done!

Crispy Fried Tofu-Southern Supper Feast

A little like fish, this is the only form of tofu my mom will eat. Drain and squeeze out the tofu with a paper towel. Meanwhile the batter is half cornmeal, half flour, a 1/4 cup of each should suffice. Toss in salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and some oregano. Cut the tofu into thin rectangles and then roll them in the batter. Use plenty of oil and fry up those puppies.

Rosemary Garlic Mashed Potatoes-Southern Supper Feast

A good majority of you know how to make mashed potatoes. Here is how to veganize the process and throw in a delicious little curveball.

2 potatoes
2 cloves of garlic
several dashes of dried rosemary or a small handfull of fresh sprigs
1/2 cup soy/almond milk
1/2 cup margarine
generous dashes of salt and pepper

Cube and boil the potatoes (skin on is my preference)while garlic cloves are roasting in the oven at 450. The garlic just needs to be in there until it starts to get golden brown, five minutes should do it. Mix potatoes and all other ingredients by hand (workout!) or with a mixer (quicker!) until it is to your desired texture.
People may not the creaminess and wonder who it could be vegan. Tell them vegan food is awesome.

Baked Beans-Souther Summer Feast

The ambitious may bake their own beans, but here's a way to spruce up the canned ones.
Find a brand that doesn't use pork.
Empty into baking dish.
Stir in healthy squirts of mustard, ketchup and a tablespoon of brown sugar.
Top with a quarter of an onion, chopped.
Bake at 350 for about thirty minutes.

Much improved, much delicious.

Southern Supper Feast

If you have people coming over who think vegan food is salad and granola and granola salad. Show them they're wrong with a vegan southern supper feast.
You can't go wrong with mac and cheese.
Over the next few weeks, I will post the recipes of all the dishes in this delectable picture.

-Baked beans
-Fried okra and broccoli
-Apple Asian slaw
-Vegan mac and cheese
-Garlic rosemary potatoes
-Crispy battered tofu

Gravy, It's Good On Most Everything

Vegan gravy for your biscuits, mashed potatoes, battered tofu, soy chicken cutlets, tater tots, etc.
Heat about 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan. Stir in 2 cups of flour until the flour has absorbed the oil. Lower the stove to simmer. Pour in soy or almond milk slowly into pan, whisking and whisking. Depending how thick or thin you want your gravy, I would put anywhere between 1 and half cups to 2 and a half cups of non-dairy milk. Whisk until it's a relatively smooth consistency. Toss in liberal amounts of salt and pepper and a healthy pinch of nutritional yeast as well, if you like.
Let's roll.

Easy Peasy Vegan Doughnuts

Easy. Incredible. Vegan Doughnuts. Here we go...
1)Scour your local grocery store for refrigerated biscuits without animal products. This is the hardest part as many contain milk and even beef lard but a lot of store brands are vegan.
2) Pop open biscuits (not in the store, they don't like that!) and press a hole through the center. Don't remove precious dough, just shove it around a little.
3) Fry holed biscuits in a generous amount of oil. When one side is nice and brown, flip.
4) Throw these puppies in a bowl and toss with cinnamon and sugar.
5) Let cool.
6) Get your doughnut on!

You could get all fancy and ice them or ice and sprinkle them or put jelly in the center, if you're feeling all that. But the standard recipe is quick and you may eat them all before any sprinkles can be pulled out of the bag.

Product Push: Vegenaise

I used to just put this on sandwiches and veggie burgers and such, which was great. But I started coming across more non-vegan recipes with mayo in it; creamy pasta bakes, cole slaw, dips, potato salad. It works great with all those things. Kind of don't remember what mayo tastes like, but I don't remember loving it so much. I find myself adding the requisite amount in the recipe and then licking the spoon like a dog.

Muffins!

You can use any fruit you want for this recipe from How It All Vegan. I used blueberries and half a can of cranberry sauce. It's straightforward and doesn't take that much time. What an excellent way to start a Sunday morning.

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sweetener
egg replacer equal to 2 eggs (either the powerded stuff, one banana or about half cup applesauce)
1/4 cup oil
3/4 soy milk
1 tsp vinegar
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen fruit

Preheat oven to 350f. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add everything else. Stir until "just mixed." Scoop into lightly oiled muffin tins and bake for 35-45 minutes. Makes 6 muffins.

Baked Mexico

1/2 onion, chopped
2 zucchinis, chopped
12 oz. (one pack) soy crumbles
small can of tomato paste (6 oz. I think)
two handfuls of chopped scallions
dashes of salt, pepper, Valentina hot sauce, oregano, cumin
one recipe of "cheese" sauce (one recipe here but many variations are floating around the web)
Around six tortillas

Saute onions, zucchini. Stir in soy crumbles and tomato sauce. Throw in spices. Layer tortillas in baking pan. Spread all the good stuff on the tortillas. Top with cheese sauce and scallions.
Bake for thirty minutes at 350.

Cheesy Collards

Been stumped about what to do with all the greens I've been getting from our co-op farm. They can be very overpowering, but this recipe I found on vegweb is incredible. The collard greens came out fantastic. They were the star of the meal and I savored every last bit of leftovers.

Santa Fe Stuffing

Saw a package of bagged cornbread stuffing that happened to be vegan. On the back a recipe for Santa Fe Chicken Stuffing called out to me. I altered it and possibly improved it.



1 cup soy milk
1 cup corn
Small can of chopped green chiles
bag of Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Stuffing (or if you're feeling spry, 14 oz of your own homemade stuff)
1 avocado, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
2 cups veggie broth

1. Stir everything together. Put in casserole dish.

2. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.

3. Top with salsa or gravy.

4. Yummers.

Chopped Challenge-Fried Beets, Mushrooms, Pineapple Tomato Sauce, Tofu

Been watching a lot of Food Network's Chopped where the cooks have to take a basket of mystery ingredients and incorporate them all into one dish. I often have Julie take items out of our fridge and present them to me Chopped style, out of a basket, the cameras running.
This Chopped challenge: Fried beets (leftover, my friend Wendy made them, yum!), white button mushrooms, Pineapple tomato sauce (from Banyan foods) and the old standby, firm tofu.

I made a salad of the fried beets, red cabbage and bell pepper tossed with a quick vinaigrette. I battered in the tofu shake and bake style with flour, hot sauce, salt and chopped cilantro. The pineapple sauce is very sweet so I cut it with some soy sauce, garlic and sauteed mushrooms. Cooked the tofu in the sauce and lay it to bed on some rice with the salad encircling all of it. Very excellent.

African Peanut and Sweet Potato Stew

Been playing around with some Vegan Planet recipes. Some are too dependent on processed food (veggie burger crumbles everywhere!) and some do not have enough flavor. This is one of the best in the book. Had some friends over and they gobbled it up. Simple, hearty, different.
A fellow vegan also blogged this and posted the recipe here.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie

Had a few dessert disasters in the last few weeks. Nothing more disheartening then pulling out a flaccid cake or concrete cookies when you're ready for some sweets. This pie is easy and delish.

Store bought chocolate pie crust (surprisingly lots of these are vegan)
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup root beer
2 big spoonfuls of peanut butter
1/2 cup soy milk
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup melted baker's chocolate

Blend everything together until smooth, dump into pie shell, put in the freezer for a few hours. Pull it out of the freezer about fifteen minutes before you're ready to eat it.

Vegan Sports: Tony Gonzalez

The greatest tight end of all time adopted a mostly vegan diet and lost weight which probably helped extend his career. This quick article gives some backward to the decision. Plus he saved a guy who was choking on a piece of steak with the Heimlich. Is that irony?

Vegan Kitchen Essentials: Nutritional Yeast

This is a magical hippy dust. First off, don't be scared off by the name or it's yeastyness. You'll soon be adding a salty, nutty flavor to many foods. As a plus, it also has B-12. It can be bought at stores like Whole Foods and sometimes other "regular" grocery stores in their bulk section. What can you do with it, you ask?

-Makes a great cheesesque sauce
-Toss into gravies
-Use in breading for frying tofu
-Spice up a tofu scramble
-Toss it in your popcorn

Product Push: Boca Fake ass Chicken

These are a nice treat, available in spicy and regular varieties. You just bake them in the oven for about 15 minutes and you're ready to grub on some faux chicken.

Here are some ideas on how to use 'em:
-On a bun, sandwich time!
-With gravy and mashed potatoes
-With marinara sauce
-Sliced on a salad
-Tacos

Lemon and Scallion Risotto

This recipe is from Vegan Planet which I received as a gift from a pair of very thoughtful people. The cookbook has some gems and some...what's the opposite of gems. This one is excellent, the tartness of the lemon juice goes well with the risotto.


4 cups veggie stock
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbl olive oil
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup minced scallions
2/3 cup baby peas
salt and pepper

Simmer stock and lemon juice. Meanwhile, heat the oil and then add rice and scallions and stir until coated with oil. Add 1/2 cup of hot liquid and simmer while stirring frequently. When it is all absorbed, add another half cup of liquid and repeat. Keep this up until the rice is tender and the mix is thick and creamy (about 25 minutes) Stir in the peas and spice about ten minutes before the rice is done. Enjoy!

Grilled Cheese

Saw an episode of Best Thing I Ever Ate and the guy on the show was talking about an awesome grilled cheese sandwich with bbq pork on cinnammon raisin bread. I was intrigued. I tried to veganify it by using rice cheese, and barbeque sauce and avocado to complete the sandwich. Surprisingly the raisin bread goes great with it. My only problem was the cheese and its stubbornness in the melting process. If you know a better vegan cheese, by all means replace it and let me know about it.

Black Bean Burger

Not as easy as microwaving a Boca burger, but much tastier. Shown here with cole slaw and fries.

1/4 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 tb olive oil
dashes of cumin, chili powder, salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1 can black beans, mashed

Combine all ingredients in bowl, stir. Roll mix into balls, form small patties and dab with flour before frying in hot oil. This is a bit messy, gooey, etc., but once they cook, they will firm up. Cook them until they are nice and brown.

Island Style

Fried plantains, rice and peas, tofu Caymanian style

I'm from the Cayman Islands and though the cuisine is fish-heavy (and goat and turtle and oxtail) I miss it. There is plenty to eat for us weirdo vegetarians though. The tofu is a version of Caymanian style fish. E

Fried plantains:
Wait till the plantain is pretty black and almost overripe before slicing it and frying it in oil. Sprinkle a little salt and you're ready to go.

Rice and Peas:
We get this (like many things) from Jamaica. The rice is cooked in coconut milk rather than water and the "peas" are often red kidney beans. I'm sure my grandma would wince seeing me make them, not at all traditionally.
I put two cups of rice in a pot, pour one can coconut milk and one can of red beans, juice and all. Cook and stir and stir and stir. Toss in some thyme, salt and pepper.

Tofu Caymanian Style:
juice from two limes
1/2 cup water
half an onion chopped,
one bell pepper, chopped,
2 large tomatoes, diced (to make about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon Pickapeppa or Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon (or more!) hot sauce
a squirt of ketchup
Salt and pepper
one block of tofu

Drain and press the tofu. Fry the tofu and then set aside. Cook the onions and then throw all the other stuff in the pan to cook with them. Toss in the tofu and that's that.

Mushroom Noodles

I eat a lot of noodles. Enough perhaps to turn into one. There are worse things to be I suppose. This is an easy recipe; rich and nutty.

Sauce:

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup veggie stock
juice from one lime
a few squirts of barbeque sauce
Sriracha sauce to taste

Everything else:
1 cup mushrooms
Dried noodles (rice noodles would work or simple spaghetti if you aren't heading to the Asian market anytime soon)

Mix sauce together. Start cooking finely chopped mushrooms in oil. Boil noodles.
Throw noodles and sauce in and stir.

Served here with spicy soybeans and sesame green beans.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts on a bed of Polenta (with white bean avocado sauce)

Used to hate brussel sprouts as a kid. Hated them like crazy. It wasn't until adulthood that the only reason for this hatred was that I'd had only eaten them frozen and boiled into oblivion. Cooked in a less harsh fashion. They are quite tasty.

White bean/avocado sauce:
A can of cannelinni beans (drained)
half an avocado
three healthy spoonfuls of tahini
1/4 onion
a clove of garlic (more if you are not making out with anybody)
salt
one serrano pepper

Chop up all the veggies, toss in a blender with everything else, give it a whir and that's it.

Brussel Sprouts:
two small bell peppers
1 lb. of fresh brussel sprouts
olive oil, salt, pepper
a dash or two of soy sauce

Cut the ends off the sprouts, cut 'em into bite size pieces, wash those puppies. Then toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper and put them in the oven (at 325 or so) for about ten minutes or until they are starting to get crispy and brown on the edge. Stir fry the bell peppers in some oil, add the brussel sprouts and soy sauce and cook and stir until everything is mixed.

Polenta:
I just used the box stuff, boil water, stir, done. It is probably simple to make your own. For another time...

Put polenta in a bowl, glob on some bean sauce, and throw on the brussel sprouts.
Happy Eating!