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

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.

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.

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?

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!

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.

Homestyle Tofu (家常豆腐)

The black stuff is soy sauce. The white stuff is sugar. You don't need all the water shown, a quarter cup should do. Served here with stir fried noodles and potatoes.

Music: Make It Happen
by Ensane with That Purple Bastard

Roasted Butternut Squash with Collard Greens

Something to bring to Thanksgiving?

Roasted the squash in the oven for about forty minutes with margarine slathered over it. Pulled it out, peeled it and chopped it. Meanwhile cooked some chopped onion, threw in the greens and cooked squash. More margarine, some Italian seasoning and you're good to go.

Sauce for your Tofu

The awesomeness of your tofu depends a lot on your saucing. Here's one to try, shown here cooked with onions, carrots and bell pepper.

1/2 cup bbq sauce
1/4 cup maple syrup
a few heathly shakes of basil
1 clove of garlic
dash of white vinegar
a wee bit of Sriracha sauce

Fry the garlic in veggie oil. Toss in bbq sauce and syrup, let it cook for just a minute or two and then add all the other ingredients.

Indian Night!

Always been intimidated by cooking Indian food, but took a stab at it. The key is the spices; tumeric, cumin, coriander. Easier than expected. And delicious.
On the menu: Daal, saag paneer vegan style, chana masala.

Vegan Horseshoe

The horseshoe is a Springfield, Mass specialty. It's an open face sandwich with Texas toast, some kind of meat (often hamburger), fries and cheese. I saw this wonderful concoction on tv and decided to try to make a vegan version. For the Texas toast, just baked some thin slices of french bread with margarine on 'em. For the meat, fried a veggie burger. Cooked up some frozen fries for this but a more motivated person might make their own. For the cheese, I made a cheesy sauce which is basically this one here.
Very delicious and pretty quick. Better serve this with a salad though, this sucka has no vegetables!

Tacos Aren't Just Full of Beans Anymore

Tacos are easy and pretty dang awesome. But sometimes they same old stuff can get boring. Beans and rice, beans and potatoes. Zzzz. Zzzz. What else pray tell can you put in your tacos and still be rocking it vegan style? Ideas follow.

In the picture we have roasted poblano peppers, corn, avocado, and in the beans themselves chayote squash, onions and tomatoes.

Other ideas: nopales, mushrooms, spanish/mexican rice (like in the pic), tofu, guacamole, bell peppers.

Jollof Rice

Jollof Rice is West African deliciousness. Usually served with chicken and beef you can just eat it as is, with some lentils or maybe some seitan or tvp chunks. I took this recipe off the internet and veganed it.



Salt and pepper, to taste
Vegetable oil
2 cups rice
2 1/2 cups veggie stock
1/2 chili pepper chopped (more or less depending on your spice wussiness)
half an onion, finely choped
a clove or two of peeled and chopped garlic
2 large tomatoes, blanched and mashed
2 tbl. tomato paste
1/4 cup of chopped carrots (could also add green beans,
mushrooms and/or bell peppers to veggie it up)


Fry the onions, garlic and chili pepper. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, half the combined vegetables and 1/2 cup of stock. Stir well, adjust seasoning and simmer on low heat for 5-7 minutes. Finally, stir in the uncooked, long-grain rice. Cover and simmer slowly on low heat for about 15 minutes.

Arrange the remaining vegetables on top of the rice and continue to simmer until the rice absorbs all the stock, softens and cooks. It may be necessary to sprinkle additional water mix to help the rice cook. If so use small amounts at a time.

Vegan Sports: Bryan Danielson

I know Bryan Danielson aka Daniel Bryan aka The American Dragon doesn't look like a wrestler, more like a dude you might go hiking with, but he is. And he's vegan!