Toffee-Topped Bars

Big thanks to my momma for making me these wonderful treats.  As usual, she claimed that they were not perfect, but I couldn't hear what she was saying from all the lip-smacking and mmming I was doing.
Something to bring to a potluck and impress for sure.

2 cups brown sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 cup vegan margarine
egg replacer equal to 1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup soy or almond or other milk
1 cup vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven at 350.  Lightly oil a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.
Mix sugar and flour in big bowl.  Cut in the butter until it is all crumbly.  Remove 1 cup of mixture and set aside.
Add baking powder, salt, vanilla, non-dairy milk and egg replacer into the stuff still inside the big bowl.  Beat until it confesses or it is smooth.  Pour batter into baking pan.
Sprinkle the crumbly stuff you set aside on top of the batter along the choc. chips and nuts.  You can spread the topping evenly with a spatula.
Bake for 35 minutes.  Let those puppies cool.  Cut them into 24 bars.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Tofu Satay

Tofu satay was one of those things I thought I had to wait to get in a restaurant. This came out pretty good though. Started with firm tofu, wrapped it in a paper towel and then pressed it with a plate and a few heavy books. House of Leaves works well and is a great read afterwards too. I started doing something else and got distracted and realized I had left the tofu pressing for more than half an hour. It really forces out all that water and leaves you with firmer tofu to work with. For the batter, just flour, a dash or two of cayenne, salt and pepper. Lots of oil in the pan, tossed the tofu (in cubish chunks) when it was good and hot and cooked it for longer than I normally do. A little patient really gets rewarded. If you take the tofu out too soon, it's fine, but leaving it in there almost to the point of burning gives you some awesome texture. Try it yourself.
Served in the picture with some pineapple, rice, peanut sauce and cucumber salad.

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!

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.