Weekly Massive Meal: An Italian Feast

So, I have decided that I am going to do a large, (um, maybe?) fancy dinner once a week. Reasons for this are twofold: (1) I do not have the money to make fancy pants meals all the time; and, (2) I do not have the time to make fancy pants meals all the time. Last week I made this. And it was awesome. But, this week I wanted to do something different. When I think "big meal," my mind instantly goes "Latin-themed," so I felt like branching out a little and eating something different. Natch: Italian.

I saw an episode of "Giada at Home" on the Food Network recently, and she made this unintentionally vegan pasta dish, pasta alla formiana. It sounded interesting (as you will see below: you don't precook the pasta, it just bakes) and yums, plus I have seen it around on other vegan food blogs I frequent. I decided it seemed not only doable, but pretty cheap to put together. To go with it, I made some garlic bread and a yummy warm bean salad.

Time for recipes galore!

Pasta alla Formiana:

Ingredients:

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 clove garlic, minced/chopped

1/2 pound whole wheat penne pasta

1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra for drizzling (this is what the recipe calls for, I actually did a little less)

1/4 cup dried oregano (yes, 1/4 CUP. You have gotta love oregano to love this dish!)

Salt and Pepper to taste

4-5 very ripe beefsteak tomatoes, cut into slices

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 450F.

-Blend together crushed tomatoes and garlic in blender.
-Pour into a medium bowl and add uncooked pasta, olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper. Toss together until coated.

-Grease a baking dish (if using glass). I used another type, so I lined it w/aluminum foil and coated w/some olive oil.

-Line the bottom and sides of dish with sliced tomatoes

-Pour in the pasta/sauce mixture and spread evently

-Top with sliced tomatoes, then drizzle the top w/a little olive oil and a couple of cracks of pepper.

-Bake at 450 for about 1 hour, until pasta is cooked. Let cool before digging in!

Garlic Bread 

(from The Vegan Table)

Ingredients:

-1 loaf crusty bread (I went with good ol' Italian)

-5-6 cloves garlic, minced 

-1/4 c. olive oil (you could probably melt down some Earth Balance instead, if you wanted)

-parsley (optional)

-pinch of salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 (I used the toaster oven for the pasta and the "big" oven for the bread)

- Cut bread in-half, lengthwise

-In a small bowl, mix together garlic, olive oil, parsley and S&P

-Spread mixture over the bread evenly

-Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Canellini and Roasted Red Pepper Salad w/Lemony Parsley Pesto

Ingredients:

- 1 can canellini beans, rinsed and drained

- 1 (or more if you like) roasted red pepper, sliced into strips

- 2 cloves garlic

- 1 1/2 c. flat leaf parsley

-  1/4 c. olive oil + 1 tbs. for pan

- 2-4 tsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice

-S&P to taste

- red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)

For the pesto:

(I made this about 30 minutes before I made the beans, so the flavors would have time to meld!)

-Blend the parsley, 1 clove of minced garlic, S&P, lemon juice and red pepper flakes in a food processor.

-Add in 1/4 c. olive oil (or more or less, depending on desired consistency).

-Set aside and let it meld into lemony, parsley awesomeness....

For the Beans:

-Drizzle enough oil in the pan to fry the remaining 1 clove of garlic (for about 30 seconds, or till fragrant)

- Add the roasted red peppers and stir on medium for 1-2 minutes

-Add the beans and heat through (about 3 minutes)

I served the beans over romaine lettuce with a drizzle of the pesto on the top. It was sooooooo good!!

Here is the entire (way to large) plate:

 

I loved this entire meal!!! A couple of words of warning; however: if you do not like the following ingredients:

1. Lemon

2. Oregano

3. Tomatoes

DO NOT, under any circumstances, make this meal! The pasta is amazing, and the oregano flavor is really pronounced. Perhaps my favorite part was the pesto. When I took a small taste after blending it, I thought "Oh, shit, I have screwed this up," because it was soooooooooooo lemony; however, when just drizzling it over the beans and romaine, it was PERFECT!

I don't eat Italian-style food very often, but this whole meal inspired me to rethink that position.

Guatita: AKA Holy.Shit.Yum.

So, as any readers of this blog know, Viva Vegan! is my absolute favorite cookbook (perhaps not coincidently, the first vegan cookbook I ever bought). Anyways, when I bought it this summer, I couldn't wait to make this recipe for a creamy, potato/peanut butter/chickpea or seitan (heh, I used both in mine!) stew. Alas, who wants stew when it's 90 degrees out?!?! However, it is now cold:) This means it's stew time!

This stew is really, really tasty, and pretty easy to make! And, as a bonus, it makes a lot, so you get to eat lots of leftovers! I really loved it, and apparently, I am not the only one:)

This is the stew before I added the peanut butter, lime juice and unsweetened soy milk (as you can see: potato, chickpea, tomato, seitan, red pepper, veggie broth, and some spices--super simple!):

And here is the delicious finished product (and yeah, I know--all of my food pics look the same with weird lighting and such--it may be my new goal to learn to take better pictures). I served it with a quickly made brown rice w/garlic and lime juice:

As I am looking at these pictures, I am realizing it is a great time to eat...so off to amazing guatita leftovers I go!

Sweet Chili Lime Tofu

Ok, so no picture on this one....although I have made the tofu and sauce *somewhat unsuccessfully* before here.

I would've snapped a picture, but by the time I thought of it, I had mixed the quinoa, tofu, sauce, kale and broccoli together into a not-so-visually appealing plate.

Anyways, my roommate got this cookbook as a gift, and I remembered this recipe from before, and thought that I would give it another try. I must say, it turned out much, much better this time!

I followed the recipe almost exactly. The change that I made was adding in a cornstarch/water mixture (a little less than 1 tbs. cornstarch and 1 and some more tbs. water) to the sauce after I warmed the sauce on the stove, then stirred and watched carefully (so there was no burning!!). The sauce thickened up and ended up tasting like one of those not-at-all-good-for-you-but-good-tasting sauces served at Chinese take-out places.

There seem like a lot of steps, but really, it's pretty simple. I put the quinoa (and you could certainly use rice) in the rice maker then worked on the tofu. When the tofu was nearly done, I started steaming the kale and broccoli and made the sauce. The whole thing was relatively simple and really tasty:)

What Have I been Eating? Not things I have cooked myself....

Lately, I have done very little "real cooking." For the purpose of this post, I am going to define "real cooking" as anything that falls into one of these categories: (1) takes longer than 10 minutes to prep (cut, slice, peel, season, etc...); (2) takes longer than 20 minutes total--prep to done; or, (3) requires more than one dish to make.Now I know, there are "one pot" dishes, but I am sure these more than likely fall into areas (1) or (2).

Anyways, between teaching my 5 classes (it is nearing the end of the semester, student now magically decide to turn in work that they have had all semester to complete) and going through random bouts of illness, cooking hasn't been on my priority list. This means, among other things, that I have not been getting enough vegetables (which I am sure didn't help my sickness at all). I actually went to the grocery store and picked up some of my favorites: kale, broccoli, sweet potatoes, oranges and limes. I figure I can make some delicious food from these items this week.

I already made a broccoli, kale, soy beans and rice concoction that was delicious (I made the rice with coconut milk and lime juice---yum!!!). Tomorrow, when I get home from work, I plan on making some sweet potato fries, some sauteed kale and maybe some fresh-squeezed orange juice. Hopefully, there will finally be some new posts on food to come!

Aji Amarillo Sauce

 So, after some rather depressing news yesterday (an article I submitted didn't get accepted for publication), I went home and made some much needed comforting food.

I bought this jar of aji amarillo paste at the local Mexican grocery to make a recipe. Well, it was just sitting there, and I had a feeling it would be tasty in other things too, I just didn't know what. After perusing teh internets for a while, I took some ideas from many different sauces--meant to go with aji de gallina (a creamy, spicy chicken dish) and veganized the heck outta it.

Here's what's in my version of the sauce:

--1 piece whole wheat sprouted bread soaked in almond milk with some sugar (don't eat condensed milk and didn't have any soy creamer, it worked fine)
--1/2 jar of aji amarillo paste
--2 tsp. aji panca (same pepper, just dried then pasted)
--2 cloves minced garlic
--1-2 tsp. lemon juice (all out of limes, they would have been better probably)
--pinch of Mexican oregano and tumeric
--splash or two of veggie broth

1. Put ingredients in blender (all but the veggie broth)
2. Mix around and such until everything is dissolved.
3. Add veggie broth until sauce is desired consistency.

I put this over some Gardein cutlets. It would have worked with tofu, seitan or even maybe tempeh. I also made my favorite lime and garlic rice (just add lime juice, garlic, and olive oil to brown rice and cook it normally). I served it up with some tostones, and it was delicious! Aji amarillo is different than other spicy sauces you may be used to. It's hotter than a jalapeno, but has a different flavor. It starts off somewhat fruity and finishes hot.

Yum!

The night was finished off by checking out some bands at a local pub. They were both great! I really enjoyed the all-female group, Frankie Rose and The Outs--super great!
The first was was great too, except the bassist kept giving me the weird eye. But I was handed a free cd without prompting so, oh well:)

"I don't Believe in Vegans"

Here is a photo (note the conclusion at the bottom):

Check out the awesome response at My Face Is On Fire.

My response to the "there is no such thing as a vegan" is like my friend Grace's response to "I don't believe in abortion":

Well, they EXIST.

Surprisingly Good Food I Made Today

No picture on this one....

I was making something quick and tasty for myself and my boyfriend this afternoon. We decided on rice and beans and some veggies for a side. I haven't eaten anything remotely "Asian-inspired" lately, so I decided to attempt to whip up some interesting and tasty flavored simple foods. It actually worked surprisingly well:) While the veggies I used are hardly "Asian-inspired," they were in need of use, and tasted great! Here's what we had:

Ginger and Garlic Rice:

-1 c. brown rice
- 1 3/4 c. veggie stock
-2 cloves minced garlic
-small piece of fresh ginger, grated
-1 tsp. olive oil
-1/4 c. lemon juice

instructions: put it in the rice cooker. Easy!

Sauteed Soy Beans: (Scott picked out the beans he wanted, these were them)

-1 can soy beans
-2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp. Tamari
- 1 tsp. olive oil and 1-2 tsp. sesame oil 
- sesame seeds
- pepper

instructions: 
1. add 1 tsp. olive oil to a skillet with the garlic and fry garlic for about 30 seconds until fragrant
2. add the soy beans, tamari, sesame oil and pepper, saute until hot
3. sprinkle with sesame seeds

"Asian-Inspired" Roasted Potatoes and Carrots (yeah, weird I know):

- left over potatoes and carrots (1 large carrot and 4 baby yellow potatoes
Sauce/Marinade: 
- 2 or so tsp. olive oil
- splash of sesame oil
- tamari
-tiny bit of sweet chili sauce
- tiny bit of sugar

Ok, so I didn't measure, just tossed stuff in and smelled it.

Instructions:
1. Chop up veggies into small chunks mix with sauce/marinade and wrap in aluminum foil
2. Bake in oven until desired tenderness (I don't know, like 40 minutes or so I think)

As I said, this meal seems weird, and was sorta just thrown together with extras I had laying around. But, it ended up being really tasty and a nice change from the types of flavors I usually enjoy eating.

My First Shot at Vegan Peruvian Cuisine

Since I have had Viva Vegan, I haven't really stepped outside of food I already loved (beans, rice, enchiladas, tacos.....). But, I really wanted to try some different types of food that I hadn't eaten before, so I decided to work on some Peruvian-inspired dishes.

The local Mexican grocery was really, really helpful in this regard: super cheap aji panca and aji amarillo:) I can't say enough about this place, if only they made vegan pastries (the fresh pastries always look delicious, but I know they are completely full of milk, eggs, butter and probably lard, so I stay away)!

Anyways, I have been ridiculously busy prepping for my weekly five courses I teach, along with working on PhD applications in my spare time, so cooking during the week generally amounts to a large batch of rice and beans that I can eat at room temperature or warmed up all week. I had gotten caught up on things pretty well last week, so I decided to take Saturday afternoon and make a full-fledged Peruvian-inspired vegan meal. And it was delicious!!!

The salad was improvised: green lima beans instead of limas blancas (couldn't find any) and grape tomatoes. But, the aji panca was good--it added flavor but not really spice. The salad ended up fresh and delicious.

And, this was my first time making empanada dough, and it was a huge success:) The empanadas are stuffed w/VV's recipe for olive, raisin and shredded seitan empanadas, with a little aji panca for some more Peruvian flavor. I finished it with pan-fried sweet plantains (a couple are a little overcooked--note to self: do not walk away to check the score on the football game and leave your plantains in the pan!). I loved everything about this dinner. I have another plantain, and will probably fry it up sometime this week as a delicious snack:)

I also tried another recipe from the book, for lomo saltado (I used this smoked tofu I picked up instead of seitan). So, I picked up this smoked tofu from a local store, opened it and thought it smelled like a Slim Jim or something atrocious like that, so I figured putting it in the spicy marinade for this dish would work well. And it did! I think I have more veggies in here than I should (I used up a pepper that was about to go bad and some soon-to-be-icky mushrooms), but this was really good! I had never tried aji amarillo before, and I really, really like the spicy flavor it has. I will definitely be using this a lot in the future.

If I had known that french fries would be so good in a stir-fry, I would have been whipping stuff like this up a long time ago!

In the last week, I also attempted a blueberry pie for my wonderful boyfriend. This did not turn out so well. It was my first time w/pie dough, and it ended up a little dry, while the filling ended up a little runny. It tasted pretty good; however, it looked horrible.....so no pictures. I, as the proprietress of this blog, reserve the right to not show any photos of food I made that was not good.

I have the feeling I won't be making anything spectacular this week. I am thinking, yep, that's right, plain old rice and beans.

Chili Black Beans and Yellow Rice

Yeah, so its 10 pm and I am about to eat dinner. Why so late? I was busily concocting my lecture for one of my intro classes on politics and education for next week, and well, lost track of time (meaning--starting working on the food too late!).

Rice and beans is probably my favorite food. Seriously. And, since becoming well-versed in Viva Vegan, I can make Latin-style rice and beans at the drop of a hat (or the drop of a pre-soaked and cooked bean).

Here's the recipe:

Yellow Garlic Rice (modified from Viva Vegan):

1 c. rice (i used brown, white is more authentic)
1 3/4 c. water
1-2 tbs. olive oil
1/2 tsp. Earth Balance
5-6 cloves garlic, crushed
3 big pinches of saffron (you could use annato if saffron is too expensive--here a bag is like $1.99 at the Mexican grocery)
1/2 tsp. Tumeric

I put these all in a rice cooker and let it do its thing. If you are cooking the rice in a pot, fry up the garlic in the olive oil before adding everything else and cooking rice according to instructions on the bag/box.

I also made extra, and will be using the rest to make another batch of rice and beans on Sunday night to eat during my ever-so-hectic week!

Chili-Style Black Beans

1-2 cans black beans or 2 cups cooked beans
1/4 c. water, stock or bean liquid if cooking from dry
1-2 cloves garlic
1-2 tbs. olive oil
1 hot pepper, diced
handful (tsp? tbs?) cumin
handful (tsp? tbs?) Mexican oregano (rubbed in hands to release flavor)
1 can diced tomatoes (mine were chili-flavored, hence the name)
1-2 chipotle in adobo, diced plus a little sauce

1. Fry the garlic in the oil for about 30 seconds, until fragrant
2. Add the diced hot pepper and saute for about 2-3 minutes
3. Add the cumin and oregano and a pinch of cayenne if ya want, and fry for 1 minute
4. Add the tomatoes and chipotles and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring.
5. Add the beans and liquid
6. Simmer until more than half of the liquid is absorbed.

Combine the cooked rice and cooked beans in a pan, stirring around and letting the flavors meld (tip: add the rice to the beans a little at a time to achieve your desired rice-to-beans ratio. If you have extras--eat it with something else!). Also, this tastes better once the flavors have had a chance to sit together for a while, so leftovers are delicious! I notice that this makes for a moist rice and beans, if you want yours drier, either cook the beans longer, and/or add a little less liquid to pre-cooked beans.

Muy delicioso!

Food that Tastes like Fall

Today I spent the day with my wonderful partner/boyfriend watching football (and watching the Cleveland Browns win! Seriously, I said "win"). Before all of this, I had the overwhelming urge, not sure what brought it on, to make something semi-sweet and tasty.

I decided to make some bread. I looked around to see what we had on hand at the house (I definitely did not feel like going to the grocery store this morning, so if I didn't have the things to make bread I would've figured out something else that didn't require spending any additional money).

I am not really one to get into the seasons. To be quite honest, I do not know that I have a "favorite," nor do I feel any particular connection to weather or nature; however, I do love the flavors generally associated with fall--you know, slightly sweet, spiced and warm.

What is better than cinnamon and ginger? Nothing. Seriously. NOTHING.

So, I decided to make carrot bread. I looked up a few recipes on teh good ol' Internets, combined them to suit my wishes and came up with a scrumptious result:

 

This was taken after warming it up and spreading on some Earth Balance. AMAZING.

Recipe: Nik's Fall-Flavors Carrot Bread

Wet Ingredients:

1/3 c. agave nectar or honey
1/3 c. oil
1 mashed-up over-ripe banana
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2-3 grated carrots (I used 2 medium and 1 small)

(Mix these together quickly in a small bowl)

Dry Ingredients:

1 3/4 c. flour (I used regular old unbleached all-purpose, but I am sure whole wheat for half would be great and actually nutritious)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbs. ground flaxseeds
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Dash of cloves
1 tsp. nutmeg
Fresh grated ginger (probably around 1 tsp. or so)
Dash of pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. salt
Handful or two of raw pepitas

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix wet ingredients into the dry. DO NOT OVERMIX. I mixed gently with a spatula. It seemed a little dry to me, so I added about 1-2 tbs. of unsweetened applesauce (you could probably add soy milk or water).
3. Spread evenly into a greased bread pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.

I would recommend, as noted above, serving it warm with a little bit of Earth Balance or other butter substitute. It's already half-gone, so I would definitely put this one down as a major fall flavor success! I think that this would also be good without the carrots as a spice bread; however, it would need something else added to it (I am thinking pumpkin would be delicious).

Comfort Food....

So, this past week has been busy, per the usual. For some reason, it seemed to hit me harder this week than usual. To make up for this fact, I made some comfort food on various nights. One such night, I even took a picture.

Coming home from work at a reasonable hour (I skipped the gym, so I got home around 6:30) means I make food. Not wanting something too elaborate, and wanting something salty and full of comfort-food goodness, I decided on a tempeh burger (no, I didn't make it, I bought them from the co-op and they are AMAZING), a salad w/corn and black bean salsa w/gazpacho dressing and potato "chips" with plenty of seasoning. Since I hadn't planned ahead, I didn't have a bun to put the burger on (and after a stressful day, it is not 5 seconds within entering the house that I have put on pjs and have resigned to not leave again for the rest of the day) so I just toasted some whole wheat bread. Actually, I think I may like burgers better on bread than buns.

When I ate this, I did not forget that some of my students had been lazy and/or obnoxious that day. I also did not forget that I had to give up some of my paycheck for bills after eating. However, for the time it took to eat this, I was mesmerized by the greasy goodness. 

Not much tops that.

Cooking a Big Meal to Feel Better....

So, I haven't been feeling all that well this week. This means no gym, no healthy eating, not enough sleep, you get the idea. I felt a little bit better today...still a little light-headed but feeling well enough to eat a good meal. This meant, of course, that I had to cook a good meal:) Since I hadn't felt like cooking, my meals had been a little boring: cereal, raw veggies, toast, tea; today, I wanted to eat something different (and completely out-of-character) and spontaneous.


I stopped by a local market on the way home and picked up the following in a $1 getting old bag:
--2 red peppers
--1 green pepper
--1 really, really large onion
--2 tomatoes
--a pear
--a bunch of stray cauliflower pieces.

So, I used this to make the following:
1. Gazpacho dressing (duh, another Viva Vegan recipe) that I used to marinate the tofu and can use for dressing later this week.

2. A cauliflower mash with lots of onions, garlic, green and red peppers (it looks gross in the picture, but it was sooooooooo delicious!)

3. Marinated Tofu w/the gazpacho dressing and some cilantro-garlic sauce

As I said, this doesn't look that good, but it tasted great! The cauliflower mash was comforting and reminded me of really veggie-rich hash browns while the tofu was slightly spicy and delightfully cool because of the cilantro:

Anyways, this satisfied my need for hearty, salty (the random tortilla chips) and slightly-spicy food. Trust me, despite the fact this looks liked mashed-up yuckiness, it was full-on tasty!

My New Tortilla Press is Very Useful:)

So, I finally bought a tortilla press at San Marcos, the local Mexican grocery. And man, oh man, am I glad I did!! I knew I was going to make a big Mexican-style feast for my roomie and I (and I did)--but I was so excited when I got it that I made tofu asado tacos that night:)

First of all, it's super easy to use. Follow the directions on the bag of masa (yes, I made corn tortillas, I have yet to make flautas with it, but I will surely post pics when I do).

First, take the divided ball of masa dough and place it on the back half of the tortilla press (and make sure to line both sides w/folded plastic wrap):

Then, press!

I used these tortillas to make tofu asado tacos. I took the tempeh asado recipe from Viva Vegan! and used pressed tofu instead:

Tofu Asado: 

--1/3 c.veggie broth
--3 tbs. lime juice
--1 tbs. tamari
--2 tbs. peanut oil
--2-3 cloves crushed garlic
--1/2 tsp. cumin
--1/2 tsp. Mexican oregano

Marinate for at least 15 minutes, then grill, pan fry or bake (I baked them in the toaster oven in extra sauce...)

Assemble the tacos w/what ever you want. I used some of the refried beans (again, a Viva Vegan!) recipe, sliced tomato and they were super good!

Yep, that's my cellphone next to the tacos. I was carrying everything from the kitchen into the living room in one trip and forgot to take it off of the plate before snapping the picture.

So, onwards to the enchilada awesomeness........

As I said above, I made the refried beans the night before (and they are excellent heated up!) You could, of course, always buy canned as well.

The enchiladas had a red chile sauce and Latin-style shredded seitan filling (recipe here).

Red Chile Sauce:
--mix of chiles (I used about 4 ancho chiles and 3 guajillo chiles) pan toasted for a minute and soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes;
--2 tbs. peanut oil
--2 cloves garlic, chopped
--1 small onion, diced (my roomie is allergic I left them out and put in some scallions)
--dried oregano and cumin
--1 can diced tomatoes
--2 c. veggie broth

1. Combine the oil, garlic and onion (if using) in saucepann and heat over medium heat for about a minute;
2. Stir in spices and coat, then pour in chiles, tomato sauce or diced tomatoes, veggie broth and simmer;
3. Put in a blender and blend.
4. Return to saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes.

To Assemble:
 (have an assembly line ready to go: shallow pan with sauce, filling, pan you are going to cook the enchiladas in)
1. Put some sauce in a shallow pan as well as the pan you are going to bake your enchiladas in;
2. Take a tortilla and dredge in the sauce;
3. Fill the tortilla w/2-4 tbs. of filling (depending on how large your tortillas are) and roll them tightly;
4. Continue with other tortillas until they are all done.
5. Pour on chile sauce over the top, making sure to really coat everything (about 1 to 1 1/2 c.).

To Bake:
1. Preheat oven to 350F;
2. Wrap pan tightly in aluminum foil and bake for about 20-25 minutes;
3. Uncover and bake for another 8-10 minutes.

For the Rice:

--1 1/2 c. brown rice;
--3 c. water
--3-4 cloves minced garlic
--1/2 tsp. tumeric
--saffron (I just tossed some in, since it is soooooo cheap at San Marcos!)
--1 tsp. peanut oil
--1 tsp. Earth Balance or other butter substitute.

I made mine in the rice cooker; however, you could make it in a pan and just follow the directions on the bag of rice.

Right before serving, chop up some scallions and throw them in! 

I served mine with refried black beans and yellow garlic rice w/scallions:

Fresh before the oven!

Ready to eat!

To End the Night....

A little vegan comedy:


Myq Kaplan Stand-Up Comedy from Myq Kaplan on Vimeo.

What I ate Today

Just got home from seeing an amazing documentary about reproductive justice called The Coat Hanger Project--everyone, EVERYONE should see it! And everyone should be a feminist. As the great Margaret Cho once said:

"You don't have to be a woman to be a feminist, you should just fucking be a feminist. And if you're not a feminist, then you should kill yourself."

Anyways, what I ate today:

Breakfast: 
medium-sized bunch of steamed kale w/sesame oil and sesame seeds, 1 piece of whole wheat toast and Earth Balance, and a HUGE cup of coffee.

Snack:
handful of nuts and a small iced coffee w/soy milk

Lunch and dinner:
A concoction that I am going to call "raw broccoli stir-fry." Here's a not-so-good picture:
 

I basically chopped up some broccoli, mushrooms and celery. Then, I added a spicy/sweet marinade of Tamari, Thai chili sauce, garlic, sesame oil and a little bit of lemon juice. I tossed in some sesame seeds and it was good to go!


What did I eat after I *finally* got home? (I left around 8:45 this morning and got home around 10:30 p.m.) A vanilla vegan cupcake w/chocolate vegan butter cream, of course:)

Now, I am sitting down (or really reclining), having some Relax tea and getting ready to sleep.

Another Quick Link to Inspiration..

Part of my major problem when I first went vegetarian (about 7 years ago) and then vegan (about 6 months ago with a few occasional slip-ups that I am really, really working on!!!!) was the utter lack, of under-emphasis on, the ways in which food "choices" are greatly constrained not only by culture, but by material circumstances.

Many people cannot (1) afford to buy healthy food options; (2) do not have access to fresh produce, vegetables and non-GMO meat-substitutes and other veg products anywhere near their neighborhood; or, (3) do not have access to knowledge about genetic modification of food, dangers of food (particularly meat and dairy), and what to do to pressure those in power to make sure they get it. Well, I stumbled across this AMAZING website, Appetite for Justice by Food Empowerment Project. I think that every, single last damn vegan in the world should be reading about the important social justice activism this group is doing and support (however they can) the work that they do.

Here is a link to their most recent study as well.

Something Inspriational

By all accounts, I am far more angst-ridden and too busy being irritated most of the time (whether it's from teaching my 5 classes, being disrespected and/or treated like a sex object by my students, not having any $$$, hearing something racist/sexist/homophobic/specieist, having to clean-up cat puke when I come home from working for 10 hours) to really stop and think about the amazing things I have in my life. (I am trying to work on that!) I also do not often stop to really think about being a "Joyful Vegan," in the words of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau or about how I decided to stop eating meat and why, or what I am actually doing to make a difference. Of course, I had better start if I want to get this super cute necklace at Colleen's site (and you KNOW I do!)

Part of this, of course, is due to my Marxist-Feminist inclinations on collective action as a necessary catalyst for social change (so, I do not always *or ever* think of my food choices as being activism) and the other part is due in large part to my feeling that my individual actions simply do not do much in terms of eradicating environmental racism/classism, ending exploitation of animals, bridging gaps between various types of oppressions and violent behaviors and a slew of other things. I could talk about this for a while; however, I have not completely formulated my thoughts on the subject. I will post on it in-depth once I sort out the various theoretical/practical inclinations I have and how those relate (or don't) to other passions I have. Part of this searching for information involves looking for things for inspiration and once in a while I stumble upon a website and links to videos that at least make me feel as if I am doing something--and validate that what I am doing is not "bourgeois," "unimportant" or "stupid."

So, I would like to thank Lindsay at Kiss Me, I'm Vegan for inspiring me to take on more activism in my area and for providing me with something to smile about. In addition, a wonderful thought-provoking video by the aforementioned Colleen Patrick-Goudreau on female animal exploitation:




And, of course, since I love links to browsing stuff I wish I could have on a Sunday night when I am all prepared for the week (and wrote 1st drafts for 3 of my 7 PhD applications this weekend), I came across Vegan Etsy and this cool video about deciding to go vegan and making the connections between animals we love to play with and animals whose flesh we love to eat:




Inspiration is a great way to end a day!

Un Poco de Todo....Parte Dos

Considering I have finally gotten a laptop, here are a few pics and brief descriptions of Latin-style inspired things I have made in the period between my first post and the last post:

Quick Red Bean Posole topped w/Curdito marinated in red wine vinegar instead of white wine vinegar and Crunchy Corn Tortillas:

Anatto-tinted Corn and Black Bean Empanadas w/Curdito and Guacamole:

Sauteed Peppers and Latin Style Shredded Seitan Sopes topped w/Pine Nut Crema and Scallions, served w/Curdito and Guasacaca (thick avocado spread/salsa):

I was in a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE Viva Vegan! style food kick this summer. Since this time, I have mostly eaten very simple meals (mostly due to having less than $20 to spend each week on groceries). I am thinking about making some vegan Latin food later this week or next week (mole enchiladas perhaps). Since, I have missed eating food like this. A.LOT.

Finally Posting Pictures from Cookout Awesomeness

So, after finally grabbing up a used laptop for an affordable price (p.s.- thanks Mama!), I am able to post a couple of pictures from the goodbye vegan cookout I threw for my friends Jenny & Ryan before they left for Jenny's PhD program.

First, we have the quinoa-quinoa cornbread dough, which I promptly placed in the refrigerator while I worked on other stuff....

I also precooked the beans, and made the carrot-cayenne slaw, and some DELICIOUS orange-mojo grilled tofu from Viva Vegan! (seriously, this tofu is sooooooooo yummy--sweet, garlicky, smoky, amazing!)

The bbq black-eyed peas were a HUGE hit, and ridiculously tasty. As you can probably notice, I overcooked the cornbread slightly. Given that it was about 95 degrees that day and we don't have central air, I decided to cook it in the toaster oven--not thinking I needed to cut the time way down. It was a little crispy on the top, but adding some Earth Balance made it perfect! I will definitely make it again!

We had a gigantic menu: the food I made, grilled veggies made by my roomie, veggie burgers, corn on the cob w/tahini-garlic sauce, vegan chocolate cupcakes w/pb and banana frosting, chips, salsa, and guac. Yeah, we all ate well.....

The overall assessment? This pretty much says it all:

One More Day to Go.....

So, as I sit here writing my lecture for my intro to sociology class that begins next week, I am ridiculously irritated w/the author for doing a shitty job explaining the theories (particularly Marx, since I am a Marxist, duh). At least I have 20 pages of notes on the 3 basic theories from my other sociology class to impart some much needed theoretical wisdom on these kids.....(wait, I am only 25, can I call my students "kids"? Particularly when I know there are at least 5 students in the class my age or older? It's like getting my M.A. made me instantly stuffy or something)

Anyways.....

After these lectures are *finally* finished I get to go home, do whatever dishes already exist in the sink, and start rocking out some prep work for tomorrow's cookout.*

*My first real job was as a food prep cook at Red Lobster--yes I was a vegetarian working in a kitchen among a lot of icky, stinky, marine-being flesh--but, it taught me the value of prepping what can be stored before hand!

I am planning on cooking the black-eyed peas, so I don't have the stove on for an hour then the oven on for 2 hours in the 90+ degree heat; pressing and marinating the orange mojo tofu (yes, another Viva Vegan! recipe--modified for the grill); making the quinoa cornbread dough and marinating, massaging, and makin' the carrot-cayenne slaw. I may also make the simple sugar syrup and rosemary-flavored water for the lemon-limeade....we will see how long these lectures take me.

I will definitely take some prepping pics, and (duh!) muchos fotos de la fiesta. I may even upload them on the roomies computer (still a broken laptop) and post them before my weekend ATL trip for the conference.

Eagerly anticipating tomorrow's deliciousness:)

Cookout Awesomeness

I am throwing a cookout for my friends Ryan and Jenny who are moving to Cincinnatti so Jenny can begin her PhD (right on!). The cookout is vegan (or will be predominately vegan--I told the guests that everything they bring had to be veg-friendly and so far no one has said they are bringing anything non-vegan, but we will see).

Initially, the weather called for rain/thunderstorms--which, is not a big surprise in Toledo where it seems to storm more than any other place in America--however, I was sad:( Now, however, the weather is still going to be pretty hot (92 or so), but now it is only supposed to be partly cloudy--no storms!! YAY!!!!! :)

I have decided to meld recipes from my two current favorite cookbooks: Viva Vegan! and Vegan Soul Kitchen....and am pretty excited by the possibilities!

Here is the menu:

--Sparkling Rosemary Lemon-Limeade (I may ask someone to bring some vodka to spike half of it!)
--Grilled Corn on the Cob (maybe going to do a tahini/garlic-infused sauce along w/the Earth Balance)
--Quinoa-quinoa Cornbread (the co-op didn't have quinoa flour, and wouldn't get it in until Wednesday if I ordered it, so I am grinding some quinoa in the coffee grinder and makin' my own!)
--BBQ Blackeyed Peas (pressed for cash--leavin' out the tempeh, oh well)
--Grilled Orange Mojo Tofu (modifying the recipe for a marinade that's grill-appropriate)
--Carrot-Cayenne Coleslaw (since my bf doesn't like spice much, I will probably be going a bit easier on the cayenne than I would like)

Whew....it's a lot of cooking, for sure. To prep on Monday--since I definitely have more to do than cook all day Tuesday--I am going to press and marinate the tofu, make the cornbread dough and refrigerate it, make the slaw and soak/cook the black-eyed peas so they are ready to go on Tuesday. Then Tuesday will involve cooking the beans and cornbread, making the drinks and then grilling like a mad villain.

There will be many pictures to follow and I am sure the party will be a smashing success;)

More Yummy Stuff I Make

Since I do not have the time to post a bunch of delicious newly-made recipes (although I am having a vegan bbq for a going away party for my friend and her husband in about a week and I am sure this will come w/plenty of photos), I thought I would post some links from my other blog Rogue.Rebel.Ridiculous, about my cooking endeavors.

Enjoy!

Some of everything, hence the name:
Un Poco de Todo

The best enchiladas of all time: Enchilada Awesomeness

After workout eats: A day in the Life...

A mishap I WILL be fixing: Pupusa Disaster

First recipe from Viva Vegan (aka- the cookbook that changed my life): Seitan and Potato Tacos

Beginning the cooking process: Tofu Tasties

Trying out some new stuff: Picadillo, kind of

Being busy, making stuff: Kitchen sink pasta

Like, almost vegan: The feminist cat-ladies cook!

Using up the last non-vegan food: Tikka Masala and LOST

Starting easy: Rice w/veggies and baked sweet potatoes

So, there you have it. It's a very short history of my entrance into vegan cooking. There are more pictures I have on reserve in the camera--which I will surely be posting sometime this week.

First Post!!

Ok, so based on the suggestions of friends, family, and one handsome boyfriend, I have decided to start a vegan cooking blog. 

Since I have been overwhelmingly busy these past few weeks finishing and defending my thesis, writing lectures for my summer course, and doing a HUGE project for my former professor-current mentor I have not been taking many food photos.

So, this first post will just be a description--sans photo--of what I am eating today. 

Given that I am spending upwards of 7 hours per day in the UT library doing this project, I need food that travels well, doesn't taste horribly soggy and gross after sitting in my purse for 3 hours, and reheats quickly so I can go back to the project.

My solution??? Red beans and rice.

I ordered Bryant Terry's Vegan Soul Kitchen (a-freakin-mazing, by the way) and decided that the red beans and rice would be a slightly different version of my old stand by, gallo pinto. The original called for red-wine simmered seitan (which sounds totes delicious, but would mean that I would have had to go out and buy red wine and seitan last night, which after staring at a computer and copy-and-pasting for 6 hours I just wasn't down with). So, it's just rice and beans--just delicious rice and beans, that is!

Here's the rundown of the ingredients:

--2 c. cooked rice (I used anatto-infused oil to add some nice color to mine).

--1 1/2 c. cooked red beans (cooking method below)

-- 3 cloves minced garlic

--1 c. diced green bell pepper

-- 1 diced serrano chili, seeds removed

--salt and pepper to taste

--red pepper flakes

--cumin

--1/4 (or more) cup of either bean liquid or stock (use stock if using canned beans)

Cooking the Beans:

1. Dump as many sorted dry red beans (kidney, small red beans, wevs) into a large pot. 

2. Add 1 strip of kombu and 2 bay leaves and add cold water (enough to cover the beans by at least 4-5 inches).

3. Bring to a boil, then simmer, on med-low to med. heat for about 1 hour, or until beans are soft and much on the roof of your mouth when placed on your tongue.

4. Drain the beans, remove the kombu and bay and save the bean cooking liquid*.

*trust me, it's not like that salty yuck-fest that comes along w/most canned beans. It adds nice flavor to dishes and should definitely be saved!

For the rice and beans:

1. In a large skillet or saucepan, saute the garlic in 3 tbs. of oil (the original recipe calls for olive, I used peanut, use whatever you like) until the garlic is fragrant (about 30 seconds)

2. Add the peppers and spices (note: the original calls for diced onion, but my roomie is allergic so I generally leave it out--it adds great flavor and I totally recommend chopping/dicing one large onion and adding it to this dish)

3. Add the spices and saute for around 5-7 minutes (you may need to add a little bit of water if it starts to stick). 

4. Add the cooked rice and beans and anywhere from 1/4-1/2 c. of either vegetable stock or bean cooking liquid. Heat until warmed through (between 5-7 minutes)

Eat up and Enjoy!

Since rice and beans stays well in the refrigerator for days, and carries easily in purses and bags to the library, it is perfect! Plus, it has whole grains, iron, fiber and peppery-goodness. What more can one ask for? I know I love rice and beans probably far more than the next vegan (or non-vegan for that matter), but this is still yummy, healthy, convenient and CHEAP!