How to be Vegan......and Other Musings

Eat bowls, like this:

The "bowl" is a vegan staple consisting of grain (or pseudo-grain, like quinoa in this case), steamed or lightly sauteed veggies, protein and sauce. Considering I typically have veggies and cooked grains almost all of the time, this quickly becomes a RFV* (really fucking vegan) meal in a jiffy. Well, not really a jiffy in this case, since I had to marinate and bake the tofu... but you get the idea.

For this one, I had steamed broccoli and kale and marinated & baked tofu and red peppers over quinoa flavored with salt, pepper and a pinch of saffron. The tofu was pretty tasty and the marinade doubled as the sauce!

Marsala Balsamic Tofu:

Marinade:
--1/4 c Marsala (or, if you are rich, fancy and tasty drinking wine)
--1/4 c (probably a little less) balsamic vinegar
--1 tbsp tamari
--1-2 tsp olive oil
--2 (or so) tbsp of coffee (this was left-over espresso-roast coffee in the press-pot. I had the idea to put it in   and it worked! I think that adding some cocoa here instead would also be good)
--Black pepper (lots)
--2 tsp dried thyme
--1 tsp dried oregano
--sweetener of choice, to taste. All I had was regular old sugar. I think that maple syrup would have been better.....

Directions:
1. Press tofu for 30 mins to an hour to get moisture out. Slice up red pepper into strips. (This is totally optional, I just had some left over that needed used)
2. Whisk together marinade. Slice tofu into desired shapes and put in marinade along with red peppers (flipping over or shaking up) for 30 minutes to an hour in the fridge
3. Bake at 350-375 for 45 minutes, with the marinade dumped into the pan, flipping once.

I don't use the Marsala wine I bought for one recipe very often....the flavor is quite strong and I don't always like it. However, I liked it here and will probably make a recipe like this again. Maybe sans wine though, so I guess I didn't like it that much.

Another thing to do to look really vegan is have your lunch look like the produce section neatly vomited into three compartments in your Tupperware container, like so:

The big compartment is a salad with spring mix, green cabbage, sliced green peppers, tomato and zucchini. I added some balsamic vinaigrette and it was good to go. The small orange compartment is baked yams with smoked paprika and S&P (slice yams, spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with seasonings. Bake, flipping/oiling/seasoning the other side, until crispy at the edges). The other compartment is a pretty tasty multicolor quinoa salad.

Fiesta Quinoa Salad

Dressing:
- 2-3 tsp cumin seeds, toasted in a pan
- juice of 2 limes
- 1-2 tsp Mexican oregano
-  1-2 tsp olive oil

1. Toast seeds in pan and drain seeds and the *small bit* of oil into a bowl
2. Add other ingredients and a bit of water (less than a 1/4 c) if needed to mix better

Beans and Veggies:
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 c frozen or fresh corn, drained (and thawed if needed)
- 1 small carrot, diced
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 1 tomato, seeded and diced

Assembly:
1. Add the veggies and 1 cup of quinoa to a large mixing bowl/container
2. Pour dressing over and mix really well to get the cumin seeds distributed

All in all, a good lunch. I am taking virtually the same thing tomorrow, except the smallest container will have chopped bananas and kiwi pieces left over from my morning oatmeal.

Since I ate all of the chocolate avocado pudding I made yesterday while I was watching Battlestar Galactica last night (seriously, I cannot get more vegan than I am as I wrote that sentence), there is no picture to speak of. And it meant I wanted to do some running.

I usually just run outdoors and do interval sprints on a treadmill; however, the apartment gym was closed and I did not feel like the usual run around the same route. Instead, I decided to take advantage of the 3-4 minute intervals that my iPod list gives me and alternate walk/run until I felt like coming home.

Walk/Run Playlist (run songs are in bold):

That's When I Reach for my Revolver- Mission of Burma
Academy Fight Song- Mission of Burma
Shining- Lustre
Fifteen- Lustre
No. 84 Vs. SL/A- Inch
Kermit the Hostage- Inch
50-yard Dash- Huffy
Chopper Pilot- Huffy
Genius Boy- Outhouse
Familiar- Outhouse
Belong- The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

I think that I might start doing this as an alternative to a regular run on days when I am (a) pretty damn tired but still want to get some exercise in; or, (b) have time to spend (since this takes a while to really get in more than a handful of songs).

Tomorrow, I am planning a big meal that I have been wanting to make since I first bought Appetite for Reduction: coconut squash rice, blackened tofu and roasted veggies (I am going to do zucchini).... Pretty damn excited!

Weekly Eats...

Per usual, I like to make several things at the beginning of the week and eat them throughout the week (and sometimes I have a serving left to decide whether or not to eat or throw out on the weekend), and even though I am not at school all day (and therefore have more time to cook dinner at night), I am pretty much sticking to the same schedule.

I am really, really liking Appetite for Reduction, this is a BLT sandwich made with eggplant bacon and a dab of Cesar Chavez dressing.... I don't know if my oven is not as hot as other ovens or something, but I had to bake these waaaaaaaay longer than the recipe called for to get them to crisp up (now that they have been in the refrigerator, they no longer get crispy, but oh well- still delicious). It's pretty simple, basically, you bake eggplant with a little cooking spray then dip it in soy sauce/liquid smoke mixture and re-heat.

I also made a nice drink to go along with it- lemon-thyme cucumber water. It's so simple, I probably shouldn't even post a recipe, but here it is:

Lemon-thyme Cucumber Water
1/2 large cucumber, sliced thinly
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Thin lemon slices
Sprinkle of dried of fresh thyme

1. Slice veggies and juice lemon
2. Add to a pitcher and fill with cold water
3. Add thyme and shake/stir.

Let this sit for a while, as it doesn't taste like much at first.  

I also used the dressing/eggplant bacon for a pretty tasty salad that I ate a couple of nights last week as well:

Overall, I would say that this is definitely a dressing I would make again. I feel that if you lick the spoon after spooning dressing onto a salad (and even dip it back into the container for more dressing to lick) it's a good sign of future use potential.

In other news, I am mulling over in my mind doing an additional project besides my dissertation on the CO immigrant rights movement.... It seems like a lot of work (and something my advisor and likely everyone else I ask would be opposed to), but I am becoming more and more interesting in identity development and deployment among vegans. I will give this more thought (I have over a month until the next IRB deadline, it might be doable by then....). We will see.

Sunday Dinner- Pan Roasted Asparagus, Tofu and Quinoa Pasta

Well, well, well..... I want to have a place to archive these recipes (again!), so back to posting I go- this way, I will save the time of having to write these all down and put them in a recipe book (although, in all honesty, I would like to write recipes down and be able to put them in a cute little recipe book, maybe this is something I need to purchase).

I made a bunch of more complicated things for the week (pictures and recipes to follow as I eat them), but I was in the mood for something quick, tasty and unusual. This fits the bill for me, since I rarely eat pasta. I feel like a "vegan dinner" I hear about all of the time is some combination of greens/veggies, protein and pasta, but I have just never jumped on the train, I guess. This is actually pretty tasty, so I might just make something similar again.

It is also unusual because I don't really eat asparagus. I like it- I just never buy it. I was getting my haircut on Saturday and noticed it was the first day of the Boulder Farmers Market. I was always under the impression that farmer's markets were supposed to be affordable ($6 for a bunch of asparagus that I am eating in its entirety in the pasta & $3.50 for some field greens of some sort for a salad), but I guess not here. In any event, I guess I should be a GBL (Good Boulder Liberal) and support some local farmers. The asparagus, being that it is in season, is delicious. I would have loved it even more grilled, but alas, there is no grill to be found.

Since the chili-annatto tofu was already made, this was super fast.

Chili-Annatto Oil (for the tofu and whatever else)

-1/4 c peanut oil (sesame would be good too!)
-Red pepper flakes to taste
-1-2 whole chile de arbol pods
- 1/4 tsp annatto seeds

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a skillet or saucepan until warmed, but not smoking
2. Add in the annatto seeds and heat the oil until it turns deep orange. Fish out the annatto seeds and throw them away
3. Add in the red pepper flakes and chile de arbol pods. Turn off heat and let oil cool.
4. Using a funnel, transfer oil from pan to container.

Chili-Annatto Tofu:
2 blocks extra-firm tofu (drained and pressed for 30 minutes)
Chili-Annatto Oil for coating
1 tsp Mexican Oregano, crumbled between fingers
1 tsp tomato paste

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Stir marinade ingredients together in a large bowl. Toss the tofu to coat and spread on baking sheet/pan
3. Bake for 30 minutes. Flip, then bake for 15 more minutes (you may need to add more oil).

Pan-Roasted Asparagus
1 large bunch asparagus, chopped into small pieces
4 cloves of garlic, smashed/chopped
1 tbs. coconut oil

Directions:
1. Heat the coconut oil over medium heat.
2. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds, or until fragrant
3. Add in the asparagus and saute over medium until desired doneness.
4. At the last few minutes of cooking, add-in tofu to warm.

To Assemble:
1. Cook the pasta according to directions, and drain. Add the asparagus and tofu mixture.
2. Whisk together the juice of 1 lemon, lots of black pepper and pour over pasta.

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.

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!

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.

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!