Vegan MoFo day 7

For today, we were to make a vegan dish inspired by a book or movie, etc.

I thought I'd be inspired by the only time I liked a movie or tv show better than a book. Because, lets face it, the book is always better. Except here.

Sorry to tell you, Piper Kerman, your book was poorly written and pretty terrible. But you, go, girl. You get mad revenues for the tv show, which is great.

Season 3 came out, and no spoiler alerts, because we like to take our time. One episode per night, if that.

But there's a scene where Chang makes fritters in the prison microwave using frito chips and peas.

Raise your hand if you're an OITNB watcher and you didn't want to try that.
Now put them down because you're a liar.

In this scene, Chang smashes up a bag of fritos (vegan!) Mixes in peas, and ends up with something that looks delicious. A brief scan of the web reveals multiple blog posts where people have tried to replicate her method. The consensus is that microwaving doesn't get you anything with an appealing texture. They all recommend pan frying the fritters. I do 2 only as an experiment, as I think frying fritos in even more oil has got to be gross.

I also microwave a couple, as she does in the show. These get the best look, but end up being mushy inside.

And I bake a few, which initially looks like a great idea, but then they all fall apart when I go to flip them.

Sigh. I resort to then making Orange is the new black bean nachos. With black beans, vegan crumbles, shredded romaine lettuce, daiya cheddar,  sliced jalapeño and some salsa atop a bed of tortilia chips.

Vegan MoFo day 6

Today's challenge in Vegan MoFo was to re-create a restaurant meal.

My goal yesterday was to make a lovely Buddha Bowl. My favorite restaurant Buddha  Bowl I ate a number of years ago when visiting my dear friend Kimmy in NYC. She was performing with a belly dance troupe in Grenwich village and I took myself to dinner when she was rehearsing before the show.

While wandering around, I found a cute little restaurant that had a communal table. The bowl I ordered and ate there was served in a wooden bowl, and was brown rice, tofu, red cabbage, greens, and other root vegetables. The next two times I visited my friend, I looked and looked for this restaurant. I never found it again....

So, today I went down to our rental house that is currently on the market to paint. I got a little frustrated due to an alarm issue, and the fact I left some necessities at home. On my way home, I deviated from my original plan and I stopped at our favorite Chinese takeout where they have a number of vegan items on the menu. I picked up some vegan General Tsos Tofu with broccoli, and at the liquor store next door, a bottle of Malbec.

So I guess I recreated a restaurant meal by buying a restaurant meal?

Now, do you want to hear about my alarm issue? One of our previous tenants installed an alarm system. I left the doors open while I was painting to air it out, and the system kept beeping. So. I went to the wall panel to try to turn off the beeps, and somehow that activated and armed the system. The next time I opened the door, sirens started wailing. Holy crap. 

So I called the alarm cimpany and told them about my situation. They said they couldn't/wouldn't disarm it or reset it or even tell me how because I wasn't the account holder (the tenant). They also said they wouldn't send a technician unless I opened an account with them for the property. Bah.

Giving up on getting any help from them, I pulled the system from the wall, and started pulling wires from the unit. It stopped before the cops showed up!

Vegan MoFo day 5

For day 5 of Vegan MoFo, we are to share the best sandwich ever.  The sandwich I will share with you here could have also been my post for breakfast or for quick and easy.

How do I know this is the best sandwich ever? Easy,  I have eaten it TWO TIMES TODAY.

Yup. I planned to have it for lunch today, and something else for dinner. But it was so delicious, I ate it all before I took any pictures! Oh! So sad!

Today I went on my long run. I did a little over 11 miles, and when I got home, I was tired and hungry. This is my favorite post-run meal.

This sandwich, a little yoga, some netflix binge watching, and a nap are my post run glories!

I first got the idea for this sandwich from a Vegan Zombie take on a Strong Hearts breakfast. Over the years, I have modified this recipe to be my own. I call it my tofu breakfast sandwich. The two most important ingredients are a nooch encrusted tofu and a tortilia.

Today, I started by tossing my tofu in a mixture of nutritional yeast and flax seed meal. I make this sandwich so often that I keep a mixture of this combination in my fridge at all times.

Then I put them in my cast iron skillet with a tiny bit of coconut oil, and two tempeh bacon slices.

Today I also added some daiya cheddar shreds and some baked sweet potato. I generally bake a sweet potato or two every time I turn on my oven, I use them in everything. I've also been known to add greens, both steamed and raw, avocado, or zucchini. I love to drizzle a bit of hot sauce over top.

Vegan MoFo day 4

Today, I want to share with you a weird food combination that I love.

But first, let me tell you about my day. Sigh, Thursdays are exhausting. I drafted an overload of classes this semester, and also have choir practice. So I have to get up super early to work out, and I have all three meals either on the go or at work. I actually got home a little early tonight, but I am pooped. It will take me a few days to get back into the swing of the semester.

Anyway, I love adding in fruit to my entrée dishes. Especially at this time of year, when fruits are so fresh and juicy! I have two dishes to share with you.

The first is a dinner recipe from The Vegan Zombie. A citrus baked tofu.

I baked the tofu in a marinade of orange juice and tamari. Then finished it off in a skillet.

I also made some couscous, and broccolini.

The second dish I want to share with you is a Happy Herbivore recipe for a peach and white bean quesidilia. 

I love quesidilias!! I eat quesidilias, but never get through a loaf of bread.

Just a simple mash of beans, tahini, basil, and pink salt. Then an addition of peach slices and romaine lettuce.

Plan September 7-13

Monday
BBT & yoga
Make / eat some thing inspired by a book or film.
Blueberry beginning smoothie 365
Orange is the new black bean burrito
Eggless salad sandwich (HHVK)

Tuesday
BBT & yoga
Reach out! Make a new vegan friend & tell us about it.
Blueberry banana builder smoothie 365
Eggless salad sandwich
Coconut chickpea curry (HH)

Wednesday
Run 5
Yoga
Most retro recipe.
Blueberry brainiac smoothie 365
Coconut chickpea curry
Creamy Cashew Potpie (HHVK)

Thursday
BBT & yoga
Something blue.
Blue chia paradise  smoothie 365
Creamy cashew pot pie
Protein shake

Friday
Run 12
Yoga
Focus on a nutrient
Quiet bluebird smoothie 365
Slow-cooker enchiladas (HH)

Saturday
Yoga
Tell us about your favourite cookbook!
Raw green smoothie 
Corn & black bean cakes  (HH)
TBD

Sunday
Yoga
It’s kitchen tour time!
Raw green smoothie
Thai Peanut Pizzas (HH)
Sushi

HH- Happy herbivore
HHVK- Happy healthy vegan kitchen
365- 365 vegan smoothies

Vegan MoFo day 3

For the third day of Vegan MoFo,  I share with you a quick and easy meal.
This meal isn't necessarily quick to cook, but it is quickly assembled, and the perfect kind of meal for the start of a busy semester.

Today was the first day of fall semester classes. I have drafted a heavy load this term, and will need to start pre-prepping meals and packing lunches.

For these baked potatoes, I used my automatic timer setting on my oven to get them cooking while I was at work.   I washed the potatoes the night before, then this morning, I set my oven to come on at 3pm at 300 degrees. I vary how long I cook my potatoes. If I can cook them all day (generally in the winter when I don't mind the oven being on all day, I cook them for 5-6 hours at 200 degrees.

I love some vegan products to top my potatoes. I have steamed veggies (for convenience,  I buy pre-washed and chopped veggies that I can steam in the bag), maple tempeh bacon, tofutti sour cream, daiya cheddar cheese, and earth balance butter.

While I prepped my potato, I also made up my lunch for tomorrow. In addition, when I baked my potatoes, I also baked two sweet potatoes that I will use in other recipes this week. I also steamed all the veggies so that I can eat them on Friday!

Vegan MoFo day 2

For today's MoFo, we were asked to veganize a meal from our childhood.

I was not raised in a veg household, but I became a vegetarian at the age of 10. At that point, I started to do most of my own cooking. Before that, I honestly donxt remember that many family meals. My dad traveled quite a bit for work, and my mom worked at night. The only meals I remember with any sort of clarity were the chicken curry, jamazetti, and hamburger gravy.

The hamburger gravy was the first recipe I recreated with vegetarian ingredients on my own. I used fake meat crumbles, and felt pretty proud of myself. This went on to become a favorite comfort food in my adult household. My daughter used to request it all the time.

When I made the shift to veganism, this recipe was an easy transition. As I became a better cook, and started learning more about food and wholezfood ingredients, this recipe has evolved.

Here it is in its current incarnation.  A vegan tempeh gravy over polenta and wilted arugula.

Ingredients:
1 tube polenta, sliced into 1/4" rounds
2 cups arugula
1 package tempeh, sliced into 1" chunks
1 T tamari
1/4 c flour
1/2 - 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
Black pepper

In a skillet, steam tempeh with a little water. Add tamari. Break up chunks with a potato masher.
When it is soft, add flour and milk to make gravy. Add pepper to taste.
In second skillet, use a little bit of oil to fry up polenta rounds. After they are done, wilt the arugula.

On plates, place polenta, top with arugula then gravy. I also added a little dill for flavor and color.
Serves 3.

I have found that I became a decent cook when I was vegetarian, but now, as a vegan, I feel like I am a very good cook. Have any of you found that?

Otherwise, the semester starts today! So my lovely summer freetime is gone. Sigh. No more long runs every day. My puppies will miss me during the day!