Vegan MoFo Sonoma Salad for Mia

My girl visited me from college this past weekend, and I wanted to make one of her favorites for her to take back to her dorm. She loves Sonoma Salads (originally from a Happy Herbivore recipe). It is colorful and healthy, and easy to eat as a meal, or as a forkfull or two straight out of the fridge between classes.

First, I prep the tofu. I cube it, and simmer in a cup of vegan chicken broth on the stove for 20-30 minutes. After the tofu is infused with flavor, I pull it off the stove and let it cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, I chop. Celery, and two kinds of grapes (I like black & red seedless- just for color, but if you only had access to green, that would be fine, too.) About a cup -1.5 each. As you like.

Then I mix in a large spoonful of vegan mayo, and sprinkle in some dried dill, and stir all the ingredients together. I like serving this salad over a handful of spinach, or stuffed into a pita pocket.

Letting it sit over night really melds all the flavors together, so it is one of those neat dishes that is almost better as leftovers!

Mia and I each had a bowl for lunch, then she took the rest with her back to college!

Enjoy!

Vegan MoFo plan Sept 29 - Oct 5

And here we are, at the end of September!

The month of Vegan MoFo blog posts is nearly done. Part of me is relieved, because writing 30 posts in 30 days is tough work, but part of me is also a little sad that we won't have these daily monents any more.

This week is not near as hectic as last, whew!  But since it is October, I am starting to see my calendar fill up! This upcoming weekend we've got some fun adventures planned, and I am itching to visit a pumpkin farm/ corn maze/ apple orchard!

Monday

Run

Baked potatoes and spinach garlic tofu topping

Tuesday

Abs & arms

Yoga

Vegan fettucini alfredo

Wednesday

Run

TBD

Thursday

Abs & arms

Swim

Bhangra

Leftovers

Friday

Run

Out

Saturday

Mini vegan pot pies

Sunday

Sweet potato and olive pizza

This last week I tried a new frozen Daiya pizza, with multiple vegan cheeses and a gluten-free crust.

This kind of meal is good to have around for an impromptu pizza craving, although I always find that these pre-packaged things are higher in calories and not as healthy.

I like daiya cheeses, but more and more, I find I don't use vegan cheese substitutes as much. It is strange, because that is what I thought I would miss the most as a vegan.

In all honesty, though, I don't think I miss any non-vegan foods! I love what I eat!

Plan October 5 - 11 vegan oktoberfest & reflections on Vegan MoFo

This week I'll be attempting some traditionally German recipies, vegan style. I spent many years growing up in Germany. Back then, I was vegetarian, and I remember how difficult food was sometimes! My staple meal going out was "kasebröt" (cheese bread), which was boring, but food. Now, I understand Germany has a very popular vegan community! There are several vegan restaurants there, as well as vegan delis, where you can buy vegan "meat" that is fresh! Cool! I'd like to get back to Germany one day. I have many fond memories of my childhood there. This week, I will have to settle for some filling vegan Oktoberfest food...

Monday
Run
German Lentil Soup (HHA)

Tuesday
Abs & Arms
Swim
Yoga
Spicy Mustard chickpeas (HHA)

Wednesday
Run
Bavarian Onion Soup (HHA)
Pretzels

Thursday
Abs & Arms
Swim
Bhangra
Leftovers

Friday
Run
German Potato Salad & vegan sausages

Saturday
Out

Sunday
TBD

Well, Vegan MoFo is over. Part of me missed it, but most of me is tired. 30 posts in 30 days, with pictures and new ideas, and making sure my kitchen was clean enough to take food photos in was exhausting.

At the end of the month, two other bloggers gave me Liebster awards, which I haven't had the time to respond to yet, but I was pretty flattered. My posts got a lot of traffic, which was exciting, and I got some nice feedback. Some of my posts were even referenced by other sites!

So what now? Well, I will be stepping back from the blogging for a bit. I still plan on posting the weekly meal plans, but do not have any other regular posts planned for a bit. I'd like to tell you about the books I'm reading, or events I attend, but we will see. No promises. (Other than a book post tomorrow,  that is already in the works).

I will continue to post pictures to Instagram, that's a quick and easy venue for sharing. If you don't know, my IG name is @zuzubeat.

Other than that, thank you all for indulging my many posts during September's Vegan MoFo!

Vegan MoFo Vegan Eating Out: Naked Lunch, Amsterdam Falafelshop

I was super excited to receive a special invitation to the secret soft opening of Native Foods in DC. I've eaten at Native Foods before in Boulder, CO, and really love this vegan cafe. There are multiple locations opening in DC this fall. The location on Conn. Ave NW is slated to officially open on the 30th, and another at Navy Memorial in mid-October.

When we arrived, however, there was a line out the door. It didn't look like we'd be able to eat there and make it to the club we were going to in time, so we didn't go in. The manager, though, did hook us up with gift cards to use the next time we came back.

We ended up eating at Amsterdam Falafelshop on 14th near the club. Everything here is at least vegetarian (some of the sauces have dairy). This restaurant has a number of locations in the DC area, most of which are located near bars and other late-night venues. They also have a good sense of humor about themselves. For instance, there's a sign next to the order counter instructing customers how to order a falafel bowl: "Say:'I want a bowl with ____ balls' " and underneath, there is an arrow pointing to the blank that says "This is a number, NOT an adjective!"

I ordered a small falafel (3 balls), a small pommes frites, and a Heineken. You add your own toppings to your falafel. I chose beets, cabbage, hummus, pickled cauliflower, and cucumber salad.

Ohhhh, curry ketchup. You glorious condiment, you.

Mia and I were hungry, especially after having ridden 9 miles on our bicycles and walked over a mile in DC. Poor girl got some blisters from her shoes, too.

It was so much fun having my girl home for the weekend! I've missed her!

We did make it to the Black Cat on time! And saw Pomplamoose! They put on a great show! Nataly was adorable and so talented,  and Jack I'm convinced is both a musical genius and a muppet!

Vegan MoFo Spaghetti and Neat balls

So, I planned this meal knowing I already had all the ingredients in my pantry, just in case I wasn't able to get to the store as I usually do on Mondays. Good thing I did, because sometimes an expensive grocery run is just not in the budget, and these types of dinners become fiscally responsible.

I received the package of Neat in a vegancuts box earlier this summer, and hadn't gotten around to trying it yet. It is a powder that you mix liquids into to make a substitute for ground beef.

I followed the instructions for making patties or burgers, which were to add two eggs (or egg substitute). Good thing I keep some Ener-G egg replacer on hand. I mixed up two "eggs" worth.

I did think it was odd that Neat would label itself as being vegan, but not offer suggestions for an egg substitute.

After mixing, I found this mix to still be really dry, so I added a tablespoon more of water.

Later, when we ate these, they still seemed dry. My husband compared their consistency to a cracker. The taste was decent (not very meaty at all, more like a falafel), but if I were to make these again, I'd use more liquid, or sub in soft tofu instead.

I pan fried these into meatballs, and also made spaghetti, green beans, and simmered my own marinara sauce for about 20 minutes (one can tomato sauce, one can tomato paste, one can diced tomatoes, Italian seasonings, basil, and rosemary).

I remember growing up, we always seemed to have green beans with our spaghetti, I'm not sure if there was a reason for that, but now, I still like the two paired together. I layer them all in the same bowl: noodles, neat balls, sauce, beans, and sprinkle a little garlic powder over everything.

A nice, cheap, easy vegan meal..

Enjoy!

Vegan MoFo Chana Dal Chowder

Oh, man this soup is so good, I want to run away with it.

Chana Dal is like cooking lentils or split peas, not as time consuming as dried beans. Super easy.

I pre-cooked the chana dal for about 20 minutes in water, then added vegetable broth.

Once that was going, I used a whisk to mix in about a fourth of a cup of flour.

In a skillet, I cooked an onion, potato, and red onion, all diced, with just a smidgen of water and some curry powder.

Once the onions started to become translucent, and the potatoes had crisped a bit, I mixed the veggies into the soup, added a few tablespoons of almond milk and let it simmer on the stove until it smelled so good I couldn't take it.

This soup is so warm and lovely! Slightly spicy, and filling.

Vegan MoFo batching it up with a solo chickpea sammie

Tuesdays and Thursdays in my house are tricky enough normally, with afternoon and evening activities on my part that include tutoring, Bhangra dance class, Yin Yoga class, and choir rehearsal. Sometimes, Rob and I catch some dinner together, other evenings we each eat when we get home. This past week, in addition to the normal craziness, I also threw in a few doctors appointments and missed lunch, so I was ready for some comfort food when I got home.

I made a chickpea salad for a warm sandwich by mashing up a can of chickpeas, adding some chives, chopped celery, veganaise, and lavender salt.

I slso noticed that Rob had some frozen fries in the freezer! I popped those in the skillet to cook while I finished making my salad.

Once the fries were done, I layered some daiya cheddar on a tortillia, added spinach, half the salad, and some sliced tomato.

Using the second half of the salad, I repeated this process for lunch the next day. This sandwich is good warm or cold.

This dinner was perfect, although it may have been a little more filling than I prefer before yoga class!