Apron Strings

Round two! I think we have a winner! We had these little cutlets with a side of roasted whole okra and potato rounds, and it was delightful!

Roasted Whole Okra and Potato Rounds
4 large red potatoes
1 1/2 pounds okra
1/4c plus 2T olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 and grease a 9″X11″ glass baking pan with 2T of the olive oil.

Slice the potatoes into 1/4″ rounds and toss them into the pan with the oil. Cut the tops off of the okra and toss them in there with the rest of the olive oil. Set your oven timer for 20 minutes and go have a glass of wine!

When the timer beeps, use a big spoon to stir up the potatoes and okra. Set the timer for 20 more minutes and start prepping that tofu!

Tofu
1c plain soymilk
1T mushroom soy sauce (you can use regular ol soy sauce, if you can’t find the mushroom sort)

1c panko (you can use bread- or cracker crumbs in a pinch, I guess, but panko is delightful!)
2T dried herbes de provence

1 block tofu, cut into 8 pieces
2T olive oil

In a shallow bowl, mix the soymilk and soy sauce. Combine the panko and herbes in another shallow bowl. Now, dredge each piece of tofu in the soymilk mixture and then in the panko, coating both sides of each piece.

In a large skillet, heat the oil and set the cutlets in there. Cook them a few minutes on each side, until they turn nice and brown. Plate those puppies up, two to a plate! Oooh and it might be time to pull the potatoes and okra out of the oven. Perfect, because the sauce takes only a few minutes, and you can let everything cool just a bit while you get to that. Turn the stove to medium low, but leave the pan on there.

Red Wine Sauce
1/2c red wine
1/2c soy creamer
2T dijon mustard

1/4c nutritional yeast

While the pan is still hot, pour in the wine to deglaze it. Once the wine is nice and bubbly, add the creamer and dijon mustard, stirring constantly to combine and keep the sauce from burning and sticking to the pan. When the sauce starts to thicken, turn off the heat and add the nutritional yeast. Stir for just a minute or two more to combine everything, and you’re ready to serve! Portion the sauce out over the cutlets, spoon some okra and potatoes onto each plate and dig in, my friend.

My pops used to make chicken like this when I was growing up, and I’m trying to crib and veganize his recipe from memory. I made an attempt for today’s lunch and learned some things, so I wanted to write how I think it ought to go next time:

• Cut 1 block of tofu into 8 slices instead of 4.
• Rub each slice on both sides with nutritional yeast and herbes de Provence.
• Fry in olive oil on medium high about 3-5 min on each side, until both sides are browned.
• Pour 1c red wine into the pan and deglaze by stirring around…you want all those cracklings in the sauce.
• Add 1/4c soy creamer and 2T dijon mustard, reduce the heat to medium low and stir until everything combines and reduces.
• Turn off the heat and once the bubbling stops pour on the sauce.

I’ll give this a shot when we get back from vacation and post pics of the results! If you try it while I’m away, let me know how it goes!

<3

Today sucked. I almost don’t even need to say that these days, since most every work day has sucked. All that is really not the kind of thing I want to talk about here, though, so onward! I got home feeling stressed and craving something fatty and spicy and hot. A pantry-raid later, this was simmering on the stove!

The soup serves about 3 as a main dish or 5 or 6 as a side or over noodles!

1/2 block tofu in about 1″ cubes
1c diced red potatoes
2T olive oil
1T toasted sesame oil

1 16 oz can full fat coconut milk
1T dried lemongrass
1-3T chili garlic sauce, to taste
1T ginger powder

2 scallions, chopped
1c shredded carrots
2c baby spinach

Topping ideas
Diced avocado, handful of nuts or seeds, shredded coconut, chopped cilantro…or anything else that sounds appealing!

Heat the oil in a soup pot and add the tofu and potatoes. Fry them up for about 5 minutes. This is a good time to chop up those scallions and pull out all the spices! The pan should be looking a bit dry right now, but don’t despair! It’s time to dump in that coconut milk and all those spices! Do it! And stir! You’ll let this simmer a bit, until the potatoes are tender. Test the tenderness by stabbing one with a fork. If the fork goes right in, it’s time to move on to the last step!

Add your scallions, carrots and spinach. Let it cook just a couple of minutes longer - until the spinach wilts. Top with your choice of toppings or nothing at all, and serve!

Today was the Big Baby Marathon on Cartoon Network!! I was super proud of Dave and wanted to make something special for lunch while we watched. Enchiladas felt like just the thing! Big Baby Enchiladas?

1/2 a vidalia onion, diced
1/2c mushrooms, sliced

2c spinach, shredded

1c fresh corn kernels
1 can black beans, squished - you can do this with your bare hands, a fork or in the food processor. I think the former is the best/most fun!

10 corn tortillas
1 can enchilada sauce
1 block vegan cheeze (I used Follow Your Heart Monterey Jack, but your fave will be just fine!)

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a small frying pan, sautee the onion and mushrooms in a little oil or margerine until the onions turn translucent. Toss the spinach in and cook it all up, stirring, for a couple of more minutes until the spinach wilts down. Dump the mixture into a big bowl and add the corn and beans. Add your hot sauce until the mixture is as hot as you want!

In a lightly oiled 9X12″ pan, pour about 1/3 of the enhilada sauce, spreading it across the bottom.

Divide the veggie mixture between the tortillas, rolling them up as you go. Place them seam-side-down in the pan. Dump the rest of the enchilada sauce over everything, trying to sort of evenly coat your 8 little enchiladas. Top it all off with your cheeze and toss it in the oven.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes, until the cheeze is a little melty. Serve!

I won’t even call this “egg” salad, because there is nothing eggy about this dish. You can serve it as a dip with pita or corn chips or in a sammich! If you go the sammich route, I recommend sliced avocado on top. Of course, I recommend sliced avocado on most dishes…

3/4 c Veganaise (you can try a different soy mayo, but I haven’t found any better than Veganaise)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 t dried herbes de Provence
1 T teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 block tofu, diced or crumbled
2 scallions, diced
1c shredded carrots

Whisk the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl until they’re well combined. Add the tofu, scallions, carrots and toss. Serve!

This keeps for up to a week in the fridge. I like to make a big batch of it and use it to pack lunches all week!

Woah, 2 posts in a single day? And both are bean- and salsa-based! I guess I’m working through a craving!

I’ve made this before with black beans, but it’s just as good with pinto! Here’s the details!

2 ears corn, raw or cooked

1 can pinto beans, rinsed
2 scallions, minced
1/4c olive oil
2T hot sauce
2T chili powder

1 Haas avocado, diced
1/2c salsa

You could use an equivalent amount of frozen or canned corn, but it’s so much tastier right off the ear! To remove the kernels from the ear, hold it upright at the tippy top, and cut downwards along the cob. You’ll want to do this over a large bowl or kernels will go everywhere. Be super-duper careful while you do this, please! Finger is not a good spice in this dish. Don’t cut tooo close to the cob - better to lose a little meat than to have cob in your salad!

Toss the corn with the beans, scallions, olive oil, chili powder and hot sauce. If you’re making this in advance, here is your stopping place. Cover and chill until you’re ready to serve - up to overnight.

Just before serving, toss in the salsa and the avocado. If you want to get fancy, reserve a little avocado to put on top! I did not get fancy, as you can see in my picture. In fact, I was halfway through the bowl when I realized I should take a picture! D’oh!

This serves 4 as a main dish and 6-8 as a side.

I have the day off today and tomorry to get ready for The Indie Craft Experience this Satuday, so I decided to make a semi-elaborate breakfast! OK, I have a confession here. I was pretty sure this was going to be gross. Imagine my surprise when it was totally delicious!

On top of being yummy, it’s easy to make! It took less than 15 minutes!

2T olive oil
1/4 block tofu, cubed
1/4 of a yellow onion, diced
2t chili powder
1/3 can pinto beans
1/2c broccoli florets (optional, but delicious! Use whatever veggies you have around!)

nutritional yeast, to taste (optional)
hot sauce, to taste (I used a couple of tablespoons of my current fave: Choula)

2T sour kream
2T good salsa

In a large frying pan, heat the oil and add the onions, tofu and chili powder. Stir everything up for 2-3 minutes, then toss in the beans and broccoli. Cook for just a few more minutes - until the broccoli turns bright green (or whatever veggies you’re using look done).

Transfer the whole shebang into your bowl and toss it with the nutritional yeast and hot sauce. Top with the salsa and sour kream, and serve! Ta da!

Woa, I just found this draft from May 8th and realized I never published it! Well, here it is…

Lori sent me a Slate article about being a herbivore this morning, and I love it!

The meat of the article (get it??) is about the relationship between herbivores and omnivores at the table, and there are some really great bits about that. I like how the article underscores that most herbivores aren’t watching you eat your hamburger and also silently marking you down as a horrible, disgusting person. It goes on to sort of ask the same courtesy from omnis. Here is my favorite quote:

Finally, grant me one more cordial request: Please don’t try to convince us that being vegetarian is somehow wrong. If you’re concerned for my health, that’s very nice, though you can rest assured that I’m in shipshape. If you want to have an amiable tête-à-tête about vegetarianism, that’s great. But if you insist on being the aggressive blowhard who takes meatlessness as a personal insult and rails about what fools we all are, you’re only going to persuade me that you’re a dickhead.

Can I get an amen? How many vegetarians/vegans have had a meal ruined by a moment like this? And the argument that one time one herbivore railed on them at one meal strikes me as awfully judgemental. Do you have such a low opinion of me that you feel the need to get in the first blow? That’s awfully insulting.

Anyways, I hope all that didn’t come across as preachy. Food is something I care a lot about. I love to cook and to eat. Feeding my friends is one of the ways I show them I love them, you know?

I think reactions like the ones the author describes are not limited to food stuff. Folks are threatened by things they don’t agree with or don’t understand. I’m sure I’m as guilty of this as anyone else when faced with things that just make no sense to me at all. Maybe I need to work on my ability to “agree to disagree.”

Liz and I came across a recipe for roasted shallots and it gave us an idea. Here is the idea: What if we based an entire meal around dipping bread into things??? I hate to just blatantly brag on us, but…we’re geniuses! This dinner was amazing!

We picked up a loaf of Olive Boule and a package of Nan at the farmers market along with tons of roasted garlic and the makings of pesto. The pesto was my contribution, and the approximate recipe is below! We served Liz’s roasted garlic topped with black sesame seeds and minced scallion.

We also had garlic flatbread and herb Mary’s Gone Crackers, which are totally delicious!

Brian and Kip brought curried lentil dip and the most amazing bruschetta! Kip’s bruschetta had mushrooms, roasted peppers, onions and this vegan aioli on it. Out of control! I have to nag her for the recipe, because DANG.

Lori brought dark chocolate fondue with strawberries and bananas. Because Lori is also a genius, she used almond milk in the fondue instead of soy. So good! We put the chocolate right out with all the other food. I highly recommend eating dessert right in the middle of dinner. It was so decadent!

In conclusion, this is definitely happening again. Now, here’s the approximate pesto recipe, as promised!

Approximate Pesto
2 bunches of basil
a few handfuls of pine nuts
at least 4 cloves roasted garlic (I think I used 5)
1/3 - 1/2c nutritional yeast
1t sea salt
1/2t white pepper
1c olive oil

If your food processor is big enough, toss everything in and blend it up! If not, you might have to do it in batches. Either way, once everything is all blended, you’re ready to serve! I’d definitely recommend serving at room temperature. This works as a dip for bread or crackers or on top of hot pasta! Or really….anywhere! Pesto potato salad, anyone?

<3

OMG you guys, my favorite local baker, The Dulce Vegan, was written up in today’s Daily Candy!!! And! It mentions that she delivers! Delivers! Vegan baked goods! AAAAAAAH!