Happy New Year!

This was the view from our patio last night! Hundreds of people were setting off fireworks all over the city for hours!

This poor blog has sat neglected for far too long. I have been taking pictures of nice meals I have made; they just have not made it up! Eventually I will catch up, or more likely, not even try! But I am going to start posting more regularly!

...starting with our New Years Eve dinner. We had a frozen piece of 'salmon' that I just kept putting off. I guess mainly because I had no idea what to do with it.

We finally decided it would be nice pan fried with jasmine rice and Hollandaise sauce. On the side, roasted Brussels sprouts in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The sauce was great. The 'salmon' was what I expected. It was covered in a layer of seaweed to give it a fish-like flavor. Appearance wise, it looked just like salmon. But it was mushy and had that universal 'fake meat' flavor. I would have no problem eating it again, but it will not make it into a permanent rotation around here.  

Sesame Noodles with Peanut Dip and Veggies

I used a package of precooked soba noodles. They are sauteed in sesame oil. The dressing (delicious!) consists of peanuts, oatmilk, soysauce, tahihi, sesame oil, sake, maple syrup, ginger and garlic, all blended in a blender. We served it with sauteed veggies. The recipe is from Love Bites.

Vegan MoFo: V is for Vietnamese Seitan Baguette with Savory Broth Dip

The recipe is from Veganomicon and made an excellent lunch. I followed this seitan recipe. Instead of cucumbers, we added zucchini slices.

I also substituted mayo with leftover sauce from the Kibbeh we had on Thanksgiving.

Vegan MoFo: U is for Udon Noodle Stir Fry

John made dinner tonight because I was busy making placemats for the Thanksgiving table.

My original plan was to make homemade Udon noodles but I bought a pre-cooked package over the weekend as backup. They were a lifesaver!


John mixed the leftover Thai Peanut-Burgers, crumbled, and peanut sauce from last night's dinner,  into the pasta along with zucchini, carrot, onion, and orange pepper.

Vegan MoFo: T is for Thai Peanut-Burger Wraps

Here is a link to the recipe posted by another blogger. I forgot to put the cilantro in the burgers so we just stuffed it in the pita with the lettuce.

The burgers were so good. Lots of flavor, good texture, and the recipe says that it makes 4 large burgers but I ended up with a dozen! 

I did not follow the recipe for the spicy peanut sauce. Instead, I mixed equal parts of soy, agave, and peanut butter.

I made a batch of pitas. I am telling you! Homemade pita bread is mouthwatering!

Vegan MoFo: M is for Mac Daddy and Peas

This has been a very stressful week at work. 3,000 people were laid off at the company both John and I work for (fortunately, neither of us!) and this has caused me to feel emotionally exhausted. Nothing like a little comfort food to cheer me up!

This vegan version of Mac and Cheese is awesome. I did not have regular tofu, so I used olive and tomato flavored. It added a nice flavor. I also sprinkled peas on the pasta before mixing in the sauce. Here is the recipe.

Tofu Tikka Masala with Red Rice

During one of my latest trips to the Asian Market, I found a jar of Tikka paste and set my sights on Tikka Masala! Tikka means chunks of; masala means a mixture of spices.


There is a speedy recipe on the jar that calls for 500 grams of chicken, but tofu was the perfect vegan substitute. The tofu is marinated in the following for 2 hours: 4 TBSP Tikka paste, 1 TBSP soy yogurt, 2 TBSP vegan butter.

After marinating, pour the tofu and sauce into a pan, add veggies and cook to the desired vegetable consistency.

While I was in Thailand in August of this year, my absolute favorite Thai meal was served with red rice. I was extremely excited to find red rice in Denmark.

Meaty Burgers and White Bean Salad

I finally found TVP here in Denmark so I was able to try this recipe from the blog, Your Vegan Mom. The burgers were chewy, like seitan, but the chunks of TVP made some bites spongy. I really liked the texture compared to some of the softer, pastey consistency bean burgers I have made in the past.

I made the buns from this recipe. They are so easy to make yet John still gives me a strange look for making hamburger buns. "Normal people just buy buns." Whatever.

Also from the Vegan Mom blog, I made Teriyaki sauce to top the burgers with. So freaking good!

And finally, I had cooked white beans that needed a nice recipe and this one fit the bill. I also added diced sun dried tomatoes.

Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh

So much for eating less soy! John put his foot down this week exclaiming, "But I love tofu!" It is very difficult to argue with him considering how supportive he is of my vegan cooking. It isn't like he is asking for hamburger!!! I still plan to "limit" our consumption, but for now, it is on the menu to stay!

So, I followed this recipe from the Veganomicon cookbook and it was perfect. Spicy and tangy. I was never a fan of tempeh until I was introduced to the "steam out the bitterness" technique. Now, I enjoy it almost as much as tofu.

On the side, Cornmeal Roasted Cauliflower (The original recipe includes garam masala and other Indian spices. For this batch, I substituted basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes) and Salt and Vinegar Potatoes (I am obsessed with these!)

I was a little sad while preparing this post as I noticed nothing green on the plate!!! But, the left-over tempeh was absolutely delicious the next day heated and served on a bed of mixed greens.

Homemade Seitan and Tomato Gravy

I decided it was time to try my hand at seitan. I have a load of wheat gluten and am trying to dwindle down my food supply as we prepare to move soon. It was really easy using the recipe for Simple Seitan from Veganomicon. The recipe says "you don't want to boil for very long or the outside of the seitan will be spongy." I think I boiled too long! The outside was a lighter color and had a slightly different texture. But, most importantly, the taste was amazing. I have not bought seitan since. I can't believe I was so scared to try making it until now.

We also had a delicious tomato gravy. I didn't follow a recipe because I couldn't find a vegan one that appealed to me. I can't remember exactly how I made the gravy but I am sure it involved crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, milk, flour, agave, garlic, and a mixture of herbs.

Also under the tomato gravy are Zucchini Patties. The recipe is not vegan but easily substituted to be so. And finally, freshly cooked black beans.

Spicy Lentils, Beet Salad with Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette, and Scallion Flat Bread

I am cutting way back on our weekly grocery budget because we are moving in 2 months and I want to move as few food items as possible. I have quite a nice selection of spices built up so I made two things tonight that call for a wide variety. First was Quick Spicy Lentils. I used a can of brown lentils and substituted lemon juice and sage for the coriander. I also left out the chiles. I have made this recipe in the past and the cayenne gives it enough heat to suit me. Along with the lentils, a Beet Salad with Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette. The recipe is about half way down this page. I changed many things. Here are my adjustments:
1 garlic clove
Salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 tablespoons finely diced shallot
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon of sage
¼ teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1/3 cup olive oil
3 beets
Whisk all ingredients together and pour over chopped beets.

And, to bring it all together, Scallion Flat Bread with dipping sauce. The flat bread is like a traditional paratha. It consists of flour, peanut and sesame oil, sugar, salt, water and scallions. The recipe is from Veganomicon. The dipping sauce is soy based with rice wine vinegar, ginger, sugar, and sesame seeds.

Chickpea Cutlets with Veggies and Cheezy Sauce

Chickpea cutlets are becoming a regular around here, and that is rare! I don't often make things more than once. But, I have gotten pretty good at whipping them up and we absolutely love them served with anything! I had a large amount of random veggies in the fridge, all leftover from something. I sauteed them in olive oil and dumped a batch of Cheezy Sauce over them. Heaven!

I also made some chocolate chip cookies. I substituted 1/4 cup flour for a granola/flax seed mix and used whole wheat flour. I added white and chocolate chunks and pecans.

Reuben Sandwiches with Carrot and Broccoli Salad

Here is the Reuben recipe I followed. Originally, I bought a loaf of Rye bread by accident. I thought it was Wheat bread. So, I intended to make Reubens with that. But, I waited around too long and it went stale beyond the point of use! (except for croutons, of course.) So, I bought these cute little Organic English-muffin-style Rye breads. I didn't have pickling spice, so that was left out. I used my new Rice Mayo for the sauce. I couldn't find a substitute for Swiss cheese but instead used smoked cheddar by sheese. It was a really good combination of flavors.

The salad is a version of this recipe. I shredded my carrots in the food processor to save time. I also added broccoli and pecans. The dressing is Rice Mayo, sugar, salt, and white wine. It tasted very much like a summer salad!

Tofu Benny

Even though Isa Chandra Moskowitz says that this is her favorite vegan translation to date in Vegan Brunch, I held out on making it, expecting it to be a huge amount of work. I was surprised to find that it wasn't bad! I did most of the prep work the day before, and that made all the difference!

This was my first attempt at vegan English Muffins. They turned out delicious and I will absolutely make them again. They were not quite as "spongy" as store bought English Muffins but I chalked that up to the fact that they were fresh and natural!

The tofu can marinate overnight. It has black salt in the mixture so the smell is pretty awful while soaking but after cooked, it has that "egg" texture and taste. I bought fresh tofu from the Asian market and it fried to the perfect consistency, crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside.

The Hollandaise Sauce was very rich and creamy and the slice of heirloom tomato added a nice finishing touch.

Homemade Tomato Sauce

I am not really sure why I made this sauce, I have nothing planned for it. But, I bought a dozen organic tomatoes and followed this recipe (minus the carrots and tomato paste). I plan to freeze it until I am ready for it! I think unconsiously, I was reacting to the many articles lately that I have read on the danger of eating tomatoes from a can.

The tomatoes have to be peeled, something I have never done before! It was extremely easy though.

Slice an X in the top.

Boil for 1 minutes.


Drop into cold water for 1 minute and the skins will fall right off!

Flexible Thai Soup and Spring Rolls

I think the soup is called "flexible" because you can add any vegetables you feel like. I added a handful of spinach, a cup of sliced mushrooms, and half a block of tofu, cut into strips. I used a very large shallot and 4 cloves of garlic, instead of 1. For the lemon juice, I used 2 TBSP of the kind in the plastic lemon. For the chili sauce, I used a few squirts of Sriracha Hot Chilli Sauce. It is really good stuff and has its own facebook page. Random, yes! It is served over jasmine rice.




I also made spring rolls to go with the soup. I could make and eat these every day! I was first introduced to them by Isa Chandra Moskowitz at a cooking demo. Yes, she is the amazing author of my favorite cookbooks including Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, and Veganomicon. They are insanely easy, versatile and great for having people over and making together. For this batch, I included yellow pepper, mushrooms, spinach, green onions, rice noodles, and smoked tofu. I made this dipping sauce but added a pinch of hot sauce and a dash of lemon juice along with a 1 inch piece of diced ginger.

Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes with Caesar Salad

This is a recipe from Vegan Brunch but I thought it sounded so good with a salad for dinner tonight, so I went for it. I am normally not a fan of tempeh, but this recipe includes a technique for making it less bitter. It worked for me!

I chopped lettuce, tomatoes, and red peppers and covered them in a dressing of 5 Tbsp olive oil, 2 Tbsp white wine, and 4 garlic cloves sauteed together. I also sprinkled some leftover bread crumbs on the salad for texture.

I also made the remoulade which was spicy and fantastic!

Tortellini with Red Wine sauce and Chopped Chick'n Salad

My second attempt at tortellini and it went much faster this time. I followed this recipe for the pasta and rolled it out by hand. The whole process took exactly one hour. I stuffed it with tofu ricotta (leftover from the last time I made tortellini, stored in the freezer, thawed and it worked out great!)The sauce is from a previous post and taken from a VegNews article. On the side, a chopped salad consisting of bib lettuce, mushrooms, beets, chick'n nuggets, all brutally diced and doused in a Balsamic Vinaigrette. The dressing was made with 3 Tbsp olive oil, 1 1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper. A nice meal for sitting in front of the TV and watching more Olympics!

Spinach Lasagna

This should really be called "Leftover's Lasagna" because it is made up almost entirely of leftovers. The first layer is leftover beanballs and tomato sauce, ran through a food processor for a few pulses. The second layer is leftover alfredo sauce with a block of pressed tofu, and a bag of spinach that was sauteed in 3 garlic cloves and a tablespoon of butter, mixed together and ran through the food processor until a ricotta like texture. The third layer is whole wheat, organic lasagna noodles, boiled for about 5 minutes. I was able to repeat this for three layers. The topping is leftover bread crumbs (made from a batch of homemade crackers, then ran through the food processor until crumbs) mixed with a few sprinkles of Cheshire style Sheese, and oregano.

Broccoli Chicken Alfredo Pizza

I had a ton of alfredo sauce left over from our gnocchi dinner and it is Friday night, so I thought it would be fun to rent movies, eat pizza, and make more milkshakes!

The pizza was not difficult. I made the dough early in the afternoon so it had time to rise and then sit in the refrigerator for a few hours. The recipe says to let it sit overnight but I did not have that kind of time! I only used half the dough for one large pizza.

When the dough was rolled out, I spread garlic butter over the entire surface. This garlic butter consisted of 4 garlic cloves sauteed in a few tablespoons of vegan margarine. Then, a layer of alfredo sauce, the broccoli and sliced chicken nuggets all lightly mixed together. Then a small additional layer of alfredo sauce mixed around and a sprinkle of fresh ground pepper.