Asian Pasta with Sesame Tofu and Exciting News!

Hello all! 

Been a bit since I've visited the old blog, but things got crazy in my life yet again.  Moved back up to the Cleveland area and in the process of selling my old house and trying to find a new one and also, I am now a mama-to-be and my husband and I are expecting our first child at the end of August!  So lots of exciting changes and a lot of work to be done. 

That being said, I am going to try to devote more time to cooking.  I've gotten tired or eating pre-made meals from the local Mustard Seed or lazy dinners.  We are currently staying with my parents while our house sells and that has created many cooking challenges, as I have little room for storage of groceries and cooking supplies, but I am determined to work through the challenges and make some tasty meals once again.  I've ordered The Vegan Pregnancy Cookbook and Raw Food in Pregnancy for some meal inspiration and planning a super shopping trip tomorrow for supplies.  It has begun!

Today was a "what can I make with that I have lying around..." kind of day.  It started out as a lazy stir-fry meal, but turned into something magical.  This recipe is gluten free, vegan, and has tons of protein.  Behold!


Asian Pasta with Sesame Tofu
 Serves 2-4.  Cook time: 40 minutes (if you're a good multi-tasker)

Asian Pasta with Sesame Tofu  
(Pardon the crappy phone photography.  Have to drag out the ol' camera rig here soon.)

Ingredients: (I will link some of the gluten free brands I used, but feel free to choose your own.)
2 Blocks Extra Firm Tofu (drained and pressed)
1 pkg Explore Asia | Edamame and Mung Bean Spaghetti(organic)
2 T sesame seeds
3 T Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 T Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos
3 T Rice Vinegar
6 T Bragg Liquid Aminos
2 t Sky Valley Sweet Chili Sauce
1 t Sesame Oil
1/4 c Organic Cane Sugar
1 bag frozen veggies of your choice, steamed or thawed (I used 365 Organic California Blend)


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and put a pot of water (approx. 8 cups or more) on the stove for the noodles and bring to a boil.  While the water is getting hot, drain and press your 2 blocks of tofu and cut into cubes. 

In a large baking dish, place the tofu and drizzle with the olive oil and coconut aminos (if you are not gluten free, soy sauce will work in place of the coconut and Bragg aminos) and mix until lightly coated.  Place in the oven for 30 minutes, stirring halfway.  Once the 30 minutes are up, add 1 T sesame seeds and place in the oven for another 10 minutes.  Flip the tofu and add the remaining 1 T sesame seeds and cook for an additional 10 minutes or longer depending on how you like your tofu. 

While the tofu is cooking, cook the edamame and mung bean spaghetti according to package (7 minutes worked beautifully for me). 

In a large bowl, combine rice vinegar, liquid aminos, sweet chili sauce, sesame oil, and cane sugar. 

Once noodles and tofu are done, combine with the sauce.  You can chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight if you prefer a cold dish, or serve warm. 




 

Baked Black Bean & Tofu Tacos

Ingredients:
15oz can black beans
1 block extra firm tofu
taco seasoning (recipe for homemade seasoning below)
medium salsa
romaine lettuce
tortillas



Taco Seasoning:
1T Chilli Powder
½T Cumin
½t Paprika
½t Garlic Powder
½t Onion Powder
½t Oregano
½t Red Pepper Flakes
½t Natural Iodized Sea Salt
½t Fresh Ground Pepper (I just eyeballed it with a pepper grinder)

Preheat oven to 400° F. Drain, press, and crumble tofu and put in 8x8" baking dish.  Drain and rinse can black beans and pour over tofu.  Sprinkle taco seasoning of choice over beans and tofu to taste (about ¼c or all of the mixture above).  Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15.  You can warm up the tortillas in the oven for the last 5 minutes on a baking sheet.

Add black bean & tofu mixture to tortilla with salsa and lettuce and eat!

Tofu Baked Ziti

This is a different recipe than previously posted.  This recipe is one I made up on the fly using what little ingredients I had and a few borrowed in a borrowed kitchen.  

1lb uncooked brown rice pasta
1 block extra firm tofu
1T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3T Nutritional Yeast
1t Garlic Powder
1t Onion Powder
1t Italian Seasoning
½t Finely Ground Sea Salt
¼ Fresh Ground Pepper
2-3c Pasta or Marinara sauce

Cook brown rice pasta to package directions.  Preheat oven to 375° F.

Drain and press tofu and crumble into a medium bowl. Massage olive oil into tofu.  Add spices and mix well. Once pasta is cooked and cooled, add ½c pasta sauce to the bottom of a 8x8 baking dish.  Add a layer of pasta, then a layer of the tofu mix, then another layer using ½c sauce. Repeat until dish is full adding extra sauce on top to make sure everything is covered.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Sorry no photo - hubby and I gobbled it up!

Spicy Veggie Mix

Lately I find myself buying random vegetables at the Saturday Morning Market and just figuring out something to do with them during the week.  I love doing this because I add new vegetables that I normally wouldn't cook with to my diet and get a chance to experiment with cooking!

This week I had left over zucchini, yellow squash, and sweet potatoes and decided to mix them all together.

This is a really rough recipe to make however you want!

Ingredients:
Oil (I used Coconut)
Creole Seasoning
Zucchini, thinly sliced
Yellow Squash, thinly sliced
Sweet Potato, cubed

Put just enough oil at the bottom of your pan to coat it.  Cube the sweet potato and cook until softened.  Add zucchini and squash and cook until slightly soft.  Add creole seasoning to taste and mix.

The spices remind me of my mom's old breaded zucchini she used to make.  Mmm mm!

Chunky Cream of Vegetable Soup

Chunky Cream of Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

4c vegetable broth

1 head brocolli, chopped

6 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, thinly sliced

Add vegetable broth, all but 1 stem broccoli, 1 sliced carrot, 3 stalks chopped celery with tops and the tops from the other 3 celery stalks to a pot and cook on medium until all vegetables are soft.  Strain vegetables while keeping the broth.  Add vegetables to a food processor or blender until finely chopped; then add broth and silken tofu and puree until smooth.  

Add remaining carrots, celery, and broccoli florets to a pot with a small amount of water to keep it from sticking.  Sautee until soft.  Add soup mixture to pot and heat until warm.  Add fresh ground pepper or other spices to taste.

If you prefer all puree, you can cook all the vegetables together in the first step and finish once smooth.  

This recipe worked great for all the vegetables I had laying around in the fridge that I needed to use before they went bad.  I have a habit of buying more things than I use in a week.  Next time you have vegetables ready to spoil, grab some broth and make a soup! Perfect for colds nights such as this.  Mmmm.  

Mexican Rice

Today is another "left over mash-up"! 

Throughout the week I have accumulated left over: Black beans, diced tomatoes, and enchilada sauce. I thought: What is a quick and easy meal I can make and combine them?

I decided to cook up some brown rice and toss it all together and voila! 

Mexican Rice

Ingredients
2c cooked Brown Rice
1c Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1c Diced Tomatoes, drained
1c Enchilada Sauce
1Tbsp Chili Lime Seasoning or Taco Seasoning (or more to taste)

Not bad for leftovers!  Lately too many things have been going bad in my fridge because I don't know what to do with them, and my goal is to have bad food no more; so expect many other "experiments" in the kitchen coming soon!

Black Bean Burgers v2

I came across an episode of The Vegan Zombie the other day for some Spicy Black Bean Burgers.  Having bought a 108oz can of black beans from Sam's Club decided I needed to use them. 

Not having all the ingredients The Vegan Zombie called for, I decided to "wing it" using his recipe as a base.

Ingredients:
¼-½c + 2tbsp oil (I used peanut)
1 large potato
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1½c Black Beans
1tsp thyme
1tsp rosemary
1tsp creole seasoning
1tsp fresh ground pepper
½ sage
½ salt

Directions:
Cube the potato.  Add to pan with spices and 2Tbsp oil and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.

Next, add garlic and mix, cooking for another 10 minutes, tossing every few minutes. 

Add black beans and cook until soft.  Approx another 5 minutes and mash with a potato masher.

Remove from heat and place in a bowl until cool.  Once cooled, form into patties. 

Dredge in a little bit of flour.  Add oil to pan until the bottom is completely covered.  Add patties and
cook for 5-7 minutes on each side until it appears crisp.

Black Bean Burger v2

 
Mmm! 

Simple Soup

My hubby has been feeling under the weather today and requested I make soup.  I didn't have much, but figured I could make something work with what I had lying around.

Ingredients
4c Vegetable Broth
1-14.5oz can diced tomatoes
1-15.5oz can Chick Peas (drained and rinsed)
2c frozen mixed vegetables (corn, peas, and green beans were in my mix)
3oz Rice Sticks

Directions
1) Add all ingredients except noodles into pot and cook covered on medium-high heat, stirring often.
2) After 25 minutes (or when chickpeas are tender), reduce heat to medium-low, add the rice sticks to the soup and cook for another 5 minutes.

Total prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 25 minutes

The noodles sucked up a lot of the broth.Might add more broth, more cooking time for the chickpeas and less noodles.

Christmas breakfast, the "Vegal", and the best gifts ever!

Hubby eating his first Vegal

A happy Hubby is one of my favorite things to see!  For this Christmas, among the new tripod and camera bag, my wonderful husband told me he is going vegan in 2012!

To celebrate, I made an attempt to veganize one of his favorite meals - a Sheetz Schmagel.  For those of you who have never been to a Sheetz, a "Schmagel" is basically a bagel and egg sandwich with toppings of your choice.  I dubbed this new creation, "The Vegal".

For the "egg"  modified my favorite Tofu Scramble recipe.





Ingredients
1 vegan bagel of choice (hubby loves the "everything" bagel)
1 block extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
2 Tbsp Earth Balance (although this may have been a little much.  Would like to try it with 1 Tbsp next time.)
1-2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder
½ tsp Tumeric
2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast

Directions (Makes 4)
1. Drain and press the tofu (I usually squeeze out what I can in the container, rinse, squeeze again, then wrap in a paper towel and squeeze a few more times.  Be careful not to squeeze too hard or you'll crumble the tofu.)
2. Heat up a large frying pan on medium heat with the Earth Balance.
3. Cut tofu into 4 even slices across the length of the tofu.
4. In a small bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.
5. Place the tofu slices onto a plate and cover the tofu lightly with the half the soy sauce then sprinkle on the spices, saving half for the other side.  Flip the slices over and repeat on the other side.
6. Place the slices in the pan, flipping often.  Cook until desired consistency (about 15-20 minutes). 
7. Toast your bagel in a toaster, add the tofu patty and desired toppings and your Vegal is complete! 
Toppings I recommend: lettuce, spinach, tomato, avocado, green peppers. 


I will be experimenting with this recipe more in the future until I feel it is "just right", but for now Hubby is satisfied and approves.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
Love,
Brit at VeganAmore

 

Super Green Smoothie

If I haven't mentioned it, I got a Magic Bullet for my birthday and it was one of the greatest gifts!  Smoothies galore!

I have made multiple fruit smoothies with a frozen fruit mix and fruit juice or some form of mate tea or green tea and all turned out delish!  This time I decided to try something "green".

Super Green Smoothie
¼ Florida Avocado
1 ripe kiwi
¼ c spinach (approx)
1 banana
1 c Acai Matetini Tea from Teavanna
1 Tbsp chia seeds

Gluten Free Vegan Sugar Cookies

Hello, World! 

It has been a while since I have posted to my blog.  Things have been a little hectic with my last job, but I quit there and will get back to cooking once again!  I am working with a knife-sharpener now (Cory - Master of Knives) at different Farmer's Markets in the area and have access to fresh fruits and veggies daily! 

With the Christmas season already here, it's time for Christmas cookies!  A friend and I have been talking about gluten-free baking lately, so I thought I'd have a go at it!  I combined several recipes and tried a few different things, but I think I finally have it!  I am going to attempt to replicate it on my Sunday bake-a-thon to confirm.

Gluten-Free Vegan Sugar Cookies
1 ¾ cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
¾ tapioca flour
¼ cup cornstarch
1 tsp. baking powder
1 stick or ½ cup vegan margarine (I use Earth Balance)
¾ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup vanilla almond milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1) Preheat the oven to 350º F.

2) Stir together flours, cornstarch, and baking powder in a bowl.

3) In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the margarine to soften it. Add the sugar to the margarine and beat to combine well. Add the almond milk and vanilla to the margarine-sugar mixture and beat until combined and smooth.

4) Add the flour mixture to the margarine mixture and kneed until it turns into dough.

5) Place a little flour on wax or parchment paper and a rolling pin and roll out the dough until a quarter-inch thick and cut into shapes.  Place the shapes on the prepared baking sheet covered in parchment paper and bake for 10-13 minutes. Cool cookies on cookie sheets for a minute or two and then transfer them to wire racks. Once completely cooled, decorate as you please!

Icing
3 cups gluten-free powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla or lemon extract
3-4 Tbsp almond milk (use plain if using the lemon, but vanilla works great with the vanilla extract for an extra kick!)
Divide it into several bowls and add some vegan food coloring so you can decorate!  

Gluten Free Vegan Sugar Cookies

Vegan Banana Waffles

Hello out there!  Yes, I am still alive.   My life has gotten so hectic, I have neglected this blog yet again.  I've mostly been strictly cooking out of the McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook, so I have been unable to post actual recipes here for a while, but I will try to post sporadically whenever I make something off the web or one of my own concoctions. 

Vegan Banana Waffles
(Don't mind the crappy cell phone pic)

I started with this recipe: Vegan Banana Waffles, but modified it slightly.  I used:

    1 3/4 cups nondairy milk
    1/2 cup coconut oil
    2 cups whole wheat flour   
    1 tablespoon brown sugar
    4 teaspoons baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1 banana


Directions:

1. Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions.

2. Mix dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.  Add nondairy milk and coconut oil and mix. 

3. Mush ripe banana and add to mixture.  Beat on med-high with hand mixer until banana thoroughly blended.

4. Scoop batter into 2/3-1 measuring cup and pour into Belgium sized waffle iron (use less for regular waffle iron). Let cook for about 6-8 minutes, or according to directions (usually when the steam stops coming out from the edges). 

5. Remove waffles with a fork and let cool on wire rack. Serve with jam, maple syrup, or flavored agave nectar.

Makes 4 Belgium sized waffles
Preparation time: 10 min.
Cooking time: 6-8 min. per waffle

Sweet or Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Squash

I have decided I am going to try to create one dish entirely on my own each week and I have been craving some nice roasted veggies and here is what I came up with.

1/2 Butternut Squash, seeded and cubed
3 Medium Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 Tbsp olive oil
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Creole Seasoning

I had so many I had two trays, so I thought I would try them two different ways.

First combine all the potatoes and squash and add olive oil to mix around and a little on each pan. Mix around so it the potatoes and squash are lightly covered in oil.  Disperse evenly between two baking sheets.

The Sweet:
On the sweet pan, lightly sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg to your liking and mix around.

The Spicy:
For the spicy pan, lightly sprinkle with creole seasoning and mix.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, flipping every 15 minutes.  If you like them soft, this worked perfect.  If you like them a little crispy, I'd leave them in another 15 minutes.

Spicy Chik'n Quesadillas

My Nikon's battery was dead, so I had to use the Droid cam.

We had some leftover chik'n from the homemade "Chipotle" and needed to use it before it was gone.  Without having all the "Chipotle" ingredients, I thought I would throw together some quesadillas.

Ingredients:
Wheat Tortillas
Vegan Cheddar (My favorite is Follow Your Heart Vegan Cheddar)
Chipotle style Chik'n
Saintly Black and Gold Salsa from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
Salsa (I used Great Value Peach Pineapple Salsa)

Both the chik'n and Saintly Black and Gold Salsa were very spicy on their own, but combined in the tortilla, cheese, and salsa it wasn't too hot and turned out very well.  I would definitely make it again.

Verdict: 8/10

Strawberry Granola Cereal

As I am trying to plan my meals for the week and suddenly hunger hits and I needed something quick before grocery shopping. 

Strawberry Granola Cereal

½c Granola

3/4c Strawberries, chopped

½c Plain Rice Milk

Drizzle some agave over it and mix

Quick snack to hold me over, but wasn't quite what I was craving seeing it's 5PM and no longer breakfast.  But at least I know a great breakfast alternative for the future!  

Rating: 8/10 as a breakfast, but would probably up the portion.  

Pine Nut Avocado Salad

After a vegan dog & and a half, and some grocery shopping, I was hungry again.  I had some salad mix I had to get rid of along with some leftover dressing from my Strawberry Chik'n Salad, so I threw together some other recipe leftovers and made a salad.

Ingredients:
Organic Spring Mix Greens
Handful of Pine Nuts
Avocado Slices
Raspberry Dressing

Avocado Salsa Burger

Being out in the sun really works up an appetite, so my husband and I wanted something quick, easy, and filling.

Ingredients:
Boca Burger
Peach Pineapple Salsa
Sliced Avocado
Bun

Less than 5 minutes and you are ready to go!  Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Smoothie

Not that I needed anymore chocolate after yesterday's chocolate overload, but after spending the day practicing Melissa Cross' The Zen of Screaming my voice is a little sore and could use some yummy cold goodness.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Smoothie
1c Cup Peanut Butter
2c Vanilla Almond Milk
2 Frozen Bananas
½c Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
<¼c chunked chocolate (left overs from the melted chocolate I used for chocolate covered strawberries last night)
a few ice cubes (we used 6.  Probably could have used more)

I must say.... it is DELICIOUS!  Reminds me of the "Protein Packer" smoothie I used to get at my favorite smoothie place, Pulp, back in Ohio.  We used to get it after work outs at the gym, so off for a walk I go!

P&B's Vegan Lasagna

Howdy readers, this is Paul; Brit's assistance for her vegan meals. I'm not vegan myself, but I do enjoy some vegan meals. This recipe was made by my mother, altered by me, then adapted for Brit's tastes and vegan lifestyle. Here's how ours went:

Ingredients

2 blocks of vegan mozzarella cheese

1 box of lasagna noodles (we used rice this time, my first attempt with rice noodles)

2 cups tofu "ricotta" (We used the recipe from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch)
2 big cans of pasta sauce of your choice. (I make my own, which might be in a future post here, so check back for it folks. Most people who try it say it's their favorite. [/pimping])

Process:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Take your pan (we used a rectangular glass pan) and coat the bottom with sauce. Then put a layer of noodles down, cover that in more sauce, then add a layer of mozzarella cheese. Repeat this process (while mixing in 2 layers of the ricotta in place of the mozzarella) till you reach your desired height. (I like mine deep dish.) The top layer should be mozzarella, enough to cover the top fully. Now cover in foil, and cook for 1 hour. At the 45 minute mark I like to uncover the foil on the dish to let the cheese brown. If it needs more melting and browning just kick it up to broil for 5-10 minutes and that'll get the job done. And that should be all folks. Now go enjoy some tasty lasagna, vegan style!

Bourbon Chik'n

My roommate has been craving bourbon chicken ever since he saw I bought bourbon for my Bourbon Baked Beans, so we decided to make a vegan version to try.

Ingredients:

2 packages Morningstar Meal Starters Chik'n Strips 

1-2 cup Broccoli Flouretts

1-2 cup Pea Pods

Sauce (we used this recipe for the sauce:Bourbon Chicken):

4 ounces soy sauce
½ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ginger
2 tablespoons onion flakes
1/3 cup bourbon

Cook the Morningstar Chik'n to package instructions.  Mix all sauce ingredients together and marinade chik'n overnight in a ziploc bag or container.  Shake container a few times through out the day if you are able.

Bake chik'n and marinade in oven at 325º for 30-45 minutes, stirring or basting frequently.  Meanwhile, cook broccoli and peas in a frying pan with ½ water until softened.

Combine bourbon chik'n and veggies and serve over rice.

Verdict:  According to my roommate, chef assistant Paul, it was nothing like the mall bourbon chicken as the recipe said.  I enjoyed it, but probably wouldn't make it again for myself.  We may be experimenting with other bourbon chik'n recipes in the future.