Crispy Gardein Sandwich

Delicious and beautiful

I've been eating at home a lot and cooking AND taking photos. The posting part has just escaped me lately.

This sandwich is amazingly easy and quite delicious. It's also sort of elegant looking with the flat bun and fresh spinach. It's almost like a flat bread sandwich, which if you ever eat out or watch tv - you know it is so hip right now.

Pure Evil: The Best Sandwich Ever

I make two things fairly often: "cheesy" garlic bread and tofu scramble sandwiches. They are really simple and incredibly satisfying, which is probably why I make them so often. The other day, I got to thinking, these two dishes would go pretty well together. I could take two slices of "cheesy" garlic bread and make a tofu scramble sandwich!!!

Last Minute Vegan Gifts: The Conscious Cook

I love finding new cook books that are able to give you something different. A lot of the time, you'll buy one, and get a lot of overlap in recipes, which isn't always bad, but it is uninteresting. But Tal Ronnen's "The Conscious Cook" gives a lot of variety and modernizes a lot of your old recipe books by incorporating things like Gardein and Field Roast.

This book is great for veteran vegans and newcomers. It contains high quality glossy pages full of amazing [[and sometimes not so simple]] recipes, plus information pages. It has interviews with the best vegan restaurants, with the creator of gardein, and "best of" pages with his favorites-- from his favorite types of mushrooms, to the best items to pickle. I especially love the utility recipes, like Ronnen's cashew cream. And if you get bored of Ronnen's style, he has guest chef recipes in there, too.

I've only made one recipe so far-- the Cajun Portobello Sandwich with Avocado and Remoulade. It has a lot of flavor-- the mushrooms hold a very meat-like savoriness, and the remoulade is a nice tangy accompaniment. It's easily one of my favorite sandwiches to make. And if you're really into cooking, you'll have a lot of fun making this. This recipce wound up only making two sandwichs for us-- mostly because I like a lot of portobello in my sandwich, so you may want to double up the portobello and marinade recipe. You get lots of remoulade left over, too, which is nice for other sandwiches you make throughout the week.


Anyway, try out this recipe, and buy the book. It's amazing. Get it for someone for Christmas. I don't think Ronnen ever mentions veganism in the book. He calls them "meat-free" recipes. Which is nice if you want to get this for someone who eats meat, and may want to incorporate some "meat-free" cooking into their lives. Either way, get it-- it's beautiful and the recipes are spectacular.

[[Cajun Portobello Sandwich with Avocado and Remoulade]]

Mushrooms:
Pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 shallots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 to 3 tablespoons low-salt Cajun seasoning, divided use
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
4 large portobello mushrooms, stemmed, gills removed, cut on the bias into 1/4-inch slices

Assembly:
About 1/4 cup rémoulade (recipe follows)
4 soft sandwich rolls, split
4 to 8 romaine lettuce leaves, rinsed and dried
1 large tomato, thinly sliced
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pit removed and sliced

Rémoulade:
1 cup vegan mayonnaise
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons capers, minced
2 teaspoons minced shallot
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
2 teaspoons minced red bell pepper

For the mushrooms: Place a large pot over medium heat. Sprinkle the bottom with a pinch of salt and heat for 1 minute. Add the oil and heat for 1 minute, being careful not to let it smoke. This will create a nonstick effect.

Add the shallots and garlic and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until softened. Add 1 tablespoon of the Cajun seasoning, along with the wine, vinegar and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and cook for 1 minute. Pour the mushrooms and liquid into a shallow container, cover and set aside to marinade for 1 hour.

Remove the mushrooms from the marinade and press between paper towels or in a cotton dish towel to remove the excess marinade, then sprinkle with the remaining Cajun seasoning, pressing the seasoning into both sides of the mushroom slices. Discard the marinade.

In a cast-iron skillet over medium high heat, cook the mushrooms in a single layer (you may have to do this in two batches) until blackened, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate.

To assemble: Spread a spoonful of the rémoulade on one half of each roll. Top each with 1 or 2 lettuce leaves and a few slices of tomato and avocado. Divide the mushroom slices among the rolls. Close each sandwich, cut in half and serve.

Makes 4 sandwiches.

For the rémoulade: Place mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, salt, capers, shallot, parsley and pepper in a food processor or blender and blend on high for 1 minute. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Makes 1 1/4 cups.

Thanksgiving and an Ode to Pesto

Thanksgiving was good. I got to get in Mimi's way while I tried to cook a whole other thrown-together Thanksgiving meal. It turned out well all things considered. I made a green bean casserole the night before, baked it without the onions, and carried it in a cooler as we drove to KY. I baked it there with some fancy fried onions I found at whole foods [[vegan!]]-- that way the onions didn't get soggy sitting in the cooler. Other than that, Mimi set aside some potatoes to make vegan mashed potatoes, and there were some sides of vegetables free of butter. Notably, this bean/corn stew type thing that Dave made the night before. And then the Tofurky with stuffing and gravy.






















I don't have any new recipes for you, as this weekend we only had about 60 dollars until payday which means no grocery shopping, which means easy, thrown together food. I do however love pesto, and made some before we left to KY for Thanksgiving. So, I got to make some stuff with that. This isn't the healthiest post ever, mind you. It is the holidays, though, so it's to be expected. Don't worry, you'll probably join a gym for your new year's resolution.


Pesto pizza: whole wheat crust, pesto with cilantro, sauteed peppers, onions, and garlic, chipotle field roast sausages, and pickled jalapenos


Pesto sandwich: Fried tofu marinated in pesto, pesto spread, vegenaise, and fried onions on ezekiel toast. It's a low fat dish. :)

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Andrew has been sick with a cold since last Friday, so I haven't really cooked much. I've just been getting takeout and trying to make him feel better, while simultaneously feeling like crap myself. I finally went back to work on Tuesday while Andrew stayed home and played Left 4 Dead all day. Butthead.

Anyway, LAST week I was really craving spinach artichoke dip and apparently Andrew and I have completely different memories of the non-vegan version of this dip. Whenever I had it, my mom bought it from Trader Joe's or something and it came all smooth in a container. It wasn't super chunky or cheesy. It was like a smoother, kinda chunky dip. If that makes sense. And I guess Andrew always got it at restaurants, really chunky, coated with lots of cheese. He called this more of an artichoke pesto. But it's not. There's no oil, and it's thick and creamy with cream cheesy goodness.

So, if you have Andrew's memory, then this isn't really the spinach artichoke dip of your dreams. You could probably make it chunkier and add a bunch of vegan cheese. I'm not in love with vegan cheese, so I stay clear. It is, however, a really great flavorful dip or spread. I put it on a sandwich with some Italian marinaded tofu.

[[Spinach Artichoke Dip]]

1 container of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
1 large chopped shallot
3/4 cup of jarred and drained artichoke hearts with 1 tbs marinade
1 packed cup of spinach
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
salt and pepper to taste

-- In a blender, mix cream cheese, garlic, and shallots until smooth.
-- Then add the salt, pepper, artichoke hearts and marinade, plus half of the spinach. Blend it all roughly but not into a smooth consistency. You want some chunks of artichoke still.
-- In a medium sized sauce pan, add the rest of spinach and cook until wilted. Add the contents from the blender and warm on the stove. Serve warm with chips or crostinis.

Yes, I do eat brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes on the daily now.

Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Sandwich

I hate to be completely unoriginal, but this is a darn good sandwich. And if you don't roast at home, you should try it. You can throw 'em in an oven and go play xbox or read or something [[Anyone play halo or L4D?]]. I can't imagine anything easier.

Bodega in the Short North makes a really good roasted vegetable sandwich, so if you're even lazier than this recipe, you should go try theirs. Sub in a spinach salad for their mixed greens salad, and you've got yourself a hardy little plate of vegetables. And if you hate vegetables, go to the grand opening of Rad Dog at Hal & Al's bar this Friday! Because their hot dogs are awesome. But I hope you don't hate vegetables. You'd be a sucky vegan.

[[Balsamic Roasted Vegetable Sandwich]]
makes 2 large sandwiches

1 cup chopped broccoli, small bite-sized pieces
1 cup chopped cauliflower, small bite-sized pieces
1/2 of large zucchini, chopped small
1/2 of a large red bell pepper, chopped small
1 large shallot chopped
2-3 cloves of minced garlic
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil

4 slices of whole wheat bread, preferably ezekiel
1 tbs vegenaise
1 sliced roma tomato
1/2 cup of baby spinach

*Pre-heat oven to 475 F.
-- Chop all vegetables and place in a large baking dish so every piece is touching the bottom of the pan [[no piles!]].
-- Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Mix with a spoon to evenly distribute.
-- Add the garlic and seasoning. Again, mix to evenly distribute.
-- Cook in pre-heated oven for 35-45 minutes, until vegetables are crispy and tender.
-- Toast bread, spread 1/2 tbs of vegenaise on each sandwich, top with roasted vegetables, spinach and tomatoes.

Vegan MoFo Day 18: Seitan Cheesesteak

This will be a short post today. Andrew and I woke up late after a night at the Haunted Hoochie, and today we're trying to find a new gym to sign up with. We started actively running at the end of last winter and now that it's getting to be freezing cold again, we need to find a way to get our exercise on! So, hopefully we'll find a good place to go.

So, ths sandwich isn't exactly a cheesesteak. It's more like a seitan fillet with shallots, red peppers, and daiya cheese. Like a fancy cheesesteak. I've been trying to use the daiya cheese in different ways, and this so far has been my favorite. The daiya cheese has a lot more flavor than the FYH cheese I usually use, so it worked with with the spicy seitan fillets to compliment the heat. If you can't really handle spicy, I'd use less karen's hot wing sauce. That stuff is REALLY hot.

[[Seitan Cheesesteak]]

2 seitan fillets
2 shallots, sliced
1/4 of a red bell pepper, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs karen's hot wing sauce
1 tbs flour
1 tbs creole seasoning
1 tbs vegetable oil
1/2 cup italian blend daiya cheese
4 pieces of ezekiel sesame bread

-- Marinade seitan in karen's hot wing sauce.
-- Sauteed shallots and peppers with garlic in a little olive oil until limp an tender.
-- Dredge fillets in flour and creole seasoning. Heat vegetable oil on medium high.
-- When heated, cook each side of the fillets until browned and crispy.
-- In the pan, on medium heat, top with the sauteed peppers, shallots, and daiya cheese. Cover with lid until cheese is melted.
-- Put on toasted ezekiel bread with a little ketchup or whatever you like to put on your sandwiches.

Tempeh Salad & Fat Girls

Andrew's stunt is under two weeks away. Our venue has changed, due to Liquids' rudeness and incompetence as a host. Or hostess I should say, heh. He'll be indoors, now, in a display window at the Short North's soon to be open [[and veg-friendly]] Travonna Coffee House. I'm going to be paper bagging his meals to and from during the stunt. We're aiming for a "mostly raw" menu to aid him in staying away -- any advice from veteran raw foodists would be appreciated. I'll be there a lot, along with our camera crew. Come visit him. Play some xbox. It'll be fun.

We've also got his promotional poster made by Ohio artist, Ben Chaney. I love scherenschnitte, and I think this poster came out amazingly well. Buy one if you're interested.

The stunt has been keeping me pretty busy. Both mentally and physically. I haven't really made many exciting things lately, which is why I've been on a mini-hiatus. A lot of creole pasta and variations of beans and rice. Delicious, but probably not worthy of posting.

I made this a couple weeks ago and have just neglected to post about it. It's a nod to the classic chicken salad, but with tempeh and a little spice. It's great on a grainy bread with lettuce, tomato, and onion.


[[Tempeh Salad]]

one package tempeh, steamed
1/4 cup shredded carrot
1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
about 3 tbs vegenaise, more if preferred
1 tbs Dijon mustard
1 tsp cayenne pepper, more or less depending on heat pref
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 pinch of dill
a dash of salt, white pepper, and thyme

-- Boil about 2 inches of water in a pot with a loose fitting lid. Cut tempeh in half into two squares. Place in boiling water to steam for 5 minutes.
-- Remove and cut into cubes once cooled.
-- Combine all ingredients, and chill for at least one hour.

BBQ Seitan Sandwich

I think Andrew and I come off strange to a lot of people. Many Friday nights are spent at the track, running, while everyone else goes to bars and drinks the week away. When we do go out, it's often to coffee shops and movies and great restaurants. Which isn't so abnormal, but we go to vegan spots, get soy lattes, and sometimes see independent films and that's odd to people. When we have office lunches, I often don't go or if I do go, I just don't eat. Andrew is a magician-- as awesome as that is, I think many people don't understand why someone with a Journalism degree becomes one. I was on my way to becoming a dentist, but I gave that up to be anything else. A cook, a painter, I'm still really not sure. I got married when I was barely 20 to a guy I knew all but a few months.

But of all these strange, alienating things, I think being vegan is the most bizarre to people. It makes it hard to go out to dinner or do most anything with people who aren't vegan. Whenever there's huge family events, I'm often stuck in the kitchen getting in every one's way making a whole separate meal for Andrew and me. Sometimes we just eat before, and show up after everyone else eats.

Basil Oven Roasted Tomatoes on a Tofu Wrap

Roma tomatoes before roasting

This is my "I'm sorry, let me bust out the most awesome meal ever" lunch wrap. I got short with Andrew on Friday and I felt bad, so while he was napping I tried to think of the most deliciously decadent wrap ever. This wrap is loaded with great stuff - a basil cream, roasted roma tomatoes, sauteed baby bellas, red onions, and cornmeal fried tofu. The result is a sweet and savory combination of flavors with a hint of garlic and basil.

If you've never roasted tomatoes at home, you should definitely try it. Your house will smell like garlic-y, basil-y goodness. They're also one of the simplest ways to make something instantly beautiful and fancy looking.

[[Basil Roasted Roma Tomatoes]]
This is enough for 2 wraps. You can also serve these as an appetizer. If you wanted to get crazy, when they're done roasting, grate some Follow Your Heart Mozzarella and leave under a low broiler for about 2 minutes.

one roma tomato, in 5 slices
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs dried basil
2-3 gloves of garlic, minced or pressed
a dash of salt

-- Preheat the oven to 300 F
-- Slice roma into 4-5 thin slices and place on a baking sheet
-- Coat each slice with olive oil, front and back
-- Season with garlic, basil, and salt
-- Roast in oven for about 15-20 minutes. They should look slightly withered and be sizzling.

Roma tomatoes after roasting on top of cornmeal tofu. See, doesn't it look fancy?

[[Crispy Cornmeal Tofu]]
This also serves 2 people. I've been using chickpea flour a lot lately when I batter and fry things. I have to say, it works amazingly well. Before, I would just dip it in the bread crumbs or whatever I was breading with and it would fall apart in the pan and burn. Even white flour and water mixtures didn't seem to work well. This is by far my best experience I've had with battering.

1/2 block of tofu
chickpea/water slurry

• 2-3 tbs chickpea flour
• 4-5 tbs water

cornmeal mixture

• 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 1/2 tbs cholula seasoning, or any Mexican spice medley
• a dash or two of chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

vegetable oil for frying

-- Wrap tofu in a cheese cloth or in paper towels and place something heavy on top. Press for about an hour to remove excess moisture and to ensure a nice, firm texture. It will fry a lot better if you do this, but it's not necessary.
-- If you're making the whole wrap, start this while your tomatoes are roasting. Cut tofu into 2 inch rectangular cubes.
-- Create a batter station, with the chickpea flour slurry and cornmeal mixture. Heat the vegetable oil on medium high heat.
-- Dip tofu is slurry then cornmeal mixture, then fry on eat side about 1-2 minutes.


For the wrap, I just chopped some raw red onions and sauteed a handful of chopped mushrooms in olive oil. Then I mixed some tofutti sour cream with lemon juice, basil, and parsley to make an Italian-y cream sauce. I wrapped it all in a whole wheat tortilla. Add a little romaine lettuce for some texture contrast and it's perfect.

Some Weekend Concoctions

I used to get a meatball sub from subway almost every day on my way to work in Berkeley. I'd walk to work every day, and the street I turned on had two places-- a McDonald's and a Subway. I thought the Subway was the lesser of the two evils, but I suppose getting a meatball sub was the worst thing I could have done. But do you blame me? The melty mozzarella with the sweet, tanginess of the marinara on an herby loaf. It was amazing.

I've been meaning to recreate something like that for a long time. This weekend I was feeling lazy and uninspired, and this reflects that. It wasn't to die for or spot on "meatball sub". It was just a tasty medley of crap I threw together. We had some mozzarella in the fridge and some marinara sauce left over from the pizza night, thus this was born.

I used an Ezekiel bun, whole wheat. Then I just grilled some tempeh and onions with some bragg's and spices and god only knows what else.


Then for breakfast on Sunday, Andrew was telling me about this restaurant he went to where he first discovered nutritional yeast [[the guys a vegan for years and never even heard of it, crazy right?]]. Their tofu scramble is chunky and really crispy on the outside. They put it in tacos and stuff, too. I tried to recreate this and although I liked it, I wasn't able to get it quite as crispy as I'd like. Once I get it right, I'll let you know.


It's a whole wheat, whole grain tortilla with chunky tofu scramble, spicy spinach, chopped jalapenos, chopped scallions, and some cholula hot sauce.

Tempeh-Avocado-Chipotle Mayo Sandwich

To go with the tomato bisque that I posted about yesterday, I made a tempeh-avocado-chipotle mayo sandwich. I don't know what to call it-- a TAC? The name needs work.

I just marinated the tempeh, fried it in a little oil, and topped it with some awesomeness. It was really easy, I just wanted something to go with the soup. It has a smoky flavor [[from the chipotle mayo]] and a freshness [[from the lime avocado]].

[[The TAC]]
This makes four sandwiches.

chipotle mayo:
one chipotle, seeded [[they usually come in adobo sauce, canned]]
5 tbs mayo

-- Remove one chipotle from the can [[if you seal it tightly, the rest will last a good week in the fridge]]. Cut a hole on the top, and be sure to remove ALL the seeds. Chop it up really well. In a blender, blend the mayo and chopped chipotle. It won't blend well, you'll still have chunks in it. But that's ok. Refrigerate until ready to use.

lime avocado:
one very ripe avocado, smashed
1 tsp dried cilantro
1 tbs lime juice, fresh
a pinch of salt

-- Add all ingredients together and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to use.

marinade:
1/2 cup white cooking wine
2 tbs bragg's liquid aminos, or just soy sauce
3-4 cloves garlic minced

1 package of tempeh
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

-- Cut tempeh in half length-wise. Then, slice the halves down the middle so you have four, even, bread-shaped squares. Mix all ingredients for the marinade, and lay each piece in the marinade for about 30 minutes. Rub the garlic on each piece, making sure it doesn't sink to the bottom.
-- After 30 minutes, heat some olive oil on medium-high heat in a pan and fry on each side until slightly browned and crispy. about 5 minutes per side.

the sandwich:
chipotle mayo
lime avocado
marinaded tempeh, 4 slices
about a handful white onions, chopped
8 toasted pieces of sesame bread, Ezekiel brand [[or whatever]]

-- Take two pieces of toast, put some chipotle mayo on one side, and some avocado on the other. Place a piece of tempeh between 'em and top with onions and some lettuce. Slap it together and cut it in half. Eat.

Ever been to Bodega Cafe?

If you're sick of the uppity vibe of On The Fly and just want a good salad or sandwich with a micro-brewed beer in a casual hipster scene, you should go to Bodega Cafe. As a hybrid restaurant, their waiters and waitresses are pretty in touch with what's vegan-- ours knew to mention that whey was in one of the breads, a far cry from most waiters. Although, I recommend you be specific about your veganism. They'll put butter on your side bread, or cheese on your salad if you're not too careful. Andrew had a spinach salad WITHOUT feta and with mandarins, shallots, red onions, Roma tomatoes, and a cilantro-lime vinaigrette. Their multi-grain bread seems to be their only vegan option from what we gathered, but you can ask if you go in. I had a tempeh salad sandwich, slabbed with lots of vegenaise [[which is awesome??]] and a side salad with romaine, red onions, and Roma tomatoes and a delicious vinaigrette. You can also get chips and pickle as a side. They had a few other vegan menu items, like a hummus sandwich that could be made vegan, or a roasted vegetable sandwich, and some other salads.


Andrew's spinach salad


My tempeh salad sandwich

The wait was long. It was a nice day in Columbus, and all the restaurants were packed in the Short North. I'm sure it was the sudden surge in business that they weren't ready for. But even so, it was a long wait. The bread was also a bit dry, but not enough to sabotage the sandwich completely.

I know I said we weren't going to eat out any more. But we were over there on business, and all Andrew had was a spinach salad. What could be unhealthy about that?

BBQ Tofu Avocado Sandwich

[[BBQ Tofu Avocado Sandwich]]
I'm not a huge fan of BBQ but this sandwich is such a delicious subtle combination of BBQ and avocado, it works. I used Ezekiel bread but any multi-grain bread will do. This makes two sandwiches.

* 2 Tbs grape seed oil, or any high heat oil will do
* 1 Tbs Bragg's liquid aminos
* 1/2 block of tofu thinly sliced and cut into triangles
* 2-3 Tbs. of Jack Daniel's Spicy BBQ sauce, or any other kind you like

* 1 avocado sliced and lightly salted
* 1 small tomato sliced
* Some vegenaise
* 4 slices of Ezekiel

-- Pre-heat your oven to 375 F. Get a shallow casserole dish and place the grape seed oil in the pan. Lay your triangle sliced of tofu in the dish and drizzle with Bragg's. Place in the oven and allow to sizzle for 10 minuets. Then, remove and flip tofu over, and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove and coat with BBQ sauce. Return to oven and cook another 15 minutes.
-- Toast your bread, spread vegenaise on one side. Then top with the BBQ tofu, 1/2 avocado, and tomato slices.
-- I served it with a side of Greek potatoes from Vcon. Later for dinner, I used some of the reserved sauce and potatoes and heated them up in the microwave with spinach. It made a really delicious hot-tangy salad.

The Weekend Regiment

Instead of doing my three usual brackets, since I'm so far behind, I'll just do a brief synopsis:

- Breakfast for Andy as per usual -- his Ezekiel with Rice Milk and Blueberries
- Friday lunch: an Awesome burrito I made -- tofu black bean burrito
- Saturday lunch: TLT from the Wellness Forum [[Clintonville]]
- Sunday lunch: Amy's quarter pounders with spinach, onions, spicy mayo & kethcup
- Friday dinner: some Amy's frozen stuff [[honestly I can't remember]]
- Saturday dinner: V'con Seitan Piccata with some alterations:
* used whole wheat flour to batter the setitan
* add spinach to the mashed potatoes
- Sunday dinner: An awesome sandwich I made -- lemon seitan sandwich

Busy weekend, sorry about the delay. Snacks were some pears, grapes, and bananas, and a couple clif bars here and there. We ran on Saturday -- Andrew's really progressed and upped his game since the regiment. He'll usually run 1/2 mile, walk 1/4, run 1/2 mile, walk 1/4, then run a 1/2 mile. This week he did his first full consecutive mile, plus another 3/4 of a mile. He's really building his strength and getting into shape for his event. Read more about his progress.

Garlic Avocado Sandwich, Day 3

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Breakfast: 1/3 cup Ezekiel Golden Flax cereal with organic blueberries and 1/3 cup vanilla rice milk; organic decaf green tea
Snack: Clif Bar; organic decaf green tea
Lunch: [[all organic again]] Garlic Avocado Sandwich with Spanish Salad; thinly sliced marinated tofu, garlic avocado spread, tomato, chopped red onions on Ezekiel bread; water
Snack: Clif Bar; Carrot Orange juice
Dinner: [[all organic ingredients]] Short grain brown rice with black beans and sriracha; water
-------------------------------------------------------------

[[Garlic Avocado Sandwich]]
This is a really light and delicious sandwich served cold.

- 1/4 cup white cooking win
- 1 teaspoon garlic
- some oregano, marjoram, salt, pepper
- 2 teaspoons Bragg's liquid aminos
- 1/4 block of refrigerated tofu, cut into 1/4 inch slices

** Adapted from Vcon: Marinate all ingredients in a shallow dish for 30-40 minutes. Heat oven to 400 F, cook for 20 minutes. Turn the broiler on low and heat an extra 3 minutes, flipping it over. Allow to cool.

For one sandwich:
- 2 slices of marinated tofu
- 1/2 avocado, spashed mixed with 1/4 teaspoon garlic
- 2 slices of tomato
- 1 tablespoon chopped red onion
- 2 slices Ezekiel sprouted grain bread [[or any whole wheat, multi-grain bread]]
- 1/2 recipe of smokey cheddar

** Toast bread. Spread garlic avocado, add two slices of tomato, two strips of tofu, top with onions and cheese. If you refrigerate over night, I recommend keeping the cheesy sauce out, reheating it slightly, and applying it the next day. :)
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I was surfing blogs last night in between cooking dinner and lunch for the next day [[as you can see, I was feeling lazy because I just made brown rice and beans-- with help too]], and I came across a new cookbook! Chef Bryant Terry [[from Oakland, CA-- rock throwing distance to Berkeley. Regional home town pride??]] has a cookbook called "Vegan Soul Kitchen", which I'm so excited to check out. From this teaser article it sounds so good. Garlic corn bread croutons? Something so simple and amazing like that makes want to bonk my head and say "duh". Definitely considering making the Tomato bisque from Candle Cafe's cookbook with those croutons. Mmm.....

I'm also working on posting some recipes I altered before the regiment that I haven't gotten around to. I veganized more Mesa Grill Recipes-- Flay's signature 16 spice rub, on tofu! Also, with a mushroom sauce over wild rice with some cilantro oil. Hopefully I get some of that posted tonight!

Vegan Gyros with Tatziki

Last night, I wanted to try something different, so I looked up a vegan gyro recipe. Vegan Dad's recipe showed up, so I thought I'd give it a look and try it out. When it comes to this stuff, though, you have to be realistic with yourself. You're not going to get the same flavors as lamb. You just won't. This tastes, really, nothing like a gyro [[and Vegan Dad admits he's never had a lamb gyro before]], but it definitely references the flavors and is DAMN good-- I can assure you of that much.



I made quite a few variations to his recipe. We went for a whole wheat pita-- tastes just as good, but it's way better for you [[and when you're frying little gyro patties in oil-- why add empty calories?]]. And don't use a pocket pita. It's just stupid.

We also used Bragg's Liquid Aminos instead of that mushroom soy sauce for two reasons: we couldn't find that mushroom soy sauce anywhere, and the Liquid Aminos give you those essential and non-essential amino acids you miss as a vegan [[more on it here]]. We left out the sage and used a tad bit more of all the spices. Instead of plain tempeh, we used flax tempeh-- it's no different and tasted great still. I also had to use a big more Vital Wheat Gluten, because it wasn't sticking. Eventually it became elastic, and I could patty and fry it. You really need to knead it, though. Next time I'll chop my onions really fine and use maybe half an onion-- the onions all sorta fell out. For the tatziki, I used 3/4 of a container of Tofutti sour cream instead of tofu-- which tasted great. As a final touch, we spread some red pepper hummus on it, with half-moon cut red onions and tomatoes. It was pretty delicious. Go check Vegan Dad.

Tempeh Ruben and a little Zen

Andy and I decided, after the delicious success of the Tempeh Ruben from Vegan with a Vengeance we made on Christmas Eve, that we should do a Ruben night for his parents, which turned into a Ruben night for me, Andy, his mom, his dad, his brother, and his brother's girlfriend. I was mini-caterer-Tracy last night. I can't imagine an easier thing to serve in mass quantities, though-- just get a bunch of plastic bags, marinate all the tempeh, get a big grill, and grill up all the bread and tempeh --and voula! It was awesome to watch Andy's meat and potatoes family really enjoy something vegan [[or as his dad affectionately calls it -- vegan shit]]. It was probably the most fattening, high calorie vegan thing I could make them-- they're not really the type for a healthy flavor, though. It was a good time.

That deliciously high calorie sandwich can't help but bring New Year's resolutions to mind, even though I've never been one for resolutions. I try to stay in the mindset that the best time to do something is now. The more you wait, the more time that's wasted. Plus, the Zen philosophies Andy's always reading gets me thinking that setting goals or starting goals is the wrong way to think-- you shouldn't commit to quit smoking in the future or commit to lose weight. Your thoughts should be centered in the present-- right now, I am no longer a smoker; right now, I am a healthy person. I feel like one of those stupid pyramid scheme, self-help seminars-- but it's really true. You won't quit smoking if you still consider yourself a smoker, right? The goal needs to be in the present. So, hopefully, any resolution I come up with, I'll keep it in the now.

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The Truth About Jalapenos

A couple nights ago Andy and I tried our hand at making some jalapeno poppers. It was a fiasco. It's safe to say I will never work with raw jalapenos again. They turned out delicious, although it was really difficult to keep the breading on the popper. When we washed out the insides of the popper, it got on our skin, under our nails, in my eyes [[apparently after washing your hands several times, it's still not safe to touch your eyes]]-- upon reflection, some gloves really would of been smart to use. The steam from the hot water brought up all the spiciness into the air, so it got in our throats, noses, and eyes. It was like cutting an onion on crack. I really didn't know jalapenos could be so spicy-- these seem so mild in restaurants, it's truly deceiving. And even after we completely removed everything from the insides, it was like playing Russian Roulette-- every now and then, one of them was unbearably spicy [[I didn't get one, but Andy, the spicy food master, was forced to drink soy milk to curb the spiciness-- a true rarity]].

But if you're braver than I and want to make these, too, I recommend not using hot water to clean them and wearing gloves. For the insides, I used some horseradish brown mustard, tofutti cream cheese, and a little vegenaise-- turned out really tasty. The breading was difficult and didn't turn out well, so maybe you have a better idea, I just dipped them in soy milk and then rolled them around in some panko bread crumbs and pan fried them in a little oil. Some stayed on but most didn't. [[I'll have pictures up soon]]

Andy also made some philly cheese steak sandwiches. We used a cheesy sauce recipe from the Veganomicon, and grilled some onions and seitan with steak seasoning. THAT turned out to be delicious.

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