despite the craziness, we have still been eating

I have had my face buried in textbooks and been so in my head lately, that I just haven't had much free fun time to catch up on everyone's blog or even update my own too often. Mad props to all my blog friends who have busier schedules than myself and still manage to keep up with our interactions. I need to pencil in my blog time, for sure!
This past weekend, although a very sad one, did include some good food. Since Jared and I couldn't officially celebrate our third wedding anniversary last Wednesday (since Jared was working), we ended up going to one of our favorite places, Doc Chey's, for lunch on Friday. I got my very favorite dish there called Spicy Garlic Eggplant with Tofu.

On Saturday we made taco salads for lunch. I cooked up some tofu crumbles with chili powder, cumin, cayenne, salt and black pepper along with a can of drained kidney beans and a splash of salsa to put atop a bowl of chopped romaine lettuce, diced tomatoes, chopped avocado and diced red onion. Since it was a salad, we used my dad's tostada vinaigrette that we call Rex Sauce (mixture of white vinegar, water, canola oil, salt and sugar) and a splash of sweet Thai chili sauce. I also placed a few corn chips on the side to crunch over top. Yum!

On Saturday night, I was feeling like having a good ol' plate of food that is good for the soul. I made fried tofu triangles that were coated in cornmeal, chipotle powder, chili powder, cumin, lemon zest and salt (inspired by the Chili-Cornmeal Crusted Tofu out of Veganomicon) along with some Cajun style red beans and rice and corn on the cob. I'm sad to say that the red beans and rice was a tad bit disappointing but what else might you expect from a packaged product? The tofu was addictive and the corn was sweeter than pie!

Okay, so after class today, dropping off the recycle items, laundry and studying, I really hope to catch up on everyone's blog today!!!

Kitchen Clean Out = Beans & Rice

Spring-cleaning has still got a hold of me! The past few days I have been throwing clutter away (which is really, really hard for me) and reorganizing the whole apartment. Part of my reorganization plan is cleaning out the kitchen cabinets/fridge and using up items that I know are getting a bit old.
On my last trip to Tampa, my Dad shared his pillow-sized sack of jasmine rice with us, so I needed to use my old supply. We also have way too many dried beans (if there is such a thing) and so I decided to make plain old black beans with rice, with a side of fried plantains and an avocado tomato salad. The beans were cooked in water, garlic, onion, olive oil, dried oregano and sofrito (that has been lurking in my fridge for way too long) for a few hours. The beans weren't nearly as good as my Dad's but they filled me up none the less. The rice wasn't all that. I don't think my (almost always) trusty steamer cooked the rice very well. It was a tad on the al dente side, which is not a good feature in rice. The avocado and tomato salad was simply an avocado, tomato, red onion, red wine vinegar, salt and olive oil. The plantains were perfectly sweet and fried in canola oil. Dessert and side dish all in one!
Since I have been so busy with stuff around the house, this meal not only got rid of a few items in my kitchen but also gave me a much needed energy boost.

Enchilada Casserole

At the beginning of the year, I vowed to eat beans everyday. I was doing well but unfortunately, beans became a weekly thing instead of a daily thing. We all know that beans are an important part of the diet, especially for vegans and vegetarians, so I am trying my best to makes beans an everyday thing again. I had a hankering for a Mexican themed dish so I came up with this enchilada inspired casserole. I fried up small pieces of tofu in a little canola oil until they were very crisp and brown. In a separate pan I sautéed red onion, red bell pepper, corn and black beans with salt, cayenne pepper, chipotle powder, chili powder and a little store bought enchilada sauce. I add the tofu to the bean mixture and combined. In a casserole pan, I coated the bottom with a touch of canola oil (to prevent sticking) and put a layer of corn tortillas, then the tofu bean filling, then another layer of corn tortillas and finally I drenched the whole thing with enchilada sauce. I baked the casserole at 375 for about 15 minutes. It didn't "hold up" like I would have liked but it was so good! Once plated, I added chopped Roma tomatoes, green onions and a little tofu sour kream.

Quadruple Bean & Double Corn Pie with Avocado

I'm not gonna lie. This meal was a lot of work. Although it was very tasty, between cooking chickpeas, black beans and dark red kidney beans, prepping the tomato/chili base and making a double corn cornbread, this is not something I will be making all the time. I started by boiling the three beans together in water, garlic and veggie bouillon cubes for about 2- 2 1/2 hours until just tender. I drained the beans and sautéed a sweet onion in a little olive oil along with chipotle and regular chili powders, cumin, paprika, garlic, salt, black pepper and cocoa powder. I added 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, which I further broke down with my immersion blender. I added the three beans into the tomato chili base and swirled in the forth bean component, a can of spicy refried pinto beans. In a separate bowl I made a cornbread topper that had pureed corn, applesauce, canola oil, sugar, all purpose flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and chopped green onions. Once the chili beans were in a casserole dish, I topped it with the cornbread mixture and baked it at 450 for about 25 minutes. I think I might have dipped into it too soon because the chili beans hadn't thickened up as much as I would have liked and the very center of the cornbread wasn't completely done. While I did have a small plate of this with some sliced avocado, I did end up putting the casserole back in the oven for the cornbread to get completely baked. Not bad, but not worth cooking in a hot kitchen all day!

well folks, I broke my arm today

Jared and I were playing tennis and I went back for that perfect shot, tripped and landed right on my arm. I broke the base of my left radius (thank god I'm right handed), right near my elbow, so needless to say, I won't be able to cook for a while. Luckily, I can still eat AND I happened to marry a guy who knows how to cook! Jared said he would keep my blog going. So, stay tuned for Jared! I'll leave you with a picture of some nachos I made the other day. I used the Cheezy Sauce recipe from Yellow Rose Recipes.

picadillo with white rice, avocado tomato black bean and corn salad

Yes, more Spanish food. This time I made some Cuban inspired picadillo with white rice, which is an adaptation of picadillo my step mom makes. I started with sweating a sweet onion and green bell pepper in olive oil. I added tomato sauce, tomato paste, tofu crumbles and a touch of vegan Worcestershire sauce. Once that heated through, I added about a third of a cup of raisins and a couple tablespoons of pimento stuffed green olives . . . YES, I know, two things on my list of foods I dislike but part of my new year's resolutions is to eat more of the foods I think I don't care for. I'm not completely sold on raisins or green olives, but these are traditional ingredients in picadillo and I can't mess with tradition. I also splashed in a bit of red wine vinegar at the last minute.
I decided to make picadillo because my step mom emailed me about a avocado tomato salad she made that she added corn to. I decided, in honor of her picadillo, to also make a version of the salad she emailed me about. My salad started with lime juice, red wine vinegar, black pepper, sea salt and natural sugar, chopped avocado, diced tomatoes and diced sweet onion. I then drained and rinsed a can of black beans and a can of sweet corn and added them to the salad along with a glug or two of olive oil. Perfection!
I plated the dish with the picadillo on white rice and the salad separate, but I decided to mix the picadillo and white rice with the salad and it was even better! THANKS FOR THE IDEA DELIA!

my favorite rice dish: Arroz con Gandules

Growing up, my mom's ex-husband's mother lived with us. She was the cutest, most sweet grandma you could have. She was from Puerto Rico and we of course called her Abuela (Spanish for grandma). There are a handful of people in my life who have helped define how I cook, eat and taste food and she was for sure one of these people. We had beans and rice with plantains just about every night with whatever else we were having. On special occasions (Christmas, Easter, etc.) we had Arroz con Gandules, which is rice with pigeon peas. This is a dish that is simple to make and was very easily veganized. Typically it has some sort of pork product, used mostly for flavor. Instead of pork, I just used extra oil since we all know fat is flavor. You can use canned pigeon peas (gandules) but today I cooked a half-pound of the dried peas for about an hour and a half, drained them and set them aside. In a large pan I heated up 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup canola oil with 2 packets of Sazon with Coriander and Annatto (this would be a seasoning blend you should be able to find in the Spanish/Ethnic section of your grocery store). Next, I added 2 1/2 cups of long grain white rice and lightly cooked the rice in the seasoned oil for a few minutes (like you would when you pilaf a rice). I then added 1/2 cup of Sofrito, which is a tomato, green bell pepper, onion and garlic sauce that is used as a base to many Spanish dishes (you can make this homemade, but I used a bottled store bought kind . . . again, you should be able to find in the Spanish/Ethnic section of your grocery store). I also added in about 3/4 of a can of diced tomatoes but ALL of the juice from the diced tomatoes (or you could just use 1 can of tomato sauce and not use any diced tomatoes). I squeezed the tomatoes in my hands before adding them to the pot so there wouldn't be huge chunks of tomatoes in the dish. Next, I added 4 cups of veggie stock, the reserved cooked gandules, 2 tablespoons of pimento stuffed Spanish green olives (left whole), sea salt and black pepper to taste. I stirred the pot once, covered it with a tightly fitted lid and cooked on medium low heat for about 20 minutes. DO NOT STIR THE RICE WHILE IT COOKS. Doing so will make the rice all sticky, starchy and just plan gummy (called "amogollao") Yuck!
There is something magical that only an Abuela can make happen to the bottom of this rice dish which is called "pegao" (a crispy layer of rice that everyone fights for when it is served). It takes a great deal of oil and a watchful eye. I attempted but failed at being able to have "pegao" and I think it was because my heat was to high (cos, it got a bit burnt) . . . Although, I think, I just don't have that special touch my Abuela had.
Not yet any way.

very busy weekend in the kitchen

I'm not sure what got over me, but starting Friday and ending a few minutes ago, I spent more time in my kitchen than I have in a very long time. It was an awesome weekend of good eats!
First things first . . . As soon as I saw these Spicy' N Sweet Maple-y Nuts from Bazu's blog, I knew I HAD to make them. These are some of the best spiced nuts I have ever had.
Make these now. Right now.

Here is a beautiful loaf of French bread I made, which has been the BEST batch of bread I have made in my new bread machine. It had the least amount of ingredients and took the most amount of time (5 HOURS!) but it was so worth it.

I cut all the crust sides off and made garlic toast with them and used the non-crust white inside of the bread to make these croutons.

I used the crouton recipe in Veganomicon (pg. 81-82) and also made the Caesar dressing recipe. I was trilled with the croutons and thought the dressing was pretty good but not like Caesar salad dressing. I'd make it again though.
Friday night I made an Asian Noodle Soup. A few weeks back I had made an Asian inspired veggie broth out of onions, carrots, celery, garlic, ginger, black pepper and soy sauce and froze it. I thawed/reheated the broth and in my steamer, steamed cabbage, zucchini and baby bok choy. For the noodles, I used an eggless wonton wrapper, cut into strips, which I found in the frozen section of our local Asian market. I boiled the strips of wontons separately (which only took like a minute), added the cooked noodles to a bowl with the steamed veggies and broth ladled over everything. Topped with green onions, this was very filling and an awesome way to use up extra wonton wrappers.

Saturday, I made the Blueberry Streusel Muffins from the Damn Tasty Vegan Baking Guide. My new favorite thing is using soy yogurt in my baked goods because they lend such a nice sour note that really brings everything together. This time I used a blueberry flavored soy yogurt, which turned the batter purple. These are probably my favorite muffins and they taste great with any fresh or frozen berry.


Today I made one of our old stand by meals . . . the beloved tostadas (although, they look more like nachos). These had blue corn chips, some chipotle pinto beans I blended up, tomatoes, red and green onions, some of my Dad's famous Rex Sauce (sweet & vinegary), sweet Thai chili sauce and some of my homemade guacamole. Jared added some left over cut up romaine lettuce on his. I never get tired of these.

And last but not least . . . my new favorite dinner. Veganomicon's Chickpea Cutlets (pg. 133), garlic mashed potatoes, green beans and soy sausage saw mill gravy (same stuff I pure over my biscuits when we have biscuits and gravy).

Spicy Jamaican Patties

I am testing out old recipes and decided to change up my Jamaican patties. Normally I make these with TVP granules and tomato sauce along with seasonings but today I was out of TVP. I made this batch out of sweet potatoes, light red kidney beans, onions, garlic, cinnamon, all spice, cayenne pepper, sea salt and curry powder. The pastry is my homemade recipe, which is a basic pie crust. To round off this meal I had a modest salad (romaine, grape tomatoes with Our House Dressing) and an orange sliced up. This has been one of my better lunches in a while.

Florida on a plate, biscotti

Last I checked, it's gonna be in the low 30's tonight . . . which is just crazy to me. I decided to warm up by making a wonderful Florida inspired meal of black beans, yellow rice and fried plantains. I grew up eating this food so I still really enjoy eating it, especially with hot sauce splashed all over everything. The black beans had onions, garlic, sea salt, black pepper, oregano, tomato paste and a bit of red wine vinegar at the last minute of cooking. The yellow rice is just a pre-seasoned packet of yellow rice that turned out to be accidentally vegan. OHHH, and fried plantains . . . what until the skin turns black on the plantain (trust me!), peel and thinly slice on a bias, fry in canola oil (or olive oil) on low-medium heat until golden brown. Frying on a lower heat insures the sugars develop in the plantains before they burn. If you've never had a fried plantain, you best get ya one and try it now. It's like eating dessert with your dinner. The beans and rice are usually topped with a thinly chopped sweet onion, but tonight we had red onion, which was still very tasty.

I also made the hazelnut-chocolate biscotti from Veganomicon (pg. 241) that turned out pretty awesome. It is not a super sweet cookie but has a deep, rich taste. Making biscotti is a two-step process but these are so worth it if you are a biscotti fan. Even though I no longer drink coffee, these were still good on their own . . . and I'm sure even better dunked in a latte made with hazelnut milk.

grilled veggie fajitas with guacamole

Probably one of my favorite kitchen items is my large, very heavy grill pan. It was one of our wedding presents and I am so glad we have it. A couple of nights ago I made Jared these fajitas. I cut thin strips of green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, red onion and zucchini that I lightly coated in canola oil, sea salt and garlic. I grilled them on a VERY hot grill pan until they were all soft.

I also made guacamole that had Haas avocados, lime juice, red onion, garlic, Thai chili sauce, hot sauce, sea salt and black pepper.

Luckily I found some very vegan friendly flour tortillas and blistered them up on the grill pan. Stuffed with the veggies, guacamole and a touch of salsa, Jared was in gastric heaven.

mexican lasagna, coconut chai rice pudding

When I went shopping this week I intended to make enchiladas but when I got home I realized I got everything to make them except the enchilada sauce. So we were just going to make bean burritos but then the flour tortillas I bought kept tearing so what would one do??? Make Mexican style lasagna instead! The filling for the lasagna had tofu crumbles made with fresh jalapeno, onion and the usual Mexican spice like cumin and chili powder. I also heated up vegetarian refried beans with tomato sauce. I layered the torn flour tortillas, crumbles, refried beans and salsa until it was about 4 layers deep. To compliment the lasagna I made two toppers. One was guacamole made with avocado, fresh lime juice, fresh jalapeno, garlic, red onion, agave, sea salt and black pepper. The other topper was a raw salsa made with fresh white corn off the cob, diced tomatoes, fresh jalapeno, fresh lime juice, red onion, sea salt and black pepper.
Unfortunately, this picture doesn't show off the layers, but boy was it tasty!

I have made and posted about my rice pudding before but this one was especially good so I had to post about it this time. This rice pudding was made with left over jasmine rice. I heated coconut milk up with natural sugar, ground cardamom, star anise, cinnamon and tiny bit of corn starch. The heated, strained and spiced coconut milk was added to the jasmine rice until well combined. In honor of my step mom, Delia, bowls of this chilled chai rice pudding were topped with whipped soy cream.

Nachos, Chocolate Cake

Well, it's been a few days since I've blogged but honestly its been days since I stepped into the kitchen since I started a new job. I work at a local natural foods grocery store as a receiver/stocker which requires me to be on my feet (walking, standing, lifting, climbing, etc) so by the time I make it home I can hardly stand to be on my feet.
I did work today but decided to make some simple nachos. I made a pinto bean mixture with cumin, chili powder, chipotle powder, sea salt, garlic, black pepper and agave nectar all mashed up a bit. I spread some blue corn chips on a baking sheet, topped the chips with the pinto bean mixture and topped them with Vegan Cheddar. I broiled the nachos but the "cheese" didn't melt which was okay because we actually enjoyed the taste and didn't miss the meltiness at all. Once broiled they were topped with tomatoes, salsa, sweet onions and sweet thai chili sauce.
Before being broiled:

Broiled and Topped:

I also got a slice of vegan chocolate cake from work today that has chocolate cream "cheese" icing. Oh my goodness!

Layered Bean Dip

Growing up, my mom made a killer 7 layer dip that had refried beans, guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, tomato, onion and shredded cheese. This dip made an appearance at every football party, cocktail party or family function. It was ALWAYS a hit. Today I made a smaller version of this with homemade refried beans (pinto beans, chili powder, cumin, chipotle powder, sea salt, black pepper, agave and canola oil), diced onion, diced tomatoes and homemade guacamole (avocado, fresh lemon juice, agave, sea salt, garlic, sweet onion and jalapeno). Served with tortilla chips, this rocked our socks off!

double decker tostada

Tostadas were/are a staple at my Dad's house. This holds true in Jared's and my house to this day. These are a little different than what me and Dad make in that I buy tostada shells instead of using corn chips. Also Jared and I like double deckers. The bottom layer was a tostada shell with homemade refried beans (pinto beans, onions, garlic, chili powder, chipotle powder, cumin and sea salt blended with my immersion blender), another tostada shell and meatless crumbles that have salsa and taco seasoning. Then the double layers are covered with tomatoes, sweet and green onions, lettuce, homemade guacamole (avocado, jalapeno, sweet onion, lemon juice, sea salt, agave and tomatoes), salsa, sweet Thai chili sauce and Rex Sauce which is my Dad's secret tostada vinaigrette. Sounds like a lot but everything works so well together. Dad likes his with pickled beets which I always forget.