Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Better Than Takeout


I made a delicious dinner tonight. One of the most delicious things I've made in awhile. It wasn't a super complicated meal, but it's worth sharing. This was my take on orange chicken, but since I don't eat chicken, I used tofu. If you do eat chicken, you can totally use that the same way. Or any kind of meat for that matter.

I never used to like tofu. I thought it was mushy and flavorless and gross. Now that I've learned how to cook it, I love it! This application was especially delicious because not only was it crispy and crunchy on the outside, it soaked up the mouthwatering sauce and was loaded with flavor. So without further ado, the recipe:

Orange Glazed Tofu and Veggies
1 block extra firm tofu, cut into triangles
3 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup orange marmalade
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
3 tbsp sriracha
2 cups broccoli
2 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1/4 large onion, diced
2 green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp chopped lemonbalm (I used this from my garden so if you don't have any, you can use mint or Thai basil)
brown rice for serving

Heat the oil in a large pan over high heat. Place the tofu in the oil and cook for 5 minutes. Flip the tofu to the other side and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Remove the tofu when it's golden brown and crispy and set it aside. Lower the heat to medium and add all the veggies, except the green onion and the lemonbalm. In a bowl, mix the marmalade, soy sauce, vinegar, sriracha, and red pepper flakes. When the veggies are just cooked through, after about 5 minutes, pour the sauce into the pan. Add the tofu back in, and stir to make sure everything is coated. Stir in the green onions and lemon balm then turn off the heat. Serve over brown rice.
Drooling. Really.

Aside from cooking the rice, the rest of the meal cooks up faster than you could order Chinese and go pick it up. Plus, I'm willing to bet my version is much healthier. And, you don't have to put pants on to leave the house (definitely made this in my pajamas)! The only downside to this is that there aren't more leftovers.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Vegan Barbecue!!


Since I've stopped eating meat, really the only thing I miss is pulled pork sandwiches. During the summer, they used to be my favorite thing. I would scope them out and devour them. I haven't missed anything else, I make pretty good substitutes, if you ask me. But this is a hard texture and flavor to recreate. Well guys, sound the alarms. I found a solution. Jackfruit.

Yeah, I had never heard of it either. Until recently. In the past few months, I've seen countless recipes using jackfruit as a shredded pork substitute. I found a can at the Asian supermarket (make sure you get the green jackfruit in brine, not the ripe one in syrup). Jackfruit is the world's largest tree fruit. It's green and spiky looking, and it tastes kind of like a mango when it's ripe. When it's not ripe, it pulls apart and looks just like pulled pork!! It doesn't really have a flavor so it lends itself well to absorb whatever flavors you cook it with. So I whipped up a vegan pulled pork sandwich, complete with cole slaw and sweet potato fries. So yummy!!

Vegan Pulled Pork Sandwiches
1 can young green jackfruit, in brine
1/3 cup barbecue sauce, either store bought or homemade
1/2 cup water

For the cole slaw:
1/2 green cabbage, shredded
3 carrots, shredded
1/3 cup veganaise
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp dijon mustard
black pepper to taste

Sweet potato fries:
1 sweet potato, sliced into fries
3 tbsp oil (I used safflower oil)
1 tsp each salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Drain and rinse the jackfruit. Pull the pieces apart and shred them with your hands. Put these pieces in a saucepan with the barbecue sauce and water. Simmer this on low for an hour. If it gets dry, you can add more water. While this is getting barbecuey and delicious and tender, get started on your potatoes. Coat the potatoes in oil and spices and spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Pop those bad boys in the oven for about 30 minutes until they are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. For the cole slaw, mix the veganaise, mustard, vinegar, and pepper in a small bowl. Then pour this over the cabbage and carrots. You could add other veggies too. My dad used to use bell peppers and onions and jalepenos, but I decided to skip that. Whatever you have on hand will work. Then get some toasty bread or a bun or something, and put a pile of jackfruit and a scoop of cole slaw on there. Then have some sweet potato fries and teleport to a summer barbecue.


Next recipe, jackfruit carnitas!! Nomnomnomnom

Monday, April 8, 2013

A Taste Of Greece

I've been in such a mood for Mediterranean food lately. (Did you guys see my post about my homemade tabbouleh?!) I think it's probably because I have inspiration from all the yummy herbs growing right outside my door. So I have two super delicious recipes for you. 

My first recipe is my new favorite lunch. It's really simple and really, really good. I get cravings for it. I don't know what to really call it. I'm usually too busy thinking about eating it to think of something to call it. Anyway, here's recipe number 1:

Avocado Cucumber Salad (it's the best I could come up with)
1 avocado, diced
1 cucumber, diced
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (basil is good too)
juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Mix everything together in a big bowl. And that's it. Really. I usually put it inside a wrap or a pita, but sometimes I just put it on top of a salad. Either way it's delicious!!

Recipe number two came from scrolling through other posts and seeing a picture of falafel. It looked so yummy and golden and crispy and delicious that I had to make it for myself. I had all the ingredients on hand so I just threw it together. I always see falafel mixes at the store, and now I'm wondering why. It was so easy to make from scratch! I cooked the beans from scratch, but you can use canned too. 

Falafel
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup ground flaxseeds
1/3 cup chopped fresh herbs, I used a mixture of parsley and lemon balm
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Put the chickpeas in a food processor and blend until smooth. In a big bowl, mix all the ingredients, except the oil, together with a fork to keep the mixture fluffy. Roll the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and flatten slightly into patties. Heat the oil in a pan over medium high heat. Cook the falafel for about 3 minutes on each side until golden and crispy. It made a lot of falafel, so you'll have leftovers all week.


I had mine over salad with a lemon vinaigrette, and stuffed some of that into a pita, but you could be more traditional with tahini, hummus, tzaziki, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Or, OMG, you could put it with the avocado cucumber salad in a pita!!!!! I'm drooling just thinking about it. Looks like I'll need to buy some more cucumbers. And tomatoes. And pita bread. Hmmmmph.

Anyway, who knows what the flavor of next week will be. I haven't done Mexican food in awhile! What's your favorite kind of food?? Does it change weekly like mine?? Have a wonderful Meatless Monday everyone!!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies!

So I'm sitting here after my workout, watching Chopped and procrastinating my studying, and I get a sudden craving for something chocolate. Buttttt I don't have any chocolate. Or anything sweet for that matter. So I opened my pantry and saw some peanut butter. It looked back at me and said; "Put me in some brownies, PLEASE!" And that's why I just had to do it. It's what the peanut butter wanted. I normally don't like peanut butter in my desserts, but you can't argue with the food.

Here's my recipe :)

Vegan Peanut Butter Brownies
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup oat flour (oatmeal put in the blender until it creates a really fine powder)
2/3 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey's special dark and OMG!)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter, divided
1 cup coconut oil, warmed
6 dates, pitted and soaked in 1 cup hot water
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil an 8 inch square baking dish. Sift together the flour, oat flour, cocoa powder, sugar and baking powder. Blend the dates with the water until it is smooth. Combine this with the oil and stir into the flour mixture. Stir in half the peanut butter. The batter will be really, really thick. Don't worry, you didn't mess it up! Gently stir in the rest of the peanut butter but don't combine it so you still have ribbons of peanut butter going through the chocolately goodness. Bake for 40-45 minutes until they are cooked through and delicious. If you're feeling extra sinful (and let's be real, when it comes to dessert, a little extra sin is always ok), top with some vegan coconut whipped cream.

I would post a picture, but the one I ate didn't look very pretty. But let me assure you, they tasted amazingggggg!! Sometimes you just have to let the food speak to you, so thanks for this awesome recipe, peanut butter!!

Monday, April 1, 2013

Coo Coo for Cookies :)


A few weeks ago, I wanted to celebrate my Sunday fun day with cookies, but not just any cookies, the chocolate chip cookies from the Red Velvet Cafe. I don't know how they fit so much delicousness into 27 calories of vegan heaven, but they make me so incredibly happy. They are the best cookies I have ever had. So I set out on a mission to recreate them. I first started by googling "Red Velvet Cafe recipes," no such luck, but hey it was worth a try. So I researched all kinds of vegan cookie recipes. Then I bought some of the Red Velvet Cafe ones to see the ingredient list (definitely not to eat in the car on the way home, I need instant gratification okay?!). I bought three kinds of flour and a giant jar of coconut oil. Yay!! I went home and started baking.

Then I failed miserably. I've been baking chocolate chip cookies for weeks to no avail. At least 15 unsuccessful batches of cookies. I can't get anything even remotely similar to those pillowy bites of heaven. Nothing even edible. So I've given up for now.

But no worries friends! I have a different solution. The best part of making cookies is eating the cookie dough throughout the baking. So while searching for cookie recipes, I came across a cookie dough recipe, which gave me the inspiration for these healthy, easy raw cookie dough bites. Prepare to have your mind blown.

Vegan Cookie Dough Bites
1 cup oat flour (put oats in the food processor until it becomes a fine powder)
1/3 cup dates, pitted and soaked in warm water for a few minutes, then drained
3 tbsp vegan butter
3 tbsp coconut oil (you can use all oil or all butter or any combination of fats, I just liked the flavors of these two)
3 tbsp applesauce
1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients except the chocolate in the food processor until really well combined. Then stir in the chocolate chips, roll the dough into 1 inch balls, refrigerate or freeze, and eat!! If you're feeling really chocolatey, like I was when I made them, you can dip them in melted chocolate and serve them with chocolate covered strawberries.
While I continue my search for perfect vegan, whole grain cookies, these will provide a fine substitute for my chocolate chip cookie craving.