» Archive for August, 2007

Stir Fry

Friday, August 17th, 2007 by cyn
heartstirfry.jpg Ingredients: Trader Joe's Stir Fry Mix (the one with the cabbage), Tofu, Trader Joe's Harvest Grain Blend, Soy Sauce, Rice Vinegar, Curry Powder, Cumin, Chili Oil, Sriracha Sauce Check out my fancy plating attempt - I tried to make a heart with the sriracha. Yeah, not so much. This was okay, but not great. All of my housemates were like "Oooh, what smells like curry? That smells amazing," but I think I actually didn't put in enough curry powder, because it tasted kind of bland. Maybe next time I'll try curry paste instead.

Penne with Pan-Roasted Garlic, Sauteed Cherry Tomatoes, and Basil

Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 by cyn
cherrytomatopasta.jpg from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen ZOMG, cherry tomato carnage whilst cooking & eating this. Those little guys exploded all over everything, but mostly all over my front. I'm not sure how this could be avoid, maybe by cutting them in half? It also took me two tries to pan roast the garlic, since the first time I ended up burning the crap out of it and having to throw it all away. This did have the advantage of me finally using up the last of this huge amount of garlic I bought at Costco that had been starting to go bad in my cabinet, but made it less of a time saver over oven roasting than it would have been if I'd gotten it right the first time. Also, I can never successfully make a paste out of roasted garlic, it always turns out too stringy. I don't know if I don't roast it long enough (I ended my second roasting attempt earlyish out of fear of more burinating) or what. I ended up throwing this stuff in the food processor when squishing it with a fork failed, and it turned out moderately paste-like. Taste wise, this turned out really yummy, in that classic Italian pasta with just a few really fresh ingredients way. I probably won't make it again due to general fiasco-age, but if you're capable of eating cherry tomatoes or roasting garlic, then go for it.

Fritatta

Tuesday, August 14th, 2007 by cyn
fritatta1.jpg from Vegan with a Vengeance Veggies: Mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, olives, and basil. I mashed the tofu up with the basil in the food processor instead of by hand, because I think the food processor gives it a better texture. (It makes the finished fritatta stick together more too, I think.) This was really yummy, I need to start making it more often and with different veggies.

Black Bean Salad with Mexican Flavors

Monday, August 13th, 2007 by cyn
blackbeansalad.jpg from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen This was quite tasty and easy to make. It features both cumin and avocado, two of my favorite tastes. This picture was taken after I had already eaten most of it, which just goes to show you that it was yummy and I am forgetful.

Knish Madness

Sunday, August 12th, 2007 by cyn
knish.jpg from Vegan with a Vengeance Sweet potato, potato, and potato-spinach knishes, pictured with mustard, tofurkey beer brats & sauerkraut. These took forever to make, between the potato prep and then making the dough and mashing the fillings and then assembling and baking, but they were super good once they were finally done. The sweet potato one totally tasted like pumpkin pie, but my favorite was the potato-spinach. Tasty with a little mustard, or just plain.

Tofu Spinach Stir Fry

Saturday, August 11th, 2007 by cyn
tofuspinach.jpg Tofu, Spinach, onion, garlic, five spice powder, soy sauce, rice vinegar. I know there are peanuts in the picture, but I ended up picking them all out after I tasted one and discovered they had gone stale in the cabinet. Note to self: When using random ingredients from the dawn of time, taste them before adding them to the meal. This features my new favorite way of preparing tofu, frying it by itself until it has a slightly crispy little skin and then added spices and everything else. I think that the frying method makes it absorb spices and sauces better too, but that might just be crazy talk. This was yummy, although slightly hampered by the peanut issues. Props to five spice powder.

Israeli Couscous with Pesto

Thursday, August 9th, 2007 by cyn
israelicouscous.jpg My mom sent me home with a giant bag of basil, so I made a batch of Vegan with a Vengeance pesto, and then had it with Israeli Couscous, tofurkey sausage and spinach. Easy and super tasty. Pesto definitely gets props as one of the most awesome foods ever.

Stir Fry

Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 by cyn
stirfry.jpg Ingredients: Trader Joe's Stir Fry Mix (cabbage, carrots, broccoli, snow peas), tofu, soy sauce, rice vinegar, asian chili sauce, cumin, chili oil, sesame oil. Served over whole wheat couscous. This may be the best stir fry I've ever made, possibly because I just took all the vaguely asian flavors I like and combined them. But seriously, oh man was this good.

Sesame Noodles with Emerald Peanut Sauce

Sunday, August 5th, 2007 by cyn
emeraldpeanut.jpg from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen. Dude, it's peanut sauce with spinach in it. Awesome, secretly healthy, totally yummy, and you just throw everything in the food processor. I am totally making this again. I added baked tofu and some black sesame seeds. Seriously, what kind of crazy genius comes up with adding spinach to peanut sauce?

Tofu Scramble

Sunday, August 5th, 2007 by cyn
tofuscram.jpg As always, based on the Vegan with a Vengeance recipe. Includes: Tofu, red bell pepper, spinach, avocado, mushrooms, onion, FYH Vegan Gourmet Monterey Jack. This was a lot more liquidy than usual, probably due to the tofu having more liquid in it than normal. Also, the FYH cheese sort of dissolved into the sauce, if I try to add it to tofu scramble again I think I'll do it after the scramble is done cooking.