Taking on the V-Con Pt. 12

As many of you know three lovely ladies and myself decided to challenge our selves by cooking our way through the Veganomicon, our own Vegan version of Julie and Julia, if you will. It was great fun, but unfortunately didn't last as long as I had hoped. I haven't even looked at the Veganomicon since our last recipe, almost a year ago. Lately I haven't had the expendable income to purchase groceries needed to fulfil new recipes and have been making standards and creating new things from what I have in the house. I have had an enormous amount of lentils in the house due to my love of lentil soup but as the temperature increases my love of soup diminishes (only a little, really) thus I found myself staring at a pound of red lentils and not a single clue on how to consume then. I then remembered the fabulous Snobby Joe's recipe we did last year with red lentils and decided to see if there were anymore creative and delicious recipes with lentils as a main ingredient.

I had only to turn to page 177 and find my favorite meal of all time Lentil Fetoosh, or as called in the Veganomicon "Lentils and rice with caramelized onions and spiced pita crisps" whew, that is a mouthful...of awesomeness! There is a restaurant Timmy and I frequent called Pita Jungle and we tend to order only one thing, the lentil fetoosh salad. Firstly because fetoosh is so much fun to say and secondly because it is the best fucking salad I have put into my mouth. The recipe in the Veganomicon is not spot on but it was close enough for me!


Ingredients:
3 large yellow onions (I used 1 1/2, because three seems like way too much)
3/4 cup olive oil (i drizzled mine on, maybe used 1/3 cup)
1 cup long-grain basmati rice
1 cup red lentils
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees

and start slicing your onions into thin rings.

Spread onions our on a deep baking dish and coat with olive oil. Roast in pan and stir often, I checked mine every five minutes. While the onions are roasting bring 4 cups of water to a boil, add rice cinnamon stick, all spice and cumin. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, then add lentils. Gently stir in lentils to incorporate and bring to a boil. Once boiling lower the temperature and cook for about 45 minutes.

Gently fluff the lentils and rice when finished then fold in caramelized onions. You can eat the lentils and rice as so, or do what we did, put it over a bed of lettuce and have yourself a plate of lentil fetoosh. We made a lemon dressing similar to the one at Pita Jungle and drizzled that on top of our salad.


along with the salad we enjoyed a marinated bean salad as well. Yummy!

Taking On The V-Con Pt. 11

I should have posted this an couple of days ago but I was having a day so bad, I was planning my after work cocktail at nine in the morning. I ended up being a bit tipsy when I made dinner and a bit too tipsy to write my review of it. Woopsie! I chose the Corn and Blueberry Pancakes a couple of weeks ago as one of the four recipes I got to choose for this segment of Taking on the V-Con. I wanted something summery and easy to make as it is still incredibly hot and just thinking of turning on the oven makes me sweaty. The pancakes were very easy to assemble and took no time at all to cook. I haven't ever experienced cornmeal in pancakes before and I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. The pancakes were light and crispy and extremely delicious. If you plan on making this the only change I suggest is to add about 1/4 more flour to the batter, because if not they will be way too runny.


the basic ingredients, I used rice milk instead of soy


mix the dry ingredients separately then add wet, mix together then add your blues



I wish I had cute pancake maker shapes, these look sad and non pancake-ish


end results

These were light and crispy. I will definitely make these puppies again.

Taking On The V-Con Pt. 9

Number nine, number nine....

The next four recipes (that includes today's recipe) was picked by yours truly. I wanted to pick recipes that had a South Western flair and that also reflected the many great things that come along with summer, like strawberries, bbqs, and stuff that was muy caliente! like the desert in which I live. The forcast reads, hot, hot and with a chance of scorching!! The last two weeks saw cooler weather with a few thunderstorms but the forecasters have predicted this week to heat up, with highs up to 117 degrees. With that being said, what is better than Mexican food and an ice cold cerveza to help beat the summertime blues? Today's recipe is...wait for it...wait for it...

Grilled Yuca Tortillas!


After picking this recipe I became a little scared, having never tried Yuca (or cassava) before, but then I realized, wait, I HAD tried cassava before and numerous times in the form of Daiya cheese. Daiya is made from the cassava root and tapioca, which is closely related to cassava. I will say that I do not normally top everything with fake cheese, there are times when I will eat a pizza with Daiya and it is just heavenly. The grilled yuca tortillas were incredibly easy to make, and just as easy to devour. The recipe called for fresh yuca which I could not find but I did, however, find frozen yuca at Lee Lee an Asian grocer in Mesa. Lee Lee has all kinds of amazing frozen vegan food, and if you live in the valley, I suggest you check it out!


yuca up close

On with the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 lb. yuca
3 T. olive oil
6 cloves garlic
1 small yellow bell pepper (I used red grilled pepper)
1 jalapeno
2 tsp. lime juice
1/2 tsp. salt
pinch of pepper

then I added a sauteed red onion and black beans to the mix for good times and fun to be had by all.

As I stated earlier this recipe is very easy to make. You pretty much just boil the yuca, and mash it up like a cooked potato.


Saute garlic, bell pepper and jalapeno in olive oil,


add to smushed yuca


shove into a folded tortilla and fry up on the stove top.


I baked my tortilla to cut back on fat, but I definitely did not cut back on flavor.


Yum!! I would make this recipe again and again and again!

Taking On The V-Con Pt. 8

make that four girls!!

Oh Mac Daddy I cannot help but think of Kriss Kross as I bake your uncheesey goodness in my lovin' oven (lovin' oven sounds a bit like a baby maker, ewwwwwwie) "Daddy Mac will make ya....Kriss Kross will make ya..." Now, thinking back, I never wore my clothes backwards but a few boys in my elementary school did and I always wondered what happened when they had to go to the bathroom, but then again at that age I often wondered how boys went to the bathroom. Since then, Timmy has informed me and that is one less thing I have to worry about.

I have been waiting for over a month to try this recipe. The day Katie emailed the list of future recipes, I circled the date on my calendar and paced slow circles in my kitchen contemplating just how exactly I would make the Mac Daddy my own. Would I add broccoli, onions and something red, yes something red? Color is always a good thing to have in food. Would I serve it with something or fill my bowl to the brim and dig my fork in? So many sleepless night pondering how this meal would be executed and finally I have created my own personal masterpiece. I have made the Mac Daddy to my liking and it brings back fond memories of baked mac and "chee" from my childhood. I will say I did A LOT of modifying, but that is what is great about recipes, they are a road map but one is free to take a short cut or scenic route if brazen.


sweet dreams are made of cheez

Ingredients:


Double recipe Cheezy Sauce
3/4 lb. elbow macaroni (I used whole wheat fusilli)
1 lb. tofu
1 tsp. salt
1 T. olive oil
2 T. lemon juice (I omitted completely)

tofu crumbled in pan and waiting for cheez clove

Cheezy Sauce:
2 cups veggie broth or water (Thanks to Courtney's earlier post I used water)
1/4 cup flour

whisk flour and water/broth together,
1 T. olive oil
3 cloves garlic
pinch of thyme (we call it "Tim", so I pinched him)
1/4 tsp. salt
black pepper
1/8 tsp. turmeric
4/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 T. lemon juice
1 tsp. yellow mustard


making the cheezy sauce, so so simple!


ready to bake

I didn't double the cheezy recipe because I already had a cheeze sauce in my fridge that I used earlier in the week. It is a recipe from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, and since I truly adore this recipe I added it to the prepared Isa cheez. I also chopped up 1/2 an onion, 3 jarred roasted red peppers, a handful of broccoli, a handful of cauliflower, some spicy red chili sauce and breadcrumbs.


Holy cow!! Can we say amazing, no, because our mouths are full of cheezy noodley nummies!! I cannot wait to eat my leftovers as I am sure it is going to taste even better tomorrow with all of the flavors marinating in their own delicious juices. Hmmmm...delicious juices...

Don't forget to check out Courtney's, Katie's and new to the challenge, Kim's blogs for their culinary adventures in the realm of the Veganomicon.


who's your daddy?

Taking On The V-Con Pt. 5

Have you ever seen Ghostbusters? You know the Marshmallow puff monster? Well, that's me right now. I ate an enormous bowl of pasta and mushrooms. It looked so good, I just kept scooping more and more onto my plate. I can eat these, I think to myself, easily. Just open up the mouth, chew a bit and down the hatch. Simple. Oh and it was, because the recipe for tonight: Roasted Portobellos, happens to be something I make a lot. Not this recipe exactly, but very similar. I love mushrooms, in the same way that I love bunnies and bikes and kittens and unicorns.



Mushrooms are magic, and some of them are even called magic mushrooms, but don't eat those, unless you WANT to see unicorns, which would be rad, but now my bloated brain and tummy are wandering. Back to topic, I love mushrooms and this recipe for tonight was exactly what I needed. I haven't told any of you, but I had a little sleep over in the ER last week for some troubles of the lady variety and my parts have been achey, not THOSE parts, just my whole body. Sore and tired and a little on the weak side so a magical dinner (there's that word again, I must be thinking about wizards) was just what I needed.

This recipe is simple and out of this world tasty.
Ingredients:

1/2 cup cooking wine
1 T. olive oil
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic
Portobello Mushrooms
and whatever the frick else you want to send your tummy to the moon. I added a sweet yellow onion, oregano, salt and pepper to my marinade and served my mushies with a red bell pepper, fresh basil, one spicy jalapeno pepper, tomato and whole wheat pasta. Yeah, right...Yum!


marinate mushrooms for twenty minutes then bake at 400 degrees covered in tin foil for thirty minutes the uncover and bake another ten minutes.


pasta!


everything but the mushies

My dinner was spicy and packed full of flavor goodness. I am not sure if Timmy even chewed his! For reals! I suggest you give this one a whirl, you will not be disappointed.

Taking on the V-Con Pt. 5

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango



Today was a very busy day. I had to take my kitty Simon to the vet, clean the house, pick up Timmy from work and this evening take photos for two very lovely ladies. I will post photos later when I give them the loving Rikki finishing touches. I thought ahead to make the quinoa, but then was rushing around to get other things done that I ended up chopping and tossing the ingredients for tonight's dish into a bowl, mixing it and stuffing it into my hungry face so fast I feel I did not give it the ample love the recipe deserves. Now, this recipe is an easy one and is not time consuming at all, but I feel the simple elegant flavors deserve more from me than being shoveled down my esophagus. That being said allow me to share the Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango.


Ingredients:
2 cups Quinoa
1 Mango chopped
1 Can of Black Beans
1 cup Scallions
2T. Red Wine Vinegar
2T. Grapeseed Oil
Salt
1 Bell Pepper
1 cup chopped Cilantro

As I said earlier chop and toss. Put it all in a bowl together and mix. How easy is that? The only prep work needed is the making of the quinoa.


looks like it could use some avocado huh?


just needs the black beans

I didn't have the scallions in my house, nor did I have onions or leeks or anything of that pungent sweet nature, but the dish was still yummy without that sharp onion goodness. Next time I want to add garlic, onions of course and jalapeno peppers, and possibly more tropical fruits in there as well.

Taking on the V-Con pt. 4

Hello coconut. Hello pie. I love you. I have eaten 3 slices of you and I loved every bite. I wish you could be there for me always, but alas you are dwindling down to nothingness. Timmy and I will share in our memories of you often. "Remember when Pie was so sweet to us?" Timmy will ask and I will reply, "Of course, Pie was the sweetest." and we will rejoice in thoughts of you.

This week the recipe in the Veganomicon sent my heart all a flutter. As you may have gathered I love desserts, I love making them, decorating them and most of all eating them. I do not have one sweet tooth but twenty-eight. The recipe: Lost Coconut Custard Pie. Are you drooling yet? I am. I was so very anxious to make this thing that I failed at taking photos for every step of the process but the recipe is not hard to follow and is pretty versatile, so you can really add or change the basic ingredients.


ingredients: coconut milk, non-dairy milk, arrowroot, agar agar, vanilla extract, coconut shreds, strawberries and lemon.

Arrowroot is very similar to cornstarch and is used in this recipe to thicken the milks, and agar agar is a seaweed that when heated with a liquid makes it gelatinous. I like that word, gelatinous. Beside the baking of the pie crust the recipe is made on the stove top which pleased me immensely in this 110 degree heat.


baked pie crust and warm custard ready for some refrigerator action

I fear I did not chill my little pie long enough but I was pacing the kitchen like a maniac waiting for dessert. I had some the next day and I think the flavor was more intense and yummy, so if you make this, make it a day ahead.


I made a crumbled chocolate cookie crust and topped the pie with fresh strawberries and melted chocolate.


Okay, I am going to eat another slice right now. I hope you enjoy the photos enough to go out and but the Veganomicon, make this recipe and share your results with me.

Taking on the V-Con Pt. 3

I know, today is Wednesday, which means I was supposed to post my Veganomicon recipe challenge yesterday. The funny thing about yesterday, it was bloody hot as hell outside and after my bike ride home from work I turned into a liquid puddle on the couch. I have said it before but Arizona in the summer is horribly cruel. For anyone who hasn't been to Arizona in the summer months try placing your head in a hot oven and see why no one in their right mind lives here in June or July. Which reminds me, yesterday I saw a bumper sticker on an extremely large truck that read, "...but it is a dry hate." I laughed so hard I almost peed. I am sure many of you know about the new immigration bill that passed a few months ago here in AZ and unlike our governor and sheriff, not ALL of us agree with the SB1070 bill. So even though the person drove a horrible gas guzzling vehicle I gave them a nod of approval when passing by.

Anywho...this weeks V-Con challenge was Braised Seitan with brussels sprouts, kale and sun-dried tomatoes. I am not going to lie, I wouldn't have picked this recipe myself, even though kale and brussels sprouts are my most favorite of the green veggies it is just (once again) way too hot to be making anything in the kitchen. Luckily nothing had to go into the oven but cooking anything in the summer months here is asking for some sweaty under garments. I know, I am a big baby, I hate being hot, I dislike being stinky but I powered through it. I let the steam fog up my glasses and I ate a warm fall meal in summer. It was tasty, Timmy had two bowls but I think I would have appreciated more if I were eating it in November. I think my taster palette is broken, Courtney said hers had an overwhelming taste from the red wine, whereas I barely tasted the wine in my version. I also thought it could have used more seasonings. I served mine with wild rice but I think in November I will serve it with butternut or spaghetti squash. Hmmmm squash.. om nom nom nom.



So here is the ingredient list and here are my photos...



2 T Olive Oil
6 Shallots
2 C Seitan
1/2 Pound of Brussels Sprouts, quartered
4 Garlic Cloves
1/2 t Dried Thyme
1/2 t Dried Basil
1/2 t Dried Tarragon
Salt
Pepper
1/2 C Sun-Dried Tomatoes
2 C Vegetable Broth
1/4 C Red Wine
4 C Kale



chop up your prepared seitan and saute in olive oil with shallots, saute until golden brown


after that add in the brussels, garlic, the seasonings and saute a few more minutes, then add sun-dried tomatoes

then add in the broth and red wine


let the kale simmer down now, simma down naw!


eat it up, yum!