Monday, May 23, 2011

Temporary Moving Hiatus

My husband and I will be driving to California to start new jobs this Wednesday. All my cooking stuff is packed up...so it will likely be about 2 weeks before we get settled and I can get back to regular posting.

I'm really looking forward to be in California, though, and having access to different types of ingredients!

Till soon,
GG

Thursday, May 12, 2011

B.S. Sandwiches

My friend and fellow blogger, Kelly, made this sandwich, which was originally adapted from this really great article on the top 10 American Sandwiches, Veganized.  I love Brussels sprouts and thought this recipe looked super awesome...and it was! It was so good that I got three other meat eaters to go back for seconds.

I tweaked the slaw dressing and the original recipe calls for sauteing the Brussels sprouts, but I prefer to roast them in the oven.


Ingredients (this made enough for 8 sandwiches)
Slaw
-4 tsp honey or agave
-4 tsp lime juice
-1 tsp cumin
-1/3-1/2 C EVOO
-2 T red wine vinegar
-salt and pepper
-1 C slaw (I used the stuff from a package)
-2 Granny Smith apples, cut into fine matchsticks
-1/2 C crushed peanuts (optional)

Roasted Brussels sprouts sandwhiches
-1 package Brussles sprouts, about 30 or so, cut in half and trimmed
~6 cloves garlic, minced
-lots of sea salt
~3 T EVOO
-8 good buns
-4 T Hummus (the original recipe calls for making your own, but I just used the store bought kind)

Steps (Preheat oven to 425)
1. Make your slaw by whisking first 6 ingredients together and pouring over your apple-slaw mixture. Toss well and let sit in the fridge while you cook the sprouts.
2. Layer your Brussels halves cut side down in a large dish basted with EVOO. Drizzle EVOO all over tops of sprouts, then cover with your diced garlic and sea salt.Cook for about 15 minutes, then remove from oven and stir the sprouts. Cook for another 5 minutes or until sprouts are tender, but still slightly crunchy. Cover with more sea salt (I like my sprouts really salty, like popcorn).
3. Lightly toast your bread and spread hummus on one side.
4. Assemble sandwiched by layering the Brussels sprouts and slaw.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Polenta with braised greens, tofu, and cashews

This is another really easy vegan recipe that I got from Andrea's Easy Vegan Cooking, and tweaked only slightly. This was my first time making polenta and aside from forgetting to grease the pan I made it in, it turned out delicious and couldn't have been easier to make. Homemade polenta is very different in texture from the store bought kind that comes in a tube. Homemade polenta in texture was more like fluffy grits. Very yummy, and I think it would make a great base for just about anything.


Ingredients
-1/2 large bag chopped mustard greens (I think about 1/2 a pound; you could also use kale)
-1 package extra firm tofu, cubed and drained (I recommend wrapping in a towel and then placing something heavy on top of the towel for about 30 minutes to really drain the tofu)
-1 T tamari
-2 T EVOO
-1/4 C cashews
-1/4 C raisins
-1/2 C sliced mushrooms
-2 carrots, grated/shredded
-1/2 tsp sugar
-2 T balsamic vinegar
-pepper
-1/3 C bread crumbs

Polenta
-1 C course grind cornmeal (I couldn't find course grind, but used fine as it was labeled for making polenta)
-3 1/2 C water
-3/4 tsp salt
-1 T nutritional yeast flakes (can be bought at any co-op, probably in bulk)

Steps
(Preheat oven to 350)
1. Make polenta by mixing all polenta ingredients in a large oven proof dish (e.g., casserole dish).
2. Bake polenta for 40 minutes.
3. After 40 minutes, stir and bake for 10 more minutes.
4. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.
5. While polenta is baking, drizzle 1 T tamari over tofu cubes in a small bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes.
6. Heat wok or large skillet on medium-hot; once skillet is hot add 1 T EVOO. Add tofu and cook for about 8 minutes, stirring often, until tofu is browned.
7. Turn heat down to medium-low, and add mushrooms, cashews, bread crumbs and saute until all are lightly browned.

8. Stir in raisins, remove mixture from pan and set aside.
9. Turn heat back up to medium-hot, add one more T of EVOO and saute shredded carrots
10. Add chopped greens, stir to mix, then cover and cook for about 3 minutes until greens are a bright green color.

11. Reduce heat to medium-low, and sir in sugar and vinegar, and add some fresh pepper.
12. Add the tofu mixture.

12. Pour greens/tofu mixture over polenta.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Tofu Miso Salad

This is going to be my new lunch go to! I had picked up a small container of tofu miso salad from New Leaf and was really enjoying it so I looked at the ingredients. Come to find out I had most of them on hand so I decided to recreate it myself. The original had sunflower seeds, but I used crushed peanuts instead.

I've been eating it plain, but I think it would be great in a sandwich or on crackers.


Ingredients
-1 package firm tofu, sliced and pressed for about 30 minutes
-3 carrots, grated or cut into fine matchsticks (or you can just use a handful of pre-cut matchstick carrots)
-3-4 green onions, chopped
Dressing
-2 TBSP white miso paste
-1 TBSP tamari or soy sauce
-2 TBSP lime juice (about 1 lime)
-2-3 garlic cloves, finely diced
-2 TBSP EVOO
-1 small handful peanuts, crushed or chopped
-2 pinches nutritional yeast (optional)

Steps
1. Press your tofu for about 30 minutes. I do this by cutting it into about 6 slices and then sandwiching the slices in between a dish towel. Next I place something heavy (like a stack of books) on the tofu to press out the water.
2. While you're pressing your tofu, chop your carrots (I have a really cool set of peelers from my Aunt Gail that make match sticking really easy. You can purchase them here if interested.).
3. Chop you green onion down to the green part. Crush or chop up your peanuts.

4. Make dressing by mixing all dressing ingredients together in a small bowl with a fork. Dressing will be a thicker consistency.

5. Once tofu has set for about 30 minutes crumble it with your fingers into a large bowl. Add other ingredients and toss with dressing.