Faux Eggs Benny

Although I am a huge fan of How It All Vegan, I am not a fan of the nutritional yeast cheese sauce used in the "Faux Eggs Benny" recipe. Luckily, thanks to the likes of Vegenaise, I was able to create a hollandaise sauce that proved to me a more accurate representation of the sauce used in traditional eggs benedict. No offense, Sarah and Tanya. I think you both are amazing and talented, and How It All Vegan, as well as the other books in the series, got me off to a great start in vegan cooking. Since this is really a universal vegan recipe, I feel comfortable posting it.

Ingredients:
for the marinade:
1/3 C apple cider vinegar
1/3 C olive oil
salt, to taste

for the sandwich:
2 english muffins, halved and toasted
1 lb. of firm tofu sliced lengthwise and cut into egg-like circles with a cookie cutter, or, as I do not own a cookie cutter, a wine glass (of which I own several)
sliced tomatoes
4 pieces of Smart Bacon, heated on an oiled skillet

for the hollandaise:
1 C soy mayonnaise (I used Vegenaise)
2 tbl lemon juice
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp paprika

Method:
Marinate the tofu for half an hour on each side. Bake at 400* for about 20-30 minutes, until the tofu is golden brown. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce by combining the ingredients in a blender or food processor.
Assemble the sandwich by placing one piece of tofu on each half, followed by a piece of Smart Bacon, followed by a tomato slice, then drizzled with the hollandaise sauce. I also put some cheese on mine. :)

Three Bean Dal, Sweet Potatoes, Onion Paratha, Green Chutney

I recently had the idea to have one night of international food. I am currently looking at some Filipino recipes for experimentation in the next week or so. Last night, I made dal, which is an Indian bean dish, sweet potatoes with cumin and cayenne, onion paratha and green chutney. All of these recipes are easily available online. I made the dal out of Vegan Planet, the sweet potatoes out of my head, and the paratha and chutney from online recipes.

The dal consists of green lentils, simmered in water for about twenty minutes, kidney beans, black beans, onions, diced tomatoes, cumin, cayenne, and cardamom. The end result was creamy and delicious, and FILLING. I also made enough to freeze for lunches.
For the sweet potatoes, I simply peeled two sweet potatoes, chopped them into chunks, and boiled them for about 15 minutes. I then drained them, placed them in a casserole dish, and added some margarine, vegan sour cream, cumin, and cayenne.

The paratha is simple as simple can be, with 1 cup of flour, a pinch of salt, and about 3/4 cup of water. You may find that more water is necessary; just use as much as needed to create a nice, smooth dough. Add whatever fillings you like, there are many options such as potatoes or onions. I chose onions. Then separate the dough into five equal parts, roll out, and fry each "dosi" in a non-stick skillet with a pat of vegan margarine.

The chutney is equally simple. Just combine a large bunch of cilantro, two cloves of garlic, 2 tbl of lemon juice, and 2 tsp of peanuts, whirl in the food processor until well combined, and you have yourself a tasty, fresh chutney. Now drool over the photos, even though the dal kind of looks like poop from far away.