Deli Style Sandwich

This is not the most extravagant dinner, but I had to do something, and fast, to get me back to my food blog. As I mentioned, I have been (and still am) writing a novel, which is slow going, but it's going. I also started Weight Watchers on November 1st with approximately nine of my co-workers. Because of the novel-writing and weight-watching, there has not been a lot of time in my life for cooking new things. But I am hoping that will change, as my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, new crockpot, and new bread baking bible and slow cooker bible are beckoning to me. And I was going to make Gobi Manchurian and onion paratha tonight, however the Gobi Manchurian is deep fried, which is not in the points (Weight Watchers points, that is) for me today. But Gobi Manchurian will be made, as well as bread, buns, pretzels, etc., and hopefully some slow cooker casserole dishes (these casserole dishes are pending Jeffrey's palate, which is not favorable in this area).

So here's a giant sandwich.
It has no Vegenaise or cheese, because that is not part of weight-watching, but has a TON of veggies, Tofurky slices, Yves ham slices, Smart Bacon strips, and spicy mustard. The buns are homemade, using a recipe from my new bread bible (which is entitled The Bread and Bread Machine Bible, and I cannot find it on the Internet to link, possibly because I found it on the discount rack at Borders).

I love making dough with my stand mixer much better than the bread machine because I have more control over the texture of the dough. I plan to make english muffins and pretzels over the weekend, if time permits.

Oh, and one last thing before I go. I've lost 12.5 pounds since starting Weight Watchers. Go me!

Roast Beef and Cheddar Sandwiches

That's right, another vegan take on fast food. When we go to Sunflower Market, we are forced to see the giant pictures of roast beef and cheddar sandwiches plastered on the windows of the Arby's in the complex. So we decided that a roast beef and cheddar is definitely veganizable.

Ingredients (for two sandwiches):
Hamburger buns (homemade or store-bought)
One package of Tofurky Philly-Style Steak
One recipe of Cheez Whiz from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook
Vegenaise

Method:
Toast buns, then spread Vegenaise on each side. Heat up five slices of Tofurky and arrange on bottom bun. Top with a generous portion of "cheese sauce," followed by the top half of bun. I served the sandwich with roasted Brussels sprouts.

Tempeh Sliders

To be completely honest, we really don't like tempeh except when it's done simply. I have made many a casserole, stew, and one exceptionally non-tasty dish which I will not name to save the creator's face (after all, it may be subjective) incorporating tempeh in chopped form which has just not been good. Tempeh tacos? No thank you. I want to try Vegan Dad's Perfect Tempeh Burger, because it sounds great, and I bet it is. But other than that, I will only make tempeh in one way: marinated, fried, and served on bread or a bun. Tonight, we had tempeh sliders. I got the idea from Vegan Dad's "Vegan Sliders" and used his hamburger bun recipe as well.

The tempeh is made in our traditional style, with a simple marinade of equal parts Tamari and olive oil and three large cloves of garlic, crushed or minced (kudos, Jeffrey, for your simple yet delectable marinade). The tempeh is soaked in the marinade for approximately an hour or two and then fried in a cast iron or non-stick skillet. Load up the bun with Vegenaise, mustard, lettuce, tomato, and red onion, and you have yourself one delicious sandwich.

First Blog Fail and Muffaletta

Tonight, I failed. Well, I failed last week, but the effects of the fail were only realized tonight. I threw away the rechargeable batteries for the camera. This probably happened because I ran out of batteries for the Swiffer a while back, and have since been using the camera batteries as a replacement. So when the batteries in the Swiffer ran out of charge, I simply assumed that they were regular, non-rechargeable batteries. And threw them away.
Regardless, I had the spirit of enterprise to purchase new batteries over the weekend and thus had batteries for the camera. Although this weekend I will be purchasing new rechargeable batteries to make up for my fail. Anyway, this is my first dinner blog. Tonight I made "Chickpea and Avocado Muffaletta" from Vegan Planet, a great cookbook that I use often, but with a few changes. Muffaletta traditionally contains sliced meats and cheeses, but this recipe omitted those and utilized a chickpea and roasted red pepper spread as well as sliced avocados to replace the carniverous ingredients. The sandwich also contains a lovely olive salad with olive oil, parsley, and garlic. Some of the bread is scooped out of the middle of the sandwich to make room for the olive mixture. Aided by Jeffrey's suggestions, I added Smart-Deli Ham and Tofutti mozzarella cheese. I also omitted three fourths of the green olives, as they do not agree with Jeffrey's palate. The end result was delicious, and solidified by Jeffrey's common after-dinner cry, "Thank you for a wonderful dinner!"