Noodles that were Supposed to be Pancit but were Not

Who knew that substituting wide udon noodles for rice vermicelli would change an entire dish from Filipino to Japanese? A lot of people, probably, but who cares? I am a big fan of udon. My plan was to make the pancit dish out of Vegan Planet, which I did, but I was disappointed in the recipe's lack of onion and garlic, and I would have liked the sauce a bit sweeter and more plentiful. I did throw some creepy vegan shrimp in, along with tofu and seitan, and although I fancy the concept, it's definitely a strange one.

I've been thinking that I want to be more creative in the kitchen and make up more of my own meals. I tend to follow recipes, and although I have been branching out and substituting and actually spending time thinking about what flavors work well together, I still dive for the cookbook whenever it's time to prepare something. All three of you that read this blog, send me your wishes for more creativity in the kitchen in the weeks to come!

On another note, I have downloaded Living Cookbook, which is as exciting as it is overwhelming. The recipe software has seriously everything you could hope for as far as recipe and panty organizing, nutritional information, and a boatload of recipes. The cool thing about it too is that you can tweak the existing recipes to your liking, so for instance if there is a chicken dish that you find appealing, you can edit the recipe to substitute seitan for the chicken (after adding seitan to the ingredient database, of course). I could go on for hours about it, but my real dilemma is whether or not to buy it. It's only $35, however I am a cheap ass and try not to spend money on anything unless I really need/want it. Will I use it on a regular basis? Will I become irritated by its vast capabilities or frustrated when attempting to calculate the amount of zinc in hearts of palm? These are the burning questions, and the days in my trial version are dwindling.....

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.

Tartines and Seitan and Red Potato Salad

Because I do not watch television, I miss out on cooking shows. Which I have discovered are awesome, not only for inspiration and carnivorous recipes to veganize, but also for handy tips and techniques. Therefore, I feel lucky and grateful that I had the spirit of enterprise to find Food Network online, and thus begin watching. Food Network's website boasts videos a-plenty from various chefs, but I am currently drawn to Barefoot Contessa. The recipes are great, and I have a list of meals to veganize, however my favorite part about the show is Ina Garten, who is just about the most pleasant, adorable woman ever. I like watching her make food for all of her friends and her cute little husband. But I could go on forever.

Inspired by Barefoot Contessa, I made tartines, paired with a main dish salad from The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook, one of my birthday presents from Jeffrey. Tartines are french open-faced sandwiches, usually served as a first course to a meal. Ina's tartines consisted of bleu cheese and tomatoes, and another batch made with smoked salmon and cucumbers. In the spirit of veganizing this, I had to come up with something, and settled on a vegan bleu cheese I found at Whole Foods (which is AMAZING), sauteed mushrooms, and avocado.

I made a loaf of sourdough bread on Sunday, and simply toasted it for a bit in the oven, then layed slices of bread with bleu cheese and sauteed mushroom. Then, back in the oven for ten minutes, followed by a layer of avocado.

The salad was even better than I imagined, with thin, crispy slices of sauteed seitan, red potatoes, shallots, and a dressing of garlic cloves, olive oil, and sherry vinegar.

Taco Salad

I have really been bad, not posting in almost three weeks. I am really going to try to be better. I made a taco salad last week, with various Mexican food leftovers. There always seems to be leftover refried beans in the fridge, and of course there were several tortillas languishing at the bottom of the crisper.

To make the shells, I draped a tortilla over an oven-safe bowl, brushed the tortilla with a little olive oil, and baked it in the oven for about 15 minutes at 375*. I then filled the tortillas with lettuce and Boca meat, then topped it with chopped onions, tomatoes, sour cream, and guacamole. I served refried beans on the side (to dip the shell after its contents are eaten) and a little lemon-chive salad dressing. Delicious.

Portobello Mushrooms with Mashed Potatoes and Fried Leeks

This recipe comes from Vegan Planet, but instead of hollowing out the inside of the mushroom and stuffing it with the mashed potatoes as suggested, I served the potatoes on the side in order to utilize more of that delicious, meaty 'shroom. I also marinated the mushrooms in tamari, olive oil, and crushed garlic. Oh, and I've discovered the goodness that is fried leeks. I'm going to have to do that more often. I had my 'shroom plain with some fried leeks sprinkled on top, and a bit of ketchup. Jeffrey had his on a bun with lettuce and Vegenaise.

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.