Soyrizo Soft Tacos

Lately, I have not been making too many new dishes. I have been feeling a little mentally tired lately, and have not had too much creative energy. It's really disappointing to lack mental energy, because there are soooo many things that I want to be doing! I have a lot of interests, and I am trying to dig up the creativity to begin working on music and playing the clarinet again. Not only am I mentally exhausted after work, there is simply not enough time to do all of the things that I want to do. For now, I am going to attempt to make more new meals and focus on the music a couple of times per week. Maybe that will change in the future, but I do not want to force myself to do something - I want to enjoy all of my endeavors. :)

Anyway, here are soyrizo tacos. I don't think that I have ever had actual chorizo, but this soyrizo is what I imagine the real thing to taste like. It is so rich and flavorful! I fried the soyrizo in a pan with some olive oil over high heat, so as to char the soyrizo a bit, adding to its authenticy. I then spread it into a corn tortilla (one of the 357 that came in the package I bought) with the usual Mexican accompaniments - lettuce, tomato, avocado, Tofutti sour cream, and some cheese for me. I just can't believe how many corn tortillas came in the package - I have a feeling they will languish in the fridge for quite a while. Good thing I'm not squeamish about expiration dates!

Chicken Shawarma

Last week, Jeffrey and I took a road trip to San Francisco. It was amazing, and went by way too fast. On the way, we stopped in San Luis Obispo to eat at The Natural Cafe and stay the night in a hotel. We made it to San Francisco the next afternoon, and had such a blast hanging out with family and friends. We ate at a ton of great places, but of course, I took no pictures. We did go to a place called Weird Fish twice during our stay. They offered lots of fish dishes and also vegan fish (seitan) and chips, as well as a "fish" (seitan) sandwich. Delicious. We also went to Herbivore, before a night of especially drunken debauchery, where I had a giant bowl of curry noodle soup, Jeffrey's sister Amanda had a tempeh sandwich on foccacia, and Jeffrey had the delectable chicken shawarma, which he of course asked me to repeat at home immediately. I did some research on the chicken part to see if there was something other than seitan that I could use, but with no luck. A last minute decision included frying strips of Morningstar Farms chicken strips until they were just tender, letting them cool, marinating them, then frying again until crisp and delicious.

I also finally learned how to make real hummus, as opposed to the chickpea mash that I have been making for years. The secret, I learned, was to combine the lemon juice and tahini until it becomes a frothy cream, then adding the chickpeas, one handful at a time, and blending until smooth and delicious. I should mention, that a decent blender is required for this process. Otherwise, you will be like me, combining said lemon juice and tahini in a crappy blender, pulsing on low and adding water like mad. But anyway, just be careful if you have a cheap blender and not something like a VitaMix, over which I covet daily.

Chicken Shawarma
Ingredients:
one bag of Morningstar Farms chicken strips
4 whole wheat pitas
one cucumber, sliced
2 pickles, sliced
2 C shredded lettuce
1 tomato, sliced
1 recipe chicken marinade (follows)
2 c hummus, homemade or storebought

Marinade:
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 tbl lemon juice
3 tbl olive oil
1 tsp curry powder

Cook the chicken strips until just warm and tender. Coat with the marinade and let sit for about 20 minutes. In the meantime, chop cucumbers, pickles, tomato and prepare hummus if making from scratch. Also, shred lettuce if not using the pre-shredded kind.

Fry the chicken on a skillet in olive oil until brown and crispy. Set aside. Warm each pita briefly on the same skillet. To assemble, spread 1/2 C hummus on a pita, followed by lettuce, cucumber, pickle , tomato and chicken. Fold with care, by beginning to wrap the pita from the bottom in the shape of a cone. Follow with aluminum foil and wrap the pita about halfway. Serve hot.

Spring Rolls and Stir Fry

I took a little break from any serious cooking last week. I was having a really tough time at work and not sleeping well at all. Fortunately, that passed and I am back to my normal self. With things a a bit less crazy at work (for now) I will have some time to cook new dishes and actually take pictures before scarfing down the food. Yesterday, I made up for a week of dinners like spaghetti and spent a couple of hours in the kitchen making spring rolls and a curry stir fry. I got the idea for the spring rolls from Vegan with a Vengeance, however; I adapted the recipe so I could stuff more goodies into the rice paper.

Let me just say that I love Asian markets. There is one literally down the street from my home, House of Rice, and I really don't know why I don't go there more often. Besides having a bounty of Asian goodies at a fraction of the cost of regular grocery stores, they also have other random items and a lot of pretty dishes and serving plates. There is a larger Asian market a little further in Chandler, called Leelee's, but I rarely make it down there. I should do it more often.

At House of Rice, I picked up a lifetime supply (seriously, it was a lot) of rice paper, a package of vermicelli, a baggie of fresh Thai basil, and a can of "Vegetarian Mock Duck" I found lurking in the recesses of the market. I had to test out a couple of the cans, as some of them were dented, but thought I'd give it a shot. We weren't impressed - the duck was very sweet and as Jeffrey said, "It was just seitan." Next time, I will make seitan myself and save the two bucks.

Spring Rolls (makes 12 rolls)
rice paper
4 oz. vermicelli, cooked, rinsed with cold water, and set aside
2 small carrots, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
1 small cucumber, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
1 avocado, diced
1 mango, peeled and sliced into thin strips
1 C cilantro leaves
3 large Romaine leaves
1/4 cup crushed peanuts

Set out a pie dish or other flat, shallow pan and fill with tepid water. Soak the rice paper, one by one, for about 15 seconds each, until flexible. Lay out the paper on a plate or cutting board and assemble as follows, right in the middle of the paper: 2 tbl vermicelli, 4 carrot strips, 4 cucumber strips, 4 avocado chunks, 3 mango strips, a strip of lettuce, a handful of cilantro, and a sprinkle of crushed peanut. Be careful when you wrap it. Fold in the outer sides, and while holding them in with your middle and ring fingers, pull up the bottom portion with your thumb and index fingers to cover half of the paper, then roll. Repeat until your ingredients are gone or you are really sick of rolling.

The curry was simply a mix of the mock duck, broccoli, onion, and bell pepper over rice, served with my dad's yummy curry sauce that he makes oh so well (leftover from Sunday family dinner and frozen), and sprinkled with cashews. By the time I was finished with everything, I was tired. I'm surprised I was able to take pictures. Hopefully you won't find them too appalling.

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.