Saturday, April 11, 2009

please excuse this post full of pictures of awesome food

I'm so far behind!  Really, this is just going to be mostly pictures from meals that I barely remember eating.  It's been way too long since I've posted, so here's my catchup work:

There's no rhyme or reason to the ordering here...  I'm just going down my list in alphabetical order, then Blogger is going to switch them around backwards for me (hey, thanks, Blogger).  Therefore first up is our dinner from last night!  Michael and I have been doing a bit of a pantry challenge due to some lack in funds for ...well, everything.  Earlier this week I cooked up a pot of kidney beans (my first dried bean experience!  I overcooked them!...oh well).  From the leftovers, I made these kidney bean burgers.
it looks like it's going to eat me instead

These were a concoction of beans, a little wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, bread crumbs, onions, garlic, spinach, basil, oregano, dill, and tahini.  Baked for about 30 minutes on each side at 350F.  They were downright tasty!  Though I could have added more salt to them, for sure.

Next up we have some Indian food that I made based on a cookbook recipe.  I have this cookbook that's all curries that I hadn't looked at in forever...then a friend wanted to borrow it, but left it at the house and, flipping through, I realized that not only could I veganize a crapload of the recipes, but there were also many that were already vegan.  Doh!  This is one of them...  It's chickpeas with lots of cilantro (I do like it in Indian food, after all), cumin, dried coriander, tomatoes, carrots, soy yogurt (my addition), peas, coconut milk (also my addition)...  
also good for breakfast 2 days later

Those are supposed to be spiced potato  pancakes in the background, but they fell apart in the skillet and became fried mashed potatoes instead.  This was really delicious...and I can't wait to revisit this cookbook!

Oh...haha....  And here is something I veganized from Paula Deen.  Yeah, you read that right.  
waffles with chili

See, except she put butter in every single waffle hole, then put chili on top, then added cheese and sour cream.  We got a waffle maker from Michael's parents a few weeks ago and this was our first (and so far, only) endeavor.  I used the lemon corn waffle recipe from VWAV, except without the lemons.  They tasted nicely like cornbread in waffle form.  Except the recipe made so much batter that we basically just ate waffles all day long in various forms.  

Here we have a pasta salad that we added Boca chicken patties to:
creamy and fabulous

We used my basic awesome pasta salad recipe, and it was rad.  I'll get you that recipe at some point, but not today, my loves.

Oh, here's some of that cashew cheese (the blue algae kind) with crackers.
happy snacky

Seriously, Dr. Cow cheese is the best fake cheese ever ever ever.

Now for some seitan.
steamed to perfection

I generally use the basic seitan recipe from VWAV, then tweak it here and there.  And I steam it instead of simmering it, because I just like steamed seitan better.  And so does Michael.  So there.  Anyway, these we tried to make like steaks and used some steak seasoning on both sides before steaming, so that it kind of got embedded on the outsides.  

Then we did this with them:
proper awesomeness

After grilling them on the Foreman, these were perfect sliced super thin and served with lemony couscous and green beans.  I did make the seitan a tad too salty, but I cured that with the leftovers...  I sliced up another and put it in a pita with some sweet poppyseed salad dressing.  The sweetness balanced out the salt perfectly.  

And now for a sausage overload.
oh tofurkey

As you can see, some of this is from before our pantry challenge.  We went on a sort of Tofurkey sausage binge a couple weeks ago.  For this one, I made a tofu scramble with kale (awesome!) and Michael roasted some potatoes and baby sweet peppers.

And here's more:
sausage sausage sausage

These were a different flavor, but I don't know which.  Roasted all together with fingerling potatoes and more baby sweet peppers.  All of this was stuff Michael brought back with him from when he was out of town.  We can't afford the fingerling potatoes here!  It's weird, one of those sausage flavors reminded me of a food from my childhood...  My family used to go to Christmas dinners at the house of my Polish godparents.  They always had stuffed clam shells.  The sausages tasted identical to whatever was inside those clam shells.  Weird!

Oh, here's some canned minestrone that I took a pretty picture of:
slurp

Ate that with the cheese and crackers you saw earlier.  Nice little lunch, really!

Wow, this one's really old.
but really good

That's the Thai Chick-un Pizza from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan.  It was uhhhhmaaaaazing.
like, so amazing.

I highly reccommend that you make this pizza.  Right away.  We had loads of the sauce leftover, so a couple nights later I used it to make some Thai peanut veggies over rice.
also really good.

Even if you don't feel like making the whole pizza (which you must be crazy, if that's the case), at least make the sauce.  It's freaking delicious.

Ah, here's the first dinner I made out of the pot 'o' beans from earlier this week.
taco casserole

This is beans and corn with a packet of fajita seasoning layered with mini corn tortillas that I got on sale forever ago, the nacho sauce from Yellow Rose Recipes, tomatoes, and black olives, all baked for about 30 minutes together.

Then, we did this to it:
!

Topped off with lettuce, guacomole, and scallions.  This was seriously so delicious.  You can imagine how pissed I was when I dropped a plateful of it on the floor.

Next up's another little snack that Michael brought back from Indiana.
spring rolls

Well, frozen spring rolls that we baked in the oven.  They were really good.  Gingery.  We ate them with different sauce packets that were in the fridge...duck sauce, soy sauce, hot mustard.  By the way, Evansville, Indiana, has a crapload of vegan food available.  Awesome!

And here's something that was just ok:
falafel from like 3 weeks ago

I used the recipe from VWAV, and...  it tasted good.  But when I went to fry it, the balls literally melted in the oil.  Maybe my oil was too hot.  Anyway, we had to fish out the bits and reform it all into balls and then broil it to get them to stay together.  They were still mushy.  Tasty though.

Last but not least was another on the fly dinner made from the last of the treats Michael brought with him.
wild rice tempeh

We roasted the wild rice tempeh (the only kind we can get here is plain old soy) with carrots, leeks, and potatoes (and some more wild rice) in a fake beefy broth.  I made a stuffing with almonds, dried cranberries, and cayenne pepper (the stuffing bread I used was leftover from Thanksgiving!).  It was a tad too moist, but tasted good.  Brussels sprouts rounded it all out.

And I'm done!  If you've made it this far, congratulations.  I promise from now on to be as prompt as possible with my posts so that they don't drag on quite so much!

20 comments:

Virginia said...

wow holy mother overload of vegan food! glad you are back!

Anna said...

I had the same problem with the falafel. There's a big note written above the recipe to remind me to fry them in only a little oil as that seems to work just fine!

miss v said...

how cool that you were able to get so many vegan treats from indiana!

i really want to try that blue algae cheese! it looks so goooood.

Anonymous said...

Whoa! Too much deliciousness!

Love the waffle idea, I'm gonna try that for sure.

Anonymous said...

Holy Deliciousness Overload Batman! Jessica you are a food porn star and I luuuuuv you! Everything looks so amazing, I wouldn't know where to start except you are really pushing me to wanting ED&BV which I don't have but every time I see that Pizza I kick myself.
I am also majorly jealous of your waffle maker! or not, because if I had one we would eat waffles all the freaking time! With chili? maybe not...

jessy said...

sweet shit, Jessica! this has gotta be the most glorious post full of awesome vegan deliciousnesses EVER!

alrighty! i'm gonna start with the falafels....sorry they fell apart. that blows and is disappointing, but i'm glad they were tasty even though they were mushy. that's cool that you saved them and broiled them up. i probably would have been all fussyfaced and just tossed them out 'cause i get all upset like that. i need to be enjoying some avocado with falafel! mmmmmmmmm! why did i not think of that before?!?!

i'm all about some moist stuffing - that's how my mom makes it and i love it the most. what i also love the most - brussels! yay! and your tempeh sounds deeelish with that leeky goodness!

your photos are so awesome, Jessica! i'd also like to say hooray for all the goodies Michael brought back. w00t! i never woulda thought indiana would have so many vegan yummies to offer. that rocks! :)

the taco casserole topped with guac is absolutely outstanding! dan & i need to make that thai chick-un pizza, too! mmmmmmmm! i'm visiting my brother in NY at the end of may & i told him that we must get some of those dr. cow cheezes. i'm even packing a little cooler and freezey pack to take them home in! hellz yeah!

also, i need a waffle maker & some of your kidney bean burgers! i see those olives on top! ooooh! i could eat olives for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. i buy them all the time and i get the biiiiig jars. you better believe i always have my fingers in the olive jar dig'n a few out and gobbling them up. oh salty little green balls o' deliciousness! ahhhaahhhaaa! that sounded kinda funny to me. sorry! :)

leftover indian foods for breakfast are so yummers! i agree! even though dan thinks it's just nuts! oh yeah, and pasta salad with boca chickeness = yay!

glad you're back, Jessica! doublesuperhappyface! i missed ya!

Jes said...

Per usual, your meals look killer! Those avocados are making me hungry :)

aTxVegn said...

You've been hoarding some spectacular eats! I've got my pot of pintos cooking right now. I hope you'll make another batch cuz the homemade version really is the best. I love the burgers and casserole you made with them. And the Indian dish looks extra creamy and delicious. Everything, really, looks so great.

Zoey said...

Wow that is a lot of pictures and everything looks delicious. What is the name of your curry cookbook? I am on the hunt for some good curries.

saveyrgeneration said...

wtf Paula Deen? I have to know if the chili waffle was any good.

River (Wing-It Vegan) said...

Screw Blogger! I'm starting from the bottom up! Yea. That's right.

Your whole rice tempeh plate looks so good and filling. I haven't had leeks in AGES, but we're planning on making a tiny garden and we will definitely grow leeks! And maybe brussels sprouts. And carrots. And potatoes.

Falafel, spring rolls, taco casserole, pizza, Thai... your meals are so international!

Your seitan does look steamed (and grilled!) to perfection. Proper awesomeness indeed.

Waffles with chili? That's awesome! What is it with Paula Deen and her butter?

Hey, I'll take some fried mashed potatoes. Bring it on!

I love your creepy, human-eating kidney bean pita thing!

Hi! :P

Chelsea said...

I am sooooooooooooo hungry now! What a badass post! I would like a serving of taco casserole, seitan, waffles with chili, fried mashed potatoes, and... well, that's probably more than I can fit in my belly. Thanks! :)

Ricki said...

Amazing array of foods. Ms Dean's waffles sounded gross--but yours look so good! And I love how you've used all the leftovers in this post (except for dropping 'em on the floor, of course) ;)

Ricki said...

Oh, me again--re: your comment on my blog: yes, squash would work perfectly in the hummus! In fact, that extra bit of sweetness would probably go really well with the curry spice. . . mmmm! :) (And I love the way you looked at it--yes, great minds DO think alike!)

Hannah said...

Wow, that is a whole lot of deliciousness to pack into one post...!

Sal - AlienOnToast said...

holy crap! that's a lot of tasty looking food. I would be gutted if i dropped that plate of food on the floor too. in fact, i'd probably do a joey and eat it anyway!!

i haven't tried that pizza yet but i've got that book so i must give it a go!

Anonymous said...

Yipes! There is so much amazing food in this post!!!! The Thai Peanut Veggies over Rice is a meal I would definitely enjoy because 1) it is in a bowl, 2) it has peanut sauce, and 3) it is colorful and pretty!

You and Michael should start up a comfort foods cafe and then I can sample all the goodness you prepare!!!

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

So, you can come cook for me, OK? I'll take one of everything, especially if it involves Dr. Cow!!

Erin said...

Food overload. I'll take the taco casserole and the pizza and the snausages. Delivery. Thanks.

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