Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Tomorrow is the big day... Vegan MoFo Starts!

I'm new on the vegan blog scene, as I'm new on the vegan scene... :) I'm super excited about MoFo because my post numbers are pretty wimpy... like only one post in August and three (well, 4 after this one) in September. But now, in October they will be a big ole number over there to the right... like 20ish! or more!

I'm also really looking forward to reading all my fave blogs everyday and finding all kinds of new favorites! I plan to spend the three hours I'll be in class tonight reading blogs... we haven't started a new project in weeks so it's not like I'll be falling behind on school work... oh I just got an idea for a post or two- what I eat/prepare on the days when I have my night class...

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

October is Vegan MoFo- Vegan Month Of Food!

I've just committed to Vegan MoFo- Daily (weekday) blogging for the month of October. I'm super excited and a little scared :) Heck, maybe I'll make it on the weekends, too!

Monday, September 28, 2009

appetizers for dinner

Tonight I made the Roasted Red Pepper, White Bean, Cilantro Dip from Happy Herbivore. It is so easy and good. You can find the recipe here.

I LOVE hors d'oeuvre more than probably anything! So I decided to have a little platter of finger foods for dinner tonight. I chopped up some raw broccoli and raw zucchini that were just about to hit the 'too ripe' mark and then toasted up a couple flour tortillas in a tiny bit of safflower oil in a hot pan. This made for a fun, easy and deeelicious dinner.

I let the dip chill for about an hour tonight, but it will probably be even better tomorrow after the flavors have ample time to marry. mmmmmm

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Tofu Bennies! Finally!

Eggs Benedict and their multiple variations were one of my favorite breakfast items in omni years passed. So, I have been dying to make the Tofu Bennies from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Vegan Brunch since I got the book a few months back. The problem has been that I can only make them on Thursdays or the weekend (if I want to actually have them for 'brunch'), and by the time I get ready to make them, I am tooo hungry to let the tofu marinate for an hour and I end up eating something like cereal. boo.

So today I did it! I made a few adaptations (which are in green type), but followed the hollandaise sauce recipe 'almost' exactly. SOOOOOOOO GOOOOOD!

Here is what I did:
I used super firm tofu because I like it the best. I cut an 8 oz block into squares because
that is what I had on hand. I halved the marinade recipe since I didn't have 6 (or even 2) people to serve. (I'll have leftovers for breakfast tomorrow and Saturday) I marinated the tofu squares while I went to the store to get a few things needed for the rest of the recipe.

When I got home I made the sauce exactly as the recipe stated except I used 1 tsp 'Better than Bouillon' instead of 2 tbsp veg broth powder because that is what I had - again, it was SOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOD! :) I burned the shallots a little, so I was worried it would be ruined, but it absolutely wasn't. I'll be more careful next time tho....

While the sauce cooled I started frying up the tofu. I used less olive oil than the recipe states, because I'm on Weight Watchers and I new I could still get it nice and crisp with less. I drained the tofu on paper towels and then I crisped up two slices of Smart Deli 'ham' in the leftover oil. Isa's recipe calls for beefsteak tomatoes instead of ham, but I couldn't find any nice tomatoes, so I used 'ham'. Isa's recipe calls for smoked salt (which I will definitely purchase at some point!) or as a substitute she suggests a dab of liquid smoke and sea salt. Since I had liquid smoke and sea salt I used them and I dabbed them on the ham instead of the tomato.

Isa's recipe calls for either English Muffins or using her Diner Home Fries instead. For time's sake, I used the muffins this time.

Here is how I assembled my bennies:
Toasted the muffins, and put both halves down on a plate. Put a dollop of sauce on each muffin half and then put the smoke/salt seasoned crispy ham slices on top. Then added a tofu square on top of the ham. Finally I poured sauce over top. I used 1/3 cup sauce total (the recipe makes 2 cups, so I'll gently reheat for my leftovers later).

Mine turned out awesome, but I'll definitely try these again a million times and make the recipe exactly as Isa wrote it, and also experiment with more variations that I think of.

Here is what mine looked like. PS- My cat, Bas, licked the plate clean after I was done. The hollandaise sauce was a HUGE hit with him!

Go Out and buy Vegan Brunch (or order it) TODAY! :)