You don’t have to be 6 years old to enjoy a good lunchbox. I mean it’s no Cracker Jack’s *(1st-3rd grade) or Strawberry Shortcake (4th-6th grade), but the laptop lunch bento box is just waiting to take all your joyful creations to work.

Mine looks pretty awesome to me, but check out Sakurako Kitsa’s Flickr site for the coolest lunch art ever. I think my favorite is the angry sandwich. Wait, and Jaws…oh there are so many.

I’ve got Vcon Asian Marinated Tofu, inari sushi, edamame, and sushi rice topped with seasoning (Yasai Fumi Furikake-sesame seed, carrot, spinach, pumpkin, celery, Japanese mustard plant, potato starch, sugar salt, and seaweed.)

For more lunchbox recipes and actual kid friendly ideas check out the Vegan Lunchbox by Jennifer McCann.*Cracker Jack’s is on the Peta, I can’t believe it’s vegan list.

I made Bianca’s tester for French toast and it is so fast, easy, and yummy you’ll wonder why you don’t eat French toast every day. I hadn’t made vegan French toast before and sans eggs you can get this by any omni.
I had a baguette from Thursday that was begging me to save it from being bread crumbs. It was stored in a plastic bag, but was the perfect amount of staleness for French toast.

I mean you had me at breakfast and pizza.

Tami at vegan appetite is working on a cookbook and I’m catching up with some breakfast goodies. This is a knock your socks off breakfast pizza. Layers of goodness and topped with fried tofu and cheezy sauce.

And I got my Vegan Brunch book. I think I’m going to have an all breakfast weekend. Yum.

And right behind Vegan Brunch is Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s The Vegan Table due out June 1st. Start making room on the bookshelves. Vegan cookbooks are taking over the world!

Just a quick update…I preordered Vegan Brunch from Amazon and it’s due to ship out next week. Woo-hoo!

Taking a break from my Japanese kick, I made a satisfying, but light French inspired dinner. Despite being non-vegan and heavily based on swilling champagne (oh, for the love of Veuve Clicquot) French Women don’t get Fat is a nice reminder of the philosophies of the French diet.

When I studied in France in college, breakfast was coffee and yogurt, followed by second breakfast of a pain au chocolat or danish at school, lunch was a big meal at the school cafeteria or (shamefully) McDonald’s, but most evenings, I had soup, salad, and baguette and butter at home with my host mother. I actually lost a few pounds during my stay in France.

Tonight’s potage is roasted brussel sprouts, green bean, leek, and potato. You can make this with fresh vegetables, but I find it’s a great way to use up leftover side dishes from other meals. I make this with leftover mashed potatoes or even french fries. I used Spike and sprinkled Penzeys 4S seasoned salt on top.

Potage

2 cups vegetables

2 small red potatoes

4 cups vegetable broth

Big pinch of some all purpose seasoning

Put all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer until the potatoes are done. Puree until smooth. You can use an immersion blender, or food processor, but I find the vitamix blender makes it perfectly smooth and velvety. Makes 2 generous servings or 4 smaller servings.

My favorite salad dressing is vinaigrette with a tomato blended in.

Tomato vinaigrette for 1 big salad or 2 side salads

2 TBS good olive oil
1 TBS good balsamic vinegar

Big pinch of a seasoning blend (if unsalted add a pinch of salt as well)

2 small roma tomatoes (fresh is better, canned works)

Blend together and adjust seasonings if necessary. I use a fine herbs blend that is heavy on the basil and tarragon.

Despite being chock full of vegetables and light on calories, 2 cups of soup and a big salad is a good volume of food and I find I am totally satisfied.

Yes, I’m turning Japanese, I really think so.

I love this cookbook. Japanese Cooking Contemporary and Traditional. Daikon radish, shitake mushrooms, kombu, and weird new stuff like natto. I’m lucky to have several incredible Japanese groceries in and around NYC, so I have been able to find all the esoteric ingredients.

I originally got the book from herbivore, but they don’t seem to currently have it in stock. Of course when I checked, I found many other cookbooks I now totally need to have.

I think a Taste of Thailand is up next.

If you don’t yet have the Yellow Rose Recipes, check it out for great recipes including my favorite go to seitan cutlet recipe.

Back to the Japanese eating, there’s also the non vegan book Japanese Women don’t get Old or Fat. I got this from the library ages ago and found it a great resource for demystifying Japanese food. I wanted to read it again so I got it on the Kindle. I also found 2 great Japanese groceries in NYC right from the book. There are plenty of vegetable and tofu recipes, but I’m going to work my way through veganizing some of the non-veg ones.

Vegan Miso Broth
1 3inch piece dried kombu

4 dried shitake mushrooms

2 Tbs white miso paste

4 cups water

Place the kombu and shitake in cold water and bring to a boil. Let simmer about 5 minutes. Strain and add miso. Serve immediately. Makes two 2 cup servings. The ninja is a fan of this.

Save the mushrooms and kombu to make 2nd dashi which isn’t quite as strong, but still tasty. You could cut the pieces up and add them with the soup and add tofu, but I like my miso brothy.

Yeah, I know I’m supposed to be eating more vegetables, but this was pretty awesome. Why make vegan stuff that resembles greasy meat and cheesy stuff? Because it tastes good, that’s why.
Vegan Cheese Steak
1 tsp canola oil
2 TBS slices onion
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning (or combo of oregano and powdered garlic)
1 setian steak sliced into bite sized pieces
4 really thin wide slices of Follow Your Heart Cheddar soy cheese
1 sub roll (check the labels to find one without dairy)

Optional ingredients: mushrooms, sweet peppers, hot peppers
Optional condiments: Ketchup, Veganaise, pickles, relish

Saute onion (and optional mushrooms peppers) in oil and sprinkle with seasoning. When onions are almost browned add seitan steak pieces and saute until warmed and browned. Pile up the mixture into a line in the middle of the pan the shape of the sub roll. Top the pile with 2 pieces of soy cheese and let melt. Put optional condiments on the roll and then cover then cheese steak pile in the pan with the roll.

Now to get it out of the pan, I put a piece of deli paper (parchment, wax paper, foil, paper towel, or nothing) over the roll and hold the roll part in one hand and flip the pan over with the other. You could also scoop the whole thing out of the pan with a long spatula, but where’s the fun in that?

Now you don’t need more cheese on top, but you can top it with the remaining two slices of cheese and pop it in the broiler for a minute (this is where that foil comes in handy.) The cheese gets melty and the roll gets a little crispy.

Yum.

OK, if you’re paying attention to me at all, you know I really need to win this, but who am I to keep it a secret.

The Chesapeake Bay lies to the west of the Delmarva peninsula. My home turf. Land of the ubiquitous crab cake. So when Isa posted the Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes for her upcoming book Vegan Brunch *, I just had to get off the couch and make them immediately. I haven’t been this excited since I made vegan scrapple.
I already ate 2 before I took the photo, so I put the sauce on the side. The cakes are delicate so just be gentle when turning them and they won’t fall apart too much-I ate the ones that fell apart, so it’s not actually a bad thing. I think letting the mixture sit a few minutes helps as the later ones were more solid.

At first I was like where the heck is the Old Bay? I guess since it’s not available everywhere it makes sense it’s not in the recipe. BUT the recipe seasonings are perfect and I didn’t miss it at all. OK, I confess, I sprinkled some in on the last batch and honestly I couldn’t tell the difference between those and the other ones.

Super freakin’ awesome. I sent some to the Bronx for the in-laws to try. I don’t think the ninja is going to tell them that it’s not actually made from crab…let’s see how that goes.

*unofficially: I’m still calling Vegan Brunch the Crack of Noon in my head. You can pre-order it on Amazon.