Vegan MoFo day 6

Despite the camera mishap, the eggplant turned out awesome.

I brought some in for lunch.

Instead of a traditional eggplant parm, I used whole wheat panko and made a cheese sauce from the uncheese cookbook. I should have tried this cheese sauce thing earlier, because it turned out better than expected. I even made some maccaroni and had a mac & uncheese snack while I was cooking the eggplant.

One of my friends’ grandmother makes an eggplant parm with both American and Mozzarella cheese. I remembered it being awesome, so I veganized it with the american style cheese sauce, some basil tofu ricotta and some almond/pine nut/noochisan topping.

My husband LOVED it. He had to look at mine to make sure we were eating the same thing and was totally shocked it was vegan.

Vegan MoFo Day 5 – Vegan casualty

In my overzealous efforts to catch up on the MoFo I piled too much crap up in my lilliputian kitchen. My camera took a dip in the sauce.

Yup. Word to the wise, don’t leave your camera on top of the Veganomicon on top of the fridge, above a pot of tomato sauce.
The camera still snaps photos, but now there’s condensation on an inside lense so everything is superfuzzy and the flash doesn’t work.
😦
It’s not like I paid for it, I won the camera at a work raffle 2 years ago, but that’s not going to stop me from pouting about it now. Deep breath. Zen like rebound. OK. Back to my awesome eggplant. I will not be defeated!

Vegan MoFo day 4 rewind, but it really happened this morning…

Never go to the grocery store hungry.


I finally heeded my own advice. I was all packed up with my reusuable grocery bag collection, shopping list, I’m even wearing leg warmers (don’t worry, I already I know I’m a dork.) Then…I heard the familiar rumble. But I can make it. The store is minutes away and I only need a couple of things for my actual Sunday MoFo post…WRONG. You have the fixin’s for tofu scramble burrito, now get to it. (I apparently talk to myself when I’m hungry.

Yes, I always have that mori-nu vacuum pack when all else fails, but I have real fridge tofu in there. Tortillas, check. Everything else, is really just bonus. That field roast chipotle sausage is super bonus. It’s twisted up in the plastic casing in 4 parts, so even though I used the other two pieces ages ago, the remaining part is still factory sealed and is good until expiration. Woo-hoo!

I add quinoa and a whole bunch of hot water to my scramble. I’m angling for that whole level 7 vegan thing…

It may look like a big ‘ole mess, but even with too much turmeric (makes the tofu look eggy-useful for tricking non-veg) it’s smelling pretty awesome.

When the liquid is soaked up by the quinoa or just evaporates, just plop the scramble onto a warm tortilla.
I am a sucker for the tofutti sour cream and the chipotle is a little spicy. I also squirted on a little lime juice.

A little OJ spritzer (1/2 glass OJ, then fill with seltzer.)
Then post to blog, and now I’m off to the store. Fueled and happy.

Vegan MoFo day 3 Rewind- Baby Food Processor

The Cuisinart Mini Prep Plus

I’m sure it’s also a swell babyfood processor, but this baby version of a real food processor gives a lot of bang for a small buck. It’ll run you about $40 at a Bed Bath and Beyond near you, but if you can score a 20% coupon, it’s yours for only $32.

I don’t like big pieces of onion in anything. I don’t like chopping onions or garlic into tiny bits. I have a really small kitchen with no counter space. I love the mini-prep.


Elapsed time.
4 Seconds.

The downside over a big food processor is sometimes you have to chop things in small batches and mix them together in a larger container. It’s still worth it when you’re making one of those PPK recipes where Isa swears you really need a food processor. Also ideal for making your own sofrito.

Sofrito
Adapted from Daisy Cooks (not vegan-PBS show chef) to impress my Puerto Rican Mother in Law (it worked)

1 big onion
1 big green bell pepper
1 big red bell pepper (or orange or yellow)
1-2 heads garlic (10-20 garlic cloves)
1 bunch cillantro
1 cup chopped tomato (fresh or canned-drained)

Chop everything in a food processor. Store in 1/2 cup portions in ziploc bags in the freezer.

More on what to actually do with the sofrito later.

Vegan MoFo day 2 rewind

Check out Thanking the Monkey…by Karen Dawn

I’m not really all that into activist books, I’m more about the food. Sometimes there are books outside the recipe category that bring attention back to why I’ve made this choice that baffles friends and family. Thanking the Monkey brings it on with compassion and grace and lots of funny cartoons; and it’s just fun to say thanking the monkey.