Sweet and Sour Tofu

I’ve been craving some good fake Chinese food lately.  I say fake as in the kind of “Chinese” you get at mall food courts and the buffets that inexplicably also serve french fries and mini corn dogs.  Not authentic, not even really Chinese, just sort of… Asian-esque enough to pass.  Usually I prefer to find quality stuff, but sometimes some junky food is just what hits the spot.

I recently decided to take matters in to my own hands.  I’ve done chow mein and lo mein before, so this time I ventured into the world of sweet and sour “chik’n”.  It doesn’t come out tasting chicken-y (which I view as a good thing), but in terms of satisfying a craving, it does the trick.  The best part?  It’s simple!

Sweet and Sour Tofu

1 block tofu

1 cup Panko (Japanese style bread crumbs)

turmeric, cayenne, black pepper, sage, and garlic powder to taste (I used a generous dash of each)

House of Tsang Sweet and Sour Sauce (yep, I’m too lazy to make my own)

Remove the tofu from its packaging, squeeze as much water out of it as possible, and wrap it in plastic.  Be sure all areas of the tofu are well-covered.  Freeze overnight.

Place tofu in a bowl and microwave on high for 4 minutes, pausing after each minute to flip or turn the tofu.  Continue until defrosted (press on the tofu–if it’s not hard anymore, it’s thawed) but be careful not to cook it.  Squeeze all the water out of the tofu; press hard, there’ll be a lot!  Then cut the tofu into 1″ cubes.

Meanwhile, mix the bread crumbs and seasonings.

Dip the tofu in lukewarm water, shake off the excess, then roll in the bread crumb mixture.  Place on to a well-greased pan (I sprayed generously with canola oil).  When all the tofu is in the pan, spray lightly with oil.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, until breading begins to turn golden and tofu is firm and crispy.  Turn once or twice during baking time for best results.

Coat tofu in sweet and sour sauce and serve warm.  Enjoy!

Bonus recipe: For sesame tofu, mix sweet and sour sauce with honey (you naughty vegan!) about 3:1 (more sauce than honey), toss the baked tofu in the sauce, coat with sesame seeds, and place back in the oven for about 5 minutes or until sauce has dried a bit.

Bonus FLOP: I also tried to modify this to make coconut fried tofu (you know, like coconut shrimp).  I froze the tofu and thawed it.  Then I rolled it in a mixture of panko, unsweetened coconut, a little sugar, and ginger.  Then I fried it in Earth Balance.  It tasted pretty good but a lot of the breading came off during frying–I think it would work better with a deep fryer.  I ended up pressing a little extra breading mixture onto the tofu after I fried it.  If you have a deep fryer and try this, let me know how it goes!

Oops! Thrifty Tuesday- Quesadillas

Well, it seems my worst predictions for the month have happened!  Things have been ridiculously weird this month–I got in a car accident, for one–and I’ve been left with far less time to post than I would have liked.  I’ll try to make up for it!

Here’s an easy recipe for the days when you really don’t have the time or patience to make anything.

Tex Mex Quesadilla

2 Tb guacamole

1 Tb salsa–the chunky stuff, like Newman’s Own Farmer’s Market Salsa

2 Tb frozen corn

3 Tb black beans (if from a can, rinse them first)

1 Tb diced onion

2 fajita-size flour tortillas

Heat a frying pan over medium and spray with vegetable oil.  Spread all ingredients over tortilla, leaving about 1/2 inch around the edges, and sandwich together (I recommend putting the salsa on one side, the guac on the other, and sprinkling all the other stuff on one side, then smooshing the two tortillas together–this helps them stick the best).  Fry until tortilla is golden brown, then flip and repeat.  Use a pizza cutter to slice into pieces.

Serve with guacamole, salsa, or Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream for dipping!

Vegan MoFo Day 5: Mainstream Monday

This is a perfect day for Mainstream Monday, because as it happens, everything I ate today was mainstream.  So, instead of recipes or reviews or anything fancy like that, why don’t I just list my meals for the day?

Breakfast:

chex

oat milk

cameron's coffee

Lunch:

healthy choice bread

sandwich vegetables: tomato, spinach, cucumber, peppers

McCain Trax

Dinner:

hy-vee whole wheat penne

hunt's pasta sauce

Snacks:

halloween oreos

cap'n crunch!

Note: Clicking images brings you to where I got them from, not necessarily the product’s website.

As you can see, I wasn’t the healthiest of vegans today, but we all have our ups and downs.  Mondays are usually a down for me.  Also as you can see, vegans do not only eat lettuce.  Far from it; in fact, I don’t even really like lettuce.   My diet is usually much more balanced than this, but it so happened that I didn’t have many groceries in the house today, nor a lot of time with which to cook from scratch.

Anyway, the point isn’t that I ate a lot of junk today.  The point is that I fed myself for an entire day with nothing but foods that can be found in any grocery store (except maybe the oat milk, but that can be easily made at home or substituted with any non-dairy milk).  And I was full and happy and had plenty of calories.

PS:  Please don’t give me crap for using canned pasta sauce.  It is my dirty little secret and you should be honored that I trust you enough to share it with you.  I promise I only use it once in a while.

Reason #5 for being vegan: cruelty-free clothing materials–polyester, faux leather, cotton and more–are often less expensive than coats and shoes made of wool, fur, or leather.  These items last as long as the non-vegetarian versions and are just as comfortable and stylish!

Vegan MoFo Day 4: Serene Sunday

“A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.”

Aesop

Nothing is worth more than this day.

- Goethe

There is no greatness where there is not simplicity.

- Leo Tolstoy

It isn’t enough to talk about peace, one must believe it.

And it isn’t enough to to believe in it, one must work for it.

- Eleanor Roosevelt

Ours was never a religious family, but we did always try to get all our chores and errands done on Saturday so that Sunday could be nothing but fun and relaxation.  I’d wake up and hear the radio playing in the kitchen while my parents sipped coffee and read the mammoth newspaper; they’d set aside the comics for me when I joined them with my bowl of cereal, and together we’d waste away the early hours of the day.  That relaxing morning, so simple and short, set us up for a fantastic day of…nothing.  We’d play, we’d see a museum, we’d drive around with no destination.  No matter how we spent the day it was with nothing but pure leisure in mind.

These days I try to keep up that tradition.  Life should never be so busy that your work needs to bleed into all seven days of the week.  Maybe you need to do chores every day; that’s fine, but make one day dedicated to work you at least enjoy.  The dishes can wait another 24 hours.

I think this philosophy translates well to animal activism too.  It seems that most of us work day and night for what we believe in, fostering dogs and feeding strays, handing out fliers and talking to friends, going to events, asking for more vegan options at restaurants and grocery stores, writing on blogs just like this one, contacting legislators, organizing demonstrations…you get the idea.  The work is never done and probably won’t be for a very very long time, and there’s so much to do to help animals that there are simply not enough activists to do it all.  As a result we often end up taking the world on our shoulders, not only adding activist work on top of our already busy schedules, but weaving it through our daily actions as well.

And it continues to add up.  Every time someone asks us what we can eat.  Every time someone hints that we are bad parents for raising our kids vegan.  Every time some misinformed person tells us we need to milk cows for their own good, and every time another unwanted bunny/chicken/pig/dog/cat/ferret is brought to the shelter and put on a euth list for being too old or not cute enough.  Each time we see another milk industry-sponsored “study” or hear about a CAFO investigation, we add it on to our lists.  We won’t stop until we can fix it.

But what happens to us?  Our hearts are in the right place, but somewhere deep down I think we all suffer from a tiny little misled belief that we can do it all.  We can’t, and our conscious mind knows it, but our inner engines keep running 24 hours a day anyway (I know I’m not the only one who has woken up at 3 a.m. and hopped online to write a letter or post something about animals).  All of the negativity, disappointment, anger and sadness we undoubtedly encounter as vegans and as activists builds up, because we are afraid to acknowledge that our work can be draining.

You heard it.  Sometimes being vegan just plain sucks.  Once in a while I just reach a tipping point where seeing one more photo of a pig makes me burst into tears.  Inevitably, we occasionally are faced with the feeling we’re running in place, because no matter how hard we work it seems we’re getting nowhere fast.  Most of us are ingrained with the fix-it gene:  when we feel this way, we stop crying and suck it up and tell ourselves we just need to work harder.  Our solution to being overwhelmed is to plunge our hands in the muck even deeper.

I’m telling you different.  Take a day off.

Reserve one day a week as your oasis.  Turn off the computer, turn off the television, hell, go somewhere where you can’t even see electronic devices, much less let them beep and yell at you all day.  Spend time with family, make yourself a nice home-cooked dinner, or if you don’t like to cook, order take-out and play board games on the living room floor.  Wear sweat pants.  Put on some David Bowie and dance around with your hairbrush.  Find something that relaxes you, rejuvenates you, makes you smile.  Find something that helps you remember you–not you-the-parent, not the whatever-you-do-for-a-job, not you-the-activist or you-the-vegan.  Under the Urban Decay makeup and organic cotton t-shirt you are still a person who needs a little time to love yourself.  For one day, forget about the world and do what you want to do, not what you need to do.  Step off the bullet train that is your life, if only for a few hours.

In the end, it’s not the sheer hours we put in for animals, or the amount of sweat and tears we shed.  It’s the heart we put into our work and our passion and compassion for animals that makes the difference.  Letting ourselves get beaten down and stressed out only makes us bitter.  We are activists because we want peace for all creatures–yes, that includes farm animals, but it also includes ourselves.

So sit down and have a cup of coffee and a cookie.  Baker’s orders.

all photos from personal collection; please do not re-post without permission.  text is open for personal use.

Lysander’s Lentil Soup Mix

Lentil Soup Mix

I was feeling a little under the weather the other day and as it turned out, it was also my day to do the grocery shopping.  I didn’t bring a list, and ended up just wandering around the grocery story tossing things in the cart.  When I got home I realized I had purchased mostly soup ingredients and things to go along with soup, and convenience foods at that (refrigerated biscuits, even!).  It’s easy to tell when I’m sick and don’t want to cook!

In any case, I picked up Lysander’s Lentil Soup Mix, which is basically a little pre-measured bag of lentils with a spice packet and directions.  You boil the lentils, drop in an onion, tomato, a bell pepper, and the spices, and cook it for half an hour.  Then you add rice and cook it another half hour.  That’s it…easier than pie (I can’t say easy as pie because my pies never seem to turn out).

I am always skeptical of dry soup mixes, but this one turned out really well.  The vegetable additions help a lot, and the result tasted pretty similar to what I would have made myself.  I did toss in some fresh chopped basil and a little turmeric, but only because I am too stubborn to let someone else do all the work–it tasted fine as-is.

At $2.89 a package the mix is overpriced–lentils are cheaper than pasta at the local bulk foods store–but it’s a nice little packet if you don’t have a lot of time or have never made lentil soup before and want to get a feel for it before making it from scratch.

Nutritionally, it’s hard to beat as far as soup mixes go, even before the addition of the vegetables.  A 52-gram serving has 13 grams of protein and 14 grams of dietary fiber (the package says it makes 6 servings, but it only made about 4 bowls for our hungry family), only 0.5 grams fat and 170 calories.  The sodium is high, but no higher than canned or packaged soups, and Lysander’s does not use preservatives or MSG.  Unfortunately I couldn’t find a website for Lysander’s, but the photo above will take you to a shopping website that might be able to help you find a way to order online.  Lysander’s is available in most mainstream grocery stores; in mine, it was in the soup aisle near the bouillon cubes and other dry mixes.

Vegan MoFo: Farmer’s Market Friday

Welcome to day 2 of Vegan MoFo (though it’s almost over, it still counts!).  I’m posting late because my original idea didn’t work out:  I got done roasting the butternut squash for my cheezy potato boats and realized I didn’t have any potatoes, which are, um, sort of necessary for making potato boats*.  But then I started feeling ill and decided not to leave the house to buy more.  So, the potato boats will have to wait.

*You may ask why I would fail to realize my lack of potatoes if I had the intention of making potato skins.  I bought a 5 pound bag of potatoes earlier this week…no joke, probably Tuesday.  So any logical person would not expect them to be gone already.  I guess I underestimated how much we like potatoes in our household.

I’ll post as soon as I get more potatoes.  In the meantime, you can still enjoy Farmer’s Market Friday!

Today’s Secret Ingredient: Parsley

Tabouleh

I was recently invited to a Minnesota School Nutrition Association chapter meeting about the Farm-to-School program.  We were asked to bring a dish made using one of the recipes on the Farm-to-School website.

I made the Tabouli (tabbouli, tabbouleh, taboulli) recipe.  But then I changed it, because I know what real tabbouleh tastes like, and their recipe is nothing near correct (to their credit, the recipes are made with school kids in mind, and most grade school kids would not eat real tabbouleh).

Go ahead and make their recipe; it’s a nice base.  Then drizzle in some olive oil and lemon juice, and add more parsley and garlic.  Then add more parsley again.  When you’re done, add some more parsley.  Do you have any parsley left?  Toss it in for good measure.

Ah, that’s better.  Make sure to do a mirror check after you’re done eating as your teeth will most likely be full of parsley.

The tabouleh was really fun to make because it was all local save for the olive oil, the lemon juice and the bulgur, and those were all purchased in bulk from the co-op.  I got the tomatoes, parsley, cucumber, garlic, and onion from a local farmer, and paid about $4 total for it.  With the other ingredients, this recipe comes to about $6 total, or a mere 60 cents per serving.

So did the people at the meeting enjoy it?  I wouldn’t know, because my dear fiance ate all of the tabbouleh while I was out of the house, and it never made it to the potluck at all.  I did manage to get a bite and thought it was pretty good (after my additions, of course).  Give it a try; parsley is actually a pretty decent food despite its bad rap as a garnish.

Reason #2 for going vegan:  You’ve got an excuse to avoid your grandma’s fruitcake!

Banana Oatmeal

Good morning!

I know sweet cereals aren’t good for me, but I do like a little touch of sweetness in the morning.  Plus, I have Hypoglycemia, so I need a little sugar (that’s my excuse, anyway).  Oatmeal is a nice compromise–it’s filling, relatively healthy, and with this variation, it even includes fruit.  With a good breakfast I can start the day off right no matter if it begins with a screaming toddler or a pretty sunrise.  Or even both.

P.S.:  The little one loves this, too!

Right Side of the Bed Oatmeal (feeds 2)

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1/2 cup raisins

2 Tb brown sugar (just scoop, no need to pack it)

2 tsp real maple syrup

1 banana

Heat some water in a pot (3 cups?  Depends on how much oatmeal you use, and you’ll have some left over) until bubbles start to form at the bottom (turn off the heat before it boils).  Meanwhile, cut the banana into four pieces and mash it a little with a spoon.  Sprinkle a little water (maybe 1 tsp) into the bowl.  Microwave for about 1 minute 30 seconds.  Bananas do amazing things in the microwave, so stick around and watch*.  You’ll know when it’s done (hint:  it bubbles and breaks down into smaller pieces).  Place the oats and raisins in a separate bowl.  When the water is hot, pour it over the oatmeal–enough to cover the oats, plus a teensy bit extra.  Stir after a minute or two and add the sugar as you stir, then stir in the banana.  Drizzle the maple syrup over top.  Enjoy!

*I am not sure who I learned this from, but I think it may have been from someone on the PPK Forum.  In any case, it was someone awesome.

Vegan MoFo Day 1: Applesauce

Today’s Secret Ingredient: Applesauce

Applesauce has a variety of uses in vegan cooking and baking.  It can be used to replace eggs in cookies and muffins (use 1/4 cup applesauce for each egg), it can thicken and moisten dry cake recipes, or it can star as an ingredient.  Here, applesauce helps the apple slices retain moisture and flavor during baking.  It also thickens the maple sauce.

Apple Maple Hazelnut Tart

I could not decide which ingredient is the star in this successful kitchen experiment:  the tart apples, the crunchy hazelnuts, or the indulgent maple caramel spooned Jackson Pollock-style over the whole dessert.  Apples and hazelnuts are not often seen together, but the result is a surprising burst of bold flavor.  These little tarts can be whipped up rather quickly and the recipe lends itself well to adaptation (I know, because I didn’t even measure the ingredients the first time).  Served with a hot cup of coffee, they are the perfect creation for a chilly autumn day.  I only have four mini tart pans, so that’s how many I planned for in the recipe.  If you have more tart pans, or yours are bigger or deeper than mine, you’ll need to adjust.

Apple Hazelnut Tartlets with Maple Caramel Drizzle

1 cup cinnamon graham cracker crumbs (plain are also acceptable)

1/2 cup hazelnut meal (I made my own by chopping a small handful of nuts, then pulsing them in a processor)

Hazelnut Meal (pre food-processor)

3 Tb canola oil

1 Tb soy milk or other non-dairy milk

3 Tb brown rice syrup, divided (see directions)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp maple flavoring, divided (see directions)

2 tsp maple syrup

1 small tart, crisp apple, such as SweeTango or Granny Smith, cored and thinly sliced

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 Tb Earth Balance

pinch each nutmeg, cloves, allspice, ginger

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup applesauce + 2 Tb (for caramel)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Lightly spray four mini tart pans with vegetable oil.  In a bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and hazelnuts.  Add oil, soy milk, and 1 Tb brown rice syrup, stirring thoroughly.  Add more oil or soy milk if needed–the mixture should not be too wet, but should stick together when pressed.  Stir in vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp maple flavoring.  Divide into fourths and press into tart pans.  Spread applesauce over the crusts (leaving an edge).  Set aside.

Place apples in a bowl and add granulated sugar, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, cinnamon and ginger.  Drizzle a tiny bit of maple syrup or canola oil and toss.  Cover each tartlet with apples.

Microwave Earth Balance until melted.  Add remaining brown rice syrup, maple syrup, brown sugar, applesauce, and maple flavoring.  Stir until well combined.  If runny, add more applesauce and/or sugar.  The sauce should taste strongly of maple, but not too overwhelming.  Pour half the sauce over the tartlets and reserve the rest.

Place the tartlet pans on a baking sheet (some liquid will leak out of them).  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until apples are soft, the crust is crunchy and the applesauce has firmed a bit.  Allow to cool 15 minutes, then drizzle the remaining sauce on top of the tartlets (if saving for a later time, you may also reserve the sauce to drizzle just before serving).

Fresh From the Oven!

Reason for Being Vegan #31: You’ll undoubtedly learn to cook.  Eventually.

Vegan MoFo 2009: Introduction and Schedule

Thanks for tuning (well, clicking) in, and welcome to day 1 of Vegan MoFo [MOnth of FOod] 2009!  MoFo was started a few years back as a challenge for vegan bloggers.  The mission?  To post something about vegan food every day for the month of October.  Nothing more or less–just anything, as long as it has to do with vegan cuisine.

Some choose to do random, different posts each day, some have themes for each week, some do a theme each month.  I will be mixing those ideas.  I will…

Showcase a different vegan ingredient every day through the month of October!

Thirty-one days gives me plenty of opportunity to mix the well-known ingredients that give non-vegans trouble (tofu, for instance), vegan applications of mainstream ingredients, and the other fine food offerings known to most as “that weird vegan stuff” (you know–brown rice syrup, arrowroot powder, Silken, and the ever-terrifying agar-agar).

To challenge myself further, I’ll dedicate a couple of days a week to specific topics.  Here is the schedule for the month.

• Mainstream Monday- I’ll show you recipes that can be made with ingredients found in any grocery store.  No froofy vegan food here, just basic, tasty meals made with staple foods and common produce.
• Thrifty Tuesday- Tune in on Tuesdays to find meals that can be made on a budget.  I will not only list the recipe, but also the approximate price of each ingredient and a final breakdown of the nutrition you get and the price per serving.
• Wednesday and Thursday- Grab bag- These posts won’t be confined to a specific category.
• Farmer’s Market Friday- Today I’ll use produce found at the farmer’s market to create a fresh, hearty meal.
• Sweet Saturday- Saturdays are dedicated to the love of sweets.
• Serene Sunday- Sundays will be filled with inspiring quotes, photos of happy animals, and comforting, nurturing recipes to help you find a little peace in your day.

In addition:

Daily, I will post a reason to go vegan (on Halloween, I’ll post a countdown with all the reasons in the same post!).  I will also post links to alternative recipes that feature the same ingredient of the day.

How do you fit into all this?

Please, pretty please, feel free to comment with your own recipes with the day’s ingredient, give me your feedback if you try a recipe, or just say hi.  You can follow me with an RSS feed, or even e-mail me if you have an idea, suggestion, comment, rant, or a cute picture of a penguin that you want to share.

Veganomicon

I could sum up Veganomicon in four words:  this book is incredible.

But, you know me, I could never leave it so succinct.

Veganomicon is not the book for everyone, and I can’t say it’s the first book I would recommend to a fledgling plant-eater.  Many of the recipes are a little long on the ingredient lists, some are a bit complicated on the process.  Only a few recipes have photos, so new cooks might worry if theirs is turning out the way it should.

That said, if you want to impress your non-vegan acquaintances, this is the way to go.  Veganomicon has just the right mix of comfort foods and gourmet vegan fare, “veganizing” staple dishes like Macaroni Salad and challenging even seasoned vegans with original recipes that will wow the stagnant palates of omnivore guests.  I pull this book out when I want something different, when I want something that tastes like it came from a restaurant, and when I am ready to hunker down in my kitchen and pull out all the stops.

The Potato-Kale Enchiladas are a staple in our household, although we just tried them with the pepitas for the first time (worth it!) and got rave reviews at a recent potluck.  After getting a good deal on apples, I made the Apple Peanut Butter Caramel Bars and had a hard time putting the fork down they were so good.  The Banana Chocolate-Chip Bread Pudding is actually the reason I purchased this book, so needless to say, it’s an incredible twist on an old favorite.

Logistically speaking, the cookbook is well set-up.  The index is very complete and recipes are easy to find.  The photos are full-color and together in the middle of the book if you need inspiration.  A set of symbols lets you know which recipes are quick, which can be made with easy-to-find ingredients, and which are diet-friendly.  There are typos here and there, but it’s not an annoyance–it’s actually kind of nice, because it’s a sign that a real person wrote it and it wasn’t just lifted from other sources and edited to death by a mega-publisher.

Isa and Terry do not disappoint.  If you’re a new cook, consider these recipes a goal to aim for.  If you’re a seasoned vegan looking to spice up your weekly menu, you owe it to yourself to make this book the newest member of your family.