A Salad of Sorts...

Alrighy, then.  Let's see, you'll need a base of chopped iceburg/lettuce.
Toppings are warmed:
Rice
Sun dried tomatoes
Cooked onion, carrot, broccoli
Raisins
Shredded low-fat coconut
Avocado

Drizzle with sugar free maple syrup, and sprinkle with nooch.

Adapted from The Tolerant Vegan

Broccoli and Sun Dried Tomato Pasta

Adapted from Cookie and Kate

Saute up some garlic and broccoli.  Toss with cooked whole wheat pasta, chopped sundried tomatoes, black olives, nooch, lemon juice, chickpeas, and a bit of arugula.

Was that easy or what ;)

Cashew Stir Fry

Alright.. dry fried tofu.  You cube/press tofu, and then 'fry' it in a pan - no oil, no water, no nothing.  Just press on the tofu to get out the moisture over medium heat, and the tofu should develop a nice crust, like it's fried but not really.  GREAT STUFF!
Veggies were broccoli, carrot, mushrooms, garlic, and onion.
Sauce was soy sauce, corn starch, sugar free strawberry jelly, dried ginger, stevia, a wee bit of molasses, rice vinegar.
Served over brown rice, topped with cashews
Adapted from Vouge Vegetarian.

Quickie Quesadilla

Ok, this recipe looked too weird not to try, so I made it the other night... Yes.  Yeeeeees.  It was good!

Spread a tortilla with cranberry sauce (made with stevia, chunky kind), pistachios, vegan goat cheese, and grilled onion + broccoli.  Simple, but it really has that OMG WOWZA factor!

Adapted from That Was Vegan

Pasta, Pesto, and Broccoli [and Chick'n]

Alright!  I totally got swamped by English for a few days, but that's over now.. So, back to the food. 

Ahem.  Yes, well, this is a good, hearty pasta dish.  With chick'n.  Yes.  And broccoli is on sale right now for me, so win-win...

Oh, yes.  Today is Friday!  Yaaay!

Adapted from Meet the Shannons

Pesto: blend

• 1/4 cup hazlenuts
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/3 bunch spinach, washed, destemmed
• handful fresh basil
• handful fresh parsley
• 1 clove garlic
• 3 tbsp nooch
• 1 lemon

Mix with sauteed broccoli, whole wheat pasta, and chick'n (baked instead of boiled at 350 unitl firm, ~30 minutes)

Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day!

I won this cookbook in a contest a while back, and am reading it front to back.  Don't judge.  I've been trying out a few recipes, and here's the pictures from a couple:

Broccoli on an english muffin with hollindase sauce:
(I used this recipe for the muffins.  Soooo much fun to make - you should try it, really.  I used baking blend stevia for the sugar)

And these were called Greek Burgers:

Weeeeird Pizza #2

Tofu fingers.. on a pizza?  Sure!

 

 

It actually worked out really well.  Quite intense goodness!

Adapted from Veg-Bergers

First, make some mini tofu logs, about as big as your pinky.  In one bowl, mix 1/3 cup soy milk with 1 tbsp dijon mustard.  In another bowl, mix 1/2 cup cornmeal, paprika, thyme, basil, and oregano.  Dip the tofu in the milk, then coat with cornmeal.  Bake in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes, until firm.
Spread a pizza crust (cooked for a few minutes in the oven) with tomato sauce (from a can), and sprinkle with nooch.  Top with broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes, orange pieces, and tofu.  Bake for 20 minutes at 350, until broccoli is cooked.  Serve with ketchup, incase the tofu falls off. ;)

Simple Soba Salad

You really can't get much more clean-out-the-fridge-before-vacation than this dish.

 

 

Man, you should have seen the inside of the fridge after this.  It was 99% empty!  Almost scary...

 

Adapted from Maple Spice

 

Sauce: blend

•  1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• a pinch of dried ginger
• stevia extract to taste
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
 

Grill tofu slabs drizzled with sauce, broccoli, red onions, red bell peppers, and carrots.  Serve over soba noodles, topped with avocado and leftover sauce.

Limey Wild Rice and Broccoli Salad

I hope you like lime...

Because I have a pile of lime-intense food for you today.

If you don't want to be BLASTED with lime, I would cut it down drastically... same goes for the lemon.  All kidding aside, though, this was one unique dish!

Adapted from The First Mess

Cook up some wild rice.

Chop and grill on a panini press onion and broccoli.

The dressing was... (all blended in my lovely Mr. V)

1 orange

1 lime

1 lemon

~6 oz tofu to thicken

a few drops stevia extract

a large handful of fresh basil leaves

The whole shebang got topped with sunflower seeds and chopped avocado.

BBQ Tofu Salad

Yay!  Tofuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!



 You have no idea how long I have been wanting to say that.

Yup.



I'm dead serious.

Adapted from Keepin' It Kind
First up, tofu: Cut one slab of tofu per person, press, and then slather with this bbq sauce (using 6 oz tomato paste, not 4, and no need to cook it).  Bake for 30 minutes at 375, and slather with more bbq sauce.
Base: lettuce.
Add in the tofu, black olives, canned mandarine oranges, broccoli, avocado, and top with this dressing.

Stir Fry + "Deep Fried" Tofu

Oh, cornstarch...

How I love thee...

"Deep Fried" Tofu Stir Fry, adapted from That's So Vegan

For the tofu: press a brick of tofu, and cube.  Toss in corn starch, and bake 400 for about 25 minutes, until hard.

Veggies: Onion, broccoli, carrots, bell pepper

Sauce: Stevia, chili paste, mirin, maple syrup, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, pineapple juice, and (more) corn starch

Served over brown rice.

Chickpea and Avocado Salad

Simple salad.

Totally cut myself on my immersion blender today, so that wrecked ALL cooking plans.  Luckily, I dug around for a quick, simple recipe and this one fit the bill.

Little did I know it would taste so good!
Adapted from The Vegan Crew

Base: Blend of iceburg/shredded cabbage/shredded carrots (you know, the stuff that comes in the bags that's pre-washed)
Toppings: roasted chickpeas (tossed with chili powder, roasted at 400 for 30 minutes), carrots, broccoli, raw almonds, avocado
Dressing: balsamic vinegar and mirin

Pineapple Chickpea Stir Fry

Sorry... What?  You haven't had pineapple in a stir fry?

Try it.

Seriously.

Adapted from Peas and Thankyou

Sauce: Soy sauce, mirin, pineapple juice, corn starch, rice vinegar, maple syrup
Veggies: garlic, ginger, onion, carrots, broccoli, pineapple, chickpeas.
Served over brown rice.

Stir Fry - Pineapple Orange

Sweet.

Simple.

Chopsticks!

Adapted from K's Veg Recipes

Sauce: Pineapple juice, orange zest, soy sauce, rice vinegar, corn starch
Veggies: broccoli, carrots, onion, bok choy
Served with brown rice, Orange-Pineapple Setian, and chopsticks

I selected this post to be featured on Vegan Blogs. Please visit the site and vote for my blog!

Simple Veggies, Pasta, & Pesto

Could "cooking" get any more simple than this?  Just roast carrots and broccoli at 375 for 15 - 20 min, and toss with pasta and pesto.  Not even a recipe, really... but a great way to use up leftover pesto and pasta, and it tasted a-mazing!  Good food to refuel with...

Adapted from Sketch Free Vegan

Sweet n Sour Stir Fry

WOWOWOWOWOOOOWWW!  This one was a good one.  M, who <3s stir frys, said this was one of the best ones I have ever made.  I don't think I will argue with her on that...

Adapted from Papillon

Sauce: hoisin sauce, mirin, soy sauce, ketchup, rice vinegar, brown sugar, corn starch
Veggies: onion, bell pepper, broccoli, pineapple (!), fried tofu
Served over brown rice with chopstick ;)

Single Serving Use Up Leftovers Soup

Despite the purpose of this soup... it turned out really yum.  Much better than expected, which is always a NICE surprise.
Speaking of... I could use more nice surprises.  Couldn't you? ;)

Veggies were carrot, garlic, onion, and broccoli.  Spices were veggie chicken bullion, Spike Veg-It seasoning, Italian seasoning, and cooking sherry.  Other stuff included orzo, fake meat, red kidney beans, and corn starch slurry to thicken.

Pinapple Stir Fry

Oh, gosh.  NO PICTURE!  I feel really bad... but my camera ran out of power before I got anything, and there weren't any leftovers.  Boohoo.  Oh well, most stir fries look the same, anyhoo...

Adapted from Oh She Glows

Mix together 1/3 cup pinapple juice, 2 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp ketchup, and 1 tbsp agave.  Cut two slabs of tofu, press, and marinade overnight in sauce.  **So, Wednesday I thought I was going to make this dish, and I got the tofu marinading, but it turned out that I didn't have the energy to throw this together.  So I let the tofu marinade overnight, and made the dish Thurday.  Wow, flavour boost much!  I think, when possible, I will let the tofu marinade overnight, as it soaks up so much more flavour.
The next day, saute onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, garlic, broccoli, and spinach.  Grill tofu on a panini press.  Mix corn starch with the leftover marinade, and use as the stir fry sauce.  Serve over wild rice.

Loong Recipe List

This was a school project.  We had to do a 'self portrait'.  I was like "I can't draw/paint"... so I asked my teacher if I could cook something, and she said that was fine.  So here are the fruits of my labour! (Apologies for the funky formatting... I copied and pasted from Word, so that usually messes things up)

Adapted from (in order)
Chocolate Covered Katie
Chocolate Covered Katie
HHL
Notes from the Vegan Feast Kitchen

Minted Brownies

Mix together ¼ cup mint cocoa powder, ½ cup whole wheat flour, ¼ tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp salt, and ½ cup sugar.  Add in 3 tbsp blended silken tofu, 1/3 cup applesauce, 1 tbsp oil, and 2 tbsp soymilk.  Stir well, and pour into a loaf pan.  Bake for about 20 minutes at 325, until firm.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Mix together 5 tbsp whole wheat flour, ¾ tsp soda, ¼ cup sugar, and 2 tbsp brown sugar.  Mix in ½ cup peanut butter and 2 tbsp applesauce.   Refrigerate overnight.  Shape into small balls, and bake at 350 for 12 minutes, until firm.

Vegan Cobb Salad

Base: lettuce.  Toppings: mandarin oranges, black olives, broccoli, kidney beans, cheese, and tofu bacon.

Tofu Bacon

Press tofu for 30 minutes in a towel between two plates to get out extra moisture.  Slice.  Marinade in ½ cup soy sauce, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 2 tbsp ketchup, and 1 tsp liquid smoke overnight.  Grill on a Panini press until completely flat.

Cheese Sandwiches

Spread white bread with tofu mayo and add soy cheese slices.  Cut into squares and serve.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Cream Cheese Wraps

Preheat the oven to 375.  Chop a red bell pepper in half, and then knock out most of the seeds, and take off the stem.  Place the pepper, skin up, on a baking sheet, and bake for 45 minutes – 1 hour, until the skin is blackened.  Set aside to cool, then peel the skin off, and cut into strips.

Spread a thin layer of Tofutti herbed cream cheese on a wrap, and add bell pepper strips, and fresh basil.  Cut into slices and serve.

Orzo with a Very Flavourful Sauce

So, when I say flavourful, I mean FLAVOURFUL.  This packs a punch.  Not for the faint-hearted... Adapted from PPK.

Heat 3/4 cup pineapple juice, and then add in 3/4 cup TVP.  Allow TVP to soak up liquid, adding more juice as needed. 

In a saucepan, saute 1 small chopped red onion and ~2 cups broccoli florets.  Add in 6 cloves of roasted garlic (smashed with the flat side of a knife), 1 cup white wine, anise, rosemary, 1 cup pineapple juice, veggie bouillon, 1 tbsp flour, 1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes, nooch, and coriander.  Then add in ~2 cups torn spinach, and allow to wilt.  Serve sauce over cooked orzo pasta, and top with TVP.