Weeeird Pizza

Is there such a thing as a weird pizza?

Well, my friends, I think I found it.

Pizzas are like stir frys: you can pretty much throw anything on them!

Adapted from That Was Vegan?

(all is cooked on the panini press, except tater tots)

I used the normal crust.

Slathered with bbq sauce.

Topped with cooked setian, bell pepper and onion.

Cheese.

And sweet potato tots.  I WOULD link a recipe here, but the one I used didn't turn out all that great... they kind of fell apart.  But they were seasoned with chili powder and cinnamon - the flavour was excellent!



Rice, Black Bean Sauce, Grilled Veggie and Seitan

I very quickly learned that this was not a summertime dish.

But, after sweating through an hour of having 3 burners on (I made ramen soup on the same night)...

I was more than happy with the results!

The sauce was just right, and how I DO love paninied veggies!

Adapted from Meet the Shannons and Tasty Kaiti's

First up, cook up some brown rice.

Next up, saute a hefty amount of chopped garlic in a sauce pan, then add 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans, 1/2 cup water, 1 scant tbsp nooch, generous tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp worchestire sauce (Annie's is vegan), scant tsp onion powder, 1 bay leaf, 1/4 tsp powdered ginger, 2 tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, 2 tsp dried or fresh (remember fresh is better!) oregano, liquid smoke, juice of 1 large lime... whew, I think that's it!  Oh, right, mix up a corn starch slurry and add that too.  Then let your mixture bubble away for abut half an hour, until nice and thick.  It will taste veeeeeeery good, I promise!

Finally, grill up some sliced bell pepper and onion on a panini press, and add seitan strips (the first recipe) when they are about 2/3 done. 

Finally, plate everything up!

This looks really complex, but it's not, really.  PROMISE.

What's Up Wednesday #4

Chocolate Covered Katie's granola bars - dipped in my strawberry sauce (the picture, however, is just jam)!  (Used sugar free maple syrup, added cinnamon, and all applesauce, comes to ~800 calories for the whole recipe)

Spent waaaay to much time watching Gurren Lagann

Better picture of ramen noodle soup ;)

Ohmygosh this article is so sobering: on yahoo.

I made chickpea flour in my Vitamix.  Oh, the NOISE killed me -_-

And then used it in this setian recipe to put in soup, baking at 350 instead of steaming, and omitting the anise and beef flavouring.  That seems to give it a better texture, in my opinion - less rubbery.

And I also made this setian, again baking it, omitting the oil, using 1 tbsp corn starch in place of the tapioca, and using water in place of the wine.  Really good in a sandwich!

Fresh corn on the cob!  First time in years I have tried corn.  My dad would eat corn with fish, so I always associated the two together.  However, the food pantry that I volunteer at got some fresh corn in - I'd say about 1000 ears.  I spent about 2 hours shucking that stuff last Friday... and I was like "I should try corn again!"  So I did a bit of homework, and found this nice little article on Fat Free Vegan.  Shuck the corn, bake at 350 for half an hour.  AMAZING!

Did you guys know that your body does not absorb the calories from fiber!?!?!  Yay!  You learn something new every day.  Here's a good article about it.

And, finally, I made a tasty salad dressing with the last dreggs of the pineapple juice.  First I boiled the juice for a few minutes to reduce it, and then blended that with tofu, fresh oregano, and fresh basil in my Vitamix.  Yum - great summer dressing!