Avocado Quesadilla + 300 Posts

Wow.  It's hard to believe this is post #300!!  It really doesn't feel like that many dishes... here's to more cooking, blogging, and eating!

And more avocado... buttery, healthy bliss.

Adapted from HHL

Mash up half an avocado on one tortilla.  Drizzle with maple syrup, sprinkle with nooch, spicy seasoning, and butter extract.  Grill for a couple minutes on a panini press, slice, and serve with salsa.  Fun stuff!

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.

Quickie Lunch Wraps

So, here's what I made for my lunch today:

A whole wheat healthfied wrap lightly coated with Herbed Toffuti.  The veggies were red bell pepper, grated carrots, olives, and avacado.  Quick yet satisfying.  It seems like avacado is really growing on me...

Adapted from Healthy Happy Life

Quinoa and Bean Patties/Wraps

So, these were SUPPOSED to be patties, but they were WAAAY too crumbly for that, so they kind of turned into a wrap filling.  Adapted from here.

For the patties: Cook 1 cup dried white beans, and mash with allspice, cumin, and mint.  Cook 1 cup quinoa and mix that in, and cook 1/2 bunch green onions and mix those in.  Then shape this mixture into patties, and either bake, grill on a panini press, or just leave as is.

Put into a wrap with shredded carrots and tofu mayo (18 oz silken tofu, partially cooked, blended with 1/4 cup lemon juice).  Eat, and watch out for quinoa explosions...

Cranberry and Tofu Wrap

Yeah, so I figured it was about time to use up the cranberry sauce I made a while ago (I won't say how long ago...) .  So I pulled out this recipe.

For the cranberry sauce, saute I used this recipe, only subbed orange juice for the grape juice, no zest, no salt, and no optional things... and I reduced the sugar by half.
Marinade thin slabs of tofu in soy sauce, mirin, and maple syrup.  Grill on a panini press. 
Grill a few slices of onion as well.
Cube 1/4 avacado per wrap.
Shred some carrots.

So, to assemble: tofu, onion, carrot, cranberry sauce, avacado.  Whew!  Lots of little pieces... but totally worth it! 

Tofu and Orange (Stuff) Wrap

Wow.  M is so mad at me... I was cooking all morning, and made a huge mess in the kitchen.  Oops.

Home made veggie chips (almost perfected!!!)

Tofu and Orange Wrap, adapted from HHL

I cut 19 oz tofu into slabs, then pressed and marinaded it in: agave, 2 T cider vinegar, 2 tsp chili powder, and some liquid smoke.  That was then grilled until firm on the panini press.
Also, 1 LARGE carrot was grated (about 1 1/2 cups), and mixed with a chopped orange, 1/2 tsp orange zest, agave, mirin, and lemon juice.  Then all of that was rolled up... and I ate! 

Plated with veggie chips (a 50/50 mixture of home made and store bought.. mine are looking good!)  and a banana (yum).

Easy Hummus Wraps plus Falafel- Chickpea Madness!

I am so excited about this falafel. I had had falafel in a restaurant for the first time a bit over a year ago, and ever since it’s been on my list. So I finally decided to make it this week, and it turned out really amazingly fabulous. I was quite surprised at how good it tasted. And they are fun to eat, too. I like them plain, or I suppose any sort of sauce would go well with them. Plus they pack well in a lunch, hot or cold. I was also pleased to have a use for my immersion blender…

These wraps put made good use of my immersion blender, too.  I love hummus so much, but never really have an excuse to make it.  So, when I stumbled on this recipe it seemed to fit the bill perfectly.  They are so easy to make, very portable, and filling.  Not to mention they taste absolutely fabulous.

Baked Falafel

Makes about 25

1 cup dried chickpeas, cooked

About ¼ cup water

1 small onion, roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic, pressed
½ cup cilantro, chopped
½ cup parsley, chopped
1 tsp baking powder
6 tbsp flour
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tsp ground cumin
Chili sauce, to taste

In a bowl, blend the chickpeas with an immersion blender until they form a rough paste, adding water as needed. Add in the remaining ingredients, and then continue to blend until everything is well blended and smooth. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 450. Shape the dough into small balls, using just under 2 tbsp dough per ball. Put on a baking sheet, and flatten slightly to form a cake. Bake for 25 minutes, until the outside is lightly browned and crispy, but the inside is still moist.  Serve hot or cold, perhaps with a dipping sauce.

Easy Hummus Wraps

Adapted from Happy Healthy Life

For each wrap:
Wraps

Hummus (I blend about 3/4 dried chickpeas, 1 tbsp olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, rosemary, and water until they are smooth)

Carrot sticks
Alfalfa sprouts, spinach, or other poofy veggie

Opt: Vanilla yogurt

To assemble the wraps, spread a line of hummus down the middle of the wrap. 

Then put a line of carrots down the middle, followed by a pile of alfalfa or whatever.  Finally, add a line of yogurt, if using.  Wrap it up, and serve. 

Moo Shu Tofu Wraps

Now that school has started again, I am completely overwhelmed with the amount of homework.  It's really not cool how much work can be piled on a person.  One of the things that I have to do is participate in National History Day, which is a competition where we have to research a topic and present it somehow.  I decided to research the spice trade, and ended up reading Nathanial's Nutmeg, which is really a spectacular book about how the British and Dutch East India Companies fought over control for the Spice Islands.  The book was really well written too, especially for a nonfiction.  It's not dry at all.  In fact, when I finally reached the end of it, I nearly cried because of what happened.  But on the whole it was a very facinating story about what the two companies did to keep their hold on the spice trade.  I will never use nutmeg or cinnamon with the same attitude again, because so many thousands of lives were fought over just those little Spice Islands.  That's so facinating, what went into getting control of some of the smallest islands in the world, and just how much spices used to cost back in the 17th century.

 I did not use any of those sorts of spices in this dish, but I still think of Nathanial every time I reach for the cinnamon.  These wraps are more Asian, and are really quite good, if quite messy to eat.  And, as usual, the pictures for wraps are not all that pretty.  I have yet to figure out how to take decent pictures of a wrap.  But despite all of that, these taste amazing, especially for the 15 minutes of total labour that went into making these.  I probably spent the most time trying to find the wraps at the Asain Market.  Every time I go for something new there, I end up spending quite some time deciphering what the packages contain, and even then I usually end up subsutituting something else.  I suppose one could just use normal wraps, too, but that wouldn't be as fun...  As for the tofu, I have always wanted to try marinade tofu before broiling it, but I have never had the chance.  Well, now I have done that, and turned out really good. The only thing I would do differently next time would be to broil it for longer, to get more of a hard outside.  But other than that, these were perfect.

Moo Shu Tofu Wraps

Adapted from Chinese and Thai 400

Serves 4

19 oz tofu, cut into 1 ½ strips and pressed for 30 minutes

4 carrots, cut into strips
1 bunch green onions, cut into pieces the same length as the carrots, halved if large

8 Moo Shu wraps, warmed

2 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup soy sauce

½ tbsp fresh grated ginger
¼ cup hoisin sauce
¼ cup dry sherry
2 tbsp honey or agave nectar
2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
3 large cloves garlic, pressed

Mix together the chopped bell pepper through the garlic in a medium bowl, and add the tofu strips. Marinade for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, preheat the broiler, and spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray. Remove the tofu and place on the baking sheet, reserving the marinade. Broil the tofu for 15 minutes or so, until nice and firm.

Heat a wok with a bit of water over medium high heat. Add the carrots and green onions, and stir fry until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the leftover marinade, reduce the heat, and cook for another minute.

Serve, dividing the tofu and veggies among the wraps, taking care to not get any extra sauce on the wraps because they will break more easily.

A Multi-National Christmas Dinner

So, yesterday was Christmas.  It was really windy and cold.  And I went running outside, because I am fanatical like that, I like to make myselft miserable by running into wind that is worthy of a hurricane.  Not really, but that is what ended up happening.  It was rather interesting, to say the least.

For the afternoon enterainment, M and I went to the local Super H Mart, and I bought some really awesome pencils, because all of my old ones have broken.  Which is rather depressing, I think.  We also got some carrots (whoopee!!), broccolini, and fried tofu.  I know, me, buying fried tofu.  I figured it looked really good, and it's not really that bad for a person, especially if it's fried right.  I'm really excited about the broccolini, too, and can't wait to use it.  I've already got plans...

Before we went to the H Mart, I defuzzed my sweater too, which was tons of fun.  I've never used a sweater defuzzer before.  It makes a really neat sound.

And then there was dinner.  Oh, M and I were so tired for some reason, and we were both moving in slow motion that night.  But I still managed to pull off these spectacular... enchilada-taco things.  I actually meant for them to be enchiladas, but then saw that M and I only had four wraps, which was not enough.  So I just ended up cheating, and there you have it.  These actually turned out to be exactly what I needed, and they are really filling... and high fiber, in case anyone cares.  They're really good- one of the best dishes I have made recently without fake meat.

Black Bean and Veggie Taco-Enchiladas


Serves 6-8

Adapted from The Book of Yum

1 small red onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, chopped

I½ lb white button mushrooms

1 packet taco seasoning (I used Taco Bell’s – it was about 4 tbsp total), divided
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
1 sweet potato, peeled, cubed, and boiled until tender
1 cup dried black beans, soaked overnight and cooked until tender
1 cup tomato sauce
2 tsp. ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
½ tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp smoked paprika
Wraps
Cooked rice
Mozzarella cheese, grated

In a kettle, sauté the onion with a bit of water for 2 minutes, and then add the red bell pepper and mushrooms. Sauté for a couple minutes, and then add ½ the taco seasoning, about 2 tbsp, the cilantro, potato, and beans. Add about ¼ cup water, turn the heat to low, and cover. Keep warm on low heat until ready to use.
Meanwhile, mix the tomato sauce, cumin, salt and pepper, sugar, the rest of the taco seasoning, and paprika in a small bowl.

When you are ready to serve, heat the wraps, rice, and tomato sauce mixture in the microwave. Make the tacos: On the wraps, place a layer of the rice, then bean and veggie mix, then the tomato sauce, and finally top with shredded cheese.

A Quick Tofu Wrap

I think I literally made this recipe in about 15 minutes, start to finish.  It was quite epic, to use the popular term.  Life is way to hectic anyway to be spending more than that time on dinner.  I think this tofu was supposed to resemble eggs, but I really don't think that it tasted anything like eggs (or looked like them, for that matter).  The only thing I would change about the original batch that I whipped up would be to reduce the mayo a bit, because it seemed a bit heavy to me.  Other than that, I loved it, and the leftovers saved both M and I on several occasions. 

I bet this would be good with frozen and thawed tofu, too.

And another thought.  It seems kind of ironic that it's quite cold outside, and these wraps are to be eaten cold.  Don't ask me the logic in that, because there really isn't any.  But I really love the weather.... stew, stew, stew!

Quick Tofu Wraps


Serves 6-8

Adapted from Vegan Appetite

19 ounces extra-firm tofu, pressed really well, crumbled

Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
½ teaspoon turmeric
1/4 cup fat free mayo
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp capers
¼ cup minced onion
¼ cup minced red pepper
1 tbsp minced fresh basil

1 teaspoon paprika

½ tsp tumeric
salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until well combined.

Spread a layer on a wrap, and then add the toppings of your choice. I used alfalfa and spinach- tomatoes would also be good. Alternatively, make a sandwich!

Tofu Tacos... and Tests

There was this thing at my school today where they had a whole bunch of restaurants selling food on campus, because it was some special week. I always bring my lunch, mostly because the cafeteria food is so gross and unhealthy. I could probably go ranting about it for quite a bit, but suffice it to say that one gets buckets of bread and carbs, and it’s rather difficult to rack up even one serving of veggies, let alone two. Plus most of it is loaded with oil and grease to boot. I had thought today would be a different story because professional restaurants came in, but the only vegetarian option that looked remotely healthy was Chipoltle veggie burritos. I went poking around on the internet for nutritional info, and was rather scared about what I might be consuming. And so, I decided to be cool and make my own burritos. Thus these tofu tacos, which would probably be good in a taco shell as well as a soft shell (which is my preference).

I think it takes all of five minutes to actually make these, plus whatever time you are going to spend on toppings. Which was good, because I had so many tests to study for… four out of seven classes had tests. That had to be one of the hardest days of my life. And the tacos turned out to be really, really good! They were rather salty, but the flavour was excellent, and they were just perfect. I suppose one could make large quantities of the baked tofu and freeze it. I might try that one day.

Tofu Tacos

Adapted from Vegan Dad

Serves 4

12 oz firm tofu, pressed, and cut into thin rectangles
3 tbsp Better Than Bullion Beef Flavouring
1 tbsp miso paste
1-6 tbsp warm water
Wraps

Sliced tomatoes

Alfalfa sprouts
Bell pepper
Sliced red onion
Shredded romaine lettuce
Mayo
Cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 convection bake.
In a casserole dish, lay the tofu in a single layer. Mix together the bullion and miso with a bit of warm water to get the right consistency. Coat the tofu. Bake for 35 minutes, until the sauce is bubbly and tofu is slightly firmer than when you took it out of the package.
Layer the wrap with tofu and whatever toppings you happen to have stashed away in your house.

A Simple Wrap Featuring Broccoli

Never, ever, in my whole life would I have believed that something this simple could end up tasting so good.  These are really odd, really tasty wraps.  And so easy to make- it probably took about 20 mintutes from start to finish, and a good bit of that was down time waiting for stuff to cook.  A simple combinaition of broccoli, potatoes, and cabbage, with a bit of agave and feta cheese.  The agave really lends a nice sweetness.  The original recipe said to add walnuts, which M did, but I decided to skip them.  M really liked the nuts, though, and I bet they would taste pretty good.

I think I found the trick for keeping wraps together.  It looks weird, but it works.  I lay my fork on top of the wrap when I'm not holding it.  Simple as that.  And it keeps me from getting really frustrated, which is always a good thing...
Oh, and just a little side note.  I don't know why I am bothering to post this.  But, for a project, I need ancient Greek recipes.  So hopefully it'll actually taste good, and that will be showing up in a post soon.  But first I have to actually find an authentic one.  Wish me luck on that- it's for a competition, and I want to prove my cooking skills!

Potato Broccoli Wraps

Adapted from Karma Free Cooking

Serves 3

1 medium red potato, chopped
1 ½ cups green cabbage, shredded
1 cup broccoli florets
Mirin
3 tbsp or so fat free feta cheese
2 tbsp or so agave nectar
Salt and Pepper to taste

3 wraps

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, and cook the potatoes for about 10 minutes, until tender. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat the pot again over medium heat with a bit of mirin. Sauté the cabbage and broccoli for 6 minutes, until tender.

3. Line the potatoes on each of the wraps. Layer the broccoli and cabbage on top of that. Sprinkle with cheese, drizzle with agave, and add salt and pepper to taste. Roll.

Sweet Potato Wrap

So, before I said wraps annoy me because they fall apart.  Not this one!  The mashed sweet potaotes make a nice glue for the wrap... and a tasty one, too.  I think I am on a sweet potato binge or something, because they seem to keep appearing in recipes.  But I guess that's good.  Sure!

The original recipe from Vegan Dad that I based these on had kale in it.  In fact, that was one of the main ingredients.  However, I thought the kale was the worst part- funny, too, because that was the whole reason that I chose to make this dish.  It was just a bit too tough for my tastes.  But, sans kale, these are really tasty, and quite filling.  I suppose you could call  these Mexican.  Whatever.  They're good, and that's all that really matters.  I would recommend a wrap that's not too strong or thick, because it will overpower the mild flavour, and you wouldn't want that.  If you are on a sweet potato binge like me, these will certainly satisfy cravings.  In fact, I think I will not make another recipe with sweet potatoes for quite a while...

Sweet Potato Wraps

Makes 6-8 wraps

Adapted from Vegan Dad

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced

1 large Vidalia onion, diced
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1 1/2 cups cooked white beans
1/4 cup crushed tomatoes

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups spinach leaves, stems removed, and torn

6-8 wraps

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the chopped potato and cook until tender, about 13 minutes. Drain and roughly mash.

2. In a large frying pan (or the kettle that you cooked the potatoes in- that’s what I did), heat a bit of water, and saute the potatoes for 5-6 minutes, until slightly tender. Add pepper and cook for another 5 mins.

3. Add garlic and jalapeno and saute for two more minutes. Add and mix well. Add tomatoes and spices. Mix and heat through.

4. Add the potatoes and spinach, and stir until spinach has wilted. Add more tomatoes if mixture is too dry.

5. Serve in a wrap!

Bang Bang Tofu Wraps!

This recipe totally caught my eye.  I love some of the names that this site comes up with- they crack me up.  Seriously... they're really quite entertaining.  But so far this site has produced some very delictible results- these wraps being among them. 
The original recipe called for these to be wrapped in lettuce leaves, but, as I was quite cold today, I decided to serve the mixture inside spring roll wrappers.  Obviously, they fell apart and that was quite... frustrating, I guess you could say.  But the taste was totally worth it.  I think I have been missing tofu for quite a while now, and the marinade was extra good.  Cilantro is such a fickle thing- it can either make or break a dish.  These wraps veer towards the spicier end of the spectrum, and I really like the combination of veggies. 
These wraps are nice and light, and yet satisfying and full of flavour.  Ok, now that I feel like an ad, I really think you ought to try these.
*I had them for lunch today, and they tasted even better cold.  I L-O-V-E  the texture, and since I was able to not get any juices on the spring wrapper, the whole thing did not fall apart.  They were amazing!

Bang Bang Tofu Wraps

Adapted from Vegan-Food

Serves 4

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons agave nectar
• 3 tablespoons mirin
• 5 centimeter piece fresh ginger, grated
• Chili sauce, to taste
• 12 oz tofu, pressed and chopped into 1 inch strips
• 2 large carrots, cut into ½ inch matchsticks
• 1 bell pepper, cut into ½ inch matchsticks
• 1 7 oz can bamboo shoots
• 2 cups bean sprouts
• ¼ cup cilantro, choppped
• Large lettuce leaves, spring roll wrappers, or some other kind of wrap

Mix together the soy sauce through chili. Marinade the tofu in that for half an hour, atleast.
Heat a wok over medium high heat. Add a few tablespoons of water, and add the carrots. After 2 minutes add the peppers, and then, when they look almost done, add the bean sprouts and cilantro. Heat through, add tofu, bamboo, and marinade, and heat through again. Remove from heat, and put in the wraps.

Now I Remember Why I Don't Eat Wraps

This recipe had caught my eye a few weeks ago when it was first posted on the Cheap Healthy Good blog.  I hadn't had a wrap in ages, and I knew M is extremely fond of them.  So I decided to give this recipe a whirl, and see how things turned out. 
The filling for this wrap is expecially good- roasted bell peppers, white beans, and spinach.  Roasted red peppers are really a favourite, and a real treat too because they are quite a bother to make.  Either the peppers are two dollars a pop because it's winter, or M and I avoid the oven like the plauge when it is a hundred plus degrees outside.  But I managed to get the roasting done at seven in the morning, which helped some. 
I have found the easiest and fastest way to roast peppers is to coat a pan with nonstick spray, cut the peppers in half and stem them, and broil the peppers for about 15 minutes.  Then I stick them in a plastic bag, zip it, and the steam from the peppers tends to loosen the skin.  You can then peel and seed them, and chop how you like.
Anyway, back to the recipe.  It turned out to be just the right, light (no pun intended) thing for a lunch on a very hot day.  M and I filled them with cabbage, alfalfa, and spinach along with the peppers and beans, and were very satisfied with them.  The only issue I had, and M had trouble with this too but is doesn't bug her as much, was that stuff falls out, and the whole wrap comes undone.  That is the one thing I can't stand about eating wraps.  I ended up eating mine with half of it lying on the plate with my fork holding it closed.  It looked odd, and probably was very bad manners, but there you have it.  Yum!

White Bean, Roasted Red Pepper, and Spinach Wrap
Serves 6.

Adapted from Cheap, Healthy, Good

1 ½ cups white beans
2 roasted red bell peppers, chopped
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon raspberry vinegar
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 wraps
Baby spinach, cabbage, and/or alfalfa sprouts

1) Whisk together lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Add beans and peppers, and let marinade.
2) When ready to serve, divide among wraps, add spinach, cabbage, alfalfa, and whatever you want.
3) Wrap.