Lentil Sheperd's Pie

So, this was supposed to get mashed potatoes on top... but the soup from last night had used them all up!... so I ended up putting a crust on it instead.  And now, because of my stupidity, I have two almost-full bags of whole wheat flour open.  Oops... oh well, I think that means I will be making some bread tomorrow...

The pie was adapted from here.

Soak and cook 1 cup dried green/brown lentils (not the red kind).
Saute up 1 onion, a couple of carrots, and garlic.  Add the lentils, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 cup white wine, dried basil, Italian seasoning, Spike seasoning, and thyme and mix well.  Make sure to use lots of seasoning, because the lentils tend to turn out bland in my opinion otherwise.  Then fold in 1/2 bunch spinach.  Pour in the crust, and any leftover in a ramkin.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

For the crust, I used my no-fail super-easy super-healthy pie crust.  Spray a pie pan with nonstick spray, and then mix together (yes, in the pan) 1/2 cup each whole wheat flour, oatmeal, and sunflower seeds.  Then add about 1/2 cup applesauce to start, and add more until the mixture holds together.  Press the dough in the form of the pie pan, and then bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Soup, Salad Dressing

Yeah, ok, not so creative on the names.   You got a problem with that? 

I have made waaaaaaay too many soups to keep coming up with names... and the salad dressing, well, it's too good for a name.  We'll just call it Salad Dressing.

For the soup, adapted from here:
Veggies were equal amounts of onion and carrot (large piles), 1/2 lb green beans, tomato sauce, and potatoes.  It also got some red kidney beans.  Seasonings were 1 cup white wine, 1 tbsp each sumac and paprika, and vegetarian chicken bullion.  Thickened with cornstarch and finished off with vegetarian meat.  It was quite good, and chunky too...

The salad dressing happened because I opened a container of tomato paste for the soup, and then decided it was unneccessary (read: it wouldn't fit).  So I jumped over to AllRecipes, and saw this.

My version consisted of 1/2 cup each mirin and tofu mayo*, 6 oz tomato paste, 2 hefty tbsp brown sugar, a bit of apple cider vinegar, mustard powder, garlic and onion powder, caraway seeds, liquid smoke, and paprika.  It made quite a bit and was very tomato-y, but it was really yum!  I loved how it was different from other dressings that I have made.  The only thing that I would change would be to use tomato sauce instead of the paste, which might make it less tomato-y...

UPDATE 1/30: Ok, so I got a really bad grade on my precal test.  I feel the need to put this in here... I'm sulking.  Now for the actual update - this dressing thickens up A LOT.  A LOT A LOT.  So, I would advise dumping in more mirin and vinegar to thin it out... then do that the next day as well, because that's how thick it gets.

*Tofu mayo: half cook 18 oz silken tofu and blend with 1/4 cup lemon juice.

Broccoli, Rice, and Chickpea Casserole

Adapted from Fat Free Vegan.

Cook 1 generous cup brown rice.
Saute 1 medium, finely chopped onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1 small bell pepper, and 5 cups broccoli florets.  Mix in rice, and 2 cups cooked chickpeas.
In another small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup nooch, lemon juice, cooking sherry, smoked paprika or paprika.liquid smoke, 2 T Spike seasoning, dried mustard, and pepper.  Mix this into the rice mixture. 
Spread into a casserole dish and top with a thin layer of tofu mayo (18 oz silken tofu, partially cooked, blended with 1/4 cup lemon jucie).
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or so, until you are ready to eat.

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...

Because Everyone Needs Another Stir Fry

Veggies: Bell pepper, broccoli, carrots, onion.
Base: Soba noodles
Sauce: mirin, honey, corn starch, tarragon (lots, dried), rice vinegar, a little lemon juice
Tofu: leftover from here
Top with pine nuts (or other random nut, I just have old pine nuts I need to use up)

Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

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! 

Roasted Root Veggies, Carmelized Onions, and Grilled Tofu

Yay!  I feel all fancy.. I came up with a really long and convoluted title for this recipe...
Adapted from Vegan Dad

So, first peel and chop 2 rutabaga, 3 turnips, 3 parsnips, 4 carrots, and 4 small russet potatoes (don't peel the potatoes, the peel has all the nutrients).  Place them in a LARGE casserole dish, and then coat them with the dressing.  Dressing: 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp mirin, 1/2 tbsp each Italian seasoning, rosemary, oregano, and sage, and pepper to taste.  Bake the veggies for about 1 hour at 400F.

Spray a frying pan with nonstick spray, and saute a small onion until browned.

Cut a 19 oz brick of tofu into 6 pieces, drizzle with cooking sherry, sprinkle with Italian seasoning, and grill on a panini press until nicely browned. 

Whew!  Plate: veggies, then onion, and finally tofu.  Comfort food at its finest!

Orzo and Grilled Veggie Salad

This one is for M's lunch box.  However, I couldn't resist having some for dinner (I DID make it for her, after all), and so here's the recipe..  Adapted from here.

Cook just over 1 cup of orzo. 
On a panini press, cook 1 small onion and 1 large red bell pepper, both cut into strips, and about 1/4 lb mushrooms.  Mix with orzo, along with halved black olives and chopped parsley and basil.  For the dressing mix together dijon mustard, mirin, balsamic vinegar, and Italian seasoning.  Mix everything together, and enjoy! 
If you're not vegan, this salad is supposed to get feta on top of it, which is rather tasty.  However, I am trying to be vegan, so no cheese for me.

Sheesh, sorry, my camera's being stupid... picture tomorrow!

And... it's tomorrow!  Here's the picture:

Greek Lentil Soup

Dinner, along with leftover tacos... and the usual salad.

Greek Lentil Soup, adapted from Veggie Venture

Saute chopped 1 super large onion and equal amount of carrots with a few garlic cloves.  All a bunch of green lentils that have been soaked, along with tomato sauce, petite diced tomatoes, rice, a bay leaf, cinnamon (not too much!), mirin, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, and vegetarian beef bullion.  Simmer until lentils are soft, and serve with veggie meat (I like veggie meat in every soup... yum!).

Tofu Tacos

:)  M told me to put this one on the favourites list...

Press 19 oz tofu and cut into strips.  Marinade in a bunch of mirin, a bit of soy sauce and syrup, 1 tbsp chili powder, garlic powder, and 1/2 tbsp cumin. 
Grill the tofu on a panini press, along with red onion and red bell pepper.
Blend together about 2 cups black beans with the leftover tofu marinade until they resemble refried beans.  Mix with 1/2 bunch wilted spinach.
For assembly: In a hard taco shell, put tofu, bean mixture, and grilled veggies.  Top with grated vegan cheese.

Crunch...

Green Bean and Carrot Saute

Ok, so I have to say that this dish was not all that great... but that's most likely because I really overcooked the veggies.  I know, shame on me.. slap my wrist with a ruler.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  But the picture turned out good, so I think that means I have to post!  Adapted  from here.

Saute a ratio of 2:1 green beans to carrot sticks with a few cloves garlic.  Add a couple tbsp water and cover the pan (if it doesn't have a lid, a cookie sheet works well) for about 7 minutes, until the green beans are tender.  Add in a sauce of blended: PILES of cilantro and parsley, lemon juice, liquid smoke, paprika, cumin, corn starch, and a good amount of mirin.  Let the sauce thicken for a few seconds and then serve over rice.

UPDATE: Tonight I dumped a bit of tomato sauce on the leftovers and it was a lot better.. more sauce, more flavour, more creamy!  :)

Mini Pizzas

Sorry I didn't post this last night, because I was faced by these two REALLY hard precal problems, and didn't really want to do anything after I gave up on them.. so, here's last night's dinner...

Adapted from HHL

On a panini press, cook mushrooms and broccoli until tender.  Then split an english muffin type thing in half and coat with barbeque sauce.  Top with wilted spinach, mushrooms and broccoli, vegan cheese, and a bit of Italian seasoning.  Grill on the panini press until toasty, and serve.

On-Going Veggie Chip Project: Part 1

Ok.  So, here's what I have so far: Slice the veggies AS THINLY AS POSSIBLE.  This is mandatory.

Potatoes:  Microwave at full power for about 4.5 minutes, until browned.  Just spray the microwave tray with Pam, lay the potatoes straight on the tray, and sprinkle with salt.  (Idea from Fat Free Vegan)

Taro root: Same as potatoes, only microwave closer to 5.5 minutes.

Lotur root: After slicing, submerge in vinegar-water until ready to use to prevent discolouration.  Bake for 10 minutes at 350 after spraying with Pam or brushing with minimal olive oil.  Toss with salt.

Notes:

• Bad bad bad to microve beets: they will catch on fire...
• Turnips do not work in the microwave
• Too low of an oven temperature will result in leather, not chips.

Super Thick "Chicken" and Wild Rice Soup

Yum!  Wow, this soup was REALLY REALLY REALLY good (have I made my point?)

It consisted of sauteed carrots and onion and about 1/2 a medium cabbage, then lots of dried/soaked white beans, and several handfuls of wild rice.  The seasonings were about 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1.5 tbsp 'chicken' bullion, 1 tbsp sage, LOTS of parsley, Italian seasoning, and fennel (I think).  Simmered until beans are tender, and then finished with vegetarian chicken from the Asian market.  Ahh... :)

Pasta and Bean Casserole

So, the reason that I didn't post this Monday, when I actually made it, was that it tasted aweful.  Yup.  And, tonight, when I had leftovers, I doctored it up a bit so it tasted pretty good... so here's the new and improved thing.  Mixture.  Casserole.  Thing..

About 1 1/3 cup dried beans, soaked and cooked, mixed with about 1 1/3 cup spiral pasta, cooked.  Add to that a chopped onion, carrots, and peas, and a heafty amount of garlic.  Mix in about one batch of this 'mayo' recipe (I doubled it, and then used about half; the other half went in salad dressing).  Add in sage, Italian seasoning, a splash of almond milk, chipotle chili powder, and perhaps a few other seasoning (I think oregano, but I can't really remember).  Mix it all together and shove in the oven at 400F.  Bake for about half an hour or so, until you are ready to eat...
And then my additions: a hefty drizzle of maple syrup (sugar free), and ~1 tbsp toffuti sour cream (the kind that is flavoured).  Then mix it all up, and it tastes pretty darn good!..

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).

New Year's Black Eyed Peas

I made these, with the sauce adapted from WTHDAVEA.  Also, I made another batch of that yummy turnip soup (it's actually simmering right now.  I'm kind of waiting for it to finish..).  And, I THINK I have FINALLY figured out the trick for making veggie chips.  Updates tomorrow...

New Year’s Black Eyed Peas (warning: rather a high sodium content, but, I figure that’s ok because I don’t eat many packaged foods anyway…)

Simmer fresh black eyed peas until tender, which took me 45 minute.  In the meantime, blend together a shot of vanilla, brown sugar, 5 spice powder, ¼ cup each mirin and water, 1/3 cup miso paste, ¼ cup ketchup, ¼ cup red wine vinegar, garlic powder, paprika, and liquid smoke, with a bit of pepper.  Sauté a bit of red onion in a frying pan, and then add the peas and about ½ the sauce, reserving the rest for something else.  Simmer until ready to serve.