more delish tacos

This recipe is similar to a previous one I made: http://crunchyvegan.blogspot.com/2013/03/chicken-and-mango-tacos.html Everything was the same except I did not have green onions, and I added some chopped avocado to the salsa. Also, the meat I used was vegan citrus spare ribs. (http://www.vegeusa.com/VegeUSA/products/vege_spareribs.html). It was just as delicious if not better than the first time I made it.

Farfalle with vegan blue cheese, spinach, and walnuts

For another easy blue cheese dish, this one was simple. I cooked up a box of farfalle according to its directions. Then in a skillet first I wilted one package of spinach in a little olive oil. Then I added 1 cup walnuts and cooked until a little brown. Once this was browned I mixed in a large bowl the pasta, walnuts, spinach and added 1 tsp nutmeg, 3 ozs chopped vegan blue cheese, and 1/4 cup balsamic vinager. Super tasty!

Matchstick meats

some of the vegan products I bought this week and needed to work with: Vegan blue cheese and match meats fake stuffed porkchops. The broccoli dish was super easy. In a sauce pan first I melted 2 TBsp margarine, then whisked in 2 TBsp flour. Then on low heat I added 1/5 cups of soy milk, whisking in at 1/2 cup intervals. Then I added a dash of cayenne pepper and 1 oz. of diced vegan blue cheese. This mixture was then mixed in to a casserole dish with one package of frozen broccoli, and topped with 1/2 cup bread crumbs. Then baked at 350 for 20 minutes. I served it along side the vegan porkchops, which were just baked according to the package directions. http://matchmeats.com/wp1/our-products/what-is-match/ready-to-cook-meals/ready-to-cook-stuffed-pork-chops/

heavenly vegan stuffed french toast

I made Mark and I some vegan french toast this past weekend and OMG it was phenomenal. I bought some vegan nutella. First you whisk together 4 TBsp cornstarch (which I surprisingly did not have in the house so used sweet potato starch instead), 1 cup soy milk, 4 tsp vanilla, and 2 TBsp sugar. Then in a skillet heat some vegan margarine (I used earth balance). Take two slices of bread, spread the nutella mixture on the inside of each and stick together to form a sandwich. Then stick one side in batter and place the bread in the skillet batter side down. After about 2 minutes of frying, pour more batter on the top of the sandwich and flip over, frying another two minutes. Then top with a mixture of confectionary sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. I served with vegan whipped cream. This is one of those recipes that you could tell was not good for you, but it was SO GOOD.

spasagna

I recently ordered a bunch of new vegan products online, one being vegan riccota cheese. So I googled some recipes for riccota pasta and found spasagna, which was super easy to veganize. First I made spaghetti noodles as directed. In a large bowl I mixed together 1 container of riccota, 1 container tofutti sour cream, 1 cup vegan creamer, 1 bag vegan mozzarella (I used daiya), 1 TBsp garlic, 1 TBsp oregano, and 1 tsp basil. Once this was mixed and the noodles cooked, I added the noodles to this creamy mixture and then placed in a large baking dish. Topped with vegan parmesan I baked it for 30 minutes at 350. While that was cooking I made the sauce, which was just a jar of spaghetti sauce mixed with some vegan beef crumbles and peas. Once the spaghetti dish was baked, you place some of the noodles on a plate and top with the sauce. It was a little too creamy and sweet, but overall good.

Seafood newburg vegan style

As a child my mother always asked us on our birthday what our favorite meal was and then she would make that meal for our birthday dinner. Mine was always seafood newburg, so once I went vegan that was tossed out the window. Until now. I have found several companies that make vegan seafood, some better than other. None are quite the same as the real thing. But I made my favorite seafood newburg vegan this week. I had scallops and prawns from Sophies, they are vegan and a little rubbery but have a nice flavor. First you melt 1/4 cup margarine in a pot, and then add 1/2 cup flour and 2 cups soy milk, whisking it in. Then you add 2 TBsp catsup and 1 TBsp Worcestershire sauce. Then 1 TBsp soy sauce. I added in some forzen peas in addition to the scallop and prawns then. You keep cooking until all cooked through. Then in pre-made puff pastry shells (which are inherently vegan) you can place the delish mixture and enjoy. It was not quite the same, but came close to my memories of my old favorite dish.

amazing greek salad like salad pizza

This was a recipe I borrowed from another vegan blog and adjusted, and it turned out phenomenal. Mark loved it too. First I took some premade pizza dough and rolled it out, covered it with pizza sauce, and then cheese, then a mixture of canned mushrooms and olives. Cooked for 12-14 minutes until the crust was browned. Once out of the oven and a little cooled I topped it with an arugala salad- basically I had a package of 1/2 and 1/2 arugala and spinach. For the dressing I whisked together 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 TBsp lemon juice, 1 tsp dijon, 1 tsp thyme, and 1 clove garlic. I mixed the arugala in this and topped the pizza with it. DELICIOUS!!

amazing comfort food

This was my last veganized dish of the week and god damn it was good. Mark eats fake meat that I cook all the time but he is not a fan of the fake cheese. I convinced him to try this dish and he was glad that he did, he said it was the most real tasting any vegan cheese dish I have ever made. So first I took one package of frozen broccoli and boiled it until cooked as well as one package macaroni and cooked that. Then mixed these together in a large bowl. I also added one "vegan egg" to this- which is basically 1TBsp of the eggless mixture with 3TBsp water. Then for the sauce: I shredded one block of vegan daiya havarti cheese and had it read along with a package od daiya cheddar. In a sauce bowl I placed one stick of vegan amrgarine (8TBsp) an melted it, then whisked in 1/2 cup flour, 3 cups almond milk, 2 TBsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp onion powder. I whisked this together until boiling then lowered the heat and added the havarti andd cheddar cheese, mixing in until melted. Once the sauce was done I added it to the macaroni and broccoli mixture. Then I poured it into pre-made pie dishes (just make sure you read the label, some have lard in them, these were from Whole Foods and vegan and organic pie crusts, if they are frozen just make sure you bring them to room temp first). This recipe is enough to make and fill/cook two pie crusts, which I did since I am working the next 8 days in a row next week and will need the leftovers. Once the mixture was in the pie crusts, I sliced a bunch of roma tomatoes and placed this on top. Finally, for the topping, I mixed together pre-made vegan breadd crumbs with 2 TBsp melted margarine a 1 TBsp dried parsley flake, then topped the pies with this. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. AMAZING. Truly I think one of the best dishes I have ever made of all time.

Gnocchi with wilted spinach, pine nuts, and vegan ham

This is another dish I veganized as I have had a bag of gnocchi in the freezer a while now as well as pine nuts in the pantry and I wanted to use them. First I wilted fresh spinach in a wok with a little olive oil, then I added the pine nuts until browned. Meanwhile I just cooked the gnocchi as directed while doing this. In the blender I made a sauce while doing this. I basically blenderized 1/3 cup cashews, 1 TBsp garlic, 3 TBsp yeast, 1 cup almond milk, 1 TBsp lemon juice, 1 TBsp soy sauce, 2 TBsp dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp paprika. I then added cut up vegan deli ham to the wok until it was browned a bit, and then added the gnocchi and the sauce, and heated for a couple minutes. It was quite a good dish.

Curry night

This week has been an amazing one for vegan recipes I made. Let's start with the Indian food. I had some potatoes and mushrooms I needed to use left over from other dishes, so I made a curry. Placed over rice and served with vegan chapati. I basically mixed and heated 1 package prozen peas, and the chopped up mushrooms and potatoes in a wok first, then added a pre-made vegan aloo korma sauce. I also added some gardein chicken strips I had arounf. It seemed a little bland, so I added 2 TBsp of my own curry sauce. It was delicious.

best tempeh salad EVER

This truly was the most labor intensive salad I ever made but totally worth the effort. The base of the salad was easy: basically mix together one package of spinach, one container of cherry tomatoes, 1 bag of thawed and drained corn, and 1 chopped avocado and 1 can rinsed black beans. The tempeh was the hard part: First you chop up a package of tempeh and boil it for 10-15 minutes. Then you take the boiled tempeh, cool it down, and prepare a greased up baking sheet. For this part you take three bowls- in the first put almond milk, in the second mix 1.5 cups flour with 1 TBsp chili powder and 1 TBsp onion powder, and 1 TBsp garlic powder, and in the third put bread crumbs. You then dip in this order and place on the baking sheet, starting with dipping the tempeh in the milk, then the flour mixture, then the bread crumbs. Once all alligned on the baking sheet you bake at 425 for 20 minutes. Once that is complete you melt 4 TBsp margarine and mix it with 1 tsp garlic powder a 1 bottle of hot sauce of your choice (I used Tiger Hot Sauce). You then take the baked tempeh and mix it in this mixture to coat. Top the salad with tempeh and serve with ranch dressing of your choice. The ranch dressing i used for this one was a whisked together combo of 2/3 cups Veganaise (vegan mayo), 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, and 2 TBsp dried parsley flakes.

interesting pizza...

Tried a new pizza with Phyllo dough. I seem to have bad luck with phyllo dough. Basically you let the dough thaw, and then placing it on a baking sheet you alternate a sheet of dough, sprinkle it with olive oil, place another sheet on top of that and top with cheese, then another sheett of dough with olive oil, then onne with cheese, etc. etc. Repeat this layering until you reach the top, then add whatever veggies you want on top of a final sprinkling of daiya cheese. I used asparagus, tomatoes, mushrooms, and onions.

Vegan New England Clam Chowder

This was a delicious soup, and I made some bread on the side that was supposed to be like the bread they serve at Red Lobster, super tasty. For the bread: mix together 3 cups flour, 1 TBsp baking powder, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 package daiya vegan cheddar cheese, 1.5 cups soymilk, 1 container vegan sour cream, 3 melted TBsp of butter and place in a greased 9x5 dish, bake at 350 for 45 minutes. For the chowder, put some olive oil and 1 tsp liquid smoke in a large soup dish and simmer, adding in 1/4 cup chopped red onions and 2 cups chopped oyster mushrooms. Once the onions are tender add in 2 TBsp white wine, 1 TBsp thyme spice, 2 cups chopped baked potatoes, 1 cup diced celery and mix together. After a couple minutes add 2 cups veggie broth, 1 TBsp onion powder, and 2 TBsp soy sauce. Bring to a boil and then add 1 acn chopped artichokes, 2 TBsp seaweed seasoning, 2 TBsp dired parsley flakes, and 1-1.5 cups soymilk. Add in 1-3 TBsp flour to thicken and 1 TBsp braggs. Keep at low heat and simmer until it thickens.