A Chinese Dinner

Mushroom congee topped with green onions and Chinese preserved vegetables along with a tofu and green beans stirfry and Chinese crullers on the side.

I rarely cook Chinese food. I think it's because even as a vegan in Toronto I was able to get awesome authentic Chinese food easily. Authentic stuff is very hard to find here. Everything is seasoned with too much salt or it's too sweet or it's too oily or all of the above. Having said that, I still get vegan Chinese takeout here almost once a week because I never cook Chinese food. WTF is wrong with me? :)

Anyway we went to the Asian market last weekend and I spotted Chinese crullers in a package (they are pretty much always vegan even if you see them not in a package) so I bought some and decided to make congee to go with it.

If you've never had congee, it's basically a savoury rice porridge and you can top it with whatever you want. Mine was cooked with vegetable broth, sliced shiitake mushrooms and a bit of soy sauce. My parents would make congee every so often on weekend mornings (it's a breakfast food really) and always bought fresh crullers to go along with it. No one makes their own crullers if they can buy them. It's just too much of a waste of time and messy (they're deep fried in a ton of oil) to do so people just buy them at the market. They are excellent dipped in congee or with hoisin sauce. My sister has them with ketchup. :)

This was a nice change for dinner along with the stirfry and the taste of the congee brought back a lot of memories.

Pizza Bread

My sister has been bothering me to update, so here was my lunch today. Also a hello and wave to my mother-in-law who reads this blog too. :)

Pizza bread made with Follow Your Heart "cheese", tomato sauce and chiffonaded baby spinach on top of rosemary olive oil bread and then put under the broiler for about 5 minutes. The bread was store bought bakery bread, tomato sauce was from a jar. I pretty much didn't make anything from scratch.

I would have used Sheese for the pizza bread, but due a brain-freeze, I accidentally got my package from Pangea shipped to my friend Jenna's house. Oops. I would have also used Teese instead but still waiting for them to fill my order. In the meantime, Follow Your Heart will have to do.

I've been pretty uninspired the past few months but hopefully I'll get more motivated to cook interesting things soon. I just bought a bunch of new cookbooks with more to come so maybe they will give me a kick in the pants to cook more. Or, maybe not. We'll see!

Yes, I have been cooking, but...

I've pretty much been cooking the same things lately. My xmas dinner was pretty much a duplication of our Thanksgiving meal, so no photos of that either!

Also I've been wearing my glasses for the last 2 weeks or so (my corneas are irritated) and I have real problems trying to take photographs with my dSLR while wearing glasses. So, no photos!

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Orzo Pilaf

This pilaf was made with a bunch of stuff that I wanted to use up — orzo from the cupboard, tomato paste in the fridge and vegetables in the freezer. If you've never had orzo, it's a nice change from rice. It's technically a pasta but its size is a little larger than a grain of rice and it has a nice pasta "bite" to it. I would have added in some chickpeas as well but I didn't have any.

I actually paid attention to how much I put in, so here's my recipe:

Orzo Pilaf

1/4 cup of vegan margarine or olive oil*
2-3 cloves of minced garlic
2 cups uncooked orzo (16 oz bag)
4-5 cups of vegetable stock (or 4-5 cups water plus some bouillon cubes/powder)
3 tbsp of tomato paste
1 bag of frozen vegetables or whatever you have on hand
salt, pepper, parsley to taste

1. Heat the margarine or olive oil in a large saucepan on medium-high and add the garlic and saute for a minute or two (make sure it doesn't brown or burn).
   
   
2. Add in the uncooked orzo and let it soak up the margarine/oil as you stir it around.
   
   
3. Add in the vegetable stock, tomato paste, seasonings and vegetables. Stir a few times until the mixture comes to a boil.
   
   
4. Cover and let simmer for about 15 mins or so until the orzo is cooked. Check every 5 mins and stir to make sure things aren't sticking to the bottom. If the liquid is completely absorbed but the orzo isn't done yet, add a little more liquid. Taste, re-season and serve.

If you have a little bit of extra liquid in the mixture when the orzo is done, which is okay. You can always remove from the heat and let the pasta continue to absorb the liquid for a few more mins if you want. I didn't bother. Everyone's pots react a little differently with making rice or orzo so some people may need to adjust for more liquid and some for less. A lot of steam comes out of my pots so I tend to need to use more liquid.

* Okay, I admit I didn't use 1/4 cup of margarine, I used a 1/2 cup... but for the sake of others out there, 1/4 cup should be fine!

Sleepy Shadow

Yes, I know, not a food photo. I've been a bit of a slacker lately and need to reply to comments as well as update my blog links! I haven't forgot about you folks who've commented. :)

Anyway, this week we pretty much had reruns of a lot of stuff which I've taken pictures of before (tempeh wingz, breaded and fried tofu and pizza) and I really didn't want to take photos of them again.

I leave you with this photo of my dog Shadow sleeping on one of the dog/cat beds (they all take turns) this afternoon. He's almost 13 years old and has been with me for 12 years. Best dog ever.

Chickpea Pasta Casserole

Based off this recipe.

My changes include using silken tofu instead of soy milk, panko instead of potato chips, a full pound of pasta instead of a 1/2 pound and adding in peas and carrots, thyme, marjoram, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and a little bit of nutritional yeast to taste.

It didn't taste like a "tuna" casserole but it did taste a lot like any other sort of casserole made with a creamy sauce. It was very good and comforting!

"Cheesy" Vegan Lasagna

Based off this recipe. I would have taken a better picture of the layers, but it's all gone now!

My changes: Used 1.5 cups of sliced baby carrots, bunch of sliced mushrooms, water instead of broth (but seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil and oregano. Also put all the spinach on its own layer and only used 2 jars of pasta sauce (tomato basil sauce) and finally sprinkled more nutritional yeast on top.

It was yummy! I am pretty sick of my own lasagna recipe so this was a nice change.

Making a Killing

I finally got my copy of Making a Killing: The Political Economy of Animal Rights, written by my good friend Bob Torres. Bob is also co-author of Vegan Freak with his (very awesome) wife Jenna Torres.

I don't normally talk about AR here (though I might start a new blog for that) but I've been really excited about this book since Bob first started talking about writing it.

Here's the AK Press synopsis of the book:

Suggest to the average leftist that animals should be part of broader liberation struggles and — once they stop laughing—you'll find yourself casually dismissed. With a focus on labor, property, and the life of commodities, Making a Killing contains key insights into the broad nature of domination, power, and hierarchy. It explores the intersections between human and animal oppressions in relation to the exploitative dynamics of capitalism. Combining nuts-and-bolts Marxist political economy, a pluralistic anarchist critique, as well as a searing assessment of the animal rights movement, Bob Torres challenges conventional anti-capitalist thinking and convincingly advocates for the abolition of animals in industry — and on the dinner plate. Making A Killing is sure to spark wide debate in the animal rights and anarchist movements for years to come.

More thoughts on this as I read the book. I strongly suggest that you pick up this book!

Vegan Thanksgiving

This is my first official U.S. Thanksgiving here as a resident. I don't really care for the history of Thanksgiving — you know, the wanton slaughter of Native peoples, the disgusting consumerism, the slaughter of millions of animals, etc., etc. Thanksgiving in Canada is a much more subtle affair. Excuse for a day off really. I suppose there isn't a huge frenzy about it because it's not associated with shopping like it is here. The day after Thanksgiving in the U.S. is *THE* big shopping day of the year (sort of like Boxing Day in Canada).

But I digress... I suppose I should also say what I'm thankful for. I'm thankful for my husband (who's the best by the way), good health, being able to live a decent life without having to scrape by (been there, done that — trust me, it sucks), family, friends, the health of my companion animals (I had a rough time with that a couple of years back), and I am thankful for all the vegans out there who have made the compassionate and ethical choice not to participate in the exploitation of animals on all levels.

*climbs off soapbox*

What we have here is a Tofurkey roast with stuffing (glazed with agave nectar, orange juice and dijon mustard), homemade mushroom and onion gravy, glazed carrots, green bean casserole (based off this recipe) and mashed potatoes with green onions. It was delicious! After trying both Tofurkey and Celebration Roast now, I think I like Tofurkey better (taste and texture) but homemade seitan (Bryanna's recipes) is still the best.

I still have those stupid cranberry/apple/potato dumplings and Tofurkey gravy that came in the dinner kit box. I'm going to have them for lunch today. Hope they actually taste good.

ETA: Had the dumplings and gravy for lunch. The gravy was decent (mine is better though) but the dumplings were kind of... meh. It's like mashed potato with cranberries and apple in a perogie dough almost. I don't really like mixing sweet and savoury very often so I didn't really like the dumplings. What would be awesome is if they decided to change it to just a potato dumping (with more seasonings) and remove the cranberries and apple. Then it would be like... er... a perogie!

Vegan Irish Stew... and Spaghetti

Vegan Irish stew made with TVP chunks, carrots, potatoes, celery, mushrooms and Old Rasputin dark beer. Recipe from Bryanna Clark Grogan's, Almost No Fat Holiday Cookbook.

Yeah, I know it looks super "meaty". Trust me, it's all vegan though, down to the beer. The recipe calls for Guiness which isn't vegan but Old Rasputin dark beer is. Anyway, I am not sure why I thought I would like food cooked with dark beer since I hate dark beer. I guess I thought that the flavours would sort of blend to where I wouldn't taste it. But I did and I couldn't eat it. The boy however does like dark beer so he quite enjoyed this dish. I'll make this again sometime over the winter... but without the beer.

So I ended up making myself the other dish: spaghetti tossed with broccoli, hungarian hot wax peppers, mashed chickpeas, garlic, olive oil and salt & pepper. Simple but good.

Sweet & Sour TVP

Sweet and sour TVP with broccoli, onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and red pepper. I sprinkled hot chili flakes / red pepper flakes on mine.

I've been trying to actually use my 60+ cookbooks here. I almost never use them so I am trying to make at least one recipe from one cookbook each week... starting this week. The base recipe is from Bryanna Clark Grogan's book Authentic Chinese Cuisine.

I soaked the TVP chunks in her suggested broth (soy, ketchup, water, nutritional yeast) instead of my usual plain vegetable stock and I think it added to the yummy flavour.

The dish wasn't too sweet (she has two recipes in there for sweet and sour, this is the first one) and pretty authentic — nothing like the crappy (overly) sweet & sour you normally get from restaurants. I also TRIPLED the sauce because I like a lot of sauce and because my chosen vegetables and amount of TVP I made far exceeded what she called for in the book.

My addition of tomatoes also really reminded me of my mom's tomato stirfry dish she used to make us so I think that was a good decision on my part.

Anyway, it was delicious!

Roasted Vegetables

Roasted vegetables, stuffing and corn. The vegetables (red potatoes, broccoli, red pepper, onions, mushrooms and whole cloves of garlic) were drizzled with olive oil and mixed with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic & onion powder, thyme, marjoram and sage.

The roasted acorn squash was baked with Earth Balance, brown sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Seitan Roast with Rice Pilaf and Brussel Sprouts

The seitan wasn't homemade, it was a Celebration Roast (1/2 size which is enough for 4 people with ample side dishes or 2 very hungry people) with packaged gravy. It was "okay". I mean, it was tasty but I make much better homemade seitan thanks to Bryanna Clark Grogan's awesome recipes! I also make a much better homemade gravy... but I was too lazy to make seitan from scratch or gravy from scratch.

The rice pilaf was made with mushrooms, onions, seasonings and vegetable broth. The brussel sprouts are my standard steam and then fry with olive oil, vegetable stock powder, Earth Balance, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Pizza!

Made pizza for lunch today. Rustic* no-yeast crust, tomato sauce, Follow Your Heart "cheese", sliced mushrooms and Wild Mushroom flavour Field Roast slices. The Field Roast stuff is really good and (obviously) vegan.

It was delicious and I have more for tomorrow's lunch.

*"Rustic" as in I didn't feel like rolling it out properly so it wasn't even round.

Scorch

No, not talking about scorching food... just pimping Heather's awesome artwork at her etsy shop. She's vegan and awesome, so go buy some of her stuff!

What are you waiting for? http://scorch.etsy.com

Lentil Soup and Rapini

Lentil soup with tiny pasta (recipe from Vegan Italiano) and some rapini with cannellini beans and tomatoes on the side.

And bonus pics: Smuckers!

Spaghettini and Salad

Spaghettini tossed with olive oil, garlic, diced red peppers and lots of hot chili flakes. It's not fancy or pretty but this is my favourite pasta dish of all time. Unfortunately the boy doesn't really like red peppers so... he had something else for dinner (TVP loaf and mashed potato leftovers from the day before -- no photos of that).

"Big Salad" with cubes of herbed tofu, tomatoes, cucumbers and romaine lettuce and balsamic vinagrette.

Moo Shu Tofu

Moo Shu tofu with red peppers, onions, shiitake mushrooms in a (store bought) tortilla. Store bought vegan egg rolls on the right (they sucked).

Gemelli with "Bolognese" Sauce

Gemelli with homemade "bolognese" sauce. Sauce made with TVP, onions, mushrooms, green peppers, plum tomatoes adn canned crushed tomatoes. Garlic bread on the side.

Still working on my white balance settings... it's getting better!

Seitan "Cutlets"

Seitan cutlets and rice pilaf. Recipe for the seitan from Bryanna Clark Grogan's Vegan Feast newsletter. It was delicious! I also used her recipe for veggie broth powder (also in the newsletter) and I think I'm going to use that instead of bouillon cubes from now on.

The recipe uses quite a bit of firm tofu in the "wet" mix and I think it makes a HUGE difference in texture. It wasn't squeeky or rubbery or too stiff. The texture was perfect. It was a bit involved since you have to bake the seitan in the oven and then cool and then cook again (I grilled it) but it was well worth the effort.

(OT: I still need to work on the white balance settings on my camera... artificial lighting just looks crappy and I hate using flash)