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Seitan and sweet ‘taters

poopiebitch — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:49:20 +0000

You want to see more testers for Bianca’s book, don’t you? Of course you do.

Behold! The deliciousness that is Dijon-Pecan Seitan with Maple Butter Glaze.

Yes, it's every bit as good as it sounds, plus a little.

And what better to go along with that yummy spicy-sweet seitan, than some yummy spicy-sweet Mashed Sweet ‘Taters?

Did I mention creamy? Mmmmm, creamy.

Trust me people, you will want this book. Seriously.

I love leftovers

poopiebitch — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:39:00 +0000

Last week some friends and I did a food swap. Kind of like a potluck, but you get to take the food home and eat other people’s leftovers. Basically it means that I ended up with yummy food that I didn’t have to cook. Score.

I made little veggie loaves, but you know what those look like so I won’t post yet another picture. Bianca made this delicious pizza:

I didn’t get a picture of Hart’s carrot soufflé (more like a casserole, but seriously yum). I also don’t have any pics of Nic’s pâté (my friends are so fancy, no?), because I already had too much food in my house, so I wrapped it up and put it in the freezer. I will take some pics when I do something with it. Meanwhile, you can check out Bianca’s much more thorough post about our swap here.

I also made some Self-Frosting Peanut Butter Cupcakes from My Sweet Vegan for the food swap, although I made a bunch of changes, which is probably why they sank in the middle. Oh well, they were still good.

I made this curry last week. Isn’t it pretty? Veggies, curry and coconut. It sounded good in my head. It looked good. It smelled so good… It was not good. Not good at all. CURRY FAIL.

This sweet and sour on the other hand, was really good. I cut the tofu so small because that’s the way The Brit likes it. I fried it because, well, it’s good like that. This totally made up for the curry fail.

I made the veggie lunch meat recipe from Vegan Dad. I had to steam it in two separate logs because my steamer is stupid, but otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. It turned out very well, I can’t wait to play around with the seasonings some more.

I used half of the veggie lunch meat to make chopped BBQ sandwiches. The inspiration came from Vegan Dad as well, but I made my own BBQ sauce rather than his recipe (which I’m sure is delicious!). I also changed up the cooking method to use my slow cooker, since I wanted it to be ready when I got home.

Served up on homemade bread with homemade coleslaw, it was awesome.

From wintry to warm

poopiebitch — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 05:39:00 +0000

The weather has been insane lately. On Sunday, there were six inches of snow on the ground and a definite nip in the air. Today the temperature was in the 70′s and I went out without so much as a sweater.

To warm up from the cold weather I made another tester for Bianca’s cookbook, Seitan and Dumplin’s! The Brit wasn’t a huge fan, but I really enjoyed it. In fact, I had leftovers for dinner tonight and I think it was even better than the first night.

In celebration of this current warm weather I enjoyed a smoothie for breakfast. Frozen strawberries and bananas blended with chocolate almond milk and some flax seeds. Yum!

I sure hope this weather calms down soon.

The last of the travels

poopiebitch — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 07:02:00 +0000

In Nashville we got to meet up with a couple of people from the PPK for brunch at Fido. It was super-fun and yummy, although I didn’t manage to get any pictures of my food (sorry!).

Here’s the adorable Annieeggplant, who was kind enough to grace us with her awesome presence:

And of course, what would a trip to Nashville be without a visit with the fabulous johnp? Here he is holding the famous little blue monster made by pandacookie:

Thanks so much to John for organizing such a fun get-together! It was really great meeting you two!

After Nashville we wound up driving to Asheville NC, you know, just for fun. After just a little searching online we found this fantastic place called The Green Sage:

I opted for a soy latte:

And this enormous brunch plate with scrambled tofu, sweet potato home fries, vegan sausage, a giant vegan biscuit(!) and Earth Balance. Holy yum, this was good.

It was freezing out, so after we finished eating brunch we decided to stick around in the warmth for a bit longer and indulge in a little Earl Grey tea. They had soy milk, rice milk, agave and stevia on the condiment bar! I love Asheville.

That’s it for our trip out east. Last week The Brit and I went to TX to visit the grandparents, so of course a visit to Spiral Diner was in order. The Brit and I each ordered a sandwich and split them, so we could both try a couple of things.

We got the Meatball Sub:

And the Chopped BBQ Seitan:

We both agreed that the BBQ Seitan sandwich was better, but we managed to finish them both anyway After lunch I ordered an almond milk latte with vanilla syrup. It was soooo good.

Check out that foam:

Of course, I couldn’t leave without dessert. We ordered the ‘Deathstar Sundae’, which was a warm brownie with homemade vanilla ‘i-scream’ and soy whipped cream, with a shot of espresso on the side to pour over the whole thing. The Brit didn’t really like it (he’s not much of a sweets person), so I had to eat most of it. Such a sacrifice, right?

Overall, this visit to Spiral Diner went over with The Brit much better than last time, and that in itself made me happier than the food did. Well, almost.

Compensating

poopiebitch — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:07:00 +0000

We have water! We still have to have someone come out and rehang drywall so they can put the sink back. Right now it’s living on our (wet) bedroom floor:

The plumber cut a very large hole to find a very small pipe:

Hopefully all of that will be over with soon. Oy.

This post is pic heavy because I am both trying to make up for my lack of posts, and trying to make up for the fact that it will probably be Monday before I post again. I have a wedding cake and groom’s cake to make and deliver to Oxford, MS tomorrow, and another small wedding cake to be delivered in Memphis on Sunday. I will be crazy busy/extremely exhausted, so I’m apologizing in advance.

In the meantime, pictures!

Banana Wheat Germ Muffins from V’con. These were very tasty, and not too sweet. I baked them in muffin liners with little animals on them, because they are adorable.

My first ever seitan! I used the recipe for Seitan O’Greatness from the PPK forums. I really liked the flavor and how easy it was. The Brit loved the texture, but wasn’t so crazy about the flavor. Anyone who knows him would know what a huge deal that is – he actually almost liked it! I’m going to make it again and switch up the seasonings until I find something he’ll like.

I will take this opportunity to introduce two of my favorite kitchen tools. First, my cast iron wok (all oiled up here, ready for action):

Second, my rice cooker. I freaking love my rice cooker:

Using these two tools, together with my Seitan O’Greatness, I made a yummy sweet and sour stir-fry that was actually pretty good. Even The Brit ate it!

I always make a little extra rice so I can have rice pudding. This time I added some currants, which I love! I shook up the soy milk before adding it, and for some reason it stayed really foamy even after cooking it with the rice. You can see the little bubbles:

We bought some more strawberries and I decided we should have strawberries and champagne. After trimming and cutting the strawberries, I macerated them in some Grand Marnier and a little sugar for about half an hour. Then I poured on a little Silk Soy Creamer (The Brit used real cream) and served them up with a glass of nicely chilled champagne. Indulgent, I know! (sorry for the crappy picture)

And last, this morning I made ‘Egg McVegans’ using this recipe. I pressed the tofu overnight in the fridge so I would have more time this morning. Also, I used Gimme Lean ‘sausage’ instead of the veggie bacon. The tofu was a little too vinegary for my tastes, but I may try making these again with less vinegar and maybe some more seasonings. All in all they were pretty good, though.

They sure looked like the real thing!

VietNOM NOM NOMese

poopiebitch — Sun, 11 May 2008 16:49:00 +0000

I’ve tried to kick the coffee habit. I really have… but it’s so HARD.

Yesterday I went out with some fellow veggies to Pho Hoa Binh, a local Vietnamese restaurant. I had never been there before, but I will definitely be back. It was so. good.

We started off with spring rolls, which were HUGE. Filled with fried tofu, lettuce, tomato and vermicelli, served with a yummy peanut dipping sauce. I could just order a few of these and make a meal of them.

The food came out ‘family style’, which was awesome because everyone got to taste everyone else’s dish. This was especially good since I was a little creeped out by my choice – Hunan Wheat Gluten. I should have known better when the server described it as ‘imitation duck’, but I ordered it anyway. It was kind of chewy, and very meat-like. Eerily so. The flavor was good, but something about the texture kind of made me uncomfortable (I should have listened to Bianca and ordered the tofu – that’s what I get for being insolent).

Bianca from Vegan Crunk had this awesome tofu and mushroom dish. The sauce made the dish, really… so good.

Amberlyn ordered the Veggie Delight – yummy steamed veggies including bok choy, carrots, mushrooms, water chestnuts (I think?) among other things I don’t remember.

Leslie ordered what turned out to be my favorite dish – the Lemongrass Tofu. I don’t know what’s in this, but it’s basically just a bunch of yummy fried tofu in a yummy seasoning. Not exactly healthy, but damn tasty. Plus, Leslie let me take some home for leftovers (thanks, girl!).

Vaughan had a really tasty Snow Pea and Mushroom dish, but my picture turned out all blurry so you’ll just have to imagine that one. Sorry. All in all it was an awesome meal, and a good time was had by all.

Last, I leave you with a recipe! I made mock tuna salad again, and this time I actually recorded what I put in. It’s a good thing, too, because this time it turned out even yummier than last time.

Poopiebitch’s Vegan Tuna Salad:

2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 sheets nori, toasted
1 tsp kelp powder
scant ½ cup Vegenaise
¼ cup + 1 TBS prepared mustard
½ cup minced red onion
½ cup minced celery
½ cup Wickles relish (or other pickle relish)
1 TBS nooch (nutritional yeast)
1 TBS Bragg Liquid Aminos (or tamari or soy sauce)
1 tsp garlic salt
½ tsp celery seed
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse chickpeas well and set aside to drain. Toast nori and pulse in food processor until no large pieces remain. Add chickpeas and pulse until mushy but not smooth – careful not to over process, we’re looking for a little texture, not pureed into a paste.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add remaining ingredients. Mix well and check for seasoning. It is better the next day so make it in advance and resist the urge to eat it all the first day if possible. If you make it the day you plan to eat it, at least give it a couple of hours to chill through as it really improves the flavor.

This recipe does make a lot (which I recommend because you will want a lot, but it can easily be halved if you prefer). My favorite way to eat it is on Whole Wheat Ritz crackers, but it’s good as a dip for veggies and on sandwiches too.