What We Have Been Eating Lately.

Hi, this is Gina, reporting to the blogosphere from this much enjoyed day off brought to you by MLK Day and working for a financial institution.

We have recently been cooking a lot more as we made the decision to enter 2013 by finally 100% committing to a vegan diet. We have wanted to make this transition for awhile now and are happy to have finally done so. We had lunch with my grandfather today at Bob's Diner in Kennedy Twp and it was very obvious after our dining experience that eating out in Kennedy Twp is going to probably not occur very often, if at all. On the menu at Bob's it is noted that a veggie patty is available upon request. This turned out to be untrue. Our waitress also had a very hard time initially taking our order and grasping that I said "No cheese, no mayo, but yes to tomato, onion, and lettuce." It was a very awkward exchange back and forth as she could sincerely not understand that YES I did want the fixings of the burger but NO I did not want mayo or cheese. Only then to have her come back a couple minutes later and tell us that they did not have veggie pattys. So it was a side salad(which she of course put cheese on and we had to pick it off) and fries(which were offered with gravy or cheese sauce) for lunch. Great. We were not thrilled by anything about the visit or how she acted like we were insane people for making the requests. Which honestly were not really crazy requests because they had a veggie patty on the menu. Ok, I will move on now.

We have been making a lot of meals using the array of cookbooks we have by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, the current fave being Appetite for Reduction.

This is the "Everyday Chickpea Quinoa Salad" which you can't tell from the picture but was packed with all kinds of good stuff like red onion, green peppers, romaine lettuce and the obvious chickpeas and quinoa. The quinoa gave the salad a really cool texture. The dressing you make with this dish is AMAZING. I am usually a oil and vinegar or Italian dressing sort of girl and Jason pretty much only uses Apple Cider Vinegar on his salads but we both deeply loved this dressing.  The recipe is as follows : 

Balsamic Vinaigrette
Adapted from Appetite for Reduction

1/4 cup raw cashews
1 small shallot, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp salt
A few grinds of black pepper

Place the cashews, shallot and garlic in a food processor or blender and pulse to chop them. Add the rest of the ingredients. Blend for at least 5 minutes, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides often, until completely smooth. It's really important that you blend for the full time, otherwise your dressing may be grainy. Transfer the dressing to a container and chill until ready to serve.

We also made from Appetite for Reduction, Curried Chickpeas and Greens which was basically the Indian dish Saag. There was A LOT of kale involved. 2 pounds of that delicious green goodness. It really cooks down but we did have to transfer from a enormous heavy bottom pan to a pot. This was awesome and curbed our neverending want for Indian food that does not exist in Kennedy Twp. Next time we will attempt to tackle Naan along with this. 

By the way, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to place pictures the way I want on this blog, so I am sorry if they are spaced weird. 

TONS OF KALE

Then from Vegan with a Vengeance I made chocolate chip cookies because for reals, who doesn't need some cookies in their lives? These were delicious and super easy to make since I now make everything possible with my Kitchenaid mixer while baking. I used Smart Balance Light which is vegan but FYI, regular Smart Balance is not. We prefer Earth Balance but the grocery stores near us don't always have it and in this recipe that was my only complaint. I don't like the taste of Smart Balance Light as much as Earth Balance so I thought at first I could taste too much of the Smart Balance. Next time I will make sure I have Earth Balance. 

Also from Vegan with a Vengeance we made Basil Tofu Ricotta and we had some amazing stuffed shells. We both agreed that you could hardly tell it was tofu inside the shells, it tasted so similar to ricotta. We did get kind of lazy and used store bought sauce which as Italians is a big no-no. The only improvement we would have made is to use homemade sauce. Hey, sometimes you just don't have enough time. Sorry Mom, Mom-In-Law and all grandmothers.

 Since the vegan transition happened I have been exploring the internet for awesome recipes as well. I found a website I really like called The "V" Word and after many hours spent staring at the amazing looking food and reading the recipes, I finally made something from it. Feast your eyes on Tofu Georgia . IT WAS SO GOOD. My first taste of it I said "This is the most unvegan tasting thing that is vegan!" What I meant is that it seriously tastes like meat and cheese. The tofu is coated in a mixture of flour and spices and pan fried and topped with mushrooms and cheese. The mushrooms create this amazing sauce at the bottom of the pan so when you pour it all over the tofu it just adds to the flavor. We used Daiya Mozzarella Shreds, we both agree that Daiya is the best vegan cheese we have had. It melts like regular cheese and it is not soy based. Behold the beauty.

As a quick meal last weekend I tried this vegan mac and cheese I had bought on Vegan Essentials. It was made by Leahey Foods and it was pretty decent. I used almond milk in the sauce mixture. I usually prefer almond milk to soy milk. Sometimes you just want something super easy and fast to make and this was all over those things and it was pretty good. 

So that is pretty much what has been happening in our food lives recently. We have been cooking so much and intend to continue doing so (basically because we have to) which means we will have a lot more to blog about! Hope everyone is staying warm as the cold moves back in! As always, here is a picture of one of our cats.

Bob

Tofu Prep and Tofu Scramble - A beginners guide.

The very first time I tried to cook with tofu I was just throwing around the idea of going full on vegetarian.  I hadn't told anyone my ambition yet for fear of having to commit.  I was pretty much living on Srees in Squirrel Hill - this "fast food" Indian place where you could get enough food to feed a family of eight for like $5 bucks.  To this day I still find myself - mid-day - craving Srees.

Anyway, one day - in the midst of the hottest part of summer - I decided that I could make General Tso's Tofu and it would be every bit as good as the General Tso's Tofu at New Dumpling House (also in Squirrel Hill.  Sorry for all the S'quill shout-outs, I lived there for like 8 years and became a vegetarian there, and pretty much made all of my subsequent major life transitions there up to, and including marriage.) 

So anyhow - this really hot summers day I found this recipe online for General Tso's Tofu and I was all "This cant be that hard!" and I boldly walked myself up to Giant Eagle ('cause in the city you can walk everywhere) and spent the next 45 minutes wandering the aisles until I finally found the tofu.  I bought the extra firm kind because at New Dumpling House when you bite into that awesomeness its like taking a big meaty bite of chicken.  I then located all the other ingredients, I have no memory of what they were because - as you will discover - this project was a total failure and I never tried it again.

So I went home and started all my prep work.  When it came to the tofu I kind of pushed it to the back, letting it kind of hang out there in its pool of tofu water - sure, the recipe said to press it or whatever - but I'd get to that.

When I first gingerly removed the blubbery rectangle - I truly felt like I was holding something so fragile, like a new born or an injured animal - it could never become the meaty, manly morsel I so desired.  That's about the time my hopes began to dwindle.

I did what the instructions said - I tried to squeeze it.  Ever so cautiously did I squeeze - it just seemed like any amount of pressure would cause the thing to crumble into watery white bits.

All said and done - the meal was a mess.  The tofu remained blubbery and jelly-esque, the other flavors did not seem to really penetrate it beyond an outside coating.  I left my first tofu-making experience severely uncertain that it was something I could ever master.

A year or two later, I happened upon a blurb on a message board explaining a method of tofu preparation that saved my life (so to speak).

So - for anyone just starting out as a vegetarian who wants to make that firm tofu you can man handle with no fear of endangering its fragility - read on:

TOFU PREPARATION - ONE MAN'S VERSION

(There's a lot of pictures in this, bear with me...)

There are a billion ways of preparing tofu - this is just the method that has worked best for me.  If you are just starting out as a vegetarian, this is something you can try that might make the process of getting that firm, meaty tofu down without a ton of frustration.  It's not the hardest food to work with, but you definitely have to make it a few times to get it down.  Have fun!

Here's your tofu, dude (or dudette) - 

 

Peel that bad boy open and reveal the Tofu (yes, we'll give him a capital T) resting luxuriously in his pool of tofu-water - his veritable spa of soy bean liquid.  Behold:

He rests magnificent.

Now remove him - he is ready, fear not.  See him stand proud, dripping in your hands (I recommend you do this by the sink, BTW.)

Now, with no hesitation, take your sharpest blade - and SLICE him width wise!  Hear the whistle of your truly forged blade as the tofu who once stood defiant is hewn asunder!  (I have been reading a Song of Ice and Fire recently, by the way.  Your patience is greatly appreciated.)

Now cut him again, into quadrants - eight pieces now in all!

Encase him in your most versatile of casks (yeah, just kind of space the cut tofu into a tupperware container - the object here is to leave some room around the pieces, so kind of stagger them as shown.  This creates air around them and also will leave room for you to grab them later, once it's ((spoiler alert)) frozen.)

Place the cask hidden safely in your coldest chambers.  (put the tupperware in the freezer.)

(It's good to freeze it for more than a day.  What this does is - it creates large pockets of air in the tofu and makes the tofu really firm and easy to work with.)

Now behold!  Time!  It passes before your eyes!

Several days have passed!  The Tofu!  It is FROZEN!

(I find it weirdly fun to remove the frozen tofu from the tupperware - just a heads up - it's oddly satisfying.)

I think it's a pretty good time to leave behind the voice of the dramatic narrator.  Sorry bud, your purpose was served.  From here on out, there is no drama.  You know why?  Because now I'm going to show you this dude's method of preparing Tofu Scramble - and with breakfast, there can be no drama.

ONE DUDE'S VARIATION ON TOFU SCRAMBLE

First, you want to get a pot of water boiling on the stove.  Your Tofu is frozen, and now we've got to reverse the process.

Once the pot is boiling, submerge the frozen Tofu into the boiling water and cover:

Boil for a while (I know - thats vague - just boil it till its - you know - not frozen)  as soon as you find the Tofu is thawed, pour it into a strainer, and run cold water over it:

The reason for the cold water shower is because in the next step you will be squeezing the crap out of this tofu, so its important to run cold water through it so you aren't burning your hands for the next few minutes.  Once the tofu is cool enough to handle, grab a piece of it and really give it a squeeze!

Remember in my story from the beginning about how fragile the tofu was when I tried to squeeze it?  Not the case now.  This is tough as nails Tofu!  The object now is to squeeze out as much moisture as you possibly can.  The more moisture you squeeze out of the Tofu, the firmer it will be when you cook it.

Whats kind of cool is, after you put the squeezed tofu aside, it will retain its original cube shape:

Now tear the water-free tofu cubes into smaller cubes (I will admit that I also find this part weirdly fun...  take from that what you will...)

Now, preheat some extra virgin olive oil in a pan:

Then add the tofu and toss until all the tofu is coated and simmering.

Turn down the heat to about medium heat.  Then add some Turmeric (for a yellow coloring, and also for the myriad of health benefits associated with turmeric), soy sauce (I use this instead of salt, but you can use salt instead if you want - I wouldn't recommend using both unless you like things ultra salty and enjoy dehydration), garlic powder (this is key), oregano, basil, parsley (I typically use the 1/4th teaspoon measuring spoon thing for all of these.  Give the garlic maybe two, or three teaspoons if you feel bold - I typically do.)  You can also use whatever else you happen to have i.e. cumin, curry powder, garam masala, etc...  It will turn a nice yellowy color from the turmeric, as shown below:

What is really important from here is that you press down on the tofu - HARD.  You will hear a hissing sound as still more of the liquid inside the tofu quickly evaporates from the heat.  Keep doing this for a few minutes, until you feel most of the moisture is out of them.

Not to be vulgar, but a friend once described this process by stating:  "You have to press the shit out of it."  And it's true.

After that, you are sort of free to add at will.  Below, I added a can of tomatoes, frozen broccoli, and frozen collard greens:

Once the veggies are cooked, you're good to go.  I like to add a ton of veggie to mine because - and this is my own thoughts entirely - idealy, I want to have the tofu in the meal as a protein - not the major player.  I like there to be more veggies to bulk the nutritional profile, and have the tofu there to supplement.

Again - this is just one dudes take.  Give it a shot!

2013!

Heyoh, it's Gina. I am reporting to you from the land of sickness where I have been the last several days. I thought I would blog since I can do nothing that requires leaving my bed, couch or house.

My husband received an awesome cookbook from his parents for his recent birthday.

It has a lot of veggie friendly recipes in it and the ones that aren't seem like they will be easy to adapt.

I made this : Soba Noodle, Tofu, and Vegetable Stir-Fry

We had never tried soba noodles before but found them to be pretty tasty. Soba means buckwheat in Japanese. Wikipedia claims that it is traditionally eaten on New Years Eve in most areas of Japan and used to be given to new neighbors which is pretty cool. I wish when we moved into our house we got some soba noodles. Way to slack, neighbors. 

This recipe was pretty quick and very delicious. It calls for almond butter which I didn't have and lazily used peanut butter as a substitute for but I think it worked out well. This recipe is vegan. 

Here are pictures: 

We normally freeze our tofu to make it extra firm but  when we don't have time to freeze it we take the appropriate measures to ensure firm tofu. 

SOBA!!

This is the sauce that I used peanut butter in instead of almond butter. It ruled. 

I had to transfer everything to a big pot to properly mix it all together . 

We had our families over for Jason's birthday and made some snacks. 

Usually I do not make spinach dip from a packet but I was feeling rushed (we decided to have everyone over one day in advance) so I gave it a shot. It was actually very good and I for some reason did not take a picture of the finished dip. I also made it 100% vegan. 

I made kale chips and roasted chickpeas. Super easy and you can eat so much of them both and not feel guilty. 

Beer Bread to go with the spinach dip. 

My mom and mom-in-law created all this food, eggplant parm, meatballs(for the meat eaters in the fam which is everyone except for us) and an awesome salad. This is our dining room table though. I aspire to someday be able to cook like those two wonderful ladies, they make incredible food. 

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Jason will probably post soon and it will be more exciting because he likely won't be sick and half falling asleep while blogging.

I will leave you with dinner from tonight. Amy's pizzas, both vegan, we liked the one of the left best.
We also recommend making two if there is two people eating because these pizzas are tiny. Or maybe we are fat. I don't know.

Here is a cat pic though. Or two.

Stella

Bob