THAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSSGIIIIIIIIIIIIVIIIIIINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!

Cooked again for Thanksgiving (I swear November is a vegan food-blogger's wet dream) and had to pause to shout at you the following:

OH MY GOD GO MAKE BRYANNA CLARK'S VEGAN SEITAN "TURKEY" ASAP I DON'T CARE THAT IT'S NO LONGER THANKSGIVING AND YOU HAVE NO REAL EXCUSE!! ON A DISTANT PLANET SOMEWHERE IT'S LIKELY TO BE THANKSGIVING SO JUST RUN WITH THAT!! DO IT! NOW!


(Click on pic for larger version with stuff labeled)

Seriously, I was intimidated at first by the length of the cooking directions (which actually are short but look overwhelming because she supplies you with several variations), but it was surprisingly easy to put together. Granted, it cooks for about four hours, but GOOD LORD PEEPS! How often do you get to lavish in the delightful thanksgiving smell of roasting for four hours now that you no longer cook turkey? You'll love it, trust me. And if you have a breadmaker, this is as simple as dumping the ingredients in and pressing a button.

Tofurkey-haters take heed in particular: this is by FAR tastier than the tofurkey many of us turn to as a quick turkey-substitute around the holidays.

True story: My brother SPECIFICALLY ASKED that I give him leftovers of the faux-turkey for him to take home. (This, the boy who bitches every year about how crappy tofurkey tastes.) He also raved about making the leftovers into a sandwich.

My sister and mom (despite me telling them I made it myself—they sometimes don't listen well) days after Thanksgiving did a doubletake when they realized that I HAD indeed made it myself and both said they didn't realize it because it tasted so good.

So yeah.

AND it makes TWO loaves. So I'm STILL working through leftovers.

What else: If you make it, $100 billion dollars will spontaneously fall into your lap, it's THAT good. (Okay, THAT part's a lie, but the rest: TRUE AS MOTHERF-ING HELL.)

I'm also including the gravy recipe I used for both Thanksgiving and my vegan potluck as it tastes WONDERFUL with this faux turkey recipe.

And now: a pic of my fam at Thanksgiving in which it looks like my Mom and brother are praying but really they are both genetically deficient and chromosomally alike enough that they both accidentally closed their eyes for the pic.




My table-setting:



And now the recipes:

(I've chosen to include ONLY the directions that I used in making my faux-turkey, so if you'd like to see the variations, go check out the original which is linked at the end. Also: I recommend cooking it the night before and then just throwing it back in the oven with a tiny bit of water and, say, your stuffing or some other delightful numbly that you have to cook for 45 mins or so to reheat.)


BRYANNA'S SEITAN "TURKEY"

INGREDIENTS:

DRY MIX:


• 2 c. pure gluten powder (instant gluten flour; vital wheat gluten)


• 1/2 c. full-fat soy flour or chickpea flour


• 1/2 c. nutritional yeast flakes


• 2 t. onion powder


• 1 t. garlic granules


• 1/4 t. white pepper


WET MIX:


• 12 oz. firm regular (NOT silken) tofu


• 1 & 1/2 c. water


• 3 T. soy sauce


• 1 T. olive oil


BASTING BROTH:


• 2 c. hot water


• 1/3 c. "chicken-style" vegetarian broth powder (I used 2 "chicken" bouillon cubes)


• 2 T. olive oil


• OPTIONAL: 4 cloves garlic, crushed


• 1/2-1 tsp. poultry herbs (sage, thyme, rosemary), crushed well

DIRECTIONS

Wet Mix: In a blender, blend all the ingredients until very smooth.

Dry Mix: Place ingredients in the bowl of your electric mixer with dough hook attachment, or place them in the bread machine in the order given. Add the Wet Mix and knead for about 10 minutes. (If your bread machine has a dough cycle-two kneads with a long rest in between-use that cycle. Otherwise, just run it through the kneading part and then unplug it and let it rest in the cover container, then plug it in again for another knead, then remove it.) Let rest for about 1 hour, covered. You can make your Cooking Broth at this time and have it ready. Then knead it for 10 more minutes.

(NOTE: You can knead by hand, too, but it's tougher than bread dough. You may want to let the seitan dough sit for a while to soak up the liquid more thoroughly before you starting hand-kneading.)

COOKING METHOD #2.) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Flatten the dough out into a long piece and cut in half equally to make two rectangles. Form into 2 loaves. Place each loaf in an oiled 8 and1/2" x 4 and 1/2" loaf pan and press down a bit with your hand. Mix the Cooking Broth ingredients in a small bowl and pour 1/2 over each loaf. Cover each loaf pan with foil and place in the oven. Immediately reduce the oven heat to 200 degrees F. Bake for 3 hours. Turn the loaves over, carefully loosening around the edges and from the bottom with a small, thin spatula first. The loaves will have puffed up quite a bit by now, but they will flatten out as they cook further. Turn heat back to 325 degrees F. Cover loaves and bake for 30 minutes. Turn them over again, cover and bake 15 minutes. Turn them over again and bake 15 more minutes, covered. Turn them over one last time and bake 5-10 minutes.

(Recipe from Bryanna's Vegan Feast)

GOLDEN GRAVY

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. nutritional yeast


• 1/2 c. whole wheat flour


• 1/3 c. canola oil


• 1/2 c. chopped onion


• 2 t. minced garlic


• 2 t. chopped fresh thyme, or 1 t. dried


• 2 t. chopped fresh sage, or 1 t. rubbed dried (or I used 3/4 t. powdered sage)


• 4 c. water


• 1/4 c. tamari


• salt to taste


• ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Stir yeast and flour in heavy skillet over medium heat for five min or until fragrant.

Heat oil in large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, saute for 10 mins, or until it begins to brown. Add garlic, thyme, sage, and saute for 30 secs, or until fragrant. Whisk in flour mixture thoroughly, then whisk in water, tamari, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer, whisking frequently, and continue until reaches desired thickness. Strain into a bowl to serve.

(Recipe snagged from Vegan Favorites where it was reposted from Real Food Daily)

Spinach & Artichoke Pasta

So the original recipe for this came from The Vegan Cook's Bible (which actually is a really cool cookbook if you haven't yet perused it).

The recipe itself is super easy-peasy, easily adaptable (get inventive and throw in some more seasonings or, as I did, add some shroomies), and it actually tastes like a lot more work was put into it than is actually the case.

And it's one of those recipes where you can really just wing the quantities and go entirely by taste.

It also is REALLY REALLY good, *AND* you could easily adapt it into a spinach-artichoke dip by leaving out the liquid from the artichokes and also leaving out the shrooms.

So: make it.

INGREDIENTS:

• Frozen spinach (about 2 cups if you wanna be anal)


• 6-oz. jar of marinated artichokes


• Vegan sour cream (1 to 2 cups, depending)


• Penne pasta


• 2-4 cloves garlic, minced


• White mushrooms, quartered (I used about 2/3 of a large container)


• Olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Cook penne pasta according to package directions, drain, and set aside.

Reserve the liquid from your artichokes and dice the artichokes up finely.

Heat oil in a pan on low. Add garlic and cook a minute or two until fragrant.

Add mushrooms and cook for a few minutes until they start putting off moisture.

Add spinach, artichokes, and reserved liquid.

Let simmer for maybe 10 minutes or so, however long it takes for the frozen spinach to cook through.

Add vegan sour cream and stir until mixed. Simmer on low until sauce is heated through.

Season with fresh pepper and salt to taste.

Serve over hearty portions of pasta.

(The sauce goes a long way, so you can get at least 6 servings out of it and possibly up to 10)

White Bean Alfredo Sauce

Ok. So I'm a big fan of alfredo sauce. Actually, I'm a big fan of pasta in general, and alfredo has always been one of my favorite sauces. So I'm always trying out new alfredo sauces. (Click HERE for others.) The VwaV Fettucine Alfreda is one of my favorites still, but with the admission that it doesn't really taste like ALFREDO per se, despite the fact that it's fricking so good.

So when I noticed this white bean alfredo sauce a few weeks ago, I was skeptical (that's ALL the ingredients?!?) and yet interested. I scrounged it up this past weekend, and I've gotta confess: it really tastes surprisingly like alfredo sauce, even with the very minimal amount of ingredients.

And it takes so little time to make that it seems conceivable that it could cause a tear in the space-time continuum just for existing.

The nice part too is you can funk it up whatever way you'd like: add whatever spices and top it with delicious grilled veggies (like red peppers and portabellas, for example).

The ONLYONLYONLY down-side to the recipe is that you have to eat it fast: like most pureed bean-based dishes, once it starts to cool, it coagulates. So if you're trying to be all romantical with your significant other or something so that you can get some long overdue action, you will DEFINITELY get laid as long as you somehow get them to EAT IT QUICKLY (that's what she said).

Oh, and it would behoove you to food process the SHIT out of those beans, because the smooth consistency is key to the recipe's success. Plus you don't want the aforementioned significant other putting their mouth all over your sexy places with beans stuck in their teeth.

Moodkiller if I've ever seen one.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 c. vegan margarine


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 2 c. cooked white beans, rinsed and drained


• 1 to 1-1/2 c. unsweetened soy milk (I used sweetened and it works fine too)


• Salt and pepper, to taste


• Parsley (optional)

DIRECTIONS

In a sautee pan over low heat, melt the margarine. Add the garlic and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

Transfer the margarine mixture to a blender or food processor, add the white beans and 1 cup of soy milk. Blend until completely smooth. If the sauce is too thick, add the remaining soy milk until you reach the desired consistency.

Pour the sauce back into the pan over low heat, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Add fresh herbs, such as parsley, if desired. Cook until the sauce is warm.

Makes enough sauce for like 4 to 6 servings maybe?

(Recipe from Vegcooking Blog)

I Still Hate Lettuce Salads: What You Gonna Do About It? HUH?!?!

                                       from Veganomicon
Okay:

So:

I still hate lettuce salads.

And I've decided: those of you who chastise/d me for not giving them a chance can suck it.

Also: I've decided to overuse colons in this post. Which: you may have already noticed.

Not colons like



But colons like : :

'Cause it's my prerogative to do so.

Just like it's my prerogative to hate lettuce salads.

Which: getting back to my main point: I still do.

And I tried. I really did try this time.

I read raves about the Veganomicon caesar salad recipe on several blogs last week, so I was like: Lindy Loo, you will GIVE lettuce salads a second chance and try this recipe out.

And I did.

And the dressing is in fact great.

But even with the great dressing: lettuce salads still bore me.

I sat on the couch, eating the salad from a large bowl, and I tried to be enthusiastic about it. But the whole time I was thinking: Salad, you are not filling at all--both mentally OR physiologically--and I surely will be hungry in an hour. UNSATISFACTORY.

And such was the case.

At work: the same.

So yes: I am officially throwing in the towel.

Salads: you can suck it.

Nonetheless:

Here's the Caesar dressing recipe.


INGREDIENTS:

• 1/3 c. blanched, slivered or sliced almonds


• 3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed


• 3/4 lb. silken tofu (fresh, not vacuum packed is best)


• 1/4 c. olive oil


• 3 T. fresh lemon juice


• 1 heaping T. capers


• 4 t. caper brine


• 1 t. sugar


• 1/2 t. dry mustard powder


• salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

In a food processor or blender, pulse the sliced almonds till crumbly. Empty ground almonds into an air tight container that you'll be using to store the finished dressing in. Place garlic, tofu and oil in food processor or blender and blend until creamy. Add lemon juice, capers, caper brine, sugar, dry mustard powder and pulse until blended. Adjust lemon juice and salt to taste. Pour into container with the ground almonds and whisk to combine. Cover and allow dressing to chill in the refrigerator for a minimum 30 minutes, optimally 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Number of Servings: 4

(Recipe from Veganomicon, posted at SparkRecipes)

Vegan Ice Cream Cake Bar!

So my plan for my sister's b-day (which fell on T-day this year) was to make individual little ice cream cakes for everyone. I used the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World chocolate cupcake recipe and doubled it to make two cakes. I then cut out individual little circle-cakes with a glass (the two cakes yielded about 7 of them). My plan was then to coat each cake with a mixture of caramel and oreo cookies and then use one of my martini glasses to shape the ice cream into a cone-shape on each cake. I then planned on drizzling fudge over each of them and serving them with soy whipped cream.

But, as with most well-intentioned plans, things went awry: The caramel sauce was thin and drizzly instead of thicker as I'd assumed from the recipe which said the sauce was "thick but pourable at room temperature." It was not. However, I *did* use cornstarch instead of arrowroot. So that could've been the problem, although they SHOULD be relatively interchangeable (3:2 ratio of cornstarch to arrowroot). Nonetheless: I was forced to change plans and instead decided to reverse things up and make an oreo-fudge layer for the cake-tops and use the caramel to drizzle all over everything. Fine and good. But then I tried to shape the ice cream and realized that there was NO way in hell THAT was gonna work.

Then: KABBLAM! Ephiphany! Ice cream cake bar!!!!



I knew my sister would love it, so when it came time for dessert, I brought out one of the boring little plain individual cakes with some candles in it. Disappointing surely. But after she blew out the candles, I announced that--taddah!--there was an ice cream cake bar. Woot woot! Cafeteria style, I laid out oreo-fudge, caramel sauce, oreos, vanilla and chocolate ice cream, and soy whip, and everyone lined up and made their own ice cream cakes.

It rocked.

This is my sister thinking to herself: Boy does this ice cream cake bar rock! And also, Boy do I hate you and your motherf-ing camera.



Had I thought of this plan initially, I probably would've just made the chocolate cupcake recipe AS chocolate cupcakes instead of cake and served THOSE for the ice cream cake bar instead, because as it was, I have a contained of misshapen cake-fragments left over from cutting out mini-cake circles. But hey: you live and learn, you know?

So although there isn't a specific recipe for the cake in its entirety, I am posting the two sauce recipes, since they were both really delish. The caramel sauce is thin and drizzly and uber-sweet. The fudge is thick and dense, a little bit difficult to work with and thin out (perhaps a bit more soy milk would've helped) but seriously fricking fantastic.

Enjoy!



CARAMEL SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 c. Earth Balance or other vegan margarine


• 2 c. brown sugar


• 3/4 c. soy creamer or soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)


• 2 T. arrowroot (or 3 T. cornstarch)

DIRECTIONS

Combine 1/4 cup soy creamer with the arrowroot. Set aside.

Melt the Earth Balance in a saucepan. Stir in brown sugar. Add remaining 1/2 cup soy creamer. Bring liquid to a boil and boil for 4 minutes, stirring frequently.

Take the pan off the heat and immediately add arrowroot slurry. The liquid should thicken quickly.

Pour over ice cream! Or store in fridge for up to one week.

(Recipe from the ppk)




OREO FUDGE SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 c. cocoa or carob powder


• 2 T. cornstarch


• 1 1/4 c. soy milk, rice milk, or other non-dairy milk of choice


• 1/2 c. maple syrup


• 1 t. vanilla


• 12 to 15 oreo cookies, ground

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, sift together the cocoa and cornstarch.

Transfer the cocoa mixture to a small saucepan and whisk 1/2 cups soy milk into the cocoa mixture. Add the remaining soy milk and maple syrup to saucepan and whisk well to combine.

Cook the mixture over medium heat, while whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes or until it forms a thick sauce. (It will happen all the sudden--like BLAM! Suddenly thick!)

Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the vanilla. Stir in the oreo cookie crumbles.

Serve warm as a topping for cakes, desserts, non-dairy ice cream or sorbet, or as a dipping sauce for fruit. Store in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, and reheat as needed.

(Recipe adapted from The Vegan Chef)

Vegan Bolognese Sauce with Red Wine

I don't know what possessed me to try veganizing Bolognese Sauce since I always LOATHED meaty-spaghetti sauce when I was little. But for some reason I was craving a heavy-duty, hearty spaghetti sauce this weekend. So I ended up veganizing a recipe from my giant pasta book.

It was tasty and hearty, though nothing that knocked my socks off. Who knows though--if you're a meaty pasta-sauce lover, maybe it will knock YOUR socks off at least. Which would be kinda sweet. If that happens, I'd appreciate it if you could videotape it 'cause I've never actually SEEN it happen before, though I've heard much about it.

Thank you, and good day.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium onion


• 1 small carrot


• 1 celery stalk


• 2 to 4 garlic cloves


• 1 to 2 T. olive oil


• 1/2 c. of veggie "beef" crumbles


• 1/2 c. red wine


• 1 c. tomato sauce


• 1 T. tomato paste


• 1 t. dried oregano


• 1 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley


• 1/4 c. veggie stock


• 8 baby Italian tomatoes (optional)


• Salt & pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Finely chop all the vegetables. (I used that mixer-chopped thing until they were finely diced.) Heat the oile in a large saucepan and add the veggies. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 to 7 minutes.

Add the veggie crumbles and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the wine and mix well. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, then add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, herbs and stock. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and bring to a boil.

Cover the pot and cook on low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes (if using) and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes more. Taste for seasoning, and serve over fresh pasta.

Sweet & Heart-y Winter Pesto Gnocchi

I am so lazy.

And senile.

I am so lazy.

And senile.

(Get it? BAHAHAHAHAHA. Mother of god do I crack my shit up.)

Anyways, that's why I'm dragging ass when it comes to posting recipes.

Like this one for example.

I forget how I made it. <--- senile

I wrote it down somewhere, but I forget where I wrote it down. <--- senile

I could go home and try to find it, but I won't. <--- lazy

I give you the general gist below.

Urban Vegan's Winter Pesto recipe is exact though.

And I'm pretty certain the other crappola is close to exact as well.

All in all I was pleased with this recipe. It was pretty to look at. And it was sweet and flavorful.

And I was surprised by the winter pesto itself. Granted, spinach is no sexy sumptious basil, but it makes for a surprisingly tasty (and healthy) pesto.

However, using store-bought gnocchi reminded of how much store-bought gnocchi sucks in comparison to the real thing.

So if you're lazy, you can use the storebought shit. <--- lazy

Otherwise, make your own, for god's sake. It's so much better.

Otherwise, make your own, for god's sake. It's so much better. <--- senile



WINTER PESTO



(This pesto pic looks like it
should be accompanied by a
harmony of angels' voices)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 c.s fresh organic spinach (or arugula), packed


• 1/2 c. + 1 T. extra-virgin olive oil


• 6 cloves garlic


• 1/2 c. walnuts (or pine nuts, or a mixture)


• 1/4 t. salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste


• Nutritional yeast (optional--I tossed in a T. or so)

DIRECTIONS

Place all ingredients in food processor. Process 'til smooth, scraping sides of processor as needed

Makes about 1 1/2 cups pesto

(Pesto recipe from Urban Vegan)




SWEET & HEARTY WINTER PESTO GNOCCHI

INGREDIENTS:

• 16 oz. gnocchi (fresh or store-bought--Gia Russa Potato Gnocchi is vegan), cooked


• 2 red peppers, roasted and sliced


• 1 small jar/can quartered artichoke hearts, drained (I can't remember the size, maybe 8-oz?)


• 1/4 to 1/2 c. winter pesto (depending on how pesto-y you like it)

DIRECTIONS

Throw your (hopefully still-warm) cooked gnocchi in a large serving bowl. Add sliced roasted red peppers, artichokes, and winter pesto. Stir. Serve.

(You could either serve this heated or at room temperature. I threw my pesto into the microwave for a few minutes before tossing it in with everything else.)

Serves about 4.

Orangey Porangey Spaghetti Sauce

This recipe wasn't all that weird-sounding. Until I hit the cayenne pepper part. And then I was like, um, huh? Cayenne pepper and oranges? Usually not my first choice of sexy pairings. Actually, it moreso sounds like the weird concoctions you used to make for your sister when you were both, like, four or something and would dare each other to eat them.

For a while, I wasn't sure I was gonna add the vegan parm as mine was expired. But then I thought to myself, what is vegan parm made of really? Almonds. And almonds last FOREVER--they're like the vampires of the nut world. (Alas, I'd like to take credit for that little descriptive there, but I think Bob Hope coined it first back in 1952 when he had a whole stand-up routine on the topic of nuts--"Almonds: they're like the vampires of the nut world.") So I figured why the hell not? (Actually, I figured why the hell not in a safer kind of way, initially adding parm to only half the sauce until I tasted it and didn't die within 30 minutes, and then I added it to the rest.)

The other thing that was striking about this recipe is the apparent window of good-flavor. The original recipe seriously says to "Set aside for one to two hours--no longer"--and I half expected it to turn back into a pumpkin if I didn't eat it within that window of time. A pumpkin or a short, hairy, nekkid little Italian guy who kept shouting "Heyyyooooo, look atta my pee-pee." Thankfully neither occured (though I didn't open my fridge this morning, which is currently housing the leftovers, so there COULD technically be a short nekkid Italian guy slowly smothering to death in there. How I'm gonna explain THAT one to the police I'm not sure).

Point being: despite the ludicrousness of the request, I can actually almost see why that could be the case. It seems to me that the orange zest starts to react more and more strangely the longer it sits--it was weirdly tart by the time I ate it--so I could almost see it starting to taste a bit rancid if you let it sit out for way too long.

When all was said and done though, holy crap was this a vibrant and tasty pasta sauce. Strange, yes. But seriously seriously good. And something that would be perfect to celebrate the beginning of summer with. It's wonderfully orange-tasting but with a strange but awesome kick from the cayenne that takes some of the edge off the sweetness of the orange. It will surprise you.

I plan on trying out many more of the recipes from Joie Warner's book, seeing as I'm a pasta ho, so you can expect lots more recipes. (Apparently E snagged this book for $1 a long while back and, when he was in the process of moving and getting rid of a lot of dead weight--including yours truly, budddummm chiiiii--he passed this book along to me. And let me say, this recipe alone is well worth the dollar spent.)

The only problem I had with the recipe is the fact that it says it serves four. I love to completely SMOTHER my noodles with pasta sauce, so if you're at all like me, expect it only to generously cover a couple of hearty servings.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped


• Grated zest of 1 large orange


• 2 lbs. ripe tomatoes, seeded & coarsely chopped


• 3/4 c. coarsely shredded fresh basil leaves


• 1/2 t. dried thyme


• 1/4 t. cayenne


• 1/4 c. vegan parmesan cheese


• 1/3 c. olive oil


• Salt & freshly ground black pepper


• 3/4 lb. spaghetti (or angel hair, or any other noodle really)

DIRECTIONS

Combine everything except for half the basil and pasta in a large mixing bowl. Set aside for 1-2 hours--NO LONGER!!!--to allow flavors to blend, stirring occasionally. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well and immediately toss with sauce mixture. Serve with remaining basil on top, extra vegan parm at hand, and a healthy dallop of freshly ground pepper.

(Original recipe from Joie Warner's Spaghetti: America's Favorite Pasta, p. 25)

Nanners Banannerston Peanut-Sauce

One of my very worst food habits is buying bananas and not eating them before they get nastily ripe. Which was why I was so nerded up by the frozen bananas idea that I stumbled across in the Vegetarian Times, and which I've sinced started using to make popsicles (check these babies out!):



Well, earlier this week was another such example of my complete and utter failure in the world of banana-consumption. And the problem is, once the bananas get past a certain ripeness-point, I can't eat them without gagging. So lately, I've been trying to mush them up and use them in other foods, that way they don't go to waste. With this logic in mind, and with a hearkening back to my childhood when my absolute favorite lunch was a nice scrumptious peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich, I thought: why the hell not whip up some sort of Thai-ish stir-fry sauce with one of my uber-ripe bananas?

The end result was quite yummy--I poured it over a stirfry that consisted of rice-noodles, grilled tofu, spinach, and peanuts. I wasn't quite so pleased with the stirfry itself, but the sauce is quite good. Next time I'll probably incorporate some sweet veggies since I think they'd work well with this mildly-sweet and tropical-tasting sauce: perhaps some peapods and/or sweet peppers.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 very ripe banana, mashed


• 2 T. soy sauce


• 3 T. natural peanut butter


• 1 T. hot water


• Juice from 1/2 a lemon (or lime)


• 1 T. brown sugar


• 2 scallions, thinly sliced


• A dash or two of cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS

Whisk all of the above ingredients together in a bowl. Pour over stirfry or use as a peanutty salad-dressing. Definitely nice with some spinach-greens. Makes enough for about 2-4 servings of stirfry.


Oh, and this sauce is named after my lovely cat Franny who has somehow developed the nickname Nanners Banannerston. (And it also gives me an excuse to post a few gratuitous pics of her. Enjoy.)

Ribbed for Your Pleasure

Ever so long ago, I tried out a vegan rib recipe that was floating around on the internet. The problem was that I thought I'd accidentally bought the wrong vital wheat gluten--I had bought the flour, and the recipe called for what I assumed was straight wheat gluten. Lo and behold, just the other day I realized that these two things are one and the same. (See The Cook's Thesaurus for more.) Apparently I'm not the only one who didn't realize this, otherwise when I posted that recipe, someone would've corrected my dumb ass.

So, please take note:

Vital wheat gluten flour = vital wheat gluten.

Woot fricking-belated woot.

Anyways, since I'd bought some vital wheat gluten to make ye infamous Seitan o' Greatness, I decided to try making ribz again.

I stumbled across another recipe on-line that used tahini instead of peanut butter which I also thought was intriguing. But the basics of the recipe were different as well, and I knew that I wanted to try out the ORIGINAL ribz recipe that I'd originally botched up in my vital wheat gluten confusion.

So I decided to play with my ribz.

I used the basic recipe that I'd botched up before (but did it correctly this time). And I tried out three variations on what I'd poke into the ribz. The standard recipe calls for you to smoosh a peanut-butter/margarine concoction into these delicious numblies. Tasty, but not so good calorie-wise. So with that in mind, and with the tahini-variation also haunting my brain, I decided to "baste" the ribz the following ways:

1. With a peanut-butter/margarine mix;


2. With tahini; and


3. With absolutely nothing at all (to see if they were just as good low-fat).

You can see the three variations in this before pic. The ones furthest to the left are the PB, the middle are plain, and the ones on the right are tahini:



The end result? I liked them all! Damnation. I kept trying each one to see if I preferred one out of the three, and I could not decide for the life of me. Quite honestly, the ribz recipe hinges on the BBQ you choose to use, at it is the predominant flavor in the dish. But you *CAN* still taste what you choose to "baste" them in slightly, albeit very slightly. Truth be told though, because the BBQ sauce is the overriding flavor, you could easily get away with leaving out the peanut-butter/tahini and it won't really be that noticeable. Plus, it'll be MUCH more healthy for you. But both the tahini and the PB-mix *DO* add a bit off oomph, though not one of absolute necessity.

So good christ what the hell am I saying?

I liked all three variations and couldn't pick a favorite. If you are looking for low-fat though, you can easily get away with making them plain and, as long as you pick out a good BBQ-sauce, they'll be damn good anyways.

That's what I'm saying.

Oh, and next time, I plan to toy with the wheat gluten/wheat flour ratio a bit more. These were much more tender than my original recipe--but I also kinda liked the chewiness of my original recipe. So next time, I'll probably use a bit more wheat gluten and a bit less wheat flour to make them a WEE bit more chewy while still maintaining the tenderness.

So there.



INGREDIENTS:

• 2/3 c. of water


• 1/2 c. wheat gluten (aka. vital wheat gluten, aka vital wheat gluten flour)


• 1/4 c. + 3 T. nutritional yeast


• 1/2 c. + 1 T. whole wheat flour


• 1 c. BBQ sauce (see recipe below)


• spices to taste (onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, etc)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Mix the wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, wheat flower and spices in a dry bowl. Add the water and knead until almost all of the dry powder is absorbed. Do not over-knead. This dough is really sticky.

3. Form the dough into a flat shape about one-half inch thick.

4. Time for the variations:

• For low-fat ribz, jump ahead to step 5.


• For the peanut-butter variation:
  Take about 2 T. soy butter and heat it in microwave until soft. Add 3 T. peanut butter to it, mixing it so that it's consistent throughout. (To be quite honest, I guesstimated on the quantities/ratios of PB and margarine--you can get away with doing the same.) Add one-half of the peanut butter mixture to the top of the flattened dough. Use your fingers to poke the peanut butter mixture deeply into the dough. Do this for about 30 seconds. Turn the dough over and pour the remaining half of the peanut butter mixture onto the dough, again using your fingers to poke into the dough. Jump ahead to step 5.


• For the tahini variation:
  Smear a few tablespoons of tahini to the top of your flattened dough. (I don't have exact measurements--you just need to use enough that it covers the top decently.) As with the PB, use your fingers to poke the tahini deep into the dough. Do this for about 30 seconds. You can either jump ahead to step 5 now or flip the dough over and do the same to the other side.

5. Use a pizza cutter to cut one-half inch strips of dough. Make them as long or as short as you like them. Lay out on a lightly oiled baking pan. Bake for about 10 minutes.

6. After 10 minutes, use a spatula to turn the "ribs" over. Spoon or brush on BBQ sauce and return to the oven.

7. Bake for another 5 minutes. Remove and turn the ribs over again. Spoon or brush on some more BBQ sauce.

8. Bake for another 5 minutes. Remove and enjoy your hot, sweet and sticky "ribz!"

(Makes enough for four.)

(Original recipe HERE)

* * * * * * *
This time I also tried out a different BBQ sauce (since I still had some bourbon left over from our Weekend o' Bourbon last summer). It was quite good, though a bit too sweet for my taste--next time I will probably cut the sweet ingredients in half (and use brown sugar instead of a syrup to add a bit of thickness).

KENTUCKY BLUES BBQ SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 c. tomato paste


• 1/4 c. cider vinegar


• 2 T. + 2 t. agave nectar (was a bit too sweet--next time I'm gonna use brown sugar instead and a much smaller amount)


• 1/8 c. Jack Daniels or bourbon (I used the latter)


• 1/8 cup soy sauce


• 1/2 T. oil (I used canola--the original calls for olive)


• 1/2 T. garlic, minced (I just used garlic powder to taste)


• 1/2 T. ginger, minced (I just used ginger powder to taste)


• 1/2 T. dry mustard


• 1/8 t. pepper


• 1/8 t. cayenne pepper


• A few drops of hickory smoke flavoring

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. (If you use garlic and ginger powder instead of the fresh stuff, you can just put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a whisk.) Place in a sealed jar and keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Yield: 1 Cup

(Original recipe HERE)

* * * * * * *

Oh, and I made sweet potato fries on the side, but they weren't anything all that complicated, so I'm not including the recipe here. (Suffice it to say, they were cut-up sweet potatoes mixed in a bit of cinnamon and sugar and baked for about 30 minutes or so.)

General Tao's Tofu and Mango-Avocado Spring Rolls

Saturday night for dinner, I *attempted* to finally make spring rolls. I say *attempted* because I was none too pleased with the results--what I chose to stuff them with wasn't bad, but the actual wrapper and the process of rolling them left a lot to be desired. The inside-ingredients ended up being way too loosely packed, and they were difficult to eat. Needless to say, come Monday, I promptly looked on the internet for precise directions on how to roll them (here's a good tutorial). I didn't think it would be difficult, but MAN are soggy rice-papers difficult to manipulate.

Anyways, I ended up packing them with chinese vermicelli rice-noodles, shredded cabbage, lightly-steamed pea pods, mango, and avocado. I definitely liked the variety in the filling, but for some reason they weren't as aesthetically pleasing, taste-wise, as I'd wanted them to be, simply because they were difficult to eat. You can see them in all their flabby glory above. (I think next time I may use a couple wrappers for each roll, to give them a bit more backbone.)

I *DID* really like the thai dipping-sauce recipe that I concocted though, so I will share that here at least. It's kinda salty though, so you may wanna nab some of that nifty low-sodium soy sauce if you want to avoid a headache.

Sweet Thai Dipping Sauce
INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 c. soy sauce


• 1/2 T. crunchy natural peanut butter


• 1 t. seasoned rice vinegar


• 1 t. agave nectar


• 2 t. water


• Juice of 1/2 a lime


• Ground ginger, to taste (I probably used 1/4 t. or so)

DIRECTIONS

Mix everything together. Duh.

* * * * * * * * *

To accompany the spring rolls, I finally decided to make the infamous General Tao's Tofu recipe from the VegWeb that I always hear people raving about. It looked so damn good on people's blogs, that I've been drooling over it for weeks. I was trying not to get my hopes up too high about it, since I tend to be slightly disappointed about things that get overhyped. But damn if people weren't correct.

For some reason I was expecting something a bit spicier and, um, tasting a bit more brown-sauce based (not sure why--I think it's just because General Tso's chicken/tofu is typically that way... spicy spicy), but this sauce was a bit more like a subtle sweet-and-sour sauce. Delightful though. And easy to boot. I was also pleased to note that it made for some DAMN good leftovers. I highly recommend.

General Tao's Tofu



INGREDIENTS:

• 1 box of firm tofu


• egg substitute for 1 egg plus 3 T. water


• 3/4 c. cornstarch


• vegetable (I used sesame) oil for frying


• 3 chopped green onions


• 1 T. minced ginger


• 1 T. minced garlic


• 2/3 c. vegetable stock


• 2 T. soy sauce


• 4 T. sugar


• red pepper to taste


• 1 T. white vinegar


• steamed broccoli


• 1 T. sherry (optional--I did not use it)

DIRECTIONS:

Drain, dry and cut tofu into 1 inch chunks. You can freeze tofu the night before to get a more chicken-like consistency, but it isn't necessary. (I pressed mine as well for about an hour/hour-and-a-half ahead of time.) Mix the egg replacer as specified on the box and add the additional 3 tablespoons water. Dip tofu in egg replacer/water mixture and coat completely. Sprinkle 3/4 cup cornstarch over tofu and coat completely. Watch out that the cornstarch doesn't clump up at the bottom of the bowl.

Heat oil in pan and fry tofu pieces until golden. Drain oil.

Heat 3 Tablespoons vegetable (or sesame) oil in pan on medium heat. Add green onions, ginger and garlic, cook for about 2 minutes. Be careful not to burn garlic. Add vegetable stock, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper and vinegar. Mix 2 Tablespoons water with 1 Tablespoon cornstarch and pour into mixture stirring well. Add fried tofu and coat evenly.

Serve immediately with steamed broccoli over your choice of rice.

Serves: 4

(Original recipe HERE)

Vegan Yogurt Banana-Lime Dressing

For lunches for the week, I've been sorta digging on cabbage as of late. Anything and everything coleslaw is what I'm all about. So I decided to try out this banana-inspired coleslaw recipe from the FatFreeVegan recipe database. Sadly, I was a bit disappointed with the slaw itself--I didn't use the precise amounts they have listed here, so that may have had something to do with it. But regardless, I can say that I'm definitely *not* a fan of the melon-cabbage combination. According to my tastebuds, the flavors clash quite a bit. And my tastebuds are pretty knowledgeable when it comes to what they do/don't like.

However, the yogurt-banana-lime dressing is out of this world and would make a delightful way to spice up any fruit salad. So I'm leaving out the cabbage-melon slaw recipe itself (you can track that down through the links if you so choose) and just including the recipe for the dressing instead. It's banana-y. It's tofu-y (but doesn't taste it) which means it's a good shot of protein. It has a bit of lime-y zing. And it's creamy and delish. Definitely worth checking out.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 c. silken soft tofu


• 1 ripe banana, peeled


• 1-2 t. grated lime zest


• 3 T. fresh lime juice


• 2 T. brown rice syrup or other vegan sweetener


• 1 t. salt


• 1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Toss everything into a food processor and process until smooth. Refrigerate until chilled. Top off your favorite fruit salad with a little. (I'd dribble it on right before serving rather than mixing it in with the fruit and letting it sit in the fridge--if you do the latter, the juices from the fruit leach out all over the place, and the dressing ends up getting watered down.)

I also think this would be tasty with the addition of a bit of shredded coconut--or on top of chunks of fresh coconut... I don't like coconut though, so I didn't try it. But the flavors seemed like they would mingle well.

(Original recipe HERE)

Things to Do with Barbecue Sauce

I had decided this weekend to try out a BBQ ribz recipe that Ms. Dorklepork had recommended, but being the airhead that I often am, I had been spending the whole last week thinking it called for vital wheat gluten flour when in reality it called for just vital wheat gluten. Needless to say, I was not pleased when I realized this on Saturday night and was only equipped with the former and not the latter. But I decided f- it. I had a nice big batch of Barbecue Sauce with a Bite whipped up from the PPK, and, well, I couldn't just let it go to waste, dammit. So I improvised.

Using my brainiac skills (and praying that even though there are large differences between unwashed gluten--which the original recipe called for--and gluten FLOUR (differences that I'm not even sure of but know exist), a Christmas miracle might take place and the ribz might not end up tasting like dog poo), I decided that I'd take my chances and try to substitute in my wheat gluten flour.

Thank all things thankful, it worked out ok. In the end, the ribz were scrumptious (though I *DO* plan on one day trying out the original recipe to see if it blows my version away) and the only thing I would change about them would be to half the sizes on them all as the best parts were the ends, and the very middles were a little bit more chewy instead of yumbly and tough and grrrrristly. So I'll include that little variation in with this recipe.

(Oh yeah, and them potatoes in the back--those be mashed potatoes I made with the chickpea gravy from Vegan with a Vengeance, which was tasty but did not blow me away as I'd hoped based on the book's recommendations...)

BBQ Sauce with a Bite

Ingredients

• 12 oz tomato paste


• 1/2 cup tamari or Braggs (I used 1/4 c. Braggs and 1/4 c. soy sauce)


• 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses


• 2 T. brown sugar


• 1/4 c. nutritional yeast


• a few chipotles in adobo


• 1 t. liquid smoke


• dash of cocoa powder

Directions

Mix the tomato paste, tamari, molasses, brown sugar, nutritional yeast, chipotles in adobo, liquid smoke, and dash of cocoa powder in the bowl. Stir with fork till completely blended. This tends to make a fairly thick sauce. Thin with water as desired.

(Original recipe HERE)


Vegan Barbecue Ribz


Ingredients:

• 1 c. vital wheat gluten flour


• 2/3 c. of water


• 2 T. soy butter


• 3 T. peanut butter


• 7 Tbl spoons nutritional yeast


• 1 cup BBQ sauce


• spices to taste (onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, etc)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat soy butter and add the peanut butter, mixing it so that it's consistent throughout. Mix the wheat gluten flour, nutritional yeast, and spices in a dry bowl. Add the water and knead until almost all of the dry powder is absorbed (you may have to add a tiny little bit to pick up everything). Do not over-knead. This dough is really sticky.

Form the dough into a flat, square shape about one-half inch thick. Add one-half of the peanut butter mixture to the top of the flattened dough. Use your fingers to poke the peanut butter mixture deeply into the dough (it is goopy and messy, but DO IT!). Do this for about 30 seconds. Turn the dough over and pour the remaining half of the peanut butter mixture onto the dough, again using your fingers to poke into the dough.

Use a pizza cutter to cut one-half inch strips of dough. Make them as long or as short as you like them (though if you originally form your dough into a rectangle, I recommend halving the rectangle and THEN cutting the 1/2" strips--the end result would be rips half the length of the ones pictured above, which I think would offer up the ideal consistency). Lay out on a lightly oiled baking pan. Bake for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, use a spatula to turn the ribz over. Spoon or brush on BBQ sauce and return to the oven.

Bake for another 5 minutes. Remove and turn the ribz over again. Spoon or brush on some more BBQ sauce.

Bake for another 5 minutes. Remove and enjoy your hot, sweet and sticky "ribz!"

Makes enough for four.



(Original recipe from VegFamily.com)

* * * * * * *

Even after all the ribz, I still had a ton of BBQ sauce left over. So Sunday night, with a package of tempeh sitting in my fridge getting ready to expire, I decided to whip up some barbecued tempeh to use up the excess sauce. I used a long skinny package of tempeh (whose brandname is eluding me), but I'm sure you could make do with whatever. You'll just end up with different sizes and shapes.

The end result was surprisingly delicious, and I definitely recommend the roasted red pepper topping as it seriously made the dish. Not only was it tasty, it was also ridiculously ridiculously simple, as you will see. So chalk this up as another highly-recommended quickie.

L's BBQ Tempeh



INGREDIENTS

• 1 package of tempeh


• About 1 - 2 c. of BBQ sauce (preferably the homemade kind above, thinned out to a slightly more marinade-ish consistency with water)


• 2 red peppers, roasted

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your oven to 350.

Slice your tempeh into 4 slices--first slice your chunk in half, right down the middle. Then slice it through the skinniest part, effectively thinnng out each of your slices and cutting them into two thinner slices.

Spray a bread pan with a bit of non-stick oil. Pour in some BBQ to cover the bottom of the pan. Add two slices of tempeh, side by side. Use a spoon to brush some more BBQ sauce on top of them. Layer your other two slices on top of these two slices. Pour the rest of your BBQ sauce on top. Cover the pan with foil.

Cook in the oven for 50 minutes, turning the slices over half-way through. Remove the foil and cook for 5-10 more minutes.

To serve: Place one of the slices on a plate. Top with roasted red peppers. Place another slice on top. Top this with roasted red peppers as well. Serve

Makes enough for 2 tempeh "steaks."

Post-Thanksgiving Stupor

The day after Thanksgiving, E and I have always made it a habit to do our *OWN* little Thanksgiving, that way we can enjoy the holiday, each others' company, and fricking amazing food without the stress of family or traveling around to visit them. This year was no different. However, for the first time in a couple years, we actually managed to show a bit of restraint as to what we cooked. (Last year, we made a *RIDICULOUS* amount of food for only two people--tofurky, potatoes, green-bean casserole, biscuits, extra stuffing, dumplings, etc.) And given the fact that I'd cooked several dishes for my mom's the day before, I laid low this time around and didn't do much of anything except basting our sweet little plump football of a Tofurky.

(I heart basting.)

I enjoyed every bit of the meal, including the Tofurky, despite the fact that for some reason, this year it seemed to make a weird squeegee rubbery noise and sensation when you chewed on it. (Haven't quite figured *THAT* one out yet.) I even managed to wrangle up a nice new vegan wine for us to try out (and it was only $10)!

For those of you who are wine enthusiasts (or just plain ol' like to booze it up on occasion), check out the Orleans Hill Zinfandel--even for my amateur nose and tastebuds, I could tell it was quite good for a $10 bottle--smooth, a bit peppery, and not harsh at all (look, Ma, no extra sulfites!). I definitely think this'll be a new favorite, and I'm gonna have to get my ass back to Nature's Bin so I can try the Merlot as well sometime.

The highlights of the night were definitely the cranberry sauce (which was tart--and yet not TOO tart--and sweet--and yet not TOO sweet) and E's Rosemary and Hazelnut-Encrusted Seitan which, seriously folks, if you only heed one word of advice from me, let it be this: Make this recipe. Eat this recipe. Try not to die of ecstasy. Seriously. I think it may be my favorite dish that E makes. It's that good. Oh, and yes, I'm an absolute sucker for the Cranberry Apple Potato Dumplings that come with the Tofurky kit as well--they are, to me, orgasmatronic to the nth degree. Especially topped with E's cranberry sauce. Mmmmm mmmm.

But anyways, blah dee blee. Food. Good. Warm. Tummy. Bulging. Pants. No more belts. Recipe. E's super-simple cranberry sauce. You. Read.

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 c. water


• 1/4 c. orange juice


• 3/4 c. sugar


• 2-2 1/4 c. cranberries, rinsed

DIRECTIONS
Put water, OJ, and sugar in a small pot. Boil for 5 minutes. Add cranberries. Return to a boil, lower heat, simmer for 5 minutes.

How fricking simple is that?

Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo

Back when I first went vegan, my very sweet and very animal-loving friend dorklepork bought me the VwaV cookbook and also included photocopies of some of her tried-and-true favorite recipes from various other sources. I had the pleasure of trying out her Big Bread at my Vegan Barbecue this summer, and finally finally finally this past weekend I got around to trying out the vegan alfredo recipe as well. And man alive is it yummy.

I had a bit of trouble hunting down some vegan parmesan (again, we run into that dastardly idiocy that is milk-derived products in non-dairy cheese--*fart*) but I finally managed to track some down at Nature's Bin (which I really wish I would've explored a bit earlier-on in my veganism as it is pretty damn kick-ass).

Also inspired by the plethora of stuffed-tofu recipes I've been seeing pop up on people's food blogs, I decided to attempt a stuffed-tofu recipe of my own on the side. This ended up being not so fantastic as the alfredo recipe, so I'm not gonna post the recipe. But I will tell you what was in it: I sauteed up some spinach, baby 'bellas, garlic, and tomatoes and attempted to stuff two tofu-halves with it. Baking them in the oven was taking too long and they weren't goldening up at all, so I ended up tossing them in the broiler instead, which did work better, but the end result was still a disappointment. It was by no means gross or inedible; it was, simply, boring. Next time, I am going to take a little bit more guidance from other people's stuffed tofu recipes, because there's got to be a better way to cook 'em then the way I did.

Despite the failure on the tofu-front, the alfredo definitely made up for it. I un-low-fattified (yes, that IS a word, thank you very much!) the recipe, and I also tweaked it a bit to give it more flavor, and the end result was delightful. My fella even called me up the next afternoon out of the blue to say that the sauce was fricking awesome (he was randomly chowing down on some leftovers for lunch), and if a sauce is good enough to compel someone to actually call you to tell you how much they like it, it's gotta be a decent sauce.

So despite the ugly, 1970's-ish picture (damnable apartment-lighting!), this alfredo is worth your while.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pkg. silken tofu


• 3 T. vegan margarine, room temperature or melted (I used Earth Balance)


• 1/4 cup vegan soy parmesan


• 2 T. nutritional yeast


• Soy milk


• 3-4 sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated


• 3-4 cloves of garlic, diced


• Salt and pepper to taste


• Wheat linguine noodles (cooked according to the package)


• Thinly-sliced basil

DIRECTIONS:
Toss all your ingredients (minus the noodles, soy milk, and 1 T. of vegan margarine) into a food processor and process. Gradually add soy milk until it's a smooth and creamy consistency. Toss the remaining tablespoon of vegan margarine into a saucepan along with your garlic and heat until fragrant. Then transfer your sauce into the saucepan as well and heat gently, stirring frequently. You may find yourself needing to add more soy milk as it heats, simply because it thickens up crazily. So do so if necessary. (If you have leftovers and reheat them the next day, you will probably need to do the same.) Serve over pasta with some thinly-sliced basil sprinkled on top.

Some of the comments left about the original recipe complained that it tasted too tofu-y, but (despite it being the main ingredient) I didn't taste it at all.

Original recipe: HERE

Pseudo-Pad Thai with Mango and Caramelized Limes

Last week I mentioned that I thought the peanut sauce I'd made might make a nice base for a pad thai. I think all the talk and conjecture over the dish got my tastebuds hankering for it, so I decided on Sunday to do a bit of experimenting and see if I might be able to modify the sauce in such a way as to make it taste pad thai-ish.

I originally wanted to add the tamarind paste that so many pad thai dishes call for, but I was unable to track it down. (I'm going to have to keep my eye out on future trips to Asian Food Marts and/or Wild Oats.) So then I decided to see if ketchup might be an ok substitute (I'd seen that in a few recipes as well), but when I tried it in a wee bit of sauce, it tasted nast, so I gave up on that idea.

After all was said and done, the only alterations I made were the substitution of lime juice for the lemon, and the addition of ginger. I really liked this dish quite a lot (as did E), but it still doesn't have that very unique and specific pad thai taste to it quite yet--but hey, that just means more tasty experimentation, so I can't complain. As it stands right now, it tastes like a bit peanuttier pad thai--still damn tasty, but not yet perfect, so be forewarned.

I added mango on the side because, damn, if the flavors don't complement each other. And inspired by a recipe in Fresh and Fast Vegan Pleasures (which calls for caramelizing lemons), I caramelized some limes and served those on the side so they could be squeezed over the dish to taste. The caramelization process nixes some of their sour flavor, and adds a lovely, sweet richness to them.

INGREDIENTS:

Sauce

• 1/2 c. peanut butter


• 1/2 c. hot water


• 4 T. soy sauce


• 3 T. vegan brown sugar


• 1/2 t. cayenne pepper


• 3 t. fresh lime juice


• 1/4 t. ginger

Noodles

• A box of rice noodles

The Rest

• Peanut oil (I used canola, but peanut would probably taste a lot better)


• 1/2 a block of tofu, crumbled


• Broccoli (cut in wee tiny bits)


• Ginger


• Bean sprouts


• Red pepper flakes


• Peanuts


• Scallions, sliced in thin little circles


• 1-2 limes, quartered


• Mango, slivered

DIRECTIONS:

Make the sauce by whipping together the water and peanut butter until it is smooth. Gradually start adding the rest of the ingredients while whisking to maintain smoothness. Set sauce aside.

Soak noodles in hot (but not boiling) water for about 30 minutes or so. They will still be a bit al dente, but they will soften up when you stirfry them. Drain. Set aside.

Place a little bit of oil (maybe a tablespoon or so) into a large pan/wok (or pot if you only have smaller pans--there's gonna be a lot of ingredients) and heat. Add the tofu and fry until it's starting to cook through (but not yet brown). Add the broccoli. Sprinkle a bit of ginger on the two. Cook until the tofu is starting to brown. Toss in the bean sprouts and heat for about a minute. Then add the noodles, the sauce, and some red pepper flakes to taste. (You may need to spray the pan again with nonstick spray first so the sticky peanut butter sauce doesn't make the noodles stick--you may not.) Stirfry until the noodles have softened some (without becoming mushy).

Remove from heat. Add a tiny bit of oil back to the pan. Toss the limes in. Cook each lime-quarter for about a minute per side, until it's a bit golden. Remove from heat.

TO SERVE:

Dish out a heaping serving on a plate. Top with scallions and peanuts to taste. Encircle noodles with some slivered mango and a couple quarters of caramelized lime, to be squeezed over the noodles liberally. Serve.

Serves 4-6, depending on how big a pig you are.

LEFTOVERS: This definitely tasted more like pad thai the first day. Upon reheating, it tasted moreso like a peanut sauce, though still yummy. Don't ask me why. But it did.

Peas & Walnuts in a Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce

This was another quick and easy dish that I whipped up on a weeknight this week--it's mostly just about the peanut sauce, which is a fantastically simple and yet surprisingly yummy recipe, but I will admit--the peas and walnuts combination was ALSO surprisingly tasty as well.

Thai Peanut Sauce Recipe: from Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 T. peanut butter


• 4 T. hot water


• 2 T. soy sauce


• 1.5 T. vegan brown sugar


• 1/4 t. cayenne pepper


• 1 1/2 t. fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

Whisk the first two ingredients together until they're smooth. Then gradually add each of the other ingredients in one at a time, whisking as you go along. The cayenne pepper may seem like a lot given the small quantity of sauce this makes--I started off with 1/8 t. at first because I was leery--but it's not. It'll have some zip, but it won't sear your tongue off, promise.

I tossed the peanut sauce on some angel hair noodles along with some frozen peas and walnuts. Not remotely gourmet of course, but I was just trying to make do with the stuff I had around the house.

A definite improvement would be to use this on some sort of rice noodle along with tofu, peanuts, beansprouts, etc. I also think next time I would probably experiment more with it--perhaps adding some fresh ginger, maybe substituting the lemon juice for lime. This is a very basic (but really tasty, especially given its simplicity) sauce that allows for a lot of fiddling--I think it actually might even make a good base for a pad thai dish, so that may be my next goal with it.

Oh, and btw, this recipe makes enough for two ridiculously large bowls of pasta or (if you can keep from drowning your pasta in freakish quantities of sauce like I do) 4 medium-sized bowls of pasta.