I have not updated...

I have not updated because I have really been too busy to eat. Also I think I ate too many chocolate chip cookies over the last few weeks and I should probably not eat any way. My beloved Kitchenaid makes the most amazing cookies you can imagine. Any way, I have mostly been busy working on a couple of websites: Cutique and Loungeluxe. Both are websites that promote talented indie designers. Visit them and buy neat stuff...

In addition to cookies, I also ate some vegan Mac n Cheese last week. It was very good and prepared by cheese-obsessed Matt. You can see why a diet is in order, right? It is really difficult being equally obsessed with gluttony and looking good naked so I have to allow my vices to take turns.

If you too would like your pants to not fit you can make Matt's Mac n Cheese as follows:
Ingredients
1/4 cup soy margarine
1/4 cup soy milk
8 oz soy cheese -- melted (we used Follow Your Heart Cheddar)
salt to taste
macaroni noodles

Boil macaroni until tender and drain. Return the noodles to the pan and stir in the above ingredients. Keep the pan on low as you stir ingredients and stir until everything is combined.



Matt also made some very cute and tasty tempeh stuffed cabbages recently. I think he got the recipe from a recent issue of Vegetarian Times magazine.

Mini Italian

I adore miniature foods. They are both cute and easy to manage, and mini foods mean greater variety. I love tapas, sushi and dim sum because you get to try like 5 different things in one meal. This is also why I love cocktail parties. Who doesn't love hors d'oeuvre s?

For dinner Matt and I made two snacktastic Italian dishes. Albondigas (Meatballs in Garlic-Tomato Sauce) and Tuscan Mushrooms. For the meatball recipe, we used pre=packaged veggie meatballs from Whole Foods so we just used this recipe for the sauce. This was a predictably tasty and satisfying dish. I do not mean that in a bad way, but really what could possibly be bad smothered in tomato sauce and garlic? They are reliably delicious ingredients and a recipe starring the combo really would be hard pressed to disappoint.



As for the mushrooms, they were as delicious as they were beautiful. We used vegan Parmesan in place of the Romano cheese.



I've kind of gotten away from reading vegan websites, blogs and cookbooks. The mindset of vegan cooks is often too limited and things get repetitive. I have been able to find much more interesting recipes reading stuff from non-vegan cooks. I just replace their not-vegan ingredients with vegan versions. Doesn't work with a grilled steak so much, but I do not really want a grilled steak any way.

Curry and Cupcakes

I pretty much followed this recipe for dinner tonight, except that I was out of tofu so I used some Morning Star Farms vegetarian steak strips instead of tofu.



I also made the Dulce Sin Leche cupcakes from the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World cookbook. They were sweet, moist and delicious -- a big hit with our friends.

Eggplant Stewed in Honey and Spices

This recipe was so unbelievably good -- seriously, it is like a 10 star recipe. It's a the perfect mix of sweet, spicy, garlicy and gingery. If you do not eat honey agave will probably work. I served this with some steamed asparagus. If you love eggplant you would be foolish to not make this recipe as soon as possible and if you do not love eggplant this dish is so good that it may change your mind.

Mango Chicken With Broccoli

1 lb broccoli florets
1 lb vegetarian chicken strips (I use Morning Star Farms)
1/2 cup orange juice
1 Tbs brown sugar
3/4 tsp arrowroot
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp minced ginger
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 mango, diced
2 Tbs lime juice
Salt and pepper, to taste
20 fresh mint leaves

In a steamer basket, steam the broccoli until tender crisp.

Heat some cooking spray in a large wok or skillet and add the "chicken". Cook until it begins to brown, transfer to a plate and set aside.

While the chicken cooks, mix orange juice, brown sugar and arrowroot in a small bowl and set aside.

Add jalapeno, garlic, and ginger to the pan and cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add broth and stir for an additonal minute. Stir in orange juice mixture and bring to a simmer. Continue to stir until thickend and slightly reduced.

Stir in mango, tofu and broccoli and cook until heated.

Remove from heat and stir in lime juice, salt and pepper. Garnish with mint and serve with rice or thin rice noodles.

Spicy Tofu and Zucchini with Lemongrass, Lime and Basil

This recipe (based largely on this recipe with a few changes) combines pretty much all of the most delicious of savory flavors and the lemongrass smells amazing while cooking up on your stove.

1 lb extra-firm tofu, cubed
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch half-rounds
1 jalapneo chile, seeded and thinly sliced
1 4-inch piece lemongrass, minced
1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
1/2 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tsp lime juice
1/4 cup basil leaves, julienned

Heat some cooking spray in a large wok over high heat and add the tofu. Cook the tofu until it starts to brown and then add in the zucchini. Cook the tofu until it is well browned on all sides,

Add the jalapeno, lemongrass, and shallot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is soft, 1-2 more minutes.

Add the vegetable broth, soy sauce and lime juice and cook until the broth thickens, 1-2 more minutes. Stir in the basil. Serve over a bed of rice noodles or another grain of your choice.

My Big Fat Greek Salad

I had vegan feta around from a recipe I made last week (I made the vegan feta using the recipe in the Uncheese Cookbook) so I had to put it to use. I made a giant Greek salad. It was delicious. It was so good that, although Matt and I planned to eat the left overs for lunch the next day, we gobbled them all up as a late night snack.

My salad contained:
1/2 lb vegan feta
1 package grape tomatoes, sliced into halves
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 small seedless cucmber, cut into bite sized chunks
1 small cubanelle pepper, seeded and diced
1 small jar of pepperoccini peppers, sliced
1 cup kalamata olives
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
8 oz package of vegetarian chicken strips, chopped (I used Morning Star Farms)
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped

I stirred up all of the above ingredients into a giant salad bowl. Goes well with pita bread but I didn't bother with it since the salad was so good, I didn't want any bread cluttering valuable space in my stomach for this salad.

The Taste of Summer

Matt and I had the perfect summer meal planned -- veggie burgers and these awesome watermelon cups. We were enticed by the veggie burger on the cover of the July/August Vegetarian Times and we set to work on that. Unfortunately, the recipe, as printed in the magazine, does not work. You cannot form solid patties based on their recipe and our attempts to do so quickly fell apart -- literally. If you are considering attempting these "Hot Tamale Burgers" you are going to want to put the ingredients in the food processor with some cornstarch, refrigerate, and then form patties which you will need to fry in a pan with some cooking oil. If you go this route you will get some pretty good burgers.



As for the watermelon cups, I pretty much followed their recipe. I used vegan sour cream and I used vegan feta (made with the recipe in the Uncheese Cookbook).



I had lots of left over watermelon so I made some watermelon granita which turned out really well.



Any way, now I have lots of left over vegan feta and no idea what to do with it. What should I do with this feta?