Broccoli Tofu Pesto Pasta

Basically I did I lot of cooking this weekend. So there may be a few double post days...stay tuned!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! I got another person in this world to try tofu! Our dear friend Trav was over Saturday night, and I offered to cook dinner for the three of us. Originally going to simply make pesto pasta, I peeked into that big ol' fridge to see if I had anything else to add to it. The green heads of broccoli were calling to me. And then, out of the corner of the fridge, I heard...the tofu. In a unified harmony I heard "eat me!"  So, my simple pasta was now getting jazzed up. Also!! Unbeknownst to them, they ate-for the first time-nutritional yeast. A common cheesy like substitute for vegans. Mark this one down as vegan AND delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup cashews

water

1/2 cup fresh basil

2 cups fresh arugula

1/3 cup nutritional yeast

1/2 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 package extra firm tofu, cut into pieces

broccoli, chopped

whole wheat pasta

*Soak the cashews in warm water for 10 mins. In a food processor, combine basil, arugula, nutritional yeast, and olive oil. After well mixed, add cashews, 1/2 cup of the water they were in and the garlic. Blend well. Set aside. 

*Cook pasta as directed. Steam the broccoli and start to cook the tofu by heating a tbls of olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Saute until browned on both sides. 

*Serve pasta, covered in pesto, topped with broccoli and tofu. Enjoy the heck outta it!!

Apple Donuts

So just a little update for everyone...on why there weren't many posts last week. Our happy little puppy, Bueller, got sprayed by a skunk! Ugh, and it seriously affected like everything! It was a rough week last week. But enough of that, back to food!

Its October, so that means apples are......everywhere. For those that read my post last weekend, this one has the same base recipe: beignets. When I made those last time it was way thinner then I thought it would be, so I added more flour and they came out more like donut holes. This go 'round, I followed the recipe exactly and then took apple slices and coated them in the batter, and fried as normal. After they cooled for a few minutes I then tossed them in cinnamon sugar. These were seriously divine!!! I brought them to church on Sunday and were gone so fast. Again, a bit time consuming but well well well worth it. It was like five steps up from mini-donuts....and to put it mildly I'm a mini-donut connoisseur. So make these. Seriously. Do it.

Candy Corn

Apparently I have a sweet tooth lately. And I'm not much of a chocolate fan, so that gets rid of a ton of options. Yet, somehow it doesn't take me long to think of something I want...and then I'm making it! This is not for the faint of heart. It is decently time consuming...or at least it was for me, perhaps I'm not a competent concoctor of candy corn. Nevertheless, I powered through. They aren't exactly like the candy corn you buy this time of year, but they suffice for a sweet tooth craving. They have a softer consistency as well, again, this may have been how they turned out for me. But yeah, I'd make it again. I'd be more likely to if I had a partner in crime to help in the shaping of the pieces. TIPS: use plastic gloves or cling wrap when working with the "dough". Don't roll out too thin, or it will break. They get better the longer they are left out, getting slightly hard on the outside.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup corn syrup 
5 tablespoons Earth Balance (or other vegan margarine)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
a pinch of sea salt
red & yellow food coloring


*In a sauce pan bring the sugar, corn syrup, margarine, and vanilla to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and boil for 5 mins stirring occasionally, then remove from heat.
*Sift the powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Then add the sifted dry ingredients into the pan, stir to combine. Let stand for about 20 mins.
*Divide into 3 pieces. Add food coloring to create the yellow and orange and leave the white plain. Work each ball, kneading until color is established and they are smooth. 
*Roll out into 3 ropes of equal length(they will be long!) and push the ropes together. Take a rolling pin over the top to flatten just a bit, joining the ropes together even better. 
*Use a knife to cut into triangles, form as you wish!

Beignets

I made these on this past weekend when desiring something sweet. I could not believe my little brown eyes when I saw that these were vegan! Not to mention honestly simple. If you have the time I totally suggest them. They were awesome. Kind of ended up more like a light donut consistency rather than beignets that we're all used to. (I mean, we have all had them right?! Right?!!?) I'm going to make these again soon, with sliced apples inside, cause that sounds down right superb!!

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teas salt
2 tbls sugar
4 teas dry active yeast
1 teas cinnamon
1 1/2 cups of water (120 - 130 degrees)
1/2 teas lemon juice
oil for frying(I used veg oil)
powdered sugar

*Mix flour, salt, sugar, yeast and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add water and lemon juice, stir until well blended. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rise for about 45 mins.
*Heat oil to 350 degrees(medium to medium-high heat). Drop in the batter in heaping spoonfuls. Once golden brown, flip over once. With a slotted spoon remove and place on a cooling rack with a paper towel.
*Serve with powdered sugar dusted on top.

Sweet Potato Falafel

A sweet potato dish again? Yes ma'am, and I'm okay with that. What I really appreciated about tonights dinner was that I was able to prep it all this afternoon. I had a photo shoot tonight and we were heading out and would be gone until closer to seven, so I knew I wasn't going to want to make anything then. With these falafels I was able to prep it all and then go off on our way, come back, pop them in the oven for 20 minutes and plate up the rest of the dinner. Like I'm a pro or something. Uhmmm, yeah, more like not a pro tonight. Not the falafel that was great. I was trying to come up with something to serve it with, having well, not many options in the fridge. I had broccoli and cherry tomatoes that I needed to use. So I found a little salad recipe and thought, let's go for it. Well, as I told Al when he finished his meal with almost all the salad I had served him left on his plate....you can't hit 'em all out of the park. And let me tell you, that kid has never not finished something I put in front of him. It just wasn't our style. I think it may have been the rice vinegar. It was a bit too potent. After I had a few bites I was fine and was definitely a member of the clean plate club tonight. But I don't think I'll make it again....the salad that is. So falafel, yay...broccoli & tomato salad, nay.

INGREDIENTS:
(falafel)
3 medium sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
1 1/2 teas ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 teas ground coriander
1/2 a bunch of cilantro, chopped
juice of a lemon
1 cup garbanzo bean flour
salt & pepper
olive oil
sesame seeds

*In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients up through salt and pepper. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour, should come out kinda sticky still. If its too moist add a little more garbanzo bean flour. Sometimes the sweet potatoes have varying water content.
* Oil a pan, and place scoops of mixture onto the pan. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Bottoms will brown, then you're good to go.

(broccoli & tomato salad)
2 large heads of broccoli, chopped
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
2 teas dijon mustard
3 tbls seasoned rice vinegar
1 tbls olive oil
2 tbls chopped fresh oregano or 2 teas dried oregano

*Steam the broccoli until just crisp-tender. Only takes a few minutes. Cool and add tomatoes.
*Place mustard in a small bowl and whisk in the vinegar and then whisk in the oil  and then the oregano.
*Pour dressing over broccoli and tomatoes, toss to coat. Season with s&p to taste.
*Chill and serve.

day one, in so many ways...

To anyone out there who is reading this blog, I want to give a little bit of background on what's gonna go down on this blog and why I started it now...

Over the last year or so I have been posting iPhone photos of the meals I make to facebook. As time went by, more and more people kept saying "hey you, I like the food you post and stuff" and "your food looks so good! and stuff". After much talk of starting a blog about my kitchen antics, there came a recent choice in our house that has officially sparked this new blog into actual motion. Goal: see how eating a vegan diet (or for Al's sake since he's not a fan of the word vegan, he prefers plant-based diet) for a certain period of time would be. After watching several documentaries, reading exerts from books, countless articles online....my view on food has changed so much over the last few years. The combination of this and recently starting to really get into running has caused me to realize the impact my diet really has on a person. Immediate and long term affects.

Now, I don't want to stir up any craziness up here in the blog world...rather, this is something we are trying to see how we feel, what its like to fully commit, and to really experience the foods that are out there. If you check out the about me section of this here blog, I'll be writing up a little more background on myself, my husband, and our love of all things food. But this post is to say, hey, we're gonna eat some mighty fine vegan food over the next couple weeks (I only told Al we would do it for one week, so shhhh) and I would like to invite you on our journey. Or if you'd rather, check back in a month and 1. see if I'm still blogging and 2. perhaps we will have gone back to our more normal diet. Which mind you already is about 90% vegetarian, at least for me. Its that blast dairy that has held me back from trying out vegan all this time. I love cheese! And ice cream! And cheese! With some wicked passion, especially considering my body tends to wave the white flag of surrender when it comes to lactose...if ya know what I'm sayin'! ;) Because of this addiction, I mean passion, Al and I finished off the remainder of a block of colby last night, at about 11:30. It was so good....yet I was feeling the affects of a cheese hangover this morning...

So here we go. Day one. Of blogging. Of eating a new diet. Of having a little fun in my kitchen. Of telling Al, no, you can't have the nutri-grain bar and him saying, but I read the ingredients and then me pointing out the fact that there is milk in it. And the bottom line is, I'm probably going to slip-up, unknowingly(or cause I really want some nice sharp cheddar cheese). I am no expert on the subject yet. I'm just doing my best to put some good food on the table for my husband and I. Speaking of that....I should post my first meal, it was a doozy!