5 posts tagged “veganomicon”
Lat night my sister brought over my two nephews (ages 6 and almost 3.) I spent some time considering what on earth I was going to make for dinner. Whether I like it or not I've observed that these two little boys are like their daddy and big ole meat eaters typically. I was considering between Spaghetti and "Meat" Balls from Trader Joe's, or the Baked Mac and Cheese I made from Veganomicon on Oscar Night.
The S.O voted fr the Mac & "Cheese", so that's how I rolled.
But I got a bit cocky, or perhaps just a bit lazy, with the measuring and ingredients, and it definitely didn't come out as good as last time. I think there are three reasons:
1. I didn't measure the mustard, I just squirted it in...and I think I squirted in too much.
2. I used a different brand of vegetable broth, and I think it was a bit stronger in flavor. I'd probably replace at least a cup of it with water next time, so the nutritional yeast got to shine through a bit more than the veggie broth next time.
3. The recipe calls for Extra Firm tofu. Last time I used Silken Firm, but this time I bought the actual super-extra-firm that the recipe seemed to call for. I probably would go back to the Silken Firm when I make this again. I contributes to a more creamy texture instead of a crumbly one.
Not only did I not like it quite as much this time, the nephews really didn't care for it at all.
So, how to avert the hungry child tragedy?
Smart Dogs, fried in a pan with soy margarine.
These they seemed to like just fine, and certainly didn't notice hteir lack of actual meat-ness.
That'll teach me to get all fancy with children. An hour on my feet cooking for naught!
Breakfast:
1.5 Frozen Everything-Free Waffles from Trader Joe's
Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips and Marshmallow Sauce (both surprisingly vegan) But also too sweet. Although I craved a sweet breakfast, this one was over the top. Which is why eventually a big chunk of it went down the disposal.
Lunch:
Organic Golden Potatoes with leftover Spaghetti and Meat Ball Sauce and Organic Avocado
Dinner:
Root Beer
Chips and Corn Salsa
MacDaddy from Veganomicon
Now Isa and Terry warn against feeding this version of baked Macaroni and "Cheese" to omnivores, because some of them don't like nutritional yeast. I have to disagree. I fed it to three very hungry guys, all omnivores, and they all loved it.
I am not sure I would use thyme if I made this recipe again...I'm not particularly fond of its flavor, and I think the sauce is savory enough without it.
But other than that, consider this recipe a big success. I even used gluten-free brown rice pasta, and it held up really well.
Breakfast:
Organic Oat Flakes Cereal
Almonds, Raisins and Rice Milk
Lunch (Hobee's):
Coffee w/Soy Milk
Tofu Scramble
Hash Browns
Dinner:
Mac Daddy from Veganomicon
First of all, I kind of like warm/hot food :)
But also, I feel like sometimes they try too hard to replicate non-vegan, non-live foods...instead of sticking to creating things that would work well within that construct without trying to create something to fool the eye and palate.
I did, however, have an excellent pumpkin pie with a macadamia nut crust which made the entire meal worth it! Yum.
So, I still felt inspired to cook dinner, since I didn't eat mounds of food at lunch. I tried one of the simpler recipes from Veganomicon on my list:
Sauteed Seitan, Spinach and Mushrooms. Unfortunately I made that rookie chef mistake of pouring the sea salt into my teaspoon over the pan I was cooking in, and sadly more came out than I was trying to get, spilling over into the pan. I thought it would be OK, but the first thing the S.O. commented on was that it was salty. :( Wah. Other than that, the recipe is fine, easy, quick enough. I'm not a huge fan of thyme, so I might leave that out if I cooked it again. Great protein with the seitan, great nutrients via the spinach.
Breakfast:
Organic Oatmeal
Lunch (Cafe Gratitude):
Almond Milk Mocha
Nachos and Dips
Zucchini Lasagna
Pumpkin Pie with Macadamia Nut Crust
Dinner:
White Wine
Sauteed Seitan, Spinach and Mushroom (also included Organic Onion, Garlic, Basil, Thyme, Salt & Pepper, Olive Oil, Vegetable Broth and White Wine)
Organic Brown Rice
I tried another recipe out of Veganomicon last night, but it wasn't quite the success that the Edamame-Corn Salad was.
This one was the Grilled Yuca tortillas. I bought a yuca and thought I'd experiment. I didn't actually have any tortillas, so I knew I was going a bit off the recipe, but I didn't worry too much about it.
But soon I became confused about whether I had bought a yuca, as the recipe called for and described as a root like vegetable, or a yucca, which the book said was more of a
cactus-like plant.
I think I bought a yuca, but frankly it didn't really smell that good or taste particularly nice, and I seem to recall having yuca at a Cuban restaurant once and likening it to potatoes.
Perhaps my yuca was merely too old? How would one tell? Anyway, I'm glad I decided that yuca or yucca it didn't look like enough for the recipe, so I sliced up a yam so I would have enough root vegetable to mash up for the recipe.
So, it really ended up being Mashed Yam & Yuca, mixed with sauteed garlic, onions, tomatillo, celry, portabella mushrooms and corn...served on its own, not in a tortilla. And I actually ended up picking out most of the discernible chunks of the yuca/yucca.
Has anyone got yuca/yucca experience?
Breakfast:
Tofutti Cutie
2 slices of Sourdough Bread, 1 with Soy Margarine, 1 with Organic Peanut Butter and Organic Jam
Organic Banana
Lunch:
Leftover Edamame-Corn Salad with Organic Avocado
Organic Brown Rice with Corn Salsa
Riblets
Coconut Sorbet
Dinner:
Organic Refried Vegetarian Black Beans with Tofutti Sour Cream
Mashed Yuca and Yam, with sauteed Garlic, Organic Onion, Corn, Tomatillos, Organic Celery, Portabella Mushrooms, Lime Juice, Salt and Pepper
Tofutti Cutie
I have this habit: I have all these cookbooks and spend lots of time looking through them, marking recipes that look interesting, and even buying ingredients when shopping, inspired by some snippet of a recipe I saw. (I have a yuca in my vegetable basket right now.)
But I never quite make it to the take-out-the-book, read-the-actual-recipe, buy-ALL-the-actual-ingredients stage.
So, I just end up winging it.
But last night I did actually make the Edamame-Corn salad from Veganomicon. It's very simple, and has very few ingredients, hence my being able to make it, but I had bought Toasted Sesame Oil and Frozen Edamame with the recipe in mind, so it all worked out. Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone and thought the recipe could be enhanced by cutting up and adding chunks of an organic Avocado I had on hand that was at the perfect stage of ripeness. Enhanced it was! But rest assured if you are not an avocado fan, the salad was quite tasty (and packed with protein) without the avocado.
So, there you have it. Edamame-Corn Salad. highly recommend it.
Breakfast:
Puffins Cereal with Organic Rice Milk
Snacks:
Cashews
Vegan Pumpkin Donut Holes
Lunch:
Amy's Vegan Burrito
Watermelon
Dinner:
Organic Tortilla Chips with Corn Salsa and regular Salsa
Hanson's Grapefruit Soda (No sugar, aspartame, caffeine or HFCS)
Edamame-Corn Salad, enhanced with Organic Avocado :)
