Edamame Salad

I spent the last week cooking for 150 people. I should clarify, I was one of three cooks. I was excited that 4 of us were vegan/vegetarian. But since I spent 16-20 hours a day in the kitchen while at girls camp, I haven't had a chance to blog since returning. I have been spending most of my time sleeping (imagine that).

                                             

Today I made  edamame salad. It was a recipe my sister made for me when I was visiting her last month. This recipe is so good I have already made it 2-3 times since returning home. Here is a link to her awesome recipe.

Mushroom and Spinach Stuffed Shells

I love to cook. I went to lunch with my good friend Nancy yesterday and on the way there she said that since she cooks for everyone else, she doesn't like to cook for herself. I am all for cooking for others, but if I get to the point where I don't wanna cook for myself - I don't get to eat. Being vegan in an extremely rural area means making most of my food all of the time. I am so excited to tell you that this recipe comes together in about 30 minutes of prep time and just needs 30 minutes to bake. Here is what you need:

 

18 jumbo shells

1 can of Hunts Garlic and Herb Pasta Sauce (or your own favorite sauce - keep in mind making it from scratch will add time to the recipe)

1 cup Daiya shreds (mozzarella flavored)

 

Filling:

5 oz frozen spinach (cooked according to package directions)

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 cup sweet onion, diced

1 Tbs olive oil

1-2 cloves garlic

1 block of super firm tofu (refrigerated kind)

2 Tbs lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes

 

Sauté the mushrooms, garlic and onions in the olive oil. While that is cooking take a fork and crumble the tofu. Once the onions are tender and translucent stir the onion, garlic mushroom mixture as well as the cooked spinach, lemon juice, nutritional yeast flakes, salt and pepper. It should look something like this.

 

The next couple of steps should be pretty obvious, but you will want to take the cooled shells, don't try to do it with hot shell, and stuff them.  You will need to grease a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and place a layer of sauce in the bottom of the pan. Next using a spoon fill the shells and place them in the pan. A 9x13 pan will fit 18 shells.

Pour the rest of the can of sauce over the shells once they are all in the pan and sprinkle with the Daiya mozzarella shreds.

Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve while hot and enjoy!

Pulled Jackfruit

This week I have been doing everything I can to prepare for girls camp. I have done loads and loads of laundry, as well as shopping and even some cooking ahead of time. I got the menu this week and I noticed pulled pork on the menu. In the last 3 years I have made a lot of things, but veg pulled pork wasn't one of them. So I turned to my good friend (the internet) for some ideas. Let me just say there are some extremely creative people out there when it comes to this. I saw some using seitan or other mock meats, others using oyster mushrooms but the most interesting, to me at least, was canned jackfruit. It was new to me which I found scary but also a little exciting. So I took myself to the Asian food market and plopped down $1.49 for a can of green jackfruit in brine. All the blogs said not to get the one in syrup but instead to get one in either water or brine, so that's what I did. 

Next I opened the can and drained off the brine and rinsed it we'll. the next thing I did was take the center more firm part off. Now some people used knives for this step but I just used my hands. I also shredded the fruit as I went and removed any seeds or pods as I went. It looked something like this.

Next I mixed together a rub. I used:

1tsp granulated garlic

1tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp chili powder

1tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground mustard

I just stirred all the spices together and rubbed it into the "meat". Next I cut up some onion and cooked it in a little bit of olive oil until it was soft and starting to caramelize. Add in the seasoned "meat" and continue to cook an additional 5 minutes. Next you add in about 1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Spray a baking sheet with oil and spread in a thin layer. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve on your favorite roll. Enjoy and Happy Independence Day!

Red Pepper and Bacun Cashew Cream Cheeze

This stuff is amazing! I made this for my birthday breakfast and I was not disappointed. I chose to spread it on an everything bagel- it was so good. You will need a high speed blender or food processor. Here is what else you need:

1 1/2 cups raw, organic cashews (soaked overnight)

1-2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup pure water

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp bacon salt ( I like JD's)

1/4 cup minced red bell pepper

Drain soaking liquid off your cashews. Add the first 5 ingredients and process until smooth. Stir in the diced pepper. Refrigerate before serving. Enjoy!

Ps. I know I usually have a picture for ya, but I accidentally ate it all without photographing it. It's that good!

Bacun, Spinach and Tomato Tofu Scramble

Ok so I admit I added a few more veggies to the scramble than just spinach and tomato, but I was going for a BLT kinda scramble. Here is what you need:

a handful of spinach, chopped
2 mushrooms, sliced
1 Roma tomato, chopped
1/8 cup diced red onion
3-4 pieces of tofu bacon
a small piece of bell pepper, diced
1/2 block of tofu ( I used extra firm, refrigerated tofu)
1/2 Tbs soy milk powder  plus 4 Tbs of water (I was out of soymilk, you could just use 4Tbs of your favorite non-dairy milk)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes

I placed the tofu, soymilk powder, water, and nutritional  yeast flakes in a small food chopper to blend. If you like a chunkier scramble you could just mash your tofu with a fork and leave out the milk, but please don't leave out the nutritional yeast. Mix all the rest of the ingredients together and add to the tofu mixture. Add to a heated and oiled skillet and cook until brown on one side, about 5-6 minutes, before stirring up. Continue cooking until at least half of the tofu is browned. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Bacun Tofu

This is such an easy recipe I almost feel guilty calling it a blog post/recipe.  I took a lot of pictures though, so maybe that will help make up for the fact that it is super simple and not really a recipe. I will say that having the right stuff on hand is imperative. The first thing you need is JD's Bacon Salt. It is totally veg and tastes amazing.

Ok next item is super firm tofu, the refrigerated kind.  I like to buy organic, but that is up to you. You wanna slice it as thin as you can. I usually do a half a package at a time. If you are feeding 1-3 people a half a package is plenty - but if you are cooking for more (or like leftovers- feel free to slice the whole package). I took a picture of the tofu sliced. Don't worry if it isn't perfect. It will still taste really good!

The next step should be overly obvious - You need to get the bacon salt on the tofu. I like it on both sides. So I usually lay it out and sprinkle it on (yes the container has a shaker top) and then flip over all the pieces and shake some more on. You can over do it with the bacon salt, so try not to over coat it (or else it will be really salty - it is called bacon salt after all). I included a photo so you can see how heavy I season it.

 

You guessed it the next step is to fry the tofu. I use a skillet and a little olive oil over medium high heat. Let the skillet and oil get hot, but not smoking before adding the tofu to the skillet. I usually cook it about 4-5 minutes on each side ( or until it gets a good crust).

 

I like to put the cooked tofu on a paper towel, to rest while cooking the rest. I don't have a skillet big enough to cook it all at once. You can serve right away, or continue to let it rest. It is great in a vegan quiche, tofu scramble, or even a BLT. Enjoy!

 

 

Quinoa salad

I made this salad for a branch dinner on the grounds a few months ago and didn't realize that I never posted it. I know it has been a while since I posted and honestly it didn't feel like almost a year to me. I started substitute teaching last year and while I loved it- I have never had a job without a regular schedule. I worked a lot of days (more than most I'm told). Some day's I knew in advance if I was working and where, but there were more days than I would have liked I got a call the morning of to tell me which school I would be working at. It was an interesting school year. I worked at 6 different schools in my county throughout the school year and also managed to get an afterschool job 2 days a week, where I actually got paid to teach students how to play soccer. It was a blast! Ok enough about me -  Here's the recipe:

                                                   

Ingredients

1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled

1/2 pound asparagus (raw)

1 ear of corn (kernels cut off, but not cooked)

1/2 onion

1/2 lb of cherry tomatoes (cut in half)

1/4 cup lime olive oil (I got mine at the Olive Oil Store)

1/4 cup grapefruit vinegar (I got mine at the Olive Oil Store)

 

Whisk oil and vinegar together to make a dressing.  Mix all the other ingredients together in a large bowl and drizzle with the dressing. Mix well and serve immediately or refrigerate overnight before serving. Enjoy!