Vegan Supreme Pizza

I was at a loss for what to make for dinner last night, so I called Mason as he was leaving work and he said he would take care of it. I knew that he was making a pizza, but I had no idea that it would be the ultimate vegan pizza--a crispy crust topped with red sauce, red peppers, green peppers, black olives, green olives, roasted onions, roasted eggplant, marinated artichokes, shredded zucchini, tempeh bacon and grilled tofu! Seriously, I can't even put into words how good it was. It's now known as Mason's Vegan Supreme and it was topped off with another delicious new recipe from Mas, a pumpkin pie smoothie! I'll get the recipe from him and post it ASAP.

Cast Iron

I've always been under the false assumption that cast iron cookware was too much work. So, so wrong. Mason and I picked up a Lodge cast iron skillet this weekend and I love it! You can do so much with this one piece of cookware. We made a mushroom pasta sauce the first night that cooked up so easily and perfectly that I was flooded with regret at cooking in stainless steel for all of these years. Last night, I made the scalloped potatoes from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen. It is so nice to have cookware that can go straight from the stove top to the oven. By the way, the potatoes were delicious and will definitely be made again (in a cast iron skillet, of course).

Anniversary Cake

Things have been so busy lately that I feel like I'm missing my favorite month. We had to drive back to OK last week for a funeral. As soon as we got back, we started preparing for the guitar show this weekend. So, it's been mostly sandwiches and pizza this week, though I did manage to make this chocolate cashew sheet cake for our anniversary on Wednesday. We were too tired to do anything except eat it and watch The West Wing.

Good news: Last night, the lady at Roti Grill told us that they don't use any ghee (just vegetable oil) and that the naan has no dairy in it. We were starving and extremely happy to hear that, so we shared a huge plate of chana balti, rice, garlic naan and veggie samosas.

First Garden Salad

I picked my first salad from the garden yesterday. The spinach was getting a little leggy, so the prunings got tossed in my bowl. Next came the sweet basil, a plant that was so loaded with heavy leaves that it was starting to droop. The lowest leaves of both kale plants were huge and crunchy. And the mesclun needed thinning, so I had little sprouts to sprinkle all over the top. It was delicious. It is so nice to sit down and eat a salad that actually tastes like something. I used about a teaspoon of homemade vinaigrette, but it was probably unnecessary. Really, it's no wonder that so many Americans need to pour gallons of ranch dressing onto their salads--otherwise they are completely tasteless. I always get angry when I hear people say that veg food is bland, but I guess it's true if you do all of your shopping at any major grocery store and never learn to use any herbs or spices. If your vegetables were picked 3 weeks ago and the only seasoning you use is salt, I can see why you would feel the need to add a load of fat to make them more palatable. I never wanted to eat my veggies as a child until we started growing them in the garden. I got back into the rut of pouring blue cheese dressing on everything in high school, and it wasn't until Mason and I started our little garden in Norman that I remembered that real vegetables taste like something. Now, I won't even look at tomatoes at the grocery store, but what if they were the only ones you'd ever had? The three most popular vegetables in America are potatoes (usually in the form of french fries), canned tomatoes and iceberg lettuce. If those, along with maybe canned corn and overcooked green beans, were the only vegetables that you had ever eaten, would you think that going vegetarian (let alone vegan) was an option? Would you think that even one meal without meat was an option?

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

It can be hard to find vegan cinnamon raisin bread that isn't loaded with HFCS (it's good for you, silly...), hydrogenated oils and tons of chemicals. But, why bother looking when it's so easy to make for yourself by making a few changes to this sandwich bread recipe. I've been making loads of whole wheat loaves this summer, for which I reduce the total amount of flour by 1/4 cup. When making the cinnamon raisin loaf, just add 1 tsp to 1 T of cinnamon to the flour. I also like to add cinnamon to the flour I use on the board as I'm rolling out the dough. After rolling it out, smear it with as much (or as little) Earth Balance as you like. Sprinkle as much (or as little) cinnamon sugar over the entire rectangle and add raisins, if you like. Then, roll it up, let it rise in the pan and bake as usual. When you place it in the loaf pan, it helps to pat it down really well to get the layers to stick together. You just have to let it rise for a little longer, but it's worth it when you go to slice your bread. I will say that, if you'd like your loaf to be sweet, add more sugar than you think you need. It looks like a lot as you're sprinkling it on, but mine is never as sweet as I think it will be.

Pancake Help!

What's your favorite fluffy pancake recipe? Mason has the thin pancakes down, but we haven't found the perfect fluffy recipe yet. These were made with a recipe from recipezaar, but they were only ok. They were excellent in the fluffiness department, but had no flavor and the white flour made them a little glue-y texture wise. If I can remember which recipe I used, I'm going to try to make them again with whole wheat flour and maybe some cinnamon and agave. While I'm asking, what is your favorite vegan pancake recipe in general? Along with pizza, stir-fries and scrambles, pancakes are one of the most popular meals around our house.

Mac and Yeast

I've tried at least 15 different macaroni and yeast/cheeze/"cheese" recipes in the last two years. This one from Vegweb is my absolute favorite. It's not perfect, but I doubt I'll ever find a replacement that tastes like "real" macaroni and cheese. This is just a very tasty mac and yeast in it's own right. And that's good enough for me.

I'm reposting the recipe here with my changes, but you should check out the original because the OP included a huge list of tasty variations.

Yeast Sauce

1 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 block firm silken tofu
1/2 cup nayonaise
1 T tahini
1 T prepared yellow mustard
2 tsp sriracha
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp paprika
pinch of salt
tons of pepper
2 cups soy milk

Add ingredients to blender in that order. Blend until completely smooth and combined.

At this point, you can just pour the sauce over your noodles and warm in a pot for a few minutes, you can bake it as the original recipe states, or you can do what I do:
While your noodles are boiling smash and mince a large clove of garlic for each serving of pasta. Sautee the garlic in a tiny bit of olive oil along with whatever veggies you have in the fridge (summer squash is good!) until the garlic is golden and the veg is just tender. Drain noodles well and toss in pan. Stir to coat noodles with garlic and oil. Pour sauce over noodles. Keep on low heat for 2 minutes. Eat!

This makes a lot of sauce, at least a pounds worth. It depends on how saucy you like your noodles and whether or not you bake it (which thickens the sauce drastically). It keeps fine for a few days in the fridge. We usually make a full batch and use it on pasta, rice and/or veggies throughout the week.

Local Pears

We bought pears at the market this week! They have pretty tough skin and aren't quite as sweet as the California pears we bought last week, but they are local and almost as crisp as apples. They baked up perfectly in a crumble the other night. I wish I'd remembered to take a photo before we scarfed it.

Okra and Tomatoes

We found some nice looking local okra at the farmer's market this week, so I decided to try out a new recipe for a dish that I hated as a kid--okra and tomatoes. Of course, I like it quite a bit now and this recipe from Vegweb made for a tasty, slightly spicy dish.

Vegan Deep Dish

Mas and I both have much love for pizza. We put on pound after pound in college ordering and devouring huge, deliciously greasy Pizza Shuttle pies. We probably eat just as much pizza now, but (1) we make it ourselves, and (2) it's healthier, vegan and not at all greasy.

Deep dish pizza is actually a really veganizable food. Because the cheese in a deep dish is layered on the crust and topped with sauce, there is no missing the bubbly, gooey topping when you omit it or replace it with a less melty vegan substitute. Mason just took some dough from the freezer and patted it into the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9X13 cake pan. We spread it with some homemade tofu ricotta and topped that with diced onions, peppers and Field Roast Italian sausage. Field Roast sausages can make anything taste like pizza. (I've decided to cut out most processed foods and make all of my own seitan, but haven't found anything close to as good as Field Roast in the Italian sausage department. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.) We poured sauce over the rest of the toppings and baked it for about 20 minutes at 400F. It was the complete opposite of the pizzas that we normally make, which was a nice change. And it was extremely filling, so we had leftovers for days--also a nice change.

Fresh Vegan Pasta

spinach pasta, drying on a makeshift rack

I've had my Ampia pasta machine for probably at least 4 years. I bought it at the Goodwill for $5, picturing all the amazing fresh pasta in my immediate future. I've never used it. Ever. I've thought about using it. I've watched Jamie Oliver use his. I've read about tons of other bloggers using theirs. Mine, however, has never left the box. Until last week. If there is anyone I trust to lead me through a new cooking process, it's Bryanna Clark Grogan. It's obvious that she puts a lot of thought (and work!) into developing, documenting and explaining her recipes and cooking techniques. Her instructions made my first pasta making experience shockingly simple and made me realize that I'm a total fool for leaving my machine in the box for so long. I made spinach pasta, some of which we ate with a bit of homemade pesto and sauteed mushrooms and peppers. I shaped the rest into little nests and froze them. You can drop the frozen noodles into boiling water and have ready to eat pasta in about one minute. It's so convenient and delicious that I doubt I'll be buying dried pasta again anytime soon.

Vegan Pigs in a Blanket

Hey, remember this dough? We didn't either, until we were scavenging for something to eat for dinner on Monday. Wrapping it around Yves hot dogs made for the perfect vegan pigs in a blanket. They were flaky and delicious dipped in yellow mustard. I also made this little jelly pastry with the leftover dough--which froze and thawed even more beautifully than I had hoped. We'll definitely be making this dough again and again and again.

Peach Danish with Lemon Glaze

The other night, we skipped dinner and decided to make a peach danish instead. The pastry recipe is from the New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook and is pretty awesome. Ours didn't turn out perfectly, I think we failed to fold it enough times to fully laminate it, yet still managed to overhandle it. I also failed to make enough filling. I used half a bag of frozen peaches, cooked with sugar and cinnamon and pulsed a few times in the Vita-Mix, but I really should have used at least a whole bag. All that aside, it was still incredibly delicious. So, even if you know you'll screw it up, this recipe (and New Farm, in general) is highly recommended.

Homemade Pizzas are the Best

The night before last, Mas and I took a nap at 5PM and accidentally slept until almost 10. Since we missed dinner and we knew we'd be up for several hours before getting back to sleep, we decided to make a big focaccia. I love Jamie Oliver's recipe in The Naked Chef, so I mixed it up and left it to rise while Mason sauteed some onions and mushrooms for toppings. After this huge late night snack (eaten while watching way too many episodes of DJH), I stuck the other half of the dough in the freezer for pizza. We split it in half last night and baked two pizzas, one for dinner and one for lunch/dinner today. Today's pizza was just made with leftovers we had in the fridge--pizza sauce, canned pineapple, black olives, garlic and some homemade tofu cashew ricotta, but last night's pizza was one of the best we've made yet. The crust was super thin and crisp, the sauce was homemade pesto and olive oil, and the toppings were all sauteed together--mushrooms, spinach, cabbage, garlic chives, basil and Vegefarm soy chicken. I also dolloped on the rest of the tofu ricotta, which is my new favorite pizza topping. It solidifies and turns a light golden color after baking. Next time, we're going to try mixing in more fresh herbs and spreading it over the entire crust as a mozzarella replacement.

Tofu Cashew Ricotta

1/2 pound extra firm tofu
1/4 c cashews
juice of 1 lemon
1-2 cloves of garlic
2 T nutritional yeast
2 tsp Penzey's pizza seasoning
1 tsp agave nectar
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Process cashews and garlic in food processor. Drain and pat tofu dry, then add to processor with lemon juice, nutritional yeast and spices. While processing, drizzle in agave and olive oil. Continue to process until thick, smooth and creamy.
(This is even better if you let it sit overnight and drain again before using.)

Community Gardens and Stir-Frying

This weekend was the 20th anniversary of the East Dallas Community Garden. They had a little party, so we rode our bikes over to watch the dancing and pick up some veg. The community gardens in our neighborhood are primarily tended by Cambodian and Laotian refugees, so they often have Southeast Asian produce that we can't get at the grocery store. We bought a bag of Thai eggplants and huge bunches of green onions, water spinach, garlic chives and basil--all for $6. They also had a huge spread of food made by the gardeners and volunteers, but we decided to come home and cook because it was getting hot and we didn't want to hold up the line trying to figure out which of the dishes were vegan. Besides, we had tons of great produce to use and thought it would be a perfect time for stir-fry. We have stir-fry at least 4 times a week; we actually really need a wok because our biggest saucepan is the wrong shape and doesn't hold enough. There was a big bunch of broccoli in the fridge, so we tossed that in with onions, cabbage and some of each of veggies that we bought at the garden. Two things: (1) water spinach is tasty, (2) garlic chives and basil make a stir-fry. Really, it was the best one that we've ever made.

Stir-Fry Sauce
2 T. water
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. vegan oyster sauce
1 T. rice vinegar
1/2 T. agave
1/2 T. sambal oelek
1/2 T. cornstarch

Whisk it all together and add it about 2 minutes before you turn off the heat.
This is enough for a TON of vegetables, so you might want to half it.


parking our bikes


sunflowers by the entrance gate


rows and rows of greens


lots of handmade frames and trellising


lush greenery

Colby Uncheese

I'm really just not a vegan cheese person. I love uncheese spreads and sauces, but the solids do nothing for me. With the exception of Sunergia Soy Feta and FYH (which I generally don't like) used very sparingly on the pizza at Marco's, I don't pay money for vegan cheese. I just don't like it all that much and it isn't worth the money to me. Of course, I'm holding out final judgment until I try Sheese, Teese and Playfood, so maybe I'm completely wrong and I'll retract this entirely...

All of that said, this colby from The Uncheese Cookbook isn't too bad. I don't find it at all appealing plain, but Mas made some delicious quesadillas with it yesterday. It didn't really melt, but he managed to get it to soften in the way that almost melted cheese softens. His method involved a skillet on the stove and the microwave. I'll ask him the details tonight. It would be worth making for that alone (it only takes about 15 minutes), but I'm interested in trying it in other recipes too.

Lunch Box Picnic

Here's a shot of a picnic that Mas and I went on last week. His mom bought him some awesome lunch boxes for his birthday and we've been putting them to good use. From left to right you have: birthday dolmas, simple seitan slices and our first attempt at uncheese made with agar (not so great), plums, pickles, grapes, carrot sticks and frozen brownies. The brownies are Celine's recipe and they are highly recommended by both of us. Unfortunately, we have no access to butterscotch chips here, so I just doubled up on the chocolate chips. I have to admit that we were both a little disappointed when we tried them straight out of the oven. I should have known better and done exactly as she said because they are so delicious after you let them cool. We like ours straight out of the freezer. These are probably the only way that I'll ever really like sweet potatoes.

New Farm French Toast

I finally found a vegan French toast recipe that I love! It's from the New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook and is super quick and simple to whip up. Mason has the day off, so we had a big breakfast to fuel up for a day of thrift stores, bicycles and soccer in the park. If you don't have the book (it's awesome, by the way), the recipe is here. I added 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon to the batter and topped them with powdered sugar and a bit of agave.

Seitan and Dumplings

yeah, i know. it looks SO appetizing...

Out of fear, my wheat meat attempts have always been baked. Until yesterday. Apparently, in my attempt to avoid falling into the trap of boiled seitan sponginess that I've read of in so many vegan horror stories, I've been missing out on the amazing texture and juiciness of simmered gluten. The Simple Seitan from Veganomicon has changed all of that. It's even easier than my usual baking method and results in a completely different type of seitan that is actually a lot more versatile. I used my own broth recipe and subbed Bragg's for the soy sauce, but followed the recipe other than that and it worked perfectly.

Because I had a big pot of broth that I didn't want to go to waste, I decided to use half of my first batch to make seitan and dumplings. I diced the seitan into cubes, added a few cups of thinly sliced cabbage and tons of black pepper, plopped in the dumplings and dinner was ready. Dumplings are one of my favorite foods ever--I've always loved them with a passion. They are the perfect Fall/Winter food and I guess that making them in 95F weather is my attempt to will Autumn into coming early this year.

Herbed Dumplings
(adapted from allrecipes)
1.5 c. flour
3 T. Earth Balance
3/4 c. soy milk
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. your favorite dried herb(s)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. paprika

Combine all dry ingredients. I vary the herbs I use depending on the dish. Cut in Earth Balance until very crumbly. Gradually pour in milk, stirring just until thoroughly mixed. Drop by heaping rounded tablespoons into broth and simmer for 10-15 minutes. You can cut one in half to test for doneness. Try not to let them come to a boil or overcook them to avoid toughness.

Spinach and Soy Duck Tacos with Mexislaw

For some reason, this post from two weeks ago never actually got published...so, here it is.

Smoked duck is one of our favorite meat analogs thus far (I forgot to get a package photo--sorry!). We have tried it on sandwiches, in stir fries and, last night, on tacos. For the tacos, I sauteed the duck with garlic for a few minutes before tossing in a bunch of chopped spinach to wilt for about 30 seconds. To top them, I made a mexislaw and chopped up some ripe tomatoes.

Mexislaw
1/2 head of cabbage
2 carrots
2 jalapenos
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 T olive oil
juice of 2-3 limes
salt and pepper

Slice the cabbage into long strips, as thinly as possible. Grate or thinly slice carrots. Mince garlic and whisk with olive oil and lime juice until thoroughly combined. In a large bowl, pour dressing over cabbage and carrots. Add salt and pepper to taste (it's best with tons of pepper) and use your hands to toss the salad several times. Seed and slice jalapenos and mix into slaw.

My skin is ridiculously sensitive to capsaicin, so I have to add the jalapenos after mixing the salad with my hands. If it doesn't affect you, add them anytime.