Thanksgiving 2009

From the bottom left: Fiery Sweet Potatoes[recipe from NYTimes], Chik'n Tofu Triangles, stuffing with onions, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts. There is also an apple slice on the far left.

The sweet potatoes were great! (click on "Fiery Sweet Potatoes" above for the link to the NYTimes Recipe) Blending coconut milk & curry paste into the sweet potatoes was a great idea, and I would make these again. Next time, I will give them enough time to really crisp once in the baking pan so a crust of sugar can be more formed. I became too impatient and took them out of the broiler a little early.

I've made Chik'n Tofu many times before. This was yet another experiment. I used firm tofu (water packed kind), and drained/pressed for a while longer than I normally do. I made a mixture of flour, poultry seasoning (a mix of dry herbs like thyme and rosemary) and some chicken seasoning (another mix of seasonings: salt, garlic, etc.) I sliced the tofu into triangles and then coated each piece with the mix and baked in the toaster oven for 45 minutes. They came out too dry and not seasoned enough -- too much flour. They were still tasty, just not awesome as the last few times.

The rest of the items were pretty straight forward. I roasted a head of garlic in the toaster oven with olive oil and kosher salt for 40 minutes -- or until soft. The garlic just scoops right out. I boiled red potatoes until soft, drained, then added the garlic and a little soymilk and a lot of vegan butter until at the consistency I wanted. I'm a fan of potato skin, so I leave it on.

Brussels sprouts were not as tasty as I've made in the past but again, still delicious. Stuffing was from a bag of bread cubes and my own diced onion and some seasonings.

I love that my plate isn't all brown/beige!

Olympic Cafe: Kapa'a, Kauai, Hawai'i

Breakfast at The Olympic Cafe in Kapa'a on the island of Kauai in Hawai'i. This place was great. There were vegan options for most of the dishes. Pictured above: "Kim's Scramble" subbed with tofu instead of egg. Green and red bell peppers, onions, tarragon and other spices with fresh papaya on the side as well as a lime wedge to enjoy with the papaya.

Lunch: Vegetable wrap with fresh tofu and a side of papaya and a lime wedge. Mr. Coconut had a Thai veggie wrap, not pictured, but was the most delicious meal ever.



Other food enjoyed in Kapa'a Town: Bubba Burger, which had delicious and unique Taro Burgers, made from taro root which is grown in Hawai'i as well as other islands. There was also a lovely coffee shop called Java Kai which had delicious vegan muffins and cupcakes which we had each morning for breakfast.

Wedding Food: MGM Grand in Las Vegas

March? Really? It's been 7-8 months since the last update? Whoa.

Well, The Saucy Coconut has been quite busy, as this post will prove. Yes, there was a wedding, and the reception was catered by MGM Grand Las Vegas in the Skylofts. I married Mr. Coconut in July, and the ceremony was great. Most importantly to this blog, there was great food. We had a chips and salsa station which also doubled as a taco station, a "build your own pita/falafel" station, lots of fruit and vegetables and some of the TASTIEST vegan cake EVER.

Pictured above: fruit kabobs with pineapple, melons, and strawberries.

Next: Vegetable "trays". If you're a vegetarian, chances are you've ended up at more than one buffet where there are only vegetable or fruit trays to choose from. While my wedding did have vegetables, I LOVED the way they were presented, such as the fruit kabobs above or the standing holders of vegetables below.



Close-up of the yellow squash and zucchini spears:



Grilled Vegetable Kabobs:

These have patty pan squash, artichokes, tomato and mushrooms. Hummus for dipping.

A giant mound of falafel:


An unimpressive picture of the most impressive cake I've ever had:


A more traditional fruit tray:


While in Las Vegas, we also visited Yellowtail inside Belaggio and Chin Chin inside NYNY. Next post I'll feature the food had on the honeymoon in Kauai, Hawaii.

Baked Tofu with Spicy Green Beans, Broccoli, and Rice Noodles

This was an experimental tofu marinade made of rice vinegar, soy sauce, veggie stock, ginger, garlic, agave nectar, chili sauce, sesame oil and peanut oil (only a TINY bit because those are REALLY strong flavored oils).

I marinated the tofu in pieces for about an hour, then baked for quite some time (45 minutes?). I made the mistake of first baking in a glass dish, which does not get that nice texture that a sheet pan or metal pan gives. So I transferred to foil and a metal sheet pan until I was too impatient to wait longer.

While the tofu was baking, I made one of my favorite snacks ever: spicy green beans. Just sauté garlic and ginger with fresh haricot verts (the long skinny green beans). Make sure you take the tops off. It's easiest to take big bunches and just chop off both ends. I also split many of them in half for easier eating. Anyway, as you have the garlic and the ginger and beans going (in just the smallest amount of oil or just cooking spray) pour in chili sauce (like what I call "Chunky Sriracha") and soy sauce. Coat the beans with this mixture, and you're done! I like to keep the beans really crispy and just slightly cooked. Place in a bowl and eat with hands or chopsticks (or forks). Great appetizer, really healthy.

As a complete side note, I am quite picky about soy sauce. You should NEVER be using stuff like La Choy. Kikkoman is decent, but I highly recommend you get into shoyus. I've been in love with Organic Shoyu from San-J for years.

Also in this dish: rice noodles and steamed broccoli.

Vegetable Stir Fry: Mock Duck and Bean Thread Noodles with Broccoli

Another fairly simple stir fry. I love bean thread noodles as an alternative to rice noodles. They have a much more chewy texture, at least to me or the way I make them. The best part is that just like rice noodles, they are about a dollar for a pretty big bag.

I drained two cans of Mock Duck and pan-fried them with a lot of garlic, ginger paste, garlic chili sauce, and soy sauce. I also cooked up some frozen stir fry veggies: broccoli, snap peas, carrots, mushrooms, onions. Mixed together and promptly enjoyed.

Eden Pizza: Thai Mock Duck

This is a new local pizza joint, Eden Pizza. They have a variety of vegan options, including this tasty pizza: the Thai Mock Duck.

It has Thai sauce, mock duck, broccoli, red onion, cilantro and peanuts. DELICIOUS. I loved it! I look forward to eating Eden Pizza again soon when I have my allotted delivery food money for the week.

Not the best picture, next time I'll get it more in focus. This pizza was too good not to share, though.

Pasta with Chik'n, Spinach, Artichoke Heart, and Tomatoes

Rotini whole wheat pasta, freshened up with pan-fried Morningstar Chik'n strips and sauteed spinach, tomatoes, artichoke hearts. Seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil.

Easy Echilada Bake

This was an extremely simple, lazy enchilada bake. I am excited to try this again with even more ambition and ingredients.

Here is a cross-section shot:



Now on to how I made this dish.

First, I layered 6 frozen corn tortillas on the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Then, I dumped one smallish can of black beans and seasoned with cumin and chili powder. Then I spread out one can of refried black beans on top of the black beans. I placed another layer of 6 corn tortillas on top of that. I put *another* layer of black beans, these seasoned with lime juice. I dumped out a cup and a half or so of dry TVP, a small can of spicy diced tomatoes, and a small can of red spicy enchilada sauce. Then I put the last layer of 6 more corn tortillas, topped with another small can of spicy red enchilada sauce.

I placed this whole pan into a 365 degree F oven, baked for 30-40 minutes or until I thought it was heated and cooked all the way through and a bit crispy on top.

I sliced it up like I would a lasagna, served on plates with taco sauce and hot sauce.

I thought this was great, as did all who had a serving. Really beany, but we're all fans of beans.

For next time: I would definitely add corn, but I did not have any available this time. Maybe fresh slices of tomatoes would be interesting, or tomatillos. Awesome salsa would be a great bonus as well. It would not be necessary, but as an extra, I might think about adding shredded "cheeze" of some sort or making my own nacho sauce.
Zucchini and other veggies would be a nice addition as well.

Eggplant Sandwich with Tomato and Cheez on Wheat Toast

The title says it all. I've been rather infatuated with these frozen eggplant cutlets from Dominex. They are vegan, pre-breaded, frozen eggplant cutlets. Great to add to pizza, pasta, make your own sandwiches, or baked with onions and garlic.

So, for this concoction, I toasted up some bread, pan-fried the eggplant cutlets with olive oil, then assembled a sandwich adding sliced tomatoes and a piece of Tofutti cheese. Pretty delicious.

Ricera: Strawberry Rice Yogurt

This is a new product, at least new to me. I found it at Whole Foods and decided to try it out. It wasn't that bad, though I must say that the So Delicious soy yogurts are still my favorite vegan yogurt. It's nice to have yet another alternative to soy, though.

Vegetable Pot Pie with Spinach

If you couldn't tell, I'm a fan of spinach. This is a vegetable pot pie from Amy's Kitchen served with a generous portion of sautéed spinach with olive oil.

Sausage Patties with Steamed Broccoli and Spinach

Gimme Lean made into sausage patties, pan fried and served with a side of steamed broccoli and spinach. VERY simple breakfast, high in protein and nutrients.

Curried Split Pea Soup from Vegan With a Vengeance

Homemade curried split pea soup, recipe from Vegan With A Vengeance. I dressed the soup up with dulse flakes, spicy tamari roasted pumpkin seeds, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The soup was paired with an apple and a small spinach salad with cherry tomatoes and balsamic/olive oil vinaigrette.

Christmas 2008: Christmas Day

This was my main entree on Christmas Day: pasta with vegan meatballs. Seasoned up with garlic salt, olive oil, and red pepper flakes.

There was also a nice fruit selection that I nibbled on throughout the day:

Christmas 2008 - Christmas Eve Dinner

A bit late with posting all of this, but better late than never, right?

First up, Christmas Eve. We went to a family dinner at the Nicollet Island Inn, a very fancy restaurant in Minneapolis. None of the menus shown give any indication of vegan food as an option, but I spoke to the executive chef and wound up with a wonderful five course all vegan meal.

First Course: Haricot Verts tossed with fresh ginger, balsamic vinegar, hazelnuts, and fresh herbs. *excellent*

Second Course: Parsnip Purée -- a variation on the parsnip bisque served to everyone else. Puréed parsnip with julienned Granny Smith apples in the center along with olive oil and walnuts and puffed wild rice. *beautiful* People at our table remarked at how much nicer the presentation was for our dish.

Third Course: Shaved Root Vegetables - presented like a slaw of sorts. Included: carrots, parsnip, sweet potatoes. *good* not the star of the night, but still tasty.

Fourth Course: Mushroom Risotto with black truffle and some other mushrooms. *excellent!* I am a huge mushroom fan, so this dish was positively delightful and delicious. My partner is not quite as big a fan of mushrooms, so I ate part of his dish as well.

Fifth Course: Passion Fruit Sorbet -- served in champagne glasses. *awesome* A delightful end to a fabulous meal.

Overall, it was easily one of the top three gourmet vegan meals I've ever had. Probably top two - Chamber Kitchen being the other. It was an excellent experience, and I would definitely consider going back for a special occasion. There are a few pictures up at the Flickr site, but I do not want to post them here because the quality is awful. The lighting was WAY too low to get a decent shot. Ah well, the food was so EXCELLENT. If you are willing to overlook the poor quality, the pictures are located HERE.

Chocolate Peppermint Beverage with Toasted Coconut Marshmallows

YUMMY. This is heated up West Soy chocolate peppermint soy beverage, topped with delicious toasted coconut vegan marshmallows from Sweet and Sara. Such a delicious winter treat.

Tofu with Cous Cous and Corn

Baked, battered, and pan-fried tofu squares with sides of cous cous and corn. The cous cous is seasoned with Earth Balance vegan butter and lemon pepper, the corn is seasoned with lime juice and cayenne. The batter/breading for the tofu is Hooters brand, I believe. (I know, it sort of grosses me out that it's Hooters brand, but the seasoning is pretty good.)

Roasted Vegetable Wrap

This was served at an employee orientation I attended. Roasted veggies mixed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The vegetables included: zucchini, yellow squash, onions, and bell peppers. It was served with an apple and some plain chips.

Pasta with Spinach and "Stuffing"

The night I made this the only pasta I had in the house was lasagna noodles. So I broke the noodles up and boiled them to have some pasta. I also made some "stuffing" (technically dressing since it was never stuffed in anything) from a premade package of seasoned stuffing I found that had no animal ingredients. I melted a bunch of Earth Balance vegan butter and mixed it with boiling vegetable stock, then added that mixture to the dry seasoned bread chunks. This carbohydrate overload was balanced with a generous helping of spinach.

Mini Wheel and Mini Farfalle Pasta with "Meat" Sauce

The picture doesn't show the perspective very well, but the pasta really is miniature versions of these shapes. The "meat" sauce was made by cooking Whole Foods brand vegan meatballs in pasta sauce and then crushing them up with a potato masher. Adding extra seasoning like olive oil, salt, garlic salt, pepper, and cumin helped punch up the sauce even more.

Holy Land Vegetable Pie with Artichoke and Garlic Hummus

Here is a vegetable pie from Holy Land, the oft-mentioned local manufacturers of excellent Middle Eastern foods.

This time around, I bought a vegetable pie from an open chiller in a market, and picked up some artichoke and garlic hummus to dip the pie in. The "pie" is sort of like a huge samosa: potatoes, peas, and other veggies surrounded by a pastry/bread crust. Of course, as with everything from Holy Land, it is not nearly as good as when it is made fresh from the store, but it's still a wonderful snack.

Mac and Chreese with Spinach and Broccoli

The mac and chreese is from Road's End Organics, which has been mentioned a few times before.

This time around, it was shells and chreese, and for the side dish I sautéed spinach and steamed up some broccoli. I flavored the side dish with some lemon pepper and olive oil. It's simple and delicious, a common theme on my food blog, if you haven't noticed.

Erbert's and Gerbert's Veggie Sandwich

Not a terribly exciting photo, but a tasty sandwich nonetheless. This is from Erbert's & Gerbert's, a sub sandwich place that delivers. This sandwich is called "The Jacob Bluefinger" and I veganize it by asking for no cheese, no mayo and instead get extra avocado and some dijon mustard. The sandwich includes lettuce, tomato, and sprouts. I also usually get a huge deli pickle.