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.