Chik'n Dinner with All the Fixin's

Wow. This came out of nowhere!

After a long time of thinking about what to make for dinner, I settled upon some Gardein Scallopini Cutlets. I wanted to try them in the George Foreman Grill.

For sides, I initially wanted brussels sprouts, but found that our frozen ones were waaaay too old and freezer burned, so instead I used mixed frozen veggies. I really wanted gravy, because I always want gravy, and figured some instant mashed potatoes would be a perfect vehicle for that. I also threw together a lemon-butter-parsley sauce for the veggies and chik'n. Finally, some whole cranberry sauce pulled everything together.

Olive Tapenade w Betta Than Feta - World Vegetarian Day

Happy World Vegetarian Day!

I wanted olives, badly. What to do with them? I completely forgot to add them to a pasta dish I made (Mr. Coconut does not care for olives so I add them to my own dish from time to time). What if....

I took the last kalamata olives (10, max) and 1 big garlic clove, blended in the magic bullet along with lemon juice and a hot pepper. Result was an olive paste.

For the "feta" - I took some high-protein tofu (It's very firm) and crumbled into a small container. Probably 1-2 cups of crumbled tofu, loosely packed. Good dose of lemon juice & salt, stirred tofu. Then a teaspoon of Vegenaise, a teaspoon of nooch, and a tiny, tiny bit (1/8 teaspoon, if that) of black salt (kala namak) to give a hint of cheesey eggy flavor. Seriously, only a TINY bit.

It's best to let this sit for a while and let the flavors meld. I kept adding more lemon juice and more salt until it was about the taste I wanted.

This would have been nice on some fancier bread, but all I had was regular whole wheat bread. Toasted up, sliced into triangles, and coated with the olive spread. I am excited to try this tofu "feta" again soon, and let it hang out even longer to get more flavor.

Cheezy Broccoli Soup/Puree - Vegan MoFo 2013

This was a fun experiment. Broccoli soup was one of my favorite soups as a child. So much so, it was my choice of birthday meal shared with my less-than-enthusiastic fellow five-to-seven year olds.

The "cheez" is a mix of blended (soaked) cashews, nutritional yeast, and coconut milk beverage along with some pimientos, salt, lemon juice and a tiny tiny bit of Kala Namak (black salt).

The broccoli is 2 bags of frozen steamers along with a little bit of peas leftover from another meal. I pureed everything together and made a soup-like meal. Not terrible, not blow my mind soup, either. I garnished with black pepper and red pepper flakes along with a touch of chimichurri sauce.

Veganomicon Cafe-Style Lemon Bars [Vegan Mofo]

Welcome to Day 6 of Vegan MoFo!

These were really interesting and nerve-wracking to make. It was the first time I worked with agar agar. These were really delicious, and the recipe comes from the excellent Veganomicon cookbook.

They turned out great & held together really well. They were gobbled down by Mr. Coconut as well as co-workers.

Here's the whole pan:

Lemon-Dill Dressing: on Pan-Fried Tofu and a CSA Salad [Vegan Mofo]

Happy Vegan MoFo Day 4!

So many great ideas on the giant 2012 blogroll of MoFo-ers! It's fantastic to read through what others are doing this fun-filled month.

So I made this dish a while back, when I was up to my ears in dill and did not know what to do with it all! After a Google search of something along the lines of "what do I do with all this dill!?" I came across a few interesting recipes and stumbled upon this Lemon-Dill Tofu from Oh She Glows.

I had everything except the tahini, but it still turned out great and was a fantastic addition to some pan-fried tofu triangles.



My sides for this meal include some homemade simple cabbage and carrot coleslaw with a light vinegar/oil dressing and some steamed broccoli with sesame seeds. The coleslaw and dill were from the CSA. The broccoli was frozen.

I loved the dill dressing! I used it on a salad made from greens, carrots and tomatoes from the csa and topped with some flax seeds. Delicious!

Seitan Strips with 3 Sauces

I really wanted to make some sort of seitan since I had most of the ingredients. I was out of chickpeas, so no chickpea cutlets and in fact did not have any premade beans and didn't feel like making a batch of dry beans. I also did not want to wait over an hour for a giant seitan loaf/log.

What to do?

VegWeb to the rescue! I found THIS Recipe after a quick search for "easy seitan".

I modified it ever so slightly by grating in some garlic and adding a teaspoon of lemon juice. I sliced the glutenous log into strips and baked as directed, but a tad longer to get more crispy. Served with 3 sauces: "zesty" steak sauce (aka generic Heinz 57); generic A1; Ken Davis BBQ Sauce; and a soy sauce I made with grated garlic and some hot sauce stirred together.

Verdict: WOW. Easy, chewy, and pretty healthy. I've often fried up and eaten plain chik'n or steak-style strips. This is a fantastic alternative and I know what all the ingredients are. The add-ins could be endless for experimentation: add some tofu? some hot sauces, ginger, lime juice? Savory Italian style? BBQ for the grill?

Plus, given that I completely botched some brownies earlier today, this experiment turned out fantastic. I also made focaccia bread sometime between yesterday and today which turned out great, a little too dense, but still delicious. Just in case anyone thought I had given up on baking.

On's Thai Kitchen: Tofu Pad Thai and Mock Duck with Green Beans

On's is a new-ish Thai restaurant here in Saint Paul. It is a delicious addition to the Midway. The photos are blurry (sorry) because I took them quickly with my phone. Perhaps next time I will take more time and get a decent photo. Above is a dish that originally was supposed to be with pea pods, but they were out and subbed green beans instead. I had it with mock duck, and it was delicious.

Below, a blurry Tofu Pad Thai. Very delicious. We also had a fried tofu appetizer which was pretty good, the sauce is amazing. Mr. Coconut spoke with the owner, On, and she verified that everything is made from scratch so a large variety of the dishes are vegan-friendly by request. I am excited to continue going here and enjoying more delicious Thai meals.

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.

Brunch: Tofu Scramble and Real Lemonade

I decided to make a nice brunch for myself today.

What You Need:



140g extra firm tofu, crumbled by hand and seasoned (seasoning recipe below)
110g tomato, rough chop
120g green pepper, chopped (I like big chunks, but whatever your preference is)
110g sweet potato, medium dice
60g fresh spinach
75g onion, diced
5g garlic (1 clove, minced)
2t oil
seasoning for tofu:
You can mix the following byb hand/with spoon in separate bowl. I just dumped it into the pan while everything was cooking.

1/2t tumeric
1/8-1/4t paprika
1/8t pepper
1/8t garlic powder
salt, to taste
1/4-1/2t lemon juice
splash of soy sauce (Bragg's would be perfect, but I didn't have any.)

Meh, this seasoning wasn't bad. I'd def. add more salt or even some nutritional yeast. (I am out of that, too!)

1. Put sweet potato (diced med-small) and onion (diced) over medium heat in sautée pan; cook until sweet potato is just getting tender: 5-6mins.
2. Add crumbled tofu (crumbled by hand) and seasoning (if you didn't add seasoning to tofu before hand).
3. Add garlic and green peppers, stir/sautée for 3-5 more minutes.
4. Add tomato, cook for 1-3 more minutes.
5. Dump mixture out onto plate. Add spinach to empty pan and sautée until just wilted. You can add garlic/olive oil/lemon juice/whatever if desired.

Real Lemonade Recipe from a few days ago...Y'know. 3 whole apples, one whole lemon. Seeds, skin, stems, everything. Put through juicer and enjoy. Click on the lemonade tag top read more.

So that's it. Oh, and Here's the complete nutritional info for the tofu scramble; one recipe = 2 servings, nutritional info set up for a single serving Truthfully, I chowed it all down myself, but it could be for 2 people. Especially with the fresh juice added.

Juicing Experiment #1

Ok, after only having 3 hours of sleep last night, I gleefully slept in until nearly 10am today! wheee!

I sat on the couch drinking water for a bit, pondering what to do with some of the ingredients in my fridge and cupboards. I know! JUICE!

On Christmas of 2006, I received a Jack Lalanne Juicer.

For those of you who don't know all about Jack Lalanne, he's insane. He's about 92 years old now, and swears by juicing everything. He does crazy stunts every ten years on his birthday, like when he was 60 years old, he swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman's Wharf for a second time handcuffed, shackled, and towing a 1,000-pound boat.

yeah. The juicer is great. I LOVE it. It's small, sturdy, and clean up is straightforward. I haven't been using it as much as I should, so I decided to experiment a little bit.

What you need:


Hardware:
A Juicer

Software:
200g cucumber (I've got young babies fresh from a friend's garden)
100g celery, segmented to go into juicer easier
8g ginger root, peeled
160g apple, quartered (ok to leave peel, stem, and seeds)

Juice ginger first, then celery and cucumbers. Put apple through last.

Here's what it looks like:


GREEN. So what does it taste like?

Ass. Total and complete ass.

Haha! Quite the setup for a disgusting drink, huh? I need to document it so I know how to change it next time. I like cucumber juice, but this is the first time I've used celery in juicing and it is definitely strong. The ginger is great, but I like eating ginger. Overall, I'd up the cucumber, take back celery, and maybe add more apple.


Ok, ok. That was cruel. How about a tried and true juice recipe?

"Real" Lemonade

What you need:


1 whole lemon, with peel (mine came to about 150g)
3 whole apples

The type/flavor of apples makes a HUGE difference. The whole lemon is very tart, but balances with the apple for a very tasty drink. So, if you like super tart, Granny Smith will achieve that. 3 Red Delicious apples make it much more sweet. 2 Red Delicious and 1 Granny Smith is a nice combination. Pink Lady, McIntosh, whatever, go crazy and experiment!

Slice the "nubs" off the ends of the lemon:

Quarter all the apples (or slice in half, whatever fits in your juicer). Leave teh skin, stem, and seeds.

Put lemon through first, then all the apples. Makes about 2 cups of liquid. Drink and enjoy: