Cous Cous w. Mushrooms and Veggies - Vegan MoFo 2013

It started with mushrooms.

I just wanted to cook some mushrooms.

Home, after an uneventful but nonetheless long day, especially after running to the grocery store to pick up a few things.

Hungry, but also too tired to think of such complexities of putting an actual meal together. Yet tossing a chik patty in the microwave and calling it a day was not appealing. Plus the groceries needed to be put away. Ugh. So it started with the mushrooms.

Nothing special - just some shiitake mushrooms from the store. Pan, toss, sizzle.

Kale!, I thought - I have KALE. That would be great with mushrooms. It's worked before.

So kale went in, more groceries placed inside the freezer.

Whoa, totally forgot about these veggies! Luckily, they were only from a couple days ago, so the cooked frozen veggies went in, along with their coats of olive oil. Then went some already cooked previously mentioned Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend along with a handful of spinach. Last, but not least, went in a tiny bit of Trader Joe's Vegan Mozzarella Shreds.

Creamy, carby, comforting.

Tofu with Chimichurri Sauce - Vegan Mofo 2013

I am obsessed with watching food competition shows - or really, any food television show at all. It helps me become inspired, even when watching people cook non-vegan food. This dish did not come from any particular show or dish, but it was definitely a great experiment.
The veggies were the least impressive feat - just some simple steam-bag frozen veggies.

The starch used here isTrader Joe's Harvest Medley, which contains Israeli cous cous, red quinoa, split garbanzos, red and green orzo. REALLY simple to cook - boil water/broth, add some of this mix, bring to boil again, then simmer (covered) for 10 mins.
For the tofu: I drained a 16 oz block of (I think ) extra firm tofu, then sliced into rectangles of a size I felt was manageable, then baked them for about...30?...minutes at 350F. I then pan-fried them in coconut oil until they reached my desired crispiness.
The chimichurri-like sauce was the crown jewel of this dish. At first, I was just blending 4-5 Thai Bird's Eye peppers with 3-4 cloves of garlic with an idea to make some hot sauce. Then, I decided to add the rest of the fresh parsley I had on hand as well as the juice of a small lemon. The mixture was not balanced at all, so I added a dash of avocado oil, a little hunk of cucumber, and some coriander chutney (one of my all time favorite condiments to keep on hand). It evened out nicely sorry, MAGNIFICENTLY. Seriously, it was an awesome sauce that I want more more more of.