Double Decker Tacos!!!

Taco Night! If you follow the Flickr-linked photo above, you'll get complete labels on the fillings.

Taco night is awesome. And last night was no exception. Refried beans makes excellent "glue" to hold a soft flour tortilla to a hard corn shell. Perfect. Morningstar crumblesSomeone pointed out to me that Morningstar changed the crumbles ingredients and it's no longer vegan. Grr, stupid ingredient change! Boca crumbles are still vegan. with spicy taco seasoning was the "meat" for this dish. Other layers include: homemade garlicky guacamole, diced tomatoes, chopped black olives, chopped onions, spinach instead of iceberg lettuce, chopped cilantro, and spicy taco sauce.

It was delicious!! I believe that another taco night, or perhaps some taco pizza, will happen very soon.

Another pic:

Vegetable & Bean Stew with Spicy Biscuits

I made this quick vegetable stew the other day. I also made biscuits, a variation of the recipe from the other day. I added some liquid from the stew as well as red pepper flakes to the mix to create a spicy version. Another make it up as I go, so not an "official" recipe, but here's roughly what I did.

The Stew

Ingredients:
1 28oz can of Fire Roasted tomatoes
1 15(I think)oz can of dark red kidney beans
1 15(I think)oz can of white kidney beans (cannellini)
1 8oz can spicy Ro-Tel [diced tomatoes with habaneros)
1/2 a large onion, med. dice
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
frozen corn
cumin
paprika
chili powder
water
veg stock or bouillon cube
1tsp oil (for sauteing onion & garlic)

Instructions:

1. in stock pot, saute onion in oil until soft, add garlic and spices to taste

2. add drained and rinsed beans and can of tomatoes

3. add Ro-Tel, stir everything

4. add water. I basically filled the big tomato can with water and dumped it in and added a little more

5. bring to boil, add some frozen corn and or vegetables of choice. Sweet corn really works with these flavors but I'm sure many others would work.

6. bring down to simmer. If you feel like it, add vegetable stock or bouillon cube for flavor.

Done! The flavors of both the stew and biscuits are even better the second day. This lasted for most of the week for both me and Mr. Coconut's lunch.

Biscuits!!

These delicious biscuits are courtesy of a recipe from Savvy Abby a blog that has tips for cheap vegan living from a VegNews Associate Editor. Great blog, I just started reading it today thanks to a heads up from a VN newsletter I get. As I was perusing the blog, I saw the recipe for the biscuits and was happy that I had all of those ingredients so I immediately got to baking.

I used olive oil and rice milk for my oil and non-dairy picks. Mainly because that's what I had available. I used regular all-purpose white flour because, again, that's what I had. Savvy Abby says that any combo of oil or flour or non-dairy liquids can be used. The basic recipe is really versatile: add sweetness for a sweet biscuit, use fresh herbs and garlic and other add-in ingredients. Go wild!

Here is a pic of a biscuit I had with Smart Balance and blackberry jam:


Delicious! I used the suggestion of a 1/4 measuring cup to measure out the biscuit dough for baking. I found that it created biscuits which were a little too large and had difficulty in getting some of the centers to be done all the way. They were still delicious and took 15 minutes, tops. They would be great in soups, gravies, with a sausage patty and tofu, sandwiches, etc.

Chickpea & Couscous Curry

Simple curry/stew that was quite delicious and lasted for several days. I just made it up as I went along, so I don't have exact measurements.

Ingredients:
1 28oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
same can filled with water
1c dry cous cous
half of a large onion, medium-large dice
2-3 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 can of chickpeas (15oz size?)
variety of frozen vegetables
curry powder, 1-2 Tablespoons (or to taste)
salt, to taste
olive oil, 1t

directions:

1. Dice the onion and mince the garlic. In a large-ish stockpot, saute the onion in the olive oil. Add curry powder and continue to saute until onion is soft. Add garlic and saute a little more.

2. Add tomatoes and chickpeas. I also added some frozen vegetables. I just dumped in whatever looked like it would be tasty in this dish. I had a big bag of California Blend" which had cauliflower, broccoli and carrots. I also added some frozen peas. Many vegetables, fresh or frozen, would be great. Potatoes, mixed veggies, etc. Next time, however, I am going to add the veggies later on.

3. Add water. I just used the same can of tomatoes and filled it up with water and added it to the stew. Simmer for 20 minutes or so.

4. Add couscous. I just threw it in dry and let it cook in the stew.

5. After couscous is finished cooking, the dish should be done. I enjoyed with sriracha but it was also fine on it's own.

It thickened up quite a bit the next day. I might add less couscous next time, and try not to overcook the veggies as they did this time. I personally wanted more curry flavor and some more spice to the dish. It was still delicious.

Black Bean and Rice Tacos w. Toasted Corn Tortillas

This was something I whipped up when I had very little in my pantry. These ingredients are all staples in my pantry.

The only item that isn't necessarily a staple would be the quick-cooking wild rice blend. I always have a lot of brown rice on hand, and sometimes minute white rice. This particular brand is really easy to make: I boil one small can of veg stock (about 1.75 cups, not sure on ounces) and add a little olive oil or butter. Add in one cup of the rice and drop down to a simmer for 15 minutes, then remove from heat and keep covered for another 15 minutes or so.

I seasoned up a can of drained and rinsed black beans with some standard sauteed onion and garlic and cumin as well as salt.

Sauces and condiments are a huge staple in my house, and El Yucateco green habanero sauce is a favorite of mine. According to the company's website, this particular flavor of hot sauce registers 9,000 on the Scoville Scale. For reference, according to the scale as listed in Wiki, a bell pepper rates as a "0" and a jalapeno is in the 2,500-8,000 range. This sauce is the radioactive-green looking stuff on the tacos.

Another pantry staple in my house is a stack of corn tortillas. They are pretty cheap and can be frozen so long as you fry or, in my case, toast the tortillas after defrosting. Corn tortillas fall apart pretty easily if they don't get some structural integrity from frying or toasting. I came up with toasting as an alternative to pan-frying for a healthier alternative. I remove the tortillas from the freezer and pry off 4 (or less/more) tortillas. I then microwave them in a stack until they are *just* defrosted. Then place in toaster oven until they become more sturdy. Don't toast for too long or you'll get a crispy tostada rather than a usable taco shell.

one more pic:

Fried Okra Bites w. Hot Sauce

Straightforward snack: we discovered these fairly cheap frozen breaded okra bites at Super Target from a generic (not a Target-brand) brand of frozen vegetables. The instructions require them to be fried, and once I opened the package I saw why: the breading coating the okra is not cooked through and needs to be fried rather than baked. It *might* work to bake it, but I seriously doubt it.

I ended up pan-frying about half the package in vegetable oil until golden brown overall with more crispy ends. I served it with Frank's Red Hot Sauce. These are pretty delicious, though somewhat heavy due to the amount of oil the pieces hold even after pressing out as much as possible in paper towels.

Teese Vegan Cheese Review: Teese Quesadilla

So this is a quesadilla made with Teese cheese (see below for long review and thoughts on this new product). I served it on a sprouted grain tortilla and garnished with cilantro. Green Mountain Gringo was also served with it. GMG is my favorite mass-marketed shelf-stable canned salsa, second only to Salsa Lisa which is a company based right here in Saint Paul. GMG has great flavor to it, and the "hot" is actually REALLY hot. Salsa Lisa always tastes really fresh and is kept in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. Salsa Lisa also has a hot flavor I like because it is actually very hot.

The quesadilla wasn't too bad, but overall I don't really care for Teese cheese.

And now a thorough review of Teese:

Teese is a fairly new (though old news by now) vegan cheese. When it first became available to the public, it swept across the vegan food blogosphere like wildfire. It finally came to my local Whole Foods late last year, so we had to try it out.

I've made and tried my fair share of vegan cheeses. There will never be a true replacement for "real" cheese. It's been so long since I've had cheese (over 5 years) that I don't really remember it. What I look for in a vegan cheese is something vaguely reminiscent of what I do remember. I tend to favor homemade or restaurant house-made recipes over the mass-marketed cheeses. The one vegan mass-marketed cheese I like are the rice slices from Galaxy Foods. The mouthfeel mimics the over-processed Kraft singles. My thought is, if you're going to eat something that processed, why not choose the vegan version?

Okay, back to Teese. Word out in the vegan food blogosphere was that Teese melted awesomely and had a great texture, taste, etc. I tried the nacho cheese sauce, the "hard" cheddar, and the mozzarella. The sauce was weird, and I thought pretty gross overall. Of course, I'm spoiled because The Triple Rock, one of my favorite restaurants in Minneapolis for vegan eats, has mastered a vegan nacho cheese sauce which is nutritional yeast based.

I can't remember what we tried the mozz on, but I seem to vaguely recall we put it on a cheeseless pizza from Papa John's or something. It was adequate.

So last, but not least, I made a quesadilla with the cheddar Teese and a sprouted grain tortilla. I placed the tortilla in a warm pan sprayed with some non-stick oil. I shredded a lot of the Teese and placed it on one half of the tortilla and folded the tortilla in half. I cooked it by placing a weight (like a heavy lid) on top of the tortilla itself. I also flipped the whole thing at least once. The Teese got melty, that's for sure. However, it did not stay that way for long.

[I expected this as the thing that makes cheese melty is a milk-derived protein called Casein. A lot of "non-dairy" and "lactose-free" cheese contains this protein and makes it not vegan.]

Unlike the other main mass-marketed cheese available, Follow Your Heart(aka Vegan Gourmet), the Teese solidified into a more plastic texture. It was not very appealing. I also felt that the Teese did not stay in it's melted state for very long, at least it was a much shorter time than FYH. The texture & overall mouthfeel in Teese's melted state was pretty good, and I would say even better than FYH. Teese is interesting because it didn't disintegrate and morph into a pool of oil if heated too much, which is a major downside of FYH. Again, I couldn't get over how...plastic...it was. When bits of cheese fell out of the tortilla and onto the hot pan, it never turned to oil, it just became crispy and strangely plastic-like.

Overall, it wasn't too bad. I don't think I will be dropping that much money (something like $6-9 USD per what I believe are 10oz tubes). Those tubes are also a great disappointment compared to the resealable package offered by FYH. I'll stick to homemade stuff and my occasional indulgence of the rice-based single slices.

White Bean and Potato Soup with Crispy Garlic Rounds

I found this in random folder and saw it had not been uploaded. I vaguely remember making this, but it was a long time ago. I'm pretty sure it started with onions, garlic, salt and some other seasonings. White Cannellini Beans, canned, were drained, rinsed, and added. Then some water, possibly veg. stock. Then sliced potatoes, I'm guessing gold russets. Cooked until tender and mashed/blended until at a consistency I liked. I don't have a large blender nor do I have a stick blender (though it's on my wish list) so it's not really possible for me to puree. That's okay as I tend to like most of my soups to be a bit thick and hearty.

I garnished with fresh Thyme and served with some crispy garlic rounds.

VWAV: Curried Split Pea Soup 2, served with roasted vegetables and melba toast

I've made this before, and it is the only thing I've made from Vegan With a Vengeance the popular vegan cookbook that is ubiquitous in the vegan food blogosphere and beyond. I actually may have made a few other recipes, but this is the only one I always have the ingredients for by default and it is SO EASY to make, I keep going back to it.

This time around, I served it with roasted vegetables that I tossed and marinated in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The vegetables I used: red, yellow, and green bell peppers; zucchini and yellow squash. I cut all the veggies into as Placed on cookie sheet and roasted in oven until tender then placed under broiler to get some of that charred roasted flavor.


I garnished the soup with shredded carrot, which is how it is recommended to serve in the cookbook. I highly recommend this because it gives a great added texture and flavor layer to the soup. I also served with pieces of melba toast, which I am always in love with because they are miniature in size and adorable.

A second photo, this time of the whole plate. (I LOVE the lighting I was able to get for this photo. I've found it is still hard for me to get decent lighting for most of my photos, but I'm working on a makeshift lightbox for the future.)

The Great Cake Waffles Experiment: Chocolate and Vanilla

I love making cake, but the problem I have with making most desserts is that I don't typically have tons of people to share the dessert with. So when I make a large number of cupcakes, cookies, or just a big cake, Mr. Coconut and I end up gorging on all of it within 2 days or some of the dessert goes bad.

My solution came in the form of my waffle iron. Genius, pure genius.

I've seen/read/heard of other folks using waffle irons for cooking things other than waffles. I also know I am not the first person to think of cake batter in a waffle iron, but nonetheless it was a delicious experience.

I used Cherrybrook Kitchen brand cake mix in vanilla and also chocolate. Cherrybrook Kitchen is an awesome brand of cake, cookie, and other baking mixes that are allergen free, which makes all of their products vegan. They also have a decent line of gluten-free mixes. These are available at Whole Foods, Super Target, and local co-ops in my area.

It took a while to get the timing and amount just right. I used my Belgian waffle iron, which made for some extremely delicate pieces that fell apart easily. A regular waffle iron with smaller squares or pockets, whatever you want to call it, would probably be better for a more sturdy piece of cake. I sprayed the waffle iron with non-stick spray, ladled in what I figured out to be the perfect amount, closed the waffle iron and waited. My iron has a self-timer with a green light that indicates when you should pour in the batter and a red light which indicates when it is done. I found I had to wait for a minute or two after the red light came on in order to get the cake in one piece.

All in all, light, fluffy cake was done within minutes. I was able to store the pieces in the fridge in an airtight container for a lot longer (and a lot easier) than a whole cake. I used some frosting from Pillsbury that is "accidentally" vegan and decorated with sprinkles. I couldn't frost easily because I was too impatient to soften up the frosting enough to spread on the delicate pieces -- so no photo of the frosted end result.

Here's a shot of the vanilla pieces in the waffle iron:

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.

More Product Reviews

I promise that in the coming days there will be more things I actually cooked rather than products. In this next year, I will also be able to cook a lot more at home and I'm VERY excited to do so!

Until then, here are some products I've been really enjoying.

First up, Phil's Fresh Foods. It's a line of frozen burritos, with two vegan choices. I've only ever had the "Veggie Fajita" which is a satisfying frozen burrito with good ingredients.

Next: Food Should Taste Good, a brand of chip/crackers made from excellent ingredients. I believe their whole line is vegan. I've had the jalapeño, olive, buffalo, and multigrain varieties. They are fantastic with salsa or hummus.

Coconut Milk Mocha Almond Fudge Ice Cream

Um....Let's just say I have not been this excited in the frozen section of the grocery store in a LONG time.

I am completely in love with So Delicious' line of Coconut-Milk Based non-dairy foods. Not just the vegan ice cream, but the yogurts as well.

I mean, my name is The Saucy Coconut! I LOVE coconut flavors. I'm also a HUGE fan of coffee and coffee flavored things, so this item REALLY made my day. VERY good. Almost all of their coconut milk based items are soy free, too, so it's a nice alternative for soy-based vegan treats.

Speaking of which, I also discovered that they now have a variety of coconut milk frozen novelties, such as this one:



Little vegan ice cream sandwiches. These are not soy-free as there is some soy lecithin in the chocolate wafers. VERY tasty. I really want to try the other flavors. I also saw a chocolate nut covered coconut milk based frozen novelty, which looked fantastic. yum yum yum.

Root Beer Float

I felt really indulgent so I went out and got some root beer and a pint of Tofutti Vanilla Ice Cream. YUMMY.

I have not had a root beer float in YEARS, and this really hit the spot. Also, I had never tried Tofutti Vanilla Ice Cream. I must say it's probably the best plain vanilla vegan ice cream I've ever tried. The only disappointment I had was I didn't have a straw to drink it out of! Not one single straw in my house! It was still fantastic, though.

Pizza! Sausage Pizza with Follow Your Heart Mozzarella

Here's a pizza I made back in September, but never had the chance to upload the photos. Well, here they are. These are vague directions because I can't quite remember what I did over two months ago.

The crust is premade from Whole Foods. Then I spread straight tomato paste all over the crust, and tossed it in the oven to crisp up a bit. At the same time, I cooked frozen vegan meatballs in a pan on the stovetop, smashing and crumbling until they resembled ground beef. Then I seasoned the heck out of them: fennel seeds, oregano, garlic salt, and some other Italian seasonings.

Once the crust in the oven was slightly crisped, but not fully cooked, I pulled it out. I formed the meatball crumbles into tiny sausage balls and placed them on the pizza like any sausage pizza would look.

Then came the cheese -- Follow Your Heart Mozzarella. I shredded the entire block of cheese which was WAY too much. I spread it across the pizza, then popped it back in the oven. After about twenty minutes, I put the pizza under the broiler and watched it VERY carefully. After lots of bubbling and even a little browning of the cheese it was done!!!! I quickly sliced it up and ate it!

One more pic, this time of one piece: