Homemade Tortillas and tacos

The other day, we had leftover TVP after making vegan nachos with the vegan cheese dip I posted about previously. I decided that tacos would be good, but we didn't have tortillas. I followed a recipe Whole Foods for the Whole Family (which has Bryanna Clark Gordon as a co-editor. I'm sure it was her to help push for the few tofu recipes in there. Over all a fantastic cookbook.)




Ingredients
2 cups white bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup water


Method
In a medium bowl, mix the flour and salt together until the salt is evenly distributed. Cut in the shortening until there are little balls of shortening throughout the flour mixture. Mix in just enough water for a slightly sticky dough and knead for a few minutes. Let sit, covered for about 15 minutes.

Heat up a cast iron griddle pan or skillet over medium heat. You can spread on a bit of oil or other fat, but my pan is virtually non-stick. Divide the dough into 6 - 8 dough balls. Roll out the balls on a lightly floured surface until very thin, 3 - 4 mm thick. Place the tortilla on the pan. Bubbles should begin to form, I usually use a spatula to press down the bubbles and allow the entire tortilla to touch the hot pan surface. It should take about 1 minute on the first side about no more than 20 seconds to cook on the opposite side. Remove from heat and place under a towel to keep warm. Repeat for remaining dough balls.




Notes
We served this with seasoned TVP, guacamole, and habanero hot sauce. Both my husband and I loved the tortillas. I was getting the hang of rolling them out thin enough by the end and it was much easier to roll them up. We are not considering getting a tortilla press, but I should probably see if making tortillas is going to become a regular thing before I purchase more kitchen equipment.

Planet Box Lunches

So it has been a while since I have posted, but we are still cooking a lot around our household. We are currently doing a food delivery service and a winter CSA. The delivery comes right to our door every week filled with all organic fruits and vegetables - not local because we get things like oranges, bananas, and fresh blueberries. For the CSA we pick it up every three weeks and it usually full of carrots, potatoes, apples, lettuce, local milled wheat and oats, honey, etc. It is amazing, but a lot of food to receive all at once. It is a good thing it is vegetables that store really well.

Anyway, we have been eating better because we are always flush with fresh produce and I have been enjoying putting together awesome lunches.

If you are wondering about our great lunchboxes, you can find all about them on their website, Planet Box. They are pretty expensive, but we really like them. We have the rocket magnets, because you know, we are scientists!


My husband put this together for me this past weekend. It is Field Roast smoked apple sage sausage, salad with carrots, apples, and red bell pepper, chipotle spiced mashed potatoes, caramelized onions, salad dressing made with curry powder (do this! it is delicious!), an orange, and a leftover biscuit from our biscuits and gravy earlier that day.


I made this after a ladies night where we had a taco bar. I turned the TVP taco meat into a taco salad with sauteed onions and bell peppers. Actually, my husband made all the food for ladies night and then I kicked him out. He is really good to me. Next we have some pear, blueberries, a leftover macaroon, vegan mayo mixed with sriracha, bell peppers and carrots, raisins, Lara bar, orange, and tortilla chips.


In January, I test cooked the vegetarian meal for Once a Month Mom February meals. We have been slowly eating all of those meals. It is a great way to pull together an easy lunch because everything pretty much unfreezes by lunch time. On this day we had, Chickpea patties, bell pepper and blueberries, kiwifruit, BBQ sauce, carrot sticks, raisins, and a lemon poppy seed muffin.

I'm really sorry for the terrible pictures! Early morning is not the best time to take pictures in my kitchen.

Crockpot Party!

This past Friday, one of the new graduate students had a crock pot party at his apartment. Everyone was bringing over crock pot creations to share. Inspite of my crock potting skillz, my offerings did not turn out as I wanted.


Brownie Pudding Goo


Spinach Artichoke dip


Tatertot casserole

Recipes

Brownie Pudding

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Tatertot Casserole
frozen tater tots or hash browns
cream of mushroom soup (I tried to make my own with coconut creamer, but it did not turn out well)
TVP or frozen Boca crumbles (I prefer the boca crumbles
frozen spinach

Mix together in a crock pot crock. Heat on low for about 3 hours. Stir occasionally. Season to taste, salt, black pepper, chipotle powder, etc.

Notes
Brownie Pudding - I accidentally mixed together the pudding part of the recipe into the brownie part. You are supposed to just put it over top and cover the crock pot. So, it turned out to be brownie goo, instead of brownie pudding. It was still good, just not what I expected. Meh.

Spinach Artichoke Dip - this one is always good. Success!

Tatertot Casserole - I put this together in the crock pot on a whim. I was going to do lentil soup, or falafel, but I thought I would try this. I tried to make my own cream of mushroom soup since I couldn't find a non-dairy version at the store. I sauteed up some diced mushrooms, added coconut creamer, added corn starch, then brought to a boil until thickened. I mixed that with the hashbrowns and reconstituted TVP (the hippy store did not have frozen crumbles) and then cooked for a few hours. I added some frozen spinach at the end to give some color and maybe flavor. This came out being so bland and boring. I even added some maple syrup to bring out a bit of sweetness. My lovely husband took care of throwing away the entire 3 qt pot of this. I would like to try this again, but I think I need to work on the cream of mushroom soup part. FAIL

Epic Taco Salad

Last Sunday, my husband decided to spend his day hanging out at the local pub, drinking beer, reading Harper's, playing darts, and chatting with people there. I decided to spend the day with the house to myself and made a super awesome epic taco salad.



Ingredients
Lettuce
TVP (water, chipotle powder, salt, pepper)
black olives
onions
tomato
avocado
sriracha sauce
lime or lemon juice

Method
Boil about 1/2 cup water (for one serving) and take off heat. Add the TVP (about 1/2 cup for one serving) and spices. Put the lid on and set aside while preparing everything else.

Wash and tear the lettuce into bite sized pieces. Chop the onions and sauté in a little bit of olive oil over medium heat until soft. Chop the olives, tomatoes, and avocado into bite sized chunks.

Arrange the lettuce on a plate or in a bowl. Add everything else on top. Sprinkle with lime or lemon juice on top. Devour.

Notes
I did not know if I could finish a whole plate of this, but I did and it was fantastic. I always forget how much I love salads. And with lettuce being all over the place at the farmer's market, I can satisfy that love with awesome greens.

TVP Tacos

My husband and I both love Mexican food and though this is for sure white people Mexican food, it is still tasty.



Ingredients
1 cup TVP
1 cup water/broth
chopotle powder
cumin
salt
black pepper
cholula hot sauce

1 - 2 avocados
fresh corn
cilantro
diced onion
salt
black pepper
lime juice

cilantro
cholula hot sauce
lime juice
black olives
pickled jalapeños

corn tortillas

Method
Boil water, add the TVP. Remove from heat and allow the TVP to absorb the water. Season to taste.

In a cast iron skillet, warm up a small amount of olive oil. Add an ear's worth of fresh corn. (Frozen would probably work as well, maybe 1/2 cup). Stir and allow to cook until browned and toasty. Smash the avocado and add the rest of the ingredients to taste.

Make the taco assembly line, warm up a tortilla, add some TVP, guacamole, cilantro, hot sauce, and a bit of lime juice and any other toppings.

Notes
Hmm, I love TVP tacos. It reminds me of the tacos at the Bonfire from the summer my husband worked there.

We had these for dinner and a few hours later, I found my husband digging through the leftovers making another taco. I guess he liked it!

Speaking of leftovers, we try to have none because neither of us really eat them, so next time I would probably only use 1/2 cup of TVP rather than a full cup. There was quite a bit leftover after making 4 tacos.

Baked Potato

Here is another recipe from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker.

I had wanted to make the "Savory Stuffed Wheat Meat Roast", but I didn't start early enough to get it done by dinner, so I was flipping through the book trying to find something else that I could make with the ingredients in my apartment. Baked Potatoes! Perfect, I have a whole bag of potatoes I just bought.

Ingredients:
Potatoes (I used yukon gold because they are my favorite)

Scrub the potatoes and remove any eyes or weird spots. Rub the potatoes with butter like substitute and sprinkle with salt. Take a fork and stab the potato all over to allow steam to vent. Wrap in foil and place in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 - 8 hours. Mine took just about 6 hours. They were tender and delicious.



Hmm, really roasted garlic


While perusing the Vegetarian Slow Cooker blog a few weeks ago I had found the post about roasted garlic in the slow cooker. When I decided on putting in the potatoes, I thought now would be the perfect time to try roasting garlic as well. I only had about 1/2 head of garlic, but it still came out roasty and fantastic. Next time, I am going to make two heads so that my husband and I can each have our own. I mushed the garlic into a paste and used it as a spread on the potatoes.

Next, came the chili. I didn't know quite what to put on top of the potatoes and I wanted to just use things in my pantry. I came up with this concoction.

1/2 cup TVP
1 15oz can pinto beans
1/4 cup tomato pasta sauce
1/2 cup water
chili powder
cumin
chipotle powder
habanero hot sauce
salt and pepper

I put everything into a small saucepan and simmered until about half of the liquid had evaporated. Not the best chili I have made, but it worked really well to get dinner to the table quick like.



Baked Potato with roasted garlic, chili, tofutti cream cheese, and green onions


We both gave this recipe two thumbs up. The potatoes were tender and everything else was fine. I am looking forward to making the potatoes more during the coming semester because they were crazy easy to do.

I made the seitan tonight for the Savory Stuffed Wheat Meat Roast and it is currently looking like a brain and marinating in my fridge.





I am really excited about this recipe. It is marinated seitan (I used the recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance) rolled into a rectangle, topped with stuffing, rolled up like a swiss roll and cooked in the slow cooker for 6 - 8 hours. I hope it will be good!