Soy Curl Taco Lunch

Soy curls rehydrated with veggie broth paste, water, chili powder, onion powder, and cumin powder
cilantro
onion
lime

For dinner we had these on crispy taco shells, but I didn't want to try to transport that to work, so I opted to eat these with a tortilla.

Served with guacamole with corn, celery, orange, and hummus.

Raw Walnut Meat, salsa, guacamole

I was working from home this week and was trying to decide what to make for lunch. A few blogs I follow had posted recently about raw walnut "meat", so I decided to try it with a salad.

Change up the spices to your tastes. This is a great recipe because it comes together quickly.



Serves 1 - 2

Ingredients
Walnut Meat
1/2 raw walnuts
2 - 3 sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
soy sauce
sriracha
salt
pepper
chili powder
cumin powder (We are out of cumin powder, so I added cumin seeds)

Garden Salsa
Tomatoes (I used cherry and roma from the garden)
Onion
garlic chives
hungarian wax pepper
olive oil
salt
pepper
juice from 1/2 lime

Corn Guacamole
1 ear corn
1/2 avocado
salt
pepper
lime juice

Lettuce

Method
Walnut Meat
Place the walnuts and tomatoes in a food processor (I used the smaller bowl because I am using such small amounts). Pulse until it appears to have the texture of ground meat. Add the seasonings to taste.

Garden Salsa
This is just what I had ripe in my garden, feel free to use whatever you think would be good in salsa.

Roughly chop the tomatoes, onion, and chili. Place the tomatoes, onion, chili, and herbs in a food processor (again I used the smaller bowl) and pulse until still chunky, but mixed. Transfer to a bowl and season to taste.

Corn Guacamole
Shuck the corn. Place the ear of corn upright and using a knife, cut away the kernels into a bowl. Add the avocado and mix. Season to taste.


Wash and dry the lettuce. Chop into a bowl and add the meat, salsa, and guacamole.

Notes
This was really really good. The walnut meat has A LOT of flavour. I'm going to try it again with pecans because my husband is sensitive to walnuts. I'm happy that I was able to make the salsa completely from our garden. Garden vegetables taste waaay better than anything bought from the store.

I had a couple of tortillas in the fridge that needed to be used. I put them in the toaster oven until they were crispy and served it with the salad.

Chipotle Black Bean Burger and guacamole

This was on the menu board for Saturday, but I made it Monday night. I tend to make the menu board and not always follow it because either I want something else, or I don't feel like cooking, or any number of things. When I do follow it, it makes life soo much easier. This is adapted from Student's Go Vegan Cookbook.



Ingredients
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped or to as many to taste
1 small carrot, diced
1 chipotle with adobe sauce, chopped
1 t whole grain mustard
1 t soy sauce
2 t chipotle powder
1 t cumin powder
1/4 cup rolled oats
salt and black pepper

Guacamole
1 avocado
1 ear of fresh corn
salt
lemon juice
black pepper

Method
Preheat a cast iron skillet or medium heat. Add a small amount of oil and cook the onions and garlic until softened. Add the carrots, chipotle powder, and cumin. Stir and cook until browned and soft.

Meanwhile, mash the black beans with a potato masher or fork in a large bowl. Add cooked vegetables, chipotle, mustard, and soy sauce. Stir to combine. Add the rolled oats and mix again until mixed. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes or longer while buns are toasting or grill pan is heating. It will stick together better if this step is not skipped.

In a hot cast iron pan, add a bit of olive oil and swirl around until the pan bottom is covered. Divide the burger mixture into 3 or 4 patties and add to the hot pan. Cook for about 8 minutes on each side, or until browned. Serve topped with pickles, vegan mayo, and guacamole.

Guacamole
Remove the corn from the ear by running a knife down the length of the ear. Add the corn to a bowl. Remove the peal and pit from the avocado and add the meat to the bowl. Mash with a potato masher until your desired smoothness. Add salt, lemon juice, black pepper and any other spices you desire. Stir in with a spoon.


Notes
Hmm, we both really enjoyed these burgers quite a bit. They held together well, and were flavorful. I am excited to make them again.

4th of July Barbecue!

Both my husband and I had the day off for the 4th of July and we decide to be 'merican and grill us some grub. I don't think that this is what most people barbecued.






Ingredients
Field Roast Sausages
Corn on the cob
Onion/bell pepper/cremini mushrooms on lemon grass sticks
Sriracha Tofu
grilled lime
grilled nectarines

Method
Light charcoal and wait until they are covered in a white ash. Place delicious food across the grill. Cook until grill marks appear and food tastes smokey. Devour.

Notes
My friend Meghan sent me the recipe for the Sriracha tofu because of my deep love for the tasty sauce. I had to make it as soon as I could and it did not disappoint. It was spicy, sweet, and really hot. My husband said it reminded him of fermented fish paste he had when he traveled through Thailand and Cambodia. As in, it tasted exactly like that. I used tofu that was already in cubes, so I just wrapped it in foil and put in on the grill.

I got the idea to make the skewers on the lemongrass sticks from the cookbook Fresh and Fast Vegan Pleasures, and it sounded like a good idea, but putting the veggies on it was a pain because I had to use an actual skewer to make the hole before I could place it on the lemongrass. Also, it did not impart much flavour. Would not recommend.

Oh my goodness, has anyone tried Field Roast products before? I think I had maybe one item when I was living in Portland, but since moving to the east coast, I haven't seen any of their products carried out here. At my local hippy store, I saw a package of the sausages in the freezer and decided to try them out. Oh man, sooo good. They are unlike any other analogues I have had. They are even better than the ones I make at home.

Barbecuing limes offers an amazing flavour. Put the cut side on the grill until grill marks appear and then squeeze over food. It gives everything a smokey lime goodness.

Barbecued nectarines are not as tasty as grilled peaches, but they were still pretty tasty.

All in all, a successful 4th of July dinner!

Corn Soup

I might or might not be obsessed with sriracha sauce. It just makes everything taste so much better. It is not that I want that taste all the time, it is I want that level of hot all the time and it is the easiest way to do that.

The soup below shows the amount of sriracha I put into a bowl of corn soup.





I followed the same recipe as I posted about previously and added some kale at the end of cooking.

Black Bean Chili

Oh my goodness, this chili was fantastic. My husband refused to call it a chili until it had actual chilies in it. In the evening on my way home, I picked up a habanero and some random green chili at the grocery store to make it a proper chili.





In the morning I put the following in my 1.5 qt slow cooker:
black beans
onions
carrots
chili powder
cumin
garlic powder
water, just to cover

Cook on low for 6-8 hours. I came back and it had reduced to a very thick chili.

While I was making corn bread, I added frozen corn, above mentioned chilies, and adjusted the seasoning. To serve, garnish with cilantro.

This had my husband sweating a bit from the heat of the chili, but I thought it was perfect. I love spicy foods.

Corn Chowder

So the yogurt experiment did not go over so well and I am going to try it again by using the method outlined by Midwest Vegan. I need to get a thermometer before my experiment can occur. Maybe next weekend.





Last night for dinner was Corn Chowder. Not Chowdah. Chowder. People really talk like that, it is amazing to me.

onion
garlic
potato
fresh chili
broth
corn
seasoning (I used rosemary, thyme, black pepper, and salt)


Sauté garlic and onion in a bit of olive oil until softened. Add chopped potatoes, chili, and broth. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until the potatoes are soft. Add frozen corn and allow to warm through. Puree about half of the mixture in a food processor or blender or with an immersion blender (I really want one!). Reheat to desired temperature, taste and adjust for seasoning and garnish with green onions. I added a squirt or two of sriracha sauce, but you can assume I add that to pretty much everything.

I served with herb toast.