Update!

I’ll be off on a backpacking trip this weekend, so tasty vegan backpacking food soon to come!

The Incline Tofu Wrap

Today I hiked the Manitou Incline with some friends. The Incline is a giant staircase that used to be a trolley track, that is now just like a giant staircase. Its only a mile long but it goes  up 2000+ feet. Its pretty intense. Also a really really good workout. I believe Apollo Ohno used to train here when he was residing at the Olympic Center in Colorado Springs. But anyway, its really cool. After hanging around a while in town, I came home and packed or an epic backpacking trip this weekend (more to follow!) and went to a yoga class. By the end, I was…exhausted.  Did I mention famished? So, this is the recipe creation to follow.

The Incline Tofu Wrap

Makes 2 wraps. Time: Less than 30 minutes.

1 block tofu- pressed and cu bed

3 stalks Swiss chard- sliced and chopped

2 radishes-sliced

1 clove garlic, finely diced or pressed (more if you are a big fan of garlic like me, or..haha you dont have anyone to kiss in the next hour or so…)

1 green onion, sliced thinly (don't be afraid to use the whole thing here)

Your favorite balsamic vinegar ( I used a vinegar from a specialty Olive Oil and vinegar shop in Manitou, it was a Piniapple Vinegar)

1/2-2 tbsp soy sauce

your favorite hot sauce to taste

garlic powder or more fresh, pressed garlic.

4-5 slices of cucumber

1 –2  large tortillas.

1-2 slices Tofutti Mozzarella flavor vegan cheese

 

To Make:

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute garlic for 15 seconds, but make sure not to burn! Add the green onion, followed by the Swiss chard, and the radishes. As it cookes, make sure to stir it around.

Heat a separate skillet over medium heat, and if using fresh garlic, add and sauté, otherwise add tofu and cook for 2-4 minutes. Sprinkle the tofu with about 1tbsp of vinegar and cook for a minute or so more, until the tofu has soaked up and cooked off some of the vinegar. Add soy sauce to your liking, don’t be afraid if you use alot, it will cook off. Add hot sauce to taste. If using, sprinkle about a 1/8 to 1/3 tsp of garlic powder on the tofu and make sure to mix the tofu around.

While your tofu is cooking, spread the tortillas separately. Add 2-3 slices of cucumber to each tortilla. As your first skillet finishes cooking, divide the mixture into two and put half of each tortilla. When your tofu finishes cooking, add half of the cubes to each wrap. Put 1/2 or a full slice of cheese on both and add more hot sauce to your liking. Wrap and enjoy!

 

(Note to unexperienced cooks, plan out what you are going to chop at what time before/as you cook, so you don’t end up going “Oh s---! I need the swiss chard! Where is it? Where did my knife go! Is my dog eating my cucumber?!ARRRGGGGHHH!”. I would do things in this order,

1. Heat pan 1
2. Press garlic
3. Chop green onion, add
4. Chop Swiss chard and radishes and then add (the 1 or so minute of the green onion cooking is while I was chopping those and seeing what else I had in my fridge)
5. Grab your vinegar/soy sauce/ garlic etc
6. Heat pan 2
7. Cube tofu
8. Add
9. Follow steps

This is not as important in recipes like this, but in soups where timing is important, when you don't want to burn your garlic, and other things like deserts and pastries, make sure you have everything before you start and it will make you life so much easier. I promise :] )

 

yeah. eat that soybean curd.

Making Vegan food for friends...

Ok. So my friend's mom has asked me to cook them a delicious vegan meal. I need to create a masterful creation of vegan cooking goodness. What is the BEST vegan meal you've ever had? (or made,really) I would love some recipes!
So far, Zucchini Muffins

2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (about 2 medium) 1 cup unsweetened applesauce 1/2 cup canola oil 3 eggs worth of replacer ( i think im going to use flax seeds) 2 teaspoons vanilla 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans Print these coupons... About Concordance™ 1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottoms only of 2 (8x4-inch) loaf pans with cooking spray. 2. In large bowl, mix zucchini, applesauce, oil, egg product, vanilla and sugar until well blended. Stir in all remaining ingredients except walnuts until well blended. Stir in walnuts. Spoon batter evenly into pans. 3. Bake 60-75 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
Also, soba noodles with stir fried veggies and peanut sauce. Does that sound good to you guys?

	Print these coupons...
	About Concordance™

Heart Shaped Potoato?

Yes. That is a heart shaped potato. End of Story

Lemon Risotto with Peas, Mushrooms, and Sautéed Zucchini

Lets just get right to the recipe. Because, it was Really good.

4 cups vegetable broth +  2 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 shallots, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely diced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar + 1/4 cup vegetable broth OR 1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups Arborio Rice
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen peas
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup loosely packed chopped fresh parsley
1 medium-large zucchini- thinly sliced
2 4 oz cans sliced or whole button mushrooms
2 diced green onions for garnish
To Prepare-
Warm the vegetable broth in a saucepan on low.
While it is warming, pre heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add 1 tspb. olive oil. Sautee the shallots for 5 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, rosemary, and black pepper and sauté for 2 more minutes. Add Balsamic vinegar mixture and salt and raise the heat to almost high so that the mixture boils and reduces for 2-3 minutes. Turn the heat back to medium-low.
Add the rice and stir for about 3 minutes. If the rice turns the color of the balsamic vinegar mixture, then you are in good shape.  After the 3 minutes are up add the broth a cup at a time, each time until the broth is mostly absorbed.  Keep stirring often or preferably constantly.
After adding the last cup of broth, add the peas and mushrooms and stir. Then remove the pot from the burner(I scooted mine back a burner), while you prepare the zucchini.
To prepare zucchini, heat 1 tspb olive oil in a large pan. Add the slices of Zucchini and cook, flipping or scooting them around occasionally (scooting is completely cooking terminology) until they are tender and browning.
While the zucchini is cooking, add the lemon juice, zest, and parsley to the risotto and stir. When your zucchini is about 5 minutes from being done, put the risotto back on a burner and heat on medium-low until warm and mix well.

To Serve-
Layer 4 slices of zucchini in the bottom of a bowl, and then add 4 serving spoonfuls of risotto on top. I got about 6 bowlfuls that way. Garnish with green onion.

umm…ew?

Today at breakfast I was looking though a WIRED magazine that was sitting on our kitchen table, and I came across the most anti-vegan article I could ever think of existing. Take a look.

Go ahead and read it if you would like another reason to be a vegan. If not, the lower article consists of Foie Gras, Spam, Beef, and Veal Bones. Of course, Foie Gras… do I really need to go there? Spam? Who knows what the heck is in that. The beef is ‘grain finished’, although when I looked up the company that they get their beef from, it looks like it at least is not factory farmed. I guess their trying to undo the Foie Gras and Veal Bones. Veal Bones? Enough Said. 

 

The other is like Turducken on crack. mmm….yummy. You just have to read that one.

Officially, I have to say I am turned off to this magazine. (Yes, turned off, that’s how much I really dislike this one) Of course, they do give a mention to ‘Vat grown meat’ later in the article. Does it make up even a little bit? You decide.

Soup?

Well. I made some soup today, but I don't have a picture :( My bad. It wasn't that pretty anyway. BUT... Here is kind of what I did.

3/4 c. Bob's Red Mill Vegi soup Mix or dry Lentils

3/4 c. brown rice

3/4 c. frozen corn

3/4 c. frozen edamame

2 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1/4 c. fresh cilantro

1/2 c or to taste roasted diced green chilies

1/2 tsp. salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 1/4 c. vegetable broth

1/2 c. water

1 clove garlic, crushed

1-2 c. snow peas

TO MAKE:

Add broth and water to a medium-large stockpot. Bring to a boil.  Add Soup Mix,Brown Rice, salt, olive oil and black pepper. Set Timer for 60:00. Turn heat down to medium-low and simmer.

In a separate skillet, sauté onion and garlic until golden and add to pot. Also add Cilantro and green chili at the same time.

When it has been summering for 40:00 add snow peas and stir. If the soup needs more liquid, add water 1 cup at a time until the rice mixture is covered.

When it has been simmering for 50:00 add frozen corn and edemame and stir. Once again, add more water if needed.

Cook for another 10 minutes or until mixture is soft.

 

I would trust your gut when making this recipe. It’s not that exact yet. Just a kitchen creation with what I had. Use whatever veggies you have. Use different spices. Just use a lentil/rice broth base and your set.

The green chili i used in this recipe was a small Ziploc bag full that were had in our freezer from when we buy roasted green chilies every year . These were spicy chilies, so use mild ones if you don’t like spicy things.  

 

Black Bean Bake and Strawberry Rubharb Pie!

I haven't cooked anything since before our camping trip, I made a "Jamaican Style Black Bean and Coconut Cornbread Bake" out of Supermarket Vegan by Donna Klein on pg...98. 
It was fantastic. It involved Black Bean/Rotel /Corn layer and a Coconut Cornbread Topping  I definitely recommend this cookbook. I haven't made anything out of here that wasn't good.






Someone also made a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

We had already been eating on it when I realized I should take a picture. :P
Here is the Veganized Recipe.
Crust:
1 3/4 c. all purpose  flour
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
3-4 tablespoons cold water
OR your favorite vegan pie crust ( a box mix works just as well, just make sure its vegan!)
Filling:
2 c. fresh cut up rhubarb
2 c. sliced strawberries
1 1/3 c. sugar (it was really sweet so go ahead and use less if you don't like REALLY sweet things)
2 tbsp. Earth Balance/Soy butter
Mix dry then wet ingredients in the crust. Take half of the crust mixture roll out, line a 9in well greased pie pan. From the filling, mix strawberries and rhubarb. Add half of the strawberry rhubarb mixture to the pie pan and sprinkle with sugar. Repeat with remaining rhubarb mixture and sugar mixture and dot with margarine. Cover with rolled out 2nd half of pie crust and cut slits in the top. Bake for 40-50 minutes until crust is brown and filling begins to bubble. (ours spilled out of the pan, so put a baking sheet under it in the oven just in case.)