Pin It I just wanted to mention a very quick lunch staple I make. Despite my fear of cans, it's just too tempting. Full of iron, protein and b-12, it is the perfect lazy lunch. Just pop open a can of chick peas, fry up in a pan with some olive oil, nutritional yeast, garlic salt and paprika and BOOM, your tummy is full. Chick peas are one of the best items that keep a good flavor canned, methinks. Pic to come.

Pin It Well, I had a little Baby Vegan this year, so my extremely infrequent posts became nonexistent. We now have a digital camera (behind the times much?), so I'm excited to finally be able to post some photos. I've also been really behind on my cooking due to a little mini person who takes up ALL my time and does not like me doing anything but tending to his needs, but I've gotten a bit better at it as of late, so here we go. The last couple of things we've enjoyed have been an (almost) 7-layer dip and sweet potato salad. I bought the sweet potatoes because Baby Vegan is starting to eat solids now and that is one of the foods you're supposed to start off with. Well, he hates it so far (sorry, but no pics yet of him covered in orange gunk and flinging it around like a monkey flings poo) but we loved our salad...

Easy (Almost) 7-layer dip

1 package Fantastic Foods Black Beans
1 package Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo
2 medium onions
1 tub Tofutti Sour Cream
1/8 block of Follow Your Heart Cheddar, shredded
3 avocados
lemon juice
garlic salt
jarred salsa
olive oil


Prepare beans as directed on package. Make this your first layer, preferably in a glass baking pan.

Dice onions and fry in olive oil. When translucent, add chorizo and cook through. This is your next layer.

Spread shredded cheese as your next layer. Then add the tub o' 'futti.

Mash avocados and add garlic salt and lemon juice to taste. Spread on top. If ya wanna be fancy, make a nice design in it with yer fork.

Dollop some salsa up on top of it. I used a spicy gourmet chipotle kind from Whole Foods.

Chill and serve with your favorite chip and/or crudite.


Next up....

Cold Sweet Potato Salad

3 lbs. sweet potatoes
2 medium onions
4 tbs lemon juice
paprika
turmeric
salt
olive oil


Peel and cube all potatoes. Bring water to boil in large pot. Add some salt and cubed potatoes. In frying pan, fry up onions in olive oil. When translucent add paprika, turmeric and lemon juice. Drain potatoes. When cool, add onion mixture -- be sure to include oil -- and toss. Chill overnight in a flat glass pan. Sprinkle more paprika on top if desired.

Summer's still here -- enjoy!

Pin It

Usually I try to spend as little as I can on a meal while cutting down preparation time and stuff needed to make it and number of plates and pans and stuff since we have a major budget and a dolhouse-sized little kitchen with no counter space. And no dishwasher, and I really hate washing dishes. We might be moving soon though, to a lovely place with a DISHWASHER and COUNTER SPACE -- so this might all change. Keep ya fingas crossed.

Anyhoo, here is a quick meal I "make" from Trader Joe's. Basically a japanese/macrobiotic-style thang. Basically.

Dumplings with Scrambled Peas and Tofu
1 package trader joe's veggie dumplings (frozen)

1/2 block of tofu

1/4 package TJ's frozen peas
1 - 1/2 chopped onions
Braggs Liquid Aminos to taste
A few pinches of Curry powder (turmeric, etc)
Garlic powder to taste
salt to taste

I follow the directions on the veggie dumpling package and use sesame oil. Last time it worked a bit better where I steamed them, but with a little oil so they don't stick to the steamer pan.

I stir fry the tofu, mashing it right in the pan with the peas and onions. I put the frozen peas in first with some water but basically I fry it all together with some Braggs, curry powder (or turmeric) and salt and garlic powder and it works out just fine. I serve the tofu thing and the dumplings on a plate with a little Bragg's for the dumplings but they didn't really need it. Too tasty.


This other quick and easy meal has a Mexican theme. I used Fantastic Foods' taco filling, which can be bought very cheap elsewhere, esp. outside of this city but I bought last minute at local overpriced health food store, so I paid a little over $2 for it, but I thought it was worth it.

Taco-less tacos featuring avocado salad with corn-on-the-cob

1 box Fantastic Foods taco filling mix
3 or 4 small tomatoes
2 chopped onions
2 avocados
vinegar
olive oil
parsley
Salt and pepper
dash of lemon juice
olives and juice to taste
tons o' garlic (pre-peeled from TJs = EZ)
tomato sauce
2 corns on cob
Guiltless Gourmet chips
Earth Balance margarine.

Chop tomatoes and avocados into bite-sized pieces and in a medium-sized bowl add this mixture to onions, vinegar, oil, parsely, salt, pepper, a small handful of olives, chopped and some olive juice. Mix well, put in fridge.

Make taco filling following box directions, adding some tomato sauce and chopped garlic for added flavor. Use a little more oil than recommended.

I made the corn by boiling for a minute or 2 in a pan. Came out great.

Serve avocado salad OVER the taco filling. Serve corn on side with margarine.
Serve with chips on side.

Pin It One of my main staples has become this vegan omelet. They are sooo delicious and filling! They don't look exactly like a "real" omelet-- but very close!

Tofu Spinach Omelet

1 Block Extra Firm Tofu
1 package frozen spinach
1/4 block of soy cheddar cheeze
Earth Balance
Nutritional Yeast
Turmeric
garlic salt
Paprika (optional)

Grate thawed tofu with large holed side of grater. Gently mix in nutritional yeast, turmeric, garlic salt, and paprika if you like it. Start thawing the spinach in the microwave or however you like. Press tofu mixture into pan greased with Earth Balance. Cook until browned on one side and then flip. Don't worry if the shape doesn't hold - you can re-mold it on this side. At the same time, drain extra water and sautee the spinach with some garlic salt, maybe some fresh garlic in olive oil. Coat the up-facing side of the omelet with spinach and lots o' grated soy cheeze. When the other side is browned, fold omelette in half, flip, and remove when soy cheeze seems melted and everything is solidified.

This is SOOO good!

Pin It We had the best salad at a Greek restaurant at Coney Island a few years ago with some hot, delicious bread -- and have been eating this simple, refreshing dish ever since:

Shepherd's Salad
2 large tomatoes
1 large cucumber
1 green bell pepper
3/4 of a large red onion
Olive oil to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
mint to taste
lemon juice to taste (very important also)

Chop all the veggies into bite-sized pieces and mix thoroughly in a big bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Put in fridge for as long as you can stand, stirring juice all over the veggies occasionally.

We NEVER have leftovers of this. Not a drop.


Last nite I made pasta salad. It came out pretty good, and a really endless supply for not much money.

Amazing Italian Pasta Salad
1/2 box of rotini pasta - tricolore is good
3/4 box of grape tomatoes (these were SO sweet)
1/2 a green pepper
1 large red onion
2 cucumbers
1/2 jar of artichoke hearts w/some juice
handful of olives w/some juice
4 veggie dogs (Yves), sliced
8 sun dried tomatoes
3/4 bag of dried chickpeas (or a couple of cans of chickpeas but I try to avoid cans)


Soak chickpeas overnight or do quick soak as detailed on package (i did this). If you do quick soak, give yourself about 3-4 hours to make this dish.
Boil chickpeas for 2 minutes and turn down heat. Cook for 1 hour or until you can mash a couple with a fork.
Boil pasta, drain and shower in cold water.
Chop all veggies and combine in a big bowl. Boil hot doggies, slice up, and add. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, garlic and salt. Pour over the mixture and add vinegar. You can add some olive juice and artichoke-heart juice too. I added a lot of basil and oregano for an Italian flavor. Add pasta and get the sauce all over.
Keep in fridge for a few hours. Enjoy. Delish. And we had it for lunch and dinner the next day. And then there were chickpeas left that I didn't use, which I just had for lunch combined with some of the original ingredients (no pasta). Fabu.