Baked Tofu Sandwich, TVP Indian Curry and Banana Split Tea Bread

I made this sandwich last week using delicious baked tofu. Toast some whole grain bread, throw on some Vegenaise, lettuce, tomato and you've got a great lunch. Soy or tempeh bacon and avocado would be great additions as well.


Experimented with TVP chunks again to make this simple indian curry with kale and potatoes. It was so good on jasmine rice. I don't use TVP often so this was a nice treat.


This is the banana split tea bread recipe from Vegan Planet. It's so colorful and has bananas, walnuts, chocolate chips, cherries and coconut (my addition). It baked up beautiful but because of my wonky oven, it was a little underdone even though I checked it with a toothpick and it came out clean! WTH?


Thankfully the underdone bits are more "mushy banana" tasting rather than "uncooked batter" tasting.

Saturday Nibbles.

Baked samosas. Recipe from Vegan Planet. I forgot to photograph the insides! Well, to give you an idea it has mashed orange yams, white potatoes, green peas, curry powder and cayenne.


Eggplant and Walnut Dip from The Greek Vegetarian. Served with carrots and pita crisps.

Sandwich Sandwichy Sandwich...

I was in the mood for a sandwich today but realized I had nothing to put in one! So I flipped open 'Vegan Planet' and turned to my favorite faux tuna salad recipe. It's really good and easy to make with mashed chickpeas, almonds (I used cashews today), nori flakes, celery, scallion, vegan mayo, dijon mustard and sweet relish (my addition!). On toasted multigrain bread smeared with buttery Earth Balance margarine, fresh green leaf and juicy tomato, I was in sandwich heaven.

Sweet Potato Samosa and Cinco de Mayo food.

Today is my day off and I didn't want to waste a chance to cook. I had a large sweet potato to use up so I made baked samosas which were a recipe from 'Vegan Planet'. They are stuffed with mashed sweet potato, peas, onions and seasoned with curry powder and cayenne. I know this is not very "Cinco de Mayo" so I made up for it by making fresh guacamole and chipotle refried bean dip with grilled peppers and onions topped with lettuce, tomato and cool ranch sauce. The ranch is from 'You Won't Believe It's Vegan'. It has pureed tofu in it which I was very wary of at first but after adding some seasonings like taco spices, lemon juice and garlic powder it didn't taste half bad.

Here are the pics. All this food was gobbled up while watching Dodger baseball!


Samosa in a variety of sizes. They were delicious.


Yummy bean dip. Only things missing were jalapeno and olives.


Creamy guacamole made from 2 large avocados.


Oh and I did make something healthy. A mango, orange banana salad.

Dee Da Doo Day...

I'm bored. I know I should be getting to bed early (have to wake up at 6am for jury duty tomorrow!) but I don't feel sleepy. I've been going through old food pictures I took before I started this blog. Some of the yummy dishes I made I almost forgot about! I'd like to share them here with you.


This is Eggplant and Chickpea Kibbeh that I got from a book called "Vegan Planet". This was really good. It has bulgur, tomatoes, eggplant and chickpeas of course. I made a lemony garlic sauce to go with it along with roasted asparagus and boiled potatoes. i have to make this again soon.


Pineapple Tofu. So so awesome. I like to fry up tofu cubes after dipping them in cornstarch and then drowning them in a pineapple sauce. The recipe for the sauce is here.


Oven Herb Roasted Tomato Pasta. Now this looks very plain and almost boring but wow, does it taste good. The recipe is from "The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen".


How did I forget about these Grilled Yuca Tortillas??? Recipe is from Veganomicon. These are so gorgeous. It's mashed up yuca with lime, jalapenos and corn. I've made this a few times with fresh guacamole.


Cashew Coconut Curry Casserole. Wow, I remember this. It was soo rich and so delicious. Recipe is here. It's one of those throw in a baking dish and bake kind of recipes.


Szechuan Noodles. Easy and cheap and yummy. Recipe here.


Sexy Lowfat Vanilla Cupcakes from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World". This book rocks.

Ok now, off to bed. Good night!

Mushroom Curry, Farmstand Grapes and Molasses Raisin Bread Gone Wrong

Last night's supper. Mushroom, Chickpea, Potato Curry made creamy with the addition of soymilk in the sauce. 'Twas Good!


Check out these babies! My mom got them from a friend of hers that visited a farm. Here she is holding them up to be photographed. They are so sweet and most perfect.


This is Vegan Planet's Molasses Raisin Bread which didn't turn out that well for me. My oven was way too hot and I overcooked the poor thing! It was not very moist at all and while it looked beautiful and didn't taste too bad, I was still disappointed. Note to self: Get an oven thermometer!


Inside shot. There is cornmeal in the recipe as well which added a crunch I did not want.

Veggie Enchiladas with Smoky Chipotle Sauce + Coconut Cardamom Carrot Rice Pudding

I like cooking on the weekends as I get to spend more time with my food instead of plopping everything in a pot to be done with it. Today I wanted to make enchiladas and use up all the wonderful produce I got yesterday. These are chock full of red potatoes, cauliflower, red and green peppers, onions and zucchini and covered in a smoky chipotle enchilada sauce. Recipe at end of post.


A boatload of veggies!


Here they are cooked and ready to fill tortillas.


Out of the oven in all it's sauciness.


On my plate, halfway devoured.


Smoky Chipotle Enchilada Sauce

1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 TB chili powder
1-2 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1 14 oz. can crushed roasted tomatoes
3/4 cup water
1 tsp brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion and garlic in some oil until onions get soft. Add spices and stir. Add tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Enchilada Filling

1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 zucchini, chopped into small pieces
1 cup frozen corn
1 1/2 cup cauliflower, chopped
4-5 small red potatoes, chopped into small cubes
3/4 cup water
corn tortillas

1. Heat olive oil in a large pan on high heat and add the onion, red and green peppers and zucchini. Saute for about 5 minutes or until vegetables get soft. Add frozen corn and continue to cook. Onions will start to brown. Remove all vegetables from pan and set aside.

2. In the same pan, add a little olive oil on medium high heat and add in the cauliflower and potatoes. Saute for a few minutes and then add 3/4 cup water. Cover and let cook for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Stir occassionally to keep them from sticking to the pot. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Add first batch of vegetables to the cauliflower and potatoes. Stir to combine and season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

4. Put a layer of sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Steam tortillas and roll up enchiladas with about 2 heaping TB of filling. Place seam side down in baking dish and cover with sauce. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake additional 5 minutes.


Dessert was Vegan Planet's Coconut Cardamom Rice Pudding with grated carrot added to it. It is so delicious both warm or cold.

Another fishy idea: Mock Tuna Salad

Since my last post was about making faux fish, I thought I'd try a different faux fish recipe today. I didn't feel like cooking dinner tonight so I made the 'Tuna Free Sandwich Filling' from Robin Robertson's book Vegan Planet. It reminds me a lot of the mock "chicken" salad I make which basically consists of mashed chickpeas (garbanzo beans), celery, garlic and onion powder, mustard and mayo. This one though has almonds and kelp powder in it which is supposed to lend a fishy flavor. I did not have kelp powder so I substituted flaked seaweed (see note below) which worked very well. I also added sweet relish because it is what my mom always put in my tuna sandwiches (which was pretty much the only kind of fish I liked) as a kid. This makes a very delicious mock tuna salad and I don't miss eating real tuna at all.


First I tried it on crackers. Yum...


Then I made a sandwich with extra mayo and sliced cucumber. Double yum!

Note: To make flaked seaweed, take a nori sheet and pulverize it in the blender!