MMMM, Fried "Chicken" Seitan

I'll be making this again.



I mostly followed this recipe from veganyumyum (i heart that blog).

Awesome Orange Chicken Style Tofu

So easy to make, and you don't even have to have all the ingredients listed. You can pretty much replace any of the vegetables with some other vegetable you have on hand, like bell peppers or asparagus.



Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 block extra firm tofu, drained and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 smallish eggplant, chopped
Mushrooms, chopped
2 green onions, minced (just use regular onion if you don't have them)
1/2 C shredded cabbage
Carrots, chopped in long little pieces
Salt
Pepper

Sauce:
3 TBSP orange juice
2 TBSP lemon juice
2 TBSP vinegar
4 TBSP light soy sauce
1/2 C brown sugar (reduced a little bit if you don't like it too sweet, i just don't pack the sugar very firmly when measuring)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 TBSP Cornstarch mixed with 2 TBSP water

I also like to add ~1 tsp of this Asian chile thing that I got from a Chinese market but I have no idea what it's called because the label is all in Chinese. It has chili flakes and peanuts and it's in oil. Really yummy.



Directions:
1, If you have a nonstick pan that actually works toss the tofu in the pan on medium heat and cook until the water disappears. this is way easier than having to press the tofu and drain all the water out. As soon as the water is gone add some olive oil and then add the eggplant and garlic. If you have a crappy nonstick pan just add the oil first and try to get as much water out of the tofu as possible and hope it doesn't splatter and burn you.
2. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Once eggplant is almost done add the rest of the ingredients.
4. While that cooks, take a smaller pan and add the sauce ingredients (except the cornstarch mixture) to pan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and add the cornstarch mixture while stirring. Once it gets as thick as you want it, take it off the heat.
5. Add sauce to the tofu and serve with rice. I think the sweetness goes well with a side of plain edamame.

Tofu Ceviche!

Yum! This recipe is super easy and it tastes good...it tastes like what I think I remember the real thing tasting like. :) I found the recipe for this online, but I changed a few things to make it yummier. :)



Ingredients:
One package extra firm tofu, chopped and marinated in my crazy homemade Worcestershire sauce.
Tomatoes, cut into little cubes
Cilantro, chopped
Red onion
Salt
A ton of lemon juice (I use meyer lemons from my backyard)
[You could also toss some chopped up green chile if you're into that.]
[I've also made it with chopped up radishes.]

My crazy homemade Worcestershire sauce Ingredients*
1/2 C apple cider vinegar (any kind of vinegar will do though)
1/4 C water
1 C orange juice
4 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp pepper

*The original tofu ceviche recipe said to marinate all the tofu with 2 tablespoons of vegan Worcestershire sauce.... How are you supposed to marinate all that tofu with 2 tablespoons??? you need at least a cup of sauce to cover it completely and that's a lot of Worcestershire sauce ...which of course I don't have, so I googled a recipe for the Worcestershire sauce and made some modifications to it ...because I didn't have the proper ingredients for it of course! I finally bought the proper ingredients for the sauce and I decided my version was much better, so maybe this doesn't taste like WS, but it tastes good on the tofu, so there.

Here's what you do:
1. Take a package of extra firm tofu and squeeze as much water as you can out of it then slice into small cubes. I like to wrap the tofu in a couple of paper towels and then wrap it with a cloth towel and pile plates on top of that.
2. While tofu is being pressed, mix all of the stuff for the crazy homemade Worcestershire sauce together in a small pan and stir thoroughly. One it starts to boil you reduce the heat and simmer for a minute and then take it off the heat.
3. Toss the sauce on top of the tofu and let it marinate in the fridge for half an hour or so.
4. Afterwards, spread the tofu out onto a baking sheet covered in a nonstick mat type thing or parchment paper. Don't get a lot of sauce on there because it will just burn. Put in 350 degree oven for half an hour, mixing halfway through the cooking.
5. Meanwhile slice up all your veggies and squeeze a lot of lemon juice.
6. When tofu is done toss it in your bowl of veggies and lemon juice and salt and put it in the fridge for a few hours.
7. Eat with some tostadas.

So...

I have far too much time on my hands lately... and I thought it would be interesting (to me, anyway) to take pictures of everything I ate for one whole day. But I forgot/got too lazy to get the camera after breakfast. So here is a picture of Friday's breakfast:



Tofu scramble (loosely based off of this recipe), peruano beans, romaine lettuce, avocado slices, a strip of Morningstar's bacon, ketchup, a slice of toasted whole wheat bread, and orange juice. It was yummy.

"Simple Apple Yogurt Cake"

I was craving a cheese danish a few nights ago so I hopped on the internet and searched for yummy vegan danish recipes. Then I found out that they took forever to make and I wanted sweetness now, but luckily I found a different recipe to satisfy my bread craving. I made what Susan, from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen, calls a "Simple Apple Yogurt Cake." But of course I was missing half of the ingredients so I made a bunch of substitutions, but it came out okay. I wasn't too crazy about how I could taste the brandy (the recipe actually called for rum, but I had none so I figured brandy was kinda the same thing...). I also ended up replacing the apple sauce with mashed bananas, the apple juice with soy milk, the plain soy yogurt with regular strawberry yogurt, and I skipped the raisins altogether because yuck.

Here's a picture:

Not much to look at, I know. The white patches, in case you are confused, are apple slices. I probably wouldn't make it again, but my Mom liked it and said I should. Hmm.

EDIT: I MADE THIS FOR EASTER, WITH THE SAME MODIFICATIONS AS BEFORE EXCEPT I ACTUALLY USED PLAIN YOGURT THIS TIME. I ALSO USED SOME WATER+SOY MILK IN PLACE OF THE APPLE JUICE. IT WAS MUCH BETTER. :)

Pizza!

I made 2 whole wheat pizzas and they were yummy. I'm really happy with the pizza dough recipe I've been using lately: Amazing Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
It's easy and it tastes good.

My sister is in love with Papa John's pizza, but I think it sucks because they put like 3 little pieces of bell pepper on it! Lame! I put a ton of veggies on mine. Yellow and green bell peppers, mushrooms, olives, tomato slices, onions, and small pieces of "pepperoni" seitan.



Pepperoni recipe story:
A few weeks ago I went crazy and decided to make two different kinds of pot stickers, veggie stuffed and "meat" stuffed. Well, I've been into making a ton of food so that I can freeze it and have insta-meals the next time I'm feeling lazy. :) So I made double the seitan that the pot sticker recipe called for and tossed it in the freezer. For the "pepperoni" I thawed and chopped the seitan and poured a little bit of soy sauce on them...and voilà instant pepperoni!