BBQ Tofu Scramble

I absolutely love barbecue sauce! Even when I ate meat (a looooong time ago), I really just liked the sauce. These days I will dip fries in it or make vegan barbecue sandwiches (see BBQ Sandwiches Two Ways), or order vegan barbecue pizza to get my fix.

On one of my recent shopping trips, I picked up some hickory-smoked tofu without thinking twice. I really had no idea what to do with it until yesterday, when I decided a smoky tofu scramble sounded really good. Then I thought it should be a barbecue tofu scramble...and I took a peek through the fridge to see what would go well. Luckily, I had some frozen corn, onions, and mushrooms on hand, and today this scramble was born.

Notes:  If you can't find smoked tofu, try adding smoked salt instead of regular or add some liquid smoke. This recipe is gluten-free as long as you choose a gf barbecue sauce and use a gf tortilla if making a wrap.

BBQ Tofu Scramble
Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
1 small onion (any kind is fine), diced
1/2 lb. white button or cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 cups corn (I used frozen)
1 lb. smoked tofu, drained and crumbled into bite-sized chunks
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
cayenne, to taste (optional)
vegan barbecue sauce (such as Organicville — I used half a bottle of their Original BBQ Sauce)
neutral-flavored oil, such as canola, for cooking

Directions:
Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat with a little bit of oil. (I highly recommend using a cast-iron skillet if you have one.) Once the skillet is nice and hot, throw in the onion and saute until translucent. Reduce the heat to medium. Next, add the mushrooms, corn and tofu and continue to cook another 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until everything is heated through.

Add salt, pepper, cayenne (if you like a little heat) and enough barbecue sauce to coat everything. Stir until scramble is evenly coated with sauce and continue to cook another minute or two until the sauce is hot. Serve with additional barbecue sauce or hot sauce, if desired. Serve it as a main dish, side dish, or wrap the scramble in a tortilla for a BBQ breakfast burrito.

BBQ Tofu Scramble

Chipotle Black-Eyed Pea Hummus

Don't worry! I haven't abandoned my blog...it's just been a while. I haven't had anything to post, since I've been busy with the holidays and have been spending time enjoying my new cookbooks. It never matters how many cookbooks I already have...I will always buy more ;-)

I've been craving both hummus and black-eyed peas for a while now, so I thought it would be an awesome idea to combine the two...and awesome it IS! It's a little spicy, a little smoky and a little nutty (from the tahini). It's everything I've ever wanted in a dip, and my hubby agrees.

I've seen a few different methods for getting a nice creamy hummus, but this is the only way that really works for me. Using a food processor to puree the peas before adding any liquids helps make the hummus nice and smooth. If you don't have a food processor, a blender will probably do. I like thick hummus, but you can add a little water to thin it if needed, although it might dilute the flavor. Be sure to store the hummus in the fridge and use it up within a week.

Chipotle Black-Eyed Pea Hummus
Makes about 4 cups

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked black-eyed peas (or use two 15 oz. cans, drained and rinsed)
2 large chipotle peppers (I used canned chipotle en adobo), seeds removed and minced
4 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
a pinch of cayenne, or more to taste (optional)
2/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil 
a small handful of cilantro leaves (stems can get stringy, so I wouldn't recommend adding them)
smoked paprika for garnish

Directions:
Place black-eyed peas, chipotle peppers, garlic, sea salt, cumin and cayenne in a food processor. Process until smooth, pushing down the sides with a spatula as needed. Add tahini, lemon juice and olive oil to food processor and process until smooth. Add cilantro leaves and process until cilantro is chopped and mixed in but not totally pureed. Store hummus in the fridge until ready to serve and sprinkle with smoked paprika just before serving.

Chipotle Black-Eyed Pea Hummus

Herbed Mushroom Pâté

I have been obsessed lately with finding the perfect vegan pâté recipe. I used to buy mushroom pâté at World Market, but the brand I liked no longer seems to be available. Although there are vegan pâté recipes galore, I really wanted to create my own recipe using similar ingredients to the pâté I used to buy and herbs that specifically complement the mushroom flavor.

This pâté is really easy to make and is great for dipping. I like to serve it with Ritz-style round crackers.The truffle oil gives it a really strong, mushroom-y flavor. However, after a couple days, the truffle flavor mellows and lets the herbs shine through.

Herbed Mushroom Pâté
Makes about 3 cups

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 of a small yellow onion, coarsely chopped
10 oz. cremini mushrooms
1/2 tsp. dried tarragon
1/2 tsp. dried dill
1 small potato, peeled, diced and cooked until soft (boiled or steamed)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon truffle oil
1 tablespoon red wine
1 tablespoon Bragg's liquid aminos (or tamari)
black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:
Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, saute onion for a few minutes until it is soft. Add mushrooms, tarragon and dill, then continue to cook until mushrooms expunge their juices. Remove from heat. Combine mushroom mixture and remaining ingredients except parsley in a food processor or blender. Process/blend until smooth. Add the parsley and pulse a few times to mix in parsley). Spread pâté into an appropriately-sized dish and chill for 2 hours before serving. Garnish with parsley, if desired, and serve with crackers.

Herbed Mushroom Pâté

TLT Salad with Caramelized Onions

 

One of the weird parts about being vegan is that I find vegan versions of things to be better than the original. For example, bacon and ranch dressing were things I didn't care for as an omnivore, but now I LOVE the vegan versions! This salad was inspired by my love for tempeh "bacon," and it makes a great lunch salad (like I had today). Is it healthy? Many would say "no." Is it delicious? Oh YES!

The amounts listed for each ingredient are estimated based on what I put in today's salad but feel free to use whatever amounts suit you.

TLT Salad with Caramelized Onions

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped red onion

3 long strips of tempeh bacon (prepackaged or homemade), coarsely chopped
oil for cooking
about 4-5 large leaves of red leaf lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
ranch dressing (I like Follow Your Heart's vegan ranch)
1 medium tomato, cut into quarters or bite-sized chunks

Directions:
Heat a skillet with a reasonable amount of oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions and cook for around 5 minutes until onions are starting to brown. Add the tempeh and cook for a few more minutes until the tempeh pieces are browned and a little crispy. Now assemble the salad: place lettuce in bowl, top with dressing, tomato chunks and finally, the onion-tempeh mixture. Best enjoyed right away while the onions and tempeh are still warm.

TLT Salad with Caramelized Onions

(Almost) Everything Cleaner

Making your own vinegar cleaning spray is ridiculously easy and WAY cheaper than any cleaning products you can buy. At first I only used it for cleaning windows and mirrors, since diluted vinegar will clean glass without any streaks. However, I recently found out via Pinterest that using a diluted vinegar spray on fresh produce will remove 98% of the bacteria (see article on NPR). Now I use this handy homemade glass cleaner on fresh produce, as a cleaning spray for counter tops and other hard surfaces, and of course, to clean glass.

If you don't already make your own vinegar cleaning spray, I would highly recommend it. It's totally safe and environmentally-friendly (unlike many commercial cleaning products). It's also important to realize that many commercial products test on animals, so by making your own, you avoid the cruelty. If you are interested in even more ways to naturally clean your home, you can find lots of tips at Eartheasy.

What you need:
1 spray bottle (dedicated for this purpose only — do not reuse spray bottles from commercial products because it could contaminate your cleaner)
funnel, optional but handy
1 part distilled white vinegar
3 parts water
(Amounts of vinegar and water will vary based on spray bottle size. I usually mix 1/4 cup vinegar with 3/4 cup water for my small spray bottle.)

What to do:
Combine 1 part vinegar with 3 parts water in your spray bottle, using funnel if needed. Gently shake to combine. If using for produce, spray fruits or veggies with a few squirts to coat them. You may want to rub or scrub veggies to remove any dirt or residues. Rinse with fresh water.

(Almost) Everything Cleaner

Kale and Strawberry Salad with Fruity Balsamic Dressing

My mother-in-law and father-in-law gave us a big bag of kale (if you guys are reading this, thank you!!) so I've decided to give massaged kale salads a try! I've added kale to salads before but never wanted to eat a salad where kale is the only green...until I found out about massaged kale. Lightly oiling your hands and giving the kale a good rub-down will make it tender, but it won't lose its texture. I've created a slightly sweet and tangy, fruity maple balsamic vinaigrette for the dressing using fig orange balsamic vinegar. If you can't find fig orange balsamic vinegar, feel free to substitute another fruit balsamic vinegar or even plain balsamic. Same goes for the strawberries — if they're not in season, substitute another fruit, such as pear or apple. Wanna go wild? Throw in some chopped candied pecans, cashews or almonds instead of the slivered almonds. After all, eating your greens should be fun!

Kale and Strawberry Salad
Serves 2 as a side salad or 1 for a bigger salad

Ingredients:
a few drops of extra virgin olive oil for massaging kale
3-4 medium-sized leaves of curly kale, washed
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fig orange balsamic vinegar, or other fruity balsamic vinegar
1-2 teaspoons maple syrup (start with 1 teaspoon and add more if you want a sweeter dressing)
1/8 teaspoon dijon mustard
a few cracks of freshly ground black pepper and sea salt, or to taste
4 strawberries, hulled and cut into quarters
1 tablespoon slivered almonds

Directions:
Tear kale into bite-sized pieces or chop into smaller pieces if desired and place in a medium-sized bowl. Next, oil your hands and massage the kale for 30 seconds to a minute, until kale turns bright green and feels tender. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, pepper and salt. Drizzle dressing over kale and toss until evenly coated. Divide kale into two servings if using as a side salad or put it in a big bowl for a single serving. Top each salad with strawberries and slivered almonds.

Kale and Strawberry Salad with Fruity Balsamic Dressing

Vegans are good for the environment!

Although I originally went vegan for health and animal rights reasons, I'm still really happy that a vegan diet has such a large impact on my carbon footprint. In case you haven't seen it already, here's an awesome infographic from CulinarySchools.org! (Click the image to see the full-sized version which is too wide for my poor little blog.)


Infographic by CulinarySchools.org

Vegans are good for the environment!