Author Archives: Melissa

Sep 10 2012
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Raw

Pesto Tofu

Christie and Brent got me a TofuXpress for my birthday and it has changed my life! There are some recipes included in the box and I was immediately intrigued by the Pesto Tofu. This is a great healthy and raw recipe!

Pesto Tofu

1 block firm tofu, pressed in the TofuXpress for at least one hour (I pressed mine overnight)
1/4 cup pesto

The original recipe called for 3 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt, but the tofu was freshly made and I felt it was oily and salty enough as is, so I didn’t add it. It may have helped to make the pesto less clumpy, but I liked the clumps!

I picked some basil from the garden and made my pesto.

Then I cubed my tofu and mixed it with some of the pesto. I tried waiting an hour for the tofu to marinate in the fridge, but I couldn’t wait. So, after 15 minutes, I devoured it with some sliced heirloom tomatoes from the garden, which made it this great sort of vegan caprese dish.

I sprinkled some salt and freshly ground pepper on the tomatoes. A nice drizzle of balsamic vinegar would also be a nice touch!

Yum yum yum! Healthy, raw, delicious, nutritious. I enjoyed this dish a ton! –Melissa

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Sep 05 2012
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Dining Out

Dining Out: Portillo’s

It is surprisingly possibly to enjoy a vegan* meal at Portillo’s without having to resort to a salad. Portillo’s is an awesome spot when you’re in the mood to pig out on hot dogs, burgers, Italian beef, Italian sausage, chili… goodness, I just had gross meat flashbacks.

For dinner tonight, it was either eat something from Portillo’s or eat a rotting tomato. (Okay, it wasn’t that dramatic, but still.) So I tried the Grilled Vegetable Sandwich for the first time ever. Please pardon the poor photo: I ate half the sandwich before I remembered to take a pic!

The grilled veggies in the sandwich include yellow squash, zucchini, portobello mushrooms, red peppers, and red onion, along with fresh tomato. It all comes on a multi-grain focaccia and served with a pickle. I asked them to hold the cheese.

This sandwich was very satisfying! I could barely finish it. I will definitely order it with hot peppers next time. Some fresh basil added to the mix would do wonders for it as well. The veggies and the bread were fresh. It’s definitely a great vegan or vegetarian option.

Thank you for having this on your menu, Portillo’s! –Melissa

*Yeah, the bread probably isn’t vegan. And I had some fries which probably weren’t totally vegan.

Hey, don’t forget about our giveaway! Read this post for all the details and thanks for visiting Turning Veganese. You are awesome!

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Sep 03 2012
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Thoughts

Happy Labor Day from Turning Veganese!

It’s still a holiday in the USA for the next three hours or so (at least in Chicago). I ended up having a laid back, no frills day. In terms of food, I celebrated with some soy curl barbecue which is so easy and fast and delicious!

Speaking of Labor Day and barbecue, I am pretty pleased with myself for surviving summer without eating meat. I have definitely been tempted at times: the aroma that wafts over from backyard barbecues still makes my mouth water. But I made it you guys! I’ve been turning veganese for over nine months now and it’s been… well, it’s been really great, and this blog is a huge part of why going vegan has been fun, exciting, and painless.

Happy Labor Day, wherever you are! –Melissa

Did you hear about our giveaway? Read this post for all the details and thanks for visiting Turning Veganese. You are awesome!

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Sep 01 2012
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Recipes

Easy Bean Salsa

I was craving bean dip but didn’t want something too thick or chunky, so I made some slightly runny bean dip.

 

I gathered the following ingredients and mixed them in a food processor:

1 small tomato, diced
2 cloves garlic
1/2 onion, diced
1 can black beans, drained

I topped it with some diced onion, cilantro, and salsa verde and noshed on it with some tortilla chips.

Easy and delicious! –Melissa

Did you hear about our giveaway? Read this post for all the details and thanks for visiting Turning Veganese. You are awesome!

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Aug 30 2012
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Cooking

Spaghetti and Hot Dogs

You may be thinking, “Isn’t this blog supposed to be about vegan food?” YES! Even non-vegans are grossed out by the idea of hot dogs and spaghetti, but it’s Filipino food gospel. After trying out some vegan frankfurters, I was anxious to use them in one of my childhood favorites. Oh, who am I kidding? I still prefer hot dogs as the protein in my spaghetti as an adult.

Making this dish is easy. All you have to do is add sliced hot dogs to your sauce when you’re heating it. This only works with marinara or other tomato-based pasta sauce (hot dogs and alfredo? yuck!). Clearly, it works with any kind of pasta. I had penne this time around so that’s what I used.

To prep these vegan frankfurters, I removed them from their casing and sliced them. I chopped some onions and garlic to add to the sauce because why not?!

First, I browned the hot dogs with the garlic and onion. Then I added some tomato sauce and Italian seasoning. You can also use your favorite jar of pasta sauce. Mix together and heat it through.

Not only was this tasty, it warmed the heart of my inner child. Spaghetti and hot dogs. Try it! –Melissa

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Aug 28 2012
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Cooking

Adobo Sitaw

We’ve been really lucky with how the backyard garden turned out despite the drought this summer. Right now, we are up to our ears in long beans or sitaw. Check this out!

We often cook these beans adobo-style. It’s tasty, goes well with a lot of other foods, may be eaten hot or cold, and it lasts awhile. It actually gets better the longer it’s been sitting in the fridge. As a bonus, it’s easy to make!

Like with the soy curl adobo, you will base the amount of garlic, soy sauce, and white vinegar that you use on the amount of beans you use. It’s basically a 1:1 ratio of soy sauce and vinegar along with lots and lots of garlic.

Chop the garlic and then combine the soy sauce and vinegar in a bowl and top it with some black pepper. Now, you can either add the garlic to the mixture OR you can saute the garlic with the beans first. My Mom was the chef for this one and she chose the latter approach for this batch.

Once the beans are cooked but still crisp, add the mixture. Mix everything around for a few minutes and then cover and let it simmer. If you want a more soupy dish, add some more soy sauce.

Here’s how it looks about halfway between adding the mixture and the final product. In this instance, let it cook until the beans get wilted.

I devoured this with some rice and a tomato-onion salad. Some pickled peppers gave it a good kick. This is an ultimate comfort food for me. It’s deliciously savory and I’m so glad that it’s vegan as-is. –Melissa

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Aug 25 2012
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Cooking

Perfect Pancakes

I have tried a handful of vegan pancake recipes and they have all been disasters until I decided to try this 5 Minute Vegan Pancakes recipe. I first tried it about one or two months ago. They turned out so well that I really wanted to write about them, but I decided that I better try them again to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.

It wasn’t a fluke.

There is a minimal number of ingredients. In addition, both times I have used this recipe, I didn’t have to do the usual tossing of the first pancake. You know what I’m talking about.

I tweaked the recipe a bit today and used the following ingredients:

1 cup flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour)
1 tbsp turbinado
2 tbsp baking powder
2 tsbp flax meal
pinch of salt
1 cup almond milk (I used soy milk the last time; either is fine)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 c or so of dried blueberries

I mixed all the ingredients in a bowl…

…and then I cooked the pancakes. That’s all there was to it.

Yay! Fluffy vegan pancakes! As you can see, I couldn’t even pause to take a photo before digging in. Actually, I ate the first pancake as soon as it came off the pan. That’s how delicious these are. They’re even better with some maple syrup and a side of tempeh strips.

Next vegan pancake challenge: Swedish pancakes! –Melissa

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Aug 22 2012
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Reviews

Did someone say hot dogs?

I grew up eating processed meats. I would happily eat hot dogs or bologna for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Gross, I know, but my Mom was a food chemist at a meat company and bringing home the product was a benefit of the job. She also analyzed vegan hot dogs and sausages, but would never bring that weird stuff home. She recently mentioned how annoying it was to test vegan “meats” because there was no cholesterol. I could sort of explain why, but she’s the chemist and my layperson translation doesn’t quite make sense to even me right now.

I have been really hesitant to try vegan hot dogs. I’m sure part of it is the annoyance that my mother displayed whenever she had to analyze them. Other than that, I guess I’ve been worried that they won’t taste like the real thing. I decided to take a chance when I saw Field Roast frankfurters at the store.

I’ll admit that I was attracted to Field Roast based solely on the packaging. The hot dogs are individually cased so you get a link of sausages; none of this smushing 8 or 10 links into one space. They also have a variety of interesting flavors like Mexican Chipotle and Smoked Apple Sage. The Frankfurter style look like hot dogs, they smell like hot dogs, they’re easy to cook, and they taste like hot dogs… mostly. They’re spiced really well with a good smoky flavor but a bit too salty for my taste. I wouldn’t say that they taste vegan so much as that they taste like a fancier brand of hot dog (a classy hot dog, if there is such a thing). They have a very solid texture, not chewy or grainy or crumbly.They go really well with ketchup. I tried them with mustard as well, but I found that the saltiness didn’t mix well with the mustard.They are not gluten-free, but they are soy-free.

You can prepare the sausages by boiling or grilling or browning: I opted to brown them since the instructions for boiling called for them to remain in their casing and I wasn’t comfortable boiling the product in its plasticky casing.

Hey, check these guys out! I cut up a handful of these tomatoes from the garden and mixed them with some onion to go with my hot dogs.

The verdict: these frankfurters are good. Not quite wicked good, but good. They’re definitely a great substitute if you find yourself craving a hot dog. I do want to try the other products that Field Roast has to offer, but I came to a conclusion after this meal: I don’t miss hot dogs!

Stay tuned… I have a whole package of this stuff and I am planning to use the rest of it to recreate a couple of my favorite hot dog dishes! –Melissa

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Aug 20 2012
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Main Dishes

Kafta? Kefta? Kofta? All that matters is that it’s vegan!

You may recall that I went to Pita Inn for lunch on my birthday and, while I loved the falafel that I had, I couldn’t help but be a tiny bit envious of my friends and the delicious smelling meat dishes they were eating. So, I made vegan kefta kabob.

Traditional kefta kabob is usually ground beef seasoned with parsley and onion. I substituted with Gimme Lean Ground Beef, and I plan to try it out with seitan and tempeh in the future. The recipe below makes about 2 servings.

Vegan Kefta Kabob

1/2 lb ground “meat”
1/4 onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, roasted and chopped.
1 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
1/4 tsp cumin
pinch of coriander
Sea salt
olive oil (if frying)

I mixed all the ingredients in a bowl and mashed them together. Then I put the mixture in the fridge to sit for about an hour.

I formed the “meat” into small patties. Kefta kabobs are usually put on a skewer and grilled. I thought about putting these in the oven, but opted to fry them since the “meat” is very lean.

I fried them in olive oil for about 3-4 minutes on each side.

I served the kefta with some roasted tomato and onion and dill rice.

The recipe is good enough as is, though I plan to use more garlic and add fresh ground pepper to the mix. I also need to try and replicate the awesome hot sauce from Pita Inn!

I love veganizing my favorites! –Melissa

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Aug 18 2012
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Cooking

Long Beans and Heirloom Tomatoes

Yay! Tomatoes are finally popping up in the garden. We have a nice crop of beautifully colored heirloom tomatoes.

I decided to throw some of these babies in with sauteed long beans.

First, I sauteed about a cup of long beans in olive oil with 2 cloves of minced garlic. Long beans are not meant to be eaten raw, so if you have them, make sure you cook them. They maintain their crunch even if they wilt, if that makes any sense.

I cut up one of the tomatoes. Unlike the other tomatoes that we grow in the garden, these are much more meaty, less juicy, but still sweet and tasty. I love that the tomatoes we grow in our backyard require little to no embellishment to be tasty. You can eat them like apples!

I boiled some penne, coated it in olive oil, and threw in freshly minced garlic, fresh ground black pepper, and nutritional yeast. I topped it off with the cooked beans and the raw tomatoes.

Easy, delicious, nutritious. The only thing missing is a glass of fine wine! –Melissa

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