Author Archives: Melissa

Jan 14 2012
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Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Tofu and Vegetables in Garlic Sauce

Today is my Dad’s birthday. My Mom planned a feast… a feast of nothing vegan. Ribs. Pork chops. Upo cooked with ground meat. Baked catfish. Pancit with chicken (and using chicken broth). Tofu and Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce. Even that last item wasn’t vegan. So, I asked if I could cook the tofu myself, using an easy vegan recipe that I found online as my guide. (Psssstt… check out this blog from Jes, who wrote the recipe. It’s amazing.)

Ingredients:
1 pound extra firm tofu
2 bunches Chinese broccoli (try with other veggies or a mix of veggies–carrots, regular broccoli,  baby corn, bok choy…)
1/3 cup safflower or olive oil
1 tbsp sesame oil (optional)

Sauce Ingredients:
2 cups vegetable broth
1/3 cup soy sauce
4 or 5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp corn starch

Fist, make the sauce. Bring the vegetable broth to a boil and then add the soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and sugar. Stir the mixture together. When it’s heated through and combined, remove from heat and set aside.

 

Prepare your tofu. Cut it as you wish: I cut mine into cubes. Prepare your vegetables. I cut the broccoli stems into 1″ or so pieces but left the leaves whole. If you’re using Chinese broccoli, separate the stems and leaves into two groups since it will take longer for the stems to cook.

They look like little marshmallows!

Heat the oil in a wok and add the tofu. When the tofu has been browned, add the broccoli stems. Once the stems are cooked–easily stabbed by a fork but still crisp–make another hole and add the leaves and florets.

 

Once the leaves/florets are wilted, reduce the heat a bit, and add the sauce. Mix everything together. Make a hole in the pan and then add the corn starch to thicken the sauce. Once the sauce is of desired consistency, remove from heat. Serve the dish with rice or grain of your choice (I opted for a brown rice/quinoa mix).

This recipe is so cheap and easy, as well as a great way to enjoy Chinese food without wondering if that vegetable dish you ordered is really vegan. I’m also happy to report that the dish ended up being a hit with our guests today. –Melissa

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Jan 09 2012
3 Comments
Cooking, Thoughts

NEWSFLASH: I Love to Cook!

I have learned a lot about myself since changing my lifestyle. One of them is this: I love to cook. Food is so much a part of our lives, yet it amazes me how many of us take cooking for granted. Ingredients and what you put into your body are important. Just as important is how those foods are cooked or prepared.

Thanks in large part to Christie, I knew that going vegan would mean getting into the habit of cooking. Here is an exercise for anyone who is a carnivore or even a vegetarian: pick your top three favorite restaurants and look through the menu for items that are truly vegan. Now cross out any that are salads. You likely are left with zero options (excluding those that you can substitute or from which you can remove ingredients, such as cheese). Restaurants are no longer as fun to go to, and I have found myself eating a LOT of potatoes–none mashed nor baked.

Cooking more often has opened my eyes to many new things and has made me more creative. Adding balsamic or red wine vinegar can bring out flavors in simple dishes. Garlic does wonders. There is more than one way to cook broccoli or cauliflower or beans. Recipes don’t need to be followed to the letter.

I am at a place now where I lament not having time to cook, or not having certain ingredients around the house to play with. The act of cooking a vegan meal is just as satisfying as eating the meal itself. I have dabbled with the idea of learning new skills such as painting or music or sewing. Now, I am looking into taking a cooking class, specifically a chopping or knife class, which is a skill I know I will put to good and practical use. I even want to start baking, which is major for me. The best part? I see how my cooking skills are improving. Few things in life are better than the empirical knowledge that you are getting better at something.

I used to be a lazy cook. Making an omelette was as adventurous as I would get. I am so happy that I have embraced cooking. Anyone who is committed to being vegan or vegetarian should make time to cook. We all gotta eat, right? You won’t be sorry and it will help you stay true to your lifestyle.

Looking forward to sharing more recipes and cooking adventures with you! –Melissa

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Jan 03 2012
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Main Dishes, Recipes

Tofustek!

When I first thought about starting a vegan-centric blog, I was going to focus on veganizing Filipino dishes. Filipino food isn’t necessarily heavy on meat: my mom can give you a lecture on how she rarely ate meat as a girl growing up in the Philippines. I should ask her to write it down and post it here. Oh, I digress. One of the Filipino dishes that I knew I would really miss is bistek or beef steak. It’s basically meat and onions so how can you possibly veganize it and make it similar to the real thing?

Duh. Tofu is the solution to my bistek problem. However, I still have issues with tofu texture and taste. There is just no getting away from that tofu taste. Anyway, I had leftover tofu in the fridge and decided to try making it into Tofustek! (exclamation point is required). I am 99% happy with the result. It still needs something, but here is the basic recipe with which we can tinker.

1 block extra firm tofu
1/4 c soy sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice or calamansi juice if you’ve got it
1 medium onion, sweet vidalia recommended but any onion will do
ground black pepper
olive oil or safflower oil (my new favorite cooking oil, will post about it soon!)

Double up on the soy sauce and lemon juice if you like your dishes to be more soupy, and use more or less onion if you wish.

1. Slice the tofu into mini-steaks or into chunks — whatever you like! Put the tofu in a shallow bowl or dish so that you only have one layer of it, if possible.

2. In a bowl, mix together the soy sauce and lemon. Taste a drop of it to make sure it’s a flavor you like. If it’s too sour, add a bit more soy sauce. If you can’t taste the lemon or calamansi, add a bit more. Once it’s mixed, sprinkle in some black pepper.

3. Pour the sauce over the tofu, taking care to coat each piece. Let it sit for awhile to marinade. Five minutes or so should be plenty of time.

4. While the tofu is marinading, slice your onion into rings and set aside.

5. Heat up your pan and add oil. Brown the tofu. IMPORTANT: Do NOT add any of the sauce! Some will obviously find its way into the pan, but try to make it as dry as possible.

6. After the tofu is browned, remove it from the pan and place it in a bowl or container, preferably the container in which you plan to serve or store the dish.

7. Add a bit more oil to the pan and then throw in your onions. Brown until they are wilted, or earlier if you like your onions a bit more crisp. Then, add the sauce and remove from heat. Careful: it’s gonna sizzle.

9. Top the tofu with the onions and sauce.

Serve Tofustek! with white rice or your favorite grain. Goes well with steamed or broiled Chinese eggplant, or with salted fresh tomatoes. Tofustek! is not quite as delicious as bistek, but it’s a great vegan alternative and super easy to make.

Enjoy! And may you have a Happy New Year! – Melissa

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Dec 26 2011
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Desserts, Recipes

Raw Cheesecake Experiment #2: OH YES

Remember Raw Cheesecake Experiment #1? I finally found the time and motivation to try making another raw cheesecake. Having learned a lot from my first attempt at making the cheesecake, I made adjustments to both the recipe and technique for my second attempt.

Raw ‘Cheese’cake: Part Deux

Crust
8 dates, pits removed
3/4 cup pecans
unsweetened coconut flakes (optional)
pinch of salt

Filling
3 cups raw cashews, soaked for 3 hours
1/3 cup lemon juice
2/3 cup agave nectar — I used raw organic agave nectar this time
2/3 cup coconut oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup water
unsweetened coconut flakes (optional but highly recommended, OH MY GOODNESS)
chocolate chips (optional)

On the day you are making the cheesecake, measure out your cashews and soak them in a big bowl. Rinse the nuts: I filled the bowl with water, let it sit for a minute, poured the water out and repeated that 3 times until the water was a little cleaner. I did this a couple more times over the three hours I had them soaking.

A little before the three hour mark, I measured out my pecans and then dropped my jar of coconut oil in a bowl with hot water. I popped the dates in the microwave for about 10 seconds so that I could easily get the pits out with my hands. I don’t think it’s necessary to soften them at all since that probably makes them more sticky and more difficult to deal with in the food processor.

To make the crust, stick all the pecans in the food processor and chop up those suckers. This is important. Once you add your dates, you’re basically screwed out of getting good-sized pecan bits. Once the pecans are in tiny little pieces, go ahead and process the dates. When you’re *almost* close to having it to desired texture, add a pinch of salt.  When your crust mixture is done, get your cheesecake pan and sprinkle some coconut flakes evenly on the bottom of it. Then, smash your mixture in there. One thing to note — I will probably use a cup of pecans next time.

Now, the fun part. I used a blender for the filling again. I think I’ll try using a food processor for my next attempt. Anyway, drain the cashews. The blending method this time was to add a cup of cashews, add a liquid, add a cup of cashews, add a liquid, etc. It’s odd… I got frustrated because the cashews were just not breaking down into a creamy consistency, but (like the last time I made this) things seemed to magically get to a point where all the chunks were gone and I had my creamy nut filling. Mix about 1/4 cup of coconut flakes into the mixture if you desire.

Once your filling is ready, pour it into the pan. I poured it in about halfway and then decided to add some chocolate chips midway through. I found these mini chips at Whole Foods: they are dairy, nut, & soy free and are very delicious. Highly recommend! I also highly recommend that you be much more generous with the chocolate chips than I was. Next time, I’m seriously going to make it a layer of chocolate chips instead of this sorry sprinkle. Where was I now? Oh, yes. Pour the rest of the mixture into the pan and then even out the top.

‘Tis the season, so I thought it would be cute to decorate the top with chocolate chips in the shape of a snowflake. I clearly failed in my attempt. I stuck the cheesecake in the freezer to set for about 2 hours after which I placed it in the fridge.

Yummmm… this version turned out great! I think using pecans for the crust, adding the coconut flakes, and decreasing the lemon juice amount really made a difference. I cannot wait to try this out with some fruit or with a ton more chocolate chips. And I love that I can still brag that this is vegan, gluten-free, and soy-free!

Hope you’re enjoying the holidays. Don’t forget to eat lots of veggies! –Melissa

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Dec 18 2011
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Dining Out

When the best things on the table are vegan

More confession time: I ate chicken for dinner last night. It was Day 1 in Orlando, and we went to a place called Pio Pio on International Drive for dinner. I didn’t take any pictures because I knew I was going to have meat, and I didn’t think I would have anything to say about it on this here blog. Boy, was I wrong! Thank goodness for other pictures on the Internet. Hope no one minds if I use them here (blah blah DISCLAIMER blah blah THESE ARE NOT MY OWN PHOTOS blah blah WILL TAKE THEM DOWN IF YOU REQUESTED BY THE OWNER).

Let me first say that the chicken, if you’re into that sort of thing, is definitely worth writing home about. But the real star of the evening were the ripe plantains. I’ve had plantains at other restaurants and at home, but these are by far the BEST I have had outside of ones freshly made at home. Oh my gosh, I need to wipe the drool off my chin after just thinking about them. This photo does NOT do it justice! The rice and beans were amazing as well. They don’t skimp on the garlic and seasoning.

One of the other really amazing side dishes that we ordered was boiled cassava (yuca) cooked with garlic and onions. You could smell the garlic in the steam. The yuca was fresh–I would love to try and replicate this at home, but the quality of the yuca makes a big difference, and there’s maybe a week out of the year that we can find yuca this fresh in Chicago.

Between the rice, cassava, plantains, beans, and accompanying sauces (a very spicy salsa verde and a very tasty garlic aioli), I could have had a delicious and very satisfying vegan dinner. There’s a lesson here: think outside the meat on the menu! Check out the side dishes. And while yuca and plantains aren’t anything new to me, I think it warrants saying that you should try new things.

Other notes on the restaurant… I had a glass of sangria that was really sweet and tasty. The food came out really fast and the servers were very attentive with refills and by checking in on us. Their homemade juice drinks seemed to be just as popular as their sangria. We noticed quite a few people getting takeout. There is a lot on the menu including several other side dishes and many vegan options overall.

Do you have any restaurant stories from a vegan perspective that you would like to share? Click on the Contact page to get in touch with us! As for me, I’m looking forward to three more days of vacation and more food stories to share. Wish me fun! –melissa

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Dec 16 2011
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Thoughts

I’m hungry.

Before I get into the “meat” of this post, I want to give a big THANK YOU to everyone who has read the blog. I started the blog as a diary of sorts, a way to keep myself honest, and to document my cooking adventures and recipes. I’m so excited that Christie and Brent are sharing their recipes and stories as well. Finally, I am pleasantly surprised and so grateful for all the encouragement and support that I have been getting from friends and strangers. THANK YOU!

One of the challenges of being vegetarian or vegan is ensuring that you get enough nutrients. Allow me to make a callback to my post on Twizzlers: there are a lot of yummy vegan options out there, and I could probably go a day eating nothing but Twizzlers, but it’s not good for me and I’m likely to pass out.

I use an app called MyFitnessPal (introduced to me by Christie, natch!) and I love it because you can track with your iPhone, iPod Touch, or online at http://www.myfitnesspal.com. As long as I stay honest, the app helps a LOT in keeping track of not only total calorie intake per day, but carbs, fat, and protein as well. I have found it really useful since changing up my diet. Mainly, I try and make sure I meet my protein quota. Small changes such as replacing white rice with brown rice or quinoa have helped a lot in that regard. As a bonus, it’s reduced my carb intake, which used to make up most of my daily diet.

There are still challenges, though. I realized today that I have only eaten breakfast once in the several days. Now, allow me to make a confession here: I have had a horrible week of turning veganese. In the past few days, I have had a hot dog, chicken, pork, pizza, cheese, and bacon. My reason or excuse is that I have been so busy with work and life this past week and haven’t had time to cook. I am generally able to have healthy snacks throughout the day; that didn’t happen this week. I needed and craved meals that were hot, fast, and convenient.

I clearly need a strategy for making sure I eat well and eat vegan no matter what the situation is. What staples should I have on hand? What are quick, easy, and single serving meals I can cook? What frozen or pre-packaged meals/snacks are good to keep at work when I don’t have time to get away from my desk? How can I change up my breakfast options? How should I change my grocery shopping habits? These are just some of the things I will need to figure out if I’m going to be successfully vegan.

The next few days will be really fun for me: I’ll be on vacation for five days. I expect that half my meals will be bought at a restaurant and the other half I will be able to cook. Will I be vegan throughout the vacation? I have no idea. I’m going to try! And I’m looking forward to sharing my dining and cooking experiences with you.

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Dec 11 2011
4 Comments
Recipes

A Breakfast Date With Quinoa

I am entering week 5 of going vegan, and it is just now that I am starting to really miss the convenience and ease of making eggs for breakfast. Tofu scrambles are a fine alternative, but I was fresh out of tofu this morning and felt mild depression at the thought of having plain toast or fruit. Christie posted a recipe for Quinoa Pudding a few months ago on her Facebook page and I thought today would be the perfect day to try it out. I had to get creative, though, because I was missing one of the key ingredients. So, here is my variation on Christie’s original quinoa pudding recipe.

1 cup quinoa
2 cups almond milk
6-8 dates, pits removed
walnuts (optional)
water

Rinse the quinoa well and cook. I won’t get much more specific here since I cook quinoa in a rice cooker… follow the directions on the package. Using a rice cooker also allowed me to do everything else without having to keep an eye on the quinoa.

You may want to soften the dates before you start the next step: I took 7 dates, warmed them in a shallow bowl with some water for about 20 seconds to soften them, and then I removed the pits. Using a food processor or blender, mix together the dates and almond milk until smooth. I only had one 8 oz package of almond milk, so I added a 1/2 cup of water into the mix. The mixture was really sweet as-is, so I didn’t add any sweeteners.

Add the mixture to the cooked quinoa. Stir gently over medium heat until it’s creamy, about 10 minutes.

While it’s heating up, take a handful of crushed walnuts and then added it to the mix if you’d like. I used the bottom of a glass to crush the walnuts I had.

Remove from heat and eat it warm!  I wish I had more almond milk so that it would have come out more creamy. My Dad had some and added some regular milk to it (I grew up adding evaporated milk to my oatmeal). Sprinkle cinnamon or add raisins to make it more fun.

P.S. I was never a fan of dates, which may explain why I am still single… oh, wait. Wrong blog. I was never a fan of dates until I started using them in recipes. Now, I sort of love them!

If you’ve got vegan breakfast recipes or ideas that you’d like to share, head on over to the contact page and let us know! Til then, happy cooking. –Melissa

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Dec 08 2011
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Recipes

Eggplant is My Savior

This post was supposed to be about my first experience with tempeh. I was going to tell you all about the delicious tempeh tacos I made. So, what happened? Mold happened. Gross, gross mold. All over my tempeh. I was pretty darn disappointed, but I didn’t want to cave in and eat something non-vegan. Thankfully, there was roasted eggplant in the fridge. I thought about making eggplant tacos instead, but I was just darn hungry. Using some of the other things I found in my fridge, I came up with  Eggplant Tapenade on Baguette Surprise.

There are three basic ingredients in ETBS: olive tapenade, roasted Chinese eggplant, and baguette. I had store-bought green olive tapenade. It’s TASSOS brand and it’s vegan and all-natural. “Roasting” an eggplant in my house basically means sticking it in the broiler and then removing the skin. Easy peasey. First things first. Cut the baguette to your liking and stick it in the oven or toaster oven. I do this because the bread gets more toasty as it cools off and I do want it to be cooled off before I stick the eggplant surprise on it.

Cut up the eggplant and add a tablespoon or so of the tapenade. If the eggplant is roasted to limpy-ness, it should be easy to mash with a fork. Mix it together. I didn’t add anything to the mix, but next time I’ll add salt, black pepper, minced garlic, maybe some minced onion, and Sriracha.

Once I was done mixing up the eggplant and tapenade, my toasts were done. I decided to add some soy mozza cheese. Way to go, Melissa! This really made a difference. Side note: Do you like my cheese slicer? I think it’s one of the greatest things ever and truly believe that every cheese lover should have one.

Um… DELICIOUS!!! This turned out to be an extremely satisfying dinner!

xoxo and eat more eggplant! -Melissa

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Dec 04 2011
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Desserts, Recipes

Raw Cheesecake Experiment #1

Confession: I think I am a failure when it comes to baking. I burn cookies. I don’t keep cakes in the oven long enough. Pastries fall apart. Things that are supposed to be firm are simply goop. So I was pretty excited when I heard about raw cheesecake – not necessarily because it’s vegan, but because it is a no-bake dessert. I first had raw cheesecake when I went to the Chicago Diner while Christie was in town. I was blown away by how creamy and tasty it was and then even more blown away knowing that it was a raw food. I always thought, “hmm, I should try making some raw cheesecake,” but it wasn’t until I started this blog that I had the motivation to do so.

I visited what seems like several web sites to come up with my own raw cheesecake recipe. Here are the ingredients I used for Raw Cheesecake Experiment #1. Make sure you read this entire post as there are certain things I will definitely change about the ingredients/measurements the next time I make this.

For the crust:
1 cup almonds
12 dates, softened

For the filling:
3 cups raw cashews, soaked
2/3 cup lemon juice
2/3 cup agave nectar
2/3 cup coconut oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup water

Before you do anything, measure out the cashews and soak them in water. I soaked them for one hour. Longer than that is probably much better. Some sites say to do it overnight, others didn’t mention soaking them at all. When I make raw cheesecake #2, I think I will try to soak them for 3-4 hours. Another to-do before you begin is to take your jar of coconut oil and stick it in a bowl of hot water so that it’s melted by the time you need it.

Start by making the crust. Soften the dates first by steaming them for a few minutes, and then remove the seeds if needed. Then, combine the almonds and dates using a food processor. Now, I adore my mini food processor. It has never let me down. Then again, I have never jammed almonds and sticky dates into it. I’m still not sure what the most efficient method is for combining these without wanting to give up, but I eventually ended up with a good result. More confession time: I used almonds because I saw one recipe that used them and I already had them. Next time, I’m going with pecans or walnuts.

The mixture should be tasty and a bit sticky. Get your favorite cheesecake pan (8″ is ideal, the pan I used was too big). Take the crust mixture and press it down into the pan. Try to make it as smooth and uniform in height as possible. I like using the bottom of a measuring cup to help with that sort of thing.

Now, grab the rest of your ingredients and mix them together in a blender, using the water as needed. A lot of the recipes I saw called for a 1:1:1 ratio for the lemon juice, coconut oil, and agave nectar. Next time, I am cutting down on the lemon juice as my cheesecake came out a bit tart for my taste (my brother said it was more like ‘key lime pie’ instead of ‘cheese’cake). You should end up with a thick mixture that you can easily pour and smooth into the pan over your crust. Put the cheesecake in the fridge or freezer to set for at least one hour.

This cheesecake was kid-approved! It tasted great plain, but I also tried it with some chocolate syrup and topped with pomegranate seeds. I imagine it would be great with the cherry topping that Christie made for her ‘cheese’cake.

I wish I had pictures of the other steps in the process, but my hands were really sticky from the dates and I was cursing in the kitchen from how challenging this recipe ended up being, so I wasn’t exactly in the picture-taking mood. At any rate, this was a great learning experience for me, and I’m eager to try again and make it more interesting: add cinnamon, fruit, cocoa to the filling… if you have ramekins, you can easily make individual cheesecakes if you’re having a dinner party or just want to be fancy.

Raw cheesecake is a great dessert. It’s healthy, and no animals had to die in order for me to make it. Plus, it’s soy- and gluten-free in addition to being vegan. If you’re in Chicago and not up for making your own, definitely check it out at The Chicago Diner.

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Dec 02 2011
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Thoughts

Checking In

It’s been almost three weeks since I made the decision to eat more veggies, less meat, and no dairy. I have continued to eat my share of meat, which is a little disappointing. Sometime soon, I will need to set goals around eliminating meat and fish if I truly want to have a vegan diet.

I went two weeks without dairy. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. The first time I cheated with dairy was when I had hot cocoa one afternoon. The cocoa was delicious, but I’m guessing that the massive gas pains I had a couple hours later were due to the milk. I thought I would miss cheese the most. I picked up some soy cheese from Trader Joe’s and was turned off by it. It didn’t seem any different from dairy cheese in taste or texture. I just did not find it appetizing and it was a bit anticlimactic, considering that I had gone so long without dairy cheese. Speaking of cheese, I had pizza for lunch a couple of days ago. I have decided that if I am going to go rogue on my non-dairy diet, a slice of cheesy veggie pizza is worth it.

One item that I am really surprised I have avoided so far is the egg. I really like having eggs for breakfast because they’re fast and easy to make, and they’re versatile. But, at this point, I would prefer a tofu scramble even if I wasn’t trying to be vegan. Now, I’m sure eggs are in the baked items that I still eat, but I’m not too concerned about that.

I have some emotional reactions to share. I find that I feel defensive and patronized sometimes. I don’t like hearing, “Wow, good for you, you’re so good,” from someone as they eat a juicy cheeseburger. I also don’t like it when people ask why I’m eating healthy or what the hell quinoa is or remark that I’m being weird. It’s kind of a general annoyance when people feel the need to interrogate or poke fun at me about things they don’t understand. It’s also a little upsetting when someone whom I have told I am trying to be vegan offers me meat dishes and says, “it’s okay to eat meat this one time.” While I am sort of the worst vegan wannabe right now and I know veganism is not something everyone understands or agrees with, I do wish that the people whom I care about and who supposedly care about me will support me (or, at the very least, NOT shove meat in my face and tell me it’s ‘ok’ for me to eat it).

Overall, I have to say that I am learning a lot and I’m having a lot of fun trying out new things and experimenting in the kitchen. I see food in a different light. I’m so much more aware of what I’m putting into my body. I also have to say that, despite what sounded like a complaint in the previous paragraph, I am really grateful for the people around me who are supportive of this change.

Thanks for reading! -melissa

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