Vegan MoFo, Day 20: Blah Tofu Satay

The best intentions for this dish were there, but the result was meh. Can't win 'em all, right? Otherwise you'd just come off as perfect, and no one likes that (admit it, fool). Here's to being human.

Another "foodie"-type dish is the penultimate street food, Satay (or meat on a stick). I can't tell you how many times I've watched food shows and listed to the host blather on and on about how good street food is, served up fresh and made to order. I get it. It's good (I would assume...the only street food we get around here comes from tents and wagons at fairs). It makes me glad that foodies frequent these vendors, even if it is only for the reason of saying that they are down with street food.

For my version of tofu satay, I froze the tofu, defrosted it, drained and pressed it, and cut half of the block into 16 cubes (the rest went to The Hubs for his dinner).

Then I marinated the tofu in a mixture of soy sauce, sriracha, rice wine vinegar, and teriyaki sauce and skewered them. They kind of fell apart somewhat, but eh. Baked the skewers at 400 deg. F, turning every so often because they tend to stick to even an oiled surface.

Made some basic, no-frills rice. Microwaved a frozen packet of sliced onion and red peppers. Made a quick peanut sauce of natural peanut butter, warm water, soy sauce, mirin, red pepper flakes, and sriracha.

Pretty bland, all in all. Whatevs! Tonight I'm making a creamy corn curry soup (because that's what one of my favorite restaurants in town is making...and I have the ingredients at home and no $$ to buy it).

{quite boring}

What dishes have you made that didn't turn out well? Did you end up making them again?

Jes

Quiche!!

VEGAN Quiche, to be exact.

{why yes, I do believe I'll have a slice, er...I mean two!}

That's right! You don't need yucky chicken periods to have a good slice of quiche. I haven't eaten quiche in years but had a hankering lately.

And it's quiche with asparagus and green onions. Fabulous! Somehow, I don't imagine I'm the only one who laughs at asparagus pee...still, not as cool as magenta-beet pee.

This recipe is in Ripe From Around Here by jae steele (my go-to cookbook for several dishes now).

{quichie-goodness}

I think I cut it while it was still pretty warm, so it didn't hold together as well as it should have, but it tasted awesome. I'm going to check some out (re: eat more!) later at home. A round in the fridge probably did the job. If not, I might blend in some flour with the tofu mixture next time. Also had to settle for a pre-made piecrust (no eggs or dairy), but it'd be sweet to make my own next time. Non-veg pie crusts were the bane of my existence back in my high school "Practical Living" class (because aren't we all practically living?).

Pretty tasty! jae steele, you're my homegirl.

Jes

Stir-fry Tofu

Realizing I haven't posted anything food-related in a week or so, I thought I'd throw this tid bit out there.

Last night I made Stir-fry Tofu from Vegetarian Times Healing Foods special edition (minus the ground cloves, yuck. I had to get clove oil-soaked cloth stuffed into my dry sockets last March when I had my wisdom teeth removed. That's the last time I knowingly ingest that gross stuff, unless it's in a baked good.)

{pressing the tofu. really need a tofu xpress}

{green onions are my fave}

But the tofu was superb. I got it on sale at the supermarket (Nasoya brand) for $1.29 or something when it wasn't supposed to expire until 2/2/11. {yeah, weird} Also got to use some of the yummy Barley Miso that I just got from South River Co. Making hummus later this week with the sesame tahini I bought as well!

Jes

Bollocks!!!

I had a total brainfart beyond belief and took pics in our Nikon D3000 without the memory card in!

My dinner this evening was a wonderfully flavorful dish of Ginger Noodles with Tofu from Rachel Ray Magazine several months ago. Basically, you cook fettuccine in water that has ginger in it (new concept to me but flavored the noodles beautifully!). While this is going on, you brown cubes of extra-firm tofu in a pan (with oil, of course). After the noodles are cooked, you reserve 2 cups of the cooking water and drain the noodles. Cook some sliced mushrooms in the tofu pan after the tofu is done and removed, mix the cooked mushrooms with the noodles, some sauce (soy, sesame oil, ginger), and a bag of broccoli slaw. Pour the broth over the noodle mixture once put into a bowl and top with tofu. Eat to your heart's content!

This recipe actually turned out to be rather pretty, and I am bummed that I cannot show you a photo of the loveliness. I really appreciate that Rachel Ray provides vegan and vegetarian recipes (even if they are not tagged as such); it makes it very beneficial to seek out new recipes such as this.

Another realization from this recipe: I figured out that I really like the TASTE OF TOFU ITSELF. The recipe called for it to be cooked only with salt and pepper...and I loved it. I know, it's weird since tofu takes on flavors so well, but I really liked the basic flavor. (The Hubs asked if I was preggers LOL!) Anyway, just sayin'...

Hopefully I won't let you all down next time, like a beauty school drop-out or something... :(

Jes

Chili Bean Dip & Cornbread...Mmmmm...

Hey MoFo'ers!

I've been on a chili kick lately. I wanted chili again last night, but differently. So I food processed my chili leftovers from the Peasant Supper Sunday.

Yes, I used my already cheap leftover chili, added one more $0.68 can of chili beans to the mix, lime juice, some cubes of tofu leftover in the fridge (for texture), more spices, and ate the HECK out of it!

Sounds weird, doesn't it? But after it was heated up and piping hot, this chili bean dip (basically hummus without the tahini, if you will) was sooooooooooooooooo good.

I also made the ever-wonderful Sweet Cornbread Cake to go along with the Chili Bean Dip goodness and had some avocado on the side, for good measure :)

Mixer in Action!

This was The Hubs' portion. For reals, I kid you freakin' not.

Super-Awesome-Yum!

Coming up tomorrow: "Night of the Living Acorn Squash!!" (wait, that sounds gross...). Maybe "Acorn Squash, You Complete Me." (Meh.) Ok, how about "An Acorn Squash Three Way." (dirrrty, but not me.) You'll just have to wait and see. Biggest post eva...

One more thing that I have to tell you...I am so very excited for tomorrow. You know what tomorrow brings? A PACKAGE FULL OF DAIYAAAAA. Yeah. I am still Jonesing like no other. For dinner tomorrow, that wicked awesome Daiya "cheesey" bread recipe I saw earlier this week.

Jes

Snoochy-kins

Last week I found myself wanting something creamy after I stumbled upon Allyson from ManifestVegan's Pumpkin Alfredo recipe, so I tried it out:

I know, you're thinking that it would be weird to mix pumpkin, tofu, and nooch together. At first, I didn't quite know about the "cheesy"-pumpkiny combo, but the more I let it sit, the better the flavor got. AND it was even better the next day at work for lunch. The flavors were spot on!

You like the Patrick Stewart picture? It's a small print of the painting my fiancé did of P-Stew a few months ago. The real painting is gi-normous!

In other news: TEN DAYS UNTIL THE WEDDING!!! *gasp*

Jes