Memorial Day Vegan BBQ

Before I start, everyone thank a veteran today. Even if they haven't passed away, every veteran sacrifices a lot for his or her country. Regardless of your feelings about Iraq and Afghanistan, our veterans deserve our support.
On to my BBQ.
I bought the stuffing portobellos from Trader Joe's instead of the large ones for my BBQ. I figured I got more mushroom for my dollar that way. In the morning, I basted each mushroom with a mix of balsamic vinegar and olive oil and then I poured a little in the dish to marinate the bottoms of the mushrooms. I let that sit for about six hours.

When they were done, they looked something like this:

Mike grilled them for about five or so minutes on each side, gill side first. He noticed that when the gills were up, they began to get juicy in the middle, which is normal. When they were done, they looked like so:

I also made a potato salad. I don't really measure when I make potato salad, but it went something like this:
I took a bag of potatoes from Trader Joe's, washed each potato and cut them into cubes. I boiled the cubes in a pot on the stove for about ten minutes, drained them and let them cool for about twenty minutes. When they were cooler, I put them in a big bowl and mixed in about three big spoonfuls of Vegenaise. I chopped half a red onion and threw those in, as well as three celery stalks. Instead of using premade relish, I diced up a bunch of pickle slices (about 20)and added those as well. I then seasoned it with a bunch of salt and pepper to my own tastes and I got this:

The picture keeps flipping itself, sorry. But it was yum.
We also grilled some Smart Dogs, Tofurky Italian brats and veggie burgers:

The spread:

And my dinner plate:

We also had vegetarian baked beans, chips and grilled corn, of which I got none because it wasn't ready when I took the picture and when it was finally ready, I was too stuffed to move.

Vegan Las Vegas!

I spent last weekend in Las Vegas. The Sahara, Mikey's favorite casino, closed Monday and he wanted to see it one last time before it did. I think perhaps one of the reasons it closed was the lack of vegan food. There was a NASCAR cafe, a bar and a steakhouse. Think about it.
Anyway, before we got to Las Vegas, we stopped at the Mad Greek Cafe in Baker, California. I love Greek food and I had always wanted to try this place. Unfortunately, they did not have a huge selection of vegan food. This might be due to the fact the restaurant caters to truckers. They did have hummus and pita, so we got the and hit the road.

This was the saltiest hummus I have ever had in my life. I tried eating it with the chips I had in the car and it was an overload of salt. Even with the pita, it was pretty salty. As hummus goes, it was so-so. There could have been more of a garlicky or lemony flavor to it.
By the time we got to Vegas and got dressed in non-traveling clothes, it was time for dinner, so I immediately headed to the Wynn (after a stop at the Sahara, the first of four). The first restaurant I saw when I walked in was Pizza Place. I wanted to eat there immediately, but Mike insisted we look around. I'm really happy Steve Wynn is vegan and makes a separate vegan menu for everything, but man that place is expensive. Forty bucks for the buffet! And that's on the cheaper end of most restaurants. Steve, buddy, a lot of us vegans are poor, could you please cut us a break?
So we went back to Pizza Place, hoping it would be slightly cheaper. I ordered a vegan cheese pizza with olives, mushrooms, and pepperoncinis on top. We also got a side of vegan bread knots (not garlic knots because that involves butter).


They use Teese on their pizza. I had never had teese before, but I loved it. I like it way better than Daiya. Mikey said he liked Daiya better, however. The olives were sliced Greek olives and the mushrooms had been sauteed and seasoned. I also loved whatever tomato sauce they used on it. It was truly one of the best pizzas I've ever had.


Later, we got off the monorail at Harrah's and walked past a place called Ice Pan that caught my eye because they advertised that any ice cream flavor could be made vegan with soymilk. The deal with Ice Pan is that have mix different flavor bases with your choice of milk and then pour the liquid onto a coldstone and mix it around with metal spatulas until it turns into ice cream right there! Then they add in your choice of topping. I was beyond thrilled this place existed. I got peanut butter flavored ice cream with banana mixed in.

It was so good. Ice Pan advertises that they don't use processed sugar, everything is fruit-sweetened. They also use seaweed inn their bases. Their little brochure warns that some people have stomach discomfort after eating it because it naturally helps your bowels work, but I had no problems afterward and neither did Mike. Mike got banana flavored with Oreo mixed in. It was good, but not as good as mine. They offer twenty flavors, of which peanut butter and mint chocolate chip are the best sellers.
The next morning, I had breakfast at--where else?--Ronald's donuts. This place is awesome. It's ridiculously cheap, which I found out is rare in Vegas, and all the donuts are amazing and delicious. I had the cream filled chocolate donut.

The donut itself is exactly how I remember donuts tasting. Fluffy, bready, sugary and yum. The cream reminded me a little of vanilla yogurt. It was thicker than most cream-filled donuts I remember having all those years ago. I actually preferred this consistency.
Mike had a glazed raspberry jelly donut.

Despite the fact it looks like it's sticking out its tongue at you, it was a good donut. Again, exactly how I remember donuts tasting.
That filled us up for awhile, but not for long. I was in Mandalay Bay when the hunger pains struck. In the Mandalay Bay mall, there is a place called Burger Bar. I had a vague recollection of reading on Quarrygirl that they had vegan burgers and I was right! We decided to try it out.
I got the Vegas Vegan. It's a burger with no bun. In lieu of a bun are two grilled portobello mushrooms. Inside are grilled zucchini, tomato, pepper and eggplant (the eggplant was promptly discarded). It came with a choice of side, so I subbed skinny fries for sweet potato fries.

For some odd reason, it came with a tomato, lettuce, onion and pickle side as though it were an actual burger. I ate them anyway. They burger itself obviously was eaten with a fork. It was pretty decent. The mushroom was grilled perfectly, as were the veggies inside, with the exceptions of the tomato, which was burnt. The sweet potato fries were also good. My biggest complaint is that they mixed up our sides and mine initially came with Mike's onion rings on the side...which are NOT vegan. think, people.
Although Mike's side wasn't vegan, his veggie burger was. It had a patty made of various grains, brown rice and veggies. It was so-so. I'm not big on those kinds of patties. It came with the same standard sides as mine did. He said it was good, but he likes vegan boca patties better.

Like everything else in Vegas, this place is really expensive. Altogether, it costs forty bucks (although Mikey had a Guinness, and yes, I know, they aren't vegan).
By the time dinner rolled around, I had spent the entire day on the strip and I was tired of it, so I looked up nearby Mexican restaurants and found one called Macayo's that was on Sahara, but a few miles from the strip (as was our hotel).
They had a build your own nachos there. As I have mentioned before I love nachos. I asked the waitress nicely if I could get nachos with toppings but no cheese and she said yes. I ordered nachos with refried beans (made with oil), guacamole, olives, tomatoes, onions and green chiles.

Sorry about the picture quality. Mine doesn't have a flash and this is the best Mikey got. I assure you, the nachos were far superior to the quality of this picture. And the price was decent and not thirty bucks for one plate of nachos.
The next morning, we stopped at Ronald's again and got a dozen donuts to take back to my sister and dad (and eat along the way).

The most interesting thing we got was this thing, which we called weird burrito thingy:

It appeared to be a rolled apple fritter. It was really good. Nice and cinnamony.
The glazed donuts kept well so that when I got home from work later on that day at 7, they were still nice and fresh.
That was my vegan Las Vegas trip! i hope to be able to try out more vegan stuff the next time I go, which might be in July.

Chili Addiction Review

Sunday, after attending the LA Times Festival of Books at USC, Mikey and I went over to Chili Addiction, since we were already in LA. I have been wanting to try it for a long time since it keeps getting rave reviews and it's vegan AND omni-friendly.

I must confess something: I am addicted to nachos. I could eat nachos morning (chilaquiles!), noon and night. They are delicious, they are utensil free and they can be made in a million different ways and still be tasty. So despite the fact Chili Addiction has many different types of vegan sausages and burgers, I went straight for the vegan nachos, with the Santa Fe chili:


They were so good!! The Santa Fe chili consisted of black beans, veggies crumbles and garbazos in a tomato-based chili sauce. They were topped with raw white onion, Daiya cheese, a tomato salsa and fresh jalapeño peppers. The chips were homestyle and amazing. The salsa was almost exactly like my favorite salsa ever from La Tolteca, here in Azusa (although they have nothing else vegan). I must make my own version of these nachos soon. The spice level was perfect. Not too high, not too low (although I confess some of my jalapeños made their way over to Mikey's chili mac).

Speaking of which, Mikey got chili mac with the other vegan chili, the Durango. It was veggie crumbles in a chili sauce. No beans. It was topped with Daiya, and on top of elbow macaroni. I had a bite and it was pretty good, although I would have preferred it with a cheesy Daiya sauce, a la Amy's macaroni. Still delicious.
If I lived closer to this part of LA, Chili Addiction would probably become an addiction for me. Go try it!

Taco Tuesday

And then I had tacos for dinner...so easy to make...
First I fried my tortillas. I made four, two for me, two for my sister. Next, I warmed up my veggie crumbles in the same pan, and added garlic and chili powders.
Then I simply filled the tacos with the crumbles, added shredded cabbage, chopped green onion, and tomato. I normally add Daiya but I forgot this time and it was tasty anyway. I also made fresh guacamole with tomato, white onion, avocado (duh), cilantro, lime and garlic (I was out of jalapeños).

Again, easy, better for you and delicious. Eat it now!

Easter Feaster

I made several things for my Easter Feaster. My plans didn't work out the way I wanted, since Mikey had to work, but I did get my eat on.

I made Peanut Butter Cups the night before. These were mostly for my dad and Mikey, to encourage them to avoid dairy. They were so easy to make too! First I melted half a bag of chocolate chips in the microwave. I added in a little Earth Balance, mixed it in and then put it into cupcake holders:


I froze them while I went shopping for my nieces. When I came back, I got about a cup and half of peanut butter, mixed it with some Earth Balance (which is a margarine) and crushed about 5 vanilla wafers, and mixed them in as well. I then put a dollop of peanut butter on top of the frozen tops.
Then I melted the rest of the chocolate chips, mixed them with the Earth Balance and I dropped chocolate on the peanut butter. Spoons were not my friend here. I used a toothpick to even out the chocolate on top.

Things got messy. I froze those for about an hour and then they were ready to eat!




On the healthier side (sort of. Not really), I made an ambrosia salad. I took two chopped bananas, chopped pineapple, a can of mandarin oranges, a can of cubed pears, a small jar of maraschino cherries, a 1/2 cup of chopped pecans, shredded coconut and mixed them all together. Then I took some non-dairy pistachio pudding mix, mixed it with almond milk and poured about half over the salad (my sister ate the rest). And there you have it, easy ambrosia:



Finally, for dinner Mikey was going to make grilled stuffed mushrooms, but he was at work, so I made a simple meal instead. I cooked some green beans, made a salad, warmed some rolls and veganized a new mashed potato recipe I saw in a magazine. The original called for potato flakes (ew), chicken broth (ew) and white beans (yay). Instead, I boiled six peeled and chopped potatoes. When they were done and drained, I took a cup of vegetable broth and blended it with a can of white beans in the blender. I poured this mix into the potatoes instead of plain soymilk. I added about three spoonfuls of Earth Balance, a little bit of garlic and some salt and pepper. It came out really well. The bean taste was only slightly noticeable and it actually gave the potatoes a nice flavor. And I got my protein and carbs all at once!

Enfrijoladas

Enfrijoladas is a very delicious dish that many people have never heard of. I believe it is regional to a specific part of Mexico (Jalisco?) and it's never offered in Mexico. Luckily, I was taught how to make it by someone from Mexico and it was very easily veganized. The best way I can explain it is enchiladas with bean sauce.
So I present to you now...Enfrijoladas!
2 c frijoles de la olla or 1 can of pinto beans
1 ripe tomato, roughly chopped
1 serrano chile, chopped
1/2 brown onion, chopped
2 tbs of minced garlic
1 tbs of Mexican oregano (regular is fine, too!)
1 1/2-2 c vegetable broth
6-8 tortillas (note: you need very fresh tortillas, preferably from a tortilleria if you can get them. If you must buy store-bought, warm them first).
1 c Daiya cheddar
Cooking oil

Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, combine the beans and broth. Meanwhile, pour the cooking oil (I used Canola, but olive is fine too), enough to saute the veggies in. Saute the onion, garlic, tomato and chile for three minutes, or until soft. Add the oregano and saute another minute.

(It doesn't matter how finely they're chopped because it's all going to be blended)

Add the beans and broth and simmer for about ten minutes.



After ten minutes, remove the bean mixture from the heat for about five minutes. Very carefully, pour the mixture into a blender and puree for ten seconds. Pour the sauce back into the pan and warm for two minutes, stirring every few seconds.


Now it gets tricky. Using tongs, you're going to take the tortilla, dip both sides in the bean mixture, and transfer to a glass baking dish, folded in half. This is why the tortillas need to be fresh or warm because they won't fold over correctly otherwise.


Dipping side one...



Dipping side two...



Folding over in my dish...


Attempting to fold neatly.

Once the tortilla is in the dish, lift up the top flap and put a handful of cheese inside, then refold.



Once you have made all 6-8, take the remaining bean sauce and cover the tortillas, like you would with enchilada sauce. If you have a lot left over, don't use it all. Make sure the tortillas still stick up a little.



Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. The bean sauce will look slightly browner and maybe harden a bit when done.


And YAY! Enfrijoladas. They are kind of hard to get out of the pan without breaking and sticking, but who cares. They are delicious. I served mine with lettuce and onions and a side of chips. I would have added sour cream but I was out. They would also go well with orange or yellow rice.


If you try this, let me know how it works out!

Meatloaf!

I got an urge to eat meatloaf the other day, and one thing after another prevented me from making it. My other issue was that none of the meatloaf recipes I found were what I wanted or else they were complicated. Red meat was the last thing I gave up and I have fond memories of eating a big meatloaf sandwich with red onion, made for me by my grandma. So I set out to create my own meatloaf recipe, suited to my tastes.

1 1/2 package veggie crumbles, defrosted
1 c. bread crumbs (go more or less depending on preference)
1 can of plain tomato sauce
1/2 onion, chopped (I prefer red, brown will also work)
2 tbs vegan Worcester sauce
2 tbs tamari
Salt, pepper, dried oregano and dried basil, to taste
1 tsp garlic salt

I set the oven to 350. I warmed the veggie crumbles in the microwave. Defrosting is preferable if you have time. I mixed the crumbles with bread crumbs. Once they were mixed, I added in the tomato sauce, a little bit at a time, mixing as I went along. Then I added the tamari and worcester sauce and mixed well.

Note: don't use the bread crumbs in the pic! They aren't vegan....someone bought these for me without reading the label. There's a lot of junk in there.
I added a little bit of salt, pepper, basil and oregano and threw in a tiny bit of garlic salt. Finally, I added the chopped onions. I pressed the mixture into an oiled loaf pan and baked it in the oven for half an hour.
Before
After
When it was done, I served it with portobello mushroom gravy on top, the recipe which I got here and a nice spinach salad.



This recipe would easily adapt itself to the inclusion of other veggies such as carrot cubes or chopped celery. I want to mess with it a little and see how that works, but it got the seal of approval from my meat-eating mother and my very recent vegetarian fiance and I hope it can encourage other omnis out there to give it a try :)

Disneyland Vegan Food Pt. Two

I spent a chunk of my day Friday looking at every single store at Disneyland for a Snow White purse Mikey was supposed to buy me for my birthday (it was sold out). It was to no avail. I did, however, get a chance to try Disneyland's vegetarian (actually vegan) chili, located at the Harbor Gallery across from the Haunted Mansion. They also have it in California Adventure, next to the Boudin Bakery place.



It was pretty meh. First of all, the service sucked. I asked the guy for one vegetarian chili in a bread bowl and he said "what about it?" I then repeated my order. He asked if I wanted cheese and I said no. Then he said "you don't want cheese?" I said no. He "Okay then" in this tone. I don't know what his deal was, but it was rude. He ruined my magic.

The chili itself was whatever. It had corn in it and I don't particularly care for corn in my chili. It also tasted like most of the ingredients were canned if not the chili itself. Also, I make my chili with veggie crumbles and this, of course, didn't have any. My recommendation is if you want something in a bowl, go across the way to the Royal Street Veranda next to the Nightmare Before Christmas store and have the gumbo. Far superior.

Vegan Mac and Cheese, Grandma Style

Whenever I would read mac and cheese recipes, I would think "wha?" when I got to the sauce part and the mixing of the cheese with flour and milk because I learned how to make mac and cheese from my grandma and she never did any of that. Now that I've gotten more into my culinary skills, I've made mac and cheese the traditional way but I still prefer my grandma's version, with tomato sauce and onions (veganized of course). Mike had never had my version of mac and cheese, so last night I got on it. Even now, when I make Amy's brand vegan mac, I throw in tomato sauce and green onions. Frankly, I think it tastes way better. But I digress. The very simple recipe:

1 box vegan macaroni noodles
1 can tomato sauce
3-4 green onions
2-3 cups of Daiya or vegan cheese of choice

First, boil the noodles for about seven minutes. You can adjust the amount of noodles depending on how much macaroni you want. Preheat the oven to 380.

Boil away, little ones.

After the mac is done, drain the noodles fully. Then take about half the noodles and put them in a casserole dish appropriate to the amount of mac you want. I was making less than I usually do, so I used a smaller dish this time.


Take the can of tomato sauce, pour about half on the noodles and mix it in with them. Then add 1 1/2 chopped green onions and mix in as well. Then coat with a layer of cheese.



Take the remaining noodles and make a second layer in your dish. Pour the remain tomato sauce on top and mix it in without disturbing the bottom layer. Add the rest of your green onions and coat with a nice even layer of cheese.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the cheese browns a little. I was in a rush to go watch Mike's nieces and I didn't let it brown enough. It still tasted good.

I usually put a big helping of salt and pepper on my serving, but that's just a personal preference. This goes well with a nice side salad.

Super Awesome Vegan Birthday! (Pt. 2)

Sunday morning, the morning of my birth, we went to Flore Vegan for their brunch. Mikey has been dying to try their chicken and waffles. I just love brunch. So we went. I should also add whoever does the tweets at Flore is super awesome and wished me a happy birthday in the morning because I had mentioned going there on my birthday. I asked my server and he says he thinks it's the owner, Miranda. So Thanks, Miranda!

We had a fairly short wait for a Sunday. Both of use ordered the kale, celery, lemon and banana (I think) juices. They were pretty good. Very frothy.

I ordered the Southwest Scramble after a lot of indecision. I wanted to try just about everything on that menu. More excuses to go back for brunch, right? Actually I have another one, but I'll get to that. Anyway, here it is:

Tofu, mixed with black beans, corn, onions, and tomato, with chili sauce mixed in. It also came with a side of homestyle potatoes and a tortilla. I also added tempeh bacon to my order.
The scramble was good, if fairly basic. The potatoes were good. I mixed them in with the scramble, which made it even tastier. The tempeh bacon was also pretty good, with a nice smoky bacon-y flavor. I didn't touch the tortilla. For some reason, I don't care for the tortillas at Flore. It sucks because they have awesome taco filling, I just don't like the wrapper they come in.
Me, about to dig in


Now the piece de resistance:


I've never had chicken and waffles. I grew up disliking meat, and so there are a lot of dishes I never try to veganize because I never ate them as a kid. Mikey, however, loved him some chicken. He has been on the hunt for an acceptable substitute. This, people, is it. These chicken and waffles, to quote the kids I teach, is bomb. The waffle (I sampled everything) was no ordinary waffle, but a banana and cinnamon waffle. It was freaking delicious. Cooked just right, nice and light. The potatoes and mushroom gravy were savory. The mushroom gravy had a creaminess to it I've never gotten in a mushroom gravy before. And then chicken! I think it was made out of seitan, but I'm not sure. Mikey thinks all mock meats are tofu, so he swears that's what it was, but I'm pretty sure it was seitan. It had a nice chicken-y flavor but not so much so you'd get grossed out by the authenticness of it (that's why I can't eat un-chicken nuggets).
It was so good. He wouldn't stop talking about it all day. I have to figure out how to make it or we will go broke on brunches at Flore Vegan.

I also received a birthday cupcake for free!



Hee hee. The last picture is my new Facebook Picture.
It was a great start to my morning.
It was followed by a pedicure from my mom (using vegan nail polish!) and a trip to Disneyland, followed by a surprise dinner party at Tortilla Jo's. No vegan cake there, but I had a tostada salad with black beans. Everything vegetarian can be made vegan (all three items, ha ha) and it was pretty good. Lots of veggies involved.
It was a super awesome vegan birthday :)