Tofu Jerky & Flax Crackers
Both of these recipes are from Another Fork in the Trail. I really like this cookbook (thanks again Pandacookie!), and these are two of my absolute favorite recipes.

Unfortunately I completely forgot to take pictures of the finished recipes, and since I’ve long since ate everything, I’ll just have to tell you how great both turned out. The tofu ends up looking and tasting better than any store-bought jerky I’ve tried, and I can’t wait to make a huge batch of these to take hiking/camping with me.

The sun-dried tomato flax crackers are really simple to make, plus they are super-filling. They make a great quick snack, especially with some nut cheese or pate.

Garlic Cream Dressing from Rawvolution

This dressing only contains 5 ingredients, and it’s a beautiful creamy sauce. I had this over a simple baby greens-apple-carrot salad, but I’ve also had it over steamed veggies and it was great.

Roasted Potatoes and Greens

This is a recipe I’ve been developing, and I should have it for you guys soon. Every time I make this it’s even better than the last time. Basically it’s potatoes and a green (in this case Swiss chard), and a really delicious, slightly creamy sauce. It’s definitely not low-fat though! It’s pretty oil-heavy, but eaten sparingly that isn’t a bad thing. This is a great side dish.

Pizza!!

This is a homemade crust made with half all-purpose and half spelt flour, topped with Muir Organics pizza sauce (my favorite – there’s so much deep flavor!), pepperjack Daiya, roasted red peppers, Twin Oaks chorizo, and broccoli. It was slightly spicy and very delicious.

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A couple weeks ago I mentioned there would soon be a post on pan-sauces. I haven’t forgotten to post it, but I’m still working on perfecting the recipe. The last couple times I made it wasn’t as good as the previous recipes, and I want to make sure what I’m posting is delicious. Here’s a teaser photo though:

Have a good weekend!

A couple of months ago I wrote about my obsession with spaghetti and my trick for an easy creamy tomato sauce. Today I’ve got another little trick to make jarred tomato sauce taste almost home-made.

The sauce I used was a jar of Garden Vegetable Ragu. Sometimes jarred sauces are pretty boring, and I like dressing them up as much as I can. My favorite way to do this is very simple: I sweat some vegetables (typically onion, garlic, carrots, and celery) until they are soft, and then I pour in the sauce, add 1 teaspoon (or more to taste) of sea salt, deglaze the pan with a bit of wine (which is totally optional), and then simmer for about 20 minutes. Sweating the vegetables and then simmering everything together really deepens the flavors of the sauce. Adding more salt is entirely up to you and the kind of tomato sauce you buy – some are more salted than others, and you should probably just add a little bit at a time until you reach the flavor you want.

I also fried up some crumbled tempeh with dried herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano, and black pepper) to add to the sauce for a “meaty” component.

I hope everyone that reads this post will try this method for enhancing store bought tomato sauce at least once. It really does improve the flavor.

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Yesterday I was mindlessly surfing the web when I came across a recipe on Bittersweet, one of my favorite blogs, for butterscotch pudding bread. I substituted carob chips for the chocolate, and used all all-purpose flour because I didn’t have any whole wheat pastry. The bread is super-moist and infused with delicious butterscotch. Anyone that knows me personally knows of my intense love of all things butterscotch, and this bread quite literally completes me. I will probably make this at least once a week, if not more than that. In the approximately 20 hours since it came out of my oven, I’ve already ate over half of it. Seriously guys, this stuff is like crack for your stomach.

I usually avoid making new year’s resolutions because I think it’s pointless and arbitrary, but this year I’m going to try to reach a few goals in my life. Here’s a list of my goals for this year:

1. Go back to school. It’s been a couple years since my last semester, and I really miss it. I’m not cut out for a life of retail, and I want to have more opportunities than what I have now. I’ll probably finish my political science degree (since I’m almost done anyway), and I’m thinking of double majoring in environmental science.
2. Get my license. I know it’s crazy to think of a 24-year-old not being able to drive, but I just sort of never got around to it. Plus, I could never afford to buy a car anyway. But it’s definitely time to get on the road.
3. Have a healthier (and thus happier) life. Yoga, meditation, healthier food… I to pay more attention to both my physical and mental health this year. I used to do yoga everyday, meditate everyday, and I need to get back on track with that. I want to start avoiding processed foods (goodbye vegan doritos) and eat more natural foods (hello rejuvalac and fermented nut cheese).
4. Join an organization, class, or local group. Lately my life has been mostly working and then coming home to chill. I want to participate more fully in my community, and I’ve been wanting to start bellydancing classes.
5. Be more social. I tend to be a loner, and I want that to stop. There are more potlucks and parties in my future.
6. Improve the photography on Ahimsa. I’m often not 100% happy with the photos I post here, and I feel with a little practice and better equipment I could fix that.
7. Make a budget and stick to it. This is going to be the hardest for me. I’m terrible with money, and I spend far too much of it on food.
8. Learn a new craft or hobby. In 2012, I plan on learning how to make beer, tempeh, and fermented nut cheeses.
9. Do not leave my house on 12-12-12 (or is it 12-21-12?). There are going to be some crazy-ass people in the streets.

It sounds like a lot, but I’m positive I can do it. Do you have any goals for this year?

Also, I want to share a bit of the fun I had last night. Here’s some Toubab Krewe for you:

I purchased these three, and last night I had a vegan friend over to sample these with me. I have to admit that I spent a lot of time online researching how you eat these foods. Despite having grown up on an island and having a childhood surrounded by seafood, I hated the taste and never tried many of our regional specialties. So, yes, I googled “how to eat prawns” and “what is calamari?”. The breaded shrimp didn’t need any researching, however, since it was the one kind of seafood I would eat growing up. Although, honestly, since I usually drenched them in cocktail sauce I probably couldn’t taste the shrimp.

Anyway, for the calamari and breaded shrimp, I followed the package instructions for baking. You can also deep-fry these, but I’m not a fan of cooking with that much oil, and baking is significantly easier.

The rings are the calamari (which is squid), and the crescent shapes are the breaded shrimp. They were done in just 15 minutes, which means they’d be a great side dish for when you’re busy.

For the prawns, I decided to dice them up and make risotto. Here’s what they look like straight out of the package:

I was actually a little freaked out by how real they look. Luckily though, they aren’t real, and thus require no de-pooping or other gross things.

I kept the risotto very basic. The only seasonings I used were fresh oregano, salt, and lemon juice. The rich flavor of risotto comes from the wine and fat (in this case extra-virgin olive oil and Earth Balance butter), so I like to keep everything else simple.

So, now for the most important part. How did everything taste? Although I personally wasn’t a big fan of the calamari, my friend said they were her favorite. I never tried calamari in my pre-vegan days, so I can’t attest to what it’s suppose to taste like, but I think the main reason I didn’t care for them was just the texture. My friend that liked them the best has a great palate (and in fact cooks for a living), so I would say just give them a try and see how you feel. I’m probably just really picky.

The prawns were huge, so I chopped them up to have more bites of them in the risotto. I feel like these would be great appetizers with a good dip or sauce. They were a tiny bit bland, but I’m pretty sure that’s how they’re suppose to taste. The pink color was beautiful in the risotto, and I would love to serve it to an omnivore to get their opinion. It took a few bites to get over how real they looked and felt to me, but once I did manage to convince myself of their veganness, I ate away. Next time I buy a package of these (yes, I will totally buy these again!) I plan to make a seafood salad. Their taste actually reminded me a little of the “fake crab” fish that is used to make seafood salad.

The breaded shrimp were my absolute favorite. I loved popcorn shrimp and cocktail sauce when I was a kid, so I felt like I was reliving a little bit of my childhood with these. They’re delicious, and I would serve these to meat-eaters without a second thought.

Now for the giveaway! This is the first ever contest on Ahimsa, and I’m really excited about it. Hopefully it won’t be the last. Sophie’s Kitchen has generously offered to send the winner 2 coupons to try their product for free. You have four chances to win, and leave a separate comment for each. ***Make sure you leave a valid email when you comment so that I can contact you if you win!!***

1. Visit Sophie’s Kitchen’s website and comment with what 2 products you would try.
2. Follow Sophie’s Kitchen on Twitter.
3. Like Sophie’s Kitchen on Facebook.
4.  Like Ahimsa on Facebook.

I’ll randomly choose a winner on Saturday, December 31st at noon. Good luck!!!

I’ve already made a few recipes from the book, and I am impressed.

What you see above is the chickpea curry and the chapati from the chapter on Indian cuisine (by far the longest section in the book – not a bad thing!). The chapatis were pretty plan, just like chapatis should be, but the chickpea curry was really saucy and flavorful. This was by far the best chickpea curry I’ve ever made. The recipe uses pureed tomatoes, and I think that had to do with it to a degree. The pureed tomatoes blend the flavors together better than diced/chopped tomatoes do. I also had some leftover seitan in an Asian-y glaze, but there wasn’t really a recipe. I just sort of threw things together and thankfully it turned out great.

Last night I made the bamboo shoot and green pea stir-fry (Burma) and the Korean simmered tofu chorim. I’ve had a can of bamboo lurking in my pantry for months, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to use it up. The bamboo pairs pretty well with the peas, and there’s a very simple sauce. This would be a great recipe for a busy night – it comes together quickly with little preparation.

The simmered tofu chorim was out-of-this-world delicious. It’s just fried tofu with a sweet soy sauce, but there are a lot of flavors going on here. Instead of the mirin called for in the sauce, I used marsala wine because it was the closest thing I had. I’m not sure if it changed the flavor much, but this was so good I ended up eating a pound of tofu by myself because every time I walked into the kitchen I grabbed another slice.

I roasted some sugar snaps and cooked some quinoa to have on the side. It was a very fulfilling meal.

Do any of you have this cookbook? What should I make next?

Here’s a few pics from some of my recent meals. I’ve been cooking mainly large pots of food, so that I can feed myself and still have plenty left over to take to work. One of my favorites so far has been the Home-Style Veggie Noodle Soup from Julie Hasson’s Vegan Diner.

It’s hearty, comforting, and delicious. The only variations to the recipe I made were to sweat the vegetables before starting the soup, and adding vegan Worcestershire sauce along with the tvp granules.

I also made the Cheezy Mac from Vegan Diner, and added some kale into it.

The cashew based sauce was creamy and smooth (I soaked the cashews for approximately 6 hours because I had to use my food processor – if you have a high-powered blender that would be unnecessary). I ate the pasta alongside a roasted portobello with pan-sauce gravy. I’ve been addicted to making pan sauces lately, and will show you how in an upcoming post!

Around Thanksgiving I found myself craving a dish I actually despised as a child: green bean casserole. I didn’t know exactly how to make it since I constantly ridiculed it and considered it disgusting as a kid, so I used the recipe from C’est la Vegan. It came out amazing and paired great with mashed potatoes with basil and buttered corn.

So those are just a few examples of what I’ve been enjoying. Coming up: a giveaway (the first on Ahimsa!), a vegan seafood party, pan sauces, and a lot of Asian vegan cooking!

After such a long absence from Ahimsa, I’ve decided to give you guys a delicious recipe. It’s truly quick and easy, and I love these for lunch because they still feel special despite being so dang simple to whip up. Here you go!

Spicy Lettuce Wraps (serves 2, but would double or triple easily)

4 Romaine lettuce leaves, washed
1/2 cup tvp granules
1/2 cup water
1 Tbs oil
1 Tbs ketchup
1 tsp hot sauce

Spice Blend
1 Tbs chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tsp oregano
1 Tbs nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp onion powder

First, rehydrate the tvp: combine tvp and water in a microwave safe bowl, and heat for about 4 minutes. Let set for 10 minutes.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, and add the 1 Tbs oil. When oil is hot, add the tvp, and saute for about 2 minutes, just until it starts to brown. Then add the ketchup, hot sauce, and spice blend, and stir. Saute another 2 or 3 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.

Fresh Tomato Salsa
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 scallion, chopped
2 Tbs red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp cayenne (or more to taste)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Combine ingredients, stir to mix thoroughly, and refrigerate for 30 minutes before using.

To make wraps, just put a generous scoop of the tvp into the lettuce leaf, and top with a dallop of fresh tomato salsa. It’s really tasty.

There are a few variations you could do for these: use ground walnuts instead of tvp, use collard or another leaf instead of Romaine, substitute salsa verde for the tomato salsa, or add shredded vegetables.

I recently made a delicious loaf of bread that was half all-purpose and half-spelt flour. It tasted the same as a loaf made of all-purpose, but the crumb was softer and more delicate. It made for a great firm but gentle dough, and it turned out to be fantastic for sandwiches. I topped it with sesame and sunflower seeds.

I need to work on a way to make those seeds stay on the bread. I tried to press them into the dough before baking a little, but when I took the bread out of the loaf pan half the seeds still feel off of the top. I’m definitely open to suggestions.

Last night for dinner I made gnocci with cashew pesto and the Greek salad from American Vegan Kitchen. The gnocci was significantly easier than I imagined it would be. All you have to do is boil or bake the potatoes until tender, peel off the skin, and mash them. Then add oil and flour until it makes a sticky (but not wet) dough, roll it into tubes, slice, and boil. I probably spent 10 minutes doing actual work on these.

I’m really proud of the pesto. It turned out great. I used cashews rather than pine nuts, and I started by blending the cashews and olive oil together for almost 5 minutes, until it produced a super-creamy base. Then I added the basil, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. It was perfect.

The salad was delicious, and the only change I made to Tamasin’s recipe was using green olives rather than kalamata. I got most of the vegetables off the salad bar at my local grocery store because it’s cheaper than buying them separate. I let the tofu “feta” marinate for approximately 7 hours, and although it didn’t taste exactly like feta, it still contributed very nicely to the salad.

Have you ever made gnocci? If so, what’s your favorite sauce to use?

The food comes nicely stacked in an insulated bag with reusable ice cubes. Everything is numbered according to the menu.

The menu was as follows:

Green-Nut Noodles
This is an Asian rice noodle dish with a peanut sauce and vegetables. The menu suggests re-heating, but this was also good cold. My only complaint about this dish was that it wasn’t spicy enough, but I just doused it with bottled hot sauce. The Great Slaw of China (below) goes incredibly well with this. I feel like this would also be good with whole or chopped cashews.

Sweet and Sour Tempeh
This was my favorite dish on the menu. The locally-produced tempeh was incredibly flavorful and juicy, and I loved the hunks of pineapple. I ended up eating all of the tempeh since my crazy boyfriend thinks tempeh in any form tastes terrible, but I wouldn’t complain about that! I ate this with a side of the Great Slaw of China.

Tamale Pie
This dish was a beans-veggies-tvp mixture topped with a corn grit cake on top. Again, it wasn’t spicy enough for me, but I do realize that most people don’t like to sweat while they eat, so I let it go. My boyfriend really enjoyed this one.

Fall Harvest Pilaf

This was the only dish neither of us were crazy about, but it’s more of a personal preference than it having to do with taste. Neither my boyfriend nor I are fans of cold grain salads. The acorn squash was really good though, and I love how pretty it looked opening up the container. The cashews were a really nice touch. I used the leftovers in a green salad the next day for lunch.

Saffron Zucchini
This zucchini was off the chain. It was really vibrant, and a great side dish. I used leftovers in a tofu scramble the next morning and it couldn’t of been tastier. The zucchini was cooked perfectly, and the spices were spot-on.

Beans-N-Greens
This was a good Southern-style dish that I enjoyed along with the pilaf and the Minestrone (below). It was really good, and seasoned well. (Of course, I added hot sauce because that’s what I do.)

Great Slaw of China
Asian-style cole slaw. Aside from going well with the Sweet and sour tempeh, this is a great snack, and really good on a sandwich. It’s made with greens and fresh herbs like basil and mint.

Minestrone Soup
This was a good, warming soup. Although I wasn’t too fond of the gluten-free noodles (they do taste slightly different), the overall soup was really good. With a piece of toast slathered in Earth Balance, this would make a lovely light lunch.

Cookies!
The New Fashioned Chocolate Chip Cookies were so good that my boyfriend and I split them and finished them off at once. Very delicious.

Overall
I was pleased with all the dishes, and it would definitely be a great option for people who are too busy to cook or students. I used the majority of these dishes to supplement whatever I was making for dinner, but they could certainly be eaten on their own. I just really enjoy cooking, so I would make something of my own to go along with the Wingbean options.

The print menu you receive with your bag lists detailed descriptions of the dishes, as well as information about how best to re-heat them and what other options they pair well with. The back side lists the ingredients for everything. I was really happy to see that all of Wingbean’s food is made with simple, whole ingredients, and the majority are organic.

For more information on Wingbean (and to look at their menu and place an order), visit their website: Wingbean.