A favorite...

On my cheat days, this is at the top of my craving-list. I'd held onto the recipe for quite some time, as the crust requires an entire stick of earth balance (...for two people. *cough* *cough*). However, when I got some adorable purple baking dishes that were clearly born for pot-pies from my in-laws for Christmas, it was time to give in to temptation. Nothing running an extra mile can't take care of the next day!

Here's the recipe, along with a much better picture. I use whole-wheat flour and it comes out just as amazing.

Honey Lime Chili Grilled Veggies

Last weekend brought some pretty fantastic weather... FINALLY!

With warm weather comes the desire to play outside, cook outside, and eat outside. I'm very happy to report that Matt and I started to build the raised-beds for our garden (yes, this is what I consider "playing"), and I'm so anxious to get planting! Soon enough I'll be writing posts such as this one, and the veggies will be home grown. We've been waiting to be able to do this for a long time and I'm so glad we finally own a spot to get started. But enough about that...

Usually, when we grill I make sure to have a hoard of awesome grilled veggies to go along with whatever tofu/veggie burgers/etc. I am grilling as a main course. Most of the time the veggies end up taking over, and that was definitely the case with these.

In a small bowl, combine:

Zest of one lime (save for juice required below!)

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Set aside.

For the veggies:

2 large yellow summer squash, washed and sliced halfway, then lengthwise

2 large zucchini, washed and sliced halfway, then lengthwise

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

salt and pepper, to taste

Whisk lime juice and honey together, then pour over veggies. Toss to ensure veggies are coated, then lightly sprinkle with salt and some pepper.

Grill the veggies over med-high heat for about 3 minutes on each side, or until slightly charred. Once plated, sprinkle with lime-chili powder mixture and devour.

*Note: I'm almost positive the lime-chili powder mixture goes well with any grilled veggies. I got the idea from a Bobby Flay recipe I had made for grilled sweet potatoes a while back and they were SOOOO good. I thought the honey would make a nice, subtle, sweet addition instead of tossing the veggies with oil of any sort.

Pizza Party!

(this doesn't look as appetizing as it actually was. next time I'll add some greens to the top for appeal...)

Sadly, I made a grave error when making tonight's dinner... WAY too much oil, and I've got quite the belly ache to show for it. BUT, I feel like the recipe was decent otherwise... so it's not a total loss! I've altered the oil below to what I think would be appropriate. I used the Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage sausages and they (per usual) were superb. By far my favorite faux meat product.

1 package whole wheat pizza dough (I used Trader Joes)

4 tbsp grape seed oil, plus 1 tsp

2 large cloves garlic

2 tbsp fresh sage

2 fresh thyme

2 "sausage" links

4 shallots

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 cup non-dairy mozzarella

Let pizza dough sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

In a small saucepan, heat 4 tbsp of oil over low heat. Add garlic, sage, and thyme, and infuse until oil is fragrant- about 15-20 minutes.

Slice shallots into 1/8 inch rounds and saute over low heat with the remaining 1 tsp oil for about 15 minutes. Once shallots are soft, add a pinch of salt and balsamic. Stir until combined.

Slice sausages into 1/4 inch rounds. Saute over medium heat until golden brown.

Lightly flour a pizza stone, and roll dough into a 12" circle. Brush infused oil, along with garlic, sage, and thyme over pizza dough. Add shallots, sausage, and non-dairy cheese. Per usual, I used Daiya, but use whatever you prefer.

Spinach Lasagna and C-tsar salad

Hello...
Hello...?
Is this thing still on? Can everybody hear me? Hi, OK. YEP, still alive and kicking! Sorry for my lack of posts. I have no excuses other than sheer lack of creativity lately. I just haven't put my brain to much use.

Moving on... Can I tell you how fantastic this dinner was? I'm so very happy there are leftovers. Here's what you'll need:

Salad
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
10 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

Croutons
3 slices of whole grain bread, cubed
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp grape seed oil
salt and pepper

To make the croutons, pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Spread bread cubes on a cookie sheet and drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning, then bake for about 12-15 minutes.

C-tsar Dressing
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp grape seed oil
1 tsp vegan worcestershire sauce

Whisk all ingredients together, pour over salad, and add a little bit of vegan parmesan if you have it!

Spinach Lasagna

1 box whole wheat lasagna
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce (I used Trader Joe's basil and garlic)
1 package extra firm tofu
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 bag frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2 tbsp fresh thyme
2 tbsp fresh sage
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste
1tbsp grape seed oil
handful of Daiya mozzarella cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add pasta to salted, boiling water. Cook per package instructions.

In a saute pan, heat oil on medium heat and add 1 clove of garlic, sage, and thyme. Saute for about a minute, then add spinach. Keep spinach in pan over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Add tofu, lemon juice, 2 cloves garlic, nutritional yeast, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper to a food processor. Blend until smooth.

Add tofu mixture to spinach and stir until combined.

Once the pasta is cooked, set aside and start assembly. I start with a layer of sauce, then pasta, then tofu-spinach mixture, then repeat. I make sure to end with noodles, then some sauce, then the Daiya.

Bake covered for about 30 minutes, then uncovered for 10. Let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

A guest baker- Matty!

Matt made these delicious lemon-poppy muffins from Vegan Brunch on Tuesday night. We both got home from work and decided we wanted to be in the kitchen. I made dinner, but he was itching to bake something. Since we had most of the ingredients for these, it was an easy decision.

My sister in-law got me the Vegan Brunch cookbook for my birthday (it should be quite obvious now that getting me cookbooks for presents is a safe bet!!) and since brunch is one of my favorite concepts, I use this book quite frequently. It goes without saying that Isa Chandra Moskowitz partially reigns the vegan cooking community. I find her recipes to be incredibly creative, and easy to understand & execute. Three cheers for Isa!

On another note, damn I love to have me a husband who enjoys baking.

I'll throw in a recipe review for good measure

I've got to make this one quick because my lunch hour is almost up (this is what happens when you have no computer at home anymore... sad face.).

Last night, I made this recipe from one of my previously mentioned favorite cookbooks, Vegan Yum Yum. HOT DAMN, it was so good! The cous cous had the perfect amount of lemon flavor, without being too overbearing. The almonds and tamari added to the kale gave it a superb crunch and a flavor that blended so well with the marmalade marinated tofu.

Please make this. You will not regret it.

Product reviews? Sure, why not.

What's that saying, "opinions are like assho... err, bellybuttons, everyone has one"?

Obviously I am not a classically trained chef, nor do I have any kind of "professional" opinion towards food. But I do have opinions. Might as well share them, right?

My niece, Olive, got me a subscription to Vegetarian Times and VegNews for my birthday last year. Only 3 months old and she knew her Aunty so well! I've been receiving them now for a few months and I keep noticing ads for Tofurkey Pizza. I've been a fan of mostly everything the brand has done and as far as "faux" products are concerned, if I had a top "5" list, they'd certainly be on it. So, I'm not going to lie, I got a little excited at the prospect of a decent new pizza to try.

So far, Matt and I have tried the Italian Sausage & Fire Roasted Veggie, as well as the Cheese. Not bad. I suppose that's a little lackluster sounding, but it IS frozen pizza, after all. I give major kudos for using Daiya, which I am obviously a fan of (as you can tell from my other blog posts). The crust is whole-wheat and surprisingly flavorful. The Italian S&V was a little light on the cheese, but didn't stray too far from the picture portrayal on the box. There were plenty of veggies, which were seemingly fire roasted, as well as their Italian sausage. I liked the Cheese much better... it had a lot of flavor a good amount of "cheesy" coverage. There wasnt a lot of sauce on either, but I imagine that with a crust so thin, it's hard to pile it on. On that note, these are small and if you're super hungry, I imagine you'll eat the whole thing... which would set you back about 800+ calories. I suppose it's better than a small pizza from Dominoes to your onesie, but if I was going to indulge in an 800 calorie meal, it wouldn't be this.

If I had to rate them overall, I'd give a 6.5 out of 10. I'm pretty sure these will make their way into our lunch routine again!