So Corny: Empanadas Humitas!

Last night's dinner, yet again, featured fabulous Vegan Latina tester recipes from the talented Terry Hope Romero! Since I am still craving that corn like crazy, it was the star of last night's dinner again!

These are the Empanadas Humitas, aka Creamy Corn Empanadas, and, as the name suggests, they basically consist of a creamy corn filling inside a flaky, tender pastry crust. I cannot tell which part I love more, the filling or the crust, but for now I will just say I love them both equally! Awesome in a little of the So Good, So Green Dipping Sauce I mentioned a few days ago (another VL tester recipe, of course.)!
And an inside shot...so naughty...I served them up with Tofu Chicharrones, which is Terry's veganized version of the traditional pork chicharrones, which is kind of like fried fat back from pork (ew. i know. but trust me the cruelty-free version is the bomb.)....these are so smoky and chewy and wonderful! They tofu is frozen, thawed, and pressed, which gives these little bits of yum a nice mouthfeel. I ate this plain for dinner, but I want to make lots of this in the future to put in tacos and such.
The other side dish I made was the Braised Brazilian Shredded Kale tester recipe. Fresh kale is braised with onions and liquid smoke for great flavors, and comes out with an amazing texture from the fine shredding technique. This would be an awesome side dish to any Latina-themed meal, but it went especially well with this little VL feast!

Seitan Piccata. omg.

I have discovered a new love: Seitan Piccata!!! Ever since visiting Candle 79 when I was in New York this past spring, and falling in love with this dish, I have wanted to make it!! I am so glad I finally put it in my meal schedule for this week! The sauce on the seitan is just so tangy and salty and lemony and capery and fantastic. PLUS I used my homemade seitan, and this is the best batch I have ever made. Double yum bonus! I seriously could not believe how flippin easy this savory meal was to put together. It only took 30 minutes! I recommend serving the piccata with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed greens, like I did...

Seitan Piccata with White Wine and Caper Sauce (serves 4)

4 seitan cutlets

1/4 cup whole wheat flour for dredging

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup diced shallots

1/2 cup diced onions

2 cloves minced garlic

1/4 cup capers, drained

1 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup vegetable broth

2 Tbs flour

4 Tbs vegan margarine

1 cup chopped parsley

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Dredge the seitan cutlets in the whole wheat flour, shaking off any excess. In a saute pan, heat 2 Tbs olive oil over high heat and brown the cutlets until crisp and golden, about 30 seconds per side. Place the cutlets on a plate while you prepare the sauce.

Heat the remaining olive oil in the same pan over medium heat. Add the shallots, onion, garlic, and capers, and saute. Stir and cook until softened, about 1 to2 minutes. Add the wine and cook until reduced by halt. Whisk in the lemon juice, and allow to reduce a little more. Add the veggie broth and the flour, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the sauce four about a minute. Whisk in the margarine, parsley, slat, and pepper;, Pour over the seitan and serve immediately.

(From the Candle Cafe Cookbook)

D. Lish!

Vegan MoFo Day #22: My Meme Survey!

Heeeeey MoFo!

This is the first survey I've ever done, so I am pretty excited! I got this from Jes at Get Sconed!, so you know it's a quality meme! After you read it, you should complete it and blog about it yourself! Then, I guess it would be a youyou :)
1. What was the most recent tea you drank? Yogi Tahitian Vanilla Hazelnut. with agave nectar and a splash silk creamer. zomg.
2. What vegan forms do you post/lurk on? If so, what is your username? Spill! the ppk….my username is peace by pastries
3. You have to have tofu for dinner, and it has to be an Italian dish. What comes to mind first? spaghetti with tofu “meat”balls, and some vegan parm!
4. How many vegan blogs do you read on an average day? too many, 15 to 20, but there are about 10 that I read religiously, sometimes I will even read up to 30. yikes.
5. Besides your own, what is the most recent one you’ve read? yeah, that vegan “shit”
6. If you could hang out with a vegan blogger that you haven’t met, who would it be, and what would you do? I would want to hang out with isa and jess, because they are awesome and both live in Portland, so I could get both at once, and I would go on a bike ride with them then bake lots of goodies
7. If you had to base your dinners for a week around one of the holy trilogy – tofu, seitan or tempeh, which would it be? seitan!
8. If you had to use one in a fight, which would it be? tempeh, especially since it is rock-solid when frozen
9. Name 3 meals you’d realistically make with that tough protein of choice! 1. cornmeal-crusted tempeh from Candle Café Cookbook 2. tempeh reubens 3. tempeh bacon with blueberry pancakes (brinner! yay!)
10. What’s a recipe in vegan blogland that you’ve been eyeing? peanut butter cinnamon rolls from bjorkedoff. I dream about them.
11. Do you own any clothing with vegan messages/brands on them? I have some vegan Macbeth shoes I got at mooshoes in nyc, but they don’t say “vegan” or anything
12. Have you made your pilgrimage to the 'vegan mecca' yet? (Portland, duh) no! but I would give my left nut to go there right now! if I had one.
13. What age did you first go vegan? Did it stick? 19. heck yes!
14.What is the worst vegan meal you’ve had? Who cooked it? I honestly don’t know if I’ve had a “bad” meal, but I did make a curry one time that came out really bitter. but it was still edible.
15. What made you decide to blog? reading other people’s blogs incessantly and wanting to show people that it is possible to be vegan in the Midwest!
16.What are three of your favorite meals to make? 1. bbq seitan with cornbread and greens 2. vegan crab cakes 3. breakfast for dinner, particularly pancakes and “sausage”
17. What dish would you bring to a vegan Thanksgiving-themed potluck? pumpkin pie and rosemary-roasted sweet potatoes
18. Where is your favorite vegan meal at a restaurant? How many times have you ordered it? seitan piccatta from candle 79, but I have only ordered it once.
19. What do you think the best chain to dine as a vegan is? probably p.f. Chang's. I don’t go to chains really, so I am the wrong girl to ask
20. My kitchen needs a……… kitchenaid stand mixer. or just more space!!!!
21. This vegetable is not allowed in my kitchen…..! all vegetables are allowed! my least favorite is cucumbers though. weird.
22. What's for dinner tonight? quinoa with baked tofu, sweet potatoes, kale, and miso- tahini sauce. my perfect meal.

Here's my evidence of #22:

I am convinced that this is THE perfect meal: quinoa, roasted sweet potatoes, sauteed kale, tofu (cooked with bragg's and nooch), drizzled with miso-tahini sauce. I can't imagine anything better!!

Oh, and for lunch, I came up with an awesome way to use the leftover brats I made yesterday: Bratwiches!! I sliced up the brats and put them on toasted rye bread with spicy mustard, dill relish, and all the fixings...genius! I was out of kraut, but I would definitely slap some of that on there next time! yay fermented foods :)

yeah, the picture sucks, but it tasted awesome!!

and, yes, you MUST vote on November 4th! Obama or bust :)

Vegan Mofo Day #12: More Cornmeal-Crusted Tofu!

Today was another wonderful Sunday! A bunch of us enjoyed an amazing Sunday breakfast at Cafe Berlin...my favorite tradition! I had the veganized version of the Yankee Breakfast: Scrambled Tofu (with spinach and lots of spices), tempeh bacon, roasted potatoes, and an English muffin, with lots of organic grape jam. I loooove this breakfast! It has lots of my favorite breakfast-y things, especially the tempeh bacon rocks that my socks so very hard!

Perfect with a giant mug of OFT coffee!! This is a really filling and hearty meal, which was just what I needed to give me some energy before Steven and I went rock climbing all day!

This is Earthquake Hollow, where we went climbing! No picture could capture how pretty it was there today....I love Missouri foliage!!!

Here is Steven, psyched on a beautiful day for climbing!!

After a day of climbing and hiking, we needed a nice, comforting meal to satisfy us! I had just enough Cornmeal-Crusted Tofu from Veganomicon left over for both of us, so I served that up with some mashed local sweet potatoes, garlic-sauteed greens, and a whole grain roll from the wonderful Uprise Bakery here in Columbia. This meal definitely hit the spot!Now I'm off to try and create something fantastic for this week's Iron Chef Challenge...I am so excited! :)

Labor Day Soul Food

With the blessing of having a day off of both school AND work (!!) I was able to prepare a real meal for a few friends and myself. Some good 'ol soul food was just what we needed, too!
I have been dreaming about the Blueberry Chipotle Barbeque Sauce that I saw on the PPK blog last week, and I just got a package of Soy Curls from my Pangaea order...the combination was just obvious to me! If you haven't made this super sweet and spicy and tangy and smoky sauce that Isa posted, then you must! immediately if not sooner! I'm sure it would go well on anything, like tofu or tempeh, but it went perfectly with the mildly-flavored and chewy-textured Soy Curls! Here they are up close and personal:

Here is the recipe, courtesy of the PPK Blog!
Blueberry Chipotle Barbeque Sauce (makes about 4 cups)
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch chunk of peeled ginger, minced
2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup veggie broth or water
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 to 3 teaspoons chipotle powder
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons sugar (or more to taste)
Salt to taste

Preheat a sauce pan over medium heat. Saute the onions in the oil for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the garlic and ginger, saute for a minute more. Add the blueberries, veggie broth and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the chipotle, molasses and sugar. Lower heat and let simmer for about 45 minutes, until it’s reduced by about half. It should be nice and thick. Adjust sugar and salt if you need to. Turn the heat off and let sit for about 15 minutes before using, stirring occasionally. (from Isa at the PPK blog)

I served the BBQ Soy Curls with some organic steamed kale and Mac'n' Chreese from Road's End Organics...whole wheat macaroni noodles+ nutritional yeast cheezy sauce= love! Herethey are in their lovely box, ready to be cooked:And here's everything all together... a perfect meal! A little taste of Southern-style food really is good for the soul :)