Tofu Lo Mein

This is a version of lo mein that is rather tasty, but I make no guarantees about its authenticity. I used what I had in the fridge and was pleased with the end result. I would have liked some green onions, so I have added them to the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

- 8 oz angel hair pasta

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 1 inch piece ginger, minced

- 8 oz sliced cremini mushrooms

- 3-4 baby bok choy, sliced (or half a bunch of swiss chard)

- 2 green onions, sliced

For the Tofu

- 1 pkg firm tofu, diced

- 1 tbsp cooking sherry

- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce

- 1 tbsp soy sauce

- few drops of sesame oil

For the Sauce

- 2 tbsp cooking sherry

- 1/4 cup hoisin sauce

- 4 tsp soy sauce

- 1 tsp sesame oil

- 3/4 to 1 cup water

METHOD

1. Cook pasta. When done, rinse with cold water and drain. Set aside.

2. While pasta is cooking, make the tofu. Heat a quality non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add tofu to pan and cook for 10-15 mins, flipping regularly, until tofu is golden. Mix together sherry, sauces, and oil and add to pan. Cook until liquid has absorbed.

3. Heat a wok over med-hi heat. Put a small amount of oil in the wok and fry the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds. Add in mushrooms and cook for 5 mins, until mushrooms soften enough to your liking. Add some water to the wok if necessary to keep the mushrooms from sticking. Add in bok choy and cook until wilted.

4. Add sauce ingredients and tofu to the wok. Bring to bubbling then remove from heat. Add in pasta and green onions and mix well. Add more water if you want more sauce. Serve.

Why Fine Dining Both Sucks and Blows

I was out last night for a university-related "business" dinner at one of this city's finer dining establishments. I had eaten there once before, and so I knew there was one thing on the menu I could order: the Pad Thai (yes, I checked to see if it had fish sauce in it). The original dish comes with chicken and pork and shrimp, but they were able to make it for me with tofu. No such luck this time. With that option out of the way there was literally nothing else on the menu I could order. I told the waitress to have the chef make me something without any animal products in it. Sometimes this strategy has worked for me. Once, at a sports bar and grill no less, it resulted in a grilled and thinly sliced portabello mushroom fanned out over roasted potatoes with a side of asparagus and carrots. Last night it resulted in one of the most uninspired and awful dishes I have eaten in a while. The chef threw together artichokes, asparagus, red and yellow pepper, broccoli, and zucchini with rice noodles and what appeared to be 1/2 cup of oil. That's right. No seasonings, no sauce, no garnishes, no real taste. Just an incoherent mess of greasy and slowly congealing food. It was awful. I hate to think what they charged for that "dish." The experience actually highlights a larger problem, namely, the fact that many chefs have no idea what to do if a large chunk of animal flesh is not the centerpiece of a dish. In fact, the meat dishes served last night were pretty much to exact inverse of the food guide with vegetables playing a very minor role. And yet this is considered normal eating.

UPDATE: After writing this rather whiny post, I decided that I would actually do something about the situation. I wrote an email to the restaurant asking them to add a vegan entree to the menu, and that such an entree would have broad appeal to those interested in a low-fat diet. I gave a few links to recipes from my blog to show that vegan food is easy, tasty, and photographs well. We will see what comes of it.

Red Rice Tacos with Citrus Tofu

The past few days have been warm and sunny, and we have even eaten dinner out on the back porch twice! This beautiful weather, combined with reading about Urban Vegan's trip to Mexico, made tacos the logical choice for tonight (well, if sun+warm=tacos makes logical sense to you). I did not have any salsa or any sour cream, so I wanted to make a flavourful taco that did not rely on these ingredients. I'm not sure that rice is a traditional taco ingredient, but it works here. The tofu portion of the dish is a no (added) fat version of the tequila chili lime tofu I made a while back. The rest of the toppings are up to you, but the ones I used here worked really well. The avocado brings creaminess, the mesclun brings earthiness, and the hot sauce gives some bite.

INGREDIENTS

- 1 cup long grain white rice

- 2 cups water

- 1/2 tsp chili powder

- 1/2 tsp paprika

- 1 tsp oregano

- 1 tsp salt

- pinch of cayenne

- 1 pkg firm tofu, cubed

- 1/4 cup tequila

- juice of 1 orange

- juice of 1 lemon

- juice of 1 lemon

- 1 tsp salt

- small wheat tortillas

- diced tomato

- minced sweet onion

- diced avocado

- finely sliced mesclun (or some other dark leafy green)

- shredded vegan cheese

- Louisiana hot sauce (not Mexican, I know, but tasty!)

METHOD

1. Rinse rice and place in a pot with water, chili powder, paprika, oregano, salt, and cayenne. Bring to a boil, stirring to keep rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15-20 mins, until rice is cooked.

2. While rice is cooking, make the tofu. This method only works if you have a good non-stick pan. Heat pan over medium heat and add in tofu cubes. Cook for about 15 mins, flipping the tofu often, until all sides are golden and tofu has released its water. This makes for a nice chewy texture.

3. Add tequila to the pan and cook until all tequila is cooked off/absorbed into tofu. Add juices and do the same thing. Remove from pan and serve.

4. Assemble tacos: start with rice in a tortilla, top with tofu, then all the other stuff. Finish off with a few dashes of hot sauce and enjoy!

Hot Dog Casserole

If you don't have kids, or are over the age of 7, you may want to just ignore this post. I was in meetings pretty much all day, and Vegan Mom had a meeting at 6:00 this evening, which left little time for making dinner. No real recipe tonight, just an idea that you can modify however you want. Or, not even make at all. But seriously, the kids loved it.

INGREDIENTS

- cooked macaroni

- 1 onion, diced

- frozen mixed vegetables

- white sauce, or cheese sauce

- sliced hot dogs

- bread crumb topping

METHOD

1. Saute onion, add veggies, sauce, and hot dogs. Add to macaroni and mix well. Put in a casserole dish, top with bread crumbs, and bake at 350 until bubbling and top is browned.

Atar Allecha

A colleague of mine moved in up the street yesterday, so tonight I brought over dinner to help her and her husband out. I mulled over what to bring for quite some time. In situations like this I always feel like veganism is on trial and that this is my chance to present a convincing case to the jury. At first I was going to make something with wheat gluten sausage--perhaps a gumbo or jambalaya. In the end I decided against fake meat and went with Ethiopian since it is already essentially vegan. This way they could enjoy the spices and flavours without having to compare the dish to "real" meat. I made Yetakelt We't and Misr Allecha, injera (from Vegan Lunchbox), and this dish.

INGREDIENTS

- 2 cups yellow split peas

- 6 cups water

- 1 large onion, chopped

- 4 cloves garlic, minced

- 2 tbsp niter kebbeh

- 1 tsp tumeric

- 1-2 green chiles, seeded and minced

- 2 cups water (plus more as needed)

- cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves to taste

- salt to taste

METHOD

1. Rinse split peas, remove stones and debris. Put into a large pot and cover with 6 cups of water. Soak for at least an hour.

2. Bring water to boiling, reduce heat, cover, and simmer peas for 30-40 mins, until softened but not mushy (i.e. until they still hold their shape, but are soft enough to bite). Drain, rinse, and drain again. Remove from pot.

3. Dry pot and put back on the stove over med-lo heat. Add onions and garlic and dry fry for a few mins, stirring constantly. Add in nitter kebbeh and saute onion for a few more mins, until translucent. Add in peas, tumeric, chili, some salt, and water. Bring to bubbling then simmer, uncovered, until peas break down into a chunky paste, adding more water if needed.

4. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve. I always like to add some more cinnamon and similar spices to bring out more of the nitter kebbeh's flavour.

I also made banana split cupcakes. Best. cupcakes. ever. Check out this cupcake carrier that my sister-in-law gave us. If you want to spread the vegan cupcake love, then you need one of these. It has three removable trays that each hold 9 cupcakes. Here are the cupcakes, all ready to go. We all cried. Why didn't I make 2 dozen?