Sharing the love of tofu with non-vegans!

I'm not too outspoken, in fact I think I might have the quietest voice in Omaha. I'm also not the vegan police. However, this doesn't stop me from sharing my love of delicious [vegan] food with others! Especially when I get to share it with someone who isn't vegan and has never tried tofu. In this case, I've told my friend Erin I would cook for her anytime.

One of my favorite recipes comes from Vegan Brunch. No, I've never tried the omelets. I'm still stuck on the Tofu Bennys! I love hashbrowns and home fries, so I haven't tried making the english muffins.

For breakfast, a Tofu Benny on its own will fill me up. For dinner, I wanted more. I'm greedy. I had my friend pick out another recipe from Vegan Brunch. Miraculously, I had everything to make the Pumpkin French Toast.

To this wonderful pair, I made us soy lattes. Every morning, I made 4 cups of coffee (this is only two servings for me). I enjoy one serving hot with Silk soy creamer and store the other serving in a quart-sized mason jar in the fridge. When I need a pick-me-up or to impress someone, I make a cold soy latte using one of those protein shake containers. I use a 3:1 ratio of coffee to creamer, add the lid, and shake, shake, shake. This mixes and adds froth!
Verdict: Amazing! We have another tofu-lover in the world!

Aloo Gobi: North Indian style

One of my co-workers Parul is from North India - actually, about a quarter of the Indians in my department are from North India. The rest of mostly from South India.

Tonight's feature: Aloo Gobi (cauliflower and potato dish)

I'm told that aloo gobi is the first thing that girls are taught to cook. This recipe is simple and hearty and will satisfy your cravings for Indian, even if you've never cooked Indian food before. It also happens to be my favorite meal ever [currently], so I begged Parul to show me how to make it.

This recipe calls for cumin seeds. Yes, the seeds. No, not the powder. You can go to Whole Foods and pay $5 for a small bag of cumin seeds that may be split. Or you could go to your local Indian shop and grab a giant bag of cumin seeds for about $4. Either way, just don't use the powder in this recipe!

Aloo Gobi - serves 4 (or 3 really hungry people)
2 Tbsp whole cumin seeds
2 tsp red chili powder (or more if you like it spicy)
1 Tbsp turmeric
1 Tbsp coriander powder (powder, not seeds)
1 small white or yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1/2" cube of fresh ginger, peeled and diced
1 head of cauliflower, florets pulled* apart into 1" pieces
4 small potatoes, cut into 1/2" pieces (I used new potatoes)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (more if you like the vegetables crispier)
1/2 cup water

Heat 1/3 cup of the vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok on medium-high temperature. When the oil is hot, turn down the setting to medium and add cumin seeds for about a minute. Add the turmeric and coriander powder and let cook for about another minute. Add the garlic and ginger and stir to avoid burning the garlic. When the fragrance is taking you back to India (about 3 minutes), add the onion. Turn the heat back up to medium-high and cook until the onion is browned. Add the rest of the oil and the cauliflower; cook for about another minute. Now add the potatoes, turmeric, and water. Place a lid over the skillet (or wok) and cook for about twenty minutes.

If you have a nice recipe for roti or a nice Indian friend who happened to bring over the dough for roti, now would be the perfect time to make about 4-6 roti. This would also go well with basmati rice or tortillas.

Stir every 10 minutes or so until the vegetables are cooked to your liking. Serve with roti or rice.


*Parul's mother taught her to pull/break off the florets instead of cutting them. According to her mother, it helps with the flavor and texture. Because Parul and her mother do it this way, I will continue this tradition.

sushi

I love sushi. I would eat it everyday if I wasn't so lazy! Most favorite sushi rolls are avocado cucumber rolls. And when I have tempeh and carrots, those get tossed into my sushi too. Why not! What can I say? Carrot-cucumber-avocado-tempeh rolls! So, I'm kinda boring. and pretty lazy. Speaking of lazy, have you checked out the laziest vegans in the world blog? Yeah, you should do that!

Being a poor grad student that is also lazy, I can't afford to go out for sushi too much, but I do enjoy a properly rolled sushi roll. Here's my quick-and-dirty way of how to make sushi rolls, Nebraskan style:

1. Get a rice cooker. Seriously, it will make life easier. Plus, you are probably super efficient, right? You want to chop and not have to babysit the boiling water on the stove! In the rice cooker, for quinoa and most rice, I do a 2:1 ratio of water to rice. 2 cups of water per 1 cup of rice. Sushi rice is no different. Get that rice cooking! It is the rate-limiting-step!

2. Cut all ingredients that are going into your rolls into thin strips. For me, it is usually sauteed tempeh, carrots, cauliflower, and avocados.

3. Make a thick creamy sauce for the inside the rolls. I use a couple of spoonfuls of vegenaise and a small spoonful of thai chili sauce. If you like some spice to your sushi, go ahead and add your favorite hot sauce. I have a farmer's palate, so I keep things boring, unspicy, and uncomplicated.

4. Once that rice is done cooking, add a couple of splashes of white rice vinegar and a pinch or two of sugar and mix that all up.

5. Set up your assembly line: a bowl of water for your fingers, bowl of rice, sheets of nori, your thinly sliced fillings, and that amazing creamy sauce. Also grab a really sharp knife.

6. With dry hands, lay your nori sheet on a dry cutting board or plate. Dip your fingers into the bowl of water, then grab a handful of rice. Fill 2/3 to 3/4 of the nori sheet with a thin layer of rice.

7. In the middle of that rice, add the creamy sauce and filings.

8. Begin rolling up the sheet as tightly as possible, starting on the side of the nori sheet full of rice.

9. When you get to end of the paper, re-dip your finger into the bowl of water and dampen the edge of the nori sheet. This is going to help "glue" the nori together.

10. Place the seam facing down on the cutting board.

11. Dampen your really sharp knife with the water.

12. Cut your rolled up nori filled with goodness in half. Then cut those halves in half. Then cut those in half. You should get 8 sushi rolls out of the sheet of nori (or maybe I just like my sushi to be thin!)

13. Serve with a small bowl of soy sauce. Enjoy!

Vegan MoFo - coming to blogs near you!

This is what this blog needs - a little kick in the pants to get its author to start writing more. And who's doing the kicking? Vegan MoFo.

Here's the deal: five days a week in the month of November, blog about something related to vegan cooking or veganism in general. My plan is to blog every weekday about what I'm eating for dinner.

If you want more information about Vegan MoFo, hit up official Vegan MoFo website.

I also found Kittee's blog to be incredibly valuable in that whole kick-in-the-seat thing.

Projects: finished and planned

This summer has been very impressive for El and I finishing projects. We've planted a new garden on the south side of the house, finished a deck, bought new furniture, and deep cleaned almost the whole house.

Next projects include cleaning the rest of the house, unpacking the few boxes, and making tomato sauce. Our more long term projects include replacing some windows, remodeling the kitchen/dining room, and redoing the front and north side (of the house) landscaping.

For your photo pleasure, I included a picture of the south side of our house. We used recycled tire mulch instead of traditional wood mulch. This mulch should last up to 12 years, contrasts the house really well, and makes the flowers pop!

Mumpkins

Mumpkins: a term used recently in the LJ gardening community to describe a strange hybrid of a melon and pumpkin that accidently happened due to cross pollination.

The commenter suggested that the pumpkins and melons were close enough to cross pollinate. The outside looks like a pumpkin; the first inch of flesh looks like pumpkin; the rest of the innards look and taste like honeydew. The result: longer lasting melons. Sounds delicious!

I want to intentionally plant my cantaloupe and pumpkin next to each other next year, provided that the pumpkins will survive (unlike this year. I wonder if I still have time to plant some more seeds.).However, the result may be a cantaloupe-shaped melon with pumpkin inside. I think I'd still be okay with that!

My other thought: the zucchini plants aren't too far from the cantaloupe (or what I'm assuming to be cantaloupe plants). I wonder if these will cross-pollenate.

I love gardening and the wonders of growing my own food.

Sushi for salad!

I want to upload a picture of last night's dinner and go to bed. I promise that I'll come back to edit this post to talk about the amazing flavors and how awesome Isa's new cookbook is going to be.