Best Dinner in a long long long time

mmmm mmm mmmm mmm mmm mmm. This might be the best thing I have made in a while. Indonesian Yellow Rice with Indonesian Tempeh and Broccoli.



Here is the recipe for Indonesian Yellow Rice from Things Asian. I cut the original recipe in half and left out the butter. I threw all of the ingredients into my rice cooker and just let it do its thing. We actually thought we could cut the rice in half again. It still made a full pot.

Indonesian Yellow Rice
serves 5
1 1/2 cups rice, rinsed
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 cups water
1/2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh lemon grass
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon, ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Place all ingredients into rice cooker and cook according to rice cooker instructions. (See the original recipe for non-rice cooker instructions).

Indonesian Tempeh from About.com with some modifications
serves 3
1 Tbsp unrefined peanut oil
1 block of tempeh, 1/2 in cubes

1 Tbsp unrefined peanut oil
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 tomato, chopped (I used 2 ripe roma tomatoes)
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp brown sugar
water as needed

Steam tempeh for 20 minutes. Remove from steamer (now you can reuse the steamer to make some broccoli). Heat 1 tbsp unrefined peanut oil in a non-stick skillet. Fry tempeh till brown on all sides (turning occasionally) and then move to a paper towel.

Heat 1 tablespoons oil in a wok. Add onion and fry until the onion turns translucent. Add tomato and fry for 2-3 minutes more. Then, add the soy sauce, sugar and tempeh and mix until well coated. Add a bit of water if the sauce is too thick.

Not-Chick'n Noodle Soup

Sometimes even a vegan wants that bowl of soup that we all remember from childhood... chicken noodle. And I know, most people would think that it is impossible for a vegan have. Well, here is (in my humble opinion) the closest vegan thing to the real thing for when you really really neeed it. We now make this whenever one of us doesn't feel very good.




This recipe is on its fourth modification from the original Tofu Noodle Soup recipe by Nava Atlas. I based my version off of Eat Peace's Tofu Noodle Soup. Her version recommends (insists) on adding dill. I can't stomach adding dill to this soup. All the other versions of this recipe use tofu which doesn't feel right to me. But Eat Peace's picture looked so good, that I had to try it and modify it so I would like it.

Not-"Chicken" Noodle Soup

1 T olive oil
3 celery stalks, diced small
3-4 carrots, scrubbed and diced
4-5 cloves garlic (about 1 1/2 Tbsp), minced
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 yellow onion, small, diced
1 tsp dried thyme, crushed between your fingers
1 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 cup hot water
2 Not Chick'n boullion cubes*
6 1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tsp tumeric
4 oz angel hair pasta (or capellini, or vermicelli), broken in 1 1/2" pieces
~16 oz white wave chicken style seitan, 1/4 inch dice
pinch cayenne

In a large stockpot (6 qt-ish), heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add carrots, celery, onion, garlic and ginger. Cook for about a minute. Add the thyme, and oregano. Add a couple of tablespoons of water to keep garlic and ginger from burning. Turn heat to medium low, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, place the boullion cubes in hot water and stir to combine.

Add the boullion/water mix and the 6 1/2 cups of water to the pot along with salt, pepper, paprika, and tumeric. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer covered for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

Take the lid off, increase the heat again, and add the noodles, seitan, and pinch of cayenne. Cook about 10 minutes, until noodles are cooked. Stir, serve immediately.

This soup is really good the next day too, but you may find that the noodles have taken over. If that happens, make 2 cups of hot water and mix with a not chicken boullion cube. Add to the soup and adjust seasonings.

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* I use Butlers Not Chick'n Boullion, which you can get at Food Fight Grocery. I swear by this ingredient and wouldn't want to substitute anything else. I order about 3 boxes at a time and have them shipped to the house.
** I am normally not a huge fan of white wave seitan because it is squeaky, but it really works in this recipe. I cut the seitan really tiny which takes away the squeaky effect. It winds up tasting like the tiny chicken bits in Campbells chicken noodle soup (if any of you can remember that).

2 Buddha Bowls for the Price of One

Well there would be two recipes here if I hadn't screwed up one. This week I decided that I wanted Buddha bowls; bowls full of brown rice, kale, tofu, veggies and some sauce. I have no idea where I got the idea that this was the definition of a buddha bowl, but there ya go.

Here is a pic of the bowl, pre-sauced. You can see that it has my buddha bowl definition of ingredients; vegetables (whatever you like really - I used carrots, celery, broccoli, peppers, scallions, snow peas), tofu, kale, brown rice:



The first bowl that we made on Monday night, had a ginger soy sauce. This is the sauce I messed up. But, no fear, I'll try it again soon and post a usable sauce recipe for this. I wasn't feeling well at all when I made this, and for some reason I never tasted it until we sat down to eat. Wow was it salty. Hmm, maybe a little less soy sauce next time. 



When I made this bowl on Monday, I made enough stir fry veggies, brown rice, stir fried tofu, and sauteed kale to use the other half in Wednesday's bowl. This cut tonight's cooking down to only reheating in the microwave and making a sauce.

Tonight's bowl got a thai coconut curry sauce. It is a very light sauce (not too spicy and not too much curry flavor), and the recipe follows.



Here is a pic of the sauce cooking on the stove.

Red Coconut Curry Buddha Bowl Sauce

1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced ginger
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 tsp red curry paste, make sure it is vegan
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp paprika
1 14-16 oz can coconut milk (not lite coconut milk)
1 Tbsp brown sugar

Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and then add the garlic and ginger. Saute a couple of minutes (be careful not to burn it; keep the heat medium to low). Add the curry paste, tomato paste, soy sauce, coriander, cumin, and paprika. Cook for about another 30 seconds to a minute. Stir in the coconut milk and brown sugar and make sure you mix it well. Bring it to a boil and cook for about 3-5 minutes. Serve over stir fried veggies and rice.

 

Oh, And this sauce tasted amazing on the kale!  Here is a link to the original recipe that I based this on (mostly I just looked to see that ingredients they put in theirs and then mixed stuff up till it tasted like I wanted it to).

A meme - 7 random or weird facts about me.

I’ve been tagged by Felicity at Thrifty Vegan which is a really great blog if you haven't read it before. Her blog inspires me to think about ways I can be more thrifty.


Here are the roolz:
Link the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links.
Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


1. I have lived in three very different regions in this country: The South: GA, AL, SC. The North: Boston, MA. And the West: Park City, UT.
2. My husband and I moved all the way across the country because we found a job near the best skiing in the country. We drove here in a Prius with 2 cats.
3. I'm not a morning person. I'm downright mean until I've been awake for a couple of hours.
4. I have no patience. I like crafts and things to be finished within a day. This means that anything I paint or draw has to been done by the time I get up from the table. I just started a knitting class which is really going to test the limits of my patience.
5. I love TV and think TiVo was the best invention ever. I hate those "I don't watch TV"-raise-their-nose-in-the-air people.
6. I hate mushrooms and squishy foods. I don't mind the flavor. I'll cook with them, but then I pick all of them out and put them on my husbands plate. I can't stand the texture. And, I make a mean mushroom risotto, heh.
7. I get ill watching at bloody scenes on TV shows. I have to look away during Grays Anatomy. I just started training/working as a volunteer Ski Patrol. When I signed up I didn't realize the training was almost like EMT training and there are lots of gory pics in my text book. And the stories they tell about what we will see on the mountain. Should be interesting to see how I do.


I tag:
Monika at Dabbles with Apples
Mihl at Seitan is My Motor
Webly at Fueled By Popcorn
Herbstonne at The Sisters Vegan
Sheree at Life on the Vegan Highway
Dino at Alternative Vegan
Abbie at Hooray Vegan

Roasted Pumpkin Walnut Manicotti

Last night we made Vegan Dad's Roasted Pumpkin Walnut Manicotti. It was pretty good. The picture is awful but they tasted pretty good. Served with my favorite roasted brussel sprouts. This recipe takes a long time to make and I'm not sure I'd do it again. I think it'd be easier to just make it into a lasagna.

While I liked it ok, I thought I added too much sage, but thought it would have been bland without it. I thought it needed something else... maybe caramelized onions or vegan sausage (everything is better with vegan sausage, right?

I miss Grasshopper - No Name Tofu and Broccoli

I miss Grasshopper Vegan Chinese Restaurant in Boston. They have this one item on their menu that is out of this world. It is called No Name. It is basically a sweet and sour seitan. They also had an item called the House Special that was the same thing but with tofu. So, a couple of days ago we made "No Name" using Vegan Yum Yum's recipe. This was pretty good and we will probably make it anytime we are craving sweet and sour tofu or seitan. We loved the fried tofu and we loved the sauce but together was not as fabulous as I remembered. It was still pretty good... and a keeper.

I can't stop making these Skanky Pumpkin Squares

These might be the best thing ever. Every time a pumpkin comes in the house we make these pumpkin squares. And a pumpkin comes into the house about once a week from our CSA.

The recipe is from Vegan Addict. I have tried these with both AP flour and also with White Whole Wheat flour. The latter is a little grainier, but I can't decide which I like best.

I have had a bit of a problem with the middle sinking a little, but that hasn't affected the flavor at all. It just provided a larger vehicle for the frosting. I guess I just need to keep making these until I figure out the right high altitude adjustment. :P