Cookies!

My friend Micha just moved to Miami Beach for a fantastic opportunity.  While I miss her presence in Denver, a Miami care package came my way yesterday!  The owner of ginnybakes is a client of her new employer.

I haven't heard of this brand before so I'm not sure if they are available locally.  But I will tell you that they are delicious!  These are dreamy vegan delight, which is a vanilla coconut combo.  They remind me of a subtle molasses/gingersnap cookie.  Tasty, vegan, and gluten-free?  Usually it's a "pick two" scenario when it comes to those attributes.  I'm looking forward to tasting the other varieties.  If you find these around, give 'em a try.

BBQ Pineapple Pizza

LOVE this pizza!  It's kind of a pain in the butt to make, what with the pre-baking of the tofu and caramelizing onions, but it's worth the time.  In a pinch, you could saute the tofu and just soften the onions and it would still be delicious.  I also added a little Daiya mozz but it's also great without it.

BBQ Pineapple Pizza
(Chloe’s Kitchen, Chloe Coscarelli)

serves 4

Ingredients:

1 14-ounce package extra-firm tofu, drained
2 cups barbecue sauce
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for brushing
2 large onions, sliced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1-1 1/2 lbs. pizza dough
1 cup diced pineapple
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a small baking sheet.

Press the tofu between paper towels, with something heavy on top, for about 30 minutes (changing the paper towels as necessary). After pressing, cut the tofu into 1/2″ cubes. In a bowl, toss tofu with 1 cup barbecue sauce until each cube is coated. Place in one layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes, turning the tofu a couple of times with a spatula. Remove from oven and set aside. Turn heat up to 450 degrees F.

In a large skillet, heat 3 tbsp oil and saute onions over medium heat until tender and caramelized, about 20-30 min. Season generously with salt and pepper and set aside.

Stretch pizza dough into a rectangle and fit it into the prepared baking sheet. Spoon remaining 1 cup barbecue sauce onto the pizza dough and spread, leaving a 3/4″ border along the sides. You may not want to use all of the sauce, just enough to coat the dough. On top of the sauce, layer the tofu, caramelized onions, pineapple, and cilantro. Brush the edges of the crust with olive oil. Bake for about 15-20 min., rotating midway, until the crust is slightly browned or golden. Let cool, slice, and devour!

Junk food report

Leahey Mac and Cheese, good!  Not quite like the fluorescent yellow of Kraft, but nice and creamy.  Not something I'll eat all that often, but it'll be nice to have on hand for those nights when I'm short on time and/or energy.

Earth Balance Mac and Cheese.

This one is more like the Kraft that we (used to) know and love.  Satisfying in a retro, comforting kind of way.  Not a huge portion and I could easily have eaten the whole box myself.  But, let's face it; I am an American, and thus am used to eating enormous portions of food.  I was expected to share, and fortunately avoided food shaming myself on this occasion.

However, in a head-to-head comparison, I'll take the Leahey.  It was richer and creamier and had a less processed taste to it.  Less plasticky, shall we say.  Don't get me wrong, I would not turn away the Earth Balance were it placed in front of me.  And as far as cost, honestly, I can't remember what I paid for either one of them.  I'd be happy to both of these in the pantry when I get home from a 12-hour workday, but I'd reach for the Leahey first.

Tater Tot Casserole

I am always on the lookout for ways to incorporate tater tots into my daily life.  Thus, when I ran across Zsu Dever's Everyday Vegan Eats and saw that it had a tater tot casserole recipe, well, add another cookbook to the pile.

This book is newly published and I can't find the recipe posted anywhere online, so this pic and write-up will have to suffice.  And, to add insult to injury, the library does not have this book, so I was forced to purchase it sight unseen.  I'm happy with it so far and have several recipes in the queue to try.  The recipes are comforting, straightforward and not too complicated.

But, really, how bad could a recipe be that features tater tots?  I liked it well enough, but I'm not convinced on the soy curls.  I still have that old tater tot casserole recipe stuck in my head and my taste buds--you know the one with hamburger, cream of mushroom soup and tater tots.  While I don't miss the hamburger or crave it at all, I kept trying to think of something besides the soy curls that I'd want in this casserole.  The soy curls were fine, don't get me wrong, but they just weren't quite right.  I know for sure that I wouldn't use burger crumbles because I don't like them in much of anything.  Mushrooms would definitely be great in this..  Maybe green beans.  But I'll experiment and see what I can come up with.

I had this for breakfast this morning, if that tells you anything.

Vegans have junk food, too

My haul today from Nooch:

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), my take today was limited by the cargo carrying capacity of my bike bag.  But I think this will hold me for at least a few days.  Will let you know the verdict on those Tofurky Pockets.  I don't think I've ever had a regular hot pocket, so my opinion may be for naught, but that's true of most of my opinions.

Oh, and I definitely have a plan for the Soy Whip.  Will fill you in on that as it develops, as well.

Time flies

My 6th Veganversary went by with nary a mention.  I was just thinking about it and couldn't remember the year I started, but I thought it was 2009.  Turns out it was 2008!  Yes, the post is from 2009, I didn't start blogging until July of that year.  

Times have changed, for sure.  There are now so many great vegan options out there, more vegan cookbooks than a person can possibly read or own, more products, and more overall awareness.  All of these things are very good.

And, after 6 years, I've very much settled into a vegan diet.  I can't imagine going back, although a person can never say never.  Some sort of apocalypse, who knows.

Anyway, I made some chocolate chip cookies today and they were wonderful.  Further evidence that vegan food is damn good.  From Vegan Diner.

Video and recipe here.

Still cooking, still eating

Still taking lousy pictures of tasty food.  However, lately it has just been too much damn effort to post the pictures and write about them.  I will do my best to backtrack and catch up.

While I'm still enamored with Isa Does It and am now going back for round two of fave recipes, I've had a diversion or two in the midst of the Isa love.  For example, Vegan Pizza!  I've had pizza at least once a week (well, twice, since my pizza dough recipe makes enough for 2 pizzas), but I am not complaining.  Such a perfect food.

Anyway, nothing earth-shattering in the Vegan Pizza book, but they are solid recipes.  I'm not one to do a whole lot of experimenting in the kitchen, which is why following recipes has such appeal to me.  I'm a compulsive rule-follower, plus I don't like wasting food when experiments go awry, so I'm definitely a recipe gal.

Some pics:

All American Barbeque Pizza

Broccoli Cheddar Pizza

Cowboy Pizza (my fave of the bunch)

Peanut Barbeque Pizza (recipe here)

And up this week is Thai Peanut Pizza.  And while the pizza recipes have all been good, there are some gems in the ingredients, as well.  The sweet and smoky soy curls are delicious, and the cheddar cashew cheese sauce is fantastic!  I have used it in several other recipes and am not ashamed to admit that I would eat this by the spoonful as soup.  There are also recipes for burger, taco, and pizza crumbles that I haven't gotten to just yet but that look promising.

I got this book from the library, as I try to do with any cookbook before making the purchase plunge, and with this one I decided to copy the recipes of interest and pass on the purchase.  No particular reason, other than I'm trying to be judicious about cookbook purchases and while this one is solid, it did not bowl me over.  That's not to say the recipes aren't great and that I haven't enjoyed the pizzas, it's just that I didn't see myself referencing this book over and over like I have with others.  Still, it's definitely worthy of a look, so check it out if you get the chance.

Pizza, how I love thee.