Yummy Yummy Fried Tofu Veggie Sandwich

As a vegetarian, a lot of times people ask me, well what do you eat? My answer to them is always the same. The tastiest food I have ever eaten was vegetarian. As a tribute to that idea, I introduce my fried tofu veggie sandwich. Actually, this was my boyfriend's idea, so I must tip my hat to him. Nonetheless, here we go!

Fried Tofu Veggie Sandwich (makes 3 sandwiches)
1 package extra firm tofu
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 avocado mashed
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoons of hummus
Few slices of cucumber
Few slices of tomato
Few slices of red onion
12 thin slices of cheddar cheese (mine were about 1/2 a centimeter thick)
2 leafs of romaine lettuce coarsely chopped
6 slices of your favorite bread toasted (I used sprouted Ezekiel Bread)

The first thing you want to do is take your tofu out of the package and drain it. Just dump out the water in the package. Put a couple of sheets of paper towels on a plate, place the tofu on top and cover with any plate with a heavy object on top of it (I used my bottle of canola oil). Let this sit for about 20 minutes. What this does is gets rid of a lot of the excess water, which will shorten your frying time. Next, you want to cut your tofu into slices that are about 1 centimeter thick. Heat your oil in a frying pan and pan fry your tofu. This took me about 7 minutes a side. Just keep your eye on it and make sure it doesn't stick to the pan. Essentially, you want your tofu to have a nice golden color, like this:


Once your tofu is done frying, you want to mash your avocado and add your salt to it. Then you're ready to assembly! Slather some of your avocado mixture on one slice your toasted bread and slather some hummus on your other slice. You can stack your ingredients however you like. My sandwich went avocado, 2 slices of tofu, 4 slices of cheddar cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, lettuce and hummus. It was so delicious. Mwah, enjoy!

My Almost Vegan Easter Dinner

I am by no means religious, but I will never pass up an opportunity to make great food for great company. So as Easter approached I knew I had to come up with something to share with my favorite friends. The menu: homemade pita chips, spinach and artichoke dip, apple walnut sourdough stuffing, roasted sweet potatoes, southwestern corn pudding, sauteed portabella mushrooms spinach and green beans and biscuits. Even though there were three non-vegetarian at the table everyone enjoyed the food along with good wine and good laughs.

Pita Chips
1 package of mini whole wheat pita bread (you can use regular sized pita, but I find the minis are easier to work with)
3-4 cloves of large garlic minced
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper

I love home made pita chips. They are so crunchy and delicious. At least ten times better than store bought pita chips and at a fraction of the cost. Really, you can put any toppings on them. This recipe has always brought home the gold for me.

Preheat your oven to 400. Mix all your ingredients, minus the pita bread together, and set aside. Next take your pita bread, cut it into fourths and break apart the bread so each fourth becomes two chips. Continue to do this with all of your bread until all your chips are made.


Then, with a spoon or brush, lightly brush your olive oil mixture on top of the pita bread. When your spread is all added them pop them in the oven for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them though as they burn easily. But when they are all done you have the perfect chip for dipping into your favorite spread.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip
16 oz frozen spinach thawed
14 oz canned artichoke hearts, quartered
1/2 cup of red onion diced
1 red pepper roasted and diced
1 tablespoon of olive oil
4 tablespoons of pesto
4 tablespoons of vegan mayonnaise
3/4 cup of soy milk
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper
Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional- I thought about adding this after I made the dish. So next time I'm going to add this to give it a nice kick!)

I love spinach dip, but most spinach dips don't taste very much like spinach, instead they take on the flavors of cream cheese and sour cream. Not to mention that they are incredibly unhealthy and fattening. So I wanted to make a healthier choice that tasted more like veggies. The first thing you need to do is roast your red pepper. Set your oven to 400 degrees. Then brush your red pepper with olive oil. Place it on a cookie sheet and into the oven. It'll take about 30 minutes to roast. You need to keep your eye on it and turn it ever so often to get it evenly roasted. When its ready to come out it will look something like this:


Essentially, you want parts of the skin to burn and for the whole pepper to be soft. Once you take the pepper out immediately put it in a container and cover it. This allows the pepper to sweat so the skin will be easier to remove. You should leave the pepper in the closed container for about 15 minutes. Once it is cool enough to work with you want to slowly peel the skin off your pepper. Then you want to cut the top off and remove all the seeds. Once all the seeds are removed, dice up your pepper and set aside. After this is done, all you need to do is mix all your ingredients in a large bowl, combining thoroughly, pour the mixture into a 8x8 baking dish and cook for about 15 minutes at 350. If you want, you can make this dip earlier and refrigerate it. If you do this then you'll want to add another 10-15 minutes onto your cooking time.

Apple Walnut Sourdough Stuffing
6 firmly packed cups of diced sourdough
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 large red onion diced
1 apple cored and diced (I used gala, but you can use whatever is your favorite variety)
3 bunches of scallions diced (white and green parts)
3 celery stalks diced
3 tablespoons of your favorite fresh herbs (I used thyme and rosemary)
1/2 cup of walnuts coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups of apple juice
Freshly ground pepper to taste.

Take your diced sourdough bread, spread it on a cookie sheet and place it in the 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Essentially, you want your bread to be dry like croutons. Once these are done, take them out and set aside.

Now you want to saute your red onion, garlic and celery over medium heat in your olive oil for about 5 minutes. Until your onions are translucent and soft. Then add your chopped apple and saute for another 5 minutes or so.


Once this is done you're ready to combine all your ingredients, but don't add your apple juice until all your other ingredients are thoroughly combined. After you toss it well with the apple juice, put your stuffing into a long baking dish and cook for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes
3-4 large sweet potatoes diced
3-4 cloves of garlic cut into fourths
3 tablespoons of your favorite herbs (I used thyme and rosemary)
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil

Okay, so this is just about the easiest and simplest dishes to make. Not to mention delicious! You can use this same recipe with any other type of potato, but sweet potatoes have more vitamins and minerals than other potatoes.

Once you have all of your ingredients cut, all you do is toss the potatoes with your olive oil and herbs and pop them into a oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Toss the potatoes a couple of times while cooking to make sure they cook evenly. But yes, it is as easy as that and absolutely delicious!

Southwestern Corn Pudding
2 tablespoons of olive oil
4 cups of corn (fresh or frozen)
1 red bell pepper diced
1 green bell pepper diced
2 jalapenos diced
1 cup of soy milk
1/4 cup of corn starch
1/2 cup of corn meal (I used blue)
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
3 bunches of fresh scallions chopped (green and white parts)
1/4 cup of fresh cilantro chopped
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
Pinch of salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste

I found this recipe in a great book called Veganomigon. I modified it slightly by adding green pepper to it and substituting coconut milk for soy milk. So first thing is to lightly grease a 8x8 baking dish and set aside. Then you want to saute your corn, bell peppers and jalapenos over medium heat for about 10-12 minutes. While this is sauteing, whisk your corn starch into your soy milk and let the corn starch dissolve. Once your corn is done sauteing, put it in a bowl and add your soy milk mixture. Using a hand blender pulse the mixture about 15 times, so its a chunky consistency. If you don't have a hand blender you can use a regular blender or food processor. Then add the rest of your ingredients and pour into your greased dish. Place it in the oven at 350 and let cook for about 40-45 minutes. Now you have a spicy twist to your normal corn pudding recipe!

Sauteed Portabella Mushrooms, Green Beans and Spinach
16 oz of portabella mushrooms chopped
1lbs of green beans (tips removed and broken in half)
5oz of baby spinach coarsely chopped
1 small yellow onion diced
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic minced
3 tablespoons of sherry
3 tablespoons of soy sauce

Apparently in the wildness of my kitchen I forgot to take a picture of this side! My apologies guys. This is a really easy recipe to make, so hopefully the picture isn't a deal breaker.

Boil a pot of water (enough to cook your green beans in). Once you have a rolling boil going, drop your beans in for about 5 minutes. Then dump them into a colander, rinse with cold water and set aside.

Next saute your onions and garlic over medium heat until the onions are translucent. Add your mushrooms and continue sauteing until the mushrooms are slightly browned and have released some of their water. No you can add your spinach, green beans, sherry and soy sauce. Bring it to a simmer and cook until the beans are cooked through and the spinach is wilted (about 5 minutes). Then serve!

Biscuits
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups of white flour
1 tablespoon of baking soda
3/4 stick of soy margarine cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar

I love biscuits! I make them for just about every big holiday meal and these little guys here are amazing. They aren't difficult to make, but they do make a mess. I suggest laying a towel down on your work space to collect the excess flour.

First combine your soy milk and vinegar and set aside so it can become butter soy milk. Then add your flours and baking soda. Now is the fun part. Add your cut pieces of margarine and using your hands crumble them into the mixture to create small pea sized pieces.

Once that is done, add your soy buttermilk to the flour and combine. The dough is going to be a little sticky, so make sure you flour your cutting board or whatever you are using to knead your dough. As you knead the dough add extra white flour until your dough is smooth and elastic. Then roll out your dough so its 1/2 inch thick. Using a small floured glass cut your dough into biscuits.

Place your biscuits onto a large ungreased cookie sheet as you go. After you cut out your first round of biscuits, form a dough from the "scraps" and repeat until you have used up all your dough. Then place them in the 400 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes. The biscuits will have a slightly golden color to them and sound hollow when you knock on them. Enjoy!