Tofu With Chinese Long Beans and Garlic

This is such a simple, fast meal that you can put it together easily for a hurried weeknight meal. And, it's not so many ingredients that picky children (who, my blessings?) will turn their noses up at it.

Tofu With Chinese Long Beans and Garlic

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. of canola oil
2 pkgs of extra-firm tofu, drained of water
1 bunch of Chinese long beans, ends trimmed
5 cloves of garlic, sliced in rounds
Soy Sauce to taste (Tamari for wheat-free folks)

Directions:

Turn the tofu on its side, and slice it into four big slices. Lay it down in its normal position and cut it into triangles: one big "x" down the center of the whole block, then a "+" over it as well. (I will remember to post a picture of this one day.) Heat the oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Carefully put in the tofu, and begin to brown it. Stir occasionally so it doesn't burn. Meanwhile, in a medium pot bring several cups of water to a boil. Cut the Chinese long beans into three inch strips. When the water is boiling, carefully put in the long beans and blanch for three minutes. Drain in sink. When the tofu has begun to brown, in about ten minutes, add the long beans. Turn the heat down to medium, and add the garlic. Let cook over medium heat for about three to five minutes. Splash some soy sauce over it all, as much or as little to your taste, and serve immediately. Good and tasty. Feeds five hungry vegans.

Broiled Avocado Cheese Sandwich

Such a simple, yet satisfying, meal. We had this for lunch on a Saturday, but this could easily be taken as dinner with a salad on the side. You can make this quickly and have a hearty, warm lunch or dinner in just a few minutes. I used some homemade sourdough, which lent to its earthy back-to-basics simplicity.


Broiled Avocado Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients:

Several pieces of thick sourdough bread
3 avocados, mashed
1 cup of vegan cheese or more, finely shredded - we used Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet, cheddar style

Directions:

Make sure the top oven rack is in the second position from the top. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spread the mashed avocados evenly over the pieces of bread. Sprinkle the cheese liberally over the avocados. Bake for ten minutes. Turn top broiler on to melt the cheese. This should take about three or so minutes. Watch so it doesn't burn. Crispy edges are fine and tasty, though. So good. Feeds five hungry vegans.

Versatile Blogger Award

Rose over at Dandelion was kind enough to honor me with this award. I like it because I can list obscure things about myself, and I think I have a lot of those! So, the rules are for me to list seven obscure things and pass this on. Please enjoy my obscurity. On a side note, and not to be included in the following list, but obscure anyways, is that this is the first time I've made an actual link! 'Bout time, don't you think? On with the show!




Seven Obscure Things About Myself:

1. I contracted pneumonia as a baby and almost died from it.

2. During summer camp when I was about six, I earned a ribbon for The Brightest Eyes.

3. When I was twelve and fourteen, I bicycled with my father down the California coast from the Oregon border to the Mexico border, and from Seattle to San Francisco, respectively.

4. When I was about fourteen, a producer of commercials saw me working in my father's office on summer break and offered me the lead in two nationwide commercials. The hitch was he wanted a private meeting with me at dinner, with no parents around. His secretary even called that night to seal the deal with me. I declined if I had to be alone with him, and I ended up seeing those very commercials a few months later with other actresses in them.

5. I've dreamt in Spanish, Russian and Sign Language.

6. I met my husband on the shoulder of a road: he was walking to the bus stop, and I was jogging before work.

7. I can do a unique clicking sound with my tongue that NO ONE else has ever been able to do.


The oh so lucky bloggers that I bestow this award on are:


1. Amanda over at Amanda's Domestic Adventures has a beautifully organized blog that is already well-received and recognized, but that doesn't stop me from publicly admiring it, as well.

2. Lyn Rose at Beautiful Vegan with her three friends has created a very special and unique blog, indeed. It is replete with activism as well as yummy recipes.

3. Sara at Busy Vegan Mama is a busy, vegan mama like me, so, well, you know...

4. Jacklyn at Go Vegan Meow! is one of my new go-to-faves. She has an incredible blog that is relatively new with photos in abundance.

5. Jenna at Healthy. Happy. Well. is a blogger that I've recently discovered, and I'm happy that I did. She offers very healthy, sometimes raw, vegan recipes.

Sweet Corn Muffins

I actually just veganized a recipe on the back of my cornmeal box to get these little muffin jewels. They are sweetened with sugar, so for my Arkansas-born husband, they don't qualify as true cornbread, but he accepts them as kid-friendly corn muffins. I make extra batches and freeze them for quick meal helpers.



Sweet Corn Muffins

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cups vegan sugar
1/2 cup corn meal
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. EnerG Egg Replacer
4 Tbs. water
1 and 1/4 cups soy milk
1/3 cup canola oil
3 Tbs. vegan margarine, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Either spray with Pam or lightly grease with margarine two cupcake/muffin pans. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, corn meal, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl whisk together the Egg Replacer and water. Add the remaining ingredients to that and whisk together again. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry and stir until well blended. Spoon into muffin pans, filling each hole about 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Makes about sixteen or so muffins. Feeds five hungry vegans. My children love these!

A Deviously Huge Devil's Food Cake

Yesterday, I made six loaves of bread, two batches of corn muffins, and a very big cake. I started before church, and when I came back, I didn't take off my apron until 7pm. I was tired, but I felt very productive and happy. I hadn't planned on making a cake, but I really wanted something sweet, so I started looking around my cupboards for ideas. I adapted recipes for the cake and frosting and ended up with a moist, delectable devil's food cake that SR says was good enough for angels. I decided to use my biggest springform pan, three inches high and nearly eleven inches across, for a super-sized cake. The end result filled the pan and rose even higher! I'll post about the muffins next, but for now, here's a look at our Deviously Huge Devil's Food Cake!

A Deviously Huge Devil's Food Cake on a platter, not a plate!

A moist, delicious slice of said cake - mmm!

A Deviously Huge Devil's Food Cake

Ingredients:

Cake:

2 cups vegan sugar
1 cup vegan margarine, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbs. EnerG Egg Replacer
4 Tbs. water
2 and 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 and 1/4 cups soy milk
2 Tbs. lemon juice

Frosting:

6 Tbs. vegan margarine, softened
2 and 2/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/3 cup soy milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a large springform pan (about 11 inches) or a large cake pan. You can use either a spray or a napkin with margarine on the end. Cream together the sugar, margarine and vanilla together in a large bowl on medium speed. Add the Egg Replacer and the water, and beat until mixed in. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy milk and lemon juice, and let sit for a minute to ferment. Alternate beating in the dry ingredients and the soy milk mixture into the sugared mixture on medium speed. Beat until thoroughly mixed and pour into prepared pan. Bake for one hour. Check with toothpick or skewer to make sure cake is cooked all the way through. Set pan on cooling rack for fifteen minutes, then carefully remove sides of springform pan from cake. Peel bottom of pan off of the bottom of the cake. Let cake finish cooling on rack.

For the frosting: Set cake on serving platter. In large bowl, beat margarine. In a separate bowl, whisk sugar and cocoa together. Alternate beating in sugared mixture and soy milk with the margarine. Start off on slow speed and work way up to medium. When completely mixed, add the vanilla, and beat for one minute longer. Spread on cake. Feeds five hungry vegan for a few days. Delicious and moist!