September 29th, 2008

TACO PARTY EXTRAVAGANZA!

Our CSA farm that we work at once a week has yielded tons of tomatoes, peppers and squash. With so much each week, Ashley and I were thinking only one thing: Taco Party!

Soy chorizo with peppers
Vegan queso
Home Fries
roasted, marinated squash
guacamole
black beans (spiced and seasoned)
lettuce, tomato
three kinds of pie

Because we used so many free vegetables, this allowed us to use some of our $50 shopping budget to spend on frivolous items, like pie shells, vegan cheese, and avocados for guacamole.

SOY CHORIZO WITH PEPPERS


The peppers, tomatos and onions were all from the farm. These we chopped with the mega chopper tool and sauteed with some cumin and garlic.
I got some taco seasoning and dehydrated soy crumbles from the store. I rehydrated the crumbles with about 2.5 cups water per cup of crumbles. I think I should have used two packets of seasoning for optimum taco power.

VEGAN ROTEL QUESO!!


Rotel dip with Velveeta Cheeze was my favorite thing when I was vegetarian. When I figured out how to make a tasty vegan version, I knew I was set! I made it last year for Christmas and my family really liked it, too. Since Velveeta is so fake tasting (in a good way) and the Follow Your Heart is also fake tasting (in a good way) this makes a good party queso.

2 packages follow your heart cheddar
1 package follow your heart mozz.
3 cans rotel

Serves 30 people



To make a punk rock double broiler, fill the bottom pot with water and boil. Place a metal mixing bowl on the top and place cheese and rotel inside.
The mozz. doesn't melt that well so I put it in the blender for a few minutes.

ROASTED HERBED FARM SQUASH


How will we cut up all this squash?

ULTIMATE MEGA CHOPPER to the RESCUE!

I bought this little gadget at Target for $20 and it has been such a time saver for tackling literal mountains of vegetables.

Marinate in:
1/2 c balsamic vinegar
1/2 c braggs
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp sage
2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp nugmeg
1/2 tsp chili flakes
2 tsp maple syrup

bake at 250 F for two hours

Here is a blurry picture of squash in the oven:


PIE TO THE THIRD!


These are easy as, well, pie!

Peanut butter pie with graham cracker crust
Blend peanut butter, sugar and mori nu silken tofu in blender. Pour into graham cracker pie shell. Top with frozen strawberries.

Strawberry pie with chocolate crust
Heat strawberries and sugar in sauce pan for 8 minutes. Transfer to blender. Blend strawberries and silken tofu. Pour into cookie crust.

Mint oreo with oreo crust
Blend 8-10 oreos with cocoa powder, sugar and silken tofu. Pour into cookie crust.

GUACAMOLE


These were 59 cents each at Fiesta. We ran into our friend Samir at the grocery store near our house and lured him to dinner with the promise of guacamole. That boy loves avocados. He has one tattooed on his leg!

Ashley got a wild hair and made home fries which were nice and crispy.

Here's the spread:


The Verdict from house members:
- Many members ate the dessert before and after the meal (quelle surprise!)
- Becca proclaimed it her "ultimate vegan wet dream fantasy meal"
- We made SO. Much. Food. Which was appreciated by late comers.

What we listened to while cooking:
Le Tigre
The Country Music Station

Dinner - July 27, 2008

Dinner Menu:

Jalapeño Poppers - stuffed with soy chorizo and vegan queso - Lee!
Lee!'s Fried Tofu - "Tofu Notepads with Crap on top" - Lee!
Black bean & veggie enchiladas - Amelia
Cashew Cheeze Sauce - Amelia
Busy Day Cupcakes with Strawberry Agave - Amelia

Total spent on dinner:
$36.04 at HEB


Lee! and I like to make Sunday dinners extra special because there is usually a house meeting afterwards and we like to make delicious food to put everyone in a good mood. A delicious meal is especially important if we have something important on the meeting agenda, like hosting our Veganniversairy in the garden next week.

Black Bean enchiladas with Cashew Cheeze Sauce


This is always a crowd pleaser! I soaked 8 cups of black beans for a few hours and then cooked them as usual. For the filling, I chopped up three small onions from our CSA, 3 bell peppers from CSA, green onions, and about a million green squash and ripe tomato. I sauteed the onions with garlic and cumin until the onions were translucent. I then added the cubed squash and cooked them for about seven minutes just to mingle the flavors together.
In a large bowl, I put about 3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast and three chopped green onions. When the beans were ready and cooled, I squashed up the black beans into this mixture. I then added the the onion/squash filling. We have one boarder who is allergic to tomatoes, so I set aside her portion in a separate bowl. I mixed in the tomatoes and mixed the filling to a uniform consistency.
Using a 1/2 cup scoop, I portioned out the filling onto flour tortillas and rolled them to set in a pan. I then topped with cashew cheeze sauce and baked them at 250 F for 30 minutes. Since everything is pretty much cooked to begin with, the oven is really just a warming step.

Cheeze Sauce (adapted from a recipe from Blossoming Lotus in Portland):
makes 4-5 cups of sauce

2 cups cashews **
1 cup filtered water
2 red bell pepper
1 block tofu
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
two green onions
2 tablespoons shoyu
1 tablespoon salt

** raw cashews are best but the ones I bought at HEB were the roasted/salted kind, so I ended up just washing off the salt in a colinder.

Lee!'s Fried Tofu: "Tofu Notepads with Crap on Top"


Tofu planks breaded and fried, topped with tomato and basil

Jalepeno Poppers stuffed with Soy Chorizo and Vegan Queso:


We've had a staggering abundance of Jalepenos from both of our CSAs and were at a loss on what to do with them all until Lee! thought up these little beauties. At this point in the dinner, Lee! was wearing a colorful apron and cursing from all of the burns on his hands.

Busy Day Cupcakes with Agave Strawberry Sauce:


This is a great recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, veganized of course. We are out of white bulk flour so we used whole wheat instead, so it turned out less desserty and more bready. Also, our giant oven isn't a convection oven so baked goods never turn out beautiful.

The Verdict from house members:
Delicious!
High on oils and fried foods.
It was interesting.
Needed a salad or something fresh.

I agree with these sentiments. I'd rather have a salad than more fried, but sometimes Lee! is hard to convince :)

What we listened to while cooking:
Suicide Machines - Destruction by Definition album
Christina Aguilera - Ain't No Other Man
Akon - I don't remember :)
Fergie - Fergilicious (I was busy workin' on my fitness)
Justin Timberlake - Cry me a River
The Temptations - Greatest Hits
R. Kelly - Ignition (remix)
Outkast - Bombs over Bagdad
Deelite - Groove is in the Heart

Until next time!!