Cooking Video!!

We had a blast this past weekend, filming and editing our first
'cooking video'. Of course we've both done this sort of thing
before, just not with food. Its an all out Scott Pilgrim, Classic
video game, geek squad sort of deal.

The recipe is for Chilaquiles, something my Mom used to make a lot.
Traditionally the recipes call for eggs, a lot of frying and a
butt load of cheese. (As in so much you'll get a big butt from eating
it all). Its a cross between an enchiladas casserole and nachos...
or a pizza. Lets just say its real tasty and easier than eating out.

My Mom used to make it with tomato sauce and ricotta, I've one up-ed
that and use a home made sauce pumped with garlic and onions and
tofu instead of cheese. You can top it with any of your favorite
vegan cheeses, but I prefer Daiya Cheddar or Pepper Jack!

So, watch the video, have a laugh and share-share-share.
To win we need the most views, so help us get it out there peeps!



Share me!!

Beet Bejeweled Risotto

Since we had recently gone a little over the top with bread, we hit up
some standard burritos and tacos, and then I had to move on
to a different starch for my meals.

I’ve recently developed a love affair with risotto. There are so many
myths surrounding risotto, telling people it is too hard to make
unless you’ve got Gordon Ramsey screaming over your shoulder,
telling you what to do. I’m here to tell you that risotto is super easy.
If you can pour broth into a pan and stir rice around for a half
hour, you can make risotto.

Of course I like twisting the flavours around. You’ll usually see
some tomato and basil risottos-- anything you might find replicated
from a pasta recipe. Most of all I wanted to change the colour of
the actual dish, so what better than beets? The beets are steamed,
peeled, and chopped before hand so that they are ready to go when
you’re making the risotto.

Its perfect because I wanted to start up some themed dishes to get
you all ready and in the mood for St. Valentine’s Day.

Yes, I know a lot of people really hate St. Valentine’s Day.
Especially, if you’re single or sometimes with a really annoying person.
Well if St.Valentine’s Day is about love, what about loving yourself
a little? Love yourself with a special meal, some dark chocolate,
a glass of wine, and your favorite movie.

Or throw a little dinner party and then you won’t be alone. Maybe
invite all your single friends so no one feels alone out there in
the world of candle light couple events... I honest have never seen
St. Valentine’s as something corporate or designed to make you feel
bad for not having a significant other. I always used it as a day to
remember all the people I love. I’d make cards, cookies, or candy for
all my friends and family. Later on in life, I got little things here
and there from boys and that was nice too. But I wasn’t expecting it,
so it was even better.

Getting back to cooking.... If you are trying to multi-task while
making risotto, good luck. I mean forget it. You’ll probably end up
with some hard, sticky rice. You can hardy leave the pan alone for a
minute without it drying out.

So make sure everything else is set and ready to go. Feed the cats,
take out the dog, avoid interruptions. And enjoy~

Bejeweled Risotto



3 medium beets, cooked, peeled and chopped
1/2 large onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp earth balance or olive oil
1 cup vodka
6-8 cups of vegetable broth
or water with a few bouillon cubes dissolved
2 cups arborio rice
1/4 cup daiya moz cheese
black and white pepper
sea salt
sage, thyme, lemon zest

First heat the oil in a large frying pan or saute pan.
Add the onions and garlic and cooking in the oil for a few minutes
at a medium to low high heat.

Add the rice, coating well with oil. Cook for about two minutes,
stirring. Add the vodka, making sure that it is warm or room temp
to not shock the rice leaving it unable to cook properly.

Once the vodka is almost absorbed and the liquid looks sparse,
add a 1/2 cup of warm or room temp broth. You will continue to do
this. Add broth, stir, cooking it just at a light simmer until the
liquid is not quite gone, add more broth. Don’t let it get too dry.

Once it starts to look puffy and sticky, start testing it to see if
the center is cooked. Once it is near al dente, add the seasonings
and chopped beets. Continue to cook until the beets are hot and the
colour has distributed nicely. Add more broth still as needed.
Finally, add the daiya and stir until completely melted. Serves 4-6

I had mine with some garlic-chili grilled tofu! Yum!

Pumpkin Patch Part Four: Pumpkin Chili

I'm pretty bummed that last week I made an awesome pumpkin curry
for a potluck and totally forgot to take a picture for you all.

That's why there was a gap of a couple days. However, last night
we made a version of Monkey-man's favorite meal ever-- or one of
them anyway! Chili with roasted potatoes and the best-est cheese
sauce!

Usually I like summer squash or zucchini in my chili, but instead
I used pumpkin. And we got these amazing vitelotte potatoes at our
local grocer. The skins were almost black, but the inside was a
rich, beautiful violet. At first I thought they were going to
taste like the purple sweet potatoes that I used to get in Hawaii,
but these were wonderful. They had the same texture as your run
of the mill potatoes, but had a deeper, earthier, rustic flavour.
Apparently they are native to Peru and Bolivia. Usually I think
of Europe and Ireland when I think of potatoes, but supposedly
Peru is the birthplace of more than 90% of potato varieties we
eat and love today.

I'm sorry, this wasn't meant to be a post about potatoes!
This is a post about pumpkin in Chili! So here you go!

Pumpkin Chili

2-3 cups fresh pumpkin, chopped largely
1 can or 4 large diced tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup of corn
2 cups of beans, cooked (any kind you like)
1 small pepper
1/2 cup TSP or TVP (opt)
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 vegetable bouillon cube
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onions and garlic for about five minutes in a large
pot over medium heat in a few tablespoons of water or oil.

Add the pumpkin and a little bit more water an cover, cook for a
few minutes then add the tomato and seasonings. Cover and cook,
adding water if needed and cook until the pumpkin is starting to
get a little bit tender, but is not completely cooked-- about 10
minutes max.

Add the pepper, corn tvp and beans and cook/heat through. You may
need to add a little extra water or veg broth for the tvp. By the
time the tvp is plumped the pumpkin should be cooked through, but
not mushy.

Serve over roasted potatoes and topped with your favorite cheese or
cheese sauce. Monkey-man added daiya moz just for good measure.
If this isn't hot enough for you, throw in a diced hot pepper like
a habenero or some hot sauce if you're kinda lazy and don't want
to deal with chopping hot peppers...

Pumpkin Patch Part Three: Pumpkin Tacos

At the same time that we're trying pop pumpkin into meals you
wouldn't normally find it, we are also trying to cut back on how
much bread we're scarfing. Well, at least I am, I can't speak for
Monkey-man.

Just to mix it up a little I picked up some of the blue-corn
tortillas from TJ's. Plus, I thought they'd look striking against
some nice orange pumpkin. And oh my gosh were these ever delish!
And Oh so simple!

Pumpkin Taco Filling

2-2 1/2 cups chopped pumpkin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tbsp chili powder (mild)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
Hot chili powder to taste
dash of cinnamon

saute the onion and garlic in a little bit of water or a tablespoon
of oil until a little tender and fragrant.

Add the pumpkin and seasonings and cover. Continue to cook for about
10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally until soft, but still
firm and held together. Overcooking the pumpkin will turn it to mush.



We topped them with fresh lettuce, tomato, raw sweet corn, sliced
black olives, and some cheddar daiya. I also like using soygurt
instead of sour cream, but they were wonderful without. Or can even
add a little bit of cilantro on top for an extra bite!

Pleasing with Paninis

I really think that if you're cooking to tempt omnis, sandwiches and
paninis are definitely one of the best things you can make. Honestly
everybody likes sandwiches and you can pack in so much flavor with
veggie patties, spreads and marinades that you snag people with the
familiar.



I marinaded a pack of extra firm tofu in this marinade, but
added a 1/3-1/2 cup of red wine.

For bread, I made a single batch of whole wheat focaccia.
While that was baking I briefly sauteed 2 sliced yellow squash,
1 zucchini, and 1 green bell pepper. I caramalized a sliced onion
in the remaining marinade that was left over from the tofu. (I used
most of the remaining marinade to actually cook the tofu in).

Once the focaccia was cooked I cut it into 3x6 pieces. I used
guacamole and veganaise on one half and hummus on the other.
Usually when I make paninis I add a splash of balsamic vinegar
or a good slather of pesto. But these spreads were flavourful
enough to enhance the flavour of the veggies.

When assembling put the smaller stuff on the spread so it sticks
and doesn't fall out when you're grilling the sandwiches. I also
added some raw tomatoes and some moz daiya when stacking on the
squash, onions, peppers and tofu. When grilling the paninis you
need to either be using a press or lay something heavy on top of
them. I use another pan with a heavy mixing bowl set inside of it.
Monkey man says to pull a Martha Stewart and use bricks covered
with foil.

Grill each side on med-hi heat for 3-5 minutes with a bit of
olive oil or earthbalance.

I served mine with some oven-baked garlicy frenchy fries.
I ended up with about 8 paninis and some left over veggies.

Daiya Deluge

Monkey-man wanted me to post our recent winnings that has raked in
5lbs of Daiya and a copy of Tal Ronnen's The Conscious Cook.
I dig this cookbook. I would rank it among those best for high end
entertaining or creating a truly impressive meal for special occasions.
Not that it is all hoity toity recipes, but many are quite rich and not
for light eating. Its amazing just for the photos. His training and
experience really shine through. It is what professional cooking should
be. It separates the home-cooks and the real chefs.

I avoid most of the vegan cookbooks out there, but lots of (I'm sure
your favorite authors) the more popular vegan 'chefs'. I avoid them
for mainly two reasons... 1. anyone can think up a recipe like this
and don't need a book to tell me that or 2. the author(s) have no
training and no palate. I've gone through a lot of vegan cookbooks and
used their recipes straight off the page and cannot imagine what they
smoking that made that taste good? Ok, I better stop there or I will go
on a never ending rant! Sorry guys.


The contest we won was for our pizza photo, that you can see here.
It is also what sparked my recent Pizza Pizzaz Series.
We froze most of the cheese and I'll be taking some back with me on
my summer adventures. But we don't eat alot of cheese, so I think it
should last a good while. Imagine my excitement when a cooler arrived
from Canada filled with vegan cheese!



If you haven't had daiya, I strongly suggest you try get some.
If you had it once and didn't like it, try it again in a different form.
Honestly, (sorry daiyafoods) I didn't like it the first time I tried it.
But neither did I like the follow my heart cheese. I may have been
stuck in the dairy cheese mentality and that was all I was expecting.

I really think this holds way too many people back from being vegan.
They push away vegan products because they don't taste identical to
the cow titty based products. You have to be open minded and enjoy
everything for itself, not for what you want it to be.

I compare it to an experience I had as a kid. I was playing in my
room with a friend (probably around 10yrs old) and my Mom calls me
into the kitchen, asking if I want some candy. Hellz yes, I wants
candy. So she offers me some 'chocolate covered raisins', which in
fact turn out to be chocolate covered espresso beans. Not cool Mom.

Now I love coffee, at points in my life I've loved coffee too much.
And I may have liked it then if I had not been expecting a raisin.
Basically we set our minds up to want a specific experience, flavor
or texture and that in turn shoots us in the foot when the experience
at hand does not match our expectations. It may even be better than
what you had wanted but its not identical and that is what puts
us off.

We first had daiya at Z Pizza. It was too much. Too oily and too wet.
So we avoided it for a bit and then had it again at Purgatory Pizza.
Our minds were quickly changed. You just need to know how to use it.
Don't let one bad meal change how you feel about a food.


Quesadilla!!

On that note... I'll still be here, still posting away. But I'll
be leaving LA for about a month and going up to stay with family in
the mountains and write my cookbook. I'm already planning some
more series to focus on, as well as filling those requests that have
been sent out to me. (Shall I call them requests or challenges?)

I may come back down for a weekend to beach bum it up or hit up
some Knott's Berry Farm, but other than that... consider me exiled!

Hot Diggity Dog!

I once read that in a study, 100% of women and only 70% of men
admitted to experiencing specific food cravings. I can definitely
account for my own sex, but really guys. 30% of you don't have
any kind of specific food cravings whatsoever?

You don't ever think... "Hey a pizza would be really good right now"
or maybe a coffee... Come one! A cold beer? Stereotypes!

I think guys just associate food cravings with women and are
weirded out by admitting that they get them once in a while too.
Or-- they just don't realize that what they are experiencing is a
food craving. Not all cravings are the female pregnancy level...
"I need pickles, ketchup, and hashbrowns right now or I'm gonna die!"

Obviously I get food cravings all the time and honestly I give in
pretty much every time. Not because I'm pregnant! And food cravings
don't have to be a bad thing My body has readjusted to a healthy
food grid. (well pretty much)

Basically, by eating a good range of healthy and wholesome foods,
I don't crave crap anymore. It was only when I was consistently
eating crap that I was craving crap. A total addiction.

Now I crave things like curry, toast with marmite, bananas, or
even dried fruits. I'll totally get hankerings for trail mix.
Dude! Salty raisins? What the hell, I'll pick those out of trail
mix like they're crack!

The last stand that still taunts me from non-vegan land is the
deadly 'little debbie cake'. Once in a blue moon I'll be stuck
with a bizarre wave of longing for those awful waxy cakes.
Who knows why, but if I must I'll grab a cookie or a chocolate
soymilk and wait it out.

So on this path of feeding my cravings I had to pick up a
pack of smart doggies. We rarely eat faux meats, so it was a
treat for me completing my 1st grad year.



I made some sesame seed hot doggie buns for the occasion.



Monkey-man made some sweet potato fries. Except he confused me
instructing him to use paprika with using cayenne. So, they
were a little 'flamin'!



To cut down on the amount we ate I made the buns on the small
side and we cut the doggies in half! Kind of like using smaller
dinner plates and tricking your mind!

I used to just eat cheese and ketchup on my hot doggies, but
I'll add a little bit of mustard like here and had a little of
Monkey-man's homemade pickle relish. Yummy! Of course he had to
have raw onions on his-- not so yummy to me.

Pizza Pizzaz Part Nine: Cowabunga Pizza

If you are a child of the 80s like me,
into the wave of retro movies going on,
or have just seen a lot of the pop
culture churned out in 1987 you are
probably at least slightly familiar with
the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
movie. I started with the comics, but we're not here to talk
about what a geek I am...

Not many will remember this among all the pizza talk of the TMNT movies,
but somehow I did and decided to try it myself.

At some point in the movie the turtles are talking about organics
and gardening and then they throw out the idea of organic marshmallows
on their pizza. Well, organic maybe not. Vegan? Yes.

Hence the 'Cowabunga Pizza' in honor of one of my childhood faves.



Starting with some Dandies (which they now carry at our whole foods)...



I tore them in half since the actual pizza was not that large and I
didn't want too many. I used a mix of moz and cheddar daiya.





Other than that nothing special. A nice red sauce and a plain crust.



I don't know why I was surprised, but they completely exploded.
For some reason I was thinking they'd turn all golden and crispy
like on a camp fire, but no. This was a 450F oven and they completely
blew up and spread across the whole pizza.



Honestly, I think that Dandies needs to start looking into making
vegan cheese because this pizza looks like the perfect, classic
cheese pizza.

It was not as sweet as I as expecting either. Monkey-Man,
I have to say, was not down for this. I'm sure he was bracing himself
to vomit. But it was pretty good believe it or not.

It reminded me of one of those little kid packs of make your own cold
cheese pizzas... Although, I cannot imagine when I ever had one.
I think because processed food already has so much more sweetener in
every ingredient that with extra sugar on top, that is what it started
to taste similar to-- something more commercial.

I think we all need to have more fun with our food and not get so
caught up in our own expectations. Cowabunga, dudes.

Pizza Pizzaz Part Eight: BBQT Pizza

Finally, summer has begun for me. I can breathe freely for a few
months without the impending doom of 30-page papers, a thesis, or
massive exams hanging over me. Instead I have crying kittens, a messy
house and a big deadline for my cookbook.

First I have to set my place up to incorporate a more creative flow.
So I'm spending my day cleaning and rearranging my little place.

Beside that I want to start off my summer showing you another awesome
pizza. Summer is the time of bbqs and outdoor parties. But not all
of it has to include dead flesh or a grill. You can get the amazing
flavor and familiar sensations all with a little imagination.

Experimenting with different sauces got me to whipping up this pizza.
I wanted to do one with my delicious barbecue sauce (which will be in
the book) and also bring in the use of some baked/grilled tofu.





With a smaller, thickly rolled crust you have your favorite
barbecue sauce topped with sweet bell peppers, walnuts, roasted garlic,
baked beggin' tofu, olives, and some chedder daiya. I should have
added some sliced tomatoes.... I used to use this recipe for
'bacon', but now I use a marinade of more maple syrup, less water,
braggs instead of soy sauce, a little bit of salt, smoked paprika,
and a wee bit of garlic powder. Marinate at least a couple hours
before using.









This pizza is a little sweet, very savory, and its got a little kick
from some hot spice in the sauce. Its good to balance the sauce by a
thick crust and lots of toppings or else all you're going to be tasting
is bqq bqq bqq.

So now its officially summer for me I will be posting and updating
much more. You'll be seeing more of my book and getting lots of juicy
photos. If you're interested my tester site will be completed soon and
is invite only. I will be needing testers for book recipes, so I hope
to generate some help and interest. Happy eating!

Pizza Pizzaz Part Seven: Double the Yum

Getting back on track here... Heading into finals week for my
first completed year of grad school, go me! Half way done with
my masters... or there abouts!

Plus these kittens have been a real time vacuum of cuteness.

I have had some posts to share with you, but on top of everything
our internet/phone was out for over a week. In fact they had to
come and entirely replace the telephone pole in front of our
house to get things back online!

But here is one that I've been really wanting to share with you.
The general idea was Monkey-man's, but I whipped it up and
it really surprised us. I don't think I've ever made a pizza
that tasted so much like a digiorno. Now, I don't know if you've
ever had one of these frozen pizzas or if you hate them...



But I want to pin it on the strange anomaly of their crust or
really the crust of any mainstream frozen pizza. The recipe itself
is nothing special, just my go to foundation ratio for pizza
crust. It usually makes two crusts that fit on our stone, but this
time I stacked them on top of each other.

This caused the crusts to be much softer and just short of doughy.
In a really good way!

For future reference my pizza dough consists of ....

1 tsp yeast
1 tbsp raw sugar
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp oil
1 cup warm water
2 1/2- 3 cups flour

I like to switch it up with different flours, sweeteners and oils
or adding things like olives, rosemary, garlic, or a little more
sweetener for a dessert pizza.

Pizza is so easy and quick if you have the crust made ahead of time.
It is insane that more people don't eat it homemade. I cannot
understand those who will spend $20+ on a generic pizza when they
actually cost a fraction of that at home. If you have the dough
ready, you can have your dinner ready in the time it takes to
preheat your oven and out 10 minutes later.

Double Decker Pizza

Start out with your preheated stone or baking sheet.
Lay down the first layer of crust and spread on the tomato sauce and
nutritional yeast.



Then your next layer and toppings... Yes it's that simple.




Unbaked and baked overview... Yes my crusts are wonky shaped.

And my slice! Nom Nom Nom.
It seems like a normal sized pizza, but it goes twice as far,
so we had to seriously watch how much we were eating!

Pizza Pizzaz Part Six: Chipmunk Pizza

Going through this series we had a list of white pizzas that we wanted
to give a shot. Now I love cashews on pizza (especially with broccoli)
but I wanted to turn up the nuttiness up to eleven.

First I started with adjusting the crust. When adding the flour to my
yeast, sugar, oil, salt, water mix I also tossed in about three tbsps
of flax meal. I like the flecked effect it gives, plus the added
nutritional boost. Monkey-man needs his omega-six!


For the Sauce I mixed up a white wine sauce with a earthbalance roux
base. I thinned it out with soymilk, but any nondairy milk would be
fine. Added some garlic and a dash of nutmeg, just to give it a twist.
Of course salt and pepper and cooked enough to burn off the majority
of the alcohol.



For toppings I went all out, not stopping with cashews. I also threw
on sun flower seeds and toasted Brazil nuts, roasted garlic, diced
tomatoes, and black olives. I considered almonds and peanuts, having
both on hand... but almonds are too sweet and I thought peanuts would
be too overpowering.



Lastly I topped it with a dusting of daiya moz cheese.


Again I baked it at 450F for about 12 minutes until browned.
It was incredibly rich and good with a nice salad or leafy green.

I can think of a few other nuts that might have been good... like
macadamia nuts, walnuts, or pistachios-- go nuts!

Pizza Pizzaz Part Three: Getting Saucy

I have encountered two spiritual junctures in my life thus far.
The first was when I discovered kitchen witchery and the craft
as a teenager. It strongly affected my creativity, sense of self,
and overall attitude of action.

The second was when I found garlic.
It felt like finding my soul-mate. In my parent's home, garlic is
not allowed. If my Mom smells it she will squirm and squeal and
run to find the huge loud air filter, topped up with tea tree oil.

I remember when I was little and my Mom forced my Dad to agree to
forgo garlic from then on. Since he stopped bringing it home, he
lost the taste for it too. Not entirely. He doesn't hate it, but
its way more powerful tasting.

My first affair with garlic began with the pesto pizza.
The green colour, the penetrating flavour all topped with luscious
tomatoes was too good to be true. Retrospectively, it was way too
much oil to handle. I can't believe how much fat was in those
pizzas I would order at the local joint.

I use a fraction of the oil in my current version of pesto, adding
tomatoes instead. I also use walnuts instead of pine nuts, because
I don't fancy spending $20/lb on them. Nutritional yeast has easily
replaced parmesan hands down-- Way better nutritional value without
the fat and nastiness of cheese.

I still love it topped with a vegan moz cheese and tomatoes. Other
toppings come and go...



I also suggest experimenting with cilantro pesto. Now, I'm not a
huge fan of cilantro and I know it turns alot of people off. Try it
anyway. The cilantro doesn't come through in the same way for some
reason and its dreamy on pizza. Basically, if you haven't experienced
a pesto pizza yet... Do it. Now. Or I'll never forgive you.

Pizza Pizzaz Part Two: Twisting the Tostada

When I was a teen the only way I would get to see a decent concert
was to fly to Honolulu from the Big Island. One time when I was on
Oahu to see The Ataris (when they were cool and before the age of
emo) we all hit up California Pizza Kitchen. It was before the
restaurants were really that big, so it was pretty exciting at the
time.

Ok, I'm done dating myself.

When we were there I got a vegetarian tostada pizza that really
kicked butt, but then was struck with the karma of eating cheese
and got a headache. Years down the road I realize that the majority
of my headaches came from eating cheese. Go figure.

Looking back though, it was a good pizza. And I especially liked
it because of how unusual it was. I love going out and trying things
that haven't dawned on me to make at home.

So, during my pizza making adventures I decided to pick my memories
and try to replicate it. First thing to go was their crappy lettuce.
I will never understand what the appeal of iceburg lettuce is to
people. Oh yeah, its cheap.

Next I used pinto beans instead of black and baked it with the
cheese, whereas they just throw it on cold. I used the chedder daiya,
but Follow My Heart pepperjack would be good too.

First you mash about a cup or more of beans with some garlic, 1 tbsp
chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, and a dash of cayenne. Roll the prepared
crust out nice and thin and spread the bean mash on top. Sprinkle
with cheese.



If you're using a pizza stone like we have here, make sure you
preheat it in the oven first at 500F and then turn it down to
450F when you actually bake your pizza.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until the crust starts to brown nicely.
Before baked, prep your toppings.




Think of what you like on your tostadas... We had lettuce, salsa,
and corn tortillas. Then you're going to top it with some ranch
dressing.

Combine a couple tablespoons of veganaise and mustard, thinned out
with a little bit of non-dairy milk. Add garlic powder, onion powder,
a squirt of lemon juice, salt, pepper, and some italian seasonings.



Slice your pizza and top accordingly. Consensus? Awesome.
CPK, kiss mah butt.

Pizza Pizzaz Part One: El Diablo

Today is 'day-one' of my pizza week series!
This is exciting! I've been reading a lot of ideas and suggestions
for special toppings and have will have a hard time cutting it down
to seven. But I'm gonna start off with something really simple.

Granted this may be comprised of mostly left-overs, but let me tell
you that left-overs can make a damn good pizza. That is where I start
this series. I think we all need to open our minds a little and
start experimenting with pizza more. Is anyone else tired of the
plain 'cheese' pizza with basil and tomatoes? Ok, it is pretty good
I grant you, but I want something different. And I rarely make the
same thing twice. I want something out there, something that will
take me by surprise. Something with pizazz, pizza pizazz.

So last night we had tacos and I had made a neo-traditional spicy tvp
taco filling. It then got thrown in with some tomatoes, jalapenos,
fresh spinach, purple onions, all topped with the chedder daiya cheese.



The spice gets pumped from ground chili from our mexican market.
Not the typical chili powder that you get from vons, etc. Plus a
splash of cayenne. If you like, use habeneros instead of jalapenos
or sprinkle the whole thing with some tabasco/hot sauce.



The daiya cooled it down a little, but only so much.
The thin crust compliments the whole dish, without weighing it
down with breadiness. We had to keep it a little mild in the
long run though, 'cause I don't think Monkey-man can take the
heat-- I like my food to make me sweat!

7 Days of Irish Luck, St. Paddy's Day: Baked Vegan Courgettes

Frankly anything Irish is big in my family. It is really the only
ethnic tradition we hold on to... and its passed on pretty well.
I love making traditional Irish dishes and my Brother loves
drinking beer! Hee hee, its true! (But believe it or not, Irish
wine is a rising foodie's heart-throb).

You may not have realized it yet, but next week is Saint Patrick's
Day and although my pagan spirit may not agree with the
accompanying connotations of the holiday's origins-- I can never
turn down a reason to celebrate life. 

To celebrate I'll be posting a series of traditional Irish dishes
everyday until Saint Patrick's Day and then finally break down and
have a bottle of Irish Stout or whiskey while I'm writing my
final paper for this quarter. So lets all hope that I get my work
done early and be celebrating finishing that instead.

To kick start the Irish in all of us, here is a great snack for
anytime of day. I'd have it for breakfast, but I also like it when
I get home late from class and don't want a whole meal.

Baked Farmhouse Courgettes (Zucchini)



Cut however many courgettes/zucchini you plan to make in
half. Place in a glass baking dish and sprinkle on a thin
line of nutritional yeast. I did this to pump up the
nutritional content a little and add a sharper flavor to
the vegan cheese.



Sprinkle with whatever vegan cheese you're using. I used
daiya here, but use what you like. I'd like to try this
with the follow my heart cheddar. Add a few little dots or
pats of earthbalance and place under the broiler.



Cook until cheese starts to bubble and turn golden and
the zucchini looks tender (about 15-20 mintues).



Monkey-man and Pandamonium waiting for their snack...



Sprinkle with salt and pepper. You can eat it as a side dish
or serve it on top of buttered/earthbalanced toast like we did...