Breakfast for Dinner

Growing up we had breakfast for dinner alot. In fact breakfast is
my favorite meal. I like it even more than dessert, believe it or not!

As a kid it was eggs, potatoes, and toast or pancakes.
Later it became tofu, potatoes and a green veg or fruit.
But sometimes toast with marmite! Hee hee As long as it is not heavy in
faux meat or sugary pankcakes, I am a firm believer in breakfast at any hour.

As much as Monkey-man loves his sweets, he goes ape-shit for
anything salty and savory. I think it is a male thing to be honest.
I know I've read something about women being more biologically wired
to like sweet stuff like chocolate. Now this isn't a 100% of the
population or anything, just tendencies. I believe it was a podcast from
Stuff You Should Know or Stuff Mom Never Told You.

Anyway, I was thinking a quick fix of french toast for dinner,
but there was no way I was gonna get Monkey-man happy with that.
And it dawned on me-- savory french toast. Who says this stuff
has to be sweet.

It worried me a little though because I once tried to make savory
waffles and it is one of the most embarrassing foods I have ever made
to date. So disgusting. Remembering that I tread carefully.

Now you don't need eggs to make french toast, just your favorite
unsweetened or original flavored non-dairy milk.

I pair this up with some roasted potatoes and a tofu scramble with
peppers and tomatoes.

Breakfast for Dinner Savory French Toast



Ingredients

4 slices of day old or stale-ish bread
(I prefer a whole wheat because of the density)
1 1/4 cups unsweetened or original flavoured non-dairy milk
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp soysauce (opt)
1/2 tsp white pepper
1-2 tsp black pepper
2 tablespoons of flour or 1 tablespoon starch
1 tsp italian seasoning
2 tsp very very finely diced green onions (opt)
Salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients except the bread in a wide bowl.
Heat your frying pan and a little bit of olive oil over
medium-high heat.

Dip the bread, coating each side and lay it down on the frying pan.
Cook on each side until a dark golden-brown.

While the toast is grilling mix up a sauce of:

3 parts ketchup
1 part mustard
1 part chili sauce
1 part apple cider

Top with sauce and sauteed veggies if you like!
Serve while still piping hot and make sure your coffee is decaf
at this hour!

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!

Plethora of Panini: Fajita Panini

I'd like to say that the majority of our meals are planned, but that
would simply not be true. It is part of what I want to focus more of
my energy on this year-- planning ahead. But then life happens.

I was planning on doing a Middle Eastern Panini last night, but
Monkey-man ended up doing a quick fix of a Mexican seasoned panini
instead. Our plans were changed because on the way to the grocer,
we passed a small dog that had been hit and left.

At first I though he was dead because his legs were in the air as
if he was going through rigor mortis, but when we swung around I saw
him shaking. By the time I had him in the car and we had decided to
take him to our vet to see how bad it was he had relaxed and was much
more awake. Not sure if they clipped him or actually ran him over
because there were tire marks across his abdomen.

But now he's upstairs in our bathroom, healing his broken pelvis.
Pretty sweet guy. So if anyone wants a dog! Ha ha, just let me know.
He is not micro-chipped and not fixed (for long...)

Needless to say our dinner was little late, but this is what Monkey-man
magically mixed up for us.



Fajita Panini!

Saute a bell pepper, onion, a bit of jalapenos and a few cloves of
sliced garlic with chili powder, salt, pepper, a little bit of lemon
juice and cumin. Add water as it drys out and then add some olive oil
and half a pack of sliced tofu. Flip to grill both sides.

While that is being cooked, heat up your grill.
On your chosen bread add vegan pepper jack (galaxy rice cheese),
avocados and fresh tomatoes. Add some hot sauce, salsa or bean spread
to make it a little more exciting-- Grill and enjoy!

Plethora of Panini: Beet on the Brat

One of Monkey-man's Christmas presents was a cast-iron panini press
that I seriously had to hunt down. He's been ogling cast-iron pans
for awhile and next to pizza I am pretty sure sandwiches are his
favorite. Finding it was a hassle. I knew Macy's carried them and after
dealing with countless, stupid employees-- I found one at the Macy's
on Lake. Thank goodness my Monkey-man enjoys the more practical
gifts because this has certainly opened us up to a new series as we're
breaking in the ol' cast-iron.

Cast-Iron takes pampering. You should never wash it with soap, leave it
wet or use metal utensils on it. If you cook things on it that require
cleaning after-- something that sticks-- than clean it with very hot
water and a scrubber. Dry immediately afterward and oil to prevent
rusting. It may seem scary, but if you're cooking something like plain
toast, etc. you just brush it off, re-grease it and leave it. This
will age and season your pan.

I've seen people that cook meat just leave their pans with the fat, crap
and everything. Yeah, gross. Many argue that you should NEVER clean
your cast iron, but I do not agree. I say that you should try to never
use soap on it-- or at least don't use a lot and only when you really
need to. I believe in caring for your dishes properly, but I also
believe in not getting sick from bacteria festering on a pan.

Having said that, cast-iron is great because you can cook on the stove
and then stick it straight into the oven or actually use it as a baking
dish for things like corn bread or roasted vegetables. Our has ridges,
so it wouldn't be entirely ideal for that, but it is a possibility.

On to the food!
Panini, or Panino, is basically an Italian Sandwich. More accurately it
is a bread roll. A stuffed Panino is a roll stuffed with sandwich fixings.
This is derivative of the Italian word for bread: Pane. Often they are
served hot or grilled on ciabatta or focaccia. Americans refer to any
grilled sandwich as a panini, as being grilled is the deciding
characteristic. Whereas any sandwich is called a panini in Italy.

If you don't have a stove press you can use an electric one. Some
waffle makers double as panini presses. You can use a heavy pan and
a brick wrapped in foil. Just allow the brick to heat with the pan
before adding your prepped sandwich. Or you can just set a heavy pan
on top of your sandwich and plan on flipping it.

Part One: Beet on the Brat Panini

Ingredients

Beets or beet pulp (See Below)
2 cloves garlic, minced
vegan cream cheese
mustard
Miso
1/2 Red Onion
Vegan deli slices: ideally field roast, sliced seitain, or something
similar to yves roast slices. I'm sure Tofurky would be good too...
But stay away from the bologna style stuff.
Olive Oil or Earth Balance

When I make Borsht I blend the whole pot and push it through a mesh.
I usually end up with about two cups of beet pulp that I use to fill
dumplings, spread on sandwiches or mix into something else.

I had some left over beet-pulp from our postponed Christmas Dinner
that I still needed to use. You can steam beets and blend them with
a little broth, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. Or you can just
steam a beet and slice it very very thin.

Heat your pan and saute the sliced onion until soft and caramelized.

I made two sandwiches here... spreading vegan cream cheese, mustard,
and light miso on one side of the bread and then sprinkled it with
diced, raw garlic.



Oil or grease the other side of the bread.
Arrange the deli slices on the side with the cream cheese.
Spread or arrange the beets on the other side of the sandwich and
top with the cooked onion. Squish the sandwich together and grill
according to the type of pan you are using.

Cut in half and serve!

Eggplant for Two

Happy St. Valentine's Day everyone!
Before I run off to have fun with a bunch of LA Vegans
I thought I'd throw a post out there!

I don't eat entirely enough Italian food. Probably because I miss
my little Italian place in Hawaii, Cafe Concerto. And ever since
Matt over at My Veggie Kitchen posted his seitan parmesan I've been
craving eggplant parmasan like there was no tomorrow.

I made some oober chunky tomato sauce with tvp to go on top
and used a vegan bleu cheese to top the eggplant... the brand
name escapes me right now. But they also have a tomato garlic
feta...

I didn't use bread crumbs, mainly because I didn't have
any old bread. But I use wheat germ for my falafel and
like how that comes out alot, so I made a wheat/flour
breading instead. The yeast adds the cheesiness and punched
out with all the seasonings.



Vegan Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients

1 Eggplant, sliced in to 1/2" slices
salt
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons wheat germ
2 tablespoons flour
1 tsp garlic powder
1-2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons flaxmeal blended with 4 tablespoons water
1 tsp salt
and pepper to taste
olive oil

place sliced eggplant on a cookie sheet and sprinkle
generously with salt. Put another sheet on top, weighted
down with something heavy. Angle your stacking so it will
drain into your sink. The salt will draw out the bitter
liquid in the eggplant. After about 15-30 minutes remove
the eggplant and rise, blotting after.

Blend your flax and pour over the eggplant on the baking
sheet. Let it soak in. After blending the flax it will
become slimy and gooey. This worked as a good sub for
egg. Mix all the dry ingredients in a shallow pan and coat
the eggplant. The juices will start to soak through so
you can keep coating it as you heat your oil.



Grill/Fry on medium-hi until well browned and flip.
Keep in a heated oven until all are done. You may need
more dry coating as you go, depends on how much you make.

I served with al dente pasta and mah chunkah sauce and
it fulfilled all my parmesan desires!!

Dinner Pie, Oh My: Part Five

I've heard it said "Eat Dessert first, you never know when

you're gonna die." I strongly concur.

However, what if your dessert was hijacked by a dinner

disguising as a dessert. Like a pie, that wasn't your

average pie...

Yes my friends, I am talking about the dastardly meal

that is shepherds pie or worse yet pot pie. Shepherds pie

though is very often mislabeled... It actually is just a

veg and meat pie topped with potatoes and baked. Pot

pie actually has a pie crust.

I remember my dad making shepherd's pie when I was

a kid and I hated celery, so I never wanted to eat it.

And you have to admit that dinner pie isn't the most

photogenic or appetizing looking meals... So naturally,

as most children do, I had to give it a suitable nickname.

My Dad's shepherd pie became "Shepherd's Hulgh" --

as in a puking noise. I'm not sure how to spell that, but

you get the picture.

I feel pretty bad about this because my Dad is a damn

good cook and he doesn't cook nearly as much as he used

to, very sad. Also, I know that if I had his shepherd's pie today

I wouldn't be complaining.

We did a special take on the whole shepherd's pie idea today

for dinner... Our filling was just a load of mostly broccoli that

could be the base of a very good soup. (onions, garlic, broc,

carrots, sage, rosemary, bay leaf, soymilk, salt, pepper,

and a vegan roux).

Now the crust is what brings us back to the traditional sense

of shepherd's pie-- taders. Instead of lobbing some potatoes on

top we made a potato crust, as follows.

Potato Pie Crust

2 cups mashed potatoes, cooled

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp water

Mix all but water. Slowly add water until a ball is formed.

Divide and roll out in to about 1/8" thickness.

This is good for a 9" crust and up. We used an 8" pan and

still had some dough left over. Once the bottom

of the crust is in place, pierce some holes in it with a fork

and prebake for about 8 minutes at 350F.

Pour in your filling and apply the top crust. Cut a couple of

slits in it, so the heat can escape. Bake for 30 minutes or

until golden brown.

My Shepherds "hulgh!"

Hee hee looks like the pie puked though!

Who says pizza needs cheese?

Not me, no Ma'am. Since my Sister was here we had to make pizza.

I made a quadruple batch of whole wheat dough to start with...

2 tbsp yeast, 3 cups warm water, 1 heaping tbsp sea salt, 1 tsp sucanat,

3 tbsp olive oil, and 8+ cups flour

I think 2 cups were unbleached white. I'm not sure exactly how much

flour I used. I usually just do it by feel, adding as much as I need to

knead it.

But the dough came out really nice, not too crunchy like the last

time. I think last time I added too much flour, so it came out like

crackers. Or I could just blame it on the oven, yes I'll do that.

We had two large large pizzas. My Parents of course had cheese...

But mine was a mix of olives and peppers... if I had artichoke hearts

it would totally have been greek. I used green and black olives,

pepperonis, sweet peppers, portabello mushrooms, cashews and

a sprinkle of salt and nutritional yeast. Yeah, no sauce here. I wasn't

in the mood for tomato sauce, so I brushed the dough with olive

oil and minced garlic. Hmmm whats for dinner?

Flirting with Focaccia

Focaccia or olive oil bread is pretty much a staple in our house.

Focaccia and wheat bread are two of the things I remember my

papa baking since I was little. Even when we make pizza we

don't typically use regular pizza dough, we use focaccia dough

and it is down right fantastic. This Italian bread is close to

pizza though and often topped with all sorts of goodies.

I see onion, garlic, cheese most often.

There was a bakery not too long ago where I live that went out

of business and they had a line of different focaccias, yet they

were always doughy and gooey and you could never eat them

immediately. I would have to go home and rebake them before

they were normal focaccia texture.

This weekend I spent sometime flirting with our focaccia recipe

and I ended up splitting up each batch in to two little loaves

so I could have even more of a variety and here is what I came up with.

Flirty Focaccia

2 1/2 tsp yeast

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

pinch sugar

2 1/2 cups flour (I split bread flour and whole wheat, but its up to you)

special add-ins (measured per half batch)

3 cloves of soft roasted garlic

with 1/2 cup diced black olives and 3 tablespoons of rosemary

or

6 re-hydrated or oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

dissolve yeast in warm water. Add salt, oil, and sugar.

Slowly add in flour until just manageable. Dump out on to

a floured surface to knead. Knead dough at least five minutes,

until it develops an elastic-y feel. Now it should be soft and springy

yet heavy enough to hit someone one pretty good in the face.

Split! Divide into two smaller loaves (entirely optional)

add the garlic &c and knead a little longer, working in

until your loaves look nice and smooth. Nice buns.

Place in a bowl with a little more olive oil. Roll it around

a bit so it is coated well. Set aside in a warm spot to rise.

This will take about an hour or so, let it double. Go read a book.

Once your dough has doubled in size, punch it down.

Thats right, give it a good one. Then transfer to a pan or

whatever you're going to bake it on and flatten it out.

Drizzle on some more olive oil and cut some lines across.

Sprinkle gener

ously with sea salt and let rise again about 45 mins.

If adding toppings now if you wish.... tomatoes, basil, olives?

Bake for 20 minutes at 450F, keep an eye on it because we don't

want it getting too jaw breakingly crunchy.

This is a great recipe to double, triple, or quadruple. It freezes well

and like I said works great as a pizza crust. Sigh* Perfect Sandwich bread.