Finally... meet my scramble!

I'm surprised it took me this long after starting the blog to make my tofu scramble. It is a staple for me, and if you've ever had Sunday brunch with me, you've probably had it!

The ingredients of my scramble vary depending on the veggies I have, but this version included many of the common ones: Twin Oaks herbed tofu, zucchini, kale, onion, sweet pepper, carrot, garlic, and tomato on top. The spices are based off of the PPK version of tofu scramble: cumin, turmeric, thyme, and nutritional yeast. I just realized that turmeric has two Rs when spellcheck corrected me just now... how have I not noticed that?

By the way, yes, that is a jack-o-lantern plate. It's not just a seasonal plate, either. We eat off of it all year!

Speaking of seasonal- next, we have my first soup of the season. I make some stews here and there, but vegetable soup doesn't really rear its head until the cold air starts filtering in through the cracks in the doors and windows. Thank you, Fan apartment. It's almost time to tape up some plastic...

You may notice that this isn't a very soupy soup. I have a habit of filling my soup pot with so much veggies that there's hardly any room for broth. Oh well, I guess I really do just make stews. This one has split peas, barley, gold potatoes, collard greens, carrots, and corn, as well as a box of that Imagine brand portabello mushroom soup, mixed with the bouillon-laden broth. It was awesome, and a hell of a hearty soup. I killed the huge container of leftover soup in two days, and I still want more! The barley was new to me- I've never cooked with it before. I really enjoyed the texture of it, though. Wonder what else I can do with it...

There were two nights in the past week where I made essentially the same thing two nights in a row. It was a really fast stir fry that I had to whip up in a jiffy, and I only ended up using half of the veggies and tofu the first night. It was so tasty, I just made it again the next night. The only difference was I used quinoa the first night and brown rice the second night.

I pan fried some Twin Oaks tofu, broccoli, Japanese eggplant, kale, and onion in sesame oil and liquid aminos, and then I poured a touch of teriyaki sauce on the whole thing.

I swear, I don't usually eat this much tofu. This blog must have jinxed my cooking tendencies. And that last block came in my farm share veggie box. But I really do love that Twin Oaks stuff.

My most recent veggie box came last Thursday, and I also got a huge bag full of veggies from my co-worker/boss/she-wolf, Rachel's, garden. When I laid my jackpot out on my counter, this is what I had:

Holy. Cats. Red cabbage, acorn squash, kale, portabello mushrooms, onions, Roma tomatoes, and Fuji apples from the farm share. Tomatoes, sweet potatoes, green tomatoes, and green onions from Rachel's garden. My first mission was to make a big bowl of salsa. I think there may be a touch left in my fridge, but for the most part, it's been demolished already. 

Later, I was thinking of making soup with more of the veggies. But I just made soup! I know, I could have made a totally different soup, but I went with a chili instead.

This one is a little on the untraditional side, because I used sweet potatoes and kale. Now I don't know if I ever want to make it without them! There was also a whole bag of kidney beans, a can of black beans, onion, green bell pepper, and tomatoes. I think the sauce/spices included tomato paste, bouillon cubes, cumin, chili powder, a touch of molasses, and a bit of cayenne.

So, you recall that awesome breakfast sandwich I made the other weekend? I still had some Daiya and Tofurky slices left over, as well as those tomatoes, and that sounds like an awesome grilled "cheese" to me... NOM!

And last, we have this morning's breakfast. If you didn't notice in that photo of all the veggies, I have a boatload of sweet potatoes. Not a bad thing, mind you, but I gotta switch up my preparation of them now.

I fried them up in some Chinese five spice (which I don't actually have, I just have the five spices individually... easy 'nuff), along with some liquid aminos and kale. The bread in the background has a few slices of tomato that were left over from the grilled sandwich... with a bit of balsamic vinegar and pepper on it. The apple came from my parents, who brought me a big bag of apples from a local orchard. There might be some kind of pie or cobbler in my future.

Now that's a future I can get down with.

-panda-

Currently playing: Elliot Smith- Son of Sam, Mister Heavenly, Deer Tick- War Elephant, Jawbreaker- Dear You

Fancy Pants Affair

I decided to bring a little east coast thing to the west. Fancy Pants Dinners started out of wanting to get all the most amazing people under one roof, and be the pimps that we are: fine food, drinks, shenanigans, and of course fancy pants.

This evenings menu:

-Spaghetti Squash cooked with clove and sage, served with sauteed leeks and garlic.
-Arugula salad with baked cinnamon pears and broiled beets accompanied by herded goat cheese, pomegranates and a lemon tarragon vinegar honey dressing.



-Paella involving mussels cooked in pork fat and beef leek broth, sauteed pork, shrimp, rice cooked in beef leek broth, with onions, tomatoes, and peppers sauteed in grape seed oil and parsley.
-Brownie cupcakes layered with raspberry filling.
-Mimosas with mango juice, Hop Czar Beer, Rainer Beer, PBR Beer, and Black Box Wine.

All about that prep work.

Prebaked spaghetti squash with cloves, sage and butter. Along side the cinnamon pears.
This dish was orchestrated by Sophie.

Lucie's Mini Raspberry Filled Chocolate Cakes. Sooo Tasty!

Pork Cracklin'! Used the pork juice to saute the leeks.

So, all the food went to quickly for any pictures to really be captured. Sign of a good meal, one could say...

GO GRAB YOUR FRIENDS AND SHARE!

Wins and fails.

The last week has produced some hits and misses in my culinary world. Let us review them.

I made this dish soon after my last blog post, and I can hardly remember what went in it. Like many meals I've made lately, it was a less-than-half-hour dish I threw together before Webber ran off to band practice. Let's see, if I examine the picture closely, there's quinoa, onion, local zucchini, and mushrooms. Also present: hot sauce crack and Chuck Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon. I wasn't really planning on putting red wine in this kind of dish, but Webber insisted to cook the onions and mushrooms in it.
Verdict: semi-win.

More novelty items courtesy of the PPK: Tempeh Helper. Definitely hurried through this one. I made it cuz I wanted to use up some tempeh I had, and it didn't require many ingredients. And then I forgot the frozen peas, so it ended up just being a lot of protein and carbs... yay. I might consider making this again, but with broccoli or other veggies mixed in. There was just so much of the super salty sauce, which stemmed from the combination of the immense amount of bouillon and nutritional yeast. Now I know what to do next time, that's for sure.
Verdict: fail, with potential for the future.

Sunday morning, Webber told me he wanted breakfast sandwiches. One that would satisfy a craving for your run-of-the-mill diner/fast food sammiches. In exchange for such a request, I made him a list of weird vegan products and had him take the trip to the grocery store. Sammich components include: Twin Oaks tofu (pan fried in liquid aminos and hot sauce), peppered Tofurky slices, local tomato, and Daiya mozzarella on a toasted English muffin. 

So as not to keel over from fake meat and cheese overload, I sautéed some mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, and broccoli in herbs. To round it out, a local Gala apple, and some Chai Spiced Maté.

Verdict: total, absolute win.

Tonight's dinner stemmed from a need to use turnip greens that I acquired in the last veggie box. Probably my least favorite of the greens, I have yet to really understand them. In a haste, I sautéed them (and some leftover tofu) in liquid aminos, sugar, and a bit of apple cider vinegar, none of which helped cut the bitterness. Thankfully, there was some tasty asparagus, baked with olive oil and lemon juice (I was out of dill), and that Trader Joe's wild rice/basmati rice/veggie mix. Not pictured: the star of the meal- local acorn squash, baked and topped with brown sugar. That was easily the best squash I've ever had. Need. More.
Verdict: flailing fail on the greens, thumbs up on rice and asparagus, and a face melting win on the squash.

Currently playing: Dead Kennedys- Plastic Surgery Disasters, Alkaline Trio- Remains, Fear Before the March of Flames- The Always Open Mouth, Primus- Green Naugahyde

-panda-