Angst loves BBQ Seitan

I guess I should have known.  Angst always gets super excited when I make the Sloppy Joes recipe from The Urban Vegan and I guess I just thought he was all about the TVP.  Perhaps he is, but I think I might have a little fuzzy BBQ-addict on my hands, because tonight he could not get enough of our BBQ Seitan and Broccoli, pinched from theppk.com.

The first time I made this, there were two major differences.  First, I used homemade cubes of baked seitan, whereas this time around I chopped up a tub of Michael's Savory Seitan, resulting in a chewier, "meatier" texture.  Also, the first time around, I served the BBQ-soaked seitan and broccoli over a fluffy cloud of mashed potatoes.  This time around, I really didn't feel like doing the mashing part, so I improvised a bit (per my goal...) and came up with:

Greek-Fried Potatoes
2-4 side dish servings, depending on the size of your potatoes (did that sound wrong?)

Ingredients:
6-8 small red potatoes, well-scrubbed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 Tbsp Mediterranean Sea Salt Blend (McCormick Gourmet spice blends)
1 tsp dried marjoram
1/4 tsp garlic powder
generous pinch of allspice


Scrub potatoes well, then cut into quarters or sixths, depending on the size of your potatoes and what you feel constitutes a mouthful.  (I think we might be continuing our downward slope here.)  Heat the olive oil in a deep saucepan on high heat.  Add potatoes, stir well to completely coat with oil, then sprinkle on Mediterranean sea salt blend, marjoram, garlic powder, and allspice.  Stir again to coat evenly, then cover and lower heat to medium high.

Cook potatoes, stirring occasionally, 8-12 minutes, until crispy and a bit brown.  Pierce with a fork to ensure they are tender on the inside, then turn off heat, replace cover and allow to sit for a few minutes.

The potatoes accompanied our dinner perfectly, though due to the richness of the BBQ sauce, I think I will serve the seitan and broccoli on something next time, if not mashed potatoes again.  Angst was an eager attendant at the table, looking between Mister and I with his big, sad eyes as if to say, "Surely, one of you is human enough to see my sorrow and share your food."  Ultimately, like always, Mister isolated a kitty-sized piece of saucy seitan and put it on the floor (which was followed by me telling Angst that he had to eat all of it, including the sauce that was now on my floor).

Believe me when I tell you, this was not a problem for him.  He quickly licked that all up and waited for more.  He had a healthy little appetizer to his own dinner, between me and Mister slipping him little pieces of gooey seitan that he all too readily slurped up from the floor.

noms?

He has no shame.

See you tomorrow, MoFos!

bonus round: VIP BBQ dinner

I know I only posted a little more than 5 hours ago, but I wanted to devote the whole post to the farewell to Horizons and not spread it out into a mega-post also detailing last night's dinner adventures and the super-awesome BBQ skillet I threw together to celebrate our country's independence.  Aside from obvious cultural norms, I don't know why July 4th food needs to be slathered in BBQ sauce, but I figured it was as good an excuse as any to use more of my gourmet VIP BBQ sauce.

Let's take a step or two back, though.  I thought about posting earlier yesterday afternoon about our fabulous finale at Horizons, but I got distracted by iTunes being a pain in my butt about importing the new Symphony X CD and then my computer promptly crashed. Horribly.  So much so that Mister and I were not completely certain it was going to come back to us.  Fortunately, my little Mac paramedic spent several hours last night in emergency surgery while I played solitaire on my old laptop and drank the last of the Riesling so now we're back in business.  Also while Mister was administering some form of human-machine CPR and the equivalent of a brain transplant (probably a little prayer and voodoo mixed in for good measure), I cooked up a long lost favorite for dinner.

The last time I made Bulgur and Red Lentil Pilaf with Kale and Olives from The Complete Vegan Cookbook I was trying to remember where I had a similar recipe.  I knew there were some subtle differences, such as the actual presence of kalamata olives in one recipe and the imagined/substituted presence of them in the other.  I found that other recipe when I was poking through The Accidental Vegan while creating our menu on Saturday afternoon, so I made Kedgeree for dinner last night.

Instead of chopping the carrots, I thought it might be more fun to julienne them (especially since I have that neat toy to help) and in place of the mushrooms Mister can't stand (and I don't exactly have a taste for either), I chopped up some kalamata olives.  The kedgeree itself was made up of brown rice and lentils, which I cooked together to save space (three pots on this smaller stove was not in the cards), resulting in a creamier dish, spiked with cumin and mustard, dotted with the charmingly contrasted colors of green (kale), orange (carrot), and purple (kalamata).

Angst was not at all impressed, electing to take a nap on the bathroom floor (a nice, cool, summertime nap spot) rather than watch his favorite food show, "the Mommy show."  I think he was just mad at me for changing my mind last minute about making the Jerk Seitan from VwaV.  By changing my mind, what I really mean is that I picked up the seitan at Whole Foods, put it down to pick up Tofurky sausages and smoked tofu and completely forgot to pick it back up and deposit in my cart.  Missing a vital ingredient (you know, the one in the recipe title?), I thought I should probably make something else.

Speaking of making something else, I had that same inclination after I finished the last little droplets of Riesling (insert sad face here) and Mister was still poking away at my computer on life-support.  I have had a recent hankering for tropical cocktails, and I figured a bottle of rum, which which I would mix things, will probably last a little longer in this house that a bottle of wine (which I feel compelled to drink quickly so it doesn't spoil), thereby stretching our budget a little until I get some figuring done.

I love this picture because it looks like my little baby Murloc is either trying to steal it or guard it.  That pretty little glass contains about one ounce of Malibu Pineapple Rum and a few more ounces of Santa Cruz organic Cherry Lemonade - delightful combination, by the way.  It made Solitaire a little more fun than usual.

So, tonight with dinner, I decided to make another little cocktail, this time using the last pouch of Honest Kids Berry Lemonade.  I'll admit, there's something a little twisted about using a children-oriented juice pouch product as a mixer, but we don't have kids, so someone's got to drink it.

Epic Cocktail

So, tropical drink prepared, I set to work on our BBQ dinner to celebrate the nation's birthday.

BBQ Tofu-Veggie Skillet
serves 4-6 (depending on portion size)


Ingredients:
14 oz extra-firm tofu, pressed and cubed
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup thinly sliced celery
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 cup frozen/fresh corn
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup BBQ sauce


white basmati rice to serve over (1 cup rice to 2 cups water)
broccoli slaw, optional garnish


Heat the oil in a deep-sided skillet/sauteuse.  Add tofu and toss gently to coat with oil, then cover and cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tofu is golden-brown on most sides.  Remove lid and add celery and peppers; saute 2-3 minutes.

Add zucchini, corn, and salt; mix well and cover.

Saute 3-5 more minutes, then stir in BBQ sauce.  Cook, uncovered, until heated through and mixture is evenly coated with BBQ sauce.

To serve, lay a bed of rice on the bottom of a bowl or plate, sprinkle with broccoli slaw, if using, then cover with a few spoonfuls of the tofu-veggie BBQ mixture.

It was very good - every component played well with the others - the sweetness of the corn and peppers stood out within the pungent BBQ sauce, which the tofu and zucchini readily absorbed.  The lightness of the basmati rice provided a gentle foil to the intense flavors represented in the tofu-veggie mixture, calming the fire of the Ancho Chili BBQ sauce just enough but not too much.

Happy July 4th all!  I'm going to watch a movie with my mister to finish off a lovely long weekend of time spent together.

critter petting zoo

This is a great apartment - really it is, but seriously - this place is Critter Central.  After a generally blissful, critter-free existence for the last six years in our tiny apartment, it seems like we found us a wildlife reserve here and I'm wondering if that is one of the reasons for the exceptionally low rent for a 2-bedroom apartment in this part of town (I'm thinking the Meeting Place for the Socially Challenged across the street is another reason).  Presently, in addition to the fuzzy lump we actually want living here, we have one adorable but gotta-go mousy friend, a flock of fruit flies who are trying to hijack my wine (I've already explained to them that I work far harder than they do for my wine) and a spider that might have been helpful in getting rid of the flies if he weren't too darn lazy to build a small web.  Having not accomplished his purpose, Mister escorted our eight-legged free-loader out of our home.  Mister also set a trap for the mouse:

Yup.  A plastic box, set upside down and propped up by an old, empty jar that used to hold Alba facial moisturizer with a piece of cardboard acting as an appetizer plate for a Mouse-Feast of peanut butter.  I tried to tell Mister that this is not a cartoon, but he insisted it would work.  So twice now, the mouse has gone in there and won.  First time, he ran in, grabbed the PB and pulled it out with him before we had a chance to catch him - mouse 1, us 0.  Then, we set it up again because the mouse dropped the PB plate and after a long, patient, barely-breathing staring contest, the little bugger decided to press his luck.  Just as he made his move, I made mine...and Angst made some kind of clattering that made the mouse turn around and run away.  Mouse - 2, us - 0, Angst - in the 'dog'house.

We decided our little friend needs to hit the road.  There are just too many gruesome ways for him to die here and traumatize me in the process.  I would share some of those ways but you don't want to hear about them any more than I want to think about them and even less than I want to actually experience any of them.  Since part of dinner involved roasting, I checked the inside of the oven before preheating it.  Then it started to smell like burning, so I yanked open the door and peered inside with a flashlight, fully expecting to see something that would make dinner a moot point (for lack of appetite), but there was no mousy (thank heavens).  After dinner, we spent enough time waiting to catch the mouse that Friday night's post will have Saturday's date, so just remember, kids - I haven't slept yet, so it's still Friday.

Anyway, as I was coming home from work tonight, I got to thinking about a great many things, but the only one you're interested in is dinner.  Trust me.  I really thought it would be neat to make an entire menu from the cookbook my company is hawking.  Appetite for Reduction made it seem like "diet food" could always be a culinary treasure, but I'll be honest - despite my attempts to make these dishes sound fabulous, I'm a little less than impressed.  The only flavor most of the recipes I've made so far have had came from my own inability to put only 2 cloves of garlic into something or my enjoyment of tweaking flavor elements.  It's not all bad, necessarily, but I have definitely lost my excitement for this cookbook - the pictures look far more attractive and appetizing than the finished product tastes.  I still have a few recipes to go and I do intend to finish them, but what this is all building up to (fortunately) is that I improvised to such a point tonight that I could not say, in good conscience, that I actually followed the recipe for the White Bean Salad in the cookbook.  The reason this is fortunate is that it doubles the recipe fun!

I am not at all ashamed of how excited I was to use my new BBQ sauce, given to me by a member of our chefs' council.  I was a little worried about the heat, but it turned out to have just the right amount.  It's a bit tangy and neither sweet nor savory BBQ sauce, but it is certainly good and I would actually purchase it in a store if I could find it.

I decided to go for a southern-style meal, at least where the BBQ sauce is involved.  The "salad" ended up being relatively Mediterranean, but I think most of my salads either end up that way, or a mix of hippie-commune-meets-Neiman-Marcus-urban-legends, so no big surprise there. 

Roasted Veggies with White Beans
yields about 4 appetizer/side dish servings

Ingredients
1 pint grape tomatoes (organic, if you can)
1 lb asparagus (normally one bunch)   
 15 oz can of white beans (cannellinis were pretty darn good), drained and rinsed (do you really even need to say that anymore?)
2 Tbsp high-quality olive oil
1-2 tsp Mediterranean sea salt blend (to taste)
1 tsp red wine vinegar


Preheat oven to 400 F.  Break the ends off of the asparagus stalks and slice into 1" pieces, on the bias if you want it to be pretty.  Slice the larger grape tomatoes in half diagonally and leave the little ones whole.  Drizzle asparagus and tomatoes with 2 Tbsp olive oil, sprinkle with 1 tsp of the salt blend to start, then toss to coat.  Roast for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Now would probably be a good time to start the other half of the recipe, if you're making both (see recipe below).  Once the asparagus is beginning to shrivel a bit and the tomatoes are beginning to burst, remove from oven and add beans and as much as 1 more teaspoon of the salt blend, along with the red wine vinegar, and toss to coat evenly.  Allow to sit and cool while you prepare the po' boys.

Seitan-n-Slaw Po' Boys
serves 6, one po' boy per person

Ingredients
16 oz seitan in broth, drained and sliced very thin/shredded (baked seitan will not work here - I used Michael's Savory Seitan)
10 oz bag of confetti slaw (or other slaw)
2 Tbsp canola (or olive) oil, divided
1 Tbsp tamari/soy sauce
3-4 Tbsp all-natural, spicy BBQ sauce, divided
1/2 tsp pomegranate molasses (or dark agave nectar)
6 long sandwich rolls (about 6")

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large, deep skillet on medium heat.  Add confetti slaw, stir to coat with oil and then cover.  Allow to steam-fry 5-7 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally.  Remove from pan and add the remaining 1 Tbsp oil and turn heat to medium-high.  Add seitan and stir to coat with oil.  Cover and cook until seitan begins to brown and oil has been absorbed - about 5-7 minutes more.  Once the seitan has browned to your liking, add about 2 Tbsp of the BBQ sauce and stir to coat the seitan evenly.  Allow to cook one more minute, then add the slaw and stir to coat everything with BBQ sauce, adding more 1 Tbsp at a time until all the seitan and slaw is well-coated in BBQ sauce.  Drizzle on the molasses/agave and stir to combine.  Remove from heat.

If you'd prefer, you can heat the rolls in the oven - it should still be hot from the Roasted "Salad," so you won't need to heat it up.  Once they are warmed/toasted to your liking, slice lengthwise, taking care to leave a substantial "hinge."  Gently pile about 1/2 cup of the seitan-n-slaw mixture into the roll.

Serve with "salad" and enjoy!  You want pairings?  How about a nice Merlot-Tempranillo blend or South African Pinotage with dinner, and finish with a digestive of anisette, sipped slowly from a decorated cordial glass?

Bon appetit!
(can anyone translate that to Creole-French?)

the dinner that almost wasn't

Would you believe I nearly changed my mind at the last minute?  Would you believe, after all my odes of affection and volumes of sonnets for the wonder that is Punjabi Peppers and Tofu, that I nearly pushed it aside tonight in favor of something completely different?  Choices, choices - a divine Indian dish created by two Canadian vegans who make edgy non-leather purses or Texas BBQ?  And what disparate choices they are, aren't they?

I'm sure you'll be relieved to know that I made my old favorite instead of doing something adventurous and intrepid (and far more blog-worthy).

But it's just so good!  Besides, I was a little too brain-drained to come up with something creative and worthy of my prize.

Prize?

I have mentioned before (at least a few dozen times) that I work for a weight loss company.  If you have any Google skills at all, the information I'm about to share will tell you what I wont (that is, which company).  There are two parts to the story - the first one, I may have mentioned, is that this week was devoted to employee appreciation so there were little events and giveaways all week.  The second part is that last December, we started working with a group of chefs from all over the nation - Miami, my beloved Tahoe, Texas, New York City, and of course, a local fellow representing Philadelphia.  All of these chefs have been on Bravos Top Chefs and Masters programs and they have all been acclaimed as outstanding in their field - in fact, the Philadelphian chef was just awarded "Best Chef Mid-Atlantic" by the James Beard Foundation.

He's very friendly, too.  I know this because today I had the privilege of meeting him, as well as the other four chefs who make up our culinary council.  They came to "visit" on the last day of Employee Appreciation week and cooked up a storm of low-calorie, healthy, delicious food and then let us eat it.  The offerings were still weighted in favor of eating animals, but here is what I could eat (and did, with gusto!): a sprout salad with fresh peas, radishes, broccoli sprouts, broccoli slaw, and a bunch of herbs (there's nothing quite like biting into an entire leaf of fresh cilantro), tahini hummus, grilled vegetables (mainly peppers), grilled pineapple (unbelievable!), and fresh salsa with tortilla chips.  Can you believe there was a ton of meaty "delights" in addition to all that fun?

Another part of employee appreciation has been little tokens of thanks, mysteriously appearing on our desks each morning.  It's a fun thing to walk into, I'll admit.  I'm a little sad that all I'll walk in to see on Monday is my desk and all the work I have to do.  Anyway, apparently, they were saving the best for last because today's little thank you took the form of a bottle of barbeque sauce.

It's not just any sauce, though - it's all natural and made by one of our celebrity chefs in Texas, where they definitely know BBQ.  There were three flavors distributed throughout the company: I got Ancho Chili (and I'm a little worried about the heat, but we'll see - tofu has a very fortunate heat-calming property that should balance it out), but others got Peach or Teriyaki Honey.

People at work were intrigued by what I would possibly find to put BBQ sauce on.  They relaxed a bit after I shared that it goes very nicely with baked tofu, sloppy joes, and beans and that I have been in the habit of making my own BBQ sauce so I shouldn't have any trouble finding something to do with it.  Quite the contrary - I'm so excited about it (allow me five minutes of company pride) that I nearly ditched one of my favorite meals in order to play around with it.  I finally decided that I wanted to specifically design a meal around it and that I was way unprepared to do so tonight.  Mister and I think it might be fun to hang onto it until July 4th and then do something really spectacular with it.

Good thing July 4th is two weeks away, because I have absolutely no idea what that will be...

SuperIsa to the rescue!

I had truly intended to heat up leftovers for dinner tonight.  I wanted a quick dinner (because someone stayed up too late baking and eating and blogging) and we have a growing colony of Rubbermaid citizens in our fridge.  I guess there's always tomorrow, because I got my brain hooked on making Isa's Seitan and Broccoli with Pantry BBQ Sauce.

Although the pile of leftovers in my fridge worries me a little bit, the half-loaf of baked seitan from Sunday worried me more.  Since it's baked, it doesn't sit in some broth in an air-tight tupperware, it's merely wrapped in foil and being a lump on the shelf.  I wasn't sure exactly how long it would sit there peacefully before trying to rile some of the other leftovers into a coup d'etat, so I decided to cook him.

Thank heavens that isn't how we do politics.  "I didn't want any competition, so I ate him."

Anyway, this ended up being a pretty quick-cooking recipe after all, which was fortunate since Mister forgot he was hungry until I was halfway through prep.  Then his belly started grumbling and he helped set the table while I finished up mixing 500 ingredients together for the BBQ sauce.

A quick aside: there are fundamental differences in the way Mister and I set the table.  I set it the same on both sides - my napkin on my right, his napkin on his right.  You get the picture.  Mister puts both napkins on the same side, although that means my right and his left.  I almost always use bowls, since it seems easier to chase rice, bulgur, and/or pasta around a vessel with sloped sides.  Mister stubbornly sets the table with plates, no matter what I'm cooking.  Similarly, the only utensils in Mister's universe are forks, occasionally knives.  Spoons, I find necessary on an almost daily basis and Mister loathes, aside from their function as a coffee stirrer.

Fortunately, the mashed potatoes made an adequate base for the chewy chunks of seitan and the tender broccoli that magically sops up all the BBQ sauce the seitan left behind.  Mashed potatoes require no gravy when eaten in this way, but I must admit, my brain was already working out how to adjust the BBQ sauce to make a hearty, thick gravy for Thanksgiving (yes, I know it's more than half a year away, but I live for the time between Thanksgiving and New Years).

Once again, on so many levels, Isa was my hero.  So many things Mister loves all on one plate: mashed potatoes, broccoli, seitan in BBQ sauce.  So many things I love: quick cooking, savory with a little hint of sweetness, textural contradiction between the fluffy mashed 'taters and chewy, "meaty" seitan, as well as the crisp, clean bite of broccoli.  This dinner is a winner and will definitely find its way to our table again.  I'm just so glad I made it to thePPK.com!!!

nothin' to write home about

Last Meal on the Menu Night is always a risky place to be.  Sometimes, I hold off on a recipe because I've lost interest in it, other times because it was too time consuming to make during the regular work week.  Sometimes I save the best for last and other times I'm not sure how it will turn out so I wanted to leave wiggle room for a replacement dinner.  In any case, tonight's Last Dinner was BBQ-Flavored White Beans with Sausage and Spinach from Vegan Express.

Leaving it for last, in this case, actually was somewhat strategic for two unrelated reasons.  The first reason had to do with how darn long this week felt.  Honestly, I feel like I haven't seen my piano students in two weeks, but I know I taught last weekend because I had a new student start.  The week didn't exactly drag by, but it really took Friday a while to get here.  I wanted to ensure I wouldn't have to put out a lot of effort for the Friday night meal (I was also counting on a lack of energy due to anticipated trouble sleeping last night, since there's an Irish bar across the street and whatnot).  The other reason was that I was a little concerned about the BBQ sauce.  Like I mentioned when I added it to the Sloppy Joes, I wasn't sure how I would feel about using it, unadulterated, as a main ingredient.  The flavor is pretty strong and tangy, which is not at all like the homemade BBQ sauce I usually use in this recipe.  In fact, at some point this week, I was kicking myself for actually buying BBQ sauce when I am perfectly capable of making BBQ sauce I knew I'd like for far less money.


Truth be told, I wanted to buy the BBQ sauce.  I was curious, since I've never actually bought BBQ sauce before, and I had heard good things about Annie's.  I'm glad we tried it, although it wouldn't be a "regular" in our pantry or fridge.  The most amusing thing for me was how perfect the amount in the bottle (12 oz) was.  Apparently, 12 oz = 2 Tbsp + 1 cup, because that was what I needed for the two recipes and that is exactly what came out of the bottle.  I had to shake the last bits out for dinner tonight before rinsing and recycling.

Anyway, all that being said, you really can't get too excited about beans-n-wieners, even if spinach and organic BBQ sauce are involved, so I'm just going to move on to the new menu:

1. Bulgur and Red Lentil Pilaf with Kale and Olives from The Complete Vegan Cookbook.  It's been a while since I've made this, but I just adore the tastes and textures, and it was the main reason I decided to start my dinner-hunting in that book.

2. Curried Bulgur Casserole with Garbanzo Beans, also from The Complete Vegan Cookbook.

3. Tuscan Vegetable Ragout from Vegetarian Times: Fast & Easy.  It's been quite a while since I made this and I don't know why - it's quick, easy, and delicious, and if I really wanted to make the effort, it never has to be the same twice.

4. Warm Chickpea Ragout with Swiss Chard, Carrots, and Harissa, also from Veg. Times: Fast & Easy.  See, I'm doing this two-fer theme...two recipes with bulgur from the same cookbook, two recipes for Ragout from the same cookbook...see?  I know, I'm so clever.

5. Garlicky Tofu with Spinach over Pasta also from VT:F&E.  I was a little rice-heavy last week and since the first two recipes this week use bulgur as the grain, I wanted to make a concerted effort to have more pasta for my Mister.

6. Broccoli Pasta with Savory Sauce.  Ditto.

people-tested, Angst-approved

There are certain things I know Angst likes.  Spinach, hummus, jalapeno potato chips, pretzels, and spice cookies are a good start, and over the past six months or so I learned that he also greatly enjoys crumbs of pain d'epices, tofurky, cabbage, and TVP.  Yes, tonight, I learned that Angst loves TVP.

There are certain meals that Angst relentlessly bothers us to share and other meals he can't get far enough away from while we're eating.  He's not as big a fan of curry as Mister, but he loves pasta nights just as much, ever hoping that "real" Parmesan cheese will find its way onto our table again.  He knows the sound of a bag of baby spinach opening and recognizes the scent of hummus from a room away.  Tonight, though, he really surprised me.

Tonight was a fast-cooking dinner night, which left me only two options.  I chose Sloppy Joes from The Urban Vegan because it appeared to only take about 30 minutes from washing the pepper to toasting the buns (optional, but my preference).  I am truly fascinated by textured vegetable protein (TVP) because I never expect it to reconstitute/soften as easily as it does.  It also has a remarkable texture, reminiscent of the shredded chicken in chicken cheese steaks.  In fact, it reminds me a lot of the steak analog in the veggie steaks at Steve's Steaks (7th & South), come to think of it.

The diced red pepper added a sweet and subtle crunch that only further enhanced the chewy texture of the Joes and I was in shock and awe of how the strange melange of seasonings worked together with a couple of Tbsps of the first BBQ sauce I have ever actually purchased - Annie's Naturals organic BBQ sauce.  I had some trouble deciding which flavor (darned gourmet BBQ sauces), but decided the Smokey Maple sounded fun and would probably best complement the other flavors in the recipes.

I was pretty happy with this, although I'm not sure I would use it on its own as a condiment of some sort.  The flavor was pretty strong and I'm looking forward to seeing how much that affects the other recipe, since I'll use the rest of the bottle and it will play a pretty integral role in the dish.

Anyway, the most stunning part of the evening was when Angst came to the table, insisting that we share with him.  Not just begging, I tell you, but feet up on my chair staring at my Joe with hungry eyes that would make Johnny Castle proud.  I gave him a little piece of Mister's leftovers and he went nuts.  I gave him a second piece and he ate it right out of my fingers!  He helped polish off the little bits that fell out of Mister's sandwiches, which gave me just enough time to finish eating my own dinner unperturbed.

work makes my brain hurt

Eventually, I'll settle in. Sure, once I settle in and get used to how everything is, everything will change, but let's ignore that inevitability for now. It amazes me how some [granted, significant] changes at work can effect the rest of my life so completely and turn my world topsy-turvy. There were those two crazy weeks where I was working the second shift again, depriving me of the opportunity to unwind by making dinner and then spending time with my husband while eating it. Once I knew I would be back to "normal" I got all kinds of adventurous with my menu and had some thrilling stories to tell.

These past two days have not fit that pattern. I'm making myself post tonight just so I stay in the habit, but it's going to be a struggle finding something interesting to say about dinner. I don't even have pictures!

Last night we had Seitan Chow Fun and I must say, it did come out really well. I didn't remember the sauce being that flavorful, but it still wasn't quite note-worthy (which may be why I didn't remember it from last time). Tonight I made BBQ Pomegranate Tofu with Coconut Rice which is always a winner...unless the rice sucks. I don't know what went wrong. Sometimes, I really think Someone Upstairs is trying to tell me I shouldn't make rice, because of all the things to be bad at, I don't know how I mess up something this simple so frequently. I would like to blame tonight's rice debacle on two things that I can label as Not My Fault.

1. My delightful new Calphalon Contemporary 2.5 qt saucepan. I love it, but I'm not used to it yet, so I haven't figured out how to keep the flame under it for optimal rice-heating.

2. I used a different Jasmine rice tonight. Usually, I either use the WF store brand or Lundberg Farms Jasmine, but neither were available, so my choices were Basmati or a different brand of Jasmine. It had a cool-looking bag, so I thought it would do, but when I opened the bag, there was an obvious difference between this rice and the grains I usually cook.

So, there you go - not my fault.

In other news, I got to use my new zester to add little shavings of lime zest to the rice and that was fun. As always, I have exactly enough sauce and rice left for the other meal later this week.

Well, three weeks of 6-day work-weeks have taken their toll on my creativity - I've hit a wall. I can't have an entire post without pictures, though, so check out me exploring my affinity for vegetables way back in the day...

Mister and I agree that I have this toddler-Liv-Tyler thing going on here.
It's the eyes.
cucumbers are always exciting

nom, nom, nom
Funny thing is, I don't actually like raw tomatoes.

I love my tastebuds

I have had a couple of great-tasting days! I have finished my bars, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow (I've gotten myself into a habit now), although I'm thinking of "sharing" one of Mister's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Clif bars.

Yesterday I had my Chocolate Coffee Jocalat bar. I have to say, this was my second experience with these bars and I can see why people love them! This one was deliciously rich...I couldn't necessarily taste the coffee, but I think it served to enhance the very dark, bittersweet chocolate taste. It was dense and satisfying, with just the right amount of nuts, and tasted like clean food should. Furthermore, all of the ingredients are organic, and if that isn't enough, the coffee used is Fair Trade Certified. Even though it had only dates in it with three different kinds of nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, and cashews), it still counts as a fruit serving. A chocolate fruit? Don't mind if i do!

Today's grand finale reached its culmination in the Cinnamon Roll Larabar. This was incredible. When I opened the wrapper, it smelled like the inside of my cinnamon jar. Cinnamon is both a favorite scent and a favorite flavor of mine, so this bar was the perfect way to end this week's parade of alterna-fruit-servings. Again, it was the perfect combination of nuts and sweet cinnamony goodness. It tasted just like the wonderful gooey stuff between the rolls of a cinnamon roll, but there really wasn't any taste of the roll itself. I'm okay with that.

Last night I just heated up some of the leftover Mediterranean Risotto and finished the Killer Wheat Bread (be careful, it contains wheat!). I think the problem is the sun-dried tomatoes...I cut the quantity by more than half and they're still too strong...Next time, we'll try something in place of them, or just leave them out in favor of the olives and roasted peppers.

Upon his return from work, hubby gave me a present!

I am so loved!

On a related note...kind of...we've hit a serious cool-down here in Philadelphia (which Mister and I are absolutely relishing). I had strawberries and yogurt earlier this week, but today I happily had my very first oatmeal of the season! It was wonderful - I cooked the oats in unsweetened soymilk and threw in a handful of dried cranberries about halfway through. I didn't take any pictures because I can barely see in the morning (squint squint), so aiming a camera is pretty much out of the question. Anyway, my recent reading has inspired me to get a little more creative in my oatmeal preparation this fall and winter.

Ordinarily (as in, for the past two winters), I cook my oatmeal (real oats, none of that instant crap - it's hard to get whole grains when they're ground to oblivion) in apple juice and water with some cinnamon sprinkled in. Every once in a while I got fancy (read: I ran out of apple juice) and made my oatmeal with almond/soy milk and swirled in this delightful pure maple syrup, given as a gift from my husband's boss, in a real mason jar! Well, taking a cue from Chocolate Covered Katie I think I'm going to do something completely out of character tomorrow morning:

I'm going to cook my oatmeal in soymilk and then throw in a truffle or two and stir until it melts! In my head, that tastes so good...

Finally, for dinner tonight I reprised Nava's BBQ-Flavored White Beans and Sausage with Spinach. It was just as good (and fast to make) this time, and instead of roasting some potatoes I heated up the leftover coconut rice and served the BBQ beans over that. Also, this time I used Tofurky Italian Sausage, rather than their Bratwurst. It has a bit of kick to it, I'll tell you that! It was almost too exciting - I think without being served on that creamy rice to calm it down, it would have been too much for my poor little tastebuds.

bring on baking season!

The perfect way to welcome September - with Apple Pie! Okay, it was just a larabar, but it was delightful!

This was a dense and very sweet bar. I was initially inclined to think it was too nutty, but after a few more bites I realized that the nuts helped to calm the flavor some. It reminded me a bit of the Apple Cinnamon Nectar bars (which also have gorgeous packaging), but easier to eat, due to the nuts - the Nectar bar is just too sweet.

The first thing I noticed when I unceremoniously ripped open the wrapper was the wonderful smell of apple and cinnamon...absolutely one of my favorite scent combinations. It was like tearing open the wrapping paper on Autumn (my favorite season).

Now, when I say "baking season," I am primarily thinking about tasty little treasures made up of warm syrupy fruit, smothered with an oaty, streusal topping, or maybe the melt-in-your-mouth crumbs of a coffee cake, or these fantastic little cookies baked with freshly cut apple chunks. However, I also love baked dinners. They provide warmth from the inside out in a way only slowly cooked foods can...the rich scent of lasagna or pastitsio, the tenderness of stuffed peppers baked in the oven, rather than on a skillet, and the inherent sweetness roasting brings out in vegetables. Also, baked dinners allow me a little bit more time to relax in the evening, as opposed to the whirlwind of perpetual motion that leaves me dancing around my small kitchen, tending to three pots at once and hoping I don't burn the garlic.

My inaugural baked meal (welcome, dear September!) was Isa's BBQ Pomegranate Tofu, served on a bed of coconut rice (with real toasted - and almost burnt - shredded coconut). I love this tofu - I keep saying "this is my favorite," but seriously - this is my favorite tofu. It's baked to perfection, then smothered in the best BBQ sauce ever and baked some more. We ate every last morsel!

other people's food tastes better sometimes

So, I've had better days at work than today. By the time I got home, I had figured out the one thing that would make all the sucky go away - a dinner I didn't have to make. Don't get me wrong, cooking gives me great joy and most of the time is all the stress relief I need in a day, but today was different. I was at the end of my rope in so many different ways. I could have cooked, really, but I had my mind set on three things: vegan rosemary foccacia, Urban Riesling, and Catalan Tempeh - in other words, I really wanted to have a nice, luxurious dinner at what is becoming one of my favorite restaurants - Horizons. Fortunately, my doting husband was willing to oblige.

A few roadblocks presented themselves...the dining room was full enough that the host asked if we had reservations. I asked if we could sit outside - the humidity was mostly broken and there was a nice breeze anyway. Also, I saw a sign that reminded me of something I had known but forgotton - Tonight, Horizons hosted a local Vegan Drinks event upstairs. The one thing that kinda bummed me out though, was that I knew what I wanted before I got there, and when I looked at the menu, it was no longer there. I asked the server, and he explained that some people were having trouble "committing themselves to an entire main dish of tempeh." That's too bad - it was delightful. The Catalan Tempeh was braised in some kind of savory marinade, laid atop a bed of tiny black beluga lentils (vegan caviar) and garnished with an odd, but tasty, green mush. As I mentioned earlier, my husband is allergic to tempeh, so when we go out, I try to get a tempeh dish because I like it. So, taking the server's recommendation, I got the Crispy Tempeh Tacos. I wish I had pictures, because the presentation there is outstanding, but we've had our digital camera nearly two years and have used it only a handful of times before I started photographing dinner every night (to Mister's amusement), so it's not one of those things I think of. Forgive me - I'll try to remember next time. Instead, I'll just descibe our feast:

We started with an order of Jamaican BBQ Seitan with Jicama Slaw and some kind of weird orange mustard. I let Mister have the mustard - I'm not a fan. The BBQ Seitan was incredible - my husband was talking about something when I took my first bite and I mindlessly interrupted him with my exclamations of awe. We also had the always delightful homemade Rosemary Foccacia with herbed olive oil for dipping (gratis). For dinner, Mister had the Grilled Seitan laid upon grilled spinach and mashed yukon potatoes, and topped with a roasted red pepper filled with something that looks (and tastes) like baba ghanoush. I had the Crispy Tempeh Tacos - two battered and cooked (couldn't tell if they were baked or fried) hunks of dense tempeh, laid upon two soft tortillas that had been criss-crossed with preserved lemon aioli and topped with some completely bizarre (but very good) pickled zucchini and beet slaw. On the edges of the plate were two reddish chunky pools - it seemed like a red cucumber relish - very refreshing and it didn't taste at all like it looked. We also shared an order of smushed fingerlings, drizzled with truffle oil, dusted with sea salt, and roasted. They smell awful but taste so good. I had a glass of my Urban Riesling and finished the meal with Saffron Creme Brulee with Pistachio Biscotti. I was intrigued by the use of saffron in a dessert, and I really wanted to see what vegan creme brulee tasted/felt like. It was good - it didn't hold its shape as well as "real" creme brulee, nor did it mimic the texture closely, but it tasted fantastic and that's really what matters. I'm still mulling over the use of saffron, though.

In all the excitement, I did manage to put together my menu for the upcoming week, but I think I will wait to share that with you tomorrow, when I have more time to talk about the rest of the book. Until then, sleep with angels.

(that's my little brat prince, all tucked in with his blanket and pillow...spoiled only child)

all we need now is the campfire

Tonight I made BBQ White Beans with "Sausage" & Spinach. First of all, it was marvelously fast to put together. Unless you roast potatoes for a side (like I did), you can make this dinner, start to finish in no more that 20 minutes. This is absolutely the fastest dinner in my repertoire short of grilled cheese sandwiches or veggie burgers. Secondly, I realized about halfway through cooking (aka, about ten minutes in) that this spiffy sounding recipe is a glorified "franks and beans."

Besides how incredibly quickly it was ready to be eaten, one of the best things about this recipe was that it wanted me to use 1 cup of BBQ sauce. Why is that so exciting, you may wonder? Because I have had approximately 1 cup of Pomegranate BBQ sauce that I made for one of my favorite recipes in Vegan With A Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz languishing in my freezer for longer than I'd like and this recipe gave me the opportunity to use it. Truth be told, I actually chose this recipe because it would let me use that up. I'm not a huge fan of BBQ or the accompanying sauce, but I have to say this is the best BBQ sauce ever - how can you lose when two ingredients are liquid smoke and pomegranate molasses?

Anyway, we'll consider tonight's dinner another great success, despite the heat keeping the cat out of the kitchen. He's obviously not going to oblige my wish for a funny anecdote, so I'll just explain his odd behavior (which inspired the blog title) now.

Angst is my cat. He's a huge grey-and-darker-grey tabby who loves spinach and hates summer (and therefore will not cooperate with my cooking schedule). Angst LOVES spinach - I think it's the weirdest thing, but he gets crazy impatient if I don't share with him before I break the spinach (in other words, before I cook it). He sits at my feet and gives me "the eyes" and if I don't pay attention, he will stand up on his hind legs and wrap his "arms" around my waist (he's very tall), squeaking for spinaches. When I give him his piece(s), he gets on his hind feet again so he can grab my wrist with his paws and hold onto it while he eats the spinach right out of my fingers. Every once in a while, I fool him - I don't mean to - he's just kinda stupid sometimes. He sees green leafy things and thinks spinach...but there's arugula (which I discovered he also likes), mint and basil (doesn't like them at all), and bok choy, to name a few.

Enough tangents - here is what our tasty dinner looked like tonight: