refriedillas and via-to-go

Was that even English?  I'm looking at the title of my own post and thinking it looks like a jumble of letters, but if you take your time and read it more than once, it will make sense...especially in the context of the post!

Today was awesome.  For one thing, I've been waiting for today all week.  For another thing, almost everything about today was pretty darn good - the sun was out and the weather was gorgeous (if not a little on the windy side).  I got up shortly after Mister left for work with an enthusiastic kitty waiting to say hello (actually, he was yowling outside the bedroom door) and had a delightful breakfast:

Apple Almond Oatmeal
serves 1 (but easily multiplied)

1 small apple, diced
1/2 cup dry oatmeal
1 cup nondairy milk (I used So Delicious Coconut Milk)
1 tsp Earth Balance
1 tsp Cinnamon sugar
1 tsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp sliced almonds

Melt the Earth Balance in a large skillet with sloped sides.  Saute the apples 2-3 minutes, until golden and tender.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and stir well to coat evenly.  Add a couple of Tbsp of the milk, then sprinkle the oats over the apples and stir to combine.  Pour in remaining milk and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, stir in maple syrup and almonds.  Cook 3-5 minutes on low, stirring often, until all liquid is absorbed.

I hope you like oatmeal, because it's only October!  No fear - I have some other tricks up my sleeve, so you won't spend the winter learning 1001 Ways to Cook Oatmeal.

Since we leave for California on Thursday, it's a short cooking week and I was able to buy all of my groceries at Whole Foods, affording me some free time to play my piano before heading out to teach other people how to play the piano.  It's a pity how infrequently the teacher practices...  Regardless, although I had plenty of time to finish everything I had written on my to-do list last night, tomorrow is supposed to be another spectacular day for roaming around the city I love, so I saved some "errands" for tomorrow.  You know, really burdensome things like shopping for make-up and playing at Williams Sonoma.  I'll be crying all the way down Chestnut Street.

Before I got on my train this afternoon, though, I stopped at the adorable hidden-under-the-stairs Starbucks at Market East and bought myself a present: Cinnamon Spice Via.  Okay, two presents - as long as I was there, I treated myself to a short peppermint Americano.  The short size is probably one of Starbucks's best kept secrets - 8 oz of your favorite drink; a little less costly, and more importantly when relying on public transportation schedules, a little less bladder-filling. 

I can't wait to try the Via, but I will.  Tomorrow, I will drink hazelnut coffee with my Mister like I do every Sunday.  Monday, though, I will have a new weapon to battle the coffee at my office (which is much better than the coffee at our old building, but still tastes like a paper cup, even when you drink it from a mug).

Dinner was Big Quesadillas with Refried Beans, Spinach Arugula, and Avocado from Vegan Express.  I've renamed it Refriedillas because the linguist in me cannot deal with quesadillas that aren't even made with quesas falsas.  For you non-Spanish-speakers out there, quesa=cheese, and there wasn't even fake cheese on this tasty little fold-over dinner.  I realized I should have taken a picture before I folded them over after I folded them over and effectively sealed them shut.  A few tweaks to the recipe resulted in a very tasty and filling dinner - I spread the refried beans over the entire tortilla because I didn't see how it would seal shut otherwise - tomatoes are not known for their adhesive qualities.  Also, I placed a layer of avocado inside each 'dilla rather than on top of them because although I know I need to work on presentation, Mister is more interested in practicality and loves food he doesn't need to use utensils to eat.  Maybe it would have been prettier to place them artistically on top of the 'dillas with a nice splat of salsa...but I'm pretty sure we both would have taken the slices off and discarded them rather than finding a way for them to fit into the 'dilla.

They were tasty and super-quick, therefore a good "back pocket" recipe.  I really ought to start storing those somewhere - a "back pocket" file or something.  We'll put that in the category of "cool things I want to do with my next kitchen."

some like it hot

Not my husband, though, unless we're talking about curry or szechuan food.  It was really hot in Philadelphia today - it still is when you live on the second floor of any building.  Thank heavens the restaurant downstairs is not presently occupied and doing business!  I don't care much for excessive heat, but I'm not going to lie around and cry about it like Mister and Angst (who is utterly miserable and would gladly donate his fur coat to PETA).

I do what any logical woman would do when the temperature is pushing 90 and she's flanked on either side by whining men.

I fired up the oven.

Yes, I did.  I don't know what possesses me to do things like that, but when I gave Mister his dinner cuisine choice of Greek, Mexican, or Japanese food, he chose Greek (surprise, surprise), so I slaved in a hot kitchen with a hot oven to make Greek Quesadillas!

I didn't take any pictures because they don't look too different from the other vegan "quesadillas" I made recently, but I will share the recipe, though I might tweak it for my future theoretical cookbook.

4 large whole wheat pitas, split in half
4 oz hummus (I used roughly half of an 8 oz container)
1/4 cup sliced kalamata olives (I cut them into sixths lengthwise)
1/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers
1/2 of a 5 oz bag of baby spinach

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.  Spread hummus on the inside of all 8 pita halves.  Evenly distribute the baby spinach leaves among 4 pita halves, then sprinkle with kalamata slices and roasted peppers.  Top with remaining 4 pita halves and press down lightly.  If any filling pops out the sides of the 'dillas, just push it back in.  Put on a baking sheet (or save yourself the trouble and just assemble them on the sheet) and then bake for 10-12 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly (primarily to avoid burning your precious little fingertips) and then cut into quarters with a pizza roller.

you people = meat-hating mutants

Happy belated Earth Day!

I could go into a big discussion on how meat consumption is destroying the planet we call home, but I'll let PETA handle that for me.  We'll let it go at this - hot dogs are not earth-friendly (and just barely meat, anyway).

Before I go any further, I would like to make it clear that I am completely grateful for everything my workplace does to recognize the efforts of the employees and reward those efforts in any large or small way.  That being said, I also want to say that we're good at anti-holidays where I work.  I've already shared about the meat-loving extravaganza on World Vegetarian Day, so it really shouldn't have surprised me that we had Hot Dog Day on Earth Day.  Nothing says, "I love Mother Earth," like one of the most artificial and preservative-laden mixtures of meat ever molded into a little pink tube and boiled...mmmm....tasty.

A very thoughtful colleague brought in Tofu Pups, presumably because she doesn't eat beef (if you can really call hot dogs "beef"), but also because she recognized that I would not be able to partake of the meaty festivities.  I was touched!  I was astonished, though, when I found that the Hot Dog Man actually already had veggie dogs - well done, workplace fun organizers!  I did express my thanks as adamantly as I could because I think it's important to recognize little efforts like this (I must take after my company).  I also had an amazing interaction with the Hot Dog Man:

He actually said this - true quote: 

Yeah, we had to special order 'em for you people.

You people?  Really? We people who don't exploit animals or stuff their mutilated flesh into my mouth like I'm at the Wing Bowl?  We people who don't scarf nitrate-loaded tubes of mashed "meat?"  We people who don't have a significant weight problem and who can proudly show off all of our teeth (in our mouths)?  

I still can't believe he actually said that, but he did - I have witnesses.  They also had the pleasure of witnessing my response, which was a very mildly toned down version of what I wrote above before pointing out that my Tofu Pup was probably the closest thing to "real" food he had in his Cart of Death.  Happy Earth Day!

Moving along, then, Mister and I enjoyed a very Earth-friendly and tasty dinner.  It was also extraordinarily fast, though it did take quite a bit more effort than the recipe appeared to have.  I made the Pita Quesadillas from the latest issue of Vegetarian Times.  It was very very good, and although I had originally intended to serve it with Crash Hot Potatoes, I will save those for another time and I served it with leftover stew.

They looked nothing at all like the pretty picture in the magazine, but tasted fabulous.  Rather than making my own hummus from the recipe in the magazine, I actually used up the red pepper hummus that my mother sent home with us at Easter.  I think it worked out better that way.

Tonight, I made Spicy Tomato Peanut and Kale Pasta from La Dolce Vegan for dinner, with the can of V8 Mister procured from the local corner store.  I love Philadelphia.  V8 is not hard to find, but I love all the independent stores around here, rather than heading over to Wawa or down to Rite Aid.

I somehow managed to skip right over the part where the recipe called for only 2 cups of chopped kale, so I just chopped up the whole bunch and threw it into the sauce.  It came out okay, but I'm not completely sure it needed an entire bunch of kale.  The sauce would be a little more outstanding if I had added the splashes of tamari and red wine vinegar I wanted to add.  I believe I will make this again, but I will probably add about a tablespoon of tamari, a generous splash of red wine vinegar, maybe a teaspoon of vegan worcestershire sauce and increase the harissa to half a tablespoon.  I was still a little "gun-shy" after the huge amount of trouble I got into with the spicier items on the menu, so I was conservative with the harissa (in place of the chili oil called for in the recipe).

3 meals, 3 things

It was a dark and stormy night...the rain beat against the windowpanes and below the window, cars could be heard splashing through the puddles. Angst had tucked his feet beneath his body and greatly resembled a large, fuzzy, gray egg.

So I made one of the most colorful meals imaginable, just for spite.
Tonight I made Fiestadillas again, although I did actually add a sprinkling of shredded mozzarella to each one to help it adhere to the tortilla better. It kind of worked, though I probably could have used more cheese. Surprisingly, I just wasn't all that interested in piling on something that used to be a favorite food and now seems to be loaded with unhealthiness. Don't mind me - I'm just over-analyzing. I did actually take a picture this time!Also, in my continuing attempt to make "well-rounded" and balanced meals, I made a side dish - Spiced Potatoes & Green Beans from the September Cooking Light magazine. It was pretty easy, smelled great, tasted even better, and to my delight and astonishment, it looked very much like it did in the magazine!No cupcake stories today...and it turns out my assistance is needed at work tomorrow, so I will have to hold off on my good-neighbor-cupcake-baking until Sunday (as well as the accompanying story). I won't leave you sweet-less, though!

When I was at Whole Foods the other day, I picked up this sweet treat - Clif nectar cacao bar, flavor: dark chocolate walnut.

At 160 calories and delivering two servings of fruit cloaked in the most realistic dark chocolate taste and texture I've found yet, this chocolate-oriented fruit & nut bar is my winner (as far as vegan chocolate fun goes). It actually reminded me a little of the first bar of vegan chocolate I ever ate, on my honeymoon in Lake Tahoe. My (brand new) husband and I went to a paradise within my heaven: a wine and chocolate store. Honestly - the only thing better than a wine & gourmet chocolate store was that it was located in the most beautiful and peaceful place I have ever been. So anyway, we gawked at $500 bottles of special vintage wines, poked at some way-too-exotic-for-our-tastes chocolates and ended up leaving with about $50 worth of organic, fair-trade, and vegan chocolates.

Not a bad flavor association for a $1.19 bar made of dates, walnuts, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa, and vanilla (all organic) that can be easily purchased a mere 5 blocks from my home (rather than about 3,000 miles). So I think it goes without saying I was very happy with this bar and it will definitely find its way into my basket again!

I feel like it's Reverse Day. I started the blog with dinner, babbled about my midday snack, and now I'm going to tell you about breakfast (because I just remembered). Anyway, I think I got all my fruit servings in for the day with this morning's breakfast: Oatmeal, cooked in unsweetened soy milk, but here's the twist: I hulled 5 large strawberries and peeled my two remaining bananas, stuck them in my handy food processor, then stirred the resulting slop into my oatmeal. Oh my heavens was it good! It was just the right amount of sweet and perfectly thick. I was only going to do one banana until I realized that if I left the other one hanging there, fruit flies would take control of my home.

One last thing before I go - if you're feeling philosophical, check out my old buddy's new blog:
3 Things in DC.

Fiesta-dillas!

Subtitle: I love smoked tofu. Seriously, it is one of the best things ever.

Tonight, I knew exactly what my tastebuds were craving when I got home from work. Well, besides all the amazing cookies I was looking at on flickr for Isa's upcoming book, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, but that's another story. There was no second-guessing or mulling over the menu I have posted to my refrigerator door - tonight we were having Fiesta Quesadillas! I grabbed my little gold book and went to work dicing my peppers and tofu and prepping the garlic to be pressed. Everything was coming together very nicely...then it came time to assemble and heat the quesadillas...and I saw something kind of darkish through the bag of shredded cheddar I was intending to sprinkle on my quesadillas. I opened the bag and jiggled it around a little, peered inside, and surely enough - it was mold. Blech. So I tossed the cheese (and therefore the "quesa-") and decided to make the recipe completely vegan-friendly and renamed it Fiesta-dillas.

I didn't take any pictures because they weren't much to look at. I mean really, 'dillas more or less all look the same. If you've seen one, you've seen mine, okay? Anyway, this is another of my originals, premiered to my faithful readers (mom? lissa? rachel? maybe derek?) so I hope you enjoy:

Fiesta-dillas
Ingredients:
cooking spray
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin
3 large cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
1 large orange/yellow bell pepper, diced
1 cup corn
15 oz can of black beans, rinsed
16 oz jar of chunky salsa, whatever heat you prefer
8 oz smoked tofu, diced
1/2 cup shredded cheddar (optional)

Heat oil in a saute pan on medium heat. Saute garlic and diced peppers until tender, about 5 minutes. Add black beans, corn, salsa, and cumin; stir well. Cook 2-3 more minutes, until corn is heated through. Remove from heat and stir in diced tofu.

Spray a square skillet/griddle with cooking spray and heat on medium-high. Lay out a tortilla on your work surface and spoon the tofu mixture onto one half of the tortilla. Fold the other half over and place on the skillet. If it's hot enough, there should be a quiet sizzling sound. Repeat with remaining tortillas, flipping each one after it's cooked on one side for about 1 minute. When the 'dillas are finished cooking, they will be browned on both sides and the tortilla will have become crisp. You may have to respray as you cook, and if you have a sensitive smoke alarm, let me recommend opening a window near your cooking area or employing the exhaust hood. Stack on a serving platter and serve with tortilla chips and hot sauce.