Bulgur!!!

Last night, I began preparing a marinated tofu recipe I got from VegWeb and cooked it tonight. The author of the recipe recommended serving with rice, but that sounded blah. So I went to my cookbooks and found a recipe in Robin Robertson's The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook for a Bulgur Pilaf. Grains and fruit and veggies--mmm. Well, it does depend on the grain. I wouldn't serve barley with fruit, but with rich, hearty vegetables, especially mushrooms. Although I didn't have all the ingredients--and might I add that recipes that only list salt and pepper as seasonings drive me crazy, and I will absolutely improvise there--I did my usual improvisation, and not only was it pretty, it was yummy! Instead of salt and pepper, I dashed in some powdered ginger and coriander. I also steamed some carrots and drizzled them with a mixture of flax oil and lemon juice and sprinkled on some dried rosemary. I'm trying to create a recipe, and I've almost got it.

Now, it's rare for me to follow a recipe exactly as it was written. Even when I bake, I'm either changing the nuts from, say, pecans to walnuts, or not bothering to measure the chocolate chips all that carefully. If I don't have orange juice, I'll use Naked Food Juice Power-C, an orange juice mix. Last night, I didn't have the apple juice the recipe called for, so I used pomegranate juice. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't; you live, you learn.

The food was quite tasty, but the tofu was not all that photogenic. Plus, I've gotten a new computer, and I have to transfer stuff from my old computer to my new one (can't find the CD-ROM with the software, dammit) before I can post photos. Once I get my everything set up better, I'll try to dazzle with pictures of yummy food.

I am always on the hunt for fabulous tofu and tempeh main dish recipes, so if you have any ideas, send 'em along.

Veggie Ribs!

I try not to eat too many packaged foods because it's cheaper and healthier to cook from scratch, but one thing I love is Harvest Direct's Veggie Ribs, made of wheat gluten. This is a powdered mix that you mix with water, then try to roll out (wheat gluten, I must say, is rather hard to work with), then mix in a nut butter-margarine mix before baking. Now, I can assure you that they do NOT turn out as pretty as they do on the box, but it still makes a nice dinner, and you can make them in maybe 30 to 45 minutes. You use your favorite barbecue sauce (bottled or homemade), and splash a little on the side, and it's yummy!

Another brand of veggie ribs is Gardenburger Riblets, which has both gluten and soy. However, the sauce is rather sweet and contains high fructose corn syrup, so I no longer eat them. They're also far more expensive, at least $4.75 a package, which contains two slabs that look frighteningly like the McRib sandwich that McDeathburger trots out every once in a blue moon. The Harvest Direct mix is less than $3.00 and makes, for me, three to four servings. I figure the nut butter and margarine add minimal cost. I also prefer the texture of the Harvest Direct.

Like I said, I'm trying to limit my consumption of packaged and processed foods, but there are days where I just don't feel like cooking or I just feel like veggie ribs or the soup bowl. If your local natural foods store doesn't carry them, there are numerous online retailers specializing in vegan products from food items to cosmetics to soaps and shower gels to skin care to hair care and so on and so forth. If I ever figure out how to make my own vegan riblets, though, I will rule the world!

Mmmm, pasta.

I love pasta. I prefer short shapes, like ziti, penne, farfalle, fusilli to long endless strands of spaghetti or linguini. A few nights ago, I made some tomato sauce to go with the last of my lentil balls (my boyfriend this past weekend used up the last of the jarred sauce I had). I chopped an onion and sliced six mushrooms and diced two cloves of garlic. I sauteed those then dumped in some diced tomatoes and tomato paste, sprinkled in some basil, oregano, and marjoram, and let it simmer. I didn't eat it immediately, but when I did--mmmm. A very good basic, easy recipe I adapted from "La Dolce Vegan!" (it didn't call for the veggies or the seasonings). So tonight, I cooked up some pasta and served it with the sauce and Red Star Nutritional Yeast sprinkled on top.

Nutritional yeast is an inactive yeast that is rich in B-vitamins, especially B-12. People ask vegans all the time about protein, when they should ask us about B-12 (No, don't. Really. Please.). It imparts a cheesy (in a good way) flavor to sauces and is said to be good on popcorn (which I very rarely eat, so I don't know for sure). I have used it in gravies and in the breading for my tofu cutlets, and it has a very subtle flavor, but adds a nice touch to foods.

Anyway, I love the fact that pasta is comforting on a cold wintry night and not too heavy on a hot summer night. It fits firmly in the category of perfect all-year-round meals. The only food that is more comforting is a "baked" potato with Earth Balance margarine. Or slightly salty fries with lots of ketchup.

Comfort food

I'm convinced that all comfort food is high in carbohydrates, which is just one of many reasons the Fatkins Diet so sucks. Pasta, potatoes, rice, chocolate, baked goods, chips, all are wonderful when you're feeling out of sorts (or premenstrual). I'm not in such a mood right now, despite the fact that the days are getting shorter, and we actually got a bit of snow yesterday. I know that come February, I'll be really glum, in spite of the fact that the days are actually getting longer.

Last night, I cooked some lentil-and-brown rice balls from a recipe sent to me from a fellow blogger. Tonight, I cooked some fusilli pasta (corkscrews) and heated up some Newman's Own marinara sauce to serve with the lentil balls. I think I overcooked the lentil balls a bit, but they were quite tasty and didn't need huge amounts of sauce to taste good,in spite of what the recipe's author says. I sprinkled some nutritional yeast over the top for a little extra flavor. I had a little cabbage slaw on the side, based on a VegWeb recipe, but that definitely needs more dressing, and the next time I make it, I will use my food processor to shred the cabbage rather than just cutting it up.

I don't use whole wheat pasta, even if it is better for you. I've found that it doesn't taste as good as regular pasta (although I've heard that longer pastas, such as linguine or angel hair are better than shorter shapes, like fusilli or penne). However, I always buy brown rice because it has the fiber that white rice lacks and I think it tastes better. I guess some would say it's an acquired taste and texture, and brown rice does take longer to cook, but it's well worth it. Lentils are also nutritional powerhouses, with protein, fiber, iron, and B vitamins, including the ever important folic acid. Vitamin C helps absorption of plant protein, and tomatoes, technically a fruit, contain plenty of vitamin C. So eat your pasta and marinara, everyone!

When my cat goes nuts, I know it's good.

I love tempeh. It's one of my favorite foods. But it's sometimes difficult to find good, creative tempeh recipes. I was on www.vegweb.com recently and printed out a bunch of recipes, one of which was Salisbury Tempeh. The carrots I made from a recipe my sister e-mailed me that she found on the Food Network. It's Glazed Carrots, and they're made with a ginger-ale based sauce. I refuse to buy sodas with high fructose corn syrup, and you need the sugar so it forms a glaze. I used Knudsen Spritzer Ginger Ale, which is sweetened with fruit juice. It tastes nice when drinking it, but it wasn't all that good for cooking. Still, the texture of the carrots is nice, even if I didn't get the flavor I was hoping for. Next time, I'll try a cane sugar-sweetened ginger ale. There are plenty out there at Whole Foods or your local natural foods store, and they taste 10 times better than Canada Dry or Schweppes.

So I was watching Monday Night Football while eating, sitting on my sofa, and my cat was next to me demanding attention, which is typical of her. It's not often I eat in front of the TV, but this was one such occasion. Whenever I do eat on the sofa, she sticks her head between me and my plate, bonks her head against me, and all but demands I share my food. She especially likes potatoes with Earth Balance margarine, so I give her a small taste while I'm eating for three seconds of peace. So tonight, when I finshed my dinner, I let her lick the gravy from the plate. Normally, she will take a small taste, but she went bonkers licking the plate. (I don't think she even goes this crazy when I have Soy Delicious.) It was quite tasty, a most interesting gravy, and I will certainly make this again.