Tofu Egg Salad

Sunday, May 22, 2016 - Lunch
Tofu Egg Salad (Recipe from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin)

I've never really loved egg salad, so I was not sure what I would think about this recipe, but I was pleasantly surprised.  It tasted very similar to egg salad, in my opinion, and although I don't think I'll eat much of the leftovers, I enjoyed my sandwich.  My husband was skeptical of the substitution of tofu for eggs, but he liked it, and said it reminded him of the sandwiches his family would eat as a picnic lunch on vacations when he was a kid.  Today was a great day for a summer meal, and I think this recipe would be fitting for a summer picnic or barbecue.  

Banana-Blueberry Muffins

Saturday, February 20, 2016 - Brunch
Banana-Blueberry Muffins (Recipe from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin)

These muffins sounded delicious, but they didn't turn out as well as I would have liked.  I think the oven temperature was too high, because the outside of the muffins (especially the blueberries) started to burn, while the insides were not fully cooked - even though I took them out 10 minutes early.  I made one tray of regular muffins (below), and a second tray of mini muffins.  For the mini muffins, I lowered the temperature by 20 degrees and watched the muffins closely to remove them when they were golden brown.  The mini muffins turned out much better (above).

Banana and Oatmeal Pancakes

Sunday, January 17, 2015 - Lunch
Banana and Oatmeal Pancakes (Recipe from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin)

This recipe suggested making the batter entirely in the blender.  However, if I make these pancakes again, I would use the blender for the almond milk and oatmeal, then add the bananas and other dry ingredients to mix by hand.  I over-mixed the ingredients in the blender, in an attempt to fold in the dry ingredients.  The banana flavor was delicious, but the texture wasn't as light and fluffy as it should have been.  I'd like to try again - these would be good with chunks of banana still in the pancakes.

Of the pancakes I've made for this blog, these were probably my least favorite.  I loved the Golden Corn Pancakes and the Wheat Pancakes, and I'd like to give these Banana Oatmeal Pancakes another try.

Served with: tofu veggie scramble and clementines

Tofu Breakfast Casserole

Monday, October 12, 2015 - Dinner
Tofu Breakfast Casserole  (Recipe from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin)

This dish was not visually appealing, and the texture was not particularly appetizing either. It tasted alright, and it had ingredients for a great recipe: potatoes, bell peppers, tofu, scallions, and fake bacon. I'd actually like to try this recipe as a scramble with diced potatoes, instead of a casserole with grated potatoes. (Plus, my hand hurt from shredding the potatoes on a cheese grater.)

Whole Wheat Waffles with Maple-Berry Syrup

Saturday, September 12, 2015 - Breakfast
Whole Wheat Waffles with Maple-Berry Syrup (Recipe from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin)

This was my first attempt at homemade waffles, and they turned out really well.  The recipe is vegan, using applesauce instead of eggs, which made the waffles a little softer.  They also took a little longer to cook than 'regular' waffles.

The maple-berry syrup was delicious.  It was very sweet, and the maple and berry flavors were good together.  The berries dyed the syrup a pretty, reddish-purple color.  The syrup was a little runny, so next time I would adjust the ratio of berries to liquid, to get a better consistency.

We made this for breakfast while out-of-town guests were visiting, and everyone enjoyed the waffles and syrup!

Wheat pancakes

Wednesday, Sep 2, 2015 - Dinner
Wheat Pancakes (modified "Buckwheat Pancakes" recipe from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin)

I followed Roberto Martin's Buckwheat Pancakes recipe, except that since I didn't have any buckwheat flour, I substituted whole wheat flour. It didn't seem to affect the recipe's taste or the consistency of the batter.  The only difference is that buckwheat is a 'superfood' that would have provided extra protein.

I'm not usually a big fan of pancakes, but these were pretty good. They were soft and fluffy, and had a better flavor than plain white flour pancakes. Like most pancakes, I found these to be very filling - one plum and two pancakes was more than enough for dinner!

Served with: maple syrup, plum

For the photograph, I didn't like the way any of my 'staged' photos looked - there wasn't enough natural light (due to heavy cloud cover during a passing thunderstorm), and the lights in my kitchen and dining room left a yellowish hue that didn't look appetizing on such a lightly-colored food.  Then, after I took my first bite, I realized that the storm clouds had passed and the natural light was returning, and I liked the way the missing bite showed the fluffiness of the pancakes.  I grabbed my camera again and snapped a couple quick photos that turned out better than any of my earlier attempts!  

Quinoa and Berry Breakfast Cereal

Saturday, August 15, 2015 - Breakfast
Quinoa and Berry Breakfast Cereal  (Recipe from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin)

This warm, sweet breakfast cereal was similar to oatmeal, and equally delicious! It was very filling, and even healthier than oatmeal since quinoa has twice the amount of protein.  I would definitely make this again.

Grilled Polenta Cakes

Friday, June 26, 2015 - Dinner
Grilled Polenta Cakes (Recipe from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin)

I made this recipe while on vacation with the family, and everyone loved it!  I had to make a couple changes, like pan-frying the corn cakes instead of grilling them.  It turned out great, and I plan to make this again.

I actually had trouble finding polenta (aka corn grits) at home in the midwest, but they were readily available in the south!

Served with my homemade black bean vegetable hash.

Kale Chips

Monday, May 25, 2015
Kale Chips (Recipe from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin)

I've made this recipe once before, and I decided to try it again. I liked it much better this time. It's very important to ensure that the raw kale is evenly coated in oil before baking, otherwise some chips will burn while others are too greasy. This batch turned out great. I'll have a healthy snack to eat this week at work.

Vegan "Nacho Cheese"

Saturday, April 18, 2015 - Dinner
"Nacho Cheese" (Recipe from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin)

I was highly skeptical of this recipe.  I usually like things that are naturally vegetarian/vegan, and conversely, I do not generally like foods that try to imitate meat or dairy.  However, I was pleasantly surprised, and this "nacho cheese" turned out very well.  It actually tasted very much like my mom's chili cheese dip that I used to eat many years ago, and which is still very popular among the meat-eaters at parties and family gatherings.  

The dip was not very photogenic, or at least I didn't make it look very appetizing in any of the photos I took, but it tasted good!  Maybe once I start reading some books on food photography, I will learn how to make some of these dishes look more appealing.  

Served with: chips & salsa and my homemade bean dip.  

Crispy Potato Squares and Tofu Scramble

Sunday, April 12, 2015 - Lunch
Crispy Potato Squares and Tofu Scramble (Recipe from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin -- Ellen Degeneres' & Portia de Rossi's personal chef)

This was a very satisfying post-run lunch, and it was fairly easy to make.  I enjoy tofu scramble whenever I order it at restaurants, so it's surprising that it has taken me this long to make it myself.  (Note: those who don't like tofu could easily substitute eggs for the tofu in this dish.)  I modified the tofu recipe slightly - it called for zucchini, red bell peppers, and asparagus, but I omitted the asparagus because it had gone bad in the fridge since I bought it last weekend.  The tofu scramble still turned out very well, just with fewer veggies.  

The potato recipe called for the potatoes to pre-soaked in hot water, then covered in Blackening Spice (recipe from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin) and fried in a little oil.  I also modified this recipe slightly - it called for peeled potatoes, but I like potatoes with the skins, and I hate peeling them, so I just diced the whole potatoes with skins.  The potatoes turned out very well.  Soaking the potatoes helped them cook fully without getting mushy (versus boiling), while not getting burned during the pan-frying process.  I will definitely use this method again for fried potatoes.  The blackening spice added some heat and crisped the outsides of the potatoes.  

The potatoes were much spicier than the tofu scramble, so I added Tabasco sauce (smoked chipotle flavor) to the tofu to balance the spice levels of the two dishes.  The potatoes and tofu complemented one another well, and I plan to mix the leftovers together and take them to work for lunch this week.