VeganMofo 2013: Post 22-Simple dinner

Cam cooked a lot this week (he had days off and I’m generally super tired after a day in court).  He definitely has really good instincts for what goes well together.  I had my doubts, but this was definitely good.
Lemongrass ‘chicken’ (Explore Asia Soybean Chicken from Green Edge) on baguette with a side salad.  The Lemongrass was a lemongrass sauce Cam got from a Thai grocer in the valley.

This was really good.  That soybean ‘chicken’ is pretty tasty.  If I’m correct, it’s the stuff they use at Green Edge for the fake bacon for breakfasts.  Yum!!!

Oh, had to add this.  It's been doing the rounds on Facebook and is freaking hilarious! I'm The Masked Hummus.  Cam's The Almighty Nooch.  Lol.

VeganMofo 2013: Post 20–Healthy(ish) Italian!

Howdy everyone!  I made it to 20 posts in 24 days!  Who’d thunk it?  (is that how you spell that?!?!?)

Anyway, after consuming WAY TOO MUCH peanut butter fudge on Sunday (I needed the energy while I cleaned the house (for the first time since about April – the vacuum cleaner represses me by its very existence, ok?)) I thought it would be a good idea to make something vaguely healthy for dinner.  That, and I’d bought amazing basil and tomatoes on Saturday.

So I made bruschetta which was the very first recipe that I made for Cam on our first date.  Granted the bread I used isn’t as glamorous as the loaf of white bread I bought on a Saturday night from the BP, but it still is one of our favourite things to eat and be ridiculously romantic dorks.

Bruschetta – feeds two hungry vegans for an entree

Ingredients

• 1 small red onion, chopped finely
• 3-5 cloves of garlic, minced (I use the microplane, so it’s practically pureed)
• 4 large tomatoes, chopped into 1cm or so pieces (they have to be GOOD tomatoes, I tend to get the ones on the vine in the supermarket for this)
• 1 large bunch o’ basil, finely chopped
• 2-3T of olive oil (never measured, just generally slug it in)
• 2 tsp salt (you may want less, or more – the more salt, the more liquid leaches out of the tomatoes – you want that)
• Fresh cracked black pepper

Throw it all in a large bowl – collect the juices as you go from the tomatoes.  Leave it sit for about half an hour.  You’ll end up with a soupy kind of dip.  We like it salty, but everyone has their tastes!

Serve on lightly toasted bread (preferably something fancy-ish).

The leftover dip/sauce is amazing on pasta.  Sure, your breath will stink, but you don’t want to be near any silly sparkly vampires, do you?

For mains we had Raw Vegan Alfredo Sauce with Zucchini Noodles.  I was inspired by Like a Vegan’s Raw Zucchini Pasta with Pesto, but thought that two basil heavy dishes in one night was a bit much.  Definitely on my to try list.  I love her blog! 

I’ve never been much of a fan of the raw vegan thing, but this was pretty damn good.  I want a spiralizer, but seeing as I just ordered an ice-cream maker, I think I need to wait!!!  Anyway, now that it’s getting warmer, I want to try a few more raw recipes to see what they’re like.  Any suggestions?

Post 4: Weekend of tasty food

Hey guys!  Hope you had a good weekend.  We really utilized our “Iron Chef” skills on the food this weekend.  I’m drooling just thinking about it.
First – Cam’s ‘healthy’ lunch from Friday.  Just to show off the fantastic Asian snacks we can procure in BrisVegas:

Trident Hot and Spicy Soup with ‘Chicken’ nuggets (from Burlington in the valley), Cabbage dumplings (Burlington) and Dim Sims (from the supermarket near the former Magic Wok).  I shudder to think how much sodium was contained on this plate before the soy sauce was added!
I was inspired, after viewing everyone’s blogs on the VWAV cookbook challenge to find a recipe that I hadn’t made in that awesome tome.  I came up with the “Orecchiette with Cherry Tomatoes and Kalamata Tapenade”.  Why did I wait more than 2 years to try this?  It’s fantastic in the original dish (I even found the right pasta):

I added extra parsley for prettiness.
But we also tried it on bread (on Isa’s suggestion in the cookbook).  Witness the glory that is Tofutti Cream Cheese Kalamata Tapenade poppy seed bagels.  Seriously.  You HAVE to try this.  We had this for dinner on Sunday night and I had to have it again for breakfast today.  (I even exclaimed the virtues of it on Facebook).

It’s like heaven on bread WITH OLIVES!  Could I be more excited about a food?
And to finish, even though this was dinner on Friday night, we have pie filling.  ‘Beef’ and ‘bacon’ pie filling.  Cam said he fried an onion and added casserole mince and sliced Sanitarium luncheon.  Then he added ‘beef’ stock and a rather large quantity of liquid smoke (and I think a little gravy powder).  To top it off we added a slice of Toffuti American sliced cheeze and put in the pie maker.  It’s near to impossible to take a photo of a pie without destroying it, so you’ll have to imagine the awesomeness.  Here’s a rather unattractive picture of the filling:

It’s really only good when you serve it straight away so you can mix the toffuti into the rest of the filling.
I’m having fun being a MoFo.  Thanks for all of your comments.  They’re a great pickup while I’m writing assignments! 

VeganMoFo - Thursday 9th October 2008

Now this was a meal I was proud of!

Tada!!


Vegan Parmigiana, Garlic Fried Silverbeet (that's Swiss Chard to our American friends) and parmesan mashed potato (NOTE: This photo is before I covered everything in the vegan parmesan)!



EAR was so excited to be in a photo that he was humping my fork.  You dork EAR!

I'm not a dork.  I'm the full strength Coke of evil!  I'm back bitches!!  My evil plan is almost at fruition, I ordered Amy to make me another evil friend.  Mwahahahahahaha.....  It will be unveiled this weekend!!!!!!

Well, I think voting finishes tonight & there's no way in hell I'm studying Constitutional Law on a Friday night, so after I make BRINNER (tee hee) I'll get started!!!!

VeganMoFo - Monday, 6th October 2008

Ha - that sounded like the opening to The Daily Show (thank jeebus I can watch online!).... I was busy this weekend writing TWO assignments - so glad that they're over so I can start revising for my exams (that start in a both). Yee haw.
Anyway, I had cause to bake on the weekend (there was a small disaster with a giant cupcake tin - you definitely need a faster baking recipe in this thing, Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes are WAY too dense) because of someone's birthday.... I also found vegan sprinkles (yes, I was in Coles and I said "oooh sprinkles" like Homer Simpson):

This was the second thing I baked (the first thing I baked ended up being a faaabulous batch of charcoal!). It was tasteeeeeeeeeee.

And because it was someone's birthday, I made him Oreo Cupcakes to take to uni. I had to use Copha for the icing. I'd read (somewhere) that it was a cool idea to grate the Copha for easy melting. It looked so rad that I had to share!

Of course someone else was stalking for cupcakes on the bench.
Quiet you! Not a peep out of you today!!!!!
Hi everyb
Hey - I won't make you another friend!
Okay, I'll be quiet (for once).

See our nice (quiet!) model with Cam's chips and Curry Sauce? The inspiration comes from here. Don't ask me how he came across it!!! He's planning a series of Chips and Accompaniments From Around the World. Stay tuned......
And compare that not so healthy dinner to my "chicken nugget" salad (thank you asian grocer!). This dinner was exactly what I wanted - a shiteload of veggies with balsamic dressing - it's Paul Newman dressing:(

So, seeing as I seem to be getting more hits because you all love EAR, how about you guys get to vote on what friend I knit him next. All the patterns I use are in "Little & Friends" by Jake Henzler.
I've added a poll to the main page, so vote!!! You have three days....

VeganMoFo - The Director's Cut

Someone escaped from the pantry and threatened me with sharp objects, so I guess I better let him have the limelight again... Sigh

Greetings.  It is I, EAR.  I have escaped from the cupboard to reveal the evil cooking secrets of Amy and Cam's meals past!  Mwahahahahahahaha.  Also - Amy forgot to take her camera to dinner tonight.  My revenge will be swift and spiky....

She claims these are Nachos.  But where are the Mexican hats?  And why isn't she drinking a margarita?  What?  Oh, you had a margarita with this?  I disprove of this meal - how am I meant to dip the nachos in the guac without opposable thumbs?

This appears to be some sort of bread based item.
It's pizza!
But how can it be Italian with pineapple?
Don't get me started, I let you out of the cupboard, just get on with the commentary!!!!
Fine fine....

Wow!  This looks restaurant quality.  Are you sure that you made this?
I was avoiding study!  for four hours.....
And what else did you do while avoiding study?

You knitted me friends?  Wow!!!!  I really am taking over this blog....  Tee hee!!!!
Meet Steve the armless overstuffed alien (thanks for the name Theresa!) and Teddy the tadpole!!!
Do I need a new gimmick yet? :)

VeganMoFo a go go!!!!

Right.  Now that I've got that out of my system, I'd like to introduce you to this month's VeganMoFo mascot, Steve's friend, the evil acrylic rabbit:

Actually, he was meant to be a hamster for Cam, but I'm not very good at the knitting yet!  Isn't it kinda cool how he looks evil and demented at the same time?  So rad......
So evil acrylic rabbit (EAR - ha it's funny because the ears are the worst part), what did I eat last night?
 
YMCA (which stands for Yesterday's Meal Cooked Again - my family has a penchant for stupid nicknames for things) Leek and Bean Cassoulet from Veganomicon.  I'm SO going to miss leeks over summer!  One thing, I always put mushrooms in this (they explode with tasty juice when you eat them), but I always wish I put more in. I could seriously live off mushrooms.
And for lunch?

We've discovered that the Trident brand Hot and Spicy Thai soup is vegan!  So I fried up some soy nuggets for extra tasty goodness (warning: you'll need a tissue for hours after eating this!).  Add extra coriander for a burst of fresh flavour!
Veganomicon is one of those cookbooks that I keep coming back to.  I tend to make the same recipes over and over (I'm tempted to go back and count how many times I've posted this meal!).  Cam's more of an explorer when it comes to food.  I like the comfort of knowing dinner's going to be amazingly tasty (last week I tried a new recipe and it turned out very badly - I was heartbroken after three hours cooking).  Hopefully I can kick my arse into trying new recipes this month.
I'm going to try and make brinner (breakfast for dinner) one day this month (it will have to be a weekend day).  I'm definitely going to try Celine's Seitan Bacon for that one!
One day down, 30 to go!!!!

Tofu madness

Veganomicon Asian Marinated Tofu with a baby spinach salad.  You can't see the beautiful glaze in this photo but drool..............................................

Cam made this a while ago - it's fried tofu with a Malaysian Curry sauce.  This was a tasty (and speedy) dinner.  Yummers.
Isn't it nice to have a partner who can cook? :) 

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie (and knitting)

It's my own bastardised version of the La Dolce Vegan Coconut Choc Chip Cookies.  I made a half batch of these and we ate them all at the movies!  (We saw Tropic Thunder - I love Ben Stiller when he plays a doofus!  It was like Zoolander, but set in the jungle!)
I have a Public Law exam this week, so I've been studying up a storm.  I lie - I've been knitting!  Check out this remarkably bad toy I made!  I think he needs a name......

Yum Yum Soup!

Actually, it's Tom Yum Soup.  Can you tell I'm going for the 'lame title' title this month?  (Also - what's with the number of posts this week?  Am I really trying to avoid study that much?)

I like it with a ton of coriander.   Soup-erb!!!

Cam's Indian Restaurant

We had friends over for dinner on Saturday night, and by Jeebus, he outdid himself!  (You can commence drooling now):

Mung Bean Dahl.  Need I say more?

Cam's favourite Savoury Chickpeas.

Amy's favourite Potato and Cauliflower Curry (he added Coconut Milk this time - it's a nice addition!).

Indian Salad.

Mushroom and Pea Curry.  This one was HOT but good!

Why are there never any leftover Chilli Potatoes?  Grrrrrr.

The whole shebang.
We followed all that spice with Spiky cupcakes!

They were the Toasted Coconut ones from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World topped with Chocolate Buttercream.  I made too much icing (on purpose).  Oh the joy of raiding the fridge for icing!!!!

(The diet started yesterday - I'm of course ignoring the English muffins below!).        

I bring to you..... my breakfast!

I couldn't let this one go without a pic.  Cheezley on English muffins with sliced up hot dogs (hooray for Sanitarium doggies).  Note the incredible melty browny goodness!

I'm actually still eating it (while procrastinating from law study - as always!).  Yummo!

Unhealthy yumminess

Howdy.  Yes, I'm a lazy blogger, but between work, my trip to Melbourne (blurry pics will be in the next post!) and other stuff, it's been a little busy.  Enough empty apologies, you came here to see food pictures!

Vegan Fish and Chips!!!!  We took the Vegetarian Cod Fish slices (available from Asian grocer - it's like an oval shape with seaweed around the outside), mushrooms and leek circles and made a batter with the following (actually, I just mixed the dry ingredients and added liquid as required):
1 cup plain flour, 1 tsp Baking Powder, 1/2 cup cornflour, 2 tsp salt, 1tsp sugar.  To make a full batch add 1 cup water and 1tsp oil.
Take to your mum's house when everyone else is having fish and chips and make everyone jealous with your fried goodies.  And OMG, deep fried leeks and mushrooms are just DROOL-worthy.  Seriously.

Amy and Cam's lazy burger (makes one burger):
Take 2 Fry's Burgers and bake along with 4 slices of Sanitarium luncheon.  About 10 mins after the beginning of cooking, add slices of Cheddar style Cheezely.  Assemble with tomato sauce and american mustard.  Pretty damn good.  The baking of the cheezely kinda enhances the cheddar goodness.
I'm waiting for permission to post details of the recipe for the lasagne (which is made up of about 3 different recipes)!  So here's a sneak peek!

It's fricking freezing here in Brisbane (or as I now like to call it - Brisneyland - thanks Bec!).
IronChefAmy out.

Lazy vegan food

Howdy! We've been incredibly lazy the last week when it comes to cooking. I've been spending most of my time sequestered on the couch knitting a scarf (I'm hoping to be done on Saturday - pics will follow) and Cam's been back at med school (ha ha! I still have about a week left of holidays!). So no intensive cookery sessions! So lazy food it has been.....

Cheezeburgers! We used Cheddar Cheezely and English Muffins, topped with American Mustard and Tomato Sauce. So unhealthy. SOOOOO tasty.

Yes, this is jam on bread. Raspberry jam on bread. The jam was made by my uncle (he lives in Launceston). Best damn jam in the world.

I've kinda made up an awesome recipe for vegan lasagna (my nephew calls is assnia - it's funny in the voice of a four year old), so hopefully next post will be pictures and recipe!

Iron Chef Amy out.

DIY Indian Feast

I often brag about Cam's skills as a chef (or as he'll now be known, Iron Chef Cam) when it comes to Asian delights. He really is very good!


Here's an example of just how good he is (be prepared for extreme jealousy!). A couple of weeks ago we took pity on my Dad and made him dinner (Mum was overseas for work). Cam made an extra yummy Indian feast!.

Tomato Glazed Sour Chickpeas from The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking.


Chilli Potatoes by Iron Chef Cam - recipes to the right!
These are pretty hot, but OMG they're incredible!



Mung Bean Dahl - Iron Chef Cam




And my absolute favourite at the moment, Potato and Cauliflower Curry by Iron Chef Cam.




Yummy! Dad sweated a bucketful (as always). Tee hee.

Here's a later meal - Mushroom and Pea Curry by Iron Chef Cam. The recipe's in the recipe list to the right.



Hopefully I can get myself organised before uni goes back to add some of my original creations.

Please have a go and let us know what you think!
Email us at ironchefvegan AT optusnet.com.au.

The incredibly dorky Iron Chefs.

P.S. I heard Hiroyuki Sakai was in Brisbane yesterday and I missed out!!! :(