Thursday, June 21, 2012

Meal Planning... Thursday

Okay. I didn't get a post done Monday but I *did* plan meals, so it's okay, right?

One night we didn't eat dinner because we ate lunch so late.
Another night we ended up eating KD because neither of us felt like 'cooking.'
Wednesday: Broccoli Curry Udon (unfortunately I had no fresh ginger so I used a very generous amount of powdered; I also added orange pepper and sliced creminis and used the fat, fresh udon. Still good.)
Thursday: Burgers and asparagus on the BBQ and potato salad with horseradish dressing
Friday: Veggie patties with pineapple salsa, grilled zucchini and sweet potato pack on the BBQ

Saturday we are off to a friend's place for a bbq, and Sunday is the Queen's Plate so we'll probably eat something at the track.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Chili, Salad, Corn Muffins

I've talked about this chili, right? Throw everything in the slow cooker, let it cook for 8 hours, come home to yum.



















What chili isn't made more awesome and complete without the addition of corn muffins? I love corn muffins. I didn't get a picture of them not in the tin because we just wanted to eat dinner, but this is good enough, right?



















Corn Muffins

1 1/3 c almond milk
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 c corn meal
1 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c oil
1 c frozen corn
some chopped pickled jalapenos, optional

Preheat oven to 375. Oil a muffin tin.

Mix the milk and cider and let it sit while you whisk together the dry ingredients until thoroughly mixed. Add the oil and milk, whisk until barely mixed. Toss in the corn and jalapenos, mix them in with a few go rounds of the whisk, then divide into the tin, using only 10 wells. Bake for 18 minutes. Remove, let 'em sit for a couple of minutes, then slather with Earth Balance and enjoy with your chili.

Enjoy with a yummy salad, and perhaps your lens cap if you are so inclined.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Meal Planning Monday: Week 3

We totally crapped out on the meal planning thing over the weekend, unfortunately. I feel sufficiently guilty about it to say that I am confident we will not crap out this week.

This week will feature

Jerk tofu, mashed cauliflower, grilled zucchini with cherry tomatoes & cheese

TLT sandwiches and fava bean soup

AfR Mango BBQ Baked Beans, steamed broccoli, rice

PPK Cabbage and Rice Soup, green salad

Grilled portobellos, lemon roast potato packet, green beans, greek salad

Saturday is the wedding for which I am doing 150 vegan cupcakes, so this week's meal plan doesn't feature anything super exciting; I wanted to stick with things that are easy and fast.

Oops & Macaroni & Cheese

Monday was supposed to be AfR's Mango BBQ Baked Beans. Then my spanish onion was rotten so I had to use a red onion. Then my mango was rotten so I had to panic. Fortunately, doing all the grocery shopping in one day meant a fully stocked fridge and I was able to throw together the AfR 2nd Ave Korma instead.

Whew. Crisis averted.

Tuesday brings with it glad tidings of Mac N Cheese. Note to self: do not use any blends with mozzarella. You will end up with cheese dough instead of cheese sauce.

Be that as it may, it's still a yummy classic home cookin' rib stickin' comfort food.

If you haven't checked out The Pioneer Woman yet, you should. Full of yummy food that is constantly getting pinned and repinned. It's from her that I got my mac n cheese recipe. I aded the crumb topping because I like crumb toppings, but you can do whatever you want.



















I did end up making two casseroles worth, which was far too much, even when we took it for lunch and such.



















I also added in a head of chopped, lightly steamed broccoli; Dash saw through that ploy almost immediately, of course.

Please excuse the non veganess. I try not to cook with cheese often, but I am wanting a lot of dairy this pregnancy; growing another person will do funny things to you.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Po'boys

I'm not from the south, or even from the US, so my idea of what a po'boy is, is probably incorrect. However, I think something coated in cornmeal and fried till it's crispy topped with a spicy mustardy remoulade sounds pretty divine. Add some coleslaw and a yummy soft bun and BAM! Dinner.

Coleslaw
1/2 head of red cabbage, shredded
roughly equal amount of shredded carrot (I used pre shredded, probably about 3c)
1 tsp salt
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp agave
1 tsp coriander
fresh ground pepper to taste

Mix em all up in a bowl and let sit while you prep the rest.

Remoulade
1/4c grainy mustard
1c vegenaise
1 + tsp of hot sauce (I used Franks Red Hot)
1 tsp vinegar (I used apple cider, too lazy to find the white)
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp paprika
1 - 2 tsp cajun seasoning

Mix em all up.

Tofu
1 pkg tofu, pressed
1c flour
1 c almond or soy milk
2 c cornmeal mixed with 1 tbsp cajun seasoning
canola oil for frying

Slice up the tofu into relatively thin slices. I did about 10 slices, then sliced those in half. Pour enough canola oil into the pan to come about halfway up the tofu slices and heat to med-high. Preheat your oven to 200.
Dredge the tofu slices in flour, then milk, then in cornmeal, shaking off the excess. Carefully place slices in pan (I used tongs because I hate getting spit at!). Fry for a few minutes per side until golden brown. You'll have to do probably 2 or 3 batches, so place the done slices on a plate in your pre warmed oven, preferably on a slice of paper towel to absorb the excess oil.

To assemble
Slice a roll (you could do a sub roll, I did kaisers). Slather the bottom with remoulade. Place a few slices of red onion on top. Top that with a few spoonfuls of coleslaw, then with three or four slices of tofu. Spread a little more remoulade on the top half of the bun, put it top, and enjoy! I meant to put some lettuce on there too, because what sandwich isn't made better through lettuce, but I forgot. Whatever. This was delicious anyway.



















I served with a nice simple salad with balsamic dressing. Have I shared the recipe for that?
1/3 c olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
fresh ground pepper to taste
Use a fork to beat it all together until it's totally emulsified.

Not yet dressed, but looking good anyway.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Meal Planning Monday: Week 2

Well that whole thing went swimmingly for me last week, so I think we'll do this again!

I can't really get posts out in a timely fashion but I did get Ian to take pictures of many of the foodstuffs that emerged from the kitchen last week; not that I want to do a daily post about them but I like to share delicious food always. However, objective 'eat out less' was achieved, as was, for the most part, objective 'eat all the food that gets purchased.'The notable exceptions were that I never ended up feeling like eating kale salad, but thankfully kale holds over pretty well; and the macaroni and cheese recipe made WAY TOO MUCH. I might cut it in half next time. We still have about half a casserole left of it, but it's late enough now that I'm going to have to chuck it.

This week's meals

Stuffed portobellos, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, steamed carrots
Ricotta gnocchi & caesar salad
Lemon roast potatoes on the BBQ, grilled zucchini, leftover 'slaw
Roasted mushroom & white bean soup, green salad, garlic bread
White bean & kalamata salad, roasted cauliflower, green beans
Penne with roasted asparagus & balsamic glaze, kale salad

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Vegan Raspberry Curd

I'm making a lot of cupcakes in the very near future. A friend is getting married in June and asked me to do them for her (and her 150 guests!). How could I resist? She's been really easy about flavour selection, her main request being the chocolate stout cupcakes with whiskey ganache and irish cream flavour icing. She was also partial to lemon cupcakes, regardless of what filling or frosting adorn them. I decided that maybe raspberry curd would be a nice way to go with the lemon. Lemon + raspberry = classic combination, right? Well it's freaking delicious. Loosely based off the VegNews lemon curd recipe (which I will also be using for some of these cupcakes).

Raspberry Curd
3/4 c coconut milk
1/3 c sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 heaping cup whole, fresh raspberries (I 'measured' them in a glass measuring cup, which goes up to one cup but has some space at the top - I filled it nearly all the way up. Probably looking at about a cup and a half of raspberries)

Whisk together everything but the raspberries over medium heat in a small pan until smooth; add in the raspberries and continue to whisk together, breaking up the raspberries as you whisk. They will cook down once the mixture starts getting warm. Let it start bubbling a little and then turn the heat down to low and continue to whisk, cooking for 5ish minutes or until it's thickened and the raspberries have totally broken down.

Take off heat, strain into a glass container, and refrigerate until cool. Then use it to fill your cupcakes or spread on toast or whatever it is you do with your curd.