After a busy, busy weekend (catching up after our trip the weekend before!) I not only had little time to plan meals, but little time to cook them. So, I thought this would be a great opportunity to try some quick recipes. As you can see from the first photo, I was getting some "fast meal" ideas from Sarah Kramer's adorable little book, Vegan A Go-Go!, which has a lot of older recipes in it but is really perfect for taking with me when I travel to the in-laws with meal ideas!
First off, I reverted back to college days, when all I could afford was beans and rice and this amazing Bayou Magic Cajun Seasoning that I bought while living in Tennessee. I could never find it after I left, but the miracles of the WWW brought me to their site and their seasoning to my pantry! Unfortunately, I forgot over time just how spicy this is! With the cilantro added (next pic) it was much more manageable. Phew! I was sweating. But, cheap and very fast. Just cook the rice (brown, of course!) in your rice cooker, add the beans from a can (the heat of the rice warms them up just fine) and then season to taste! Two and a half stars (way too spicy).
Later in the week, I had a little more time, but still, Tara's Pad Thai from Vegan Fusion World Cuisine was wicked quick. Just press the tofu while you open the mail and feed the cats, then chop up a couple things and start cooking! The rice noodles take no time at all (3 minutes, to be exact) and I added canned baby corn and canned bamboo shoots (on the sale table - only a dollar each, if that!) along with chopped peanuts and cilantro. Great spice to this meal, but a little dry due to too many noodles and not enough sauce. This was a great way to break into my tamarind paste, which I found at a local (but hidden) Asian market! Three stars ***.
Just last night, my husband requested this Kale and Cannellini Stew, from The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook. Another pretty quick meal, with only some peeling and chopping to do. Very few ingredients but great spicy taste! We added extra kale and it could have used fewer beans. Also, I exchanged a sweet potato for one of the regular potatoes, and it added a nice sweet balance (very light!) to the spiciness of the stew. The only problem was that the sweet potato cooked much more quickly so it was a bit over-cooked by the end. Overall, three and a half stars! Almost perfect!
So, here are some other meals from the past that are great ideas for when you have little time and want something good and vegan!
Olive-Oregano Wine-Baked Tofu...
(click for the recipe!)
Any kind of smoothie is almost instant! Great for lunch.
Don't forget that mac and cheese made with nutritional yeast or Chreese!
Tempeh Salad (made with grapes and agave nectar) is a delicious, quick lunch idea, and especially nutritious served over baby spinach!
Cumin-Lime Tofu can marinate while you're at work and then bake while you prepare a grain and veggie!
And of course, "eggstra" quick Eggless Salad sandwiches made with firm tofu always hit the spot. Next week, we'll be at a Supper Club, so I'll spend the week picking out my yummiest desserts to make- any suggestions??
I didn't post last weekend, because we were away, celebrating our wedding anniversary! We got engaged several years ago on Ocracoke Island, which is part of the Outer Banks, North Carolina. It is nice this time of year, because they are shutting down so there are hardly any tourists there at all and it's nice and cool. This is the beautiful lighthouse there, which is the second oldest lighthouse in the U.S. I think it's also the smallest. At any rate, it was a memorable trip. We did many of the same things that we did last time, including walking the beach and biking out to see the wild ponies.
Of course last time I was there, I was vegetarian, not vegan. You might think that this made things more difficult for us, as there are no chain restaurants here and just about all of the eateries feature fresh seafood (fresh, as in just killed... I figure if it was really fresh, it would be alive and swimming far away, very quickly!). To be prepared, I scoured the menus from home first (many are online) and called restaurants ahead when we got there, just to double check. Well, you may not believe it, but I think we ate better this time! Last time, we just picked some random restaurants, which didn't necessarily have the best food nor the best choices.
When we rolled in on the night of our official anniversary, we were too tired to get dressed and go out (and besides, isn't it more fun to stay in sometimes??), so we ordered pizza from the Ocracoke Pizza Company. I got my half without cheese, but with their delish tomato sauce, fresh spinach, mushrooms and black olives. The picture didn't come out that great, but it was AMAZING! The crust was thin, tender, chewy and crunchy all at the same time (even though I usually like thick crusts, this blew me away!). I had to stop myself from eating all four slices. My only complaint was that they went a little thin on the sauce. Awesome flavors and great texture -and free delivery! Three and a half stars! After that and a bottle of wine (and some Twizzlers - vegan!) we were "all set."
The next day, we ventured to the Creekside Cafe, which had this amazingly stuffed hummus wrap (ignore the nasty Styrofoam). The picture is kind of dark, but the hummus was really packed in! Mushrooms and all other kinds of veggies complemented the peppery spread. There was so much, I ate one half the next day! Three and a half stars again! (And no, I didn't eat the chips. I'm sure they were vegan, but I'm not much of a chip person, more for health reasons than anything).
Our second evening meal was at the sort of famous Howard's Pub, which is open year round (unlike just about all the rest, which shut down during the winter). Their menu featured a "vegan" black bean burger, which they had just changed (not homemade) to a regular-style veggie burger. It was actually pretty tasty, with pieces of carrot that you could actually see, but it definitely wasn't homemade and I could tell it had TVP (textured vegetable protein) in it (which isn't too bad, but not my fav meat substitute).
Unfortunately, the bun was not vegan. Fortunately, the waitress had a friend who "used to be vegan" so she knew all those details. Unfortunately, she couldn't substitute rice or potatoes or any other grain side for the bun (which demonstrates that this was more like a chain ... in "real" restaurants, they can do whatever the hell they want, because they don't have a prescribed set of rules for a dish and they usually have a real chef who just wants to make diners happy). Fortunately, I did get a decent side salad and a mixed drink. Unfortunately, the drink was really weak. Two stars for the burger. Maybe two and a half. Two for the drink :P And not worth a photo. The plain burger just looked so sad -and that was once without a face!
I wish I had a photo of the last meal we ate, because it blew the others out of the water! Well, it was at least a definite four stars ****. At the Back Porch Restaurant
we celebrated the last night in the fresh air (a porch, really!) with an outdoor fountain making music for us. I selected probably the only vegan/vegetarian thing on their menu which was (get this!) Chana Masala!! No kidding. A tofu-chickpea-spinach-tomato curry over rice. And it was good!! The presentation was gorgeous - a curly spliced celery piece in the middle (it looked like a mini fountain) and sprinkled red pepper pieces and herbs around the edge. The coconut sauce was creamy and the curry was great, if not a little mild compared to what I'm used to. But it seriously kicked ass. It was completely worth the price. And the huge glass of white wine didn't hurt either. ;)
Coming back down from our rush of eating out (oh yeah, and salt water taffy, which is usually vegan- woohoo!), I made a quick white bean spread (Italian style) with some fresh herbs still surviving in my backyard pots. On a whole wheat tortilla, I added some fresh greens, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and roasted red peppers (all canned, sorry!). I got some of these delicacies on sale at my local Ukrop's (like, really on sale - one buck a can!), so it was a nice splurge. The spread came from 150 Vegan Favorites, by Jay Solomon. It was wicked easy and was a nice change from garlicky, tahini hummus. A little thin. But filling! Two and a half or Three stars, I guess. ***
Last week, I was finishing up some tempeh that was about to expire (by the way, if the "sell by" date says September, does that mean it's still good for a few months? We ate it anyway, and we survived). I prefer the three grain flavor to the straight soy one. It has less of a "soy" taste and a better texture. I baked it, according to the directions in Vegan World Fusion Cuisine. It really soaked up the marinade!
Next, I whipped up (from the same book) this quick and easy Sweet and Sour Tempeh sauce, and mixed in the tempeh. Served over healthy brown rice (I never eat white, except in sushi now) and with a sprinkle of black sesame seeds (no nutritional difference, I believe, but pretty!). Since I grew up eating sweet and sour chicken every time we got Chinese takeout, I was really looking forward to having it again. Lucky me -it was perfect!! I immediately copied and mailed the recipe to my immediate family members, who I hope will try this very soon! It was sooo good. The sweet and the sour and the tempeh were all perfect! Mmmmm.... Four stars for sure! ****
Our last quick meal of this week was to finally try the Chreese that I had bought at the Animal Rights Conference back in August. Since I'm not much of a pasta person (I love the sauce best!), and since it's only now getting cold enough to really necessitate hot meals, I finally whipped up the sauce and mixed it in with some whole wheat elbows, topped with sesame gomashio. The result? Well, it was melty and creamy and yummy and perfect with some green beans! However, not at all surprising to me, my husband mixed the Chreese with his regular noodles (he doesn't care for whole wheat, or fiber - ha, ha!) and his turned out ten times better! He really is an expert at making this stuff. He makes the packaged Kraft stuff once in a while, and knew to leave a little pasta water in the bottom of the pan to thin out the sauce. At any rate, this photo below is his. Isn't it just the quintessential mac and cheese shot? 
Well, I'm off to do some other things before I hit the sack tonight. I hope that everyone has already thought about Thanksgiving and prepared their menu to include a Tofurky and an adopted real turkey! We adopted Serendipity this year, from the Farm Sanctuary. Have a great weekend!
I've been blog-absent for the past two weeks, but I promise that I have a good excuse! The excuse was celebrating Vegetarian Month with a class at the library where I work. I called it, "Veg 101: Beyond Tofu," and opened it to teens and adults. For a library program, it was surprisingly well-attended! We had about 25 people, with all seats filled and a couple of people standing! Although it was a lot of prep work (gathering materials including a third of our library's 150 vegetarian/vegan cookbook collection, creating handouts and recipe packets, and making 11 different desserts) I completely enjoyed the entire process. I especially loved sharing what I've learned about veganism (and vegetarianism) over the years. I had door prizes (including Rice Dream ice cream, Tofutti Cuties, and seitan!) and they had lots of great questions.
The top five myths we discussed:
1) The lack of protein in a veg diet (most Americans get far too much, and your body can't store it the excess, so it gets excreted (and harms your kidneys)
2) Veggie protein sources aren't good enough (government and medical sources confirm that you no longer need to "combine" veggie protein sources, and they have more nutrients and good fats)
3) Dairy prevents osteoporosis (did you know that meat and animal products are actually so acidic that they cause your body to draw calcium OUT of your bones to neutralize your blood?)
4) Athletes can't be veg (check out this link for a huge list of vegan athletes, including Carl Lewis, Martina Navratilova, and Bill Pearl)
5) Children and pregnant/lactating women can't be veg (our own government and medical communities say it's perfectly fine)
But my favorite myth to dispel is the root of the word, "vegetarian." It actually comes from the Latin word, "vegetus," which means, whole, sound, fresh and lively!
Everyone seemed to find some bit of information to walk away with, even long-time vegans/vegetarians (there was a good mix of all kinds of diets in the audience), many checked out our library's cookbooks, and everyone walked away stuffed with sweets! I made all my long-time favorite ones including: Blueberry Coffee Cake (Vegan with a Vengeance), Cookies and Cream Cupcakes (Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World), Pumpkin Carob-Chip Muffins (Vegan Lunchbox), Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Chocolate Raspberry Blondies (all three from Vw/aV). Some raw treats (not technically raw, but at least healthier and requiring no cooking!) rounded out the sweets. I came away with a whole new idea list of cookbooks to buy! (The library owns some great ones that are older but look awesome!). I came away with the realization that I can touch those 25 people's lives, they can go on and touch a few more, and therefore the message can be spread much further and to a broader audience than this poor blog. :)
Last week, my husband (using the library's copy of Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes, by Robin Robertson) decided he wanted to make her Tofu Pot Pie. It required quite a few steps, including making a gravy, but all in all it wasn't too bad. Here is that bad boy, hot out of the oven! Quite a nice crust - tender and flaky, although barely big enough to reach the sides of the dish.
The inside was full of steaming veggies, tiny cubes of tofu and the gravy. Results? Three stars *** for sure! If we made it again, I'd add some different veggies and double the amount of crust. Hubby loved it! He thought it would be a great dish to serve our non-veg parents.
Meanwhile, I was still trying to use up the phyllo dough I had leftover from the spanikopita (from Vw/aV)and the Moroccan-Infused Vegetable Phyllo Rolls (from ED&BV). Here is the beautiful and incredibly yummy smelling mixture that filled the Walnut, White Bean and Spinach Phyllo Rolls (also from ED&BV). I was in heaven! However, when I drizzled the finished rolls with a balsamic/flax oil sauce, the picture looked kind of funny, so I'm omitting it from this post. Just trust me that it was amazing! Three and a half stars ****! (the filling was a tad dry - the drizzle was necessary!)
My Wild Irish Stew isn't a recipe title that would ever catch my attention, especially since it basically was a root vegetable (ie-starchy) concoction, but after a weekend of making sweets for my Veg 101 presentation, I desperately needed something salty and completely un-sweet! Robin Robertson came to our rescue, as her Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes cookbook helped my husband make this stew without a whole lot of fuss. What tender veggies! What hearty potatoes! What great flavor! Four stars for sure**** and a big surprise for me. My husband graciously allowed me to have the last bowl of leftovers later that week. He has now decided that he wants to buy this book - a first!!!
I ended my two-week cooking splurge with three baked banana goods, to use up the six or seven bananas getting overripe in my kitchen! Yesterday I whipped up my favorites: Dense and Fruit Banana Bread, from Vegan Express (I exchanged wheat germ for the cocoa powder, sunflower seeds for the walnuts, applesauce for the oil), Banana Wheat Germ Muffins, from Veganomicon (again exchanging applesauce for the oil), and Banana Almond Coconut Carob Muffins, from Extraveganza (photo left - holy cow, these are good!!!). But tonight, we venture into our first chili of the season, this time a recipe from Vegan World Fusion Cuisine.
There's nothing like curling up on a chilly fall afternoon with some soy or nutmilk and some homemade cookies! Of course, a chilly fall in my area means temperatures anywhere below 70 ;)
I love making cookies for my friends, co-workers and various events, not just because everyone likes dessert, but because they are a great way to introduce newcomers to the vegan lifestyle! Everyone jokes with me about tofu, but no one jokes about my desserts (except for a few bad batches now and then!). These Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from The Joy of Vegan Baking, by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau were another hit. Sweet and sugary, and dare I say buttery (they had a whole stick of non-dairy butter in them!) they were hardly healthy. Many people also associate vegans and vegetarians with healthy eating and although that is certainly true (no cholesterol or heart disease from whole grains, legumes and leafy greens!) our desserts can certainly tip the scale in calories and sugar! 
These were pretty easy to whip up, although I didn't really have enough raisins. I like my oatmeal cookies to be really "oatmealy" and to have a ton of raisins, two things that these were lacking for me. However, looking at a similar non-vegan recipe under the lid of the oatmeal canister revealed a recipe that was pretty much the same as this one! Three Stars ***, with good reviews by co-workers!
I'm glad I didn't have too many sweets to bake this week, and this Cumin-Lime Tofu really kicked the savory up a notch! The fact that I've made this recipe before means a lot, since I rarely make the same recipe twice!! Four stars for this recipe - tangy and light, but filling and crunchy with a crisp outside and sprinkled with chopped pepitas (raw pumpkin seeds). Even my omni husband enjoyed this and reached back for more! The only change I made in this recipe was to press the tofu (thus removing more of its liquid to make it more firm) and marinating it longer (to allow the tofu to absorb more flavor). Everyone always says that tofu "absorbs flavors really well," but that's not true unless you marinate for a reaallly long time. Otherwise, just the outer edges of each slice or block get the seasoning.
The tofu was made to go with this other recipe (both, by the way are from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan). This pretty dish is the Sesame Lime Soba Noodles with Shiitake Mushrooms and Snow Peas. I just love mushrooms! I was craving this for a while. Again, not a very fall-like dish, but it was quick and easy for the busy fall I'm having. Just stir-fry the veggies, cook the noodles, and heat them up with the homemade sauce.
Top with the Cumin-Lime Tofu and presto! A vegan meal to inspire! Four stars for the soba noodles, by the way. I just couldn't get enough! And it wasn't heavy, either. The best part? Perfect for leftovers the next night - just like cold Asian take out! Tonight I tackle the last of my phyllo recipes for a while and later this week I plan on making a gluten-free soup for my next Veg Group meeting!
I'd like to say that we welcomed in autumn with some hearty, root vegetable meals, but it was more like a good-bye to summer! It was really nice and cool this weekend - felt like a perfect fall day - but on this first day of autumn it is over 80 degrees! Blech. So I had my last smoothie for lunch and some fresh fruit.
Pictured here is the long-awaited Moroccan-Infused Vegetable Phyllo Rolls, from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan (ED&BV). Since I made that spanikopita a few weeks back, I've been looking for ways to use up the extra phyllo. It's so easy to work with - I'm glad I tried it again! I think I'll try the Walnut, White Bean and Spinach Phyllo Rolls next week.
Here's a picture of those babies going into the oven, glistening with olive oil. Thank god it's heart-healthy! No cholesterol there :) My only complaint was that the recommended sauce was way too sweet. It overpowered the flavor of the rolls. And that's saying A LOT for me, since I have an incredible sweet tooth. Three good stars, maybe three and a half ***
My husband's meal of the week was the Mediterranean Tortilla Pizzas, from Dreena's other book, 'The Everyday Vegan.' These were not quite as good as the phyllo rolls, also because the sauce was too sweet - what a coincidence! The tomato paste in the sauce was just too thick and sweet for us. The toppings were awesome (roasted garlic, artichokes, roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes = yum!!) and the thin, tortilla crust was different. A little hard to slice and eat, though - rather messy! Two and a half to three stars ** We made these together - not hard!
We had extra tortillas left over from the pizzas, so we ended up making Veggie-Sizzle Burritos (OK, so I made them while husband watched his football team - how stereotyped are we!) also from ED&BV. These were pretty good. My husband ate the two with the (non-vegan) cheese and went back for a third! We served them with some good salsa. Funnily enough, the Tostitos brand salsa is one of the most flavorful, fresh and simple ones out there! I like my burritos soft, not oven-baked, and I've made something similar myself before, but I was just so happy to have found another recipe that my husband liked. Three stars!***
My muffin supply in the freezer is getting pretty low, since I worked all summer, so this weekend I whipped up some Easy Pleasin' Oat Bars, from Vive le Vegan (yes, Dreena strikes again!). I always add dried fruit, and more than she calls for. They are nice and firm - one of my favs! Three stars ***
I did make the last hummus out of her ED&BV cookbook, which was the Kids' Dynamo Hummus. It has raw cashews, nutritional yeast and flax oil, all great ingredients. The flavor? Outstanding. A little cheesy, beany, and mellow - yum again! One of my favorites. Now that I've made all these hummus recipes, I can't decide which is my favorite? Possibly the olive-sundried-tomato one.
And that about wraps it up for this week of food! I'm off to make another Dreena recipe tonight, one with summer seasonings as we say good-bye to summer and hello to my favorite season!
I can't believe how much food I made this week! I was writing in my recipe journal and realized that I had made seven new recipes this week! Let's get right down the vegan vittles, shall we?
First, these Peanut Butter Bombs from My Sweet Vegan TOTALLY redeemed the book for me (after the past few not-so-great results). They ROCKED! Sweet and soft and like eating a peanut butter cup cookie! Four stars! **** My only complaint was that the recipe didn't make as many as it said it would. Soooo... I had to make these next cookies as well (I was baking for teens that I work with).
Isa's Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies were hardly a thumbs up. At least, the way the recipe was written. When I got ready to "press the dough flat with my palms," it was still a gooey, liquidy concoction! I had to double the flour to get a good dough. At least they turned out OK. I guess I'm just not a big chocolate fan! I used blueberry preserves for the jam middle. Yum! Three stars, I guess ***
On Wednesday night, my husband helped me make the next dish (which he also chose), from The Everyday Vegan. These were Mexican Tofu Tacos. I've had plenty of vegan tacos in my lifetime. Tempeh ones, TVP ones, but I wasn't so sure how the mushy tofu would turn out. Well, with all the great veggies involved (minced carrot, bell pepper, celery and tomato) and all the great spices (not to mention the fresh avocado - yum!!!) these turned out GREAT! My husband and I gave them four stars **** A pleasant, spicy surprise. He put regular cheese on them, of course, but I didn't have any vegan kind on hand. They would have been better with some veg-cheese and lettuce.
Another night, I cooked these Mushroom Cashew Patties from Veg News for myself. They were wicked easy to make and used up some mushrooms and bread heels I had kicking around. Amazing flavor! Very soft and kind of crumbly, but I loved them just the same. Four stars! ****
Yet another four star **** recipe for the week... The Bliss of Krishna Tropical Rice Pudding (otherwise known as rice pudding), from the Vegan Fusion World Cuisine cookbook. Only the second thing I've made from this book (I've had it since this summer!) but awesome just the same. It used up some coconut milk I had (from the Chocolate Cake with Coconut Pecan Frosting from last week!) so all the better. An amazing treat for dessert or perhaps even breakfast? Basmati rice and raisins and macadamia nuts....mmmmmm.....
Of course, my husband's favorite meal was another savory, hot meal from the oven. This time, these Roasted Red Pepper and Mushroom Baked Wraps from Vegan Dad's blog. We used some lavash bread I had in the fridge, instead of tortillas, and double the portobella mushrooms, with baby bellas instead of the chanterelle. They also contain roasted red pepper (I made these myself - so easy!), lots of spices and some garlic hummus spread. I roasted the head of garlic in the oven as Isa suggests in Vw/aV, and added it to my favorite hummus recipe. So mellow and yum! Not vampirey at all....The lavash bread got nice and crisp. 
I quickly steamed some farmer's market green beans and we had a meal! 
Here's my wrap after I bit into it - so creamy and good! My only suggestion would be to add vegan cheese (the recipe called for some but I didn't have any) and we also thought that some different veggies would be great in here - maybe some red onion, too. It would make a great stromboli!! Four stars ****
The last recipe, I do not have a shot of, because I whipped it up for my Sierra Club Open House. It was the Chipotle Lime Hummus from Dreena's ED&BV. It was very, very good, too! Nice and spicy and different from all the other hummus recipes (included kidney beans). I think there are only two more hummus (hummuses? what's the correct plural?) I need to make from that book and then I will have tried them all! This one tops the bunch, along with the olive one, the white bean and thyme (I used rosemary) one and her Cannellini Yam one from The Everyday Vegan. What an incredible week! I'm exhausted just typing all this! Or maybe it's just the wine.... Happy Friday!
Well, I'm not going gluten-free, but for my monthly Veg Group meeting, I thought it would be nice to try to make a gluten-free dessert. There are some folks who attend who are celiacs, and I realized that making desserts every time that had flour in them was just as bad as making vegetarian desserts for vegans! So, I gave Dreena's Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cake a try. It included white rice flour, which I easily found at the Ukrop's grocery store nearby. Other than that, it was basically a Wacky Cake, which involves using vinegar and baking soda as the leavening. Pretty cool! It tasted decent, I think, and there wasn't much left after the meeting, so that was good for my hips - ha, ha. I used Isa's recipes for Coconut-Pecan Frosting and Peanut Butter Frosting with Chocolate Ganache (both from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World) to cover the two layers separately, instead of stacking them, so that there would be more cake to go around. I thought both frostings were good, but the peanut butter one was a little "weepy," due to the natural peanut butter oils separating, I think. I just love the coconut frosting!!!
Here's the one with peanut butter frosting and ganache. Four stars for both! Yum!
Unfortunately, not all things can turn out so well. For Labor Day, hubby and I (OK, just I) fixed some traditional dishes: grilled corn, grilled okra....and BBQ seitan ribz. (Traditional to vegans! - Lots of family values here!). The corn was a disappointment. Despite being local and freshly picked, it was chewy and starchy. The okra was also local and fresh, but rather dry. I think I could have used more olive oil on the latter. Oh well - it was edible. Two stars for the veggies. Three stars for the good as usual seitan from Susan V.
The last food I'm posting this week is the homemade spanikopita! I've been dying to make these for years, but due to the fiddly phyllo (filo) dough and loads of olive oil, I was always hesitant. Well, with my new year's resolutions in mind (the year is a third over!) I decided to tackle it. Here is the mix, containing tofu, fresh dill and cooked spinach with other spices. Pretty good, but could have used some more garlic.
Next step - take the thawed filo dough out of the package in the fridge, lay out two tissue-thin layers (with olive oil sprayed or brushed in between) and score it the long way into thirds.
Place about a tablespoon of the filling at the top left corner of one of the strips.
Now is when being a Girl Scout came in handy. Just fold the left corner over, then down, then over, repeating like you're folding a flag. Easy! Tuck any lose end under and brush or spray with more olive oil. My heart is saying thank you already, but that's still a lot of oil!
Here is a sheet of the little guys, fresh out of the oven. I think I'm having oven problems, because (like last week's baked goods), I found that these were still underdone. They only got brown on the tips. Delish and authentic, but not brown enough.
I reheated these in my little toasted oven for a great lunch throughout the week. A nice break from fruit salad and smoothies that I ate all summer!
We're going to try some mushroom cashew patties tonight - wish us luck!
Later in the week, I had a little more time, but still, Tara's Pad Thai from Vegan Fusion World Cuisine was wicked quick. Just press the tofu while you open the mail and feed the cats, then chop up a couple things and start cooking! The rice noodles take no time at all (3 minutes, to be exact) and I added canned baby corn and canned bamboo shoots (on the sale table - only a dollar each, if that!) along with chopped peanuts and cilantro. Great spice to this meal, but a little dry due to too many noodles and not enough sauce. This was a great way to break into my tamarind paste, which I found at a local (but hidden) Asian market! Three stars ***.
Just last night, my husband requested this Kale and Cannellini Stew, from The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook. Another pretty quick meal, with only some peeling and chopping to do. Very few ingredients but great spicy taste! We added extra kale and it could have used fewer beans. Also, I exchanged a sweet potato for one of the regular potatoes, and it added a nice sweet balance (very light!) to the spiciness of the stew. The only problem was that the sweet potato cooked much more quickly so it was a bit over-cooked by the end. Overall, three and a half stars! Almost perfect!
So, here are some other meals from the past that are great ideas for when you have little time and want something good and vegan!
Any kind of smoothie is almost instant! Great for lunch.
Don't forget that mac and cheese made with nutritional yeast or Chreese!
Tempeh Salad (made with grapes and agave nectar) is a delicious, quick lunch idea, and especially nutritious served over baby spinach!
Cumin-Lime Tofu can marinate while you're at work and then bake while you prepare a grain and veggie!
And of course, "eggstra" quick Eggless Salad sandwiches made with firm tofu always hit the spot. 
