That Was Vegan?

Tuno-Stuffed Tomatoes

We’ve been breaking high temp records almost everyday here in Colorado, and that’s not a good thing. It’s hot, it’s dry, and there are currently 8 wildfires raging across the state.  I saw on the news yesterday that nearly 50% of the nation’s wildfire-fighting resources are in Colorado right now. 50% in one state! I can look out my window and see massive smoke plumes which is frightening enough, but to look at the weather forecast and see that there’s no letup in either the heat or the drought for the next 10-14 days sends me into tears.

I feel for all the families who have lost their homes, and those who are currently living in evacuation centers, waiting anxiously to learn the fate of their homes. The wild animals are generally able to flee safely from wildfires but Colorado, like many areas, is plagued by urban sprawl- meaning the fleeing animals all to often find themselves rushing onto highways, into parking lots, into traffic. And don’t even get me started on the pets being dropped off at shelters- or even worse, left at home to fend for themselves.

But it’s not all bad news: so many businesses are opening their doors to evacuees and their pets. Yesterday I saw a hair salon was opening their doors to displaced cats and dogs, and this morning they announced a medical center was taking in families- including those family members with tails! I’m so full of gratitude to them for providing these resources, not to mention all the people who have donated money and food, and obviously all the firefighters who’ve left their families to come to Colorado to risk their lives. I hope they all know how appreciated they are!

Let me segue back to the weather before I get all emotional and start crying again!

To recap: It’s really freakin’ hot. And when it’s hot, I don’t want to turn on my oven- and I know I’m not alone in this. It’s going to be a hot summer EVERYWHERE, so I thought it might be a good idea to focus on some of the meals I create when the only heat source I’ll even consider turning on is the grill. I’m going to call them “Hot Weather Recipes”, and if you have any ideas you want to share, let me know! Or if you’re a blogger and want to join me, even better! I’m planning to do a wide range of recipes, with the common theme being you can prepare them entirely on the grill or, like this one, no heat required at all.

If you’re a long-time reader you might recall my Tuno Salad recipe, once of the very first I posted on this blog, actually. It’s my take on a chickpea salad, loaded up with Old Bay seasoning. Why so much Old Bay? Because, back in the day, I really like that other version… you know the one, don’t make me say it. I’m in denial and trying to pretend that I’ve always been vegan 🙂

Here the salad is served inside a tomato so you can skip the heavy, starchy breads while adding a whole lotta Vitamins A, C, B6, E and K along with some Folate, Magnesium and Potassium.  It’s also a lot lighter than a sandwich, and if you’re anything like me, you want to keep it light when that temperature rises. I served these with a simple side of Salt n’ Vinegar chips, and it was a perfect hot weather meal.

Tuno-Stuffed Tomatoes (4 large tomatoes, 1 per serving)

Ingredients:

• 1 batch Tuno Salad, chilled
• 4 large tomatoes, washed and dried
• Fresh (or dried!) parsley

Directions:

1. To core the tomatoes, use a sharp knife to cut  a circle around the stem at the top of the tomato. Keep the tip of your knife angled toward the center of the fruit. The core will pop out looking something like an inverted pyramid. Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and juice until the tomato is empty, then fill each with 1/4 of the Tuno Salad. Sprinkle with fresh parsley if desired

Enjoy!

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Green Chile BBQ Cowboy Casserole

Yes, I did have to specify that it’s vegan in the title because it’s Cowboy Casserole, a traditionally manly, meaty dish, ha!

Actually, I call BS on that, because what self-respecting cowboy ever cooked with Cream of Mushroom soup!? Anyway, the “original”, besides being ridiculously unhealthy, cannot even compete with my spicy version packed with green chiles, BBQ sauce, and my super-duper special BBQ Tofu!

Speaking of “Super-Duper”…

Could she BE any cuter? I look at that picture and just want to kiss my computer screen! If you’ve read her story, you know Sally came to us very scared and emotionally damaged, but she’s made HUGE strides- she’s (practically)a completely different dog now. I wish you could all come over and see how brave she is when she ventures down into our unfinished basement and just runs around sniffing everything, or the way she almost barks when she’s playing. Then you could sit on our couch and let your heart just fill with love as she goes from watching you across the room, to sitting on the other end of the couch, slowly moving closer and closer until she’s right next to you, happy, finally, to let you love on her.

She was so cute this morning. We all woke up around 1:30 am to the sound of coyotes screaming/howling right outside our bedroom window. If you’ve never heard the sound they make when they’re announcing a fresh kill to their pack, consider yourself lucky. It is bone-chilling. Especially when it wakes you from a deep slumber and you have to scramble around counting your dogs and making sure the cat is inside (she was!) and running downstairs to close off the doggy door just in case. Jason took a flashlight outside to check things out, but they were already long gone. I stayed upstairs, watching from the window with mixed emotions. One of the things I love best about my neighborhood is the wildlife, and that includes the coyotes (although I worry about meeting a pack of them while I’m walking the dogs; I picture myself somehow holding all three dogs in my arms as I kick-fight the coyotes off!), and I realize that the hundreds of bunnies who live there often end up as food… I just wish it wouldn’t happen that close to my house. At 1:30am. But I digress.

Sally did not like the coyotes. In fact, when we went back to bed she slept curled up right between us (she never does that) and actually burrowed under the blankets. I’ve never seen her do that in all the years we’ve had her. I felt bad for her but OMG was it adorable! So I snuggled right up to her and fell back asleep until the alarm went off.

I should start collecting pictures of all our neighborhood wildlife and do a post about them. We have deer, fox, coyote, bobcats, even bear! Neighbors who’ve lived there longer than us tell stories of hot, droughty summers when we’ve also had mountain lions who come down out of the foothills in search of food- and it appears we’re gearing up for a very hot and droughty summer.  In all my years in Colorado I’ve yet to encounter a mountain lion in the wild, and while I think it would be pretty awesome to see one up in the mountains (at a safe distance!), in his habitat, I really don’t want to see one in my backyard.

Ok, back to the FOOD. If you’re not familiar with the concept of Cowboy Casserole it’s usually a mix of hamburger, corn, cream of mushroom soup and cheese both above and below layers of tater tots, baked. My (superior) version includes only 1 layer of tots (because, seriously) but they’re SWEET POTATO tots, so we’re still coming out ahead in the great quality v. quantity debate.  Hamburger has been replaced with cubes of the sweet n’ spunky BBQ-Sriracha tofu, layered in with green chile, sweet baked beans, pinto beans, bell peppers, onions, and some Daiya Jack cheese.  I actually meant to keep the corn, but forgot at the last minute. Oh well. Put some in if you like, but I don’t think it’ll add much.

I made this on Saturday when it was only 74 degrees. The forecast called for nearly triple digits this week, and I knew I wasn’t going to feel much like cooking. This has been dinner  twice, plus a lunch or two. You guys know how I love a casserole that’ll make my weeknights less stressful!

Green Chile BBQ (Vegan) Cowboy Casserole (8 hearty servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 block firm tofu, pressed and drained
• 1/2 cup your favorite vegan BBQ sauce, preferably something with a “kick”
• 1-2 T Sriracha
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 28 oz can vegetarian baked beans
• 1 15 oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 4-oz can Hatch diced green chiles, or more to taste (I used about 5 oz total), mild or hot
• Approximately 3/4 of a Daiya Jack Wedge, cut into small cubes
• Sea salt
• 1 20-oz bag Alexia brand sweet potato tots, plus another 1/2 cup

Directions:

1. Slice your pressed and drained tofu in half, then into approximately 1/2 inch slices.
2. Mix the BBQ sauce and Sriracha, then lay the sliced tofu in a glass, oven-safe, casserole dish and cover with 1/2 the sauce mix. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, then flip. Cover with the rest of the sauce, and bake for another 20 minutes. Don’t let the tofu burn, but you want it to be well cooked. When it comes out, dice it and set aside.
3. While the tofu is in the oven, water saute the onion and pepper over medium heat until soft, about 10 minutes.
4. In a 9×13 casserole dish, mix the onions, peppers, baked beans, pinto beans, green chile and diced tofu until completely blended. Taste and add sea salt as needed.
5. Top evenly with diced Daiya cheese, then layer with tater tots. You want the entire casserole to be covered.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees, or until the tots are starting to crisp and you can see the cheese getting all melt-y and bubble-y.

Enjoy!

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Grilled Strawberry Jalapeno Tofu

But first… We had the cutest little visitor in our backyard the other day!

Devastatingly handsome, isn’t he? And the bunny ain’t too bad either.

As hot as he looks gazing into the distance while petting a tiny bunny, he wasn’t actually posing for the shot. He was looking up at our hill, trying to see where the bunny came from, so we could try and get him as close to home as possible when we set him free. After Jason convinced me that we absolutely could not keep him as a pet, that is.  That was when we realized that Mama Bunny was sitting, waiting, just on the other side of the fence. We dropped the little guy over the fence right next to her, and they hippity-hopped back up the hill together where I assume they’ll be biding their time until Easter rolls around again.

As to how the baby bunny got into our yard in the first place? Someone went where they weren’t supposed to. I don’t want to name names, so I’ll just show you a picture of her:

I gave her a stern talking to about how baby bunnies are our friends and good kitties stay in the house. I tried to turn it into a teachable moment, and I feel like she really listened 🙂

Anyhoozle, how about those beautiful grill marks!? This makes a really healthy, low-cal, low-fat meal and since it’s so light it’s perfect for all this hot weather! Plus you don’t have to heat up your kitchen, which is always a bonus in the summertime. Just serve with some quinoa or maybe a nice salad and call it a meal. And, of course, make a full batch of the salsa and serve the leftovers with some chips!

Strawberry Jalapeno Tofu (2 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 block extra firm tofu, pressed and drained
• 1 cup Strawberry Jalapeno Salsa
• Non-stick spray for grilling

Directions:

1. Slice your pressed and drained tofu. I use the Tofu Xpress so my block are pretty thin to begin with, and I started by cutting the block in half, across the middle. Then I sliced each half into 2 thin rectangles.  If you’re using the old-fashioned plate/books/towels method, you might get 3 slices.
2. Spray your grill with the non-stick spray, and place the tofu making sure to move it around enough to get the grill marks. I left mine on for about 6 minutes total, on medium heat- but that’ll depend on your grill. You really just want to make sure you have the marks, and that it’s heated all the way through.
3. Top with Salsa, and that’s it!

Enjoy!

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Strawberry Jalapeno Salsa

I first served this as an appetizer at a recent BBQ, and it was the perfect combination of sweet and spicy, light yet satisfying. Actually, the day of the BBQ was a real cooker, somewhere around 90 degrees, and this dip really hit the spot.

Speaking of the BBQ, the morning after my sweet Betty started showing signs of Aspiration Pneumonia, again. I wanted to wait until Monday to take her to the regular vet, but I wasn’t sure she’d make it that long so we hustled her off to the Emergency Vet. This part was actually pretty funny… Jason was carrying her in, and I went straight to the reception desk and said “I have a 13 year old female basset hound with Megaesophagus and secondary Aspiration Pneumonia. She’s having difficulty breathing, loss of appetite, loss of energy and balance, and mood change.  Her only current medication is 20mg of Omeprazole, given daily.” I’ve been through this many times, and I’m through messing around. Also, I hoped that if I sounded authoritative enough they’d skip the (expensive) x-rays and just treat her what what I know she has.

Of course it didn’t work, so we paid the $200 for x-rays to confirm everything I already knew (see above). I know you’re asking yourself  “What the heck is funny about that?”, so here it is. When the vet came into the exam room she asked me which clinic I worked at.  They all thought I was a vet tech! HA!

Anyway, after 45 minutes in an oxygen tent and a prescription for some serious antibiotics, Betty was back home. Here she is a few days later, lounging in her backyard:

My sweet old girl. I don’t know what we’re going to do if she continues to Aspirate on such a regular basis, but for now I’m not even going to think about it.  If you have time, please send some positive energy her way- her mama is not ready to deal with any more health drama!

Strawberry Jalapeno Salsa (8 servings)

Adapted from this Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 large containers of fresh strawberries, approximately 4 lbs
• 2 jalapenos
• 1/2 small sweet onion
• 4 t granulated sugar
• 2 t sea salt
• Dash of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 t dried cilantro
• Zest and juice of one lime

Directions:

1. Hull the strawberries, then rinse them really well before roughly dicing them.
2. De-seed the jalapenos, then dice them as finely as you can, and mix in the with strawberries.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, mixing well. Cover and leave in the fridge for about an hour before serving.  This allows the flavors to meld while the strawberries soften up. Deeelish!

Enjoy!

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Vegan Cheese n’ Crackers

Just a quick post here… I’m a little bit behind, a little bit stressed, and a little bit unprepared. So… basically, it’s Monday.

This past Friday I had a dentist appointment, where my jaw was stretched into unnatural contortions while 4 human hands were simultaneously scrammed into my mouth. Eight (EIGHT!) shots of Novocaine later I went home with a temporary crown, some dried tears on my cheeks, and an absolute certainty that I deserved some serious cocktail hour gin!

Being the brilliant gal that I am, I went grocery shopping for the week before the appointment, and had stumbled upon some Daiya wedges that were approaching their sell-by date, and were marked down to $1.99 (from $4.49!). Obviously I bought them all.  Around 4 o’clock the Novocaine and stroke-like sagging face had started to wear off, and I knew it was time for drinks (now that I could finally  drink without using a straw). I kept thinking about all that Daiya in the fridge and decided that some good old fashioned Cheese n’ Crackers would really hit the spot. I called Jason, who was on his way home from work, and asked him to stop and grab some crackers.

He came through the door 20 minutes later holding a box of Ritz crackers, and I was immediately disappointed. “Those aren’t veeeegaaaaannnn!” I wailed.  He just stared at me. Pretty typical, actually… Anyway, a quick perusal of the ingredients list and a a google search later, I knew that they were, in fact, veeegaaaannn, and promptly got to stuffing my face with them.

Chewing on the other side of my mouth, of course.

Lesson learned: Don’t start whining until you check PETA’s Accidentally Vegan list. Also? Those Ritz crackers are good! And don’t even get me started on those Daiya wedges… RIDICULOUS!

What’s YOUR favorite “Accidentally Vegan” product?

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Spaghetti and Beanballs

Happy Friday!

These are the same beanballs I used in my Beanball Subs, they came from this recipe, following her adjustments for Meatballs. As I mentioned when I used them in my subs, though, I recommend only microwaving them for the minimum time- NOT until they’re “hard as a rock”, otherwise you end up having to simmer them longer to get them to soften up.

Just another example of how you can do some prep work on a Sunday afternoon, and eat easier throughout the week!

Enjoy!

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This is one of my favorite summer dishes, and probably my absolute favorite thing to make when serving a large group. We all know how insanely good-for-us quinoa is, and this dish combines that goodness with crisp celery, sweet apples and raisins, tangy cranberries, crunchy pecans and just a hint of cilantro. Oh, and because I made it, you know there’s some chili powder in there too 😉

I highly recommend it for your next summer gathering or office potluck- or even just whip some up this weekend and enjoy it all next week! If you follow the directions, the apples stay crisp and fresh for days in the fridge, I promise!

Before I share the recipe though, I wanted to share some shots of the crazy storms we had last week- Thunder and lightening, rain and hail. I read that we got 4 inches in less than 3 hours on Wednesday night, and on Thursday we got hammered (literally) with ping pong sized hail. Insane!

This was the view from my front door:

(Those Salvia plants lost pretty much all their purple 🙁 )

This was my view out the back door:

(those potted flowers absolutely did not make it)

And here’s a close-up of a piece of the Wednesday-night hail:

We had hail that size for almost THREE HOURS! Thankfully the cars were in the garage, but some of the neighbors were caught a little more off guard- I could hear an alarm going off down the street. Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that I rushed out to try and save my basil plants (which died anyway) and got bonked on the head a few times by those monsters… And that wasn’t even the worst of it- the following night they were even bigger! Here’s a shot of one, that had already started to melt. Not sure if you can really tell, but it was almost twice the size:

Yikes.

Anyway, back to the Quinoa Salad… 

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Grilled Veggie Pizza

Well, the veggies are grilled, not the entire pizza, but anyway… I chopped up some summer squash, Mexican squash, sweet onions, and bell peppers, mixed them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and let them spend a little quality time on the grill (on a veggie tray, to be specific). When they were almost done, they were added to some pre-made vegan pizza dough with a little pizza sauce, daiya mozzarella and a couple shakes of crushed red pepper flakes and baked.

Grilled Pizza  (Makes 2 big personal-sized pizzas)

Ingredients:

• 1 pre-made loaf of vegan pizza dough
• A mix of grilled veggies, your choice
• Oregano
• Pizza sauce
• Daiya Mozzarella
• Crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Cut dough in half, and let sit out while you prepare the toppings.
2. Prep your grilled veggies- you want them to be *almost* done, and set aside.
3. Work your pizza dough into round(ish) shapes, or however you’d like your pizzas to be. You can cook according to the package directions, or just wing it like I do. I put mine on a lightly greased cookie sheet (they both fit, side by side), sprinkle with a little oregano and bake for 5-6 minutes at 375.
4. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of red sauce over your two pizzas, using the back of a spoon or rubber spatula to make sure you get even coverage.  Layer on your veggies then top with the Daiya and a couple shakes of red pepper flakes.
5. Continue to back at 375 for another 10 minutes or so. If your cheese still isn’t melty, you can finish it under the broiler but be careful, you don’t want the crust to burn!!

Enjoy!

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Sweet Potato Po’Boy

You cannot blame this one on me. I saw a post a while back on Cooking The Vegan Books, and they posted a picture of a sandwich made with breaded sweet potatoes. I instantly thought of my Beer Battered Sweet Potatoes and knew I had to make it. And that I had to smother it in creamy southern-style coleslaw.

I don’t know that mine could actually be classified as a Po’Boy, but that’s what they called theirs so I’m sticking with it.

Enjoy!

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