Blackened Tofu-liciousness

There is the most annoying character on Project Runway this season (OK, there are multiple annoying characters, but this guys is the worst). Blayne makes everything "licious", except when he writes it down he always spells is licous. I'm so petty, but it so annoying. Anyway, his super crispy fakin' bakin' tan must have gotten me in the mood to blacken some food!

I recently snagged my dad's beautifully seasoned cast iron mega-skillet and haven't been sure what to make first. Had some hamburger buns and guac in the fridge, so knew it was time to try to copy Taco Loco's amazing blackened tofu burger. I grabbed Ole' Faithful, the Joy of Cooking, and flipping around came to their Cajun Dry rub recipe. I didn't measure exactly, but it was more or less a teaspoon of each: dried thyme, dried oregano, paprika, and black pepper. Plus a 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, and a healthy sprinkling of ground chili peppers. I pressed the firm tofu for about 1/2 hour while I prepared the seasonings above. Cut the block of tofu into 3 "steaks", dipped them in a couple Tbsps of melted butter then dredged the tofu in the seasonings. Heated the pan up to 6 on my electric stovetop (this is really hot on my stove), turned on the exhaust fan, then let those little puppies hit the super hot iron skillet. I drizzled the tofu with the remaining butter (about a tsp was left) and cooked for 3 minutes on each side. Perfectly blackened, and didn't smoke up the house a bit! It turned out great, but was missing the noise of 101 traffic, sketchy parking, scarce seating and ocean breezes of Taco Loco. Sigh.

The Tofu

The Burger

Lazy August Days

Haven't been cooking too much of note, too hot and too lazy to put anything fancy together. Haven't been eating out though, either, so that is good for us and our budget. I'm bummed that I didn't grab a shot of the greek salad the hubby made this weekend, it was beautiful. That is his "go-to" salad, and it rocks.

VWAV Fronch Toast (unadorned)

So yesterday I made creme brulee french toast (stillllll working on perfecting the recipe for this one) and vegan french toast from VWAV. That was delicious. With maple syrup and earth balance on top, the vegan french toast tasted just like french toast sticks. In a good way. Oh man, even the hubby ate 2 pieces before he went to the traditional stuff.



Killa Breakfast Scramble
I guess we were on a breakfast kick, because we had a scramble for dinner. I had some cooked red potatoes in the fridge, so I just browned them in a skillet with onions and garlic, threw in some beaten eggs and YUM! Topped with cheddar cheese, cilantro and a little dollop of sour cream. Really good for a hot august night, but seemed funny eating breakfast on the patio at night ;)
I was happy because it didn't look like a pile of brown mush. That seems to happen most of the time when I scramble a bunch of stuff together.

Soyrizo Scramble

Ah, when the hubby comes up with a recipe, he really does it right. We had a similar dish as a daily special at the Naked Cafe in Solana Beach.

The Soyrizo Scramble
makes 2 brunch servings
3 eggs
2 corn tortillas, torn into pieces
1 T canola oil
1/2 pkg soyrizo (Trader Joe's has a version now)
1/4 C chopped cilantro
1/2 C feta cheese
1 avocado, sliced
















1.) Beat eggs until well mixed, he usually does this in a pyrex measuring cup. Add the tortillas to the eggs.
2.) Fry up the soyrizo in 1 Tbsp canola oil over medium heat. When crispy and brown, remove to paper towel covered plate.
3.) Scramble the egg/tortilla mixture. Fold in soyrizo, remove from heat. Fold in feta cheese and cilantro.
4.) Serve with slices of avocado on top.

Sleepy Saturday Night

After a very full day, the hubby and I are enjoying a lazy evening. He got up super duper early to get sod from home depot, we didn't need much but he wanted to beat the rush. By the time the bean and I were up at 8, the sod was laid in the patio and we were all ready for breakfast. I made breakfast sandwiches: whole wheat toast filled with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, and Morningstar farms sausage patties. Oh and ketchup. Plenty of ketchup. The little one only had eggs and ketchup. We all really love the organic ketchup from Trader Joes. Soooo tasty. Of course, eating al fresco always improves ones appetite.

After trying in vain to purchase a baby bike seat at the local sporting goods store, we returned home for lunch: leftovers from last night. I made a modified Bisquick impossible quiche/pie. I used garlic sauteed kale for the veggie, and it was really tasty. The kale wasn't bitter at all (the hubby's usual complaint), and came out like a mix between broccoli and spinach. Served it up with crispy parmesan potato wedges and we were happy campers. The baby managed to pick out every bit of the kale and just eat the eggy bits. Too funny.

We all crashed out for a nap, then headed down to the beach with my mom. She hadn't been to the beach in years, and it was just a gorgeous day. The water was warm, but the waves were a little choppy for swimming. The little bean charged the water, we have to keep her from diving in completely. She really loves digging in the sand, too, and now that she's older she isn't interested in sampling it.

Dinner was at Kealani's hawaiian restaurant. Mom and hubby enjoyed mahi mahi with rice and mac salad, and I had the teriyaki tofu with the same sides. I was so nervous, because tofu at non-asian restaurants can be ever so awful. What a relief, cooked to perfection and not drowning in sickly-sweet teriyaki sauce. I really liked it and even got to eat the mac salad. There is a chain in San Diego that has meat IN EVERYTHING, including ham in the macaroni salad. Well, they might have iceberg lettuce salad or something, but that doesn't make a meal. We finished off the meal with malasadas, which were super fresh and piping hot. 3 people well-fed for under $25. (The baby gorged herself on rice and malasadas, but that doesn't really count).

Mmmm vegan mac 'n cheez

Actually, this has been a pretty vegan-filled week. Except for the delicioso pizza from last night...Trader Joe's boboli-type crust topped with homemade pizza sauce and plenty 'o melty mozarella. The hubby and I agreed, it was really better than delivery! Little bean ate her little pizza-lovin heart out.

Tonight was the vegan mac 'n cheez, from vegandad's recipe. I tried a taste of it right out of the blender, and I was really impressed. I made it with tiny ziti, which was a fun size for the baby. She doesn't like regular macaroni and cheese, but definitely ate a good portion of this version. She was still hungry for something else, though, and polished off a man-size bowl of rice and black beans. Sheesh, this kid can eat!

Midweek I made seitan & udon noodles with peanut sauce, based on the VWAV recipe. Really good, but the little bean totally avoided it. She seems to avoid peanut butter for some reason. Maybe a good one?

Last weekend the hubby and baby made pumpkin waffles from VWAV. They were outstanding, and really enjoyable with tempeh bacon and maple syrup. Mmmmm. They freeze and reheat very well, too.

My first meetup

I went to my first meetup event with SD Vegetarians Unite this afternoon. We met at Madras Cafe, a south indian all veg restaurant on Black Mountain Road. There were about 20 people of all ages there, it was so awesome. I met some very nice vegetarians and vegans and it was a lovely relaxed time. Hmmm, how much of that was due to the little bean being home with her dad???? I refrained from talking about her the WHOLE time, but she did come up in conversation ;) It was a buffet lunch, with 20 different dishes, most of which I couldn't name. The curries are different than the standard indian fare (no tandoori, matar paneer, etc). The spicy eggplant was my favorite, but I also loved the dosa with lentil filling. Yum. It was very cool to eat somewhere with 100% vegetarian offerings. After lunch I went to Ker & Little, the huge indian market next door, with a neat woman from the meetup. I picked up tamarind paste and rosewater, which I haven't found anywhere else, and also, some Paneer!

Which led to...the hubby making homemade Palak Paneer for dinner! He used the recipe from the Fullerton SRF indian cookbook (ca. 1980), and I whipped up a small batch of garam masala to use. It was great, and the little bean cleaned her plate. I think using fresh spinach helped the deliciousness. It was also fun to put as much paneer as we wanted in it, usually those are the small jewels you have to hunt for in your big old pile o spinach.

It's hard to cook when it is hot

It has been about 78 to 80 degrees indoors this week, and not too much of a breeze is coming from the ocean. I decided to make Margarita Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and they were really fun to make with the little bean. She stirred all the ingredients, and because they were egg-free, she got to taste the batter. She really enjoyed helping. The cupcakes turned out perfectly, unfortunately it was too warm inside for frosting. It totally melted. However, it tasted great!

Last night I made Tortilla Soup from the Real Food Daily cookbook. No picture of my own, but there is one on the link. It went together in 20 minutes and cooked up quickly too. Both my mom and husband, tortilla soup connoisseurs, slurped it up. This will definitely be a go-to recipe in the future. The little bean even enjoyed it, and she is so-so on soup.

For lunch today I made Zucchini Rice Gratin from Gourmet magazine. It was more time consuming than I usually do for lunch, but it was delicious. I reduced the amount of oil and salt they called for, and still thought it had plenty of flavor. I also used 1/2 cup of rice, since my 1/3rd cup measure was missing. I'll also use brown rice when I make it again. I don't usually cook with fresh tomatoes, but I am going to start doing that more often. Sadly, both the tomatoes and zucchini were from the store. My poor mom's garden was totally destroyed this summer by various and sundry animals. Mostly rabbits I think. Next year we'll have to fence in the vegetable garden. Sigh, I had such plans for an abundance of summer veg. Oh well.