I LOVE to cook and I attempt to make something different time I make a big meal (sometimes I just don't feel like it), and I found that if i take pictures of the big things I make throughout the day, it somehow makes me step my game up and want to make even better and more complex dishes that can hold a candle to the last.
When I'm not burning bras, attaching myself to trees, or sticking "caution, dead baby fetus inside" stickers on packages of raw chicken in the super market I'm usually making some damn good food...and the worst part is it's good for ya too.
I kinda messed up. I took pictures of a bunch of stuff I made last week, so I'm bout to spit them out- Don't think for a second I made this all in one day, that would be nuts.
Everything I make is 100% vegan. Nothing less, nothing more. Usually always organic, and always as fresh as possible.
When I worked at Twingo's in Detroit I waited on a jazz performer who was eating dinner there the night before his show at the Fox.
He asked me what was good to drink, so i ran and got the tea box. We carried a line of really great organic teas, and I noted that they were "very nice, but a bit pricey."
I'll never forget what he said, "Well honey, you can't put a price on what you put in your body", and it's completely true.
All of the ingredients can be found at a local market, or health food store.
+On a side note+ I HATE following recipes, and frankly I hate writing them down even more. I also have no idea how much of what I put into things most of the time. I measure all spices by the "slowly but surely method"- meaning, I have no clue, but just add until its the right spice for you! I encourage anyone who reads this and feels motivated to make any of these concoctions, to just go with your gut and use what you like- Adding or subtracting an ingredient in most cases is not detrimental to the dish, especially if it's a vegetable.
I've found that some of the reasons most people don't like to cook is because of either one of 3 reasons;
1. They don't know how
2. They get sick of making the same things over again.
3. They just don't have enough time.
Well chances are you might suck at cooking, but you should not be discouraged- if anything it should be combated like the plague- take that motherfucker head on!
Make something you think you might hate, and I bet you'll find yourself possible liking it.
I could be wrong, but i personally think that a person is a happier person when they cook or eat good home cooked meals. It's incredibly important, so if you hate to cook- the least you can do it force yourself to!
I used to be the pickiest eater on the planet. It was pathetic. As a kid I'd stick to grilled cheese, burgers and chicken fingers. As i matured into a teen I started eating a bit healthier but nothing I should be proud of.
I guess I finally realized that life is short,& so am I... I might as well eat good while I'm still kicking.
AAAAnd to hell with processed foods and garbage! Filled with hormones and chemicals used to clean my fricking toilet. These days you have to be very careful with everything there is to ingest, knowingly or unknowingly you could be slowly killing yourself.
-Anywho-
Here goes nothing,the first installment of what I made last week.
* Smell-o-vision coming soon, Scratch-n-sniff screen available in July of 09'
First up.
Friday, March 14th
Scripts Park Seitan with mushroom gravy and vegetables over whipped dill mashed potatoes
Ingredients used:
(in the stew)
1. Onion
2. Broccoli
3. celery
4. baby portabella mushrooms
5. vegan soup stock
6. 1 package Seitan
Spiced with-
*garlic
*salt
*pepper
*cumin
* Arrowroot powder (a thickening agent made from tapioca)
(for the mash po-tad-ers)
1. Russets
2. Fresh Dill
3. Plain soy milk
4. Olive Oil
5. Nutritional Yeast
6. Salt
Prep
Cook the vegetables and the seitan in the vegan stock broth. Add spices, then add arrowroot to create gravy. Its simple but it turns out great!
Cook the potatoes, Add ingredients and whip.
What the hell is seitan you ask?
seitan has been a staple food among vegetarian monks of China, Russian wheat farmers, peasants of Southeast Asia, and Mormons. People who had traditionally eaten wheat had also discovered a method to extract the gluten and create a seitan-like product."
seitan has been a staple food among vegetarian monks of China, Russian wheat farmers, peasants of Southeast Asia, and Mormons. People who had traditionally eaten wheat had also discovered a method to extract the gluten and create a seitan-like product."
Seitan is derived from the protein portion of wheat. It stands in for meat in many recipes and works so well that a number of vegetarians avoid it because the texture is too "meaty."
mmmmmmmmm....tastes just like chkn ;)
-Dinner- Still made on Friday, 14th-
New Center Nachos with black beans, nacho cheeze, fresh fixings on vegetable flax seed tortilla chips.
(Nacho cheeze)
2 cups water
¼ cup raw cashews
One 4 oz. jar pimentos, drained
1 cup nutritional yeast flakes
2 tablespoons arrowroot
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 ½ teaspoons salt, or to taste
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon cumin, heaping
Combine all ingredients and blend until completely smooth. Transfer mixture to a medium saucepan and whisk constantly over medium heat until thickened, about 5 to 6 minutes.
* In this recipe I used more cashews and a bit less water. I also waited to add the pimentos when I was whisking it over the heat to thicken. You will not BELIEVE how good this tastes. If you've never worked with nutrional yeast don't be scared. The hardest part about eating vegan is not eating cheese. I thought nothing could ever taste even close, and here it is. Nutrional yeast is high in vitamins B12 and tastes cheesey. It makes sauces thick and tastes GREAT on pasta, popcorn, sandwiches, tofu, soups, fries, well hell- you get the picture. It is usually sold bulk at health food stores, keep it in the refrigerator.
nutritional yeast
It is naturally low in fat and salt. It is high in B-complex vitamins, including vitamin B-12. Ingredients: Inactive dry yeast, Niacin (B3), Thiamin hydrochloride (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Pyridoxine hydrochloride (B6), and Vitamin B12...blah blah...hippie crap hippie crap...blah...
anywho,
I cooked black beans with a bit of onion, salt and a touch of red pepper. If you have salsa it would go great with the beans- then just cut up some veggies- and there you have it.
Saturday, March 15th
this was my lunch, Dinner we went out.
Shelby Street Hippy Stack; with curried tofu steaks and spinach humus.
(tofu)
Take extra firm tofu stack and cut them to your desired thickness. Place them between two plates and some paper towel to drain them. This will make them have a more meaty consistency when you cook them.
Pat them dry to get all the water off.
(Premix in a small bowl)
curry powder, turmeric, cumin, salt, ginger powder, and if you have it garam masala (found in the Indian specialty stores...this stuff rocks, it smells amazing)
After you coat the slice of tofu with olive oil spray, sprinkle the premixed spices on the tofu- place on heated pan- cook on medium heat.
when the one side is cooking, spray the side face up with olive oil- then sprinkle mix on.
Turn the tofu many times, cook until meaty and firm.
Spice up the sandwich with whatever makes you giggle. Giggling is the essence of life.
Monday, March 18th
Cass Ave. Cream of Potato soup with asparagus and turnips. Garnished with homemade potato chips.
This turned out good, but I probably wouldn't make it again. I kept having these dreams that I was making this soup, so I finally decided that if I make it I might stop having the damn dreams! Well it worked :)
I made it with
Russet Potatoes
Vegan soup stock
asparagus
turnips
onions
garlic
cook a good amount of stock, but be sure to have an overload of potatoes. Cook completely till everything is ready to blend.
When it cools, transfer to a blender in small batches, MAKE SURE IT IS NOT HOT! I made this mistake last year with hot soup, the damn blender exploded on me! SO DON"T DO IT! IT SUCKS! AND IT BURNS!
Martin Luther King St. Mung Bean Soup, with sweet potatoes and vegetables
pretty simple stuff.
Mung beans are kinda like lentils- but nothing at all like lentils, so i lie.
They are very nourishing, while being relatively easy to digest--they do not generally create abdominal gas or bloating, the drawbacks of larger beans. mung beans offer 14 gms of protein per cooked cup. Mung beans are also a good source of dietary fiber. They also contain thiamin, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and copper, and are a good source of folate. hippie crap, hippie crap...blah,blah...you know the drill. Sorry to bore so many of you.
(In the soup is cubed and diced;)
1.broccoli
2.onion
3.carrots
4. celery
5. sweet potatoes
6. zucchini
cooked in vegan stock with dill and salt. Turned out pretty damn good. I had a bit of a "soup party" that day. And now I'll be eating soup for the next week ;)
and just to excite you even further here is the salad I made- it was the bomb.
Baby Spinach/baby Arugula with chopped soaked raw almonds. It has a mint herb dressing, with an assortment of raw vegetables and raisins...mmmmmm.....
All and all a good weekend of eating, Lets see if I can keep this up everyday so I don't get stuck doing 4 days in one :)
Until we meet again...
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