Salad Time

I really do love eating giant salads. I just don’t always feel like making them. So if I do feel like it, I go with it. This week has definitely been saladoriffic. Romaine is my favorite lettuce. It lasts pretty long in the fridge and stays nice and crispy. Carrots are always there. Red, orange or yellow bell pepper. After that, it’s really up to whim and what catches my eye at the market. This week I also had radishes, cucumber, summer squash, and cucumber. Then a sprinkling of almonds or walnuts. And this week I added protein, tofu or a fake chicken patty. All were tasty and satisfying. Maybe they make up for the parfait I ate and the chocolate chocolate chip coconut muffins I made. Probably not.

salad with marinated tofu
salad with marinated tofu
salad with fake chicken patty
salad with fake chicken patty
salad with grilled squash and tofu
salad with grilled squash and tofu

Curried “Chicken” Salad

Good grief does this look healthy! Well, if you don’t look at all the Veganaise in it. But still! The warmer weather makes me want to eat lighter foods. Especially when I am still holding out on turning on the air conditioning. These cravings coincide nicely with my wanting to lose a few pounds. Apparently this Curried “Chicken” Salad recipe came out of Vegetarian Times. Although I have no idea where I found it. It was just hanging out in MacGourmet and appealed to me when I was making the shopping list. The leftover salad held up nicely. I can see it being tasty in a wrap.

Chilaquiles Verdes

Finally, I’ve made something out of the cute little cookzine Vegan de Guadalupe! The Chilaquiles Verdes recipe may look a little plain and simple, but it tastes homey and comforting. I was concerned about only seasoning the tofu with salt & pepper, but it was plenty tasty. Also, you can follow the recipe exactly, but you don’t really have to. It’s very forgiving. I used half the tortillas and only one can of salsa. I also added sliced avocado on top. Mmmmm. It cooks up really quickly and a little plop of refried black beans on the side make it sort of a complete meal. Some shredded lettuce on top might have been nice too, but I didn’t have any.

And I’m surprised at how well the pic turned out considering the display on my poor old camera decided not to work so I was shooting blind.

Random Collection of Food

I don’t feel very writey right now, but here are a few food pics that have been piling up.

The Cajun Tofu from Yellow Rose Recipes has turned out to be a great quick week night dinner star. Once you have the spice mixture around, the rest can be made up of staples I keep around. This time we had it with some of the collards that are filling my freezer and some hash browns that cooked up quicker because I diced ’em smaller. Oh, and that’s a little bowl of home made apple sauce.

When I saw this fairly quick recipe for bread bowls, I knew I’d eventually be dumping come Cholent from Veganomicon into them. I was right! The dry milk powder was replaced with soy milk powder.

Trying to keep the healthy cruise diet going, I baked up some Asian tofu and ate it on a salad of raw kale and bok choy seasoned with sesame oil.

And finally, this Peanut Butter Quick Bread recipe looked interesting. I thought it would be even more interesting as Peanut Butter and Jelly Bread. So that’s what I did. The bread itself is not all that sweet like a lot of quick breads, so the jelly does not make it too sweet. I veganized by using a flax egg and soy milk as replacements. The recipe worked in both bread and muffin form.

Cajun Tofu & Jackfruit “Carnitas”

I’m usually too lazy to cook something that involves this many pots & pans. So it should be considered a treat. This is the Cajun Tofu from Yellow Rose Recipes. It’s actually baked, not fried, so it’s good for you and shit. The potatoes are your basic red & purple potatoes, chopped up, tossed with olive oil, salt & pepper and roasted til they’re done. The spinach is just sautéed with garlic, onions, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Also in olive oil. And look, there’s one of those sourdough biscuits! By the way, the leftover tofu on one of the biscuits made an amazing little sammich.

 

cajun tofu potatoes spinach biscuit

I saw this recipe for Jackfruit “Carnitas” Tacos a while back and knew I’d eventually get around to trying it. I was right! I ate them with sautéed mustard greens, taking advantage of the opportunity of Kevin being out of town to enjoy some bitter greens. I’m post the recipe of what I did because it deviates a bit from the one linked to above. The spice amounts are approximate as I just eyeballed it and starting tossing stuff in there. I felt like it was a little acidic, so a vegan cheese or sour cream might be especially nice. I just “suffered” with avocado. 

jackfruit carnitas tacos

Jackfruit “Carnitas” Tacos

  • 2 20 cans young green jackfruit in brine rinsed and drained
  • 1 7oz can mexican green sauce
  • 1 11oz can whole tomatillos drained
  • ½ large onion chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon chile powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin powder
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • ½ teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
  • 18-24 small corn tortillas
  • 2 avocados

Drain & rinse the jackfruit throughly. With your hands, press the moisture out of each piece & add it to the crock pot.

Toss all of the spices in the crockpot with the jackfruit. Stir around until jackfruit is coated.

Add onion and garlic to the pot. Dump in green sauce. Add tomatillos squeezing between your fingers to bust up as you add them. Stir everything around.

Cook for 7-9 hours on low. Before serving, smash jackfruit with a spoon. It’ll shred into stringy pieces. No need to be thorough, just want to smack the chunks down a bit.

Dry fry tortillas in a cast iron or other heavy pan until they get some brown spots on each side. Spoon some jackfruit “carnitas” into a tortilla all soft taco like, squeeze a little lime juice on top, toss on a few pieces of avocado and then add whatever it is you like to add to tacos.