Pomegranate Seed Photo Shoot

Love my new camera.

Tofu Stir Fry

Marinade: some combination of broth, beer/white wine, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, Chinese 5 spice sauce, sesame oil, vegan worcestershire sauce, maple syrup.
Carrots, onions, bok choy, cremini mushrooms, green onions, ginger, shallots.

Broccoli Cauliflower Soup

I was hoping this would be a pretty light green like my Cucumber Radish Soup, but I guess that wouldn't really make sense with so much broccoli and yellowish broth. The taste of the broccoli kind of overpowered the cauliflower too so I'll have to try some cauliflower soup without the broccoli next time. I forgot to add the lemon juice to the soymilk when I made my soup but I'm pretty sure that would make it even better.

1 cup plain soy milk
juice of half a lemon
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 small head of broccoli
1 small head of cauliflower
2-3 cups veggie broth
2 tbs (vegan) butter
2 tbs flour
salt and pepper
green onions for garnish

Add the lemon juice to the soymilk and set aside. In a large pot, saute the onion in the oil until softened. Add the cauliflower and let it steam for a few minutes. Add broccoli and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat until veggies are soft enough to blend. Turn off the heat and blend the soup with an immersion blender. In a small saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of margarine over medium heat until melted. Add the flour and whisk until combined. Gradually add the soy milk and whisk constantly until thickened and smooth. Add the soymilk mixture to the pot and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper and reheat until hot. Garnish with green onions.

Adapted from this recipe

Portobello Sandwich with Walnut Pesto and Avocado

This recipe looked absolutely delicious so I didn't make many changes. I marinated the portobellos in olive oil and balsamic vinegar and broiled them instead of sauteing. The walnut pesto is just the basic basil, olive oil, walnuts, and parmesan combination (I left out garlic because raw garlic kills me). The only roll-y bread I could find at Trader Joe's wasn't vegan so I didn't bother trying to veganize the pesto, although I have made some good vegan pesto using miso instead of cheese.

Tofu Pot Pie

My Tofu Cookery has made a comeback lately. It's one of the first cookbooks I ever bought and it's one of the best, as long as you're not afraid to make some adjustments to the recipes. For this one, the main change I made was to just press the tofu and stir-fry it in a drop of oil to make it chewy instead of freezing and squeezing. This crust recipe was perfect with Earth Balance shortening. Other than leaving out the bottom crust, this could be a copycat recipe for Amy's Non-Dairy Pot Pie.

Tofu Pot Pie

Have ready:
top crust

Filling:
1 lb tofu, pressed and cubed
1 cup potatoes, cut in 1/2" cubes
1 cup carrots, cut in 1/2" cubes
1 cup frozen peas
1 tbsp oil
1/2 onion, chopped
garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt

Gravy:
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp flour
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 1/2 cups broth
1 1/2 cups soymilk
salt, garlic powder, salt, pepper, paprika, oregano, sage

melted (vegan) butter

Saute the tofu in a tbsp oil until it starts to brown. Set aside. Parboil potatoes and carrots for 10 minutes. Add the peas in at the last minute. Saute the onions with garlic powder and salt. When the onions are soft, add the tofu and veggies and let it simmer while you do the gravy.

Let the oil, flour and nutritional yeast bubble over low heat for a minute. Whisk in the rest of the gravy ingredients and keep whisking until it's boiling and thickened. Mix the tofu veggie mixture and the gravy together in a casserole and cover it with the crust. Brush some melted butter over the crust. Bake it at 350 for about 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, I turned my oven all the way up for a few minutes to let the crust brown.

Lentil Soup

1 tbs oil
~1/2 cup onion, chopped
~1/2 cup carrot, chopped
~1/2 cup celery, chopped

~1 cup potatoes, diced

1 chunk ginger, minced

1 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups dry lentils, sorted and rinsed
1 tbs tomato paste

4 cups veggie broth

1-2 cups water

coriander, cumin, garam masala, garlic powder, freshly ground pepper, salt

~2 oz fresh baby spinach

Heat oil over medium heat in a large pot and add the onion, carrot, celery, and salt and cook until the onions are translucent, about 6 to 7 minutes. Add the potatoes and ginger and cook for about another 5 minutes. Add the lentils, tomato paste, broth, water, and spices and stir to combine. Increase the heat to high and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook at a low simmer until the lentils are tender, about 35 minutes. Give it a few pulses with an immersion blender, but leave it chunky. Taste the soup and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Add the spinach and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

Adapted from my mom's recipe and this one

Corn Soup

I can't remember how I made this, but I think it was pretty much just fresh corn, veggie broth, and soy creamer. The soup came out creamy, delicious, and unusually sweet and I thought "damn, this is some sweet corn" but then I ruined some lemon caper sauce by using the same soy creamer and realized that the sweetness in the soup might not have been the corn. I've used Trader Joe's soy creamer to replace heavy cream in savory dishes before, and it never used to turn them into desserts. WTF, TJs?