Roasted Asparagus With Lemon Ginger Sauce (The Vegan 8)

Hi everyone! The new recipe I tried this week – roasted asparagus with lemon ginger sauce from The Vegan 8 – was simple but so delicious, and I’ll definitely make it again! I substituted ground ginger for fresh, and minced garlic for the garlic cloves, and then just whisked the sauce ingredients together instead of using the food processor. To serve with the roasted asparagus, I also made some roasted potatoes and Gardein fishless filets. Everything together made for a great dinner! 

(At first I just used the sauce on the asparagus, but then I decided to add it to everything because it was so good!)

Here’s Leela hanging out in her cat tent… 

Peace. :)

Classic Baked Tofu (Isa Does It)

Hi everyone! I tried another marinated tofu this week, the classic baked tofu from Isa Does It, and it turned out great! I had it with brown rice and asparagus, and added some spoonfuls of warmed leftover marinade as a sauce.

Delicious!

Cringer and Daisy were watching birds together this morning… 

And I started my daily summer sketching with a flowery affirmation… 

dogwood blossom (image source)

Peace. :)

Rainy Day Potatoes

Hi everyone! Today’s another rainy day; I threw some stuff together, and it ended up being pretty good, so I have another contribution to April’s MiniMoFo…

Rainy Day Potatoes

Ingredients:
2 medium gold potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks
¼-½ cup diced frozen onions
1 tablespoon canola oil
¼ teaspoon each of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and smoked paprika
8 stalks asparagus, cut into ~1 inch pieces
12 pieces Morningstar vegan chicken strips

Directions:
Combine potatoes, onions, canola oil, and spices in a small baking dish and cover with foil. Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes, uncover to stir and add in the asparagus, then cover and bake for 30 minutes. Stir and then cook for a bit more, uncovered, if desired (I did about 10 minutes). Microwave the chicken strips, combine with the potatoes, and enjoy!

Here’s Daisy enjoying a sunnier day… 

Peace. :)

Marinated Tofu with Rice and Asparagus

Hi everyone! This week I made more marinated tofu, and it was another success, including the leftovers! For the marinade, I combined 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce, 1 tablespoon canola oil, 3 teaspoons Bragg liquid aminos, and 1 teaspoon sriracha. I baked the marinated tofu pieces for 15 minutes at 350°F, flipped them, and baked for another 10 minutes.

Served with quick-cooking brown rice, steamed asparagus, and some leftover marinade as a sauce.

Here’s Leela on her little pillow... 

Peace. :)

Easter Food

Hi everyone! Zach and I hosted Easter dinner again this year; I think I’m getting better at perfecting the menu, haha! For a snack, we had Treeline cheese (we’d been planning on Miyoko’s but couldn’t find any nearby) with crackers, and I made a vegetable soup, but I forgot to take pictures of them, so moving on to the main event, here’s my plate...

asparagus nut stir-fry, crescent roll with garlic powder and oregano, green beans (from my mom), corn and mac bake (from my sister), Tofurky vegan ham, and boiled potatoes with caramelized onions and dill

Dessert was a cake from my mom and a pie from Zach’s mom...

Bonus food: For dinner yesterday, I made yellow rice and asparagus, with some Gardein crabless cakes. The rice and asparagus were good, but the crabless cakes were just OK. I probably won’t get them again since there’s other Gardein foods that I enjoy more.

Here’s Daisy being a kitty loaf…

And then posing for her close-up...

Peace. :)

April MiniMoFo: Asparagus, Mushroom, & Parsnip Stir-Fry

Hi everyone! April’s MiniMoFo theme is “in season,” so I picked three (asparagus, mushrooms, & parsnips) from the Seasonal Food Guide for PA in late April. I used the asparagus nut stir-fry recipe, replacing the peppers and walnuts with parsnips and mushrooms, and serving it atop farfalle pasta. This was my first time having parsnips, but I wasn’t really a fan. (I steamed them for a bit, then added them to the stir-fry to cook further.) All in all, though, it was fun to try something new (and seasonal), and the rest of the dish was pretty good!

Here are Buttons and Cringer sharing the couch...

Peace. :)

Vegan Easter 2017

Hi everyone! On Sunday, Zach & I hosted Easter. For a snack, we had Miyoko's chive & garlic herb cheeses with crackers... 

Next was an Easter vegetable soup (we also had rolls, made by Zach’s mom)…

And for dinner, we had: 

Tofurky ham!

Roasted red potatoes (made by my mom)

Boiled potatoes with caramelized onions & dill

Roasted asparagus (with canola oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper)

And green beans (also by my mom)

Here’s a picture of my full plate… 

Dessert was a messy but yummy chocolate mousse pie with So Delicious coco whip to top it off, but I forgot to take a picture!

Here are Cringer and Daisy being sunshine kitties in the doorway…

Peace. :)

Vegan Easter 2016

Hello everyone! Zach and I hosted a vegan Easter dinner this year, and it was pretty fun! For a snack before dinner, we had two Miyoko's Creamery cheeses (garlic herb & chive) with three different kinds of crackers, but I forgot to take a picture!

For dinner, my dad made Easter vegetable soup... 

My mom made roasted red potatoes and green beans... 

Zach's mom made cinnamon butter crescent rolls... 

And I made agave-glazed kielbasa (ingredients: Tofurky kielbasa, olive oil, agave nectar, cinnamon, orange juice, and brown sugar), asparagus and saffron and garlic aioli, and au gratin potatoes...

My plate :)

For dessert, I made chamomile lavender cupcakes. I've made them before, but they turned out looking a bit weird this time (I think the problem was too much coconut oil), but they still tasted good. I made another batch of the cupcakes last night (minus the icing), experimenting with some changes: grinding the lavender, chamomile, and 1/4 cup sugar (then adding the 1/2 cup remaining sugar); only 1/8 cup melted coconut oil; combining the coconut oil thoroughly with the lavender/chamomile/sugar before adding the coconut milk (instead of almond milk); 1 ¼ cups flour; and 3 T of the final batter for each cupcake. And they turned out much better this time... 

In other news, tomorrow starts the Phoenixville Vegan Pledge (by Peace Advocacy Network); this will be my fourth year being a mentor, so I'm excited!

Peace. :)

Chris' Portobello Mushrooms

Hello on the 25th day of the Vegan Month of Food, and the fourth day of my Parks and Recreation theme week! (This post also fits in with the Work With it Wednesday theme, since I was a bit skeptical of portobello mushrooms and haven't been that much of an asparagus fan.)

Chris' Portobello Mushrooms

In "Indianapolis," (season 3, episode 6), Leslie and Ron are traveling to the city to receive a commendation award, but all Ron cares about is eating at his favorite steakhouse. When they arrive, however, they discover that it has been shut down due to a health code violation. Chris, who now lives in Indianapolis, offers to "fire up the grill" at his place. While preparing the meal, Chris offers some salad to Ron. (Hehehe, look at me, I finally figured out how to embed a video in a post!)

Chris: Ron, would you like some salad?

Ron: (chuckles) Since I am not a rabbit, no, I do not.

Chris: Try it, salad's good for you. (serves him some salad)

Ron: You got it. (Chris leaves to work on the rest of the meal, Ron dumps his salad back into the main serving bowl) Mmmm, delicious!

Later, when Ron goes out to the grill to check on the steaks, he discovers that Chris isn't actually cooking steak... 

Ron: Ahhhh!!!!

Leslie: Ron?

Ron: What in the devil's name is this?!

Chris: Portobello mushrooms.

Ron: Where's the steak?

Chris: Oh, there's no steak. That's a healthier option. It's organically grown.

Ron: Oh... (gets unsteady)

Leslie: Ron, are you OK? Woah, woah, woah, OK. (helps Ron into a chair) (to Chris) Can you get us a cold compress or something?

Ingredients for Chris' meal:

--2 organic portobello mushrooms

--olive oil

--salt

--pepper

--asparagus

--rosemary

--garlic salt

--red and orange peppers

--mixed greens

Pre-heat oven to 400°F, cover a baking tray with a sheet of aluminum foil. Clean, de-stem, and de-gill the portobello mushrooms. Brush olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides, set bottom-up on the tray. Trim the asparagus, lay them out in a baking dish. Drizzle olive oil atop, and sprinkle on some rosemary, garlic salt, salt, and pepper. Bake both the mushrooms and the asparagus for 10 minutes. Flip the mushrooms, add sliced peppers and a bit more garlic salt to the asparagus and stir. Return mushrooms and the asparagus dish to the oven to bake for another 10 minutes. Prepare a salad using the mixed greens. After removing the mushrooms, allow them to sit for a bit on a folded paper towel to soak up excess oil. Serve with the asparagus dish and the salad.

The portobello mushrooms turned out better than I expected. They weren't as oily as I'd feared they'd be and they were nice and soft on the inside. The texture of mushrooms has always seemed weird to me, but it really wasn't too bad. The asparagus dish was alright; I think I used too much olive oil, so maybe next time I make it, it'll be better. The salad, being just mixed greens, was plain; I don't really like dressings, so I ended up just chopping up some of the mushroom and asparagus and peppers to mix them in with the greens, and combining everything together in one dish worked out nicely.

But wait, there's more! Before making this dinner, I prepared a quick appetizer...

The Snakehole Lounge's Pigs in a Blanket

Also in this episode, April and Andy go out together to the Snakehole Lounge, a Pawnee bar. Andy is embarrassed that he doesn't have money to buy drinks, so April suggests that they see how much free stuff they can get throughout the night. At one point, she comes back with a whole tray of pigs in a blanket.

April: I got this from a waiter. I told him I had a pork deficiency.

Andy: Sweet! Pigs in a blanket! I always wondered why they called them that...

Ingredients:

--4 Lightlife Smart Dogs

--1 package vegan crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 350°F. Unroll the rolls and slice the smart dogs in half. Roll up one half smart dog in each roll. Place on greased baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes. Serve & enjoy!

Apart from getting a bit burnt on the bottom, these "pork-deficient" (vegan) pigs in blankets turned out great, very delicious for being so easy to make. I only had two of them, so I'm looking forward to finishing off the rest in the next couple days; yum!

Bonus quotes from the episode:

April: Hey, uh, six beers for, uh, table twelve.

Woman behind bar: Do you work here?

April: Yeah, my dad owns this place. I'm Janet, Janet Snakehole.

Here's a picture of Mystery curled up, all snuggly on the couch.

Peace. :)