Vegan MoFO!

Post #2. Vegan MoFo. Get pysched!

Tonight I made pizza. An old stand by. I could easily eat pizza everyday. There are so many different variations and it's always delicious. The revelation of Daiya vegan cheese has really made pizza even better. I have used all sorts of vegan cheeses, but this one surpasses all in its far superior stretching and melting capabilities.  Tonight I made gluten-free dough and tomato sauce. One pizza used the pesto cheese from last night with spinach and Daiya cheese. The other pizza has roasted portabello mushrooms and onions with tomato sauce and Daiya.

Before the oven.

After the oven.

I decided that the only recipe worth posting is the gluten-free pizza dough because the rest is self explanatory. So here is my dough recipe.

Gluten-free Pizza Dough


1 cup tapioca flour plus more for adjustments
0.5 cups quinoa flour
0.5 cups brown rice flour
1/4 tsp xanthum gum
1 tsp salt


0.75 cups warm water
2 tsps yeast
1 tbsp agave nectar
1 tbsp olive oil


Proof the yeast by mixing all the wet ingredients together. Let sit for 5 minutes. Mix all dry ingredients into the wet. Combine and check dough for moisture/consistency. It should look and feel like normal pizza dough. Let sit for about 15 minutes while you make the pizza sauce and prepare the toppings. Divide dough in half and make two smallish 8-10" pizza rounds. You can roll by hand or with a pin. Place on a cookie tray sprinkled with cornmeal. Coat the dough with olive oil to help it brown. You can prebake this or not. Parbake for about 5 minutes at 400F. Finish pizza  by cooking for ~10 minutes in the oven at 400F. 

Vegan MoFO!

For this first post in the vegan MoFo I decided to write about this old gem of a recipe/method. I say method because it is really much less of a recipe than it is of a method of throwing things together. Its basically a one pot wonder meal that has always gotten me fed on those weeknights when school has dragged me into the dark narrow corners of the library into the wee hours of the morning. Quick, easy, and delicious.

So the dish is basically pasta with potatoes and vegetables and pesto, but really it could be any sauce you want. I just prefer pesto. For this particular dinner I made a parsley pesto using pistachios in place of pine nuts.

Delicious, quick, and easy.

Pistachio-Parsley Pesto (hows that for some alliteration)


1 bunch of parsley, trimmed but keep the stems because they're delicious
0.5 cups shelled pistachios (w/out shells)
0.25 cups nutritional yeast
2 cloves garlic
1/2 a lemon's worth of juice
0.5 cups olive oil
salt and pepper


Put everything in a food processor except the oil then let her rip. Get it all chopped up really well then slowly add the oil while the food pro is whizzing. Let it combine but don't let it get too smooth. 


Quick Meal Method


In a pot of boiling water add some of your favorite potatoes chopped into a dice. Let that boil for 5 minutes then add the pasta. Wait another 5-7 minutes then add your chopped broccoli. Let boil for another 3-5 minutes until everything is tender. Drain. Return to pot. Drizzle with olive oil and then add the pesto. Season. Top with nutritional yeast. Use the proportions that you want so that you get most of what you like the most. Enjoy!




I'm pumped to see what everyone else is doing for this year's mofo!!

Homemade Health Food: French Fries, Nachos, Pizza, Caramel Oat Bars, Donuts

This is just a simple photo essay of the healthiest foods on Earth.... because you know how vegans just eat raw fruits and vegetables and salads. So I thought I would just showcase some of the delicious comfort foods that I have made in the recent past that maybe not everyone knows that vegans do eat.

Vegan Nachos with cashew cheddar cheese, seitan taco meat, salsa, and guacamole

Vegan pita pizzas with seitan pepperoni, FYH vegan cheese, and French fries

Same vegan pizza as above, plated

Caramel oat bars (oatmeal cookie base topped with caramel sauce, chocolate chips, walnuts and chocolate chip coconut cookie dough)

Vegan Boston Creme Donuts and Double Chocolate Donuts

Same doughnuts as above except now they're on a plate.

torta de seitan y frijoles negros con aguacate y queso

This is awesome. A Mexican sandwich with all the fix-ins.

torta de seitan y frijoles con aguacate y queso
good sandwich bread, preferably a baguette
black beans, heated and seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 cup of seitan, sliced thinly
a few slices of vegan cheese (FYH monterrey jack)
1 avocado, sliced
lime juice
a couple tomatoes, sliced
olive slices
shredded lettuce


This is really easy to put together. Just start by caramelizing your onions in some olive oil and garlic then after a bit add some salt and pepper. Then add your seitan. Get that nice and crispy. Season with some cumin and paprika. Once that is ready take your bread and hollow it out a bit so it can hold all the fillings. Add the seitan and beans and cover with slices of cheese. Broil until the cheese is melted and the bread is a bit crisp. Top with the rest of the junk and enjoy it.

the fix-ins

ready for stuffing

broiled

filled

then it was eaten.and that was that.

potato leek soup with fried shallots and whole wheat baguettes

Tonight I made this delicious soup with some russet potatoes, leeks, onions and garlic. The wonderful thing about this soup is that it is so easy and quick to put together. It goes perfect with some delicious French baguettes from the BreadBaker's Apprentice. 

potato leek soup

3 russet potatoes, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 leeks, cleaned, trimmed and sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups soymilk, almond milk, or cashew cream
salt 
pepper
olive oil or vegan butter
chives


Saute the onions, leeks, and garlic in a large soup pot. Season with salt an pepper. Cook until the veggies are soft then add the vegetable stock and potatoes. Cook for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are really soft. Add the cream and puree off the heat. Season with salt and pepper and chives. Heat through for another 5 or 10 minutes. Top with fried shallots. Serve with some delicious crusty bread and vegan butter.

For the fried shallots just chop up some shallots so that you have rings. Dust with flour, salt, pepper and paprika. Heat some oil in a fry pan and shallow fry them. Cook until golden brown.