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Veganmofo: Selection of Quick meal tips: Frozen Burgers

{ October 3, 2011 @ 5:04 pm } · { burgers, easy vegan eats, easy vegan steps, mid week meals, quick and easy, Quick Meal Tips, Veganmofo, VeganMofo V, weeknight meals }
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Being a student sometimes bringing cooking to a back burner, I won’t get into a post about the various levels of terrible junk I consume in the guise of ‘diner’ most evenings (maybe another post). But I found a selection of easy, under 30 minutes to whip up meals which I’ve enjoyed over the past few weeks.

The key to quick and easy meals is timing, multitasking and sometimes convenience food. Ok, so you going to grab that frost bitten veggie burger and pull a sesame seed bun out of the freezer, again. No big deal, take a few extra steps and it can really make the difference.

Tips for burgers from the freezer:

Marinade or sauce it. Glaze your frozen patty in a thick, maybe sweet BBQ sauce, or Plum Sauce. Raid your condiment shelf for inspiration.
Take the time to pre-heat the cast iron or use a grill. Sure, it’s a frozen burger but it’ll taste better grilled or seared properly.
Toppings. Avoid the urge to squirt ketchup and call it a day. Mix it up with salsa, veggies, fruit (grilled pineapple!), chutney or some fancier pickles/sauces from the local market. Even adding lettuces/tomato gives you something fresh and a nice contrast to the chewy burger texture.
Onions/Mushrooms. They fry up in minutes and can take the bruger experience to the next level.
TOAST YOUR BUNS. If you spend time on nothing else, crisp the inside of that bun.

The little Darling featured below may appear simple with its no-name ketchup and mustard, but the secret lies in that big meaty chunk of purple heaven. A wide slice of onion, which I baked in the oven (directly on the rack) and then broiled just before the burger finished. Amazing.

Happy Mofo’ing!

Veganmofo: Life Hacking tips/tricks 1

{ October 3, 2011 @ 4:18 am } · { Garlic, life hacking, peeling garlic, Veganmofo }
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Maybe I am late to the game, but have all of you seen this?

I’m looking at you Isa Chandra, QuoirQueer, The ppk in general and basically all garlic lovers.

This video may just change your life.

How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds from SAVEUR.com on Vimeo.

Via the VeganMofo Twitter Account: Has a Non-Vegan Ever Cooked For you

{ October 2, 2011 @ 8:01 pm } · { love, loved ones, non-vegan cooking for me, pickles, potatoes, unhealthy, Veganmofo, Veganmofo twitter, VeganMofo V }
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This isn’t the most inspiring of posts, but the tweet caught my interest and maybe it’s love but I’ve been pretty touched by some minor efforts on behalf of my family and friends for their short-green-haired-vegan.

The most recent meal cooked for me by a non-vegan was from my lover A. It wasn’t fancy, heck it wasn’t healthy or balanced, but it was really sweet (for me anyway). Coming from a 20’something guy who doesn’t cook and eats Kraft dinner out of the pot for himself the effort was nice.

Ok, no more lies, the big seller is I just really, really love potatoes. He wound up baking us both up some potatoes which we ate with a variety of pickles he has stashed about his apartment. At the time I was staying with him and his roommate because I was homeless, going through a super rough time, not eating much (because I was a) couch surfing and b) low on $). So having a full stomach and eating with someone (who did all the cooking) was a nice change.

If I recall correctly, it was baked potatoes, bread and butter pickled vegetables, dill pickles and some pickled beets possibly with minute maid mix-from frozen juice. It wasn’t glamorous, but sometimes being taken care of by someone (despite their abilities/usual tendencies) was really nice. There is no better way to care for someone or take care of them then to feed them. That’s my mind set anyway.

VeganMofo: Another short quirp, the magic of sprouts

{ September 20, 2011 @ 1:31 pm } · { brussel sprouts, Greens, quick and easy, Uncategorized, Veganmofo, VeganMofo V }
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Brussels Sprouts get a lot of flak, I find shredding them and frying them to crisp makes these tasty morsels come alive.

Great simple way to eat your greens

1 stock of Brussel sprouts, shredded
1 tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic
handful of sesame seeds
1 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper
cast iron pan preheated.

Saute garlic, then add sprouts in batches. Season, cook until starting to crisp.

Vegan Mofo V !!

{ September 17, 2011 @ 12:56 pm } · { Vegan Mofo, Vegan month of food, Veganmofo, VeganMofo V }
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That’s right kids, Vegan Mofo is back again! So gear up for the 2011 version of vegan internet food madness!http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

I’ll be back again this year and am hoping this blog-a-thon month (coming to an internet near you this October) will give me the boost I need to keep eating/cooking and writing about it regularly.

So stayed tuned for my soon to be announced theme and check out the veganmofo site to get the lay down on how to join or to grab the much coveted RSS Feed when it is realease.

Vegan Mofo 2011

VeganMofo: Simple Diner for a busy week day

{ November 9, 2010 @ 9:16 pm } · { diner, food porn, leftovers, mid week meals, student food, Veganmofo, Veganmofo IV, weeknight meals }
{ Comments (2) }

Listening to Violent Blue rant about porn and sex censorship, furries, tribbles, steve jobs, masterbation and 4chan raids.

Thinking about sex positive teaching and chowing down on the leftover potato salad mash from Iron Chef and my heartwood Cheezesteak special from the Vegan Anniversary Celebration.

Glorious saucy shot:

Foodporn because that’s all you mofo’ers really care about.

Potato close up with the lovely homemade pickles ❤

Sandwich on kamut bread:

Veganmofo: Vegan Iron Chef: Mashed Potatoes: Jyagatama

{ November 7, 2010 @ 7:07 pm } · { bento, don't eat off the sidewalk, japnese, jyagatama, lunches, mashed potatoes, potato salad, potatoes, Vegan Iron Chef Challenge, Veganmofo, Veganmofo IV }
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This weeks Vegan Iron Chef Challenge (posted on fridays by the lovely Katie @Don’t Eat off the Sidewalk will keep the posts and possible round ups (?) going.

This weeks challenge was :drumroll: Mashed Potatoes!

I cannot express how much I am looking forward to the results. I had a few different ideas, potato pancakes, cupcakes, burgers, mashed potato frosting for ‘neat’ loaves. So many possibilities with one of my favourite foods, even the Veganmofo round up of Sweet potato Gnocchi.

Then I remembered one of my Bento cookbooks and a recipe I’d been eyeing for a while for the adorable Jyagatamas. Which are basically like a potato salad dough ball. Cute, small, fast, adroable, simple and used everything I already had on hand!

Another tip, for a more traditional feel a potato ricer or food processor will give a smoother mash and lead to nicer balls. Mine are a tad ‘rustic’ due to the fork based mashing.
Plus they would make an adorable addition to lunches for the week.

Here’s the basic recipe:

Edit: mine were a bit to moist and almost hummusy in parts. Traditionally they are fairly dry and starchy. The flour edition kinda helped but next time I would cut the veganaise down to 1/4 cup to test the waters.

4 cups mashed potatoes (or a pot full of potatoes choppped and boiled)
3 carrots matchsticked, these only need to blanch for 2 minutes, I added them to the potatoes just before they were done
1/2 cup veganaise**
2 tps stone ground spicy or dijon mustard
4 pickle slices chopped, extra picked onions all diced (I had some great homemade stuff form my dad’s girlfriend)
dash of lemon juice
celery seed
pepper
chopped parsely
minced garlic

One the potatoes and carrots are cooking, dice your pickles and combine with everything else in a bowl. Whip together and wait until potatoes/carrots cool. Once cool mashed the potatoes with the dressing in the bowl the toss in carrots and toss to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning.

chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow flavours to combine. One the mixture is cool roll into little balls and serve immediately or chill for future use!

Traditionally they tend to contain peas and other cooked veggies but I only had carrots on hand. These were also a little wet so I experimented with adding a bit of WW flour to some.

Veganmofo: The Vegan Nacho

{ November 6, 2010 @ 3:31 pm } · { foodporn, Greasy, Nachos, Ode to, Snacks, Veganmofo, Veganmofo IV }
{ Comments (6) }

Heartwood vegan nachos with seasonal beet salsa!
Originally uploaded by B_A_Dxxx88

Maybe I’m just a bit of a nacho fiend, but down to the simplist corn chips and dip, to the white-trashy toffuties cheese slice, green onions and bacon bits, to the fancy restaurant styled cheese sauce, sauted veggies and freshly made salsa. I cannot get enough of these things.

One of the worst and most common cravings I get are for nachos. My Flicker account has seen it’s fair share.. So let’s explore some of the resent styles.

Heartwood vegan nachos with seasonal beet salsa!
The high class organic restaurant nacho: Uses seasonal ingredients, homemade vegan sour cream, fresh cheeze sauce (white and herbed), chunks of veggies baked together so the cheese sauce hardens giving it the combined velvet texture of smooth, creamy sauce and baked chew of cheeze products. The salsas and condiment (tofu based) are freshly made to order with local ingredients and fresh cilantro, but not to much avoiding the soapy taste. Perfection. These my friends are high class nachos.
With the surprising addition of beets and fresh grated carrot. No beans and we didn’t get guac yet somehow the magic persists. The mound of tofu creme wit fresh dill was fantastic and flavoury.

The White-Trash:Cheap commercial cheese melted in the microwave with stimulated bacon bits and jarred salsa. Affordable, greasy and best consumed with horror movies and pepsi.

The Homemade-Effort or Dinner Nacho:
unlike it’s trashy counter part, this made at home duo is hearty and meal like. Suited for superbowl parties or weeknight dinners. This is a simply veggie ground, cooked with veggies, cumin, onions, black beans and salsa until heated and done. Topped with more salsa and toss of nooch or vegan cheese. Served in a bowl and scooped with chips.
This could only be improved with a tofu cream sauce or dollop of lovely guac.

The Retro Night Nacho:
Oven Baked, raw onions, mashed beans-a-la-50’s-can. These are pipping hot, filling, greasy and arguably your getting the best of various worlds here. You have some nutrition, no greens, and the salty-greasy-gotta-have-nacho feeling.

Bonus points for 50’s inspired pyrex baking dishes and thawing out the salsa you made and froze last summer. Pickled jalapeño slices and you’ll be in heaven.

VeganMofo: Daiya the experiment in Vegan Mac-N-Cheeze

{ November 4, 2010 @ 11:10 pm } · { 20 minute dinner, Daiya, mac-n-cheese, vegan mac n-cheese, Veganmofo, Veganmofo IV }
{ Comments (5) }

Silky smooth
Originally uploaded by B_A_Dxxx88

So a few days ago I discovered Planet Organic carried Daiya, the vegan cheeze craze of the internet. I bought some a decided in honour of Mofo I’d do up some experiments.

Let me just say. WOW. This was possibly the smoothiest, silkiest, creamiest experience of my life. I had 3 bowls and have hidden the rest away in the mini fridge downstairs to ensure my roommates don’t steal any.