So, for tonight’s menu, we’re referencing The Complete Vegan Kitchen

For the entrée: Pad Thai (p.198)

I love Pad Thai and it’s been a long time since I had any really good Pad Thai, so why not make it ourselves? It’s a little more elaborate than most recipes I post, but since I had a helper, I had less chances to screw it up. I have a tendency to skim instructions and leave out important parts. Our result: I think there were far too many noodles for the amount of sauce. It was pretty bland, so we had to keep adding things to make it taste better. I would either half the amount of noodles in this recipe or double the sauce.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz wide, flat rice noodles
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons ketchup or chili sauce
• 1 tsp Sriracha sauce
• 2 tsp oil
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
• 3 green onions,  cut on the diagonal into 3/8 inch lengths
• 1/2 C snowpeas, cut into matchsticks
• 4 oz firm tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/4 jicama, cut into matchsticks (optional)
• 1/4 C chopped peanuts
• 1/4 C sunflower or mung beans sprouts
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon chopped Thai basil

Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a large pot. When the water boils, turn the heat off and add the noodles. Let the noodles soak in the water until they are barely tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the noodles in a Colander and rinse with cold water. Reserve.

In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, soy sauce, ketchup, sriracha, and 2 tablespoons of water.

Heat the oil in a wide skillet or wok over medium heat and sauté the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds. Add the carrot and green onions. Sauté for another 1-2 minutes, until the carrot is just barely crisp-tender. Add the snow peas, tofu, jicama, and stir briefly. Add the lime juice mixture and stir to coat the tofu and vegetables, being careful not to break the tofu up too much.

Add the noodles and toss or stir until they are fully cooked and heated through, about 2 minutes. Garnish with chopped peanuts, sprouts, cilantro, and basil.

Makes 4 servings.

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For dessert: Vanilla Pudding (p.304)
note: prepare well before you plan to eat it. It needs to refrigerate for several hours.

I thought we’d go for a simpler dessert, since we already had our work cut out for us with the entrée. And vanilla pudding is delicious. Mmmm.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 C sugar
• 2.5 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 C creamy soymilk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons vegan margarine (optional)

In a heavy-bottomed, medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk in the soymilk slowly so no lumps form. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it begins to thicken. Lower the heat and continue cooking for another minute or until it is fairly thick. Add the vanilla extract and margarine.

Pour the pudding into a bowl or 4 individual cups. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap so that it touches the surface of the pudding (this will prevent the formation of a tough skin). Refrigerate the pudding for several hours.

Makes 4 servings.

My husband and I made these for dinner (our schedules are a little off kilter these days). And we didn’t have syrup But they were still so good! We just topped them with a little Earth Balance. They’re fluffy and yummy and so simple to make!

5 Minute Vegan Pancakes

I definitely eat less salads when it’s super cold out. But today felt like a good salad day. Something light, simple, refreshing, and, yes, healthy!

Ingredients:

• Romaine lettuce, chopped
• cherry tomatoes, sliced
• Vegan cheddar cheese, shredded
• chik’n nuggets, grilled and sliced
• Walden Farms Ranch Dressing (calorie, carb, fat, gluten, cholesterol, and preservative free!)

• McCormick Salad Toppins

I love winter break! I actually have time to make yummy food. This evening’s dish is vegan lasagna. I looked up a few different recipes and kinda did my own thing. Lasagna is fun like that. And is ideal for someone like myself who often strays from standard recipes for one reason or another.

We used a 10.5×7″ stoneware dish, but you could probably go a bit bigger. We reached maximum capacity with ours. And glass works fine, too.

Ingredients:

• handful of fresh basil
• 1 box lasagne noodles
• 12 oz. bag of soy crumbles
• 18 oz jar of marinara sauce (at least)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 C chopped onion (or onion powder)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced (or garlic powder)
• 1.5 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 block vegan cheddar
• 1/2 block vegan mozzarella
• 1/2 tub firm tofu
• tub of vegan cream cheese
• few squeezes of lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Boil lasagne noodles with a pinch of salt to al dente. Drain and cool.
In skillet, simmer soy crumbles with olive oil, onion, and garlic. Once cooked, add marinara sauce, fresh basil (chopped or whole), and oregano.

In food processor, make “ricotta.” Put tofu, cream cheese, olive oil, and lemon juice. Pulse until mixed. Try to maintain coarser texture.

In dish, layer bottom with noodles, then soy crumbles, then “ricotta”, then grate mozzarella and cheddar on top. Repeat layering process 2-3 more times. Top with oregano. Bake for about 40 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes or so before serving.

Note: to avoid burning the edges of the noodles, which is easy to do, cover the noodles completely with sauce. Lesson learned.

After some resistance, I finally gave in and saw The Princess and the Frog with my husband. And I ended up really enjoying it. It’s a good story, funny, visually appealing, and has some enjoyable music. So, this, in addition to Sleeping Beauty, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wall-E, A Christmas Story, and Where the Wild Things Are, goes on my list of approved movies for my future children that won’t annoy the hell out of me.

As we wandered back home in the unbearable cold, we were both salivating over all the gumbo in the movie. Though I didn’t have all the ingredients required, I decided to give it a go. I learned the hard way that okra is a key thickening agent in gumbo. Without it my gumbo was pretty soupy. I also didn’t have file powder, which is powdered sassafras leaves that add authentic Cajun flavor and also serve as a thickening agent. Some recipes call for flour instead.

So, here are some vegan gumbo recipes to keep you warm this winter. There’s quite a variety out there, so you’re bound to find one that suits your palate:

Vegan Chef Glorious Green Gumbo
http://www.veganchef.com/gloriousgreen.htm (calls for nutritional yeast)

Gumbo With Vegan Andouille Sausage

http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2008/05/gumbo-with-vegan-andouille-sausage.html

About.com Louisiana Vegetarian Gumbo:

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/maindishentreerecipes/r/veggumbo.htm

ehow Vegan Gumbo
http://www.ehow.com/how_2079619_make-vegan-gumbo.html

Fat Free Vegan Black-Eyed-Pea Gumbo

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/08/black-eyed-pea-gumbo.html

Fat Free Vegan Crockpot Gumbo

http://www.fatfreevegan.com/crockpot/gumbo.shtml

Recipe Zaar 10 Vegan Gumbo Recipes

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?categ=168%2C54&ls=d

Veg Web Vegan Gumbo

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=27730.0

Recipe Land Pure Vegan Gumbo

http://recipeland.com/recipe/v/Pure-Vegan-Gumbo-31741

Recipe Source Vegan Gumbo

http://www.recipesource.com/soups/soups/04/rec0436.html

Big Oven Pure Vegan Gumbo
http://www.bigoven.com/9930-Pure-Vegan-Gumbo-recipe.html

Vegetable Stew Gumbo

http://www.vegan-food.net/recipe/112/Gumbo/

Baked at 350 for about 20 minutes… give or take depending upon the thickness of the bread. Or bake at a higher temperature if you want it a little less crispy.

Result:

Oh yeah. Yumtown. Vegan yumtown. The bread is thick, but light and airy. And the toppings fresh and magically delicious.

This yellow curry dish is healthy and light, but still full of flavor. It’s easy to make and was loosely inspired by a recipe I found in Food Editors’ Favorites Treasured Recipes for Curried Chicken Roll-Ups. Among other things, I replaced real chicken with Chik’n Strips, and used this great Not Chik’n by Edward & Sons to replace chicken bouillon. It’s fun to veganize old recipes.

ingredients

• Morningstar Chik’n Strips
• grilled eggplant sliced
• grilled zucchini sliced
• 1 cube of Edward & Sons Not-Chick’n Bouillon
• 3 to 4 teaspoons Penzey’s Sweet Curry Powder
• lettuce
• white Basmati rice

Combine chik’n, eggplant, zucchini, curry powder, bouillon, and 2 cups water in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Separate liquid and cook with rice for great seasoning. Once rice is done, pile onto a bed of lettuce (for crunchiness), and finally add Chik’n, eggplant, and zuccini. If there’s any sauce leftover, pour on top. Enjoy! (serves 2)

It doesn’t get much better than sliced tomatoes and cucumbers with garlic hummus and dill weed on toasted whole wheat bead. So easy. So fresh. So fantastic.

Spring is here and this dish is great when combined with a warm afternoon or cool spring evening. Super easy, super tasty pasta dish.

Ingredients

• noodles (alphabet theme optional)
• olive oil
• Morningstar Chik’n Strips
• (mini) cucumbers
• grape tomatoes
• pine nuts
• (iodized) Sea Salt
• basil
• garlic powder

Cook noodles. Strain. Add a splash of olive oil, a dash of salt, some basil, and a few shakes of garlic powder. Crisp the Chik’n Strips in a pan. Once crisp, remove strips, and throw a handful or two of pine nuts into pan. Heat and shake for a couple of minutes. Keep a close eye on the pine nuts- they burn easily. Slice cucumbers.

Add chik’n, pine nuts, cucumbers, and grape tomatoes to pasta. Enjoy!

Sound too good to be true? Well, it almost is. I got the idea from a co-worker who had created a non-vegan version. It sounded delicious and I knew it could easily be veganised (and healthier). Strap yourself in because this dish is absolutely packed with flavor. And it goes great with green beans. Serves 2 at around 250-320 calories a serving (depending on if you use 1 or 2 TBS butter and weather or not you add sundried tomatoes).

What you’ll need:

• 1 bag of MorningStar lightly seasoned Chik’n Strips
• 1 or 2 TBS Earth Balance or other veg spread
• 1/8 block Vegan Mozzarella
• a few leaves of fresh basil (chopped)
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 clove garlic (minced)
• sundried tomatoes (optional)

Preaheat oven to 350°. In small sauce pan, roast garlic for a few minutes, then add butter and simmer a few minutes.

In bottom of a bread pan, place chik’n strips. Grate vegan ‘rella over chik’n. Top with basil. Then pour melted butter and garlic on top. Add a few sundried tomatoes on top (chopped if desired). And top with freshly ground pepper, to taste.

Bake for about 20 minutes. Then, if you like crispier chik’n, broil for a few minutes.

That’s all there is to it.