Product review: veggie gyros by Viana

One meal that Tybrus missed more than anything were gyros. Amongst our most recent Vegan Essentials purchase were these: Veggie Gyro Strips by Viana I had actually never had gyros as an omnivore. Come to think of it, I had never eaten pitas, falafel, or tzatziki until I became vegan. Therefore, it was kind of difficult for me to judge these gyro strips. They tasted a lot like soy chorizo, only firmer. Tybrus said they were good, but didn't really simulate gyro meat very well. I heated them in a skillet with some garlic and red and yellow bell pepper. We also whipped up some homemade tzatziki sauce for the occasion. Honestly, I wouldn't really recommend purchasing these. Your better off making your own with vital wheat gluten and seasoning accordingly.

Tofu Spinach Alfredo

This was thrown together in a bit of a hurry. I used my go- to alfredo recipe that I modified a bit for this recipe and Brianna Clark Grogan's Breast of Tofu recipe that can be found on Everyday Dish. I would've preferred to have used penne, but being that I'm a broke college student, I had to use what was on hand.

Alfredo Sauce
1 cup soy milk
3 tsp chickpea flour
2 tsp all purpose flour
1 tbs nutritional yeast
2 tbs Earth Balance
dash of cayenne
salt and pepper to taste

Bring soy milk to a boil and flour to a boil while whisking constantly. Lower heat and add remainder of ingredients. Continue to whisk until desired consistency achieved. Could this be any easier?

Some Not-So-Recent Fewd Endeavors.

The concept for this dish derived from a certain sous- chef of mine screaming, "This is FRY AND BREAD EVERYTHING NIGHT." It totally was. Totally. I used the Breast of Tofu recipe from Everyday Dish but instead breaded it with garbanzo flour. This gave it such an awesome flavor. I opted to bake the tofu this time around, but I have to say, frying it is definitely the more successful method. The breaded zucchini was a bit of an experiment. It was also breaded with garbanzo flour. I used Ener-G egg replacer in the coating the breading process.
















Next to ramen noodles, casseroles are the ultimate comfort food for me. Not to mention this dish had rice, broccoli, garlic, and an awesome cheeze sauce consisting primarily of tahini and nutritional yeast. Where else could I have found such nomz other than It Ain't Meat, Babe. I was surprised the sauce was as flavorful as it was because it is thinned with water. I found a way to sneak garbanzo flour in this dish, too! Primarily for thickening the sauce. This was really quick and easy. I recommend it as a quick drunken meal or a side dish.

General Tao's Tofu

There was probably nothing healthy about this meal. It's only nutritionally redeeming quality was probably the steamed broccoli. As far as taste goes, I'd like to say: Daaaaaaaaaaaaayummmmm. I'm sure everyone has tried Vegweb's General Toa's tofu without complaint. I'd never tried frying tofu coated in cornstarch before, but it's now one of if not my favorite tofu recipes. I tinkered with the recipe a bit and used the sauce to coat the noodles as opposed to the tofu. Instead of minced ginger, I used powder which made the onion/garlic saute a tad sticky. This was fine because instead of veg stock, I had to use bouillon cubes and 1 1/2 cups of water. Other than that, I stuck to the recipe exactly, and it was nomz. Now, go! Make this tofu!

Loose leaf tea! And, a hearty breakfast.

So, Dave and I are proud tea fanatics. Really, we're passionate about caffeine, in general. It's easy to support this addiction because I work at Starbucks, which entitles me to either a free pound of coffee a week or a pack of Tazo brand tea, either of my choosing, of course. Because, there's always such an abundance of both at the apartment, we very rarely try other kinds of teas, let alone superior loose leaf.















For about $30, we got like, 6 tin cans of loose leaf tea from Adagio. Each small tin is good for about 10 cups of tea. We got the green tea starter package, which came with the tea steeper thing and four kinds of green tea: gunpowder, citron green, genmai cha, and hojicha.
And, damn. So good. This thing is so easy to use and I'm pretty mad that I didn't manage to conjure up this simple design.
















Dave and I also ordered two extra sample size tea cans. I'm a huge Earl Grey junkie and Dave's been wanting to try darjeeling tea. There ya' have it.
















Along with our starter set, Earl Grey sampler, and darjeeling sampler, we got complimentary stuff, too! Because I entered in my date of birth when setting up my account, they sent me Scorpio tea. I guess they have a line of astrological or horoscope teas. I have no idea what it is, really, but it smells fantastic. I know that there is real dark chocolate in it, but I don't know if it contains dairy. I still need to email Adagio and find out. Along with it, we got one of those weaved flowers that blooms in your tea water. Talk about clever fuckin' marketing. They send me one of those, but not the pretty transparent tea pot to make it in. Alright, Adagio, you got me.





















And, above you see it in action. Setting atop your tea mug pushes something up that makes space for the liquid to come out but not the loose leaf tea. And, that mug- it rules. It was one of Dave's birfthday presents and it have the actual molecule for caffeine on it. How perfect.















And, this morning I made brunch which is probably the best meal of the day. I think I've assigned myself this recipe as my signature tofu scramble recipe. It's kind of an adaptation of Julie Hasson's and the one I posted from It Ain't Meat Babe. It was accompanied by some tempeh bacon from VWAV, which I wasn't very happy with. Abrupt post ending, commence.

Dave's Birfday Pizza

There is certainly nothing authentic about this meal, which I guess I feel a little bad about. But, Dave and I both get home some time around midnight every night, and Davey loves pizza. I don't know why I'm posting this because I really cooked none of this, other than the tofu. I "assembled" it. I guess I'm posting this because I'm just really passionate about Teese?

Peanut Tofu and Thai Noodles

Dave and I had this for brunch today. A tad unconventional, I guess. I used the sauce from VWAV and sliced my left index finger while mincing lemongrass for it. What brewtal cooking. I mixed in some broccoli that I steamed with some of that jarred minced garlic and extra-firm tofu, drained and then fried in peanut oil until crispy. Totally worth that chunk of skin I'm missing.

Tofu Scramble and a Moment of Weakness

Chocolate weakness, that is. This was intended to be the chocolate chip cookie recipe from VWaV plus oats and walnuts. But, I was daydreaming, as I often do, and my EB wasn't the right temperature. This led to the texture's demise. The cookie dough wouldn't form into little balls to press out, so I threw it all into a baking dish and patted it out evenly. A little crumby,
but good.

So, my current favorite food blog is It Ain't Meat Babe. I really enjoy reading up on this little lady's food encounters. Her New Year's paella will be gracing my kitchen very soon. Anywho, I tried out her signature recipe for a vegan classic, tofu scramble. Um, awesome? I think it was the paprika that did it for me.

Served on a warm pita. Noms!

Grains and Grains

I would like to apologize for my lack of post. I haven't been doing much cooking because typically by dinner time, Dave and I are beat. We'll usually either just skip dinner or eat the vegan equivalent of a Shake 'n Bake dinner, i.e. some breast of tofu with a random vegetable. The other day I managed to get to the store and spend nearly $100 on fargin' food. (It would have cost more, but my mother's a saint and donated $50.) I bought tons of fresh fruits and vegetables and plan to cook something up tonight. But, until then settle for these cooking endeavors:

South Western Stir Fry

This meal was like, "Hey, what do we have that's about to expire? Oh, we actually have a red bell pepper, too?" I guess this technically constitutes as a stir fry seeing as how it was served over brown rice. It consisted of tofu, potatoes, chickpeas, black beans, corn, and of course the red bell pepper. So much protein. I threw a bit of tomato paste in there to make it creamy and stick.

Simple Sassy Soda Bread

Dave and I have decided that we're going to start making our own bread from now on. We haven't purchased bread in nearly a month. I used the recipe for this in one of Kramer's books, either How It All Vegan or La Vegan Dolce. Too lazy to skim through recipes to find it again. But, this was really awesome. I subbed a cup of all purpose flour for wheat, which no doubt contributed to its texture. I have a really bad habit of doing that, deviating and such. But what the hell, right? If something is just as sweet with 1/4 cup less sugar, then why not? Take it out. Your semi health conscious, right? You're not fargin' Paula Dean, or something.

Home Cooked Meals

This certainly has been a week of experiment. First, I would like to introduce you to my kitty guest:

Jax a.k.a. Jasper

Apparently, I'm my family's go-to gal for pet-sitting. This is my sister's cat baby, and quite frankly, he's not too nice. He's been at my apartment for about three days, and he only started cuddling with us today. What has my sister done to desensitize a cat in such a way? My theory was the stupid collar she forces him to wear. It's blue with a dangling jingle bell intended to alert you of when the kitty is near. I took it off and hid it from him today, and he has been much more pleasant since.

And, now- the food. I discovered Everyday Dish TV this week and it has been life changing. Not only are the recipes simple, recorded, and scrumptious, but I catch myself wishing that Julie Hasson was my mother when I was a youth.

"Breast of Tofu"

Hey, Bryana Clark Grogan, you're a friggin' goddess. After countless unsatisfying attempts at tofu preparation, I'm finally hooked! This is seriously the perfect food for me. It's easy and great for work nights when I get home some time around 11 p.m. I just set tofu strips to marinade right before I leave, coat it in the recommended flour mixture, fry it, and BAM! Dinner is served. The marinade and flour mixture keep refrigerated for up to a week. It's basically a poultry seasoned marinade. I served it with some roasted rosemary potatoes.

the final product.

Another Everyday Dish TV dinner? You got it. I haven't tried vegan ribz since last summer. I used tempeh and baked it in a coating of bbq sauce. BLAND!

This stuff, though. Sooooo nom. You really have to watch both the amount of olive oil you use and the progress of the side that is frying otherwise, well, you'll get a burned set of ribz. Like mine. Even a little crispy, they were still righteous and totally hit the spot. Along with homemade mashed potatoes and sweet corn.

nutty, smokey, tender, and chewey.

And, to finish the night off right, Red Bull Berry Smoothies. I miss you, Raw Times. :( Now, I have to do this myself.