Hello Fellow Fewd Junkies!

I haven't posted in a while because I've been doing absolutely no cooking. I've been in central California visiting my father and younger siblings. My meals at the house have been limited to spinach salads and boca burgers. Nothing too inventive. I did however encounter a few food gems when my family and I journeyed to Santa Cruz this past weekend.

The first was at Falafel House. The staff was surprsingly helpful and the food was delicious. While my family was off dining at a local burger place downtown, I wandered off to find more vegan friendly nomz and this is where I ended up. I ordered your standard falafel pita with a side of pita chips. If you do find yourself at Falafel House, be sure to order the vegan tahini sauce, which is friggin' godly. The default tahini sauce they give you has dairy in it.

The next place that floored me was Badass Coffee Company. It's establishments like this that make me ashamed to be employed at Starbucks. Their coffee selection is limited to Kona, but that was perfectly fine with me. They had soy options and even their white mocha syrup was vegan. As if that weren't enough to win me over, they offered vegan options in the pastry case! I ordered some vegan chocolate cake which was rich and dense and moist and pretty much everything that chocolate cake should be. They also had oat bars that were on par with Clif bars. The staff was very friendly and helpful here as well. It made me a little sad that they were located in the more commercial section of downtown Santa Cruz.

EDIT: A few hours after this post, my father was kind enough to take me to Davis to eat at a restaurant I'd been eyeballing for a while via the interwebz. We ate at Delta of Venus. While this isn't a vegetarian or vegan restaurant, it has both options available. My father was able to eat a turkey sammie and I had a curried tofu salad sammie. The tofu salad was alright considering that I find soy mayo positively disgusting. I also got a homemade chocolate chip bran muffin that was later enjoyed with a glass of soy milk for dessert. This restaurant had a nice little atmoshpere despite all of the pretentious art fags that littered the lawn. Davis is a quaint little college town and Delta of Venus definitely reflected that.

Falafel Pitas with Homemade Hummus

Talk about a chickpea overload. This meal contained an obscene amount of protein and was positively delicious. My only criticism: I would've baked these. Either my bum efficiency apartment stove is well, a bum efficiency apartment stove or these just don't gt cooked through the center when they're fried. Also, due to my hormonal stove top's incosistent tempurature, they got mildly deep fried and a little burnt on the outside.

While I've made my fair share of homemade hummus, I've NEVER made falafel from scratch. I'm not sure how authentic this recipe is, but it certainly did the trick. This meal was ideal because it allowed me the opportunity to sneak onions into EVERYTHING. Seriously. I can't stress enough how perfect this recipe would have been if I would've I'd only baked it.

Baked Mac 'n Cheez

Super Ultra Comfort Fewd Nomz achieved! This took less than 45 minutes to prepare and cook and was so wonderful. It was even enjoyed by a cheese-addicted friend of mine. Win. I used my Supa Simple Mac Sauce and two cups of macaroni. For the topping I sprinkled a handful of Panko breadcrumbs and about a teaspoon of both paprika and pepper. Also, if you have taste buds are even remotely similar to moi, you'll throw in an onion. Just for good measure.

Tofu Ricotta Stuffed Shells

This was completely fantastic. I used the recipe found in How it all Vegan! for my tofu ricotta and kind of free-styled everything else. This recipe calls for about 16 shells. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. I opted to throw some soy mozzarella slices on top. NOMZ! I advise you do this after your shells have finished baking otherwise they will pretty much just disintegrate. This made 2 large servings. (4 small servings)

Tomato Sauce

1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
water, add as needed in tablespoons
1 small yellow onion, minced
1 large tomato, diced
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
2 tbs tomato paste
1-2 tsp oregano
3 tsp basil
salt and pepper to taste

In a large sauce pan, on medium-high heat, stir in mushrooms, onions, and garlic with a tablespoon of water and cook until mushrooms are tender. Add tomatoes and another tablespoon of water if needed. Allow the tomatoes to dissolve a bit and add the spices, then add paste and sauce. Continue to add water if necessary in tablespoon increments. Reduce heat and cover until ready to serve over pasta.

How it all Vegan! Tofu Ricotta

1 lb medium tofu
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp oregano
3 tsp basil
1 tsp salt
2 tbs lemon juice
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups spinach, chopped


In a blender or food processor, blend all ingredients other than the spinach. Blend until the mixture achieves a consistency like cottage cheese. Add water if needed. Stir in spinach and set aside until ready for use.

On the Grill

This past weekend I went up to my mother's. The prime objective every time I visit her is to make use of both her awesome kitchen and her even more awesome garden. The menu: grilled tofu, grilled squash, roasted sweet potatoes with red onions, grilled portabellos, and bread. The tofu was marinated with soy sauce, olive oil, a hefty amount of minced garlic, and fresh thyme and lemon basil picked from her garden. The squash was marinated in a simple garlic, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar mixture. The potatoes were roasted with red onions and cilantro, also fresh from my mom's garden. And, finally, the mushrooms were coated with olive oil and garlic. Simple, but oh, so satisfying.

And, for dessert, I made my favorite banana nut bread recipe and sprinkled chocolate chips atop the batter. Leave it to me to figure out a way to add chocolate to EVERYTHING.

Bean Burritos with Spanish Rice

Hai frandz. Long time no post. I haven't been doing a lot of cooking lately mainly due to the fact that I have been in the process of moving/settling into a new apartment. On with the fewdz.

I developed a love/hate relationship with these burritos. I loved them because they were forking delicious and simple to make. I hated them because I stuffed my face so hard that it made drinking later that night miserable and damn near impossible. :(

These burritos were completely improvised which means the measurements aren't exact, but rough estimates. I initially intended on making black bean burritos, but after realizing I had failed to buy a can of black beans during my most recent Kroger excursion, I resorted to that pound of pintos I had sitting in the back of my cabinet. Still. So. Good.

Bean Burritos with Spanish Rice

Ingredients:
1 lb pinto beans
6 cups water (for hydrating beans)
1 green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic
1-2 tbs paprika, cayenne, ground cumin
tortillas of your choosing
salt, pepper, and cilantro to taste

If you are planning on making these burritos, I recommend preparing beans the night before. In a medium saucepan, boil the water and add the beans. Let boil uncovered for about 30 minutes. Add garlic and spices. Reduce heat and cover. Let beans cook for another hour. I prefer to let them sit over night in the refrigerator so they build up the right consistency. After they have sat, add the bell pepper. What you do next with them is entirely your choosing. You can either mash them with a potato masher for refried beans or you can add about another 1/2 cup water and reheat them on the stove top.

For the rice:

Ingredients:
2 cups basmati rice
1 6 oz. can of tomato paste
1 tsp turmeric, or a thread of saffron if you're fancy like that
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin, plus more for the rice
black pepper to taste

Prepare basmati rice as directed on packaging, (usually 4 cups of water to 2 cups of rice with 1-2 tbs of Earth Balance, plus 1 tsp cumin.) After you uncover the rice when it is nice and fluffy, turn of heat but leave saucepan on burner. Add spices first because the tomato paste makes it more difficult to work with and incorporate the spices well. Enjoy!

Shepard's Pie

This was my first time cooking/eating shepard's pie, vegan or otherwise. I had no idea what I was missing out on. It is simply the perfect comfort food. In preparation for this meal, I had skimmed through various shepard's pie recipes on the interwebz. This recipe is an adaptation of on I found on VegWeb and from It Ain't Meat Babe. Enjoy!

Loaded Shepard's Pie
5 russet potatoes
1/2 red onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, sliced or shredded
1 bunch of kale, chopped
4 oz. mushrooms, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp basil
1 cup Morning Star crumbles or TVP
3/4 soy milk
1tsp cornstarch
1 tsp flour
1 tbs nutritional yeast
salt and pepper, to taste

Wash, peel, and boil potatoes, as you normally would mashed potatoes. While potatoes are boiling, saute onion and garlic in some olive oil on medium high heat until translucent. Add remaining vegetables and bay leaf. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Alow vegetables to wilt a bit. Add soy crumbles and remaining spices and cover. When crumbles are soft, add soy milk, conrstarch, yeast, and flour. Mix well and allow to boil. Prepare an 8 x 8 baking dish. Spoon vegetable filling into dish and flaten. Do the same with potatos. Sprinkle some oregano and thyme on top. Broil for 4 minutes. Stuff face.