Sundried tomato and mushroom risotto.

Before I get to the deliciousness that was my risotto creation, I would like to share a tale of turmoil and heartache with you. Last night I had a craving for something maple and mustard glazed. I figrued tofu would be the perfect way to remedy this craving undoubtedly brought on by my lady week. I had drained some tofu a couple of days before and decided I was going to an fry it in my cast iron skillet and just pour the maple mustard glaze atop. Negative. Now, I'm no newb to cooking, but needless to say the tofu fell apart in the griddle. I attempted to salvage what wad left in a nonstick pan, but it turned into a scramble like consistency with a sweet maple glaze. Yuck. So what's the point, you ask, of this woe-ridden tale of tofu betrayal? Shit happens. You never stop learning in the kitchen and I hope that people who are new to vegetarianism or veganism know this and don't give up too easily. Also, try to avoid cooking something without a recipe when you're a raging ball of menstruation.

Anyway. This was my very first risotto attempt. Ever. Big stuff. You're witnessing history in the making. My main inspiration was this recipe, but just sundried tomatoes? I think not. I had a ton of white mushrooms that were about to go bad, so I figured that a risotto would be the perfect way to use 'em up.

Sundried tomato and mushroom risotto

1 onion, minced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup arbrorio rice
8 oz white mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
1 bunch of fresh spinach
1-2 tbs dried parsley
2-3 tbs dried basil
1 tsp dried sage
salt and pepper to taste
broth measurements are going to very

In a large saucepan on medium heat, saute onions and garlic until onions become translucent. Be careful not to burn your garlic. Then add your mushrooms and saute until they start to give off juice. Add dry rice and coat with oil. Then add 1/2 cup veg broth and stir. When it starts to absorb add another 1/2 cup broth and the rest of the ingredients. Continue to stir occasionally and add broth in 1/2 cup increments. When rice is al dente and broth is mainly absorbed, stuff ya' face. I topped mine with some soy parmesan. Lovely.

Four meals: all delicious.

Recently, I became an avid follower of a food blog called Healthy. Happy. Life. The recipes are so delicious and simple. I stumbled upon it in cyberspace while searching for a good mashed sweet potato recipe. This was the recipe I found. It was awesome because it allowed me to find the lemon pepper tempeh recipe, as welll, which was based loosely on the new Tempehtations, which I'm too cheap to buy. I ended up not really following her recipe for the sweet potato mash, but everything was delicious. Accompanied by roasted garlic asparagus.

Ty's parents recently began receiving free subscriptions of Vegetarian Times. I was elated to hear this. Ty's parents send the issues to us after his mom gets the chance to write down some of the recipes she wants. This was a recipe for Rigatoni Puttanesca. (Obviously I used bow ties.) It called for half a tube of Gimme Lean Soy Sausage and it was great. The recipes in Veg Times are great because they usually only make two servings, and I'm typically only feeding two.

After receiving the aforementioned free issues of Veg Times, I rediscovered the occasional joy of making something overtly complicated and a little less instant. Behold Vcon's Baja Grilled Tempeh Burritos. My alterations: green cabbage instead of purple, fresh jalapenos instead of pickled, PBR instead of dark beer. What can I say? I'm a class act.

I saved the most comforting for last. Country Fried Seitan with mashed potatoes and more roasted garlic asparagus. With the exception of the asparagus, I would say this is your standard down-home Southern meal. The broth I used for my seitan was the "chicken" one found in La Dolce Vegan! I think the gravy came from Vegweb, or something..

Let me know if you want recipes!

A salute to alcoholism- vegan alcoholism.

Shortly after the holiday season this past Xmas, my love and our roommate got a tad obliterated. My defense was that it was preparation for New Year's Eve. Whatever it was, it was delicious and potent. That evening I had ran out of my poison of choice: whiskey. All that was left in the house was cheap vodka. Though I'm picky and have had my quarrels with vodka, I drank an array of beverages prepared by my love that were delicious. Even if they did have forking vodka in them..

First up was this delicious hand-squeezed screwdriver. There were about 2 1/2 oranges in that drink and I drank every last bit of it.

The after math.


I have a difficult time describing this because 1) I was drunk when the ingredients were described to me and 2) because a lot went into this drink. Ty used a mixture of vodka, soy milk, vanilla rice ice cream, and something else. Delicious.

I do, on occasion, wish that I had multiple sets of parentals.

The meal pictured above brings about such thoughts. Let me start from the beginning: my boyfriend has the most awesome parents in the world. They're complete foodies (just like me.) Every meal his mother has ever cooked for me has been delicious times twelve. During one of our weekend visits there, his mother conjured up a recipe for seitan wellington with a red wine gravy. It was godly. She also made us some vegan stuffing, equally as delicious.















Then for dessert, his mother made phyllo tarts- berry with Toffutti cream cheese filling and an apple walnut one. Alright, these weren't exactly for dessert, they were much more like finger food to snack on while the real meal was being prepared. I like the way that woman thinks.

Acorn Squash and Shitake Soup

Winter has not been too kind to me. The two weeks preceding this one were filled with frigid temperatures and nearly a foot of snow. At least I have had a cuddly kitty to keep me warm. And soup! Glorious soup. This recipe is from Vcon and as usual I had to deviate from the recipe a tad. While the recipe called for adzuki beans, I opted to just save the money and use red beans. It worked out just fine and the difference went undetected.