Junk Food: Fries and Gravy

This is one of those meals that initially inspired this blog and title, the classic dinner of the university student: Fries and Gravy.

Bonus points on the junk food scale here for utilizing Frozen Steak Cut Fries baked at 450 as per-package.

The gravy utilizes some of my lovely dark onion/garlic based veggie broth and a simple gravy recipe.


Simpleton Gravy

• Homemade Veggie Broth
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed-n-minced
• fresh pepper, grey salt, paprika and cumin
• roux: Earth Balance and WW flour
• Corn Starch (if needed)

First melt your margerine in the pan over medium high heat, turning down to avoid burning. Sautee the onion with salt-n-pepper, adding the garlic, cumin and paprika once the onion is translucient. Cook until fragrant and add in your flour a little at time. Use a whisk to make the roux and cook until darkened.

Once the roux is cooked, slowly add the broth whisking as you go to ensure everything is mixing well. Continue to cook and add broth until you've reached the desired volume and thickness. If thickening isn't enough add a corn starch slurry and continue to cook.

Remove fries from the oven and plate with gravy and more salt/pepper.

Quick-n-Easy-Student-Smoothie

Something cheap and easy to throw together in the morning or the night before a busy day of classes.

Cheapest option is always to use what you have, Bananas are a great smoothie food and one of the cheapest foods around, but get creative with whatever you have.

Quick-n-Easy-Student-Smoothie

• 2 Bananas
• Chocolate Soy-milk
• Pea Protein powder
• hand full of spinach

Blend the spinach, pea protein and a splash of chocolate soy-milk until totally smooth. Add the banana in sections and blend until smooth.

Toss in a travel mug if you are supper short on time.

Enjoy!

Veganmofo: Late night snack

NaNaNaNaNa...KALE CHIPS!! KALE CHIPS!!

Yup, the farmers market produced a lovely haul of kale, so I decided to bake them into salty nooch heaven. There are some super complex recipes out there but I keep mine dirt simple.

Lazy-persons-kale-chips

• 1 bunch of kale, de-stemmed, dried and torn
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 cup of nooch
• 1 tbp coarse salt or more to taste
• 1 tbp chili powder

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash, de-stem and dry your kale. Toss dry torn leaves into a bowl with oil and massage until coated. Afterwards dump/sprinkle in the nooch. Toss and massage some more, before adding the salt and chili powder. Alternatively take you noochy kale and lay it out in a single layer then sprinkle with salt/chili powder.

Bake for about 5-7 minutes, until the kale is crispy but not burnt.

 Eat immediate and pat yourself on the back for all those super food nutrients you are now enjoying.

Veganmofo: Selection of Quick meal tips: Frozen Burgers

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: Another short quirp, the magic of sprouts

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.

Theppk's Cookbook Challenge #2: Week 1 Apetite for Reduction!

That's right, cookbook challenge is back! This time we'll be starting with Isa's latest book.

Get all the details on this weeks challenge and snoop what everyone else is making here.


My first dish is simmering away from page 133

Mango BBQ Red Beans!

Super easy and man does it smell good. Not sure I'm going to want to add Agave to it... Maybe I will eat a bowl and then decide.

Super easy directions, pantry friendly stuff and it comes together quickly.

JUST BE SURE TO KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THE ONIONS AND GARLIC. Maybe cook on 5 or lower, I caught mine burning a few times.

Otherwise it smells and tastes fantastic. I served mine over brown rice and saved the rest for lunches.

Veganmofo: unlikely pair

This is one of my current late night, no groceries and papers due in 6 hours meals.

Potatoes and sesame seeds!
Because protein is important, but not always present in my apartment.

Needs:
Cast iron skillet
Olive oil
Sesame Seeds
Potatoes
Garlic
cumin, mustardseed, sage, thyme, oregano, paprika, Cayenne, coriander, rosemary, pepper and anything else you find laying around.

Pre-heat oven to 400, dice potatoes and toss in oil, spices and seeds.
Throw your skillet into the oven with potatoes (I put extra oil over top, to be good and sure nothing sticks). cook for 20-30 minutes or until done.

Stir occasionally and enjoy!



Apologies for the bad photos, this was eaten late and our lighting is awful.

Veganmofo: White Trash Food: The White-Trash-A-dia (or using unused appliances )

One of the veganmofo recurring themes is using Appliances you never use, one of mine would be my Gorge Forman Grill. So when lunch time hit, I busted that puppy out to make some white trash quesadilla.

May I present the "White-Trash-a-dia!"


Earlier this week I found some cans of amy's re-fried beans on sale at planet organic! so today I whipped one out with some vegan cheese slices and jar of salsa.
Here's what it takes:


white trash quesa
1 can re-fried beans (spicy)
1 jar medium salsa
1 pita pocket (or tortilla)
2 slices of processed vegan cheese
optional: pickled jalapeños

Pre-heat your forman grill. As it preheats tear your cheese slices and cover the bottom of your pita. Open the can of re-fried beans and using a knife spread a suitable layer of beans over the surface of the pocket. If you have jalapeños add them too, and roll up your pocket.



Place on pre-heated grill and press down (watch when you press down on the grill! I burnt my finger... again). Wait until the outsides are toaste d and crispy and the "cheese" melts and starts to come out the ends.

Enjoy with a side of salsa or to up the white trash feel free to include vegan sour cream or vegan cream cheese and bacos.

VeganMofo: Taco Dinner

Just a quick write up about a quick and easy favourite. TACOS!



Back home this was one of the few meals my mother (notoriously picky eater) would eat, so it became somewhat of a staple. Now usually we served these puppies with diced peppers, onions, tomatoes, mixed greens and fancy fixings. But with our limited pantry we keep it pretty simple:

Yves classic ground
Salsa
Garlic
Romain lettuces
And shells

Usually I would dice mushrooms and onions to fry with the garlic but as my roommate hates both those things, we skipped them. First brown your garlic in the pan, then fry your fake meat until heated and crispy. If you have any favourite seasonings feel free to add them in as it cooks, I used paprika and pepper because supplies where limited. Now you add your salsa and continue to cook until it gets all nice and bubbly. The salsa will cook down and flavour your fake meat to make a simple and tasty filling for your crispy shells.

Note: I also like to heat the shells in the oven for 5 minutes so they get extra crispy and a little toasted.



Serve in shells with lettuces and toppings of choice. Mine was an extra dollop of salsa and hot sauce. MMM.

What are you favourite taco fixings?

More photos from a kitchenless cook

Despite my lack of kitchen, I have still been eating and photographing but with my new job and early, early hours blogging has taken a back seat (I apologize). So to hold you foodies over, here is another set of eats from our kitchenless home.

One of the absolute easiest and go to meals this past month has been roasted potatoes and packaged vegan meats. Sad but true. Roasted veggies (primarily potatoes) are easy and simple to prepare, very basic/minimal chopping and then tossed with spice mixes and oil you can toss it onto a baking tray and slide it into the oven and forget it. You can even reuse the same baking sheet for the next few batches (not optimal for sanitation, but with no sink for dishes I was comfortable with letting this slide). I just threw the vegan bacon onto the baking tray once the potatoes where soft.
Another dish that brings shame to the supposed health of a vegan diet but is right at home on this blog. Mashed potatoes topped with fried yves veggie dog slices and onions. Fluffy, crispy, greasy and fatty. Excellent. Look at how it shines (... ok, now I feel a little like paula dean).
And another quick shot of the bechemel sauce from last post, I just enjoy the kitchen carnage hidden in the back.

Simple Potato Curry

I originally found this on a LJ community and made enough to last me all week. I also used some leftover curry to fill some home made samosas! This is a great week night curry that you can throw together easily and enjoy leftovers for lunch. Being a little lazy and less authentic, I used whole wheat tortillas to scoop this stuff into my face.

Easy Potato Curry

4 large potatoes, unpeeled diced and boiled until soft.
2 T canola oil
1 yellow onion diced
3 garlic cloves
1 large carrot sliced into thin coins
5 t hot curry powder
4 t garam masala
1 fat inch of frozen ginger, grated
2 t paprika
1 t sea salt
1 can stewed tomatoes broken up (or diced if you have it!)
1 can coconut milk
1 large can chickpeas, rinsed
1 can peas, rinsed

Plop your potatoes into a pot of salted water and boil until tender. Drain and set aside.

If you don't have pre-boiled potatoes, do this while you wait.
Warm oil in a large pot (enough to fit everything) over medium heat. Add your onions once the oil is heated, saute for 2-3 minutes before adding your garlic. Once onions are translucent and garlic is fragrant toss in the carrot pieces and cook for 3-4 minutes. Then add your spices. Cook for 1-2 minutes while stirring. Now add your potatoes, rinsed beans and peas, cook for a few minutes. Now dump in your canned tomatoes and coconut milk and bring the whole thing to a low simmer for 5-10 minutes. If you find the curry to liquidly as I did, sift in a little corn starch to thicken it up.

Light and Easy snack

Latest snacking obsession for when I am craving something sweet is a cup of frozen fruit. Berry medley being the way to go, but fruit salad makes a close second. Now just try and save some for your morning smoothies!

Pizza porn

The quick, easy and always a great fall back mid week meal. The pizza. Here in Canada, we are blessed with something called Danny's pizza crusts (now come in WW too!) so our freezer is stocked with pre-made crusts topped with sauce. Now this isn't anything fancy, but it is convenient and cheap. So here we go.

Trying to hold onto my teenage years, my favorite pizza combo is still toffuties vegan slices with yves pepperoni and some herbs. But being as how I haven't bought vegan cheese in a while (and superstore seems to have stopped carrying it {FUCKERS!}) here is a healthier alternative.

Appearing: Green and red bell peppers, carmalised onions (I did this with sugar, because the internet told me too, although good next time I will just cook them), mushrooms, canned pineapple, vegan pepperoni and tomato slices.


Please excuse the lighting, but in these parts dinner is served at 8.

Quick and Easy Pasta Salad

I have never been a fan of those mayo and macaroni salads. I just haven't. But for some reason while thumbing through Reader's Digest Fast and Thrifty from the 70's I came across a recipe and decided, what the heck.

I cut way back on the required mayo substitute and added lemon juice and some spices, I think the result was quite nice.

Here is the recipe I used, with as many adjustments as I can recall.
This recipe serves two (or one hungry me)
1 cup macaroni (WW)
2 stalks celery diced
1 half small red onion diced
1/4 green and 1/4 red pepper diced
1 tomato diced
1/4 broccoli florets diced
4 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons spicy mustard
1/4 cup vegan mayo (more if you like that kinda thing, I like liquidy dressing the original recipes ask for 3/4 cups)
salt and pepper to taste
paprika and garlic powder to taste
Optional: Fresh tarragon

Cook noodles as directed, chop vegetables. In the bottom of a large bowl mix remaining ingredients and add vegetables, tossing to coat. Once pasta is done rinse under cold water until cool then add to bowl and toss to coat. Allow to sit for an hour or as long as you can stand.

Home Sweet Home

First meal back home a simple vegetable stir fry. Basic principles for stir fries, heat wok with some oil (i like to use a splash or two of sesame oil for taste) fry your onions, fresh garlic or ginger (or both!), sesame seeds or nuts, then add the vegetables in order of which cook the longest like carrots.

Be sure to add your favorite spices and sauces half way through cooking. With this stir fry I added my sauce when I added the faux chicken strips. Things like bean sprouts should be added just before consumption.

Fresh vegetables always taste best but frozen works just as well, especially if you plan on using a thick sauce that will coat your stir fry. You can even mix and match frozen with fresh. Be sure to serve your stir fry with your favorite whole grain or grain mix. Here I have a herbed wild rice.

VeganMoFo: Kick ass greens (as promised)

Despite the blog title, I do love me some greens and when I'm not making Kittee's amazing Collards, I like to make something like this:

Kick Ass Greens

• One Large bunch of Greens (I used Rainbow Chard)
• 3 Large Garlic Gloves
• Earth Balance or other Vegan Margarine
• Raw Sunflower seeds
  
• Liquid smoke (just a few drops)

To start wash greens and get ride of any super tough ends. Mince your garlic and melt a generous wedge of EB in your pan. Add garlic and saute until fragrant and tender. As garlic is cooking, slice greens into thin long strips (I like to keep my stems and just dice them finely, their good for you!!). Once Garlic is starting to brown, add in your Seeds and roast until golden. Shake off most of the water and add your greens in batches, allowing them to cook down before adding another handful. Keep stirring and as they cook add in a few drops of Liquid smoke until that hickory scent begins to fill the kitchen. Serve as a side dish, or add to pasta sauce for a healthy kick.

These are also great is diced finely and mixed with a vegan cream sauce over pasta.