Zucchini Noodle Soup!

Hey guys!

This is a post I will be sharing with my AWESOME fitness-minded cousin, Shereé. She has a cool new Facebook group called Knockout Fitness and Health and asked for a quick, easy recipe so HERE IT IS.

Some history behind this recipe: I just bought a veggie spiralizer. You may be asking...what the crap is that? Well, it's an awesome little gadget that takes zucchini, carrots and sweet potato and cuts them into a spiral shape that is very noodle-esque. It's great stuff! There are tons of them out there, and this is the one I bought.

Spiral Times!

Look around and see what you can get if you're interested. There are so many different kinds!

Anyway, with said slicer, I made a delicious quick soup! So delicious, I wanted to share the recipe (plus Shereé asked for it).

ZUCCHINI NOODLE RAMEN SOUP!

1 medium zucchini
1 medium carrot
3 green onions
4-5 mushrooms
1 packet miso soup mix
1/2 block tofu

Spiralize the zuke, then slice the carrots, onion and mushrooms. In a large bowl, put the noodles down as a base, then top with the veggies and the packet of miso soup mix. Boil water in a kettle and, once boiling, carefully fill the bowl with water (CAREFULLY). Mix with chopsticks or a fork.

Eat.

Enjoy.

Is that simple or WHAT? You could switch up the veggies too if you like. The goal of this recipe was to be simple but if you want to go to town, go to town! Do all kinds of crazy stuff! Take a picture like I did!

See?

Take care and have fun! :)

APRIL RECIPE CHALLENGE!

Yo!

April’s secret ingredient was CARROTS! WOO!

What better way to enjoy them than to bake them on a big mushroom and make it look like a scrambled egg pizza?

Exactly.

They have no idea what's about to happen.

So…here was my inspiration for this month’s thingy. Portobello mushroom pizza from The Sweetest Vegan! This woman is awesome! She has two channels, The Sweetest Vegan and The Take Out Diet. Both focus on taking common recipes and "veganizing" them. Plus she's hilarious. Worth a watch!

She only makes two mushrooms and I wanted more than that so my recipe quantities are larger below. I added sliced carrots and red pepper to the top. Something green would have made it more colorful. You could really add whatever vegetables you want or OOH WHAT ABOUT PINEAPPLE?! OOOOHHH!

The almond cheese looks really good and I’ll probably make that later but, not having almonds at the time, I went ahead and made a tofu-basil topping that is quite delicious. Basically, it’s vegan ricotta.

Here is the recipe as I followed it. Let’s start with the tofu basil topping because you need to have that ready to go before you start the mushrooms anyway. This is a basic tofu “ricotta” recipe and there are many variations out there. Feel free to try any of them!

Tofu Basil Topping (can be used later for other stuff!)

1 block firm tofu

2T lemon juice

1 cup minced shallot

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (fresh is necessary here)

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1 clove of garlic, minced

1t oregano

1/2t paprika

1t garlic powder

Salt & pepper to taste

1T olive oil

Heat oil in a pan and saute the shallot for a few minutes.

While that’s happening, place the tofu in paper towels and squeeze out excess moisture like tofu scramble.

Crumble up the squeezed tofu into the pan and add the rest of the ingredients.

Stir and heat until the tofu is cooked through and the mixture smells wonderful. I am not a chef. I have no idea how to explain that better.

It would also be good to make this tofu mixture the night before and let the flavors mingle and jingle and get all friendly overnight. You don’t have to do that though.

NOW FOR THE PIZZA PART!

Mushroom Pizza (taken from The Sweetest Vegan - thanks!)

6 portobello mushroom caps (as I mentioned, she only makes two so you could use her recipe quantities if you don’t want 6)

Olive oil to lightly coat each cap (4T?)

A dash of liquid smoke for each cap

Dash of pepper for each cap (are you sensing a theme here?)

Marinara sauce (for, you guessed it, each cap)

Tofu-basil topping (recipe above)

Preheat the oven broiler to high.

Clean the mushroom caps with a wet paper towel.

Break out the stem and use a spoon to scrape out the gills. Be careful not to rip off the edges of the cap.

I was not careful.

Drizzle on olive oil, salt, pepper and liquid smoke and rub it around each cap.

Just like this.

Broil the mushrooms for 3 minutes.

After 3 minutes, take them out and put on toppings.

Hello!

Put them back into the oven for 5-7 minutes.

Once time is up, take them out and let cool for 10 minutes or so.

Be patient.

I want to eat you so hard.

Consume with reckless abandon.

The Sweetest Vegan’s almond cheese gets brown so you have a better idea when the pizzas are done. Mine didn’t do that but it the mushrooms were all bubbly and fragrant so the time she states seems to work for the tofu stuff too. Yay!

The smell of the basil and oregano cooking was SO DELIGHTFUL. It’s worth making them just for that.

SUPER AWESOME KITCHEN TIP: A tofu container comes in REALLY handy when you’re clearing off the counter.

See?

SAKT 2: I used the tofu ricotta in a baguette with tomato and spinach a few days later. Highly recommended!

No, the photo isn't overexposed.
Unfortunately, I was standing next to my green lamp
when this was taken and now the sandwich is gone.
C'est la vie.

Check out the other challenge recipes!

Recipe Happiness

According to Kiki

OK THANKS! BYE!

MARCH RECIPE CHALLENGE!

This month’s recipe challenge ingredient was CORN!

*CUE APPLAUSE*

Naturally, that made me want cornbread. I can hear what you’re saying. Cornbread has cornmeal in it but not actual corn so how can that qualify?

WELL IT QUALIFIES WHEN YOU PUT CORN IN THE CORNBREAD, SMARTYFACE.

So that is what I did.

Here is the recipe I used! Thanks, Vegan Zombie!

(It’s a video this time! Fancy.)

Seriously though, this guy has some AWESOME recipes. I’ve made a few of his other things, and in addition to laughing (or groaning) at his jokes the food is delicious! Go check him out! No, he didn’t ask me to say that. I don’t even know him. What?

So, here’s my “mise en place” shot. Everything pictured was actually used for the recipe this time. Go me!

I only sliced a red pepper because Trader Joe’s only sells green peppers in a three pack and I was too cheap to buy an extra pepper.

Also, I was too lazy to get a chipotle pepper and grind it. Surely that is delicious, however.

Obligatory cooking progress shots...

HERE IS PROOF THAT CORN WAS INCLUDED. 

It’s not in the recipe, but I added 1 cup of thawed sweet white corn to the batter. It bet it would be awesome if you roasted or sautéed it first.

This was harder to photograph than you'd think.

Should you try this, make sure to let the veggies cool off completely before scooping them onto the batter with your bare hands.

Ow.

Finished product!

This gets 4 forks up from me. Despite the fact I left out some things, it turned out amazingly delicious and very moist and cake-like. Plus, adding the sweet white corn gives it a nice little crunch of sweetness each time I find a kernel. Yum yum! Totally making it again! 

SPOILER ALERT: Here is a piece of the bread on top of some awesome chili that I made. That recipe is coming SOON!

It didn't sink!

Here are the other recipes for the challenge!

According to Kiki

Recipe Happiness

Stay tuned for CHILI. Woo!

Holy quiche!

I made something delicious.
Something marvelous.
Something rich and fabulous.

I made QUICHE.

Specifically, spinach tofu quiche. This one!

TOFU QUICHE!

This recipe utilizes silken tofu blended with spices and white miso for a creamy, filling quiche. I used a prepared crust like it suggested in the recipe, but there are tons of vegan pie crust recipes out there if you wanted to do that.

Pictures!

"I'm about to get BAKED!"

The smell of this baking was incredible. I thought I was in a bakery. Though I knew I wasn't since all my stuff was here and I was in my pajamas (not something I would ever wear to a bakery) but still. BAKERY.

Once it was done, I had a piece to test it out.

Testing 1, 2, Quiche...

After that, I promptly had a second and contemplated a third but held back to SAVE it for later. This morning, I had two more pieces for breakfast and reveled in the majesty so it was worth it. The flavor is so rich, but not overly so because the spinach balances it out really well. It's heavier on greens, rather than sauce, so you can hork down two pieces in your pajamas and don't feel like you have a boulder in your stomach. TOTAL AWESOME BONUS!

Go make some! Let me know how you liked it! Or don't! You can't have some of mine though. That's spoken for.

FYI: The next recipe challenge will be posted on or before (likely before) 3/15!

Bye!

FEBRUARY RECIPE CHALLENGE!

HELLO! It's RECIPE CHALLENGE TIME!

What was this month's secret ingredient? LEMONS!

This month, I made Lemon & Basil spaghetti which can be found here:

Vegan Lemon Basil Pasta

This was a fairly easy recipe to make. Cook the pasta, make the sauce while it cooks, combine pasta and sauce and DONE. EAT. DONE.

So easy.

When taking everything out for my "mise en place" shot, I realized two things.

1. These ingredients are so simple and there aren't that many to the recipe.

and

2. Once again, I accidentally put something in the photo that isn't supposed to be there. I'm lookin' at YOU, Rachael Ray veggie broth!

Derp.

To provide extra support, I invited my friend Oatmeal Stout to join the party.

Yes, I was indeed drawing with a marker back there before cooking. I am 12.

So...while the pasta was boiling away all crazystyle, I sauteed the garlic in vegan margarine. This probably created one of the most pleasing aromas I have ever experienced in my life. To put it lightly.

Can I just eat this? Like on some bread? Hello?? PLEASE???

Once that was nice n' toasty, I added the lemon zest, juice and coconut milk. I CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE HOW PHENOMENAL THIS SMELLED. It was like a CANDLE and a DELICIOUS PASTRY got MARRIED and had an EDIBLE CANDLE PASTRY BABY that started dating BASIL as a REBELLIOUS ACT to ANGER ITS CANDLE PASTRY PARENTS and this metaphor has really gone too far.

I love you so much it hurts.

At that point, the pasta was done. Taking a look at my colander, I began to doubt if it could really fit all 16 ounces of noodles within its tiny little bowl.

"I may be small in stature, but I am large in spirit and can-do attitude!"

Actually, it all fit. All of it. Easily.

Such a magical moment.

Once COMBINATION happened, I had something lovely and creamy and wonderful. At the very end of the recipe it stated "garnish with remaining basil" and that was when I realized I didn't have enough basil. Oy vey. However, if you imagine some extra chopped basil on top this looks quite pleasant.

The basil is IN YOUR MIND.

Let me tell you. This tasted damn awesome. It's creamy from the coconut milk, yet the lack of dairy and the fresh lemon flavor makes it very light. Plus the basil! Oh! Basil! OMG!

If you live somewhere with cold winters, this would be an excellent dish for spring or early fall. If you live where the weather is nearly the same all year like I do, YOU CAN MAKE THIS ANY FREAKING TIME YOU FEEL LIKE IT. WOO!

Here's a fork shot.

"I'm a temperate climate dinner SUPERSTAR, bitches!"

GO MAKE THIS! NOW! It is SO GOOD!

Here are the other deliciousnesses!

Recipe Happiness
According to Kiki

Ok! Bye! See you next month and maybe a little bit before!

JANUARY RECIPE CHALLENGE!

HELLO! RECIPE CHALLENGE TIME!

The special ingredient was PURPLE POTATOES! WOO!

Ok. So, I had a soup recipe for the aforementioned potatoes planned out. I took pictures, made the food, wrote sentences with a bunch of commas (and parentheses) in them, and something just wasn’t quite sitting right with the whole shenanigan.

For one, the soup wasn’t very good. For another one, the recipe was in a copyrighted book so I ran the risk of getting eaten by the copyright monster (totally real - like Santa) if I posted it and wanted to do more than just give you a link to a book saying something like “Buy the book and you can see how to make this crappy soup!”

That just wasn’t gonna fly.

SO.

Here’s a take on the classic vegan breakfast dish - the TOFU SCRAMBLE. Most of you reading this may not have made such a dish, so this will be entertaining and also informative!

(DISCLAIMER: I cannot guarantee entertainment nor accurate information.)

PLUS because I made it up as I went along (and actually wrote it down this time), you get a recipe too! WIN WIN!

What is a tofu scramble, you say? Well it’s simply tofu scrambled like eggs with veggies. Or, rather, it’s that and SO MUCH MORE.

So here we go! What should I call this?

Tofu Scramble!
(Wait. That’s boring. Every vegan whatever has a tofu scramble recipe. Let’s give this recipe a more “edgy” and exciting name, shall we?)

Purple Potato Tofu Scramble!
(Hmm. No. Still boring. How about...)

Michael’s Happy Purple Potato Tofu Wonderment!
(Ok. That just sounds like some kind of acid. It needs something “edgy” and “in your face” because it totally makes sense for a recipe to be in your face. It’s FOOD. Wait...I think I have something...)

VEGANLICIOUS PURPLETATO TOFU SCRIZZAMBLE!!!!!
(I LIKE IT.)

The Nuts and Bolts (but not really nuts or bolts)

½ Package Extra Firm Tofu
2T canola oil
1 small onion
1T minced garlic
1 large carrot, peeled
2 small purple potatoes (purpletatoes)
½ small head broccoli (or some other green veggie)
2T Nutritional Yeast
1/2t Turmeric
Salt and pepper to taste

First, chop all the veggies (except the onion and garlic) up into small pieces. I’m sure there’s a fancy gourmet word for that but I have no idea what it is. Chunkify?

Next, put 2T of canola oil into a large, non-stick frying pan and let it warm on medium heat while you prepare the onions and the garlic. By “prepare the garlic,” I mean chop the onion and take the jar of minced garlic you bought at the dollar store out of the fridge. Or you could mince fresh garlic. Whichever. Fancypants.

THE PAN SHOULD BE WARM NOW. Plop the onion and garlic in there and let them smizzle a bit (sizzle and mingle). Once the onions start to get translucent, add the rest of the veggies and mix them about.

Cover the pan. While that’s happening, open the tofu, cut the block in half and wrap the half of the block you’re using in 2-3 layers of paper towels. Put the other half somewhere. I don’t care where. You don’t need it for this recipe.

Standing over the kitchen sink, squeeze lightly from all 4 sides to get out excess moisture. You want a little moisture left in there, but not too much or it will turn out gloppy. Once the paper towels are saturated, it should be sufficiently unmoistenated. Remove and discard the paper towels and place the tofu on a plate next to the stove for easy access.

Uncover the pan and test the potatoes. If they need to be cooked more, mix and cover again for a few minutes. Once the potatoes are fork-tender (tee hee), begin to crumble the tofu on top of the veggies by squeezing it in your hands and spreading it around (don’t burn yourself - use a fork to move the tofu around after squeezing it, yo).

This is what it needs to look like.

Once that is done, take a break and have some wine (optional).

Now that you’re feeling awesome, add the salt, pepper, turmeric and nutritional yeast.

Seasoned pan!

Mix it all up nice!

The turmeric gives it a yellow color. It is also a natural anti-inflammatory. Aren't you glad I told you that?

FINAL STEP: Cover the pan once more, turn off the heat, and let the flavors marry and have kids.

Now you're done! Serve with toast! Or wrap it in a tortilla for a breakfast burrito! 
Or put it in a bowl! OMG! A BOWL!

This is also excellent with a little hot sauce drizzled on it. Especially if you’re going the burrito route. Holy crap add some avocado too. Just thought of that. SO GOOD IN A TORTILLA WITH AVOCADO AND HOT SAUCE.

I don't have a picture of that. Sorry.

Please see the other purpletato delights that my cooking friends made!

Recipe Happiness
According to Kiki

BON APPETIT!

Accidental Lentil Loaf!

Hello!

This is not part of the recipe challenge, but it actually turned out pretty good so I wanted to share.

I made this: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=6394

Except I really didn’t. I took the ingredients and plopped them into a loaf pan rather than making patties and baked it instead of frying it in a pan. Because I am lazy. HOWEVER it turned out REALLY GOOD so it’s ok!

This is what I did differently. The onion and carrots were blended in a food processor rather than grated (lazy). I combined everything in the bowl like it said, then baked it in a greased loaf pan at 350F/176C/Gas Mark 4 for 30 minutes covered nice and snug in foil. Then, baked an additional 15 minutes uncovered for full loafability.

See? Totally loafable.

Lentils are awesome. The fact this was made with them gave it a very savory flavor and hearty texture. Like meat, but not like meat at all. Yet, like meat a little (and also not).

Actually, if you haven’t eaten meat in a while and are thinking some sort of meaty-like loaf sounds delicious, you would really like this. If you regularly eat meat, this will be a new and exciting adventure, and one you may enjoy. Because, you know, lentils. 

I made some green beans with sea salt and black pepper to go with my loaf. Also I added ketchup. Everything is better with ketchup.

Totally not meatloaf - YET IT IS SOMEHOW.

It was GOOD. I had two pieces it was that good. Definitely worth a repeat!

The next recipe challenge post should be up by 1/15, by the way.

Bye!