Sheese-y breakfast

Thanks to My Organic Market, I got to try Sheese. Definitely the best vegan cheese I've tried so far - blows the FYH cheddar out of the water, in my opinion. It's good on all its own, right from the package.
I made a sheese-themed breakfast featuring sheese-y tofu scramble (grated on top at the end) and sheese-y black beans (put a can of beans in a pan, added grated sheese, heated through). Mmmmm. OB went a step further and had sliced sheese on toast alongside.

Isn't he cute?

back in action

I'm back! Took a long time - a bit longer than I expected - but I am recovered and (98%) back to normal. It seemed like I would never want to eat anything again!

Thankfully, my appetite is back, and my strength is coming back. I'm feeling so happy be living life on my on terms again and the freedom to move around (mostly) as I want. This was a great weekend, including my first venture into the kitchen in months.

For Saturday brunch I made the greek tofu benedict from Veganomicon. Two thumbs way up. Interesting flavors and a nice combination of textures. I made the sauce and roasted the peppers the night before, so all I had to do in the morning was broil the tofu. (A programming note - post surgery, after consulting with my doctors, I am low-soy but not *no* soy. I'm aiming for no more than one serving a day and no soy protein isolate. Another huge relief.) I toasted some whole-wheat english muffins for these and cut up an orange and a grapefruit for the side. Easier morning-of than making pancakes, and more impressive too.
For dinner, continued working through my freezer full of food. Re-heated some chickpea cutlets and put jarred tomato sauce on top, with whole wheat spaghetti and a little vegan parmesan. Roasted tomatoes and eggplants from the farmer's market on the side. They had white eggplant, which I've never seen before. It looked almost identical to the purple one after roasting, but had a little more firmness. Great dinner all around. I really like having the cutlets in the freezer - this came together in about 20 minutes.
In case anyone's still out there, hi! :)

Restaurant Review - Joe's Noodle House

After the first time I ate at Joe's Noodle House, I haven't wanted to get Chinese food anywhere else. This is a home-style Chinese restaurant, meaning most of the menu isn't Americanized. They have a huge vegetarian menu, most of which is vegan (or can be made vegan upon request). Plus it's dirt cheap. What's not to love?

Tonight we got sauteed bean sprouts and a Szechuan style hot pot with tofu. The bean sprouts were on the specials board (they have about 6 or 7 seasonal vegetable specials). It was a nice simple dish, just bean sprouts and some scallions in a mild garlic sauce. Very light and refreshing. It made a great side dish for the hot pot, which is HOT. The menu describes it as numbing, and it doesn't lie. The first time we ordered it the waitress tried to talk us out of it. It's the best kind of spicy - flavorful, not (just) painful. I have no idea what is in the sauce, but it has multiple layers of flavors and spice, and is completely unlike anything I've had elsewhere. The big pieces of soft tofu soak it up wonderfully. It's a little light on the vegetables - just a carrot and piece of cabbage here and there - but that's a minor quibble (and what side dishes are for).
I've tried several other dishes here and have never been disappointed, but the hot pot is the best so far. Other stand-outs are the veggie moo shu and the Hunan style tofu.

Curried Tofu and Mashed Potatoes

I love Veganomicon. I really do. But I don't love the curried tofu recipe.

I should start out by admitting my bizarre failing with baked tofu. I don't know why, but I seem to screw it up every time. It should be very simple, but I either forget to slice the tofu before marinating it or put the pieces in a bowl they won't fit into or forget to flip it or on and on and on. It always ends up seeming like a lot more work than it should be. One day I'll get the hang of it.

I've tried this recipe twice, since the first time I messed it up in multiple ways. Most egregiously I used 1/4 tbsp of curry powder instead of a 1/4 cup, and I used some dried cumin instead of cumin seeds. It wasn't bad but mostly tasted like soy sauce.

I actually liked it better this way than the second time, when I got the spices right. I love curry powder, but 1/4 cup of dried spice on tofu...just not working for me. It tasted kind of gritty and flat. Oh well.


I wanted to make mashed potatoes with it, and I always try and make these healthier by using as little fat as possible. Usually I mash 'em with just a little soy milk, but this time I used the leftover marinade from the tofu. It was actually pretty tasty, if I do say so myself. Since I won't be trying the tofu recipe again I think I'll try mashed potatoes with a little olive oil, vegetable broth, curry powder and cumin next time I make an Indian dish.