Veggie Grinders

What I like about this recipe is that it's versatile. AND it's MY recipe, and it just so happens to be delicious. The whole thing came about after a highly non-nutritious beach weekend and a severe craving for all things green and leafy. Ron's Schoolhouse offers a veggie grinder as a surprising, yet welcome alternative to the standard restaurant nod to "alternative diets," the veggie burger, which actually i don't think Ron's even offers... or maybe it has cheese in it possibly... which is ridiculous to put cheese IN a veggie burger when it can absolutely be left out of the burger and placed ON TOP of the burger if you need cheese... anyway, FOOD. So Ron's offers this sub with what I think is roasted veggies- green beans, broccoli, carrots, onions, etc.- and a light coating of teriyaki type sauce. And it's really good with a side of fries and a coke. I recreated it pretty well, but chose to save time and basically stir fry the veggies on the stove top, then cut up some boca chickn patties and toss it all with a little teriyaki. The result was awesome, and to top it all off the whole thing took just over half an hour.

Chickpea Piccata, and a nervous chef

I'm not exactly sure what made me want to try this recipe to begin with. I don't know the motivation behind saving it with my other recipes. I can tell you, that I chose to make it this week because I needed something new to make for dinner, as the stand bys were in danger of getting "old." That being said, I'm not really a white wine sauce kinda person, or maybe I've never had a good one before. I think, after making this recipe, I can sort of gleam that it might be both, but mostly that I've never had a GOOD one. Here's the link: (click)

Oven Fried Chicken and honey dijon

There's just something about the taste of honey mustard and "chicken" that just tastes like a Sunday. It slows you down in a really nice way. Honey-Dijon has more class than plain mustard, and isn't snotty about it, but doesn't ask of you any more effort, unless you find it difficult to squeeze a tube and stir with a teaspoon. I guess what I'm saying is, I like it. To make this recipe I used the "chicken" seitan recipe from here: (click)   and veganized this recipe for oven frying : (click) and typed up my changes after the break.

Yet another top five: Chesapeak Tempeh Cakes!

                                                                  

 Good evening! This recipe, though it doesn't taste like alaskan king snow crab 90% meat cakes, will remind you of crab cakes nonetheless in a great nostalgic way. Crab cakes, as I remember them can be million dollar patties of crisp on the outside, succulent on the inside, unadulterated joy. OR they can be defrosted, breadcrumb dominant, $1.99/two dozen soggy little bastards. This recipe totally trumps the mush, but  because we choose not to use animals anymore, can't quite measure up to the best. Fortunately this recipe IS online, which means I won't have to type it up. (CLICK HERE) 

Another top-five recipe: Vegan Reubens!

My top 5 favorite list is getting crowded. I think in the end my top five list will be many more than five recipes. This one is definitely worthy. I got the recipe from foodtv.com, "Vegetarian Reubens," but they no longer have it up. It's easily veganized, and I'll just type up my vegan version for you. The picture is not completely accurate since normally I have more than 5 baby spinach leaves to throw in. But you get the idea.

Ginger-Raisin Bran Muffins, AHhhhhhmazing

I made some lemon poppy seed muffins from Vegan With a Vengeance with children one day and they came out weird. They tasted fine, the kids gave them 5 stars. The youngest, after receiving a taste, actually refused to eat anything from his lunch until he got a whole one. He only partially succeeded in this face off. They tasted ok, but the texture reminded me of brownies made with tofu. They had a dense gelatinous consistency which I didn't enjoy. Not muffin-like at all. So because I'm weirdly obsessive, I had a need to make muffins that DID come out like muffins and later that night I made these. I was not disappointed, they were the shit. recipe: click here  

Meat-less loaf and green and yellow squash

 Are you a vegan who is looking for a tasty "meat" loaf recipe? I was one once too, but I have found it. I tried a different recipe that had lentils and tomato paste and whatnot that I wasn't happy with. I tried this one (click here) and have fallen in love with it. So much so that I don't mind how long it takes to put together and the necessity of using the food processor (which I hate because I then have to wash it.)