So tonight I came home from work and, though I have no idea what possessed me to do it, I decided to cook dinner. Okay, so the fact that I had a cauliflower that I really needed to cook or I was going to throw it away and I already threw one a away a few weeks ago because I didn't use it definitely played into it. Mostly though, I just had that cooking bee in my apron. Or that bee was somewhere, if not my apron. Dinner during the week, mind you, usually consists of whatever beans, leftovers, or veggie burger I happen to pull out of the frig and zap for a few minutes, but tonight, ahhhhh, tonight I was feeling particularly chefy.So, in the spirit of all things chefy, I did what all good chefs do and...checked my Pinterest vegan recipe board. When I was finished with that I popped on facebook because of course I had to tell people that I was getting ready to cook dinner! Silly girlie! Finally, I felt sufficiently ready (about 20 minutes later) and decided to start cooking!
Initially I bought the cauliflower to make mashed cauliflower. You know the recipe I'm talking about. The one that supposedly tastes just like mashed potatoes only better because it has a fraction of the calories.Well, I found several recipes on the interwebs to use but, in perfect chubby vegan girl fashion, I decided to try my own recipe. This sometimes works out well. Other times, well, lets just say my mom and dad used to call many of my homemade recipes "prison food". I kid you not, they'd say that I had just cooked prison food. Haha It never offended me and I've gotten much better and rarely make things that are completely inedible. Rarely being the operative word there.
So other than the caulimashedtaters what did I make? I found a recipe for a vegan veggie lentil loaf that sounded so amazing and had soooo many rave reviews that I had to try it. I've been meaning to try it since the first week I ditched the animal matter and started eating plants but the recipe looked sooooo long and soooo hard sooooo I put it off. Until tonight!! ZOMG! I dunno why I put it off. It was actually really easy to put together but it did take a while to make. I'm not going to lie and say it was as easy as nuking my Amy's veggie burger in the hot box, however, it was easy to put together and didn't take tooooo long. I will make a double batch next time and freeze one loaf so that I have lots for sandwiches and leftovers! It was THAT good! I also made glazed cinnamon carrots. The carrots were the perfect veggie accompaniment because they added the sweetness that I wanted without having to eat dessert later. Let me tell you, I was S-T-U-F-F-E-D when before I was finished.
Okay, so how did I make the caulimashedtaters? Here's the important stuff, the FYI, the DYI, the "how the hell do I taste it since I don't live with you?" stuff.
Garlicy Caulimashedtaters
1 head of cauliflower
2 tbsp of vegan butter
2-3 tbsp of Tofutti's Better than Sour Cream
3 cloves of garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste
1. Trim off leaves from cauliflower and then cut off floweretts from stem. Put into microwave safe bowl and heat on high 10-12 minutes. (I have the crappiest microwave ever so please check yours after about 8 minutes and add a minute at a time till they cauliflower is soft)
2. In the meantime, sautee the minced garlic in the vegan butter over low heat for a minute or two until the garlic is fragrant. Mine turned brown and wasn't bitter but some people say you're not supposed to let it turn brown. I dunno. Mine did. It was awesome. *shrugs*
3. Once cauliflower is soft, use an immersion blender to puree the cauliflower. Add in the sour "cream" and vegan butter/garlic mixture, salt and pepper and garlic powder to taste and continue to blend until desired consistency and taste. Serve warm.
This recipe made three good sized servings for me.
Cinnamon Glazed Carrots
2-3 Tbsp agave or maple syrup (I didn't have maple syrup but I'm sure it would have been better!)
2 tbsp vegan butter
6-8 peeled and sliced carrots
1. Toss everything into a microwave safe bowl and heat on high for about 8 minutes or until the carrots are crisp but tender. Be careful when removing them. I almost burned myself on the steam. I burn myself on my microwave more than I do my stove. GRRRR!
2. Stir everything around and add a pinch of salt, if desired. It brings out the flavors but I really mean JUST A PINCH!
Veggie Lentil Loaf
The recipe I used is from one of my FAVORITE vegan bloggers, "The Simple Veganista". For real, she is my hero! I eat "tuna" sandwiches everyday because I found her amazing "tuna" chickpea sandwich recipes. I came up with my own recipe now but I love hers too!
Some things I did differently or changed: I did not add cumin or thyme. I like lemon thyme but not regular thyme particularly. I added a few tablespoons of vegan Worcestershire sauce and a tablespoon or so of soy sauce. I can't imagine a loaf recipe without Worcestershire. It's sacrilegious to me, so I had to add it. I just HAD TO!! I also added a squirt of dijon mustard, though I don't know why. *giggle* I'm random like that. I don't think I tasted it at all and next time I won't add it. However, I think next time I'm going to make a mustard bbq sauce to use in place of the sauce in the recipe. This time I used this amazing Chipotle Grilling sauce that a local grocer carries and it was DELISH! It was spicy though, so it helped me stop eating the loaf. Seriously, I needed help with the stopping! I was eating it "raw" because it was sooo yummy! It's a good thing it was spicy!!
Oh yeah, and I didn't have any bell peppers, or rather, I had one, but ONLY ONE, and didn't think this recipe needed it. To be honest, I just didn't want to cut the silly bell pepper. I don't think it needed it though, so I'm glad I left it out because it was amazing without it.
***One note, I overcooked mine and it was a wee bit dry, so just make sure you only cook it for the time called for!***
I took pics but my photo skills are akin to something a child would do, heh, I could probably color a picture better than my food photos, and I'm being lazy and don't feel like uploading them, so there! I hope you try one or two or all of these recipes and love eating kind as much as I do! These recipes will definitely help you do that and you won't even miss the meat!!
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