Not physically–Internetically!

Yes, you heard me right, poopies! My Internet home is now somewhere other than wordpress! And that somewhere is called: http://wherelaurinblogs.com

I’ve bought my own domain name, loaded up b2evolution blogging software, and now have the best website in the world ever! Ok, there are a couple of misleading phrases there… Sean uploaded the software. And maybe it’s not the *best* site out there, but it’s the only one you need to know about.

I have a few different blogs on the site, accessible by links at the top of the home blog.

I’m also in the process of moving posts (cause I don’t know how to import without wiping out what I’ve already done on my site… ), but this will not affect your browsing experience. Once everything is imported, I am planning on just getting rid of these wordpress accounts.

In any case, head over there and I hope you like what I’ve done with the place!

But would I be satisfied with just kale and rice with beans? Nay! I also decided to try my hand at baking up some potato fries, because I had a potato begging to be julienned.

The end result? A quick and yummy dinner–though I was later told that the rice was bland (I didn’t think so!), so I added “salt and pepper, to taste” to the recipe just in case!

Laurin’s Wild Rice with Red Beans

1.5 cups wild rice mix

3 cups veggie broth (or water–or water with bullion/stock in it)

1 (15oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

salt and pepper, to taste

Bring the broth to a boil, add rice. Stir and lower to low heat once it begins to boil again. Cover after lowering heat. Let the rice cook for ~20-25 minutes, until all water is absorbed (You may taste-test it when that much time has elapsed to see if maybe some water needs to cook off instead).

When the rice is done, add the drained/rinsed beans and stir it all up. Let it cook for a little while to heat it through (still at low heat) and to allow the flavors to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to your taste.

Serves 4-6, depending on portion size.

Kale

I made the kale according to this recipe, from VeganYumYum. I started it after I added the beans, since it takes such a short amount of time to cook.

Baked Potato Fries

I just sorta winged this one– I sliced up one small-medium sized russet potato into fry sizes and baked them on a greased (with olive oil) cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for ~20 minutes. I would recommend that you shake them around or flip them over halfway through so that they don’t a) stick to the cookie sheet, and b) cook too thoroughly on just one side.

In any case, I would start the fries once the rice is covered and cooking. You can leave the fries in the oven (turn off the heat!) until everything is ready. Also, be sure to wash your potato(es) really well if you’re keeping the skin on like I did.

And now……………..

Jelly Donut Cupcakes.

As you can see, they look like muffins with jelly on top of them. This would be mostly correct. According to the Veganomicon, the jelly was supposed to be amoeba’d into the cupcake, but this obviously didn’t happen. This could be due to the fact that I didn’t use cheap jelly like they recommended, or any other random thing–but I followed the recipe exactly. And Isa said explicitly that you don’t need to push the jelly into the batter, or pour batter over it because the baking would take care of it.

Obviously not! And next time I make these I will be sure to push it in there!

On another note, the cupcakes are very yummy, even flawed as they are They do give you the donut feeling/taste, sort of, and I think they would be very yummy with cupcake frosting on them (of the non-chocolate variety) if you don’t like jelly. Also confectioner’s sugar might help (which is mentioned in Vcon).

Anyway! Sorry for such a hiatus, but I haven’t made anything worth blogging about since the last post. I did make the Coconut-Lemon Bundt Cake from Vcon again for a vegan potluck last weekend, but I already posted about that…So I guess I’ll go til I make something else yumtastic!

Anyway, here’s how it turned out for me:

I put it on a bun like a burger and served it up with some (crispy) tots and some vegetarian baked beans. It was quite tasty ! My only qualm is that the patty was quite dense (so it got a little chewy), so next time I use this recipe I will make smaller sized pieces.

But something else this make me think of was trying out a recipe for buffalo wings using seitan strips instead. I’ve never fried seitan, so I don’t know how it will react, but maybe I might have stumbled onto something here! In any case, if I attempt to create this I will assuredly post pictures and a recipe! I’m actually pretty excited about it. I’m starting to realize that I don’t need a recipe, per se, for some things anymore. What I mean is that after a while you just get to know cooking methods and ingredients so well that you know what certain proportions of ingredients put together in certain ways will do in certain environments. I feel like I’m starting to get a feel for this with some of the new things I’ve been experimenting with lately (and I didn’t know I had this feeling for other things that I had been cooking all my life).

So anyway, I do recommend this seitan recipe, not because it was the most delicious thing ever, but because it helps you realize that seitan is really easy to make. And it really lends itself to interpretation.

Peace OUT!

Here’s the whole plate:

Starting at the top left is the Cauliflower Pakoras from Vegan Planet (second time I made these—oh so delish!), then Potato Pea Curry from VeganYumYum (yum yum! Another winner!), and the Tofu Vindaloo from Vegan Planet (I used chickpeas for the tofu).

I don’t really have a lot to say except that all of these dishes were yum-freakin-tastic and I can’t wait to eat some leftovers for dinner tonight! And seriously–try the Pakoras first (who doesn’t LOVE fried cauliflower!?)

Obligatory close up shot!:

I saw this recipe on VeganYumYum yesterday and I absolutely HAD to make it that night. I even went to the grocery store during my lunch break so that I could start asap when I got home that night.

Anyway, here’s the obligatory (pretentious? ) close up shot:

The recipes for the three ingredients can be found on the VeganYumYum site (I linked to the post above), so I won’t post it here (It’s kinda long, too). Also, don’t hate because my pictures aren’t as good as hers. She must have a professional photography studio or some shit–all I have is my digital camera (which is good enough for me!).

My critique:

I must admit, though I’ve been vegan for a while, I have never bothered with preparing tofu in such a manner (marinating/baking). Usually I just stir fry it. So this recipe was definitely an experiment for me. The verdict on the tofu: I was apprehensive at the first bite because maybe I was expecting it to be crustier, I dunno. But after I got over that, I really enjoyed it! The marmalade was delicious (I didn’t make the marmalade from VeganYumYum, I bought some from the store) and citrus-y and a little tangy.

As for the kale… I have only cooked kale at one other point–in some dish from Simply Vegan. I was left a little jaded. But obviously I was willing to try it another way before dismissing it altogether! The verdict on the kale: Oh my god! So tender, salty, and delicious! I am going to buy kale like every time I go to the store and cook it this way!

And the couscous! I’ve had israeli (or pearl) couscous before in a VCon dish, Isreali Couscous, so I know how delicious it is. I actually had some in my pantry because I wanted to make it again. That’s another reason why I was so drawn to this recipe. Anyway, the verdict on the couscous risotto: I loved it! It wasn’t quite as creamy as I thought risottos typically were, but it did have a creamy-ish texture. And the lemon was very subtle.

All in all–this recipe is going into my repertoire! Seriously–it was that easy and that tasty to make!–The only thing is that it makes way more tofu as far as proportions go. If you plan on feeding more than two people, I would recommend doubling the kale and couscous risotto recipes (there are about four portions of tofu, so doubling the sides would yield four nice-sized servings).

Thanks, VeganYumYum, for an awesome recipe!

This is what happened:

I ate four. Sean I think only had two. They filled my house with the yummiest cinnamon roll smell in the world.

If you’re opposed to clicking on links for things, here’s the recipe:

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup warm water
3/4cup Pumpkin Puree
1/4 cup soy milk
1/4 cup margarine, melted
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 t ground ginger
3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 T vegetable oil

Filling:
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons chilled margarine, cut into small pieces

Glaze:
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon hot water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine the warm water with the yeast and whisk together with a fork, let stand for 5 minutes. Add the pumpkin, milk, melted margarine, and sugar in with the yeast, and lightly mix. Sift in the first two and a half cups of flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. [don't be like me and try to premix wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls--it's really ok to use one bowl for this one ]

Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Take the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and use it to flour the top of the dough and your surface a tablespoon at a time, as needed to keep the dough from getting sticky as you knead it. Knead the dough for about ten minutes, the dough will be elastic but soft and still a little sticky to the touch without being floured.

Place the dough in a large bowl coated with oil [be modest with the oil], turning to coat the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

Punch the dough down; cover and let rest for 5 minutes.

Combine the sugar, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in margarine with a fork until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Roll the dough into a 12 x 10-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. [it's ok to go to the edges, unless you want to waste some of the dough] Roll up the rectangle tightly, from the long side, pinch seam and ends to seal. Cut roll into 12 (1-inch) slices. Place the slices in a 9-inch square or round baking pan coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 25 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Bake the rolls for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

Sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl. Add the water and vanilla, and whisk until smooth. It should be thick, but easy to drizzle. If it’s too thick, add another 1/2 teaspoon of water.

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I found that my 9 inch square pyrex was too big for all of the rolls, so I let the two end pieces and one of the pieces without a lot of cinnamon/sugar in it to get tossed. I could only squeeze so many into the pan.

Also, they didn’t taste very pumpkiny, so don’t be put off by the fact that they’re “Pumpkin” Cinnamon Rolls. They’re just damn tasty–isn’t that enough for you people?!

Anyway, if you view making something yeasty with dread or as some daunting task–don’t! It’s really easy. You just have to wait a little longer to let the yeast do its thing. It’s not like you really have to do anything extra. It’s so worth it with these cinnamon rolls! I have half a pan left in my fridge–which will likely turn into only a quarter of a pan before this night is through!)

Doesn’t this look yumtastic?:

Anyway, I don’t know the exact amounts of spices he used, but I’ll share the recipe…

Laurin and Sean’s Nachos

• 1 can black beans (or two cups cooked)
• 2 cups corn (either 1 can or two cups frozen)
• 2 cups (cooked) rice (I had some brown rice leftover)
• spices: cayenne pepper, cumin, chili powder
• nacho/tortilla chips (or soft tortillas if you want to make into burritos)–we used some yummy jalapeno chips that were 2 for $5 at harris teeter
• toppings: salsa (we used some pineapple stuff), sliced black olives (canned), sliced jalapenos (from a jar), sour cream

The only cooking you need to do is heat up the beans and corn (unless you have to cook some rice up). Just put them in a saucepan and heat them through over medium heat. Sean likes to keep the liquid from the canned beans (he insisted–I would have rinsed them), so he usually cooks the bean/corn mixture til some of the liquid evaporates. Generously add some spices to the beans while they’re simmering–Sean used some cumin, cayenne pepper and paprika (he would have used chili powder, but I was out). Just let it all cook and mingle and such.

In the meantime, set up your nacho station. Lay out all the various ingredients, with spoons and such, and when the beans are done you can go all crazy! Sean likes to lay down a bed of chips then top them with rice, beans, etc, with the sour cream on top. This is mostly how I do it, except I keep the chips separate. It makes it a little easier to eat in my opinion, and keeps down the sogginess factor in case there was some extra liquid.

I didn’t have any nacho “cheese” or anything like that, but I don’t think it’s necessary in this recipe. There is a lot of flavor in the bean/corn mix that shouldn’t be covered up. Unless you don’t have any of the extra toppings, I would say skip the nacho cheese. Who needs so many analogs anyway (don’t dis my toffuti sour cream!)

My prayers have been answered. Mainly it was thanks to my initiative… fueled by my desire to eat some damn pierogies already!

Here they are in all of their glory (I served them with some Brussels sprouts and some applesauce.):

I got the recipe for these somewhere, but I can’t remember where as all I have is the text of the recipe in a word doc. Suffice it to say, I’ve altered it sufficiently enough in my opinion to warrant calling it my own. Also, this is the kind of food that lends itself to cooking a large batch only to freeze a portion for some convenience food down the road. This is what I did– I froze half of these bad boys.

Laurin’s Homemade Pierogies

(makes 24 pierogies–or ~8 servings)

Filling:

• 3 medium potatoes–rinsed, peeled, rinsed again, then cubed
• 1 medium onion (I used yellow), diced finely
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4-1/2 c non-dairy milk (I used soy)
• 1/2 tsp non-dairy butter
• salt and pepper, to taste

Dough:

• 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour ( I do not recommend whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour)
• 3/4 – 1 cup water
• 2 tsp olive oil

While preparing the potatoes, onion and garlic, get a pot of water boiling. Once it’s boiling, throw in the cubed potatoes and boil them until they are tender (I think mine took ~10 minutes).

While the potatoes are cooking, preheat a saute pan for the onions and garlic. I used about a tablespoon of olive oil for this, but you could use water if you’re concerned with the extra fat or whatever. When the pan/oil is heated, throw in the onion and saute it until it turns translucent (5-10 minutes depending on how finely you cut it up). (Don’t forget to check your potatoes, they don’t take that long to soften up) Add the minced garlic and stir for a minute or two until the garlic starts to brown. Remove from heat.

The potatoes should be done at this point. Drain them and put them into a medium-sized mixing bowl. You may want to wait for them too cool down before messing with them, but if you’re impatient like me, you can go ahead and proceed to make the filling. If you want to wait, you could skip ahead and make up the dough first.

To prepare the filling, mash the potatoes until no large chunks remain. Add the onions, garlic, margarine, milk, salt and pepper. For the soymilk, you need to make a judgment call. I only used a 1/4 cup because I didn’t want the filling to be too runny, but it may help to use more if you want the filling to be creamier. It will just be more difficult to make the pierogies if the potatoes are too liquidy. In any case, stir/whip until well combined and then set aside to make the dough.

To prepare dough, combine the flour, water and olive oil in a medium bowl. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth,adding water in small amounts if necessary to keep it from being too dry. The dough should be smooth and elastic, but not sticky (you need to be able to manipulate it with your hands), so don’t put too much extra water in. Be sure you have enough counter space to work–you’ll need a lot to lay out all of the pierogies.

Now comes the time intensive part–the dough balling. Keep in mind that you will be making 24 pierogies. I like to take my dough and divide it by halves until I have the correct number. In other words, you take your dough, split it half, then take each half and split those into halves. Now you have four pieces. Keep doing this until you have 24 little bits of dough.

After you divide your dough out, you’ll want to roll each dough ball into a circle, roughly 3 inches in diameter. I found it helpful to roll each into a little ball first, then just keep flattening it with my fingers until it got to the right size. Be sure you don’t roll them out too thin, as they can be fragile once stuffed. Another thing to be mindful of is to make sure the counter top you are working on is not wet. If so, the dough will stick to it and make your life a little hellish.

You may want to put some water on to boil here, so it will be boiling by the time all the pierogies are made.

Once you have all of the dough balls flattened into 3-inch circles, spoon roughly a tablespoon or so of filling onto one half of the circle, leaving enough clearance around the edges to close the pierogi up. If you think you can squeeze a little more of the filling in there, by all means, stuff your little heart away. Just be advised, they hold less than you might think (believe me!). Once you’ve portioned out all of the filling, it’s time to close these little bad boys up. You may find it helpful to moisten the edges a little if the dough has dried out, but be careful not to get the counter wet (if you put a filled pierogi down on a wet counter it will stick–the same with paper plates; I wouldn’t recommend putting them on paper plates or any wet surface, just stick to a dry floured surface–trust me!).

My method for closing these bad boys up was to pick one up, fold the dough over and make sure the potatoes didn’t come oozing out while I pressed the ends of the dough together. You shouldn’t have an oozage problem if you don’t overstuff them.

If you don’t want to cook 24 pierogies (a serving is roughly 3 pierogies), then at this point you can lay 12 of them out on a cookie sheet/baking tray, not touching one another, and put this into the freezer. Once they are frozen, you can transfer them to another container and keep them in the freezer til you want more pierogies. Then just remove the desired amount and heat them up in the method described below.

Depending on the size of the pot you are boiling water in, and on whether you’ve decided to freeze half of them for later, you may need to cook these in two batches. They only take a few minutes to cook in boiling water. They are done when they float to the top. It won’t hurt to let them sit at the top of the water for a couple of minutes, though. Drain them (carefully!).

If you so desire, you can then fry/sautee the boiled pierogies to give them a different texture. They are good either way, to me. If you would like them fried, just heat up some butter (~1 tsp) (or olive oil, but butter is better, in my opinion) over medium heat and throw those bad boys in til they get a little browned.

Serve with tofu sour cream or applesauce (my preferences!–I’ve also heard that ketchup, tomato sauce, and salsa are also good, but I haven’t tried it). Then enjoy the hell outta them homemade pierogies.

——————————–

It may seem like a lot of work, and while it is a little time intensive (it took about and hour and a half, start to finish), it’s really fun and really easy to make these. Feel free to fudge around with the filling recipe. I just went for a classic–the potato and onion pierogi. Anyway! Enjoy!

UPDATE:

I had these on wednesday (4/9) for lunch with some string beans. Thought I’d post a pic.

They were not as tasty from being reheated in the microwave.. so I will make this official recommendation: when you’re making these, freeze any you won’t be cooking and eating in that sitting. They taste so much better when freshly cooked, it’s not even funny. I had them with some Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream, which was pretty tasty, so I’ll definitely do that in the future (with fresh pierogies). The string beans were just some organic frozen ones with garlic powder and buttah (my way of saying non-dairy butter).

**end transmission**

Peecture!:

I also made some yummies from Vegan With a Vengeance. I made a brunch menu on Saturday (the boyfriend was taking his GRE that afternoon, so I wanted to make him something yummy). I made Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Waffles and Tofu Scramble. I have been so bad since the muffins cause I haven’t been taking pictures of things I’ve made… So there are no pictures of this wonderful breakfast. But Sean really liked the tofu scramble and I really liked the waffles (mmm chocolate!)–Sean thought they were a little too dense. I liked the scramble as well, but I thought the squirt of lemon at the end didn’t do much for the dish. I highly recommend either recipe

I also made a coupla other goodies recently from the Joy of Vegan Baking, but I have no pictures (see, I’ve been real bad!)! The first was the Cinnamon Coffee Cake. I made this for Easter, and didn’t take a picture when it was done from the oven cause I was in a rush to get where I was going (and where it would be eventually eaten!). So, there’s no coffee cake left to photograph. But lemme tell ya! It was pretty good! The only gripe I have is that the crumb topping was way too… crumb-y. I like a coffee cake with really big crumb bits on it, not a thin crumb-y mess. So, I will have to figure out some way to make the crumb topping more like what I want. Maybe then I will post pictures! (I don’t want to tease any of you into thinking that I will do this anytime soon, though!)

The other thing I made was also on sunday, in the evening. I had about 4 bananas that were really ripe–they were foisted on to me by my boyfriend’s mom cause he thought I would like to cook something with them. So, being adventurous and not liking to waste food, I searched through JOVB for something that required a lot of bananas (but not the muffins, though those required three or four) and took minimal time/effort. Again, I’m bad at recalling recipe names, but this one was something like Banana Crumble or something. It was very much like the Oatmeal Raspberry Bars, except there was no crust and the whole thing was a little wetter. No pictures were taken, but they’re not really necessary here (it really just looks like oatmeal and sugar-covered banana slices). The recipe was yummy and I even had some for dessert for the past two nights. Sunday night I had some while it was still warm from the oven, with some soy whipped topping. Last night I had it cold with the whipped topping. It tastes good either way.

All of the crumble-type recipes in JOVB seem really simple to make. I lump the Oatmeal Raspberry Bars in this category because it is very similar, albeit more portable. The success of the Banana Crumble only makes me want to keep making stuff from JOVB. Maybe I’ll have made everything in there before the year’s out?!

Now that sounds like a challenge to me!

Why, a yummy, but quick, stir fry, that’s what!:

You, too, can have this delicious dinner–all you need is the abovementioned ingredients (or substitutes, which I’ll elaborate on in a sec)!

I came upon the “Beef & Broccoli” seasoning packet in the … well, seasoning packet section of Harris Teeter. Just cause it’s made for a beef with broccoli dish doesn’t mean it’s not vegan! It’s very vegan. And if you don’t have this sauce pack, just concoct something with some cornstarch and tamari/soy sauce. Sometimes I whip something up with soy sauce and peanut butter. It sounds weird but it tastes yummy!

The frozen veggies are easy to find–Bird’s Eye is a pretty popular brand. I like them because they don’t use lame baby carrots–those are some regular carrots in there, cut into sticks/slivers. Any “stir fry” mix will work, as will just broccoli, or whatever your little heart desires.

The noodles may be harder to come by–I bought them at my local asian market, Grand Asia in Cary. And I didn’t know how to cook them, so I just tried cooking them like pasta. It softened them up, but I have since looked up the right way. Apparently you just let them sit in hot water for 15-20 minutes to soften them up. I’m unsure as to whether the boiling water I ended up cooking mine in did any damage (cause they tasted fine).

If you can’t get your mitts on oriental noodles then rice is always an “authentic” substitute. If you really want noodles, go for some italian pasta, like fettuccine or thin (really thin) spaghetti. I would try to get the oriental noodles though. Lots of mainstream grocery stores sell them in the “international foods” sections, though they are pricier there than at an asian market.

So anyway, I won’t even bother to write out a recipe for this one in a formal form. Just cook the noodles in some hot water. In the meantime, heat up some sesame (or peanut) oil in a skillet, cook up the frozen veggies, add the sauce (according to the package directions), stir til thickened. Then add noodles (you may want to rinse them with cold water first–and drain well).

Tofu, seitan or tempeh are all good options to add if you want something ‘meaty.’ Cook for a little in oil before adding veggies (it helps reduce the bitterness of the tempeh if you broil it in water on the stovetop for 10 or so minutes before cooking with it, just in case you didn’t know that little tidbit).

Then enjoy your quick as hell stir fry!