Stewed Tofu and Potatoes in Miso Gravy

Okay, this isn’t summery AT ALL. It is kind of a comfort food though. Especially if you make drop biscuits and dump the stew on top. This recipe reaches back into Vegan With a Vengeance. Because I am too lazy to make a separate side, I usually just toss some frozen peas into the mix towards the end of the cooking time. Now, I’m weird about mushrooms, and this week I finally got tired of tasting mushrooms after eating this 3 or 4 times. But that’s just my own personal problem.

And those biscuits are awesome if you need a quick bread option to go with a meal.

Thanksgiving feast

Wait, didn’t I just blog a Thanksgiving feast? No, that was a Thanksgiving-themed feast. This here one was on actual Thanksgiving day! Totally different. This was a pretty small gathering of 3 couples, but we didn’t lack anything.

For my contribution, I baked because it’s what I do. I figured everyone would like ciabatta rolls, so I made some of those. There was also a maple walnut oat loaf made with white whole wheat. Kind of healthy but didn’t taste like it.

Somehow I didn’t get any pictures of the snickerdoodles I made. They were definitely a hit though. Who knew such a simple cookie could be so popular? The main dessert was this pumpkin cinnamon swirl cheesecake. Tasty, but I think I would have liked it a little denser. Others liked the fact that it was a little softer. It was perfectly set up though and cut and stayed together nicely. I forgot to swirl it though so it kind of looks like rock strata.

Here’s my plate of belt-loosening goodness, clockwise starting at 12: sweet potatoes with Dandies marshmallows, mac & cheese,  Stuffed Hazelnut Cranberry Roast En Croute By Field Roast, dressing and mashed potatoes under the gravy, Match Vegan Meats holiday roast (this time the pre-made version), the maple walnut oat bread and green bean casserole in the center. There were also two cranberry sauces: the regular jelled canned kind and a home made cranberry pineapple sauce. I had to clear some space before I could get them on my plate though.

Both the roasts were great but different. A more traditional person might like the Match roast better. I really enjoyed the cranberries, apples and crystallized ginger in the Field Roast. But I know ginger is a strong flavor and can turn some people off.

I’ve been cruising the vegan blogs today checking out everyone’s holiday meals in between working and mopping up drool. As with vegan cheeses, how much does it rock that we have an actual assortment of holiday roasts to choose from now?

A Sammich For Lunch

It’s a good thing I have a few pictures banked up that I can work off of for VeganMoFo. It’s been at least two weeks since I’ve gone to the farmer’s market so it’s been a lot of eating out,  quick store runs and eating down random food from my fridge and freezer. This week is going to involve a raw kale salad. I need it!

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about making Vegan Dad’s lunch meat log. These logs have seen me through many meals. Most of them looked something like this:

Yep, that’s the lunch meat nestled between two slices of whole wheat bread I made. The problem with baking your own bread is that it will sneak itself into every meal if you let it. PB&J for breakfast! Lunch meat sammich for lunch! Toasted and buttered with Earth Balance along side dinner! Well, at least it is whole wheat…

Oh, remember the polenta fries? Leftovers made a nice lunch side. Much better than potato chips!

A Southern Dinner

Friday night I made Kevin really happy by cooking something that was fried. I had starred this recipe for Country Fried Seitan Steak in Google Reader and planned to cook it some time this week. I already had the seitan, so just need to bread it, fry it and make the gravy. Oh, and make the collards and cook sweet potatoes to mash. It was a whole stove kind of meal.

I wouldn’t change anything about the seitan steaks. The breading was lovely. Seasoned nicely. The gravy seemed a bit bland to me so I added two tablespoons of nutritional yeast. Perfect! The sweet potatoes I steamed in the pressure cooker. It all came together really well but isn’t the kind of meal I would make on a standard week night. Too much work and too many dirty dishes. To add to the chaos, I was also baking off a whole wheat sandwich bread that turned out to be just cool enough to slice and eat with dinner.

Vermont Sourdough with increased whole grain

You people might be tired of looking at these, but I’m still amazed every time I open the oven and pull one of these loaves out. I did that? This time I went with the Vermont Sourdough with increased whole grain from Jeffrey Hamelman’s Bread. And again, it’s about perfect. The rye flour in it doesn’t weigh it down at all. It does take some planning to produce a bread like this, but it’s totally worth it.

I enjoyed my first slices with a raw kale salad and marinated grilled tempeh. A pretty healthy lunch.