Tofu BLT

Delicious

I used the technique here with a slightly different marinade to make a great sandwich filling. I think this baked tofu would be great in burritos or on salads, but I really like it on crusty bread!

First drain and press your tofu (directions in link) and preheat oven to 425. Slice tofu thinly and brush both sides with marinade and place on silpat on baking sheet. Let soak in for 10min and brush on any additional marinade. Bake for 20 min and flip slices to bake for 5 min more. Serve on bread with sliced tomato, greens, red onion and avocado as well as one of the below spreads.

Marinade:
2 TBS miso
2 TBS low sodium soy sauce
1/4 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 TBS saricha hot sauce
1/2 TBS agave syrup or honey
juice of half a lemon

Aioli:
Combine 2 TBS vegan mayonnaise and either a handful of cilantro and clove of crushed garlic OR handful of basil and 1 roasted red pepper in a blender with a squeeze of lemon.

Store tofu in a plastic container and eat every day =). This is honestly the best sandwich I've had since becoming vegan.

Mexican Torta

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A Mexican torta is a traditional sandwich with meat and cheese and yummy Mexican accompaniments. Well I love sandwiches and I love Mexican food so I decided to give myself a version I could eat!!! While I love the traditional sandwich roll I thought veggies might do better in a open face sandwich and decided to use the technique I used to make naan to make a fake version of Mexican fry bread but healthier. See this post to see how the bread is made. Then I just layered on this filling:

3 portabello mushroom caps sliced and sauteed until tender and giving off their juices (add a bit of salt to encourage mushrooms to give up their liquid). Add 1 thinly sliced zucchini to mushrooms and mushroom juice and turn heat up to medium high. Liquid will cook off and you can saute mixture until zucchini is cooked through. Add 1 chipotle and adobo pepper sliced and tsp cumin then add 1/4-1/2 cup frozen corn and some chopped cilantro and cook until heated. This would also be a great burrito or taco filling and is quite yummy on it's own.

To layer torta:
Mexican fry bread (or you could use a tortilla or tostada)
2-4 TBS Amy's re-fried black beans (soooo good-use leftover as bean dip for veggies or chips!)
Veggie mixture
Any or all of the following: salsa, guacamole, chopped tomatoes, cilantro, black olives, chopped avocado, scallions or sliced red onion

Use all leftovers to make some kick-ass nachos the next day! Update: Picture of nachos below with re-fried black beans, veggies, pickled jalapeno, black olives, cilantro, tomatoes, and oh yes I sprinkled bacos on it! SO GOOD! Serve with salsa and guacamole if you want.

Falafel

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I have an addiction to confess. I am OBSESSED with falafel. I don't know what it is but it is my new favorite thing. Wait that's a lie I know I love it because it's fried =( I have a weakness for fried things and have cut most fried food out of my life just by being vegan, but falafel still haunts my dreams. So needles to say after slowly going from having one falafel a month to twice a week a couple weeks ago I knew I had to STOP THE MADNESS! These baked falafel are a good substitute with strong flavors. The garlic cilantro tahini also adds so much flavor that you might not miss the fat of the real thing! Stuff with lots of veggies like cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, sprouts and avocado (for some good fat) and you have a healthy meal and a happy mouth =)

Falafel: makes about 8 patties
1 can chick peas
1/2 red onion
1-3 cloves garlic (depending on the flavor you like. I love garlic and could eat it all day)
big handful cilantro and parsley
1TBS EVOO
1TBS white or whole wheat flour or chickpea flour
salt and pepper to taste
juice and zest of one lemon
cumin and coriander to taste (I recommend 1 TBS each)
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

Combine in a food processor until chunky but you can form it into golfballs. Roll into balls and flatten a little. Bake at 350 for 45 min. Serve in whole wheat pita with veggies and cilantro tahini:
1-2 TBS sesame tahini
1-2 TBS water
juice of half lemon
big handful cilantro
1 clove garlic crushed
salt and pepper to taste
Combine in mini food processor and serve over falafel.

White bean pesto burgers

Delicious

Ingredients:
Kalmata olives
Basil
2 Cloves garlic
Sun-dried tomatoes in oil
2 TBS EVOO
1 Can white beans
1/4 cup whole wheat or regular breadcrumbs
1 lemon
Ciabatta rolls
Red pepper Aioli (in this post)
Put olives, basil, garlic, tomatoes and 1TBS olive oil in a mini food processor. Add some pepper to taste. Mash white beans in a bowl with other TBS of EVOO. Add pesto paste and mix with the zest and juice of half a lemon. Add bread crumbs and lightly pan fry burgers and serve on toasted ciabatta with aioli and arugala dressed with lemon juice.

Spinach and Eggplant Muffaletta

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The muffaletta is a specialty from New Orleans where we went to college. Traditionally it is filled with Italian meats and cheese but more importantly it is dressed with an olive salad and olive oil that soaks into the bread. We love the city and LOVE the sandwich. This is a meat free version stuffed with roasted eggplant, spinach, tomato. If you can buy olive salad in New Orleans go ahead but below is my "jazzed up version" which is not necessarily traditional but adds a lot of flavor to a meat free sandwich.

One loaf very crusty bread (you don't want olive salad soaking all the way through)
Tomatoes
Baby spinach
One eggplant sliced and salted then baked for 25 minutes at 375 (spray with pam and flip halfway through baking)
*Roasted red peppers, zuchinni, or red onion would also be good additions here

Olive Salad:
1 cup kalmata olives
1 cup small green olives
1/2 jar Giardiniera (pickled vegetable salad usually in the international food isle)
2 or 3 pepperoncini peppers or banana peppers
3 TBS sundried tomatoes in oil
handful Italian parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder or clove fresh garlic if you want it strong
1 teaspoon oregano and basil
Splash red wine vinegar
2-3 TBS EVOO

To Assemble:
Cut bread into top and bottom. Scoop out some of the doughy part from the top to fill with olive salad. Scoop 1-2 cups of salad into the top and set aside. On the bottom layer eggplant, spinach and tomato or any other veggies. Put the two parts together and wrap in plastic wrap. Let sit 2 hours or more in fridge to let flavors meld. Cut into quarters and serve or just call it a day and eat a whole damned half!

Serves 2 (when you are very hungry!)
Tip: Use extra olive salad and mix into hummus. Eat with slices of cucumber or pita chips!

Black Bean Burgers and Sweet Potato Oven Fries

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This is probably one of my favorite meals because I LOVE burger and fries. Honestly the ketchup and fries make it so good you can use pre-made veggie burgers if you want but this is worth the trouble. I recommend Amy's Texas burgers if you want to use a frozen burger. Below I included two recipes for black bean burgers. The first is from Veganomicon is a little "bready" so i made an open face sandwich and the second is inspired by my fried Sarah (of Sarah and John's famous guacamole).

Burgers:
1 can organic black beans
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten*
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 teaspoon chile powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin and coriander
1/4 cup water*
1 table spoon tomato paste
1/4 cup cilantro finely chopped
2 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 red onion finely chopped

Mash beans with a fork and then add other ingredients. Combine until you can form four patties. Spray a non stick skillet with Pam and cook 5-10 min each side. Serve with guacamole, tomato, lettuce and onion or ketchup mustard and pickles!

To make Sarah's version omit * items. The burgers will be softer so be gentle turning them.

Fries:
Set oven to 375. Cut two sweet potatoes into fry shapes. Toss in EVOO and spread out on a baking sheet. Lightly dust them with cumin, salt, and chili pepper. Bake for 20 min, flip and bake another 20-30min until crispy.

Make dipping sauce by combining ketchup, one clove fresh crushed garlic, Tabasco sauce, and minced cilantro. This is also great on burgers!

Vegetable Panini

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Tom and I got married 2 years ago and when you get married you get a lot of stuff/crap. Granted it's crap that you want or at least you wanted it after two hours of walking around linen's and things with a laser gun (so fun), but soon you realize that maybe you don't need every appliance, bowl, and wine glass known to man. This is the case with our most highly debated appliance: The Panini Press! I wanted it more than life itself, Tom thought it was unnecessary. Needless to say it was only used once at our very popular "make your own panini party", but now that I'm vegan it is back and better than ever. We've used it a lot to make these delicious panini's.

The most important and delicious part of this sandwich is the black olive spread. I make it by combining kalmata olives, fresh garlic, basil, and olive oil in the food processor (another appliance we registered for). Spread this on half of your bread. For the picture above we used forcaccia.

For the filling we used roasted red peppers, sauteed portabello mushrooms, fresh spinach and fried eggplant. Once filed with your favorite topping press in panini press or place in skllet with a heavy pan on top to press and toast bread. Eat and enjoy.