Animal Place

4-5 servings, depending on appetite

Ingredients:

1 tub firm tofu, pressed well

1/2 onion, your favorite kind (red or sweet works well)

1 bell pepper, your favorite color (or do half n’ half)

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 heaping tsp sea salt

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 heaping tsp cumin

A few sprinkles of pepper

Daiya or other vegan cheese, if desired

2 links vegan sausage, roughly chopped, if desired

1/2 bunch kale, sautéed in water

4 chives, diced

Preparation:

Water sauté the onions and peppers until soft, then add the tofu making sure it’s well crumbled.

Mix in all the seasonings, except the chives. Stir really well so that all the tofu is evenly coated. If it’s too dry, add a couple teaspoons of water. Stir in the cheese, if using, and let it get all melty.

Add in the sausage and kale, and mix again, then sprinkle the chives on top. Done!

Recipe and photo credit to Barbara Musick, founder of the blog That Was Vegan?

  http://thatwasvegan.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/my-tofu-scramble/

Vegan Eats - helping you eat happier one epic summer salad at a time. Brought to you by education manager, Marji Beach. Educate!

Salad is to summer as hot soup is to winter. When the weather gets warm, I can’t wait to bust out the dark leafy greens (and smoothies). And now that I have full access to the incredible vegan micro-farm at the sanctuary, I’m eating salads every day.

This salad I made is pretty awesome. I grabbed kale, dandelion greens, orach (a type of spinach), cilantro, and snap peas from the vegan farm. I added raspberries and blueberries. Then I cooked up some Sol Cuisine Almond Grain Burgers, chilled them in the fridge, chopped them up and plopped them on top.

My dressing included three cloves of garlic, a drizzling of Bee-Free Honee, orange juice, olive oil, and lemon juice.

Done!

If you are trying to remove animal products from your diet and really love honey, I highly recommend Bee-Free Honee. It is made from apples. I used to love honey. Bee-Free Honee tastes just like it, with a nice aftertaste of apple. Delicious.

And if you want to try non-meat burgers, Sol Cuisine’s Almond Grain Burger is very tasty. It doesn’t taste anything like animal flesh, but it has its own tastiness that anyone with functioning taste buds should enjoy. Right now, I’m in love with their vegan falafals and tahini sauce. It costs $6.00 but serves enough for two, so it’s only $3.00 per meal. I’m not saying that’s uber-cheap, but it is pretty inexpensive, all things considered.

Vegan Eats (aka Food) is my meager attempt at inspiring people to go vegan, one meal at a time. Also, it forces me to eat healthier so people reading this blog don’t think I subsist off of chocolate and peanut butter. - Marji Beach, Education Manager

There is no mystery to tofu scrambles. They are a protein-packed powerhouse of deliciousness. I have yet to screw one up, but I’ll keep trying!

Tip #1: If you eat eggs like water, don’t expect a tofu scramble to taste like scrambled eggs. Tofu did not come from a chicken, yo! Focus on enriching your dish with tasty spices and other additions to make it a flavorful experience…tofu soaks up flavor, eggs don’t. TAKE THAT EGGS! Also, no cholesterol. DOUBLE WHAMMY, EGGS!

Tip #2: Different tofus have different textures. Silken tofus are often softer and full of more water. The “firmer” the tofu gets, the less water it has. Personally, I like extra firm tofu from a vacuum-package. I don’t like using my beloved books to press water out of my tofu. So, I use extra-firm Wildwood tofu and break into bite-sized chunks.

Tip #3: Drain your tofu! If you are not using extra-firm tofu from a vacuum-pack, make sure to press your tofu and get rid of excess moisture. Tofu soaks up flavors like woah, so don’t let water get in your way of a fun tasting experience.

This particular tofu scramble had the following ingredients:

* 1/4 yellow onion, chopped
* Five million garlic cloves, chopped (or five if you are a garlic hater)
* 1/4 cup green onions, diced
* MANGO SALSA FROM A JAR
* 5 Large green olives, chopped
* Few tablespoons chopped kalamata olives
* 1/2 tsp tumeric (it turns your tofu yellow so you can feel all official-like)
* 1 tsp cumin (or, if you are me, 3 tsp)
* 1 tsp chili powder
* 1/4 tsp cayenne
* 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
* 10-12 oz extra-firm tofu, broken up into bite-sized chunks

Cook your onions and garlic in oil or water on medium-high heat until onions start to caramelize, 4-8 minutes.

Add the tofu, green onions, olives, and all of your spices. Make sure tofu does not brown. Cook for 6-10 minutes, stirring constantly. At the last minute, add enough salsa for your taste buds to enjoy but not enough to make a soggy mess. Cook until salsa is hot.

EAT.

I like to make bacon with mine, so a couple minutes before I think the scramble is done I throw some tempeh bacon into a pan and cook it.

Vegan Eats (aka Food) is my weekly (sometimes more) forays into what us vegans eat. And we do eat. All sorts of stuff, really. This includes dessert, of which we are particularly fond. -Marji Beach, Education Manager

First, a photo of what you folks should be making now.

It’s strudel, which means whirlpool due to the fact that phyllo dough surrounds with its swirling madness some really tasty stuff. Like cherries.

I made this with my mother, so you should probably prepare this food in pairs or groups. I do not do cooking of this magnitude solo.

You should also know phyllo has a delicate nature that you must respect. By that, I mean don’t be manhandling this stuff. When you are brushing the phyllo with vegan margarine, don’t go at it like an angry painter person. Make sure that you take aslightlydamp towel and cover the remaining phyllo with it. Don’t make the towel too damp, otherwise the phyllo will become one with the towel. Not cool.

Here’s the recipe, yo:

The recipe:

Vegan Eats is my weekly installment of showing you vegans actually eat food. Haha. In a gross generalization, vegans love food more than a gastronomy expert (they exist). -Marji Beach, Education Manager

Okay, so I learned tostada just means toasted, so I’m probably committing some sort of cultural faux-pas by associating “tostada” with “taco shell shaped like a bowl”. Please do not hate me too much for this.

I buy bowl-shaped toasted things at my grocery store, but you can get flat ones too. Or make your own (and mail them to me).

My tostada is filled with the following goodness: pinto beans, romaine lettuce hearts chopped, chopped tomatoes, diced white onion, cubed avocado, Follow Your Heart moz cheeze cubed, drizzled with vegan ranch-style dressing I bought at the store as well. Also, jalapenos. Sometimes, guac.

You may make a variation on the theme and bam! perfectness.

Vegan Eats (aka Food) = once a week efforts on my part to not embarrass myself with crappy stuff I cook. -Marji Beach, Education Manager

Guys, I love appetizers. They are often easy to make and I find them difficult to screw-up.

Take, guacamole. This stuff is so easy to make fresh, and I’ll put it on just about anything, because that is how much I love guac.

The ingredients I like to use are as follows: Yellow onion + avocado + tomato + lemon juice + cilantro + garlic + jalapenos + salt. That’s it, really. All this stuff gets chopped up and mushed about until it is the lumpy consistency that makes guac perfect. I adjust ingredients based on taste.

EAT. Maybe with stuff, up to you.

Vegan Eats (aka Food) is a weekly foray into Stuff I Eat.

Chocolate! I can’t make chocolate items, because that involves a whole level of skill I lack. Instead, I buy chocolate that doesn’t hurt anyone but my waistline.

For example, Justin’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups!

There isn’t much to say, except these are delish.