Vegan MoFo Updates here at In My Vegan Life

Sadly, I will be out of town and without an Internet connection for the next few days, so I will probably miss oodles of excellent MoFo posts. Happily, I am visiting my grandma on the east coast for her birthday!  I'll get to spend some time with family that I haven't seen in a while and get in some much-needed book club reading on my long days of travel.

There will probably be a combination of guest blogging and magical Blogger posts automatically updating in the next few days.  You should look forward to it!

Also, BIG NEWS!  Have you heard about the FLASH MOB that's happening this Friday, aka VeganMoFo Humpday??   No?  Well, on the following link to participate and learn more! http://tiny.cc/qmtv5

See you when I get back!

Spinach Lasagna

Lasagna is one of my favorite meals.  My mom's lasagna to be precise.  In honor of my MoFo greens month, I decided to make spinach lasagna.  I've heard rumors that you can skip pre-cooking your lasagna noodles if you make sure to pile on extra sauce, so I decided to experiment.  And it worked!

Spinach Lasagna

Cashew cream sauce (recipe below)
A splash of olive oil
60 oz of your favorite pasta sauce(that's kind of a lot, so feel free to mix up a few types)
Lasagna noodles, uncooked
1 or 2 packages of frozen spinach, defrosted
Other veggies of your choice (I used black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, red bell pepper)
Follow Your Heart mozzarella, chopped
1/2-1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Method:
1.  Grease a lasagna pan with a little olive oil.
2. Pour about 15 oz of tomato sauce in the bottom of the pan.
3. Alternately layer the uncooked lasagna noodles, vegetables, tomato sauce, and cream sauce.  When you come to the spinach, squeeze out some of the water, but not too much.  This will provide more liquid for the cooking noodles.  I did one full layer of bechamel and then plopped down a few globs in another layer.
WARNING: The noodles will make the dish expand a little.  Don't, as I did, overfill the pan.  Leave a little room at the top.
4. Preheat the oven to 350*.
5. While the oven is preheating, place the FYH, soy milk, and nutritional yeast in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir frequently until the mixture is melted.  Pour over the top of the lasagna.
6. Bake the lasagna, covered, for 40 minutes.  Uncover and bake for an additional half hour.  Broil the last few minutes if you'd like, to get bubbly brown spots on top!
7. For easier cutting, let the lasagna sit for 10 minutes or so before serving.

Cashew cream sauce:
3/4 cup raw cashew pieces, soaked in 1 1/2 cups water for an hour
1/2 tsp bouillon
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Method:
Blend cashews, soaking water, bouillon, and garlic until smooth.  Put the mixture in a saucepan, stir in the nutritional yeast, and heat over medium-low, stirring often, until the consistency of a thick tomato sauce.

Other tips:
-I would have liked a thicker, layer of the cashew cream sauce.  I think next time I'll combine this sauce with a tofu ricotta for a thicker, yummy white layer.  (You can't even see the layer in this photo- It's toward the bottom.)
-Use a sauce that you like.  I've found that good lasagnas start with good sauces.

Kale Salad with Buffalo Tempeh

We eat a lot of "bowl" dishes in our house.  Last night we ate a big salad that consisted mostly of kale, but also had beets, carrots, tomatoes, and sweet peppers from the garden.  Perhaps the star of this dish was the buffalo tempeh.  Sooo...kale as a salad (unmassaged).  I topped the salad with Annie's Woodstock dressing.

Yuck!  Sorry for this horrible night-time photo!

I make this spicy, salty tempeh a lot.  In fact, I think I've determined I only really like baked, dry and slightly crunchy tempeh (like the tempeh that comes with Dovetail's biscuits and gravy- ohmigosh). If you're like me and don't love tempeh, you might still love this dish.  I love to eat this buffalo tempeh in a sandwich with arugula, thinly sliced red onion, and Vegenaise too.  Use your imagination- it's a really versatile recipe.

 Buffalo Tempeh:
several globs of Earth Balance, melted
several shakes of hot sauce (my favorite brand is Crystal)
1-2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 package tempeh, sliced

Combine the Earth Balance, hot sauce, and garlic in a wide-bottomed glass dish.  (Like a pie pan.)  Set the tempeh in the mixture, flipping to coat it.  Let it marinade for at least an hour.  Spread the tempeh out in the dish and bake it at 350* F (I use a toaster oven) until a little crispy, about 20- 25 minutes.

Collards with Queso

It was only recently that I first tasted the amazingness that is Food for Lovers' vegan queso.  I found myself with several open jars of the queso after Vida Vegan Con, and needing a way to use it.  Horrible dilemma, I know.  Using this queso as a dip is my favorite way to scarf it down, but when the tortilla chips ran out, I turned to an old favorite: collards!

I simply steamed some collard ribbons in a skillet with some water.  When the water evaporated, I added the queso, mixed it up, and served it alongside a couscous and mung bean salad with veggies.  (Hungarian pepper, collards, and several types of tomatoes from the garden!)

Tamari Sauteed Collards

This is another really simple go-to recipe.  I love the flavor that's created when you combine tamari, apple cider vinegar, and olive oil.  I usually flavor baked tofu and cooked lentils with these ingredients.  In this dish I added pressed garlic.

This is really as easy as chopping up some collards and sauteing them with garlic, olive oil, a splash of apple cider vinegar, and a splash of tamari.  I added some Field Roast sausage that I wanted to use up and ate it with brown rice.  A simple, quick, and tasty lunch!  Try it.  It might even become a go-to dish in your home too!

Mulled Apple Cider

For much of the Northern Hemisphere, this time of year cues the ubiquitousness of 'homey' spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, used in baked goods and even in home decorations.  I, for one, am prepared for fall.  I bought my fall-scented candles from my favorite vegan-owned candle company (currently I have warm cookies alight) and broke out the mulling spices.  I love mulled apple cider.  Simmering on the stove, the spicy sweet scent fills the house, and once ready, the steamy drink is like comfort in a mug.

Taking a break from my 'greens' them to enjoy a hot cup of mulled apple cider.

My friend, Tcat, bought me a tin of Williams-Sonoma mulling spices last year.  This dry mix contains cinnamon, orange rind, allspice, and cloves.  You simply add it to apple cider (or unfiltered apple juice) and simmer for 10-20 minutes.

Slow Cooked Chana Saag

Do you have a slow cooker?  Probably.  You've probably been slow cooking for years.  Well, I am late to the slow cooking party.  We never had a slow cooker when I was growing up and I've had literally no exposure to them.  That changed last week when my very first slow cooker arrived in the mail.

Meet our new addition!

Before it even got here, I reserved a few slow cooking books from the library.  This week, I excitedly cracked open The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester.  I've now made two dishes from this book and they've been fabulous!  Of course I had to try a greens recipe, so I made Chana Saag (I opted to use spinach along with the chickpeas).  The Indian dish wafted its gingery, spicy aroma through my house all day.  Lucky me!

The doggles long for some chana saag.

This dish was really simple and really tasty.  I've never been to India, but Indian cuisine is one of my favorites and this Chana Saag tasted pretty authentic to me.  I opted to use a bit of leftover cashew sour cream in the place of nondairy milk.  The citrus flavor really shined too, creating a creamy dish, both rich in substance and complexity of flavor.

For a little added flavor, I topped my chana saag with cilantro.

Usually Matt takes a sandwich to work everyday for lunch, but during MoFo, he gets to take leftovers from the previous night's dinner.  Last night he was especially excited to hear there were enough leftovers for his lunch.  Just one of the perks of doing so much cookin'!