I am loving the Vegan Brunch cookbook. It rocks my world.
I steamed the tempeh in a little salted water in the microwave first and used a little less oil, but otherwise made it just like it said. I am eating a lot of breakfast for lunch and dinner these days!
You know how I plan to spend next Memorial Day? Graduating from Yale University/Yale School of Nursing. You know who one of the honorary degree recipients was this year? Hillary Clinton. I am so jealous. I know that Memorial Day is meant to be a time to honor those who have served our country, not a day to indulge ourselves. I can’t think of a better way to honor my dad, who I know would be very proud. (Edit: Technically, that would work better on Veteran’s Day, but I’m not going to split hairs).
Vegan Brunch. It’s not a bad way to spend the day! Just gotta remember to honor those who have served our country, too.
I got my copy of Vegan Brunch: Homestyle Recipes Worth Waking Up For-From Asparagus Omelets to Pumpkin Pancakes
Then I decided to make a breakfast sandwich, à la Egg McMuffin. I used the Tufu Benny recipe for the “egg,” and then a slice of vegan ham and a slice of Tofutti Cheese. Of course, the cheese was so melty the edge fell off, but I was too hungry to fix it up and make it look all pretty again.
Classes are over for the summer, so I expect to have more time to cook and to post in the coming weeks, which makes me happy!
Elaine’s Healthy Choice indeed uses Teese for their mac & cheese! Their mac & cheese is way better than mine though. I’m not ashamed to admit that! 🙂
So all this talk about H1N1, a.k.a. “the swine flu” has me nostalgic for pork chops. Yes, I am a sick and twisted person!
My mom used to make pork chops with some regularity- usually coated with egg and breadcrumbs, then pan fried, served with apple sauce, a starch and a vegetable. Sometimes they were baked, sometimes they didn’t have the breadcrumbs, but that was the basic idea. Tasty, fatty, salty, artery-clogging pork chops.
You need apple sauce with “pork chops” right?
Tempeh is sort of “the other soy product” much like pork is “the other white meat,” so I decided it would be my pork substitute. It holds up quite nicely for this purpose. To start, I cut the tempeh into triangles (cut across the width, splitting the block into two thin layers; cut in half horizontally, then cut the halves in half, then into triangles), them I steamed it in a casserole dish in the microwave with apple juice, water and a little salt for 4 minutes (I know salt seems weird, but it’s the chemistry aspect that you use it for here, not the flavor). While this is going on, heat up your oven (oh, say 400F. Maybe) and start making your breading. I used some ground pecans in with the bread crumbs. Then I went to town with spices. I used fresh rosemary, along with dried lavender, crushed red pepper, garlic, onion, salt, pepper and maybe something else I forgot. I used a coffee grinder to grind it all together, so the consistency was that of breadcrumbs.
Let the tempeh cool until you can handle it. I then coated it with a little mustard, then dipped it in the crumbs, and laid out each piece on a oil-sprayed cookie sheet. Once they’re all coated, spray the tops with oil, and then bake for 7-8 minutes, flip them over, and then bake a few more minutes, till they’re nice and brown. Alternately, you could fry them in a pan, but that’s a lot of oil.
I served mine with some brown rice (with some pecans and most of the same spices mixed in), cinnamon apple sauce and “creamed” spinach.
Just like mom would make if she were vegan and liked to use lots of different spices.
Total junk, but so good. Eat it with a salad, it will make you feel less guilty.
The semester’s almost over. Hopefully there will be some more regular posting then.
For anyone in the New Haven area- there’s a new vegan restaurant! It’s called Elaine’s Healthy Choice, and it’s on Whalley Ave across from Shaw’s (near Broadway). It’s an easy walk from the Yale campus. I went there today, and unfortunately I don’t have pictures, but the food is pretty awesome, and cheap! The staff seem really nice, too.
The cuisine is essentially vegan soul food, making it a completely different kind of restaurant than the nearby vegan Ahimsa (upscale/Indian/juice bar) and vegetarian Claire’s (soups/sandwiches/salads). Today I got the barbeque chick’n, which comes with red beans and rice (and a salad, I think if you get the dinner size) and a side order of mac & cheese. I’m not sure what cheese product they’re using, but it’s not nutritional yeast, and it’s very good. I’d actually guess that it’s cheddar Teese, but I’m not positive. I’ll have to ask next time- and there will definitely be a next time!
They also give you a lot of food- I couldn’t even come close to finishing. It’s primarily a take-out restaurant, but there are a couple of small tables inside. Check it out!
Just to add to my earlier post about B-12 yesterday- I mentioned two forms of B-12 supplements, oral and injectable. There are two additional forms: sublingual and intranasal. Sublingual medications are absorbed into the blood stream by placing them under the tongue and letting them dissolve. Intranasal medications are sprayed via a pump into the nostrils, where they are also absorbed into the blood stream. Since they go into the bloodstream directly, they don’t have to be absorbed from the digestive system with intrinsic factor.
, is actually a sublingual medication- that is, it goes into the mouth, but is dissolved under the tongue instead of swallowing. 
