Filed under: Veg-Life | Tags: animal rights, breakfast, brunch, english muffin, food, healthy, morning brunch, nutritional yeast, recipe, tofu, tofu scramble, vegan
Vegan "egg" McMuffin
Sunday morning brunch is probably my favorite meal. Getting to sleep in on Sundays and then enjoy the morning cooking and eating with my friends makes for a good time. This recipe is something I came up with to break up the usual cycle of Tofu Scramble for brunch. It’s super easy and doesn’t require any real measurements. That means less to clean up when you’re done. SCORE!
I feel like I should add a disclaimer that being Vegan is not always synonymous with being healthy. This is one of those times that it’s not. I am however certain that it’s healthier than a real egg McMuffin and since no animals suffer in the making, it’s a no brainer which is a better choice. Here goes;
Things you’ll need
1 Block of Wildwood Tofu
Daiya Cheddar “Cheese”
Fresh Spinach
1 Tomato (sliced)
Braggs
Olive Oil
Nutritional Yeast
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Sage
Vegan English Muffin
How to make your McMuffin;
First you’ll want to press your tofu to get any moisture out of it. If you’re not sure how to do so, you can find lots of methods online. Once the tofu is pressed slice it into individual patties.
Now you’re ready to marinate the tofu. I use Braggs to do so, but if you prefer regular soy sauce, that works too. In a large bowl add enough Braggs to cover the patties about halfway. After a bit, flip them so they are evenly marinated. You can leave them to soak for about 10 minutes a side OR if you are a planner, you can let them sit overnight and really take in the saltiness of the sauce. I am not a planner so 20 minutes is good for me.
While your tofu is marinating, you have some time to prepare your “breading” and sauté your spinach. I’ll make the assumption that you know how to sauté spinach. If you don’t, here’s the short version. Olive oil, pan, heat, spinach. Simple right?
While that’s happening pile of nutritional yeast on a small plate and add onion powder, garlic powder, and sage to the pile. I realize that I’m not giving you much to go on as far as measurements but it’s really a taste thing. If you like a lot of garlic, add more garlic powder etc. Mix the powders together and check on your spinach. It’s probably burnt by now if you haven’t been tending to it properly. You should really pay better attention. If you haven’t burned it, bravo! Job well done. Remove it from the heat and we will get the tofu on its way.
By now the tofu patties have absorbed the Braggs and are ready to be breaded. One at a time, place tofu into the breading and turn them over to ensure that they are evenly coated in your nutritional yeast mixture. Set them aside and warm up a little bit of olive oil in another pan.
When the oil is hot (you can test it by throwing a few drops of water in the pan. Stand back though because hot oil burns! Trust me, I have the scars to prove it) gently place the patties in the pan and let them brown for about 3 or 4 minutes. Check the underside of each patty and see if it’s browned, if not, leave it be. If all looks good, flip it over and repeat the process on the other side.
Like Daiya cheese? Good because we are about to add a bunch of it! Grab a handful and throw it all over the tofu with reckless abandon! Feel free to yell BAM ala Emril, but it’s not necessary. Now cover the pan for a few and let the cheese get all melty. Melty is a good adjective and underused so start using it as much as possible.
Once the cheese has gotten properly melty on your “eggs”, remove the patties from the pan and gently place them on a few paper towel to soak up a little of the oil. While they cool down, get your english muffin ready by popping it in a toaster. By the time it’s warmed, you’ll be ready to assemble your sandwich. Here’s the order of sandwich ingredients;
Bottom bun, “egg”, tomato slice, spinach, and top bun. I love Veganaise and also love ketchup, therefore I slathered (another good, underused adjective) the SHIT out of the top bun with both. That’s personal preference. Use your favorite condiments. Hot sauce, steak sauce, spaghetti sauce….. probably not that last one. Whatever floats your boat.
Enjoy!!!
Easy breakfast sandwich from start to finish. I like to use the most un-vegan coffee mug possible.
Filed under: Veg-Life
Making seitan at home is easy, much more delicious, and way cheaper than buying it at the store. Considering the lack of preservatives, I am certain that it’s healthier too. To be 100% fair this isn’t my recipe. I found it online a few years back and would give credit if I knew where I got it (sorry). I get asked for this recipe a lot so I thought I might as well just post it here for everyone.
Seitan is probably my favorite meat substitute due to it’s consistency and versatility taste wise. I’ve tweaked it quite a bit from time to time depending what dish I will be making. For instance I add cumin, chili powder, and fresh cilantro if I’m making taco “meat”. Like I said, it’s versatile. You get the idea. For spongier seitan, place just a few pieces in a large pot. For firmer stuff, put several pieces in a smaller one.
Seitan
2 ¼ cups vital wheat gluten
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1 ¼ cup water
¼ cup soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, grated or pressed
For the Broth:
8-10 cups water
1/3 cup soy sauce, or 2 teaspoons sea salt
In a large bowl, combine the wheat gluten and nutritional yeast. In a
measuring cup, stir together the water, soy sauce, and garlic. Make a
well in the dry ingredients, and pour in the liquid. Mix with a spoon
or spatula until the mixture firms up, then knead with your hands for
a minute or two. Set aside for a moment while making the broth.
In a large stock pot off of the stove, combine the water and soy sauce or salt.
Shape the gluten mixture into a log, and cut into 6-8 pieces. Gently
place in the broth, and bring to a low simmer on the stovetop.
Partially cover, and simmer 1-1 ½ hours, turning over at least once.
The seitan will expand significantly and may look very spongy; it will
firm as it cooks.
Allow to cool completely in the broth. The seitan can be refrigerated for up to 10 days.
Filed under: Veg-Life
Tofu “Chicken” Nuggets
Ingredients;
1 block of extra firm tofu (drained & pressed)
1/3 cup of soy milk
2 Tbsp Mustard
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp Nutritional Yeast
3/4 Cup Bread Crumbs
You may need to double up on the sauce/bread crumbs. I found myself running out halfway through the block of tofu.
Cut the block of tofu into nugget sized pieces and set aside.
Place the bread crumbs in one bowl and in another bowl, put all the other ingredients together and until mix them well.
While you do this next part place enough oil in a wok or deep fryer to thoroughly cover the tofu nuggets and heat on medium allowing the oil to get boiling hot.
Now take your tofu and dip each nugget into the sauce, then the bread crumbs until all pieces are well coated and get ready for the real fun, DEEP FRYING!!!! * Gently place a few pieces of tofu at a time in the oil and let them get golden brown. Of course if you like more crispy burn(y) crust, leave them in longer. Once they are at the desired crispiness remove them from the oil and place them on a plate coated with some paper towels to soak up the oil. Continue the process until all of the nuggets are fried and then cover the plate with some more paper towels to take care of any excess oil.
Let the nuggets cool for a bit, then enjoy with your favorite condiment. Beer does not count as a condiment.
*If you want to make this “healthy” then cook the nuggets at 350° for 25 minutes turning once. In my opinion this is NO fun healthy so I say fry the sh*t out of these buggers!!!
Filed under: Mundane Life Stories as told by Andy
It’s December 25th, Christmas day and while most of you realize that I do not celebrate the holiday I do appreciate the values that are supposed to accompany the holiday. I also enjoy Christmas movies and music. Let’s face it, regardless of your religious beliefs or lack thereof, it’s a pretty feel good time of year.
I woke up this morning to find my phone and email inbox full of holiday well wishes from friends and acquaintances, smiled and got out of bed. Everything just seemed ‘right’ in the world. A certain level of peace and calmness I couldn’t really put my finger on filled the air. I started up my coffee and got some food out of the fridge to make breakfast. It was at this point I looked over and saw my favorite four legged fur ball Fiver looking at me. I walked up to him and as I got closer he became more and more frantic, hopping around his area and up onto his cage with Christmas excitement pouring out of his little body. I leaned over to pet his little head and it was at this point he ran to his food bowl, looked up at me and said “Feed me already you asshole!”.
I guess rabbits are only fans of Easter. My mistake.
Merry Christmas!
Filed under: Veg-Life
Dear Chipotle,
While your short film is aesthetically pleasing, it is nothing more than propaganda intended to trick consumers into believing that the animals you kill are happy to be part of your finished “product”. You clearly recognize that factory farming treats pigs (in this case) as a faceless commodity that is treated with no decency. The film shows the farmer making his farm “free-range” and loading the pigs sweetly into the Chipotle truck. Why not show where the truck heads off to? Because its the same factory that was depicted as cruel earlier, that’s why.
There is no such thing as humane murder. Let’s cut the crap. Your slogan “Naturally raised Beef”, is sickening. Cows are raised. Beef is the product you profit off of when you take a cow’s life. I think that fact alone accurately depicts where your values are.
Yours in disgust,
Andy
Watch film referenced here:
Filed under: Veg-Life
If you host your website through godaddy.com, start spending your money wisely. In other words with any host OTHER than godaddy. Bob Parsons recently slaughtered an elephant while on “vacation” in Africa. He justifies it by saying that he fed a village of people. Posing with the dead Elephant as if it were a trophy certainly proves his intentions were less than honorable.
Furthermore, instead of owning up to his actions, Parson’s attacks PETA for campaigning against him. Parsons hose to post the video of his hunt on his blog and brag about it. PETA merely gave him even further publicity for a film already made public by Parsons. While I rarely agree with PETA, I care much much less for an ignorant asshole like Bob Parsons.
Unlike the BP boycott, which had little to no actual impact on the oil giant. Ceasing to use godaddy.com for your domain and hosting needs can, and should have a negative effect on the company and it’s CEO. Industry magazines are already reporting a sharp increase in competitor growth due to offers of deep discounts to switch domains over. Here are some examples
Canvasdreams.com = FREE domain switch using the coupon code DITCHBOB
Namescheap.com = $4.99 Transfer + $1 goes to charity using the coupon code BYEBYEGD
There are a whole list of providers offering discounts at : http://couponfollow.com/elephant
Other suggested providers are http://www.webmasters.com/, http://www.hostmonster.com/, and http://www.greengeeks.com/
Please join my friend Shawn’s Facebook group to show your support as well.
Thank you.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_207606002591772
Filed under: Veg-Life
I have been cooking more lately. Not the healthiest cooking ever, but it’s good. I will attempt to integrate health cooking into the mix asap. Since I am a Vegan and attending a Vegan blogging conference in August, I thought I should start posting some food related posts.
Along those lines, I have two new obsessions. 1 is winning Powerball even though it’s fairly unlikely we figure if anybody is going to win, it should be me. The other obsession is gardening. I recently bought 2 Earthboxes and am attempting to grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and basil. It will be a while before I reap it’s rewards but I am stoked to see what happens! I will update gardening pictures as they come along.
