Feliz Navidad : )!

I didn't have time (or money) to experiment a lot with mexican christmas food but I did veganize a traditional dish for our Christmas eve dinner and made a punch that's already vegan (unless there's people out there that sweeten said holiday nectar with honey, barf).

Well. I made romeritos, mashed potatoes, gravy, the aforementioned Christmas punch, a celebration roast and a sunflower seed butter cake with chocolate sfb frosting.

It was all really good!
I'm glad I had an all vegan meal, because last year, I accidentally had some dinner rolls that had eggs in them, hmmmph u_u

I didn't take any pictures last night, but here's a picture of my 'breakfast' (I had it at 2:30 PM or so).

VeganMoFo: Sucky month (sucky me)

Last mofo day, and I posted even less than last year! Shame on me.

As I said in my last post, I'll be posting some Christmas recipes this month : ) and I'm very excited about it.

Anyway, I don't have anything else to say, so I'm leaving you with a picture of a delicious Lula's sundae.



I guess I should write a post about that trip to NYC, huh?
Have a nice week!

VeganMoFo: Beware; -kind of- long post!

Hello. I've been hella busy with school and many other things. For example, yesterday, I returned from a mini-trip I made with my dad to a town in Estado de México (estado de méxico is another state in my country, super close to México City).

Why, you ask? Because we were invited to a wedding.
I was really worried because I didn't know if I was going to have food options at both the hotel and wedding reception.
So, I made a quick trip to San Diego with my mom and got a few things...2 clif bars, 2 raw bars, apple sauce, 2 instant rice noodle soups and a cookie : D
All these things were really helpful for the flight and while we were in the hotel room.

Happy applesauce-face before leaving to the airport and part of Master Yoda's head.

Ok, here's the church!

Isn't it gorgeous? It's more than 400 years old : D and it has a beautiful baroque style decoration inside.

The wedding had a beautiful indian theme and many of the bride's relatives got dressed up according to it:

The bride looked so pretty and her dress was amazingly beautiful as well.
Right after the ceremony, we headed to the reception, that was held in a ranch.

Cute/small artificial lake near the reception

Well, well, well, onto the food.
My dad told me that the bride's grandma is a vegetarian...but I never thought there would be vegan food!

Ensalada de nopales: not great, but edible and spicy ; )

The perfect combination of sweet, spicy and tangy; [delicious!!] tamarind martini (I would also say boozy, but I couldn't taste the alcohol)

Tabouleh over lettuce leaves, hummus and pita wedge

After my meal, I had a snack!

Potato chips with lime juice/salt and drowned in hot sauce (valentina!) or Hot sauce with potato chips...

Enjoying the concert (yeah, Juan Gabriel sang at the wedding, haha)

Plane snack (err, breakfast)

I had a great time and the wedding was awesome. I wish I had posted more this month, but it was impossible. Before christmas, I'll be posting holiday recipes : D!
Currently, I have in mind ponche navideño ; ) with piquete (booooze, haha, I'm sorry. Anyway, I think I'll have mine alcohol-less : p).

VeganMofo: Creamy chipotle spaghetti

I never thought I would ever say this, but I don't think I'm ready to share the recipe; it needs some serious tweaking!

I was so excited because my mom (yeah, again!!) got some silken tofu for me and I've been wanting to make a vegan version of this creamy sauce since forever (alright, maybe since I went vegan : p).

Anyway, I may post another soupy soup recipe tomorrow.

Good night : )!

VeganMoFo: I'm sorry!

For not posting.
I've been muy busy, but I have a small gift for you...

Have you ever been to Pokez?
Well, then you probably know about their awesome burritos.

I'm a freaking tease and I don't have a recipe for my recreation of the pokez tofu and potato burrito(s), but here's a picture. -I think I got pretty close!-

UPDATE:

Alright! As I've already said, I don't have a recipe for this, but I'll write down some directions.
Are you cool with that? Yeah, you are? Okay!

I peeled a large russet potato, diced it and boiled about 1/4 of it. I pan fried the rest (I used olive oil), along with some minced white onion, minced garlic and creole seasoning. I mashed the potatoes (not completely) with a tbsp tomato sauce, bouillon powder and veggie broth to moisten things up.

I threw a piece of seeded tomato in the pot where the potato bits were boiling, then took everything out until tender.

To make the sauce, I blended the hell out of the boiled potatoes/tomato with a bit of tomato sauce, veggie broth and garlic-parsley salt.

Ok, and for the tofu part, I used about 1/3 block of tofu, teared it in medium-ish pieces, pan fried and seasoned with more garlic-parsley salt and -fresh- cracked black pepper.

Filling: I mixed the mashed potatoes and tofu and used a bit of pico de gallo for one of the burritos.
I rolled them and then poured the sauce over the burritos.

Sorry if the directions are weird and/or boring, hah.

VeganMoFo: Squash and eggplant bisque!

Okay. I love soups and I should make soups more often!

Last night, I was -kind of- craving veggies. Since I'm not a big veggie fan, I decided to have them blended instead.
And then, while searching in the fridge, I found two big eggplants that my mom got for me ♥. Both my heart and mind got illuminated and I started to cook.

Ingredients:

Magda squash and eggplant, diced (about 3/4 cup of each)
Vegetable oil (I'm sure it was more than a teaspoon)
1 tsp jarred minced garlic or fresh minced garlic clove
2/3 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup Veggie broth
Creole seasoning to taste

Heat the oil in a sauce pan and cook the vegetables for a couple minutes. Add the garlic, mix it a bit and add the tomato sauce and broth.
Cook until the soup looks less watery (about 10 minutes).
Remove from heat, blend, blend, blend and return to pan.
Heat until the bisque is bubbly, season and voilà! Your bisque is ready.

Makes 1-2 servings

Plated. Sprinkled with nooch and decorated with sriracha happy face : )

Ohh, this was spicy and really good. Creamy without adding any cream replacements, ha : p

VeganMoFo: Survey.

What is one food you thought you’d miss when you went vegan, but don’t?

Creamy pasta.

What is a food or dish you wouldn’t touch as a child, but enjoy now?

Avocado.

What vegan dish or food you feel like you “should” like, but don’t?

Fetuccini Alfreda Sauce from VWaV.

What beverage do you consume the most of on any given day?

Water!

What dish are your “famous” for making or bringing to gatherings?

I don't make food for gatherings : ( but people tend to like what I cook : )

Do you have any self-imposed food rules (like no food touching on the plate or no nuts in sweets)?

Sweet or savory stuff on the same plate. Unless it's plantains, chinese or thai food.

What’s one food or dish you tend to eat too much of when you have it in your home?

Potato everything (fries, tots, hashbrowns, etc).

What ingredient or food do you prefer to make yourself despite it being widely available prepackaged?

Seitan.

What ingredient or food is worth spending the extra money to get “the good stuff”?

Field roast smoked apple sage sausages.

Are you much of a snacker? What are your favorite snacks?

Yes. Tortilla chips with hot sauce and lime juice, potato chips, dried fruit...

What are your favorite vegan pizza toppings?

Vegan cheese, seitan, tofu ricotta, spinach, mushrooms.

What is your favorite vegetable? Fruit?

That would be zucchini or kale. Watermelon.

What is the best salad dressing?

Maple-mustard!

What is your favorite thing to put on toasted bread?

Almond butter :)

What kind of soup do you most often turn to on a chilly day or when you aren’t feeling your best?

Vegetable soup.

What is your favorite cupcake flavor? Frosting flavor?

Red velvet. Vanilla.

What is your favorite kind of cookie?

Almond butter chocolate chip cookies.

What is your most-loved “weeknight meal”?

Any pasta dish.

What is one dish or food you enjoy, but can’t get anyone else in your household to eat?

Seitan sausages.

How long, in total, do you spend in the kitchen on an average day?

About an hour, maybe more.

What about you : D?

VeganMoFo: Sopa de tortilla!

Look at this baby...
It isn't the best picture, I know, but I freaking love tortilla soup!
And I like it even more now as a vegan, because I've been adding some garbanzo beans and love.
Tasty tasty addition, I must say.

Ingredients:

2 tsp veggie oil
2/3 c tomato sauce
1 tbsp. New Mexico chili powder
1 tsp. California chili powder
2 pinches ground cumin
1 1/2 tbsp. veg bouillon powder

Pinch oregano

3 cups water
14 oz. can garbanzo beans (drained)

Heat the oil in a pot and add all the ingredients (except water and garbanzos) until the mix starts to bubble a bit.
Reduce heat and add the water.
Bring to a gentle boil, turn off the heat, add the garbanzos and cover.

Serves 3

Tortilla strips

I don't have an exact recipe for this, but here are some instructions.

Cut desired amount of tortillas into thin (but not too long) strips.
Heat a generous amount of oil in a pan or sauce pot and fry until crispy and golden.
Drain and enjoy!

I garnished my soup with a few avocado slices and a bit of mozzarella daiya on top.
(Oh, and I used just one tortilla for my soup).

I'm still sad. Back in august, when I was vacationing in NYC, a cab driver laughed and said "YOU DON'T LOOK MEXICAN!". What's that supposed to mean?! haha. I know I don't have super black straight hair, awesome chocolaty skin and I'm not short, but really? Do I look like some weird hybrid or something? I don't know, but I love mexican food and traditions; like Día de Muertos : )

In school, some classmates and I made an altar for a deceased teacher

I made a cempazuchitl flower path : D! I swear I worked my ass off taking those petals off of the bulbs

My boyfriend and I went to a cemetery

And after that, we went to the church where my grandpa's ashes are.
I drew something for him, and somehow, that made me happy.

: )

VeganMoFo: Well hello there!

I'm a lazy person and I'm not hungry enough to cook something right now, so I'll just post some tempeh reuben awesomeness.
Enjoy these pictures ; )

Tomorrow I'll post a recipe and all that.

Tempeh reuben @ Caravan of Dreams in NYC

Tempeh reuben @ Foodswings in NYC

And finally, a tempeh reuben I made back in TJ : )

Happy Birthday to me : D

Look!
I made cupcakes to celebrate my 21st anniversary.

Meet Monstro, the jelly donut cupcake monster.

I'll spend the day at the Comic-Con and I'll have a small(ish) gathering at my house at night.

Woot!

Salsa de Chile de Árbol

Since I'm too tired to go to my spinning class today, I'm taking some time to update this thing !

Anyway, chile de árbol rocks !

This prehispanic chile isn't the most spicy of all chiles, but I still had to use canned diced tomatoes to make the sauce more "mild" (I'm using quotation marks because it may be super spicy for many).
If you can't handle too much spiciness, I'd recommend using more guajillo chiles and less chiles de árbol.

Well, here's the recipe.
(OMG, I just noticed that this recipe is pretty similar to the red chile sauce in Viva Vegan [if you don't have that cookbook, you should get it as soon as possible!]; if you like that salsa, you will probably like this one too : ) it probably is a lot spicier than that one, though).

Ingredients:

20 dried de árbol chiles, stems removed
2 large dried guajillo chiles, stems removed

1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
1 tbsp. mexican orégano

2/3 cup water
Salt and/or veggie bouillon powder to taste


Heat a skillet or comal and toast the chiles until fragant, they should look like these, but feel free to toast them more or less.

Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the garlic; let it brown a little and then add the diced tomatoes and the orégano.
Let it simmer if it's liquid-y.

Once the tomato mix is a little drier, blend the hell out of it along with the chiles and the remaining ingredients.

I poured some over broccoli and black beans with nooch, woo. It was awesome.

Black beans, broccoli, pan-fried plantains and a baked tostada

Rajas de chile poblano con tomate y cebolla

Oh Hello there !

This semester's end is near, WOOHOO !

Well, yeah... I see that many people in the U.S. celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Why ?
To be honest, I'm not sure.

-Apparently- Wikipedia has the answer, though:

According to a paper published by the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture about the origin of the observance of Cinco de Mayo in the United States, the modern American focus on that day first started in California in the 1860s in response to the resistance to French rule in Mexico. The 2007 paper notes that "The holiday, which has been celebrated in California continuously since 1863, is virtually ignored in Mexico."

Anyway !
I'm using this holiday as an excuse to post a recipe. A simple one.

Ingredients:

2 tsp vegan margarine
1/2 medium white onion - sliced, then halved

Few tbsp water
1 can diced tomatoes and chilies (I used the small Rotel can)
2 or 3 minced garlic cloves
1 1/4 cup (approx.) poblano chile strips [I used store bought]

2 pinches ground cumin
Salt to taste

Melt the margarine in a medium-sized pan.
Sautée the onion and add 3 or 4 tablespoons of water to cook them and to avoid adding more fat (hehe).
Once the onion strips are caramelized, add the diced tomatoes, cumin and garlic. Mix a bit.
Add the poblano chile strips, stir sand let the thing reduce.

Sprinkle all the salt you want, stir again and serrrve.

I had my rajas with fat-free "refried" bayo beans with some daiya sprinkled on top and two tortillas.
I may or may not include instructions to roast, peel and cut your poblano chiles (sorry I'm hella tired right now !).

: D

Enfrijoladas

Sorry, I've been busy : (

Enfrijoladas are one of my favorite dishes ever.
The usual filling is shredded chicken, but this time I opted for vegan cheese instead of tofu or some kind of mock meat.


Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup mashed or refried beans

1 tsp. Guajillo chile powder

Pinch ground cumin

Garlic salt to taste

Water, veggie broth or unsweetened non-dairy milk (enough to get a creamy consistency)

4 corn tortillas
Vegan cheese or your choice of protein to fill the tortillas (feel free to use more beans, hehe)
Oil for frying

Extras:
Shredded lettuce
Vegan Cheese for sprinkling
Hot sauce or salsa

Diced onion or whatever you like

Blend the first five ingredients and if your blender isn't cooperating, use more liquid.
Heat the bean mixture in a pan.

Heat the oil in a pan to fry the tortillas. Note: I used cooking spray.
Fry the tortillas (one by one). Just remember that you're aiming for a warm tortilla, not a crunchy tostada.

Put a tortilla in the bean mixture pan and cover it with that beany goodness.
Serve it, fill it and fold it like a taco.
Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Sprinkle and garnish with whatever you fancy or have on hand.
I used shredded lettuce (no kidding...), habanero hot sauce and more daiya.
I discovered that daiya is perfect as a replacement for cotija cheese, but FYH is better as a filling.

Edited to add:
Damn.. I just noticed that many of my posts say stuff like "this is one of my favorite dishes ever". That must change !
I'm not saying it anymore, hah.

I'm back !

And I've been hella busy !
Here are some pics of what I've been cooking / eating since I came back to Tijuana.

Fruit salad: Melon, papaya, banana, strawberries, kiwi, apples, pears, guava and slivered almonds / walnuts / raisins to top it.

Xmas eve dinner: Potato rolls (not vegan : ( I found out the next day !!), vegan dad's seitan roast (modified), smoky almond gravy thing from Vegan Brunch and beer.

Vegan pineapple tamal

Marinated / baked tofu and mushroom pizza

Refried black beans, fried potatoes tacos with raw green salsa (recipe to come n_n)

Sopa de pasta (recipe to come)

Gumbo at Disneyland !!

Pretzels : )

Chicken-less quesadilla made with a whole wheat tortilla, gardein chicken-less strips and Vegan Explosion's Queso

Chik'n sandwich (ezekiel bread, daiya cheese sauce, shredded carrot, mustard, baby bellas, baby spinach, boca chik'n pattie and sriracha sauce)

Daiya (cheddar) cheese quesadilla and eggplant, tofu and tomato spicy thing I made.

Grilled cheese sandwich ! (daiya cheddar cheese / ezekiel sprouted grain bread)

Imagine creamy portobello soup with extra thyme, black pepper and soy sauce

Sautéed spinach with minced onions, cinnamon, cumin, sesame seeds, salt and red wine vinegar

Garbanzo beans, tvp, eggplant spicy thing and white rice with corn.

Nachos con 'carne'

Tortilla chips, vegan explosion's queso (now with habanero rotel instead of the regular one !) and seasoned tvp