VeganMoFo 2011: Livin' it up at Costco 2.0

Excuse the bad picture!
My DSLr's 18-55 mm lens is dead and I'm using a point and shoot my mom just gave me because she got a new one.

Anyway!
I made pasta for dinner using more stuff that can be found in Costco.

-Diced tomatoes
-Tomato paste
-Peeled garlic cloves
-Tomato sauce
-Black pepper (w/ grinder)
-Kalamata olives
-Wide/ribbed elbow pasta (known as Codo #4)

Can you see I'm in love with this place? well yes I am.

Alright then. Here's how I made my super lazy meal.

I melted some soy free earth balance and sautéed two pressed garlic cloves.
I chopped a few olives and mixed everything. Pretty freaking easy.
At the end, I added garlic salt, sea salt, thyhme, oregano and basil.



I promise I'll feature a less pantry relying meal on the last Livin' it up at Costco.

Thank you for passing by n__n!

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: 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.

: )

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

Arroz Rojo

It's my post #13.
Gimme some Social D !
Because Thirteen's my lucky number ; )
Okay, that's all for now.

The red rice, and on the back, a vegan latina tester and some okra-spinach thing I
made with creole seasoning, curry and sesame seeds.

When I was like 14 or so, I used to eat bowls of this red rice.
I just love it : )

Ingredients:

2 cups long grain rice
4 cups water
3/4 cup tomato sauce
1 tbsp. garlic salt with parsely (or regular salt to taste)

In a pot (high-heat), stir the rice until some white specks appear or until slightly toasted.
Pour in the water carefully; mix in the tomato sauce.
Stir to get everything combined, add the salt and stir again.
When the water reaches a boil, cover with lid and lower heat.
Oh, are those rice grains sneeking trough a thin tomato-y film already : ) ?
Uncover and once you're sure the water evaporated almost completely, turn the heat off.
Let it sit for a while (or until warm enough to eat).

Molletes

Oo, I love these : )
I used to eat them a lot 3 or 2 years ago while I was still in high school until I found some beef bits lying within the melted cheese
-_- !
Maybe the refried beans came out of a can, and contained lard... Lesser vegetarian options for me.

Anyway, there are many things that still keep me from ordering them at school and have not eaten them in a while.

Pico de Gallo

Ingredients:
1 diced tomato
1/3-1/2 cup diced white onion
Bunch diced cilantro (about 1/4 cup)
1 diced serrano or jalapeño pepper
Juice of one lime
Salt

Too easy !
Just mix everything and add enough salt (and pepper too if you like).

Molletes

Ingredients:
1 Bolillo bread
Refried bayo beans
Shredded vegan cheese of choice (mozzarella or monterey jack style)

Cut the bread lengthwise and toast
or brown a little in a skillet or griddle.
Spread the refried beans on the bread and sprinkle desired amount of cheeze.
Microwave for a minute and add some Pico de gallo and avocado slices.

: )

Chilaquiles (rojos)

This is one of my favorite things to eat.. Chilaquiles (red, to be specific, because there are variations; like green and in mole sauce) : D !
Basically, they're tortilla chips (totopos) covered with sauce.
The usual toppings are sour cream, crumbled cheese, diced/sliced onion and other things you can mix in, like meat (beef or chicken) and/or scrambled eggs.

I like them plain, and sometimes eat them along some refried pinto or bayo beans.
You can eat them just like I do : p or pour over better than sour cream and "cheese" (grated is better ;) ).
You can use tofu to substitute the scrambled eggs or seitan, chik'n strips or soy curls to substitute the meat.

PS.
I like mine all soft and saucy, but if you don't, just put desired amount of tortilla chips in your plate and pour over the sauce when ready to eat.






Ingredients:

4 tomatoes
2 1/4 cups plain tomato sauce
1 tsp. guajillo pepper powder
1 tsp. de árbol pepper powder
1 tsp. california pepper powder
veggie (vegan) bouillon powder as needed (or salt and dried cilantro or spice of choice)

12 handfuls of tortilla chips (less, if you plan to pour the sauce over them)

Put in the blender all the ingredients (except for the bouillon or salt) and blend until smooth.
Pour the sauce in a pan and let it heat a bit (stir if needed).
Add the bouillon powder/salt; stir and add the tortilla chips.
Turn the heat off and stir gently to get all the tortilla chips covered with the sauce.
Enjoy : )

Caldillo de chipotle

My first recipe !

This one's a sorta modified basic (you can leave out the chipotle sauce and add more tomatoes, veggie broth or water). You can pour it over some chiles rellenos, beanballs with rice or whatever you like.

Ingredients:

8 oz. Chipotle adobo sauce
3 Roma tomatoes cut into octaves
1 1/2 tsp. Minced garlic
1/4 cup Vegetable broth
Salt


Blend tomatoes with chipotle sauce, garlic and veggie broth until smooth.
Bring to boil, stirring occasionally.
Has the sauce reached its boiling point? okay then, wait about 5 minutes and turn the heat off.
You can now add some salt to taste.
Let the sauce stand for a few minutes and after that, it'll be ready to use !

Sorry, i know that's a crappy picture, but my camera's auto-focus is broken or something, besides, i'm not a very talented food photographer as you obviously can see, hah : ( !
Anyway...remember, my pictures may be hideous, but my recipes are not ; ) !