Gazpacho-- Vegan

Soooooo good! Gazpacho is one of my favorite meals EVER! It's really simple and inexpensive to make too. All you need is 3 cups of tomato juice, one hothouse cucumber, 4 roma tomatoes, 2 stalks celery, one red onion, 3 cloves of garlic minced, 2 red bell peppers, 1/4 cup olive oil, and 1/4 cup white wine vinegar, salt and pepperto taste. All you have to do is chop up the veggies super fine (I cup each vegetable into 1 inch cubes and then threw them in a food processor, but mae sure you don't overprocess) and then mixed all the other ingredients together. Then you are done! You can eat this immediately but the flavors are better if you allow it to chill in the fridge for awhile :)

BBQ Tofu Wrap

My new favorite thing to do with extra firm tofu is to freeze it before I use it because it changes the texture and makes it easier to drain all the water out of it (you can just squeeze it because the texture is like a sponge, so it won't cracks or crumble the tofu, even if you try). So this recipe was simple, I made it for lunch one day and saved some leftovers for Andrew and he enjoyed it as well. After cutting up the tofu into cubes, I sauteed it with some olive oil and rosemary. After it was cooked I added 1/4 c. bbq sauce and 1/4c. water and mixed it in with the tofu and allowed to simmer for 5 minutes. Then I just threw it in a wrap with some vegannaise, lettuce and tomato. yummy :)

Tofu Salad

Okay, so since I became a vegetarian, I have liked taking dishes I used to like that contained meat and making the either vegetarian or vegan. This dish is twist on Chicken Salad and it is vegan! You are going to need extra firm tofu (frozen, then defrosted and drained), vegannaise (I make my own with silken tofu, but you can buy this at Whole Foods), celery, walnuts, grapes, a pinch of cayenne pepper and salt and pepper to taste. I cut the tofu into really small cubes and then sauteed it until the sides were a golden brown, then you just mix it with all the other ingredients, and wah-la! Toficken Salad! Throw it on a vegan pita with some lettuce and tomato and you are good to go!

Pesto Lavosh Pizza with Smoked Gouda

So, Andrew and his buddies have cycling races called Tortilla Flats every Tuesday Night now. They have been doing AMAZING, so whenever I don't work on a Tuesday night, I like to reward them with a nice home-cooked meal :) This meal was a huge hit! It was simple, and really cheap to make. I started off with a sheet of Lavosh, I got a pack of 10 a trader joe's for less than $4. Brush each side of the Lavosh with olive oil and then bake it at 350 until it's a little crispy ( about 5 min). While the Lavosh is baking slice up some mushrooms, tomatoes and garlic. Saute the the mushrooms, garlic and spinach in one pan with some olive oil until the spinach looks wilted and the mushrooms are tender. In anther pan throw the sliced tomatoes in with some oil oil and cook until they blister. After the Lavosh is crispy, spread on some pesto to cover the entire surface. Then I put on the the blistered tomatoes, top those with shredded smoked gouda, and then top that with the garlic, spinach and mushrooms. Bake at 350 until cheese is melted (about 7 min).

Tofu Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries

This was delicious and very easy vegan meal to make. You need a package of firm tofu, carrots, one onion, mushrooms, walnuts, bread crumbs(I made my own using wheat bread) garlic, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Drain tofu and mash it up into crumbles, add breadcrumbs and all the other ingredients after you process them. Shape into patties and place on a greased cook sheet and bake for 40 min at 375 degrees. Throw them on a bun with your favorite toppings and wah-la! Tofu burgers!
As dor the sweet potato fress, nothing could be easier. Well, cutting them IS pretty hard... that's why I have Andrew do it ;). After they are cut into wedges I just toss them with some olive oil, minced garlic, coriander and sea salt. Bake them for 35-40 min at 400 degrees.