Lazy Sunday

I'm feeling a bit lazy this holiday weekend... Yesterday I treated myself to a massage, and today I was planning on relaxing at the pool while the hubs had to work.  Unfortunately, someone in our apartment management thought it would be a good idea to close down both pools at the same time, right before a holiday weekend.  Great planning, right?  Well, I didn't want to bother any of my friends to try and bum at their pools, so I decided to do some cooking for the week ahead, and it inspired me to share some of my favorite lazy meal ideas!

I'd also like to take a moment, before I begin, to apologize for the quality of these photos.  They're from my cell phone, and as I took them I thought "I'll surely edit these before I add them to my blog" but as I mentioned earlier.... I'm feeling lazy.  So you may catch a glance of a hand or foot, whatever happens to be on my kitchen counter, or maybe even one of my stash of stolen chipotle napkins!  If you don't like it, I'm sorry - there are plenty of fancier blogs out there that you can visit instead.  With me, what you see is what you get!


Veggie Paninis, inspired by Rip Esselstyn

This one is very handy for cleaning out the fridge.  I usually make this either right after I make a big shopping trip that includes produce, or I'll make it when the produce is on the brink of ickiness and I know I need to use it up fast!
There's not much of a recipe for this, but I'll give you my basic blueprint:
-Bread (I always have a loaf of ezekiel in the freezer for this very purpose)
-Some kind of spread (cashew cheese, hummus, pesto, guacamole, vegan mayo, roasted garlic, etc.)
-Veggies - whatever's in your crisper drawer (I like spinach, sprouts, grilled portobellos, red peppers)
-Something surprising (kalamata olives, thinly sliced crisp apple slices)
-A little more spread
-Bread

Variations - Once in a while I'll add a slab of grilled tofu or tempeh to my panini, but keep in mind that definitely ups the richness, so plan your veggies accordingly.  Once I made a panini with roasted garlic olive tapenade and tempeh, and it was just too much.  It needed some freshness or crunch!  I love adding apple slices for that!
Once you stack your layers, it's time to grill.  I use a George Foreman grill I got while I was in college - does the trick perfectly!  You can either stand by and put pressure on the top, or do as I do and place a silicone oven mitt on top (for grip) and then gently put a 5 lb dumbell, or some other heavy object on top and walk away.  In less than 5 minutes  you'll have beautiful grill marks!
My husband has discovered that if you use too much spread on the bread, or if your spread is a little too water-y, it can make the bread soggy and it will stick to the grill.  If that happens to you but you still want all of that hummus-y goodness, just add another layer in the middle of your veggies.  It'll help keep everything together too!




Baked Potatoes with Mushroom Wine Sauce

I first made this while my husband was away for the weekend, and I thought it was amazing!  Then, I realized part of the reason I may have loved it so much was that I drank quite a bit of the wine I was using for the sauce as I was cooking.  But I saved some for the hubs when he got back and he confirmed that it was, in fact, delicious.
Baked Potatoes - I like to do these in the crock pot - just wrap them in foil, layer them in and set on high for about 4 hours.  I like to rearrange them in the pot every hour or so (I don't think you really have to do that, but it makes me feel better when I do.)  If you don't have a crock pot, or like to use your big oven, go right ahead and bake your potatoes however you prefer!
When your potatoes have about 30 min left, start the mushrooms.  Chop up about 2 pints of baby bellas (or you can be lazy like me and buy them chopped!) and add them to a pan with a diced onion.  Stir every few minutes until the mushrooms look soft and the onions have some color to them.  Add a few tablespoons of flour and stir til you can't see the whiteness anymore (the flour will soak up any liquid in the pan, don't be alarmed!)  Add about a half a glass of white wine (enough to cover the bottom of the pan,) and stir it around.  You may want to add some more liquid (water, broth, or more wine,) when you see how much the flour is still absorbing.  The sauce will continue to thicken as it cooks, so add as much or as little liquid to get your sauce the consistency you prefer.  At the very end, I added a scoop of plain vegan yogurt to add some creaminess.
To serve, put a potato in a bowl, chop/mash it up, and top it with some delicious wine-y mushroom sauce!  Don't forget to pour yourself a glass to go along with it!



Lentil Sloppy Joes

put all of the following ingredients into a crock pot:
1 cup lentils (I use a mixture of green and french - the french lentils have a very meaty texture)
2 cups vegetable broth
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 medium onion, diced and cooked on the stovetop til translucent with 2 cloves garlic
1 tsp cumin
whatever other spices you find in your kitchen that you think sound good

Cook on high for about 2 hours, or low for 4, until the lentils are cooked and the consistency is desirable.  toast up some buns and get sloppy!  Okay, that sounded weird.  But you knew what I meant.



Taco Lasagna, or Mexican Pizza

This is a recipe I actually made today, and love it!
In a bowl, mix:
2 cans refried beans (make sure there's no lard in there!) I like to use one can of "spicy" and one can of "mild"
1 can black beans
1 can corn
In a pie pan, layer the bean mixture with tortillas, 1 can enchilada sauce, and a few handfuls Boca Crumbles.  I end the layers with a tortilla covered in enchilada sauce.  You can also add in some vegan cheese to the layers, and the top, but my husband is not a fan so I leave it off.  I did, however, top it with a shake of nutritional yeast for some zest (which you can see in the photo.)
Cook at 350 for 20-30 minutes, slice and enjoy!
I usually have some of the bean mixture leftover, and I like to heat it in the microwave and use it as a dip for tortilla chips!  You can also use it for nachos (see below,) or as a burrito filling, using the leftover tortillas :)



Nachos

This isn't really something that warrants a recipe, but I have a photo, and they're quite delicious and easy.
Start with a layer of whatever tortilla chips you happen to have on hand (we seem to always have a bag or 2 of Santitas - they're just like Tostitos, but half the price.  Not sure if they're a national brand, but look for them next time!)
Then you have some kind of beans - you can use plain canned black beans, refried beans, or you can make your own bean mixture in the food processor with spices and such.  Whatever you feel you can handle.  Heat it up a little and it will be easier to spread around.
I like to use Beyond Meat Chicken Strips on my nachos - if you haven't tried Beyond Meat, you are seriously missing out.  They're relatively new, and I get them at Whole Foods near the tofu and tempeh.  They look and taste so much like chicken it's frightening!!  You could also heat up some Boca Crumbles for added meatiness and protein.
I also like to add corn on my nachos.  I know this isn't very traditional, so feel free to leave it off, and add whatever nacho veggies you like!  Peppers, green chilies, olives, etc.
You can also add some vegan cheese, but as I said earlier, we don't usually have that in our fridge.
I like to layer it up 2-3 times, then I'll zap the plate in the microwave to meld everything together, and melt the cheese if you've added it.  Then you could add some vegan sour cream to round it all out and enjoy!


Black Bean Burgers!

This one sounds a lot more complicated than it is.  Maybe the fact that I have a vitamix makes it that much easier, but I think even with a regular food processor, the only difference would be a bit more clean-up.
In the vitamix or food processor, blend up a can of beans (any kind!)  Stir in a handful of oats and whatever spices you like (I usually use chili spices, or whatever I have handy.)  Let it sit for a while so the oats can soften.  Then, if the mixture is still very wet, sprinkle some whole wheat flour (or wheat gluten) to soak up the moisture.  Form into patties and cook about 4 min per side.  Toast up some buns, and add whatever burger toppings you like!  I'm boring and usually only add ketchup and maybe some lettuce, but let your imagination run wild!
As you can see in the photo, these pair wonderfully with some homemade sweet potato fries (let's be honest, I've used frozen ones many times as well!)



I hope you're having a wonderful holiday weekend, and that at least one of these lazy meal ideas has inspired you to get in the kitchen.  None of these recipes is hard at all, and your loved ones will be ooh-ing and aah-ing like crazy!

Date Night

Ever since we've been married, Aaron and I have a weekly "date night."  It's something his parents did/do, and something we really like.  If nothing else, it's a time every week that we have carved out just for each other, and since it usually consists of just going somewhere for dinner, it also has the happy side effect of curbing our eating-out habits throughout the rest of the week.  If I'm really craving that Chipotle burrito bowl, I'll just wait til Saturday and know we can go for date night.  Then, I scrounge something up from the fridge and I save myself $8! 

I have to admit I was a little worried date nights would start to get a little boring once we switched to veganism.  But I've been pleasantly surprised!  I had no idea there were so many places with abundant vegan options!  It goes to show that when you're not looking for something, you'll never notice it's there.  We can still go to most of our usual places, and have tried new places we probably never would have gone to before.  Here are a few of our new "usuals."

Chipotle
Okay, so this one's not really a "new" usual, but it's always been one of our go-to's and I'm SO glad it can stay on the list.  I've actually found that I like the taste of my burrito bowls better without meat!  And since non-vegans tend to pity those of us who "can't have" meat (that mentality baffles me sometimes... this is my choice, please don't feel sorry for me!) I've found that the portion sizes for veggie bowls are frequently much larger than they are for meat-eaters!  I can ask for extra brown rice, extra black beans, as many fajita veggies as the bowl can hold, and they don't even charge me for guac!  I also enjoy lots of tomato salsa on my bowl now, which I didn't before.  For whatever reason I grew up HATING raw tomatoes.  I'm not saying I'm going to bite into one by itself now, but I've been slowly increasing the amount I eat mixed into other things and I'm really pleasantly surprised by how much I like the taste!  The cost of our trips has gone down $3, and if I'm really conscious of the portion-size I can get 3 meals out of one bowl (let's be honest, it's usually 2... it's date night, why not?)

Trang VietCuisine
This is one we just recently tried.  It has a full menu of meat dishes, but then it has 2 full pages of vegan options in the back of the menu (the pages are a different color, you know I had to make a "back of the bus" joke while we were there...)  We shared summer rolls and steamed dumplings which were both fantastic - Aaron is obsessed with the peanut sauce they serve with the rolls at Vietnamese places.  I had a "chicken" curry dish with tofu and their own concoction of imitation chicken (I'm guessing some form of seitan - the texture was surprisingly good, and I was very impressed!)  and Aaron had a noodle pancake with mixed veggies and some yummy sauce.  I definitely don't think we would have ever gone to this restaurant before this year - it's near campus in a strip mall, and isn't exactly the type of place you bring someone to impress them.  But the two men who were running the place were SO incredibly sweet and knowledgeable and friendly.  Once we were in I loved it, but it took something to get us through that door - knowing they had a large vegan selection.  Without that bridge, it could have been right outside our door and we never would've known.  And I'll be honest, the real reason I loved it so much was that they had 2 types of vegan cheesecake!  I have had dreams about cheesecake since we've vegan-ized this year, and just knowing that I could come here to get delicious strawberry or marble cheesecake has completely put my mind at ease! 

Jai Ho
This was one of the first new restaurants we tried after "making the switch" (how many euphemisms for choosing a vegan lifestyle is this post going to contain?)  It immediately appealed to us, since the full name of the restaurant is "Jai Ho - Pure Veg."  Sounds like our kind of place, right?  It's also in a type of strip mall, near campus, someplace we'd never have gone before.  Once inside, I think quaint would be the first word that would come to mind.  It's a long, narrow space with tables on either side and a mixture of ornate silver decorations and dollar-store-framed photos of food.  I loved it.  The booths and menus were decked out in bright colors and there were photos of all the food.  We first informed our waitress that we were vegan, and asked if there was anything on the menu that had egg or dairy so we could stay away from it. She looked very worried and said she wasn't sure, but she'd get the owner to come speak to us.  I was a little worried, based on her reaction, and we started thinking of backup plans, just in case.  The owner was SO sweet and friendly, and it turns out almost everything we would have wanted to order was perfectly safe.  She made sure to tell the kitchen not to use any butter on our dishes, and answered all of our questions.  We ordered 2 appetizers and 2 entrees to share, because we assumed by the prices that the dishes would be small.  We were wrong.  The pakoras, which were only probably $4 had about 9 pieces, and the samosa were huge!  We ordered a masala dosa which hung over both sides of the giant serving platter they brought it on, and we had a never-ending bowl of vegetable "fried" rice!  Needless to say we had tons of leftovers and will be going back again!!

Taco Bus
This is another place we had been to a few times before our "change of heart."  Everyone in the Tampa Bay area has heard of Taco Bus - it started in St Pete as a food truck, and has grown incredibly because it's so delicious!  They now have 4 or 5 locations and have been on the Food Network at least twice.  The first time I tried it I was with my mom and mother-in-law coming back from the St Pete Saturday Morning Market and we stopped to get lunch.  We were all immediately in love!  I don't even know what makes it so delicious but I have not had a single thing there that I didn't absolutely adore.  When Aaron told me they serve tempeh, imitation steak, tofu, and 2 other vegan options I was ecstatic!  Their refried beans are even vegan!  There are many options but I always end up getting their tempeh - it is SO DELICIOUS!  Another reason I love love love Taco Bus is that it's a really great place to go to with my non-vegan friends!  They have lots of really yummy meat options, so they are happy, and I can eat my amazing tempeh too!  So many places have "vegan options" that are just a salad, or beans and rice... it's really nice to have options that both omnivores and herbivores will LOVE.  We recently met my cousin there who was in town for work.  He loved his dinner just as much as we loved ours!  I've even gone with a coworker who ended up becoming a tempeh-convert by the time we left!  She now buys it regularly from Publix and has started choosing meatless options much more frequently.  I feel really great that I was able to show her that vegan doesn't have to mean less flavor or not delicious!

Greek
Now, I say "greek" here and not a specific restaurant, because living in FL we have ample choices!  Little Greek, Greek Village, Athenian Gardens, GoGos, Acropolis, Byblos, Pitas Republic, Pita Pit, Pappas, the list could go on, and they all have delicious food that we can eat!  I've always loved falafel, and my love has only grown in the last few months!  Also a delicious choice is a simple hummus and veggie pita or wrap.  As long as they have a plethora of veggies to stuff in there, it's always a good option!  I thought I would miss the tanginess of tzaziki and feta, but I honestly don't even notice they're gone!



Date night is just one more instance where I'm able to stop and reflect on how happy I've been with our decision to choose a vegan life.  So many people view going vegan as a form of deprivation - again with that pity-mindset.  But honestly I feel like my life is so much fuller now than it was before.  I'm lighter - physically, mentally, and emotionally.  I'm noticing that I see the beauty in the small things more, and that makes my Saturday dinners with my wonderful husband that much more enjoyable - and that's without even mentioning all the amazing food we've been trying!