Chow Vegan

Today, I guinea-pigged for you my hare-brained idea of Chinese food leftovers as a topping for savory oatmeal. I will now be eating all of my leftovers like this. It’s tasty, quick and so simple and easy.

Enjoy your favorite Chinese food the day before, something with a flavorful sauce. Either dine-in, take-out or homemade. I had a lunch special (I’m lazy like that) – fried tofu sautéed with vegetables in a spicy sauce at Crouching Tiger Restaurant in Redwood City, CA. Bring home the leftovers, make sure to get every drop of sauce into the box.

Make a serving of Trader Joe’s Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats or other oatmeal, zap the Chinese food leftovers in the microwave. If there’s big pieces of vegetables or tofu, cut into smaller bite size pieces.

I’ve never understood why some restaurants won’t cut their veggies into easier to eat pieces. Especially when using chopsticks and it’s extra slippery with the sauce and all. The worst is baby bok choy but I digress.

Scoop/pour the now ideal bite-sized Chinese food onto the oatmeal, see top photo. Stir to combine if desired. Breakfast is served.

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Savory Oatmeal

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With the end of fresh summer fruits, I’ve been wondering what to put on top of my oatmeal. I can’t eat it plain. I had heard about savory oatmeal being similar to jook (also known as congee or rice porridge), and with cooler weather finally setting in, it’s time to give it a whirl.

But it’s going to have to be something very simple, super quick, and easy enough make half-awake. I’m thinking leftovers.

I had extra roasted trumpet mushrooms and carrots. There was red potatoes too but I ate them while waiting for the oatmeal to cook. It wasn’t even a long wait – 8 minutes, using Trader Joe’s Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats.

Warm and tasty for wintery mornings, savory oatmeal beats out the sweet version, at least until summer rolls around again. I’m already thinking ahead to other toppings like leftover Chinese take-out, especially those dishes with a lot of sauce. Savory oatmeal with Kung Pao Tofu, anyone?

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Vegan Chocolate Muffin, from Pamplemousse Pâtisserie et Café in downtown Redwood City. As their one and only vegan pastry item, it might as well be a chocolate muffin.

Nice chocolate flavor but it didn’t seem quite like a muffin. It was more like eating a little chocolate cake. Not that I’m complaining or anything. But it certainly made me think what’s the difference between a muffin and a cupcake (other than the lack of frosting and a muffin top).

I shared the muffin with my sister’s kids who could care less about whether it’s actually a muffin or a cake. Instead, through chocolate-muffin-covered-teeth, my niece declared, “You can’t even tell it’s vegan!”

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For breakfast today, I made a vegan version of a sunny side up “egg”. I stumbled upon this method of cooking tofu quite by accident. Too lazy to properly steam silken tofu for dinner one night, I instead just microwaved it on top of rice. It came out looking kinda like fried egg whites to me, but without all the oil.

Pondering over what to use for the yolk, I decided to go with the Easy Breezy Cheezy Sauce from Appetite for Reduction. It’s a great combination – the neutral tofu “white” with the flavorful cheezy sauce “yolk”. And a little bit of black salt (kala namak) sprinkled on top for a bit of eggy taste.

For once, laziness pays off.

Sunny Side Up Tofu “Egg”
More of a method, rather than a recipe

Use only fresh silken tofu, I get the tofu custard from Hodo Soy Beanery, available at various San Francisco Bay Area farmers markets. I wouldn’t use the vacuum-sealed type of silken tofu for this, it’s fine for other recipes. But in this recipe, the tofu has to be good enough for me to eat plain as is.

Using a large shallow serving spoon, kinda scoop/skim the tofu as one layer onto a plate. Place in the microwave, and reheat on the plate setting. (This works in my microwave, you may have to try a different setting or time on yours. Basically, it’s done when heated through and you see the air pockets.)

Transfer to a serving plate, it will be very delicate. It’s easiest to just slide it off onto the other plate. Use a paper towel to absorb any extra liquid.

Carefully place a dollop of Easy Breezy Cheezy Sauce on top of the tofu, it’ll slowly spread out into a circle shape with a little encouragement from the spoon. Sprinkle black salt (kala namak) all over to taste.

Serve with skillet home fries, a slice of bread with extra cheezy sauce for dipping, and freshly squeezed orange juice.

Disclosure: This post also contains an Amazon link, I get a few coins tossed my way if you click on the link and make a purchase of anything.

A few days ago, I got to scarfed down homemade vegan English muffins. They were so fluffy and tender! Of course I didn’t make them, that would be like some sort of crazy baking miracle. Although, technically they aren’t baked. They’re cooked in a skillet.

My sister made a batch of regular English muffins for her kids. But in a separate skillet, she cooked up a couple of vegan ones in olive oil for me. She’s getting to be quite the baker nowadays, with a starter named “Bob” and all.

The recipe for the English muffins came from the bread baking cookbook Tartine Bread, by Chad Robertson of the renowned Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. A beautifully designed cookbook with gorgeous photography by Eric Wolfinger, it’s an in-depth step-by-step guide to making the phenomenal Tartine artisanal bread at home.

Something I won’t be making any time soon, even though it’s specifically designed for the home baker to get professional results from a conventional oven. My sister did offer me some of her starter, but I’ll just wait to be invited over for a slice of freshly baked bread. The most I’m going to do, is remember to bring over my tub of Earth Balance soy-free butter.

Appetite for Reduction Cookbook Giveaway
Don’t forget to enter the giveaway, it ends tomorrow, Monday, February 21st.

Disclosure: This post contains an Amazon link, I get a few coins tossed my way if you click on the link and make a purchase.

After pigging out on donuts, I’m getting back on track with The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook by Dr. Neal Barnard and Robyn Webb. It’s the latest cookbook I’ve received for review from the publisher.

The first part of the book covers how a plant-based diet can improve your health and the science behind it. There’s also a section of inspiring stories of people reaping the many benefits of a vegan diet including weight loss, reversing diabetes and lowering cholesterol and high blood pressure.

The second part is a collection of simple, low-fat recipes and menu ideas using easy to find ingredients at the local run-of-the-mill supermarket.

I really like breakfast potatoes. So imagine my delight to see a recipe for Sweet Potato Hash with Peppers. But since I have a deep aversion to bell peppers, I replaced them with fresh shiitake mushrooms.

I also threw in fresh chopped parsley at the last minute. Quite tasty and so colorful, it’s a nice change from regular white potatoes (nutritional information is also provided with all of the recipes).

To get you started on healthier eating or back on track, whatever the case may be, I’m giving away a copy of The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook.

To enter, complete the following:

1. Subscribe to chowvegan.com via RSS reader or email.

2. Leave a comment in this post with your favorite breakfast food. It doesn’t have to be something healthy. Comment must be made by midnight PST on Tuesday, July 27th; one entry per person. Giveaway is open to US mailing addresses only.

One winner will be randomly selected from the comments received and announced on Wednesday, July 28th.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon links, I get a few coins tossed my way if you click on any of the links and make a purchase of anything.

The cookbook I’m giving away is the copy I received from the publisher. I did not get any food on it.

After my fun-filled trip to the French bistro Bouchon, I feel like a quiche. I couldn’t have their quiche but I sure can make one myself. It’s actually a fairly easy recipe. For one thing, I used a pre-made crust. Because let’s face it, I’m not a baker. I can’t bake to save my life. I think it’s the exact measurement thing that gets me every time. But I do have a secret ingredient that makes up for it – fresh tofu.

Fresh tofu is nothing like the store bought variety. Besides great taste, it hardly has any water in it. You know how you have to press and squeeze out a ton of water from tofu before using it? You do that to fresh tofu and all it does is make the paper towel damp. No excess water means no runny quiche, instead it’ll set up nicely when it bakes and hold its shape the next day and the day after that. Excellent for a make-ahead dish for breakfast or an Easter brunch or even dinner.

Leek and Mushroom Quiche
Makes one pie

1 pre-made whole wheat pie crust
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium-sized leek, white and pale green parts only, coarsely chopped
5 ounces crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 pound Bloomsdale spinach, or other fresh small leaf spinach
1 pound firm fresh tofu, water pressed out
1/2 cup soy milk
Salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 tablespoon dried thyme
1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Precook the pie crust according to the package directions if necessary.

Heat a skillet until hot, lightly drizzle with olive oil and saute garlic and leeks until done, season with salt to taste while cooking. Transfer to a dish and set aside. Heat skillet again and saute and season the mushrooms until cooked, drain any water and set aside. Saute and season the spinach until just wilted. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Squeeze out any water and coarsely chop.

In a food processor or blender, combine the tofu, soy milk, salt and pepper to taste, nutmeg, thyme, parsley and nutritional yeast, process until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl, add the vegetables, mix well and scoop into the pie crust, spreading the filling evenly. Bake for about 35 minutes, let the quiche cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

Fun and Food is hosting a monthly weekend breakfast blogging event; this month’s theme is Balanced Breakfast Meals. I’m submitting the quiche as I can’t think of anything more balanced than that. Its got fresh vegetables, whole grains and soy protein – a delicious way to start off any day.