Field Roast Scramble

  

As many of you know, I'm not terribly big on "faux meats" but man, oh man do I love Field Roast.

I especially love field roast when it comes in Costco sized packs of 12 sausages (which it now does, along with the Celebration Loaf - woo woo!)

The meal pictured above is pretty standard fare during busy law school nights and, since the field roast does most of the work, it's as simple as it is satisfying.

And, it is full of protein (each field roast sausage has 25 grams of protein!) fiber, vitamins and all the other delicious good things in the universe pretty much.

Wanna hear how easy it is to make?

Just take 2 smoked apple sage field roast sausages, one bell pepper, one head of broccoli and one onion and dice them all up. Then put a tsp of oil in a large fry pan and let it heat up before adding in all  your amazing ingredients.  Saute them all together for about 6-7 minutes.

Follow up with 4 cloves of minces garlic and two handfuls of spinach and let everything cook together for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Then plate and serve!

Hello delicious!

And because this post wasn't long enough - here is a photo of Wyatt in a fitting room at Banana Republic for your viewing pleasure.

 

See why I take him everywhere? So patient.

Live long and prosper! And get yo' self some Field Roast from your local Costco!

Sushi Night

 

I think sushi is one of those things I could eat every night for the rest of my life and be okay with. 

You know, when someone says something like "If you had to live on 5 foods for the rest of your life, what five foods would those be?" I always think sushi would be one of them. It has a wonderful balance of veggies, carbs, salt and is just so satisfying. Plus there are almost infinite combinations if you are willing to get creative ;)

And creative is exactly what I was this sushi-night go around...which is why I was able to make enough rolls to feed a small village. Literally.

This was just ONE of the plates I made. I was rolling out sushi rolls for close to an hour.

But it was TOTALLY worth it. I had leftovers for both Colin and I for like a week.

I also tried a new sushi roll ingredient that I've never used before: Sweet Potato! And it is now by far my favorite filling. Paired with crunch carrot or cucumber it tastes absolutely wonderful and the texture is perfect.

The other fillings that made an appearance were:

• Carrot
• Cucumber
• Avocado
• Spicy Tempeh Mix

Usually I also get tofutti cream cheese, but the asian foods store I was shopping at didn't have it. But that's the great thing about sushi - you can use or not use whatever ingredients you like!

Here is a rough breakdown of the ingredients you will need what I did to prepare this mass amount of food.

Sushi Ingredients

• 1 cup medium or short grained rice (I ran out, so feel free to use more if you need it)
• 1 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar (do not omit!)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 8 sheets nori (they usually come in 10 packs - use however many you want)
• 2 carrots
• 1 large cucumber 
• 1-2 medium sized avocados
• 1-2 sweet potatoes
• 1 package tempeh
• 2 Tbsp Vegenaise
• 1 Tbsp sriracha or other hot sauce
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 scallions or 1/2 red onion or 1 stalk celery (FINELY diced)

Other things you will need:

• Sharp serrated knife
• Sushi rolling mat
• Bamboo steamer (or other steaming device)
• Wasabi/ginger/other garnishes

Prepare the rice according to the directions on the package (again, I tend to go light on the rice so prepare more if you need it). Fold in the rice vinegar and sugar using a sushi spoon or regular, large spoon. Set aside.

Using a vegetable peeler, peel the carrot and the cucumber into long, thin strips and set aside.

Poke the sweet potato with a fork 4 or 5 times and place in the microwave for 5-6 minutes or until soft and steamy. Then, cut the sweet potato and avocado into strips.

Place the tempeh in the bamboo steamer and steam lightly for 4-5 minutes in a large pot.

Using a fork, mash together the tempeh, vegenaise, sriracha, soy sauce and scallions until fully combined and there are no large chunks of tempeh left.

Here is where I would normally try to explain to you how to roll a sushi roll using your mat, but to make your life easier I am going to link to this video which will SHOW you instead of simply describe to you how to roll sushi if you've never done it before. It's not very hard but it does take a little getting used to. This guy uses a little cardboard rolling mat, but I like that it was short and gives you the gist of what you need to do (it's only like a minute long).

Then, slice your sushi into pieces using your serrated knife and arrange as you see fit!

Live long and prosper fellow sushi lovers!

And let me know: if you could only eat 5 foods for the rest of your life, what would they be??

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Okay so I know it's a little late but I couldn't NOT do a vegan thanksgiving post! (See what I did there? Double negative to distract you from how truly behind the times this post is. I mean it's almost CHRISTMAS)

A lot of vegans don't like thanksgiving because of the food culture and ideologies it represents but I LOVE it. In my opinion there is no better time to show off the versatility of vegan food and have an excuse to cook lots and lots of it than thanksgiving. Plus, because I insist on hosting and inviting lots of random people every year, I get to cook for people that wouldn't otherwise try vegan food and I will say (in my 3 years of vegan thanksgivings) I have yet to send anyone away hungry or dissatisfied :)

I cooked for 14 people this year! Phew! It was crazy but a total blast. Everyone brought a dish and a friend of the family's made some incredible vegan and non-vegan desserts.

I also got to shoot guns and hang out on a farm, feed horses and run around with my pups. It was an almost perfect day.


(That's me shooting a gun for the very first time!)

And more importantly:

The Spread (minus dessert!)

FOOD!!!!!

Field Roast!

Here's what was on the menu! (See: Top picture, clockwise starting at 12:00)

• Green Bean Casserole
• Big Green salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette
• Roasted Asparagus
• Field Roast Celebration Loaf
• Mashed Potatoes
• Mojito Fruit Salad
• Roasted Chestnut, Granny Smith Apple and Sage Stuffing
• Rice Pilaf 
• Rainbow Roasted Veggies with fresh Rosemary and Thyme
• Homemade Spiced Cranberry Sauce (my own recipe - this was a total hit!)

And for dessert (not pictured unfortunately) was rum pecan pie! Absolutely incredible. I was blown away by this mans dessert making skills.

I'm not going to put recipes for everything up, but here is my acclaimed (by a total of 4 people, including myself) spiced cranberry sauce!

Spiced Cranberry Sauce

• One bag/box of fresh cranberries (I don't know the exact weight but they come pretty standard)
• 1 1/2 cups Concord Grape Juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup agave 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp jamaican all spice (or regular if you don't have jamaican but try to get it!)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 scant tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan, bring to a boil and then simmer for a MINIMUM of 30 minutes. I did mine for about an hour and it was totally worth it, the more time it simmers the more time the flavors have to combine and settle in. Add more grape juice if you need it.

 And every year I make Colin green bean casserole. The old fashioned kind. With french fried onions. I think it's kind of gross but it's the one thing he wants every year. Last year I used Imagine's portobello mushroom concentrate to make it but this year I tried a new recipe and it was so simple and so much better. Oh and I used fresh green beans instead of canned. I just could not bring myself to used canned green beans two years in a row. He was still happy :)

Green Bean Casserole
Adapted from The Vegan Stoner

• 1 heaping Tbsp earth balance
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp mushroom broth
• 1/4 cup diced onions
• 2-3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 trader joes package button/crimini/baby portobello mushrooms (whatever look best)
• 4 Tbsp flour
• 1 1/4 cup soy cream
• 1 trader joes package fresh green beans, chopped into 1-2 inch segments
• Fried onions (to taste/decor)

Melt the earth balance with the soy sauce and mushroom broth over low heat.

Add in the onions and garlic and saute for 4-5 minutes.

Then add the mushrooms, flour and soy cream. Whisk together for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture begins to thicken.

Add in the green beans and stir the whole concoction constantly until nice and thick - the way grandma made it (not my grandma, but someone's grandma).

Add more mushroom broth as needed to keep the mixture from forming lumps/getting too thick.

After about 7-8 minutes, pour the mixture into a square baking dish, top with the fried onions and bake for about 15-20 minutes at 350.

It tastes just like it was made with good ol' fashioned Campbell's cream of mushroom soup!
Mmm Mmm good!

I even made Colin leftovers for lunch the next day :) (Left - greenbean casserole, veggies and fieldroast, Middle - cranberries and stuffing, Right - mashed potatoes!)

See why I love thanksgiving?! So wonderful. Plus the whole "Ellen-Degeneres-save-a-turkey" movement has really caught on.

Beautiful.

All right, live long and proper! And expect more posts to come now that finals are over and winter break is upon us!