#67 M Chopped Salad

This is my absolute, favorite salad. Ever. The M Chopped Salad from M cafe. I love bringing this to weddings. People get jealous while they eat their dried out banquet chicken. Blech!

Copy catting this salad is a labor of love. Totally worth it though. M cafe charges $11.95 for it. I can easily make 3 for that price!

From their website:
hearts of romaine & mixed greens, avocado, cucumber, chickpeas, herb-baked tofu, scallions, umeboshi pickled radishes, carrots, beets, tamari-roasted almonds, crumbled tempeh“bacon” & tofu-peppercorn ranch dressing

I use vive le vegan's lemon herb tofu but sub extra veggie broth for the lemon juice. The ume pickled radish is from the kind diet. I use the trader joe's steamed beets and tamari roasted almonds. The tempeh bacon recipe is from vegan brunch. And again we gave the super star native foods black creek ranch dressing.

This is a jaw dropping, Oooh and Aaaahs type salad. I love it!!!

#66 Chickpea Tuna Melt

This was SUPER yummy!!

This recipe is from Vegan Junk Food. I had to buy it for myself after I saw that mushroom stroganoff (which I made last night)!

The sandwich was really easy to make. Chickpeas are wonderful. As suggested in the book, I used granulated seaweed to give it a seafood flavor. I had dulse flakes in my pantry so that's what I used. The flavor was mild but definitely good. I spread the "tuna" on both halves of the bread and sprinkled it with Daiya cheddar. I broiled it until the cheese was melted. Then I spread a little Earth Balance on both sides and browned it on my cast iron skillet. Sean and I both really liked this.

When I made my meal plan for the week, I knew I was going to make this sandwich and wanted to make a side that was a little different than usual. I thought potato salad was the perfect answer. But as I was making this, I realized that the sandwich and the potato salad had essentially the same exact ingredients (vegenaise, celery and red onions). I decided not to care and did it anyways. It was good but- I won't be making these two together again. 

The sandwich halves before I put them in the broiler.

#65 "Egg" foo yum Sandwich

I wanted to say that this was lunch. That would've been a lie. I'm in the middle of moving so the kitchen is in disarray. This was the best I could do tonight!

I love these Organic Tofu Veggie Burgers from Trader Joe's. They're made by Wildwood (my absolute favorite soy company). I call these Egg foo Yum (yung) because they remind me of the Chinese food dish. I could be crazy but there's definitely something scrambled egg-like about them.

Heated up in a pan, served on a grinder roll with Vegenaise, mustard, romaine, tomato, and crunched up Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos. Hooray for vegan Doritos!!! The whole family loves them. They're pretty salty but every now and then they're a yummy treat! I was very sad to discover I didn't have an avocado, Gasp!!! Not sad enough to drive to the store though.

For dessert I'm going to eat these amazing PB cups (both of them!) that Ryan brought home for me today :)

#64 Spaghetti and Meatballs II

Check out the steam coming of those meatballs! Yummm!

I've talked to Michelle about this before...it's funny how we can both make the same thing and have it look completely different. Michelle's Spaghetti and Meatballs looks very different than mine. Here's how I made it:

I cooked up bucatini pasta. This is a thick spaghetti like pasta with a hole through the center. I was in the mood for a thick hearty pasta and this hit the spot. I used Gimme Lean ground beef to make the meatballs. I smushed in a couple fennel seeds into each ball with a little salt and pepper. I baked them in the oven, then pan fired the with a little oil to crisp them up a little. I tossed it all with a simple jarred marinara sauce.

Sean made the garlic bread using a baguette and a garlic spread he made with minced garlic, parsley and Earth Balance.

#63 All Hail Kale Salad

The All Hail Kale with blackened tempeh from Veggie Grill is currently, my favorite way to eat kale.  It's a little pricey (around $11 after the tempeh add-on) and the closest VG to me is a bit of a trek so....I decided to make it my next copycat salad.  First off I googled it.  There were quite a few options, most of them seemed to come from the same site so I checked it out.  Besides the banquet sized yield, I was disappointed in the amount of sugar and oil used.  Then it hit me!  My trusty Native Foods Cookbook was what I needed!  In case you didn't already know this, one of the VG founders was once a partner of Native Foods.  I'd heard that he ran off with quite a few recipes (which totally sucks) but NF seems to be growing rapidly too so the more the merrier I say!  Unless Tanya is mad about it, then I'll boycott!!!  Who needs them now anyway since I've mastered my favorite item?







From The Native Foods Cookbook-
I made the Mango Lime Vinaigrette but swapped fresh papaya for the mango. This dressing uses far less oil and maple syrup instead of sugar. So much better! For the tempeh I started with the basic prep then blackened it using Ray's Good Home Blackening Spice. Either this is one recipe (named after him) that he did not take with him or they don't really blacken it when I order. It did not taste the same. It was really good, just different.

For the corn salsa I used TJ's frozen roasted corn, Roma tomato, cilantro, lime juice, salt & pepper. The salad also has red cabbage, quinoa, and walnuts. So delicious!
 

#62 Quesaritto

Quesadilla + Burritto = Quesaritto

This was really good and easy to make. I've always loved quesadillas. . . but a quesadilla made with soy cheese just isn't the same. So I spread some vegetarian refried beans on a tortilla, then sprinkled Daiya cheese and salsa on top. Sean also sprinkled fresh chopped jalapeños on his. I heated it up on both sides.  I served it with spanish rice, homemade gaucamole and Follow Your Heart sour cream. Yumm!

Sean was in charge of plating. Looks amazing right?!

Pre-cooked

#61 Chile Relleño Casserole

This was another recipe from Vegan Junk Food. I was super excited for this one. I loved my Mom's version in my Pre-Vegan days. Unfortunately, this one was not a winner like the stroganoff was.

The stuffed chilies were yum, but the batter surrounding them was odd. It had a funky flavor and a gummy, pasty texture. Nobody liked it. You're supposed to blend the flour based batter for a minute. I feel like this messed the texture up. I did add tomato sauce to the top a few minutes before it was done baking. That's how my Mom's was and I don't think it affected the outcome. It probably helped out actually.

I served mine with corn tortillas, spanish rice, vegetarian refried beans, sliced avocado, and some of the sour cream leftover from the oh so yummy stroganoff recipe. (that one's double worthy!). Ryan and the kids had theirs in burrito form.

I'm not going to give up! I think a tofu based, maybe quiche filling would be better for the batter. I'll keep you posted.