Vegan Sausage Mcmuffin

I'm back Beezie's!!! And guess what?! I have officially started a business with my vegan food! Wha!? Yes.  I am at a bar called the El Rio in San Francisco slangin sliders, taquitos and cupcakes every friday night from 9-midnightish, come see me if you haven't already! I also started a program in SF called the Women's Initiative which is helping me take my business to the next level!  Rad, I know.  So my vision is to do vegan beezie style brunch at farmers markets either in SF or the East Bay.  Exciting, yes,  I know, I know.  Anyways, I'm playing with recipes for my farmers market stand and you would think this is why I am experimenting with recipes such as these sausage mcmuffins, but...no.  My sister has been talking about making these mcmuffins for weeks and since I stayed home sick I just fricken did it myself.  You can't just be talking about makin mcmuffins and never make them.  That's just effed up.

So they came out amazing:)!  Most amazing part is the homemade gluten-free cheese sauce I whipped up.  Shit was bomb.   The cheese sauce can be used in pretty much anything, mac and cheese, sandwiches, pizza, nachos... whatever you can think of. I am also kind of an expert on eggifying tofu but you can be the judge of that...

Beezie's Cheese Sauce

1/4 vegan butter

1/4 cup garbanzo flour (any flour would probably work)

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1 cup unsweetened soy milk (or any unsweetened milk alternative)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Heat a sauce pan to medium heat.  Add the butter and flour and cook until light brown and pastie (3-4 minutes).  Then add the remainder of the ingredients and cook until desired consistency, 2-3 minutes.  If it gets to thick just add more "milk".  

Fried "egg"

1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 package firm tofu cut into 1/4 slices

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

nutritional yeast

salt and pepper

Heat large frying pan to medium-high heat.  Place oil in pan and heat, then add tofu.  While tofu is cooking sprinkle the top with garlic powder and nutritional yeast.  Cook for 4-5 or until it just begins to get golden and flip, cook another 4-5 minutes top with salt and pepper and that's it!

Assembly: 

1 recipe Beezie's Cheese Sauce
1 recipe Fried "eggs"
4 vegan breakfast sausage prepared according to package
4 toasted english muffins (I like to toast mine on stove top with olive oil, try it)
hot sauce

Take the toasted english muffin and slather a thick layer (like a really thick layer, trust me) of the cheese sauce on what will be the top of the muffin.  Then place the veggie sausage on top of the cheese and the "egg on top of that, then top with the bun, flip over and give a little squish so the cheeze oozes out the side and viola!

Roasted Chickpea and Wild Rice Salad with Tahini Dressing

Alright my fancy foodie followers, this ones for you.  It''s a suped up fancy pants salad.  This might actually be the only salad you ever see on my blog because not only do I hate making salads I actually suck at it.  Yup, I, Vegan Beezie, suck at making salads.  I have a really bad habit of throwing everything and the kitchen sink in and it just ends up being weird.  I also think it is just a lot of effing chopping and when you go to eat it it's a lot of effing chewing.  And I don't know about you foolios but I gots a heavy duty appetite.  I'm no fresh juice for breakfast, fruit for lunch, lettuce for dinner kind of vegan.  This recipe is a great recipe to make for non-vegans, it's hip, kind of fancy, healthy and filling.  Here you go...




Chickpea Croutons
1 can rinsed chickpeas
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon braggs
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Dressing

1/4 cup tahini

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4-1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

juice of 1 lemon

1 clove garlic

1 inch peice of ginger peeled and minced

splash of braggs

pepper

Salad
2 cups cooked wild rice at room temperature
spinach
tomatoes
cucumber

1.  To start this recipe make sure that your rice is cooking and going to be cooled before you decide to plate.  Wild rice takes about 45 minutes to cook fully.  Next start the chickpea croutons by pre-heating the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix ingredients on a baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes.  Yes, you can mix the ingredients directly on the baking sheet, why dirty another dish? The chickpeas should be crunchy but still a little soft on the inside.

2.  While the chickpeas are baking you can make the dressing.  This dressing is bomb and hellsa easy.  Just throw everything into the blender and blend.  Salt and pepper to your liking (I used braggs for the salt in mine).  Taste and make sure the dressing suites your liking.  Start with 1/4 cup water and add more until the dressing is your desired consistency.

3. Once chickpeas are done, rice is cooked and cooled and dressing is prepared you are ready for assemlbling! I put a layer of spinach, topped with wild rice, then chickpeas, tomatoes and cucumbers and drizzled the dressing on top for what is pictured.  I also just mixed the leftovers all together for later and it still looked beautiful:) Enjoy!

Gluten-fucking-free Crustless Pumpkin Pie

So I took off for a month doing some crazy soul searching and guess what?  I came back the same crazy bitch.  Don't get me wrong it was life changing and I will never look at things the same way... but I am who I am and that just happens to be a crazy bitch.  Wait, I know what you are thinking, "that sucks, what was the point of taking off like that?".  It's actually an amazingly beautiful and transformational thing to be a crazy bitch and fully accept it... to love it... to radically accept yourself... crazy bitch and all.  To learn what it means to trully be in the moment both with yourself and the world around you... its easy when things are going good but the real transformation comes with sitting with the ugly and like I said earlier, radically accepting it.  So, show your inner crazy some love, maybe a little cuddle sesh with your demons or plung into the ugly and swim for a bit and see what you find, you might be suprised what a little acceptance can do.  Ok, enough Buddha talk, now on to what we're all here for, the food!

So I am finally back home and in the kitchen and does it feel fucking amazing.  My first big cooking adventure since I have been back was cooking tamales with my best vegan cooking buddy Emily.  It was epic.  I grew up making tamales... there is just something about spreading the masa in the corn husk just warms my heart:)  Anyways, I got way ahead of myself that day.  We made three kinds, two with homemade sauces.  Yeah, it was a shit load of cooking.  I could write the most beautiful heartfelt book about this glorious day but guess what?  My dumbass didnt document anything, no recipes, no pictures, no nothing... which means no blog for you beezies, sorry:(  But, I did roast a pumpkin on that very same day and had the vision of this beautiful crustless pumpkin pie.  It is actually hella better than regular pumpkin pie and guess what?  Gluten-fucking-free! Yes, so for all you wheat adversed beezies this one is for you:)

Pie Filling

1 3/4 cups or 15 oz can pumpkin

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 block firm silken tofu

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon clove
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Topping

3/4 cup oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans and walnuts but you don't have to be as fancy as me)
2 tablespoons gluten free flour of your choice
2 tablespoons vegan butter
1/4 teaspoon salt

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all the ingredients for the filling in a blender or food processor and pour into a greased 8 inch pie pan.

2.  For the topping measure everything into a bowl and use the back of a fork to mix the butter in.  It will take a minute if the butter is good and cold.  Then pour over the pie and place in the oven for about 45 minutes.

Healthy Chocolate Pudding

This shit is easy, healthy and super yum.  I have been wanting to experiment more with silken tofu and this recipe was a total success. Silken tofu is packaged tofu that is much creamier and less flavorful than regular tofu.  The idea for this recipe came to me one night as I was ravaging through the cupboards like a dope fiend looking for something chocolaty and sweet.  I stopped and thought about it for a second and it came to me and here it is in all it's glory.  You could probably double or triple the recipe and fill a pie crust up with it.  Yes! Chocolate pie!  Sorry to get so excited, I love pie:)

Healthy Chocolate Pudding

1 package silken tofu
1 1/2 tablespoon chocolate powder
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon melted raw coconut oil
pinch of salt

Place all ingredients in a blender until well mixed and place in the refridgerator for a couple of hours until it sets.

Raw Berry Tart

So with all these awesome fruits being in season I am hoping to be making some more fruit centric recipes.  The farmers markets have been on hit lately.  If your not out shopping at them for your fresh produce you should be!  I also just love pies and tarts....yum!  And even better this shit is totally fucking healthy.  No flour, no sugar, just dates, nuts and fruit!  It was eaten within a 24 hour period.  Not just by myself, luckily my occupy buddies came over after a planning meeting and helped me consume it.  It took me less than 20 minutes to prepare with clean-up, I know, hellsa quick.

Big shout out to my big sis for helping with the decorating.  The heart was my idea but she helped with the rest:)  Love you and hate you sis!!!

Here's the recipe...

Raw Berry Tart

Crust

1 1/2 cups walnuts
1/2 cup almonds
8 dates pitted
1/4 teaspoon salt

1.  Place all ingredients in a a food processor and mix until it holds together nicely.  Be careful not to over mix or the oils in the nuts will release and make it mushy.

2.  Grease a ten inch tart pan and press the crust mixture into the pan evenly.

Cashew Cream Filling

1 1/4 cups cashews
juice and rind of one lemon
1 vanilla bean, seeds only
pinch of salt
water

1. Place cashews, lemon, vanilla bean and salt in a blender.  Pour the water over the nuts just to the top.  Blend until creamy.  If too think add more water.

Assembly

1.  Spread the cashew cream in the tart shell evenly.  Add the fruit on top to your liking.  To get the same presentation I did hull the strawberries and place them around the egde of the tart.  Then make a heart shape with raspberries and fill carefully with blueberries.  Refrigerate for a couple of hours.

2.  To serve gently move the tart out of the pan and place on a flat surface to cut.  ENJOY!!!

Butternut Squash Coconut and Ginger Soup

So as you may have noticed I have not been blogging much and there are a few reasons for this.  One, is I was working on an application for grad school... Yup, my ghetto ass is trying to go to grad school.  Also, to keep it real my cooking attempts have been straight flops lately... but not this one...

Soup on a rainy day?... duh!  This shit is the ultimate comfort soup.  It's carby and creamy with just a touch of spice.  This soup is also hecka easy to make, except for peeling and dicing the butternut squash.  I hate doing that shit!  I am the kind of person that passes the pre-chopped veggie section of the produce with disgust, like, how fucking hard is it to cut some zuchinni and bell pepper.  But after hacking away at the huge butternut squash for an hour tonight I might rethink my butternut purchase next time.  Anyways, once you get the butternut squash chopped its a breeze.  

Butternut Squash Coconut and Ginger Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion chopped

1 large shallot minced

2 teaspoons fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 medium sized butternut squash peeled, seeded and diced

6 cups veggie stock

1 can coconut milk

salt and pepper

1.  Heat large stock pan to medium heat.  Add olive oil and onion and saute for 5-6 minutes until onion begin to become translucent.  Add the shallot and cook for a minute.  Then add the ginger and cayenne and cook for 30 seconds or so while continuously stirring.  

2.  Add the butternut squash, veggie stock and coconut milk to the onion mixture and bring to a boil then lower to a simmer for 30 minutes.  Once butternut squash is tender and cooked through blend with a hand blender.  Taste and adjust spices to your liking and it is ready to go.