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.

Potato Filled with Broccoli and Cashew Velveeta

Damn it!  I need a real camera, this blackberry bullshit is just not cutting it...hint hint ;) anyone gots a camera laying around collecting dust they could lend me? 

Anyways... when your in a funk whats better to eat than broccoli and cheese?  I usually make my cheese sauce with nutritional yeast, earth balance, soy milk and flour but because I am TRYING not to eat wheat and soy... notice I emphasize TRYING.  Not eating wheat and soy on a vegan diet is effin hard!  But overall I have been eating a hell of a lot better so this might be something I try to stick with... we will see.  Both cheese sauces are REALLY good but I think the cashew one is a little easier.  They can also be very versatile, last night when I came home and had a mad case of the munchies I made some quesadillas with the leftover cashew Velveeta and though they were sloppy they were also delish. 

So at this point I am feeling pretty cocky about my ability to veganize (yes that is a word) pretty much anything, so give me some ideas, what is your favorite dish you would like to see veganized?  I want to get some crazy delicious dishes on my blog and then start promoting it a little more.  Let's see what kind of crazy ideas you gots!

Baked Potato Filled with Broccoli and Cashew Velveeta

2 large potatoes baked
1 head of broccoli chopped and steamed
1 cup of cashews
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
juice of 1 lemon
water
salt and pepper to taste

1.  Place cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic powder and lemon in a blender and fill with water until the cashews are just covered and blend until a creamy cheese sauce is formed.  Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.  Open potato and salt generously, add a tablespoon or two of cheese straight to the potato then top with broccoli and add a couple more tablespoons of cheese.

Greens, Beans and Tempeh Bacon

OMG! What a peice of shit week I have had, hence the lack of postings and cooking in general and when this beezie is not cooking and eating she is not happy:(  Up until yesterday I have pretty much only been eating a shit ton of bananas because I have been so effing lazy and stressed.  I wont get into details here but let's just say within the matter of a week I have unexpectedly  relocated residencies and my relationship of five years is on the rocks. But what better way to cure a broken heart then some hearty greens with tempeh bacon, fucking yum:)  As you can see in my other posts I am not a strainger to comfort food, especially the kind of comfort food where the more you eat the better you feel because it is just that healthy. 

I came up with this dish one day when I made some boring ass sauted kale and topped it with a veggie burger and tempeh bacon.  Let me just say the veggie burger was not very complimentary (blehk) but the tempeh bacon and greens...fucking genious.  This recipe is perfect on it's own or you can serve with a side of quinou or some kind of healthy grain.  I easily ate half of this whole recipe last night which means a whole head of kale to the dome!  Now thats some pretty healthy shiznit... So here is the recipe so you can over dose on kale just like me...

Greens, Beans and Tempeh Bacon

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion chopped
6 peices of tempeh bacon or other vegan bacon cut into 1/4 inch peices
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 bunches of kale cut into small peices
1 can of cannelli beans
1 cup of veggie broth
salt and pepper to taste

1.  Heat olive oil in a large pan on medium heat and add onion and bacon, cook for 3-4 minutes until bacon is browned.  Add the garlic and cook until it becomes fragrant, just for a minute or so then add the rest of the ingredients and braise the kale until desired consistency.  I like my greens a little crunchy but it is up to you.

Damn that is one easy ass recipe... so go make it now!!!

BBQ Tofu Sliders with Baked Sweet Potato Fries

This recipe takes like 3 minutes to prepare and works as an excellent appetizer for veg and non-veg friendly crowds.  The trick is using delicious BBQ sauce and using a ton of it.  I got my slider buns at Trader Joes for like two dollars and they are awesome.  Obviously, if you don't have slider buns you can make regular sized burgers but tiny little burgers are so much more fun to eat.  I make this recipe when I am feeling really lazy so I usually just add pickles but you can top them with whatever you want, I have topped them with vegan coleslaw and onion and that is just killer!  I have also baked the bbq tofu in bite size pieces and served them as appetizers, you can do a lot with the bbq tofu.

BBQ Tofu Sliders

1 16 oz block of super firm tofu sliced 1/4 inch thick
BBQ sauce (I like Red Tail bbq sauce and it has no high fructose corn syrup)
Slider Buns
optional: pickles, coleslaw, onions, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions or whatever you like

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Place tofu on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray and cover each piece of tofu with a generous amount of bbq sauce.  Put in the oven for 12-15 minutes until the bbq sauce begins to caramelize but not burn.  Turn over and cover the bottom of the tofu with a generous amount of bbq sauce and cook for another 12 minutes or so until the bbq sauce begins to get crispy.  If needed cut your baked bbq tofu so they fit nicely in the slider bun and top with toppings of your choice.  Serve with sweet potato fries, salad, coleslaw or whatever you wish.

Sweet Potato Fries

1 pound of sweet potatoes cut into french fry shapes
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1.  Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle olive oil over the top until the potatoes are lightly coated and add salt and pepper to your taste.  Cook for 15 minutes and then take out of the oven and turn over to try to get both sides crispy, put back in the over to cook for another 10 minutes.  Be careful sweet potatoes are very easy to burn do to there sugar content.

Note: You can cook the tofu and the fries in the oven at the same time and have a nice dinner done in less than 30 minutes.