Vegan Eggs Benedict!!!

I got the basic recipe from: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=32293.0

Ingredients:
3 English muffins

1 pkg fake canadian bacon (they have it at down to earth)
1 lb tofu (it calls for soft tofu, but I used medium-firm and it was still OK!)
3 tblsp soy sauce
3 tblsp vinegar
a bunch of spinach
1/4 c. salt water

garlic powder

Hollandaise Sauce:
2 tblspn earth balance
1 c. unsweetened soymilk (IMPORTANT!!!! "ORIGINAL" DOES NOT MEAN "UNSWEETENED"!!! found that one out the hard way!)
5 tblsp nutritional yeast
lemon juice to taste (prob about 1/2-3/4 of 1 lemon)
1 tblspn cornstarch
salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, tumeric
dill weed (optional....i didn't use any because they didn't have any at down to earth, but dill in hollandaise is yummy!!!)

1. Cut the tofu block into 3/4"-1 inch thick squares (to cover english muffins). mix the soysauce/vinegar in a bowl, then marinate the tofu in it.

2. Make hollandaise sauce: melt earth balance over med. heat. Add the nutritional yeast, 3/4 c. milk, and spices. in a side bowl, mix 1/4 c. soy milk with the cornstarch until lumps are gone. add to the stove. bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and the sauce will thicken. reduce the heat to keep warm (or take off stove and cover)

3. Make spinach: put salt water and spinach into a pot or frying pan. cover, turn on heat, let steam until the spinach is wilted. put aside.

4. Heat the tofu: put the tofu in a frying pan with a little bit of the marinade. Pan fry until lightly brown on all sides. put aside.

5. At the same time, pan fry the fake canadian bacon. put aside.

6. Toast the english muffins, spread some earth balance while still hot to melt.

7. Assemble, in order from bottom to top:

english muffin

canadian bacon

tofu

spinach (sprinkle a little garlic powder/blk pepper on top of the spinach

hollandaise sauce

The trick to this recipe is to multitask, especially if you want to serve it warm. If you're slow (like me!), you can assemble it in your own time, and then wop it in the oven to warm the whole shebang up before serving.

Comfort Foods: Fried Okra

Fried Okra
Who says vegan food has to be healthy?

Fresh okra is usually available at local farmers' markets here in Honolulu, but I've been feeding you guys the frozen stuff when I make fried okra for vegan dinner. Okra gets kind of gooey and sticky when it's wet, which is helpful for making the batter stick before frying, so I like the frozen stuff. If you use fresh okra you will want to slice it into 1/4 inch rounds, and discard the stems. (You can buy the frozen stuff pre-chopped.) I recommend soaking fresh okra in cold water for at least an hour before attempting to coat it with cornmeal.

Ingredients

Okra (I think I made 1 pound for vegan dinner)
Cornmeal (2 cups?)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder


Preparation
If using fresh okra chop it and soak in cold water for at least an hour prior to preparing.

If using frozen okra, you'll want to defrost it completely before frying. I usually run it under warm water or just soak it in the refrigerator for an hour or so just like I do with fresh okra.

Combine cornmeal with cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper and garlic powder in a large bowl.

Drain the okra and toss it with cornmeal/spices mix until well coated. At this point, I usually end up having to add more cornmeal than I originally measured out.

Heat a skillet with about 1/4 - 1/2 inch of oil in it over high heat.(My southern mother recommends peanut oil because of its high smoke point, but I always use canola oil and it works just fine. Canola can withstand pretty high temperatures too.)

Fry okra in the oil until crispy and browned. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Best served hot.

Comfort Foods: Vegan Gravy

So... this is the recipe I used to make gravy for biscuits and gravy on Comfort Foods night. But I'm not sure how well I followed it?

I do remember it took way less than 8-10 minutes to thicken the gravy. Also, I didn't do any "chopping" or "mincing." I just put half an onion and five cloves of garlic in our food processor and pulverized them.

I used more than 1/2 tsp dried sage, but I think that's a good starting point. Add more as you taste, etc...

Vegan Gravy

Ingredients
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 tsp nutritional yeast
4 Tbs shoyu
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Directions

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour, nutritional yeast, and soy sauce to form a smooth paste. Gradually whisk in the broth. Season with sage, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring constantly, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until thickened.

Rice Milk

Ingredients:
Cooked rice, water, sweetener
1. Combine cooked rice with four times as much hot water in a blender
2. Blend until smooth
3. Sweeten to taste with sugar, vanilla, agave or whatever you like
4. Pour into pitcher and chill, filter through cheesecloth if you don't like pulp

Nut Milk

Ingredients:
Nuts, water, sweetener
1. Soak Nuts overnight
2. Add nuts to blender
3. Add twice as much water as nuts to blender and blend until mixture is smooth
4. Sweeten to taste with sugar, agave, vanilla or hot sauce if you like
5. Pour into a pitcher and chill, you can filter the liquid through cheesecloth or something if you don't like pulp.