Tomato Onion Relish (Goes great with Hummus and Pita!)

1 onion (finely chopped)
3 garlic cloves (minced)
1 T fresh thyme
1 T oregano
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp red pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 tomatoes (chopped)

Bring all ingredients EXCEPT tomatoes to a boil in frying pan. Turn down heat once it starts boiling and let simmer for 20 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and mix together!!

Hummus!!! (VJ's style!)

40 oz garbanzo beans (two and a half 1# cans, drained)
3/4 cup Tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/8 cup olive oil
1/2 T salt
1 T minced garlic (or more if you love garlic)

***Put all ingredients in to food processor and blend until smooth and delicious!

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: 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.

Julia & Eric's Superb Coconut Coleslaw

-cabbage (grated)
-carrots (grated)
-beets (grated, canned or fresh)
-lime to taste
-splash or 2 of vinegar
-some coconut milk
-some salt 'n' peppa

(this is exactly how it was written in my journal...any corrections???)

SG's Amazing Beet Hummus

-3 beets
-2 Tbl tahini
-5 Tbl lemon juice
-1 clove garlic
-1 Tbl cumin
-1 Tbl lemon zest (2 sm lemons)
-1 pinch sea salt
-pepper

cook beets, peel, cube, & blend!  soooo deelish & such a fantastic color!

(I just found a couple of beet recipes in my journal from a previous dinner night.  I figured if you shared with me, you wouldn't mind sharing with all.) =)

Garlic Jalapeño "Sour Cream"

This is an amazing recipe I stole from Becksters & she got it from the The Voluptuous Vegan:

-1/2 lb soft silken tofu
-2 Tablespoons lemon juice
-3 Tablespoons canola or veggie oil
-2 teaspoons rice vinegar
-3/4 teaspoon salt
-1/2 jalapeño, deseeded & destemmed (I like using a red jalapeño cuz it makes a pinkish tint)
-garlic cloves to desired garliciness (I used 3)

Throw everything in a blender or a food processor and swirl it up til it's nice 'n' creamy!   yyuuuuummmm...