Sunday, November 26, 2006

Tired of Leftovers?

I am freaking tired of leftovers. I normally put up with them since I'm cheap and it's economical, and on the occasion, look forward to leftover tempeh taco filling or something almost on that level.
Thomas and I have been doing our part in eating thanksgiving leftovers, and now we're freezing a couple things (like how I almost had enough pumpkin pie filling to make another pie). There's still two pieces of tofurkey in the fridge, but I just can't do it - I might just freeze them and get the strength to put them in a potpie in the future.
In case you're curious, the biscuits went first, out of everything, followed by the green beans and mashed potatoes.
The majority of the food you are about to see is actually from prior to Thanksgiving, but what the hell, here it is. We did go out to eat both Friday morning (Junior's, dee-licious) and Saturday for lunch (Bay Leaf).
Fried tofu in Soy Vay Chinese Marinade, plus a bunch of crushed red pepper and garlic. Served with garlickly purple broccoli florets, brown rice and steamed delicatta squash. I used Trader Joe's super duper extra firm tofu for this - and it gets high ratings from us.
More Soy Vayed tofu - baked with crushed garlic, on top of saucy brown rice and oh my, formerly frozen organic broccoli. I'm really not in love with Soy Vay, but it's easy, a mutual like in the household, and satisfies a part of a chinese food craving.

Grilled 'cheese' and garlickly tomato rice soup with green beans. I'll be straight up, I threw the sandwich in the microwave for a few seconds to start the melting, then grilled it. This cheese isn't exactly cheddar, but it worked. Thanks Wiebke, for the recipe link~

The grilled Real Food Daily cashew cheese. Basically if you have agar, cashews and nutritional yeast, you can make this. I made a batch for the second time last week - half of it regular, half 'smoked'.
Nutrional yeast, sea salt, oregano and olive oil roasted chickpeas. My imitation of the Vegan Lunch Box recipe description.
Purple broccoli adoration. Next to it is my first head of elephant garlic.
From a couple weeks back when I was cleaning out the fridge - whole wheat pasta, chopped tomatoes, garlic, spinach, portabella slices and pine nuts.
Another PPK testing recipe - cornbread, big muffin style. It's topped with toasted corn and chopped jalapenos. We had these with chili on Sunday.
Elbows tossed with PPK testing 'cheez sauce', waiting to be casseroled.Mac n cheez casserole - with Real Food Daily cashew cheddar, spinach and garlic, elbows (I wish elbows had ridges) and PPK testing cheez sauce. Topped with whole wheat breadcrumbs and freshly ground pepper.
Ancho chili and sea salt yam fries, organic ketchup and a balsamic glazed portabella slices sandwich on ciabatta bread.
The balsamic portabella recipe is from Vegan with a Vengeance, and I was skeptical to try it, since I know how to cook mushrooms - but I had not thrown the garlic in just when Isa does before - and it's fantastic and toasty.
My lunch from Bay Leaf. Thank goodness it came with hot and sour soup. Mustard Greens and pan seared (burped??) tofu with whole chiles. Another thank goodness that I can appreciate a plate of boring greens. I did eat a whole chili, and I like heat, but the dish just didn't pull together for me. Not what I was expected, not 'bad', but no sesame tofu. Here's to trying something new...and being sick and wanting more soup.


25 comments:

bazu said...

Yumm. I ate leftovers for 4 days straight and as soon as I was sick of them, they were gone! Now we just have a bunch of cranberry sauce left, which I don't mind.
That tofu looks so good, and that grilled cheese, too. Invite me over! How long would it take to bike from NY to portland...?...

Vanessa said...

Mmmm - love the cornbread muffins!

Anonymous said...

mmmmmmmh...i am actually happy that i have some leftover mac'n'"cheese" in the oven. but i hear you. i look forward to cooking something fresh tomorrow!
love your pics. i am hungry now.

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Bazu - I think if you started biking now, I could have dinner ready in time, but hurry! I'd feel bad if I had to reheat.

Vanessa - Thank you! I wish I had gotten to try one myself (my boyfriend ate em..)

Gaia - If you win the lottery can you buy me a new cookie sheet? Mine is a sad thing.

Wiebke - That mac and cheese is a million times better than any other vegan one I've tried before..I have the 'smoked' container in the freezer waiting for creativity to hopefully happen

Amey said...

all your PPK testing recipes drive me to madness!! those muffins look so insanely delicious, and I have to wait for the book to come out! Ahhh! Also, I might investigate that cheese sauce. I'm generally quite apprehensive of vegan cheese recipes, but it looks really good!

Nikk said...

I don't like leftovers unless they are soup... I just try to use stuff up in some sort of new concoction in order not to be wasteful, but even then, I still can get a little tired of them...

That purple broccoli looks fantastic.

erica said...

Dude, how did I miss this post?!?

I finally finished up my leftovers yesterday, thank goodness. For a day or two there I thought I would puke if I ate more stuffing and mashed potatos (and then I would crave them again a few hours later). Good thing I don't measure my thighs - eek.

You are making me crave mac n' cheese. Would you believe I've never had it as a cassarole? "Everything in a cassarole but the yummy stuff" - I think this may have been my mother's motto (don't tell her I said that).

Kris said...

Everything looks so great! I'm glad to see someone else making the RFD cashew cheese. It's so easy and it hardens to quickly that I actually like cleaning it up, because it's like some wort of weird rubber or something!

I can never deal with leftovers. I just don't have the patience to eat the same thing over and over. Much to Jim's dismay we hardly ever even eat the same dish more than a couple of times. Vive le change!

aTxVegn said...

Yum for everything! The cornbread muffins look REALLY good! And the fries. And the tofu. I never was much of cheese fan, but I have the RFD cookbook and have been wanting to try the cashew cheddar. I stumbled onto roasted chickpeas about a year ago and make them all the time to snack on.

Beautiful pics, as always!

Anonymous said...

im with Gaia. this food looks fantastic!

Jody from VegChic said...

Your Thanksgiving pics blew me away when I checked them out last week.

Are you a fan of the Tofurky? We made one a few years ago and hated it. The stuffing was good, but we didn't care for the tofurky part. That is kind of ironic as I love the Tofurky slices. I've got a small Celebration Field Roast in the fridge that I was planning to bring if our T-day had not been "rescheduled."

Anyways, I copied the Cheeze recipe to my documents so I can try it sometime soon. Thanks for sharing it.

All the PPK foods look yummy. I can't wait to see the next cookbook!

urban vegan said...

We had no leftover since we were away, but to tell you the truth, I missed them. I love eating leftover candied yams from the pan at midnight.

The cashew cheese is so intriguing--as are all the marinated tofu dishes. Each and every photo is gorgeous.

Anonymous said...

Incredible Jess. Everything looks so delicious. It's going to be pouring rain here today and the grilled cheese with tomato soup would really hit the spot!

Crystal said...

Your food looks great - I love the tofu and the chickpeas - super yum! Where's the recipe for those chickpeas?

-Crystal

Jackie said...

Yum, I could also use you as my chef when I win the lotto :)

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

you have certainly peaked my interest in the RFD cashew cheddar - thanks for that link - I have the stuff on hand. & no fair putting up that photo of the cornbread without sharing.

Julie said...

WOW! Just wow. I want your leftovers!

laura k said...

LOL! I'm tired of leftovers too--thank goodness we've ploughed through them by now.

The grilled cheese looks good--I'm about ready to try a good cheese recipe soon, I think. I've got my agar at the ready...

Have you been sick too? I've been dying for a bowl of soup but too sick to go to the grocery store! Ugh!

Pamela said...

I have so much I want to say about this post, but I don't know where to start!

How did you like the mac and cheese?

Taylor said...

I'm intriqued by the roasted chickpeas and the cashew cheese - must try!

Kate said...

I had leftovers forever. I had pumpkin pie for lunch and dinner and a few occasions. I have not had grilled chese since going vegan, it could be one of the food I actually miss. I guess it's the whole comfort food mentality. I think yours looks amazing and I need to try to recreate it.

Shaun said...

I hope you don't mind me adding you as a link on my blog - I'm always looking for new inspiration when it comes to food. I'm also moving to Portland in March, and would love to know more about the vegan/local food scene there.

Anonymous said...

Your food pictures always rock. My heart races as I look at them. hehe

Cherie

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

I want to restate my stance on vegan cheese, personally, I had no taste or interest in it until I had a few cheeseless months under my belt. I appreciate it as 'nutritional yeasty' taste as with 'parmesan', or as a texture thing - aka with the grilled cashew cheez. The mac and cheez would fall between both of these. As a lot of you guys have probably done as well (or been wary to), I've tried MANY fake cheese recipes, and products, and meals. Odds are, it's worse than better. I've eaten gotten to the point where I actually enjoy Follow Your Heart cheddar melted, and FYH mozzerella - sliced. I don't do either of these often, as I'm a sane person and a rational person with my money (for the most part). I can't bring myself to spend the $3.59 (at best) on FYH, other than a rare treat. The PPK cheez sauce I've been testing and the cashew cheddar are both really easy to make and hit my craving.

Laura - I have been sick, it hit my last Sunday morning and I carried it with me into the week, unfortunately and didn't take off work. I hope you are feeling better, yourself~

Pamela - I really like the mac and cheez, I've made it three times in the past 1.5 months : ) Spinach and green beans or peas & breadcrumbs are a must-have addition.

Shaun Marie - an early welcome to Portland! I certainly don't mind the linkage, and feel free to ask/email any questions you think I can answer. I notice you're from MA - I spent my college years there myself.

Thank you to all for stopping by - expect a new post, hopefully today.

Unknown said...

Wow, the tofu in the chinese marinade looks absolutely amazing. All your food looks fantastic! Thanks for the inspiration!