[Vegan MOFO] WWGFE Wednesday - Firey Fieri Chili With Polenta Croutons

Guy cooked up a chorizo and polenta lasagna with a cranberry citrus side salad on Guy's Big Bite. I took some of the same ingredients and ideas and took it for a spin.

I made a soyrizo chili topped with polenta croutons and a cranberry, almond with spinach side salad. I added extra heat to the chili using up my farmer's market pepper stash and hot sauce. I kept the polenta croutons plain - so they could be mushjed up and absorb some of the heat and act like corn bread.
The salad is simple: dried cranberries, slivered almonds, spinach with a balsamic vinaigrette I whipped up super fast. The sweetness and tang go well to balance the fire of the chili.

Fiery Fieri Chili With Polenta Croutons 

[chili]

Olive oil for pan

3 (more or less) chili peppers – play around with heat varieties

½ package of soyrizo

2 cans of black beans drained

1 can of Muir Glen Diced Fire Roasted tomatoes (do not drain)

a few dashes of hot pepper sauce

[Croutons]

1 block of polenta cubed, drizzled with a touch of olive oil and baked at 350 for 20 minutes.

Heat oil in a soup pot, add peppers chopped up (remove seeds if you are afraid of heat), cook for a few minutes, add soyrizo, cook for 3 minutes add the rest of the ingredients, stir and cook covered over medium low heat for 30 minutes.

Place a big scoop of chili in a bowl. Top with a few polenta croutons and eat!

Sweet & Spicy Stir Fried Noodles

Fast Sunday night dinner...Basically it is a package of baked tofu (Teriyaki flavored), some left over frozen veggies and fresh pineapple with fresh rice noodles. I cooked the veggies with tofu while boiling the water/noodles. I added the noodles to the oan, the pineapple and the sauce. Sauce: a dash of Sriracha, a tablespoon of fresh pineapple juice from the pineapple chunks, a squirt of Braggs and about a teaspoon of rice vinegar. Dump it over the mix and let it heat up and serve. 

Note: The fresh rice noodles from TJ's are hard to work with. They turn into a huge clump once cooked. I tried my hardest to break them up with no luck!

BBQ Tempeh Tacos With Sriracha Slaw

 

We like tacos, we like BBQ and I was craving the texture of tempeh (am I the only one who finds comfort in the texture of food?) so the BBQ tempeh taco with Sriracha slaw was born! Served with red rice and lemon and you are good to go. 

I just pan fried the tempeh (cut into long fingers) in olive oil till browned. Added some BBQ sauce to coat, turned the heat down low, covered the pan and steamed the slices in the pan for about 10-15 minutes. The slaw is pretty basic: broccoli slaw mix, a dollop of  Vegenaise, a hefty squirt of Sriracha and a drizzle of lemon juice. Everything was served up in warm corn tortillas.

Theo Spicy Chile Chocolate Bar

So as we know I am a fan of chocolate and spice. So when I came upon this bar over the weekend you know I had to buy it and try it!

The chocolate is rich and dark, it is the predominant taste, the ones that hits you first and stands out. Then a bit of orange flavor comes in and on its tail a spicy kick! The spicy kick is not overwhelming but it is there and it does warm up your mouth. All the flavors mix well together and compliment each other.

If you are looking for some sweet spice to kick off the new year, then grab this bar! 

[Vegan MOFO Day 15] Fast Food Friday: Subway Buffalo Chicken Sub

I used to eat at Subway many years ago...however spending $5 on a sandwich with wilted GMO veggies and nothing more did not sit well with me.

Don't mind the crumbs guys - it was put together rather fast! I made this sandwich last night. It is a buffalo soy curl sandwich on a roll. I experimented with hot sauce, while I usually go for Frank's I tried Wizard's mixed with Tabasco. I saw someone using a sweeter hot sauce on a cooking show and was intrigued. It was good, a sweet mild heat was great with crusty bread! I should have put ranch on the thing but my mind was all over the place, I blame caffeine and hunger! I served it with original PopChips - I love those things!

[Vegan Mofo] Buffalo Tempeh Fingers

I am not a huge fan of tempeh - I find it OK as a bacon substitute in sandwiches but for the most part the texture is just funky. I was looking for a easy dinner with an alternate protein source for dinner and came up with this easy recipe!


Buffalo Tempeh Fingers

1 package of tempeh cut into strips (fingers)
2 tablespoons of Earth Balance
1/4 of a cup of hot sauce (I mixed Frank's RedHot & Sriracha)
a bit of oil for frying
vegan ranch and sweet potato fries (optional)

Fry tempeh strips in oil (medium heat) till each side is browned - do not burn them. While they brown up combine EB and hot sauce together in a saucepan - cook till EB is melted - stir. Lower temperature and poor hot sauce mix over tempeh - coating it, let it cook this way for 5 minutes. Then turn the heat up and let it cook for a minute or two to get the sauce to really stick. Serve it with vegan ranch and sweet potato fries - like I did or in a sandwich!