Monday, December 6, 2010

Sure It Looks Like Cat Food, But It Is Shockingly Delicious!


Right -- so this is not the dish you want to take to a non-vegan pot-luck. It would do nothing for your vegan cause. Unless the non-vegan tasted it. But you know the old saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink," So bring something more colorful and less mystery-grainy (they don't know what they are missing, those non-vegans, do they?)

This delectable dish was created from a reinvention of my own "Vodka Sauce" ("One of My Own Recipes", Archives). This time I used "Spicy Marinara" by Barilla, which is really more of an Arrabiata sauce. I adore a spicy sauce, but nobody else around here does, so after my serving, I was still left with a large panful of my vegan Vodka Sauce, spicy version. A girl can only eat so many bowlfuls of spicy vegan vodka sauce, so I decided to risk wasting half a box of red quinoa and a can of garbanzo beans in a quest for greatness. Believe it or not, greatness I found! I did not use water or broth in the cooking of the quinoa, I only used the sauce, and simmered it at a low heat instead of boiling, and stirred periodically to avoid burning the thicker liquid. The resulting dish was a wholesome, flavorful, infused grain. The sharpness of the spice was tempered and mellowed. The flavor and texture were addictive.

In other experiments, I decided to teach myself how to cook tofu (aside from chopping it up in a blender that is). I made Vegan Yum Yum's "Crispy Tofu with Kale and Noodles". It was a good lesson. If Yum Yum hadn't said it was possible, I never would have believed I could achieve such a crispy/silky texture by cooking the tofu longer and hotter. I loved the tofu. The noodles and kale were not my favorites. I guess I really prefer to eat kale raw. (try Morgan's "Raw Kale Mediterranean Salad" at http://littlehouseofveggies.blogspot.com -- you will love it!) I will definitely be making the tofu again. The whole meal was lovely in a photo:


But it was not as amazingly delicious as the "cat food"!

11 comments:

  1. Okay, Cheryl - the "cat food" dish you made looks amazing! It most certainly doesn't look like cat food. :) I would LOVE to try it someday!

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  2. Ha ha -- it was good! I just finished it for lunch. You know where I am coming from though -- the lone vegan in an omni world. If I am sharing, I am selling it! There's no need to provide fodder for ridicule of vegans. Also, if I make it ugly I can keep it all to myself hee hee . . .

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  3. I will take your word for it but would love to taste test for myself

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  4. Cooking quinoa in a sauce instead of water or broth... brilliant! I will be playing with that idea in my kitchen real soon, right after I try making your dish. Thank you Cheryl!!! Another great post. :-)

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  5. Wow, looks...good? :) Just kidding. It does look good.

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  6. I think this looks DELICIOUS!!! Not at all like catfood...and as a tofu lover, how's about the tofu on a bed of the "catfood?" (Which looks NOTHING like cat food to me!)

    LOVE what you are doing with this blog...you ROCK!

    Thank you so much for playing along with Makes My Monday, Sweet Lady!

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  7. Cheryl -- So you are a tofu lover? Hmmmm! Thank you for your sweet words! You are amazing, and your "Makes My Monday" makes MY Monday! Love you!

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  8. The ugliest food often tastes the best! I have a dish called Dog Food Surprise that involves mushrooms and veggie burgers--it looks gross but tastes yummy and is very comforting.

    There is a great stir-fry recipe in Veganomicon that calls for cooking quinoa in pineapple juice. It's so good!

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  9. That sounds great Burnout! I have got to get around to reading Veganomicon instead of just paging through . . . Thanks for the recommendation!

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