Fatty Day Twice Baked Potatoes

Let's face it, sometimes you just have a "fatty day" when you want to eat delicious goodness filled with pretend ingredients and no nutritional value.  we had that day, we satisfied our need with twice baked potatoes because nothing fills your "fatty day" desires like Bacos and Daiya cheese.

Ingredients:
4 baking potatoes
1/2 cup daiya cheddar cheese
1/2 cup vegenaise
splash of soy milk
4 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
bacos to taste
salt and pepper to taste

bake the potatoes until tender.
once baked, slice the potatoes lengthwise and scoop out most of the center (leave a tiny bit attached to the skin to provide greater stability). set the little potato boats aside.
combine the scooped out potato, daiya cheese, vegenaise, soy milk, green onions, bacos, salt and pepper. this mixture should be slightly thicker than mashed potatoes.
spoon the mixture into your little potato boats.
bake 20 minutes @ 350 degrees.
remove from the oven, top with nutritional yeast and bake for another 5 minutes or until tops start to brown.

enjoy. with a beer. on the couch. in front of the tv. watching mindless blather.

bbq extravaganza, part 2

this morning we woke up and the fridge was full of delicious leftovers from the bbq.

A's dad showed up to finish the yard work so we decided to put together a bbq, part two.

i grilled the veggie dogs.

A made up some more coleslaw.

and i grilled the fruit that elizabeth brought over yesterday but we didn't get a chance to eat.

fresh pineapple and black plums.

i soaked the fruit in cold water and then drizzled it with balsamic and sprinkled some brown sugar on top.

bbq extravaganza

A scheduled herself for a random saturday off. we decided it would be the ideal time for a bbq.

as A was preoccupied with maid of honor duties and homework, i was put in charge of planning the menu for said bbq. i think i did good work. i may have gotten a little obsessive regarding the planning aspect - i sent A an email complete with recipes, pictures and a grocery list organized by section of the store.

at any rate, the menu:

appetizer:

freshly made guacamole (i make this often. it gets eaten. it's delicious) and salsa with tortilla chips

main course:

chicago style vegan hot dogs (we purchased two varieties from whole foods: "tofu pups" and "good dogs". most preferred the "good dogs" because they were "smokier" but i liked the "tofu pups" for their consistency). in order to cook the dogs we boiled them on the stove in a pot of water and then placed them on a lightly oiled grill and cooked until the skins started to blister.

hot dogs were served with a beautiful array of condiments. being from chicago, i did not allow ketchup (except for punky who whined until she was given ketchup. she even offered to bring her own ketchup - in packets).

a true chicago style hot dog contains:
the dog

poppy seed bun
tomato wedges

diced white onion
dill pickle spear

sport peppers

relish
yellow mustard

celery salt

side dishes:

coleslaw (see sassy joe post for recipe and pictures)

grandma graves's baked calico beans (this recipe is based on the recipe handed down from my great grandma. when i asked my grandma for it, she wrote it out on a nice little recipe card.)

i had to tweak it a bit since the original recipe called for 4 slices of bacon and worchester sauce, which contains anchoives.

i did my best to get an image of the recipe card. it didn't work.

so here's the recipe:

1 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp yellow mustard

1/2 cup molasses

1 can pork and beans (vegetarian)

1 can lima beans

1 can butter beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can garbanzo beans

1 tsp salt

drain and rinse beans.

saute the onions.

put eveything in a crock pot.

cook 3 hours.

no crock pot? it's cool. bake covered at 350 for 30 minutes. bake uncovered at 325 for 30 minutes.

beet and orange tomato salad:

4 beets (ideally these should be different colors. this is a source of disappointment for me because we struck out at several stores in our attempts to find golden beets) i only used about 1 1/2 beets because the ones we got were rather large.

1 bunch watercress (i opted for 1/2 bunch watercress and combined this with some of the beet greens)
1 orange tomato (this was used for added color due to the fact that we were not able to procure various colors of beets)

dressing:

1 part real maple syrup

1 part balsamic vinegar

1 part dijon mustard (i used stone ground horseradish mustard)

2 parts extra virgin olive oil

salt to taste

i cleaned the beets, cut off the tops (left about 2 inches on), drizzled them with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, wrapped them in tin foil and put them in the oven for 1 1/2 hours at 375. you'll know they're done when they're tender and you can easily stick a knife in them.

peel the beets. slice the beets. slice the tomato. wash and dry greens. arrange salad. drizzle vinaigrette on top.

we invited friends who brought beer (this is the key. if i'm cooking, you're bringing beer).

it was pretty damn good.

sassy joes continued

for those who are interested and enjoy recipes (as i do):

creamy vegan coleslaw dressing:
2/3 cup vegan mayonnaise
2 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
salt to taste (just a little)

sassy joe details:
almost a pound of tofu
brown in a tablespoon of molasses
add a 6 oz can of tomato paste
add sauteed vegetables
let simmer
add water as needed for consistency

i added ketchup, horseradish mustard, oregano, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to flavor it while it simmered

i also added rice vinegar.... too much of it. so L suggested i add sugar to conteract it. it worked. so if you add vinegar be careful.

make sure you keep stirring it from the beginning so it doesn't burn and stick

~A aka the sassy chef

sassy joes

at work all day friday. ten hours.

i walk in the door and am greeted with a kiss and a beer...and, about 30 minutes later, a delicious meal. it was supposed to be a surprise.

a peek in the kitchen:
the cutting board was covered with diced vegetables: tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and peppers (green and jalapeno).
since everything we eat contains vegetables, this did not really reveal much.
there was also a bowl of tofu - mashed with a fork.
again, nothing too revealing.
bottles of ingredients filled the counters and i spotted a package of whole wheat buns.
ideas were starting to form.

as i sat on the the couch smoking a cigarette, watching chopped, and drinking a beer, i could smell said diced vegetables being sauteed.


a trip to the fridge to grab another beer revealed a delicious coleslaw prepared with shredded broccoli, carrots, and red cabbage and coated with a mixture that involved white wine vinegar, sugar, and veganaise.

more couch sitting, cigarette smoking, tv watching, and beer drinking. in the kitchen, tofu was being browned with molasses.


the sauteed vegetables were added to the tofu along with spices, vinegar, ketchup, sugar, horseradish mustard, a can of tomato paste (there may have been other ingredients, but i was watching tv so i'm not quite certain).

essentially, the contents of the pan were placed on the whole wheat bun and we ended up with sassy joes - i call them sassy because the chef was sassy. said sassy joes were served alongside the delicious coleslaw to produce a meal reminiscent of childhood. it was delicious.
~L