Sushi Bowl, Part Deux + Biscuits

I made the sushi bowls again tonight, but this time they’re on a plate and I added sweet potato and steamed broccoli. The results? Deliciousness!

I’m working on a cookie recipe I hope to post sometime next week. I made a test batch last night, and while they were pretty tasty, they had issues. I have a few ideas to fix them, so I’ll make another batch next week (my waistline can’t afford to have cookies in the house every night, not even low-fat vegan ones).

I’ve been trying to decide what all I’m going to make for Christmas. I know I’ll be making a few cookie tins for gifts, and I know for sure I’m making Happy Herbivore’s Soy-Free Mac ‘n Cheese, vegan sausage balls, and biscuits and maybe a pumpkin pie, but beyond that, I’m clueless.

Speaking of biscuits, here’s a quick and easy recipe for vegan biscuits made with Heart Smart Bisquick, modified from the recipe on the back of the box. I made them for dinner last night, and I was shocked by how good they were. They’d make a tasty breakfast sandwich with some tofu scramble and soy cheese (or fake bacon and soy cheese). We had them with tomato soup.

Vegan Bisquick Biscuits

1-1/2 cups Heart Smart Bisquick
1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk

Preheat oven to 450F. Mix Bisquick and milk together in a bowl. Transfer to a kneading surface sprinkled with Bisquick and knead 10 times. Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into circles with a biscuit cutter (or the open end of a glass). Bake on a lightly oiled (or parchment-lined) baking sheet for 7-9 minutes.

What meat-free wonders are you cooking up for the holidays?

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Avocado Sushi Roll Bowl

Inspired by Happy Herbivore’s Sushi Rice Bowl (can’t seem to find the direct link on her site anymore), I made this last night.

Normally, we have several vegetarian-friendly restaurants we can walk or bike to in our neighborhood (and a wonderful all-vegan restaurant just two blocks away), but on Sundays it’s like everyone thinks the Blue Laws are still in effect. I wanted to cook, but there wasn’t much in the house, and we didn’t want to drive anywhere. So . . . we got on our bikes and rode to the nearest grocery store, which happened to be Fiesta. While we were there, we discovered Fiesta has a pretty kick-ass international aisle, and after a lot of walking around and deliberation, we grabbed some Cal Rose rice, avocado and nori sheets (among many other things) and headed home. So we got our grocery shopping and exercise done in one fell swoop, no small feat in Texas where everyone likes to use their car to go everywhere (we have certain neighbors who drive 1/4 block to each others’ houses :-\).

Anyway, when we got home, we made these sushi bowls. They’re perfect when you want the taste of sushi, but don’t want to spend your afternoon rolling [or when all the nearby sushi joints are closed because it’s Sunday :-(].

Also, I know I don’t cook the rice in the traditional way for sushi, but it seemed to turn out fine. If you want to rinse your rice like a real sushi chef, go for it. Also, you can sub short-grain brown rice if you want; I was just in more of a white rice mood last night. 🙂

Avocado Sushi Bowls

1 cup Cal-Rose Rice (or sushi rice)
2 cups water
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 small avocado, cut into chunks
1 sheet toasted nori (or 1 soy wrapper if you’re not into seaweed)
Sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the rice, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and all it to sit, covered, for 15 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the vinegar, agave and salt. Continue stirring the rice often until it cools to room temperature (or cooler). Divide the rice between two bowl and top with avocado chunks. Cut or tear the nori into small pieces and sprinkle some on each bowl. Garnish with sesame seeds, if desired. Serves 2.

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Vegan Cranberry Butternut Rice Bake

This recipe came out of a “holy crap, what the hell am I going to cook for dinner” moment. I poked around in the fridge and pantry until I came up with this—a Cranberry Butternut Rice Bake. For the butternut soup, I used Imagine Foods Creamy Butternut Soup (it comes in a box and is vegan). You can use your own leftover soup or another brand you like. Just don’t use condensed soup! This would be a perfect side dish at Thanksgiving or Christmas. Anyway, here’s the recipe:

Vegan Cranberry Butternut Rice Bake

1/4 cup diced yellow onion
1/4 cup veggie broth
3 cups cooked brown rice
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup butternut squash soup
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
scant 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400F. Saute onion in broth over medium heat until brown and all the broth is cooked away. Mix with remaining ingredients and bake in a covered casserole dish for 35 minutes.

Today in the cooler at Spiral Diner, I found this:

Cranberry & Stuffing Tofurky. I had to buy it, but I wasn’t sure what I was going to make with it. Then, while I was waiting for the rice to bake, I grabbed a few slices, spread Tofutti cream cheese on one side of each slice, then rolled them up—delicious! They’re pictured above between the rice and the finger sandwiches. This lunch “meat” goes perfectly with cream cheese! The cranberry taste is very subtle, so they would probably work on most any sandwich without tasting too weird. I’d definitely buy these again.

So that was dinner. Very holiday-themed, but good. Next, I’m going to work on refining my sausage ball recipe. I wish I could find Gimme Lean at a store around here . . .

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Asian Food Orgy or Frozen Food Night? You Decide . . .

Yesterday, I had this for breakfast:

A big, juicy apple (Fuji, I think) and almond butter. I love apples and nut butter, and I haven’t had this combo in so long. Perfect breakfast. I should definitely have it more often. Definitely got me out of the breakfast rut I’ve been in.

Tonight was either an Asian Food Orgy or Let’s-See-What’s-in-the-Freezer-and-Make-That-Because-It’s-Waaaay-Past-Grocery-Day Night. I made fried rice with extra brown rice I cooked on Sunday, carrots, onion and peas, then threw some egg rolls in the over and stir-fried some organic potstickers.

Not the most ground-breaking meal ever, but it was tasty and cleared some needed room in the freezer. 😛

Making tonight’s simple fried rice, got me thinking about concocting a slightly more elaborate version of fried rice, maybe with some edamame thrown in and tofu “egg” like take-out fried rice. I may toy around with this this weekend. My husband is always more than happy to consume copious amounts of fried rice. I think I’d like to try substituing tamari for the soy sauce as well. I used to love soy sauce, but four or five years ago, I got to where the taste really grossed me out if it was too strong.

Tomorrow I’ll have a super simple tea party-esque froo-froo type sandwich worthy of any tea party or girly potluck brunch. In the meantime, enjoy this vat of fried rice.

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Vegan Cheezy Veggie ‘n Rice Casserole

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I was sufficiently piggish, so I’ve been trying to get back in the groove of eating light and healthy again. I tend to go crazy with the carbs and neglect green, red and orange veggies from time to time. So I’m trying to make an effort to make my meals more veggie-based. Thing is, I need a good helping of healthy carbs at meals to feel satiated, so today I came up with this casserole. You get carb satisfaction from the brown rice and corn, and you get a good helping of veggies, too. And to top it off, you get dairy-free cheezy goodness.

For this recipe you can use your favorite nutritional yeast or cashew-based vegan “cheese” sauce. I use the sauce from Happy Herbivore’s Soy-Free Vegan Mac ‘n Cheese recipe, but any vegan cheese sauce will do.

Cheezy Veggie ‘n Rice Casserole

3 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups vegan cheeze sauce
1/4 cup veggie broth
1 small zucchini, diced
1/2 small yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup diced carrots
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup frozen corn
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 cup vegan cheeze, shredded (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Cook the onion and carrot in the veggie broth over medium heat until onion is translucent. Add the zucchini and continue cooking until zucchini is tender but not mushy. Combine everything except the shredded cheese and bake in a covered casserole dish for 20 minutes. If using shredded cheese, sprinkle on top and return casserole, uncovered, to the oven until cheese is melty and bubbly. Serves 4.

Variations:

For broccoli-cheeze casserole, substitute 1-1/2 cups chopped cooked broccoli for all the veggies.

Add 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds for crunch and protein.

Add 1/2 cup reconstituted TVP for extra “meatiness” and protein.

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