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The Kitchen Recessionista

So, here we are, in a recession. Let's eat!

Sunday Cookout: Smoked Vegan Meatball Subs With Eggplant and Tater Tots.

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smoked-meatball-sub

You know, I’ve been barbecuing with our charcoal smoker for years now – ever since we brought it home from its resting place on the curb in advance of trash day many moons ago – and never once have I thought to use it for veggie meatballs! But what better food to grill on a smoker than a thick, hearty meatball, a protein that is so versatile, so downright malleable that smoking it for a couple of hours would seem to be the perfect cooking method?

Well, tonight I took matters into my own hands and whipped up a dozen or so meatballs, forming them from a tube of Lightlife Gimme Lean and basting them with pizza sauce. Then I fired up the smoker, let it heat up for half an hour or so, and placed the meatballs on the bottom grate, brushing each meatball with extra pizza sauce before putting the dome back on and leaving the smoker to its own devices.

meatballs-on-smoker

As the meatballs cooked, I prepared some marinated eggplant to augment the subs. I peeled a hefty purple eggplant and then sliced it into half-inch-thick rounds, then sliced some of the larger rounds in half lengthwise to form little half-rounds. (I wanted them to be able to fit nicely atop a steak roll, you see.) Then I put the eggplant slices in a zip-top bag, added salt, pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar, and marinated them for half an hour or so before adding them, too, to the grill.

eggplant-on-smoker

In all, the meatballs cooked for about an hour and a half; the eggplant cooked for an hour. Near the end of their cooking time, I heated up a baking sheet of tater tots in the oven and, with just a couple of minutes left before dinnertime, I toasted two steak rolls until their open faces were crispy. I also heated up a small saucepan of pizza sauce on the stovetop for extra flavor on the subs.

Next, it was time to put everything together! On our subs, we first laid down a layer of smoked eggplant, and then added three meatballs. Then we spooned some additional pizza sauce atop the meatballs and added some vegan mozzarella to the equation. Then we replaced the top of the roll, added some tater tots to the side, and dug in!

And boy, did we love the result. The meatballs absorbed the smoky flavor of the grill perfectly, in just the right amount – it wasn’t too heavy, as I’d sort of feared it might be, and it certainly wasn’t too faint – and the initial marinade of pizza sauce brought a sweet tang that tied everything together quite nicely. The eggplant soaked up the extra sauce, which melded amazingly well with the balsamic marinade. And, finally, the tater tots were the perfect side item, adding some carbs and starch to the protein-rich subs.

It comes as quite a relief to us both that we’ve got plenty of meatballs and eggplant left for tomorrow’s lunch! I’m ready for a reprisal of tonight’s dinner, that’s for sure, and I know LeeLee is too. Having enough meatballs for us both means we can keep a harmonious home – always a bonus on a Monday morning!

:)

Sunday Cook-in: Baked BBQ Tofu Sandwiches With Spaghetti Squash and Steamed Veggies.

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sunday-cookin-bbq-tofu

Our back yard is still snow-packed – though in some places I can now see the bricks peeking through again! – so for what I hope is the last week for a while, we cooked indoors instead of barbecuing on Sunday night. No matter; the show must go on! We can still chow down on grilling fare even if no grill is actually involved. To the oven!

Early this afternoon, I sliced a block of tofu into thin rectangles and placed them in a zip-top bag, dousing them in barbecue sauce and letting the slices marinate in the fridge for a few hours.

When we were ready to start cooking dinner, I pulled a spaghetti squash (courtesy of Bigg Riggs Farms) out of the veggie bowl, pierced it with a fork eight or 10 times, and then put it on a baking sheet to roast at 400 degrees for an hour. After the first 20 minutes of baking time, I pulled the barbecue tofu out of the fridge, placed the strips on a baking sheet, and added them to the oven as well, turning the slices over after another 20 minutes.

After an hour had elapsed, I pulled the squash out of the oven and let the tofu continue to bake for a few more minutes while I separated the spaghetti strands and heated up a pot of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. Once the spaghetti squash was safely in a bowl, I added a dollop of vegan butter, plus some salt and pepper for good measure. Next, I put the mixed vegetables in a serving bowl and topped them with chipotle powder and some Daiya mozzarella shreds, just for fun.

Finally, it was time to take the tofu out of the oven! We placed several strips on our steak rolls, added some mayo, lettuce, onion, and tomato, and began to chow down!

Longtime readers of this blog will know that BBQ tofu is one of our favorite cookout standards, so it’s no surprise we both mightily enjoyed this meal. The spaghetti squash, for its part, was incredibly tender after an hourlong stint in the oven, and we left no strand un-eaten. And as usual, the mixed vegetables served as a wonderful way to bind the meal together with lots of green goodness.

Though the sides are history, we do have a little bit of tofu left over for tomorrow’s lunch. It’ll be a race to the fridge to see who gets to enjoy it first!

:)

New Recipe: Vegetarian Meatball Subs.

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Hot off the presses (or, more accurately, from the oven), I bring you a brand-new recipe: vegetarian meatball subs!
This is a great meal to make when you’re short on time but big on hunger.  I had exactly 30 minutes to get dinner prepared tonight – LeeLee had a meeting and I had errands to run – and truth be told, I could’ve had this ready in 20.  But the extra 10 minutes helped make things a little less harried in the kitchen, so I’ll take it.
First, I prepared the meatballs, shaping 12 of them from a tube of Lightlife “beef.”  I placed them on a baking sheet and baked them at 350 for 10 minutes before adding a sheet of tater tots to the mix and upping the temperature to 425 for another 10.  Then I removed the meatballs, placed some foil over them to keep them warm, and continued baking the tater tots for another 10!
As the beef and potatoes cooked, I heated up a small jar of pizza sauce (tonight’s was left over from Sunday’s grilled pizza!) on the stove and kept it simmering on Low.  Then, when everything was nearly ready, I popped two steak rolls into the oven and toasted them at 425 for 5 minutes.  After that, it was assembly time!
We each added a layer of Vegenaise to our rolls and then each placed four meatballs on the bottom slice of bread.  We then topped the meatballs with pizza sauce and Daiya mozzarella, set the top slice onto the sub, and added some tater tots on the side.  The mozzarella melted on contact with the hot sauce, and dinner was ready.
The results were fantastic!  We both loved the subs – they were filling but didn’t make us feel overstuffed, and they tasted great.  Baking the meatballs kept them from being as oily as they would’ve been in a sauté pan, which is a bonus when it comes to putting them on sandwiches.  In all, it was a great-tasting meal that took no time at all to prepare.  And we have leftovers for tomorrow!  What could be better?
VEGETARIAN MEATBALL SUBS
Serves two
What you’ll need:
1 tube of vegetarian beef (we used Lightlife)
1 jar pizza sauce
2 steak rolls
1 package of mozzarella cheese (we used Daiya tonight)
First, divide up your beef into 12 pieces, shaping each one into a meatball.  Place them on a baking sheet and put the sheet in the oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Check on them; if they look like they need a little more time, leave them in for another five minutes.
While the meatballs bake, warm up a jar of pizza sauce in a saucepan on the stovetop at medium heat.  Once the sauce has heated through, turn the heat to Low and let the sauce simmer until dinnertime.
When the meatballs are nearly finished, place your steak rolls, separated, into the oven and bake for five minutes.  They should be nicely crispy and slightly brown by the end of the cooking time.
Finally, it’s time to assemble your sub!  Take the steak rolls out of the oven and add any condiments you like (we like a thin layer of Vegenaise).  Next, place four (or more or less) meatballs on the bottom part of the roll, topping it with several spoonfuls of sauce.  Add a generous helping of mozzarella atop the sauce and meatballs, and place the other half of the roll on top.
Dig in and enjoy!

:)

Sloppy Joes With Steamed Veggies and Mac & Chreese.

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“We haven’t had this in awhile!” LeeLee exclaimed upon coming home from work and peering into the kitchen, eyeing the sloppy Joes simmering on the stovetop.  And he’s right – though it’s one of our perennial favorites, we really haven’t given sloppy Joes their due as of late.  After mowing down nearly a full pan tonight, I wonder why it’s been placed on the proverbial back burner of late?  Who knows.  But after tonight’s successful, quick, and tasty dinner, I can already visualize its resurgence this summer!
I put the water on to boil for the mac and “chreese” – one of my favorite boxed vegan mac and cheese products.  (I’m all for making my own from scratch, but some nights simply aren’t conducive to it!)  As it heated up, I coated a pan with cooking spray and tossed a bag of vegetarian burger crumbles in, flipping the stovetop dial to Medium.  To the crumbles I added garlic powder, onion powder, sliced canned mushrooms, and a jar of pizza sauce, stirred everything together, and moved on with my life.
Finally, the water had heated up and I added my box of macaroni, bringing it back to a hearty boil.  As the pasta softened, I steamed a bag of mixed vegetables in the microwave (how easy is that?  But so tasty!), and by the time the noodles were fully cooked, the veggies were heated through and the sloppy Joe mix had become incredibly flavorful.  To the mac and chreese I added some almond milk and the flavor packet, stirred everything together over low heat, and just like that, dinner was ready.
Sadly, we don’t have any leftovers for tomorrow, but for two good reasons – we both came home from work hungry, and the dinner was just that tasty!  We loved our sloppy Joes, served atop hamburger onion rolls, and the macaroni and veggies both served as great complements to the main event.
So why DON’T we make this meal more often?  Who knows?  Rest assured I’ll make up for lost time this summer.

:)

A Grilled-Cheese Duo!

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Recently, Daiya put out a call for entries in a grilled-cheese sandwich contest, and ever the grilled-cheese (and Daiya) fan, I’ve been concocting a plan to create the best recipe the world has ever seen.  With that quest firmly in my mind, tonight I brought out the sandwich press and made not one but two different recipes in hopes of wowing the judges!
Admittedly, this blog post is a bit of a tease.  The rules don’t say anything about allowing or disallowing previously published recipes, so I won’t post mine here right now in the event that Lady Luck smiles on me.  But I will say that one recipe involved ramps and one involved onions.  I shall say no more.  (For now.)
Once the sandwiches were properly browned and the cheese was melty, I cut each one in half to allow for a taste test of both – before a panel of two voters (myself included).  Which one tickled our taste buds the most?  I don’t dare say at the moment!
But soon, Daiya will announce the winner, and if it’s not me, I’ll spill the beans.  And if it IS me, I’ll also spill the beans.  Both our taste-test winner and runner-up were of the very highest quality tonight, and I can’t wait to share each recipe with you in short order!
In the meantime, wish me luck!  If you’re into that sort of thing.

:)

Vegan Grilled-Cheese Sandwiches With Tomato Soup.

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Roundabout 10 a.m. today, LeeLee called to say he’d been pulled into a meeting for tonight – a meeting, I might add, where they’ll serve nice appetizers and wine, so let’s not feel too sorry for him.  ;)  I had originally planned on making black beans and rice for dinner tonight, but once I’d be dining alone, I decided to forge a new path!
So once I got home and got hungry (for once, the two were not synonymous), I pulled a container of soup out of the freezer and began to warm it up in a saucepan.  I’d enjoyed the other half of this soup several months ago and froze the leftovers for just such an occasion as tonight’s!  (I admit, as well, that I’m a bit relieved to be cleaning out the freezer; I need more space for some Easter goodies!)
When the soup was almost hot enough, I plugged in my trusty sandwich press and prepared a grilled-cheese.  Atop two slices of bread I added some Vegenaise and two slices of Daiya cheddar, and then sliced a Roma tomato to sit in the middle of the sandwich.  Once it was assembled, I put it in the press and let it cook until the cheese was bubbling out and the bread was nicely golden brown.
And then it was time to eat!  I used a couple of leftover tostada shells from last night as a dipping vessel for my soup, which gave it a nice crunch.  And dinner was fantastic!  I didn’t have a single morsel left by the end, and if the Wonder-Cat had gotten her way, she would have helped.  (What you don’t see in the photo above is Lucky, sitting atop the coffee table just off to the left of my TV tray, watching intently, waiting for the perfect moment to strike!)

:)