Country "Sushi"

So this is actually simply a cleverly designed and sliced wrap. 

- Start with your favorite large-sized wrap. I used a spinach wrap. Lay it flat on a plate. 

- Spread vegan cream cheese on the top 2/3 of the wrap. This will be your "stuffing" area. 

- Lay about three slices of faux deli meat (I like oven roasted Tofurky slices) on top of the cream cheese. 

- Next, layer on several large slices of avocado, and then tomato, and then vegan cheese slices. Try to make all "stuffings" cover the cream cheese foundation.

- Finally, place a few spinach leaves on top. Grind on fresh black pepper and sea salt. 

- Start rolling! This is the tricky part. Start rolling on the stuffing side. The "naked" side is rolled up last. Your roll will be pretty fat, so don't freak out. Notice in my picture that my rolls are big, and not completely stuck together. They may look perfect, but I arranged them so that they'd look nice. :) Roll tightly, but not so much that the wrap busts open. 

- After you have the roll, carefully slice into about 1" pieces. I started my slices in the middle of the roll, rather than the ends (so as not to push out the stuffings).

- The pieces wont hold together perfectly, but feel free to eat them with chopsticks if you're a sushi expert! I did, and had a blast. :)

- For my side, I served a can of black olives and created a simple dip: 2 parts vegan mayo to 1 part Grey Poupon (original deli style mustard). 

Iron Skillet Mediterranean Veggies

We invested in an iron skillet not too long ago, after making friends with a local rather famous chef who swears by iron skillets. David researched online how to properly "season" the skillet before using it (a 2+ hour process, but well worth it). Basically, it needs to be oiled and baked for a while so that it will be a naturally non-stick piece of cookware. I refuse to cook with any other pan now except our iron skillet, with the exception of the occasional wok dish. My tofu stays in tact, my food browns evenly, and I can cook on what used to be dangerously high heat! 

For these Mediterranean-style vegetables, I found local squash and zucchini. I sliced these up, along with an eggplant, onion, and a couple giant portobello mushroom caps. Put a bit of oil in the skillet and toss in the chunks of eggplant. Eggplant apparently needs to be cooked for some time to soften it... take my word for it. I tried to lightly sauté it initially, and ended up eating rubber, not figuratively. So, sauté the eggplant by itself for a while on rather high heat, until it begins to soften and brown and turn mushy. Then, toss in some onion and the zucchini, squash, and portobello. Continue browning, turning and mixing. It will be almost done when the zucchini and squash are softer on the inside, but their "skins" are still pretty firm (Don't overcook! Retain the vitamins!)  At this point, toss in some chunks of tomato and a couple big handfuls of olives (I am in love with canned black olives, but use your own favorite). Save the tomatoes and olives until the end so as not to overcook them and keep their nice texture. They'll last fine in the skillet for 2-5 minutes. 

Dump it all into a big mixing bowl when done. Pour a little olive oil over all of it, and sprinkle fresh pink Himalayan salt, Tuscan seasoning, and some vegan parmesan. As with all of my "recipes", everything is approximate, to taste, and to your personal liking. Feel free to tweak. This dish will keep for a good three or four days in the fridge and makes for a great leftover (don't microwave... pan fry it again when re-serving to keep it crisp). 

Peas Pass the Confetti Salad

Pretty much any dice-it-all-and-toss-it-all-in-a-bowl salad is a confetti "salad". Here's one I made tonight. Dice one sweet onion and one can of black olives. Throw in a large mixing bowl. Open two cans of no salt added sweet peas and toss those in as well. Add one bag of vegan cheese (I prefer some with orange "cheese" for color). Toss in a tablespoon or so of minced garlic. Spoon in some vegan mayo (about five heaping tablespoons). Pour in a little oil (I used sunflower). Add about ten capfuls of white vinegar (creates the mayo tang without adding so much mayo). Sprinkle in some bacon bits (most, if not all, are vegan). Grind lots of fresh pepper and seasoning salt to taste.  Serves about eight as a side dish, and keeps well for leftovers. 

Humongo Vegan Nachos

My husband's favorite thing in the world (other than me) is chips and salsa. But if he's really honest with us, it's got to be nachos. Last night, we threw a Tofurky Pizza in the oven topped with some extra Daiya vegan cheese, and thought that perhaps the pizza wasn't enough to fill our rumbling stomachs. I decided to whip up some nachos... and 15 minutes later we realized we had far too much food on the table. David admitted it was his dream meal.

For the nachos, I prefer white corn chips from Trader Joe's, or any other brand that uses simple ingredients... corn, salt, oil. Period. Sprinkle on some vegan cheese shreds (Daiya really is the best melting vegan brand) and toss in the microwave. We didn't add bean chili or black beans, but to make these even more "humongo" dump some of those on as well. Pour on salsa (opt for a fresh, even low sodium brand if possible), and top with sliced olives, diced de-seeded fresh jalepenos, chopped onion and avocado chunks. Dig in.