Winter Day Easy Veggie Soup

I did pots of chicken noodle and veggie soup yesterday, and my house smelled wonderful.  A friendly tweep asked me to post the recipe for the veggie noodle, so here it is – though it’s pretty easy 🙂

2 carrots or 1.5 cup baby carrots, bitesize
2 stalks celery, sliced
2/3 block of firm tofu, chopped into small cubes
2 cans veggie broth (or 3 cups if you make your own)
4 veggie bullion cubes
4 cups water
black pepper to taste
1/2 lb rotini or other pasta
4 T miso paste

Put veggies (add others as you like – I often do onions or greens as well, but didn’t this time!), tofu, and broth in a large pan.  Bring to a boil.  Add bullion.  After bullion dissolves, gradually add additional water.  Bring back to a boil and then reduce to quick simmer until carrots are well cooked.  Add pasta and boil until done to taste.  Pepper (you likely won’t need salt) during this stage.  When pasta is almost done, add miso.  Stir in and then reduce heat to med/low.  Simmer 5 minutes and serve!

Vegan N’Egg Salad – VeganMoFo 12

** See below!

I admit it.  I miss those mayonnaise laden non-vegan (or even non-veg) salads like chicken salad, tuna salad, and egg salad.  I found a nice looking recipe for vegan “tuna” salad recently on Happy Herbivore and I can’t wait to make it.  I just need to find some kelp (which, by the way, is a totally fun word to say KELP KELP KELP).  Since I couldn’t make that, I turned to one of my old standbys, vegan no egg salad.  I’m not going to tell you it takes exactly like egg salad, but it’s close enough that my 10 year old omnivore, who is an egg salad lover, thought it was amazing and ate half the batch. And, like most of my recipes, it’s easy.

Ingredients

1 package extra firm tofu, cut into very small cubes or mashed with a fork
2 stalks celery, sliced thin
1 small onion, diced
3 T sweet relish
1/3 C vegan mayo
1 t yellow mustard
salt
pepper

Directions…um… mix it up, chill, and put it on bread to eat it.

Enjoy!

Image from ChefInYou.com Check it out for ideas on egg substitutes!

Uncrabby Patties – VeganMoFo Day 6

My kids are big fans of what they often call “Crabby Patties.” These patties are actually made of tuna, not crab and are an easy recipe that I got from my grandmother years ago.  When some of them started going vegetarian and then vegan, I at first just made them Boca or something else when everyone else ate the patties.  But, eventually I decided they needed some sort of replacement patty and started making these tofu (or tofu + garbanzo) patties for them when others were having the tuna.  So, I’m passing on both recipes here, in case you need to cook for some pesky omnivores with your vegans.

“Crabby Patties” aka Tuna Patties

2 cans chunk tuna in water
1 sleeve crushed saltines
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

Mash tuna, add crushed saltines and eggs and mix well.  Add salt and pepper and knead until dispersed.  Form into patties.  Slightly oil a baking pan and place patties on pan in 350* oven.  Turn when browned.  Serve with or without buns.

Uncrabby Patties aka Tofu Patties

1 container extra firm tofu
(optional – 1 can garbanzo beans blended)
1 sleeve crushed saltines (may need slightly more if using the beans too)
2 t soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

This recipe works just like the one above, except you add the soy sauce and sub in the tofu for the tuna.  If you are using the garbanzos as well, blend or puree them before adding to the mashed tofu.

Easy peasy and tasty too.