Recipe: Vegan Coconut Tofu Curry

Vegan Coconut Tofu Curry
If you are craving a curry dish but have never cooked indian before, this is the dish for you. The recipe is simple and the ingredients are easy to find. If you are a more experience with cooking curries or want to give this recipe a little more nutritional value, you can include seasonal local vegetables, which I have done (photo shown at the end of recipe) but for this recipe, I will keep it  simple.


Serves 5
Ingredients:
2lbs extra firm tofu pressed and cubed*
salt and pepper to tasted
1T Grape Seed Oil
1/2T Vegetable Oil 
2T curry 
3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 large white onion thinly sliced
1 14oz can coconut milk
2 & 1/2 fresh tomatoes diced. Separate the 1/2 tomato
3T vegan sugar (I used Florida Crystals® Organic Cane Sugar)
1 8oz can tomato sauce 
1 vegan bouillon cube (I used Rapunzel)
1/2T vegan butter (I used Soy Garden)+
2 whole dried red peppers+**
1/2 fresh lime quartered to serve+

Vegan in Houston, Texas: Omni Hotel

Houston (Wikipedia)

I just got back from a trip to Houston, Texas for work! I presented and tabled at a conference, which took place at the Omni Houston Galleria Hotel. I wish I could have tried some local vegan spots but my conference schedule was jam-packed so I ended up staying on the property my entire trip. That's okay though because I have to go back for another conference in February. If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know!

The first thing I want to note is that before I travel I always get some sort of granola bars to hold me over incase I can't find anything to eat or need to supplement a not so vegan-friendly meal. This is especially important during work travel because I need to keep my energy up. This trip, I waited until the last minute to prep for my trip and didn't get a chance to pick up any bars so I was a little nervous heading in.

News Scoop: May Wah in NYTimes

I thought it was pretty cool that NYTimes did a story on May Wah "Where ‘Chicken’ Actually Tastes Like Chicken" and I thought I would sum up my thoughts, feelings, and experiences with their products.

For you those of you that don't know, May Wah makes soy and wheat based meat substitute products. They can be fried, grilled, baked, and even microwaved.

They are very popular among New York City vegan and vegetarian restaurants. The NYTimes article says, "The market also supplies many of the city’s vegetarian restaurants, though she [the owner] preferred not to say which." But when you vist NYC-based vegan restaurants, you can tell which ones use May Wah. Some of their famous dishes use the meat substitute-  Foodswings (famous for their drumsticks), Wild Ginger, Terri, Red Bamboo (famous for their chicken parm).

Recipe: Pasta with Garlic and Oil- Farm Fresh Style

Pasta with Garlic and Oil- Farm Fresh Style
Sometimes, you just want a light vegan Italian inspired meal and this is a quick and easy recipe to satisfy that need. What's great about it is you can prepare the garlic and oil sauce before work, which makes the dish tastier and quicker on prep time at night. You can also substitute any seasonal green for the broccoli and enjoy this all year round. Just so happens the farmers market had some nice broccoli and the last of the seasonal heirloom tomatoes. I would also suggest substituting sun-dried tomatoes during winter...
You can also use fresh herbs for this dish but I used dry in this instance. Next time I make it with fresh herbs, I will update the recipe.
Now let's get to it.

Serves 3-4
Ingredients:
1/4c olive oil
1 head garlic finely chopped
1t red pepper flakes (to your taste)
1/2t parsley
1t basil
1/2t oregano
1/2t salt 
1/2t pepper
3/4lb pasta thick spaghetti+
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 head broccoli cut into florets 
1/2 heirloom tomato chopped
1 package faux chicken optional (I used Gardein)+