Dinner With General Tao

This is what I had for dinner, I was in the mood for asian and decided on General Tao's Tofu. I gotta tell you it is the best, I have it at least once a week this is one of my mainstay vegan asian meals. Give it a try you truly won't be disappointed.



General Tao's Tofu


Ingredients:

1 box of firm or extra firm tofu
egg substitute for 1 egg (I use flaxseeds)
3/4 cup cornstarch
canola oil for frying


1/4 of a regular onion
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 Tbs minced garlic
2/3 cup vegetable stock
3 Tbs soy sauce
4 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs seasoned rice vinegar
Red pepper to taste

Steamed rice or noodles

Directions:

Drain, dry and cut tofu into 1 inch chunks, or you can purchase the prechunked tofu. You can freeze your tofu overnight for a more chewy texture, but it isn't necessary.

Mix the egg replacer as specified on the box and add an additional 3 tablespoons water. Dip tofu in egg replacer/water mixture and coat completely.

Sprinkle 3/4 cup cornstarch over tofu and coat completely. Watch out that the cornstarch doesn't clump up at the bottom of the bowl. I usually use a large ziploc bag and shake it like a polaroid picture :) until the tofu pieces are evenly coated.

Heat canola oil in pan and fry tofu pieces until golden. Drain tofu on paper towels.

Heat 3 Tablespoons canola oil in pan on medium heat. Add onions, ginger and garlic, cook for about 1 - 2 minutes on med high. Be careful not to burn garlic.

Add vegetable stock, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper( if used) and vinegar. Mix 2 Tablespoons water with 1 Tablespoon cornstarch and pour into mixture stirring well. Add fried tofu and coat evenly. Serve immediately over your choice of rice or noodles.

I usually double the ingredients for the sauce. I've found that there really isn't enough sauce without doubling, I've even tripled it but, that was a bit too much sauce. Try it and see which works best for you. Increase or decrease the amount of red pepper flakes dependant on the amount of spiciness you desire.

This is truly a wonderful meal, be sure to drop me a line and let me know what you think when you try it. I'm sure you'll love it.

Pleasantly full,

MXS

Decadent Treat

Because I was jonesing some serious sugar, last week I decided to make these dark & lovely cupcakes. Although you can't see the cupcake itself for all the creamy frosting and the wrapper. Take my word for it when I tell you it's a very dark chocolate cupcake made with dark rich cocoa, I also crushed up some newman-o's and added it to the mix for extra "oreo" goodness.



The frosting was a fluffy buttercream concotion also containing crushed up newman o's (see the trend) the vanilla and almond extract really gave it a delicious taste.



These were by far the best tasting vegan cupcakes, I had ever tasted. They were rich, moist and fluffy. Obviously, my friends and family thought so too, because before I could bat an eyelash twice they were gone. I was the victim of a drive by cupcake nabbin'. The fighting was brutal and the damage fierce. I was only able to save one of the these little dark delicacies.



Were they healthy? Well if you mean healthy in that mental health sort of way when craving something sweet and having the added benefit of chocolate. Then yes... yes, it was healthy.

I got this yummy recipe from Vegan-Cupcakes-Take-Over-World

I can guarantee that you will see many, many more of these cupcakes posted here. It really is an excellent cookbook, you should check it out.


Looking forward to the next cupcake in my future,
MXS

Not Another Vegan Blog...Yes Another One

I know, I know there are already so many vegan blogs out there showcasing the lifestyle and the eating habits of vegans. So why another one? Well because I wanna.

I also feel that we need to spread the word about veganism in as many ways and venues as possible. Helping to make people aware can't hurt

Not to mention that I happen to be a chatty gothic, straight-edge vegan. Wow say that 3 times fast. And I love talking about my passions: being vegan, being goth (cuz goths get no luv), caring for the animals and our environment, and cooking awesome food.

My favorite types of dishes are asian mostly japanese and chinese, some bangin' thai, throw in some mexican and bit of italian and you have a cornocopia of excellent dishes.