Since Ben and I have been doing the 21 day Vegan Kick Start, we’ve had a ton of fun.  One of those items that has been on our “Oh my gosh, we have to get this right so we are able to LIVE” list is macaroni and cheese.

Today, I modified my traditional Macaroni and Cheese recipe to make a totally vegan creation.  The big test? My omnivore family is coming for dinner.  Will they be able to taste the difference?  I don’t think so!

Experimentation!

This morning I’m making a Frittata from the upcoming cookbook, The Happy Herbivore Cookbook: Over 175 Delicious Fat-Free and Low-Fat Vegan Recipes.

I’ve gotten to a point where tofu is grossing me out a bit. I know it’s just a temporary phase. I’ve eaten a certain way for 48 years – change comes slowly. Nonetheless, I know it’s a great protein source and I’m forcing myself to try different methods with the stuff.

The Happy Herbivore Cookbook is set to be released in a week or so. This frittata recipe is one of the ones you can try right now if you click “look inside” at the Amazon.com page for the book.

The frittata is indeed made with a block of crumbled tofu.  The whole thing bakes in 20-25 minutes. Stay tuned for the verdict!

Update

Just out of the oven, here’s my little Nada Frittata.  I put green onion, baby bellas, red bell pepper and dill in mine. It is pretty doggone delicious.  Make again?  You betcha.

This weekend, we tried out Unbeef Stew, from VegWeb.com. It was pretty good, but I made adjustments to the recipe. I’m posting the original recipe here, with some notes underneath on how I modified it.

Ingredients

(use vegan versions):

Serves: 8

1 pound extra firm regular tofu

1 large onion, chopped

1 quart vegetable broth

5 tablespoons vegan Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon tamari

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

4 large carrots, coarsely chopped

4 large potatoes, coarsely chopped

1 tomato, seeded and diced

1 teaspoon each of pepper and basil

3 tablespoons non-hydrogenated vegan margarine

3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with water until smooth

Directions

Freeze the tofu and then let it thaw completely.

Drain the water from the tofu, and cut into slices and squeeze more water out.

Then cut the slices into chunks and bake at 200 degrees on an ungreased cookie sheet while chopping the rest of the ingredients (check the tofu about every 10-15 minutes so that it doesn’t get browned – it should just be dried out, not burned).

The tofu should be well dried out, like croutons.

Place all of the prepared ingredients into a crock pot, stir well, and cook on high for at least 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally.

or

Place all of the prepared ingredients into a pressure cooker, stir well, and cook on high until boiling, then reduce heat to ¾ flame until pressure is reached (45 minutes to an hour).

The stew is ready when it is thick and brown. It makes a lot!

Preparation time: 30-45 min. for preparing ingredients, then 8 hrs. to stew.

Nora’s notes

This tastes better on day 2. If you can make it a day ahead of time and then reheat and serve, that’s great.

I also added:

- 3 finely sliced stalks of celery
- 15 oz can of tomato puree
- a good sprinkling of majoram
- a good sprinkling of thyme
- 1 cup of frozen or canned corn (added in the last 20 minutes)
- 1 cup of frozen or canned peas (added in the last 20 minutes)

Next time I’ll change:

- Add more potatoes
- Cut the tofu pieces smaller

Serving Suggestions

Serve Unbeef Stew over mashed potatoes, steamed rice or polenta, pan-fried in a little olive oil.