vegan cheese

Breads, Cheese, International vegan cuisine, Plant Based, Vegan

Vegan Cheese (& other goodies) Tray ~ Vegan Charcuterie Board

Posted on March. 2023March. 2023 by writinstuff

Let’s just start this post by me letting you know that yes, I know that charcuterie is a type of butchery and also yes, I am fully well aware that’s not technically the case with todays’ vegan food showcase. I concede all that if you promise not to take everything so literal.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about what we’ve got going on here today.

My hubs came across this vegan food brand, Rawckers, and because it was mostly vegan cheese products, he was, of course, intrigued. You see, he loves cheese. Unlike me who kind of lost my taste for it after going vegan, The Hubs is still going strong with his cheese love, so give him an option for cashew cheese and he’s all aboard the cheese train.

And best of all? He even had a plan for it. A plan that only required a little input on my part, which in Wife Land we call the best plan of all!

So he made a vegan charcuterie board which we enjoyed a few weeks back while watching UFC. Is that weird? Everyone thinks it’s strange that we were eating vegan food while watching professional combat athletes battle it out in the octagon.

Personally? I felt both fancy and savage, thank you very much.

Since there’s no cooking required there’s no actual recipe, but we’ll talk about…something.

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Cheese, International vegan cuisine, Italian, Plant Based, Vegan

Easy Vegan Pizza Bread

Posted on December. 2020January. 2021 by writinstuff

What do you do when you want to make vegan pizza at home, but you don’t want all the calories that come with store bought (or homemade) pizza dough?

You get a nice hunk of bread from the bakery, making sure to read the ingredients that most store bakeries list to look for non-vegan ingredients such as milk powder or cheese powder. I recommend ciabatta bread or some kind of wide-ish roll that will hold enough vegan pizza toppings to satisfy your appetite.

There is no secret to this recipe, it’s vegan pizza only it’s served on bread. So gather your favorite vegan pizza toppings and cook them, or not, depending on how you like it and pop it in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes.

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Bowls, Grains, International vegan cuisine, Italian, Plant Based, Sauces & Creams, Soup, Vegan

Vegan Meatball Stew & Creamy Polenta

Posted on December. 2020January. 2021 by writinstuff

Nothing is better than a nice stewy dish when the weather is cold, and let me tell ya, the weather here has been COLD!!!

I was really in the mood for a hearty vegetable stew but my partner wanted me to make creamy polenta so I split the difference and added a lot less broth and served it on top of polenta. With the help of Beyond Burger vegan meatballs.

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Sides

Vegan Sausage & Peppers

Posted on November. 2019November. 2019 by writinstuff

You know how sometimes you can go years, decades even, without thinking about something and then you see something that triggers a memory or a smell that brings a smile to your face, and suddenly you can’t stop thinking about it? Well that’s what happened with me and sausage and peppers.

Back in my pre-vegan days, I loved a good sausage and peppers dish. Whether it was a sandwich from Portillo’s, a super delicious sandwich joint in Chicago or my granny’s spicy sausage and peppers with rice, I used to LOVE this dish.

And apparently…I still do.

The first thing you need is to figure out your sausage situation. If you live somewhere with a big vegan population then you can probably pop on down to the market and get a variety of vegan sausages. If, like me, you’re living vegan in a place with a pitifully small vegan community–even temporarily–then you’ll have to take the sausage situation into your own hands.

Get my vegan sausage recipe here and switch up those herbs and spices to fit any dish you want. I used a Cajun blend with chili powder, ancho chiles, smoky paprika, garlic granules, onion powder/granules, thyme, oregano and a pinch of cumin because I love it.

Next, grab a few of your favorite peppers and a couple onions, some garlic and herbs and you’re ready to go. I recommend a blend that features bell peppers and spicy peppers. I seeded and diced a jalapeno and rough chopped a long red pepper to go with the green & red bell peppers. It’s a nice sweet & spicy blend to go with the sausage.

Add some seasoning, herbs and a splash of water if you want it saucy…and lay it over whatever carb, um I mean grain you want and pofta buna! I served it over polenta because it’s been a while since I’ve had it and I really wanted it. Badly. But you could serve it over rice, bulgur or couscous, put it on a roll or in a wrap. Whatever floats your boat, baby!

This dish was easy because I made the vegan sausage with seitan a few days before and I cooked the onions and peppers in the oven (an easy way to make your vegan dish oil-free) so it was a low-key, stress free meal that was super delicious. And if you’re feeling funky or adventurous, add some vegan cheese to the polenta for a creamier flavor.

Pair it with beer or wine and enjoy!

Breakfast, Plant Based, Salads, Sandwiches, Sides, Soup, Vegan

Our Trip to Würzburg ~ A Day of Walking, a Fortress and Vegan Eats

Posted on September. 2018September. 2018 by writinstuff

We recently took a day trip to Würzburg, a small town of about 100,000 people in the Bavaria region of Germany. This place is what you think of when you think of idyllic small towns, except it is filled with some truly amazing architecture. Now full disclosure; I’m no art expert but I fall into the I like what I like school of thought, so take what I say with a grain of Himalaya sea salt. 😉

When we first started planning this trip I was pretty resigned to the fact that I’d be partaking in lots of wine–famous in the region–along with salad and pommes (fries). Imagine my surprise when a quick Google search of ‘Würzburg + vegan’ revealed not one, but two different eateries!! In the end we opted for the full-blown restaurant instead of the cafe that had mostly vegetarian options. Vrohstoff was our top choice and I’ll be honest, after looking up the menu online I was super excited about our options.

This place was AMAZING. And that’s coming from a woman who no one would ever describe as effusive. Everything about the place screamed fresh, natural food. One wall was filled with pots of fresh herbs and relaxing music greeted us when we made our first stop for a quick breakfast. It was relatively quiet because it was a Monday morning and most people in town were at work…I assume.

We sat down and even though I’d spent plenty of time browsing the menu in the days leading up to the trip, I took my time until I spotted the perfect breakfast drink. Fresh and natural ginger and mint tea. It was damn delicious!

vegan tea mint ginger

The little cup was so adorable with an outer plastic bubble to keep my hands nice and un-burned while I drank my weight in tea!

Now…back to breakfast!

The hubs had this dish which was a tofu “egg” scramble which was absolutely delicious and that’s coming from someone who only recently started to enjoy tofu! The salad had a light vinaigrette and the veggies on the side were grilled eggplant, onions. For him, the sesame seed dipped avocados were the highlight because…look how perfectly ripe they are!

For my über delicious vegan breakfast I chose a little bit of everything. The bread up top tasted like potato bread but I forgot to ask what it was made of, but it made a delicious sandwich with the vegan cheese slices and the cucumber, tomato & salad sandwich, also with a light vinaigrette. Bottom left is vegan butter with basil (the basil went on my sandwich!). But the real star of this breakfast was the lentil hummus which was buttery with a hint of smokiness that I’m pretty sure came from cumin. The extra bread was a bonus (mmmm, carbs) and I smeared the lentil hummus on it and ate it. Full disclosure: I slid that avocado slice on over to the hubs because, ewww, avocado. (I know it’s healthy and all that but it’s just not my thing.)

After such a healthy breakfast I was ready to get my tourist-ing on! We both commented on how light and energetic we felt which turned out to be perfect because the Marienberg Fortress was a MASSIVE CLIMB that I would not have been able to make with a greasy breakfast.

But, don’t get it twisted, I do love to eat a healthy plant based diet but I do have a weakness; booze. And we were in wine country so I did have a little bit of a boost to get me up the fortress.

The big castle over my shoulder is Marienberg and that’s a dry rose that was SO COLD and delicious as it went down. It kept me refreshed for the monster climb but the climb did kind of destroy my buzz!

(No, I don’t know the gentleman behind me he was an accidental photobomb.)

We spent quite a bit of time at the Fortress because there were amazing views of the entire town and I got some great panorama shots! After a day of sightseeing at least a half dozen cathedrals, vineyards, gardens and art galleries we made our way back to Vrohstoff. The dinner menu was so mouthwatering but we were both fatigued from all the walking around in the sun that we went for the easy-ish option.

He got soup. A potato and leek soup with a hint of tumeric. It was delicious and I might have had a spoonful. Or two.

I got salad with tomatoes, apples, 3 types of lettuce, carrot spirals, shaved nuts and orange slices.

And then we both got…burgers! They were amazing and the sweet potato fries were OUT OF THIS WORLD!

HE got the ‘Der Mexikaner’ or the Mexican burger, which included a black bean burger with: beets, vegan cheddar, corn, cucumber relish and corn chips. And that little red & white cup? homemade ketchup with vegan mayo that was made with a coconut cream base. It was tasty but a tad too sweet with the sweet potato fries. He ate every bite, though!

I got the ‘Der Greiche’ or The Greek burger that was complete with a bean & olive pattie tomatoes, cucumber, kalamata olives, mint pesto, vegan tzatziki and…parsnip chips. It was very filling or maybe it was all the wine I drank but either way I rolled myself out of there and made my way to the car.

Somehow.

We took a break after the fortress to rest our aching feet over a cocktail or two and this went rolling past!