Vegan Food

I'm submitting these two dishes to the This is why You're Thin blog. I hope they make it!
Asparagus Stir-Fry


The first dish is a simple asparagus stir-fry with brown rice.

Makes 1 or 2 servings

Ingredients:

Stir-Fry
2 Tbsp Canola oil
1 c Asparagus, chopped
2 c Broccoli, chopped
1 c Green beans
1 medium Red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium Onion, chopped
1 large Carrot, chopped
1 tsp Garlic powder
2 Tbsp Lime juice
1/2 tsp Salt

Brown Rice
2 c Brown rice
2-1/4 c Water
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Butter, Earth Balance (optional)

Instructions:
Prep ingredients: Cut broccoli, red bell pepper, onion, carrot and asparagus. Put canola oil in a wok or non-stick pan (I prefer a wok) with the burner on low-medium heat. Add garlic powder, salt, limejuice and chopped onion to the oil. Stir ingredients. In another pan, bring the water for the brown rice to a boil with salt (and Earth Balance butter, if desired). Add remaining vegetables to the stir-fry, while waiting for the water to boil, stir ingredients. Add brown rice to boiling water and continue stirring the contents of both pots, for about five minutes. Turn down the heat for the rice to medium, cover and simmer. Raise heat for the stir-fry to medium. Continue stirring the stir-fry. The rice and stir-fry will be done in five minutes. Add rice to stir-fry in wok (or pan) and mix thoroughly. Serve and enjoy!

Stuffed Papaya, with Guacamole and Whole-Wheat Tortilla Chips (All homemade!)


The second dish is not as simple, because I chose to make everything myself. You could easily just buy the tortilla chips and guacamole.

Ingredients:

Tortilla Chips
2 c Whole-wheat Flour
1/2 c Soymilk
1-1/2 tsp Baking powder
2 tsp Olive oil
1 tsp Salt
(You might want to have a pump-spray can)
(or you can use paper toweling.)

Guacamole (single bland serving)
1 Avocado
1/4 Red onion, minced
1/2 small Tomato, diced
1/2 Tbsp Fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp Sea salt
A dash of Pepper, fresh grated
1 tsp Chives, chopped

Stuffed Papaya
1 Papaya, halved and seeded
1 medium Tomato, diced
1 (12 ounce) package Crumbles (Morningstar Farms)
1 Tbsp Canola oil
1 small Onion, chopped
1 Tbsp Garlic powder
1 Tbsp Garlic pepper
2 Tbsp Cayenne pepper, or to taste
2 Tbsp Chili powder, or to taste
1 Tbsp Seasoned salt
(Add any other spicy spices to taste)

Instructions
For Tortilla Chips and Guacamole:
I'd suggest making the tortillas first, and make them much earlier in the day than you want to eat them. Start by stirring together the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix soymilk and olive oil in a separate bowl (or cup). Gradually add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients. The fun part comes next: use your hands to work the mixture into dough on a lightly floured cooking board. Continue kneading until the dough is no longer sticky. Put the dough into a bowl, then cover it with a damp cloth; allow it to sit for ten minutes. Divide the dough into eight equal balls, return to the bowl and re-cover with a damp cloth. After twenty minutes have passed, uncover the bowl. Preheat a skillet to medium heat. Dust a pastry board with flour and press the dough into a circle with about a five-inch diameter. Use a rolling pin to flatten the circle to less than quarter of an inch high. Put the flattened circle into the preheated skillet. Cook for about thirty seconds on each side. Repeat these steps for each ball, separating finished tortillas on a plate with paper toweling. Put the tortillas in the refrigerator. When you are about to make the guacamole, take out the tortillas, cut into fourths, or desired chip size, put on a cookie sheet, spray each side with canola oil (this is why I recommend having a pump spray can. You can also use Pam, or you could put canola oil on a paper toweling and lightly brush it on each side of the chips.) Put in the oven at 350° for ten minutes. While it is in the oven, mix the pitted, skinned avocado with the other guacamole ingredients, except tomatoes. When the chips are finished you can mix the tomatoes in (or not, if you don't like tomatoes). Remove the chips from the oven, put in a bowl, and serve with guacamole! It is so fresh and subtly flavored.

For Stuffed Papaya:
Cut papaya in half, remove the seeds and then refrigerate. Preheat the oven to 350°. Mix crumbles, tomato and onion in a deep skillet with canola oil. Cook for about ten minutes on medium heat, smooshing tomatoes with a fork. Add the other spices, mostly to taste. If you like spicy, as I do, add more. If you like bland flavors, add less. Keep in mind the papaya is sweet, and the mix of spicy and sweet is what makes this dish so good; so don’t be too stingy with the spices! Cook mixture for an additional ten minutes, stirring frequently. Take papaya halves out of the refrigerator, and put in a baking pan. Fill the pan with water up to about one inch from the papaya top. Fill each papaya half with half of the “meat” mixture (see below if you’d like to top with cheeze, and do so before baking). Put the papaya in the oven. After thirty minutes, remove the stuffed papaya from the oven and serve. Bon appetit.

For Cheeze:
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1 Tbsp flour
1 tsp Cornstarch
dash of salt
dash of garlic powder
1/4 c water
1 tsp margarine (Earth Balance)
1 tsp wet mustard

Mix dry ingredients in a saucepan. Then, add water. Whisk together ingredients. Turn burner to medium heat. Bring to boil. Cook for thirty seconds. Whip margarine and mustard with the rest of the mixture. Allow to thicken slightly for about thirty seconds. Then pour the cheeze in a zig-zag shape on the stuffed papaya.