Rhymes With Vegan

how you feeling? HOT! HOT! HOT!

it's 92 degrees out....hmmm, what to eat?

one of my favorite recipes to make to help sweat out the summer heat is my very spicy version of pozole.

it's pretty basic, and a quick meal to throw together for a group or to just keep in the fridge for the week.

you simply fry up some 'gimme lean' sausage in oil, add hominy, jalapeños, green chilies, stewed tomatoes, no-chicken stock and LOTS of spices; cumin, cayenne, salt and black pepper and a squeeze of lime. (see recipe below)

and of course you must top it off with vegan sour cream to cool off the hits of spice!  You can garnish with cilantro, but I used parsley instead to keep the focus on the hints of different spices.  I would have thrown some avocado on top if I had any, but it didn't stop us from enjoying this wonderful dish.

It doesn't get any better than this...enjoy!

rwv pozole

1 tube Gimme Lean Sausage Style

2 cloves garlic

2 tsp olive oil

2 cans chili beans (hot)

3 cans hominy (white not golden)

2 fresh green chilies - chopped (or 1 can store bought)

1 jalapeño - chopped (or 1 can store bought)

1/2 vidalia onion - chopped

4 stewed tomatoes (or 2 cans store bought)

1 cup No-Chicken Stock (or veggie stock)

1 medium handful of cumin (or to taste)

1 medium handful of chili powder (or to taste)

2 tbsp cayenne pepper  ( or to taste)

1 whole lime - squeezed

salt and pepper to taste

in a frying pan toss together the olive oil, garlic and the gimme lean sausage. 
fry that up until it's nice and crispy golden brown.  move to the side.

while the sausage is frying up, take a stockpot and throw together the chili beans, hominy, stewed tomatoes, green chilies, jalapeños all of your spices and let simmer for 1/2 hour.  now you can add all of your sausage and the no-chicken stock as you see fit to help balance out the spices.  Squeeze in your lime juice and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook for another 15-20 minutes.

Spoon into a bowl, add your sour cream and garnish and you're good to go! You can serve this with chips or fresh tortillas and a cold beer.

A HINT:
as with all stockpot dishes such as pozole, chili, etc.  the longer it cooks and then sits, the better it tastes. it needs the time to let all of the flavors come together.

enjoy!

awesome tofu rub

so, this summer i came up with a spicy mix to brush on my tofu slices before they hit the grill. i love the brand of tofu 'wild wood', as it doesn't require draining and pressing to use. just open and slice and it's ready to grill.

Let me just say that I have created one hell of a slice of tofu...anti-tofu lovers watch out!

here's how the story goes:  toss a little sea salt on both sides of the slices, then sprinkle my RWV tofu spicy rub on both sides (watch for it in the grocery aisle), and let sit a bit. then baste each slice with peanut oil and sesame oil. when the grill is ready, set at a low temp, on they go. depending on the thickness of the slices, tofu will take from 7-10 minutes per side. when the grill lines show on the tofu slice, it's pretty much ready.

for this evening's meal i grilled up some cob corn and added a salad on the side. lettuce, mushrooms, tomato, sunflower seeds, and my latest concoction, vegan dressing.

grubbin.

so, until next time here's the recipe for my spicy tofu rub :

1 handful of old bay seasoning

1 handful of hungarian paprika

1/2 handful of garlic powder

pepper to taste

For the baste:

1/2 cup of Peanut Oil

1/4 cup of Toasted Sesame Oil

Slather on and enjoy!

update - what's going on??

while waiting for the animal rights coalition to approve the budget proposal for my cooking show, i've been keeping busy watering my garden and coming up with some kickass tofu spice and salad dressing recipes. i've got vegan ranch dressing down pat, and i've been working on a tofu rub that i'm planning on bottling.

stay tuned my friends...it's sure to be a hit!