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Yesterday started off great. I blogged a bit, went and got groceries, did 8 or so hours of reading and prepared two great meals. But somewhere around 6:30-7:00pm, sometime between about ‘Friends’ and the ending of ‘Sleepless in Seattle’, I fell off the rails. Generally speaking, Fialonia and I make dinner and watch tv for an hour and then I go back to work and she goes to Starbucks to study. Last night, for some reason, we decided to polish off a bottle of wine that some silly person left at my house last week and watch ‘You’ve got Mail’. We then proceeded to eat an entire bag of Miss Vickie’s salt and vinager chips and chase this with more wine and a giganto bag of Nibs.

Wha?

So now of course I feel like canned ass. And am four hours behind schedule. Which should mean that I don’t have time to post. But 1) I can’t deprive you of these two recipes and 2) I need to distract myself from the pounding headache.

So the first is a delicious soup – another mushroom one but with a hot and sour flavour. I got the idea from La Dolce Vegan but changed a few things (peas do not belong in soup…or anywhere for that matter).

Vegan Hot and Sour Soup:

2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup water
1 cup kale, torn up
1 1/2 tbsp tamari
1 inch of fresh ginger, minced
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp garlic chili sauce (my sauce is pretty mild…perhaps start with 1 tsp and add afterwards…)
1/2 cup oyster mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 tbsp white wine vinager
1/4 lb extra firm tofu, cubed (I did really small cubes…these are best I think)

In a big soup pot, boil the stock and water. Reduce heat to between minimum and medium and add the tamari, garlic, ginger, sugar, garlic chili sauce, and mushrooms. Let simmer for about 8 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the tofu and kale. Cover and let sit for about 5 minutes. Serves two.

Now. Fialonia and I had plans of eating bread with this but, unbeknownsed to me, the bread was moldy. Boo-urns. Had I known this, I would have added some rice noodles or udon noodles to this soup. A cup of Zen tea (leftover from Fialonia’s starbucks days) had to suffice.

The other recipe made use of that avocado I bought a day or two ago. Technically speaking, it could have done with a bit more ripening, but I was desparate to have Mexican food last night. It didn’t matter in the slightest because this recipe KICKED ASS. Love it. LOVE IT. Make it. Immediately.

Layered Tortilla Awesomeness:

1 avocado
2 cloves garlic
3 green onions
1 tbsp Faux Sour Cream (see recipe below…you could, of course, just buy vegan sour cream. Whatever.)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tin of black beans
1 cup salsa (have extra though for adding at the end)
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
5 8 inch tortillas
1 cup vegan cheese, shredded (we used Monteray Jack…sooo tasty)

Preheat oven at 350F. In a bowl, mash together the avocado, garlic, green onion, sour cream, and lemon juice until smooth. Set aside. In another bowl, mash together the black beans, salsa, chili powder and cumin. Set aside. Take a 8 inch pie plate (I use glass and never oil it but if you use a sticky one, lightly oil) and start layering!! First, lay down one tortilla. Top with half of the bean mixture. Then another tortilla. Then half of the avocado mixture with 1/2 cup cheese. Then another tortilla. Then the rest of the bean mixture. Then another tortilla. Then the rest of the avocado mixture and almost the rest of the cheese (save a little bit for the top). Finally, add the last tortilla and pop it in the oven for about 15 minutes. Take out and add the last of the cheese, then pop back in for another 5 or so minutes (until cheese is slightly melted and the top tortilla is getting a little crispy). Serve with a dollop of faux sour cream, a bit of salsa, and a side of something green (I went with leftover kale). Makes four servings of awesomeness.

Now, the faux sour cream. Easy recipe from La Dolce Vegan which I use all – the – time.

Faux Sour Cream:

1 12 oz package of soft tofu
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp apple cider vinager
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp tamari

Blend it all in a food processor until smooth. Done!

This makes about one cup of sour cream and really, even with generous helpings alongside the above recipe, you’re likely only going to go through about 1/4 cup – 1/2 cup of it. But never fear! I will supply you with a coffee cake recipe in which you can add the leftovers tomorrow morning…