Scrambled Tofu with Garlic & Spinach

Easy vegan breakfast... recipe for one, so increase proportions as desired:

2 big handfuls of fresh spinach

1 large clove garlic thinly sliced

Olive oil spray

1/4 block of firm tofu

Spray pan w/ olive oil and saute garlic over medium heat until softened, but not browned. Toss freshly rinsed spinach in pan on top of garlic. Use the spatula to move the spinach about until it is completely wilted, then push it to the side of the pan. Crumble the tofu into the pan and add 1/2 tsp of tumeric and mix into the tofu as it heats up in the pan. Cook until the tofu is heated through and then mix the spinach from the side of the pan into the heated tofu mix. Serve!

There are many recipes for scrambled tofu... it is so easy that from this basic premise you can add anything you like... peppers, onions, mushrooms, and on and on...

Apple Walnut Dressing

Another amazing vinaigrette. You can't have too many. I found this in a recipe for a spinach-avocado salad, but then I couldn't find the site to give credit. So here it is anyway in all its awesome glory:

1/4 c apple cider vinegar

1 tbs agave nectar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp cumin

2 pinches cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 c walnut oil

Place all the ingredients in a jar and shake.

Scalloped Potatoes with Carmelized Fennel & Leeks

A tiny head of fennel and one lonely leek languished in my crisper. To save them from the compost bin, I found a potato gratin recipe online that was ripe for a vegan make-over. I was so happy with the outcome that the first forkful brought an OMG to my lips.

1 small head of fennel, sliced very thin

1 leek, white part only, sliced very thin

1 tbs olive oil

2 fist-sized yukon gold, rose gold or other waxy potatoes, sliced very thin (use a mandolin if you have one, but watch your fingers)

2 tsp fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried

1 large clove of garlic, thinly sliced

oil spray

Silk soy creamer

nutritional yeast

salt & pepper

A medium-sized casserole dish with lid

Preheat oven to 375.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and saute the fennel & leek until carmelized (browned, but don't let it burn). Spray a casserole dish with spray oil and place a layer of the potatoes, followed by about half the leek/fennel mixture and half the sliced garlic. Place another layer of potatoes, followed by the rest of the leek/fennel mix and sliced garlic. Top with a layer of potato. Pour the soy creamer in the casserole dish until it just peeks over the sides of the potatoes. Sprinkle the thyme, then salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle a thin later of nutritional yeast on top. Spray lightly with the cooking oil. Cover. Pop in the oven for 45 minutes.

The proportions aren't precise. Someday when I publish my vegan cookbook I'll be more exact, but I really don't think a little this way or that way is critical for most recipes. I'm going to try using vegetable broth instead of the creamer next time, but I wanted a super creamy outcome; a snowy day calls for it. Please note the artful cropping in the photos that obscures my first ambitious forkfuls. I put in the holiday backdrop as a nod to my brother, who told me this morning that it was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who wrote the poem Christmas Bells, which was later set to music as I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.

I cooked hard a good part of the day today, so I was ready for my martini come cocktail hour. I couldn't find my tipsy onions. (I guess I was making a Gibson.) I said a prayer to St. Anthony, though I suspect praying for cocktail ingredients is a sin. Ultimately, I settled for jarred jalepenos tossed into my vodka with good results, proving that God comes through even for sinners like me. From the photo, you see evidence that my support for organic products includes booze.