Vegan Cauliflower Pizza Bites

So here's a recipe I wouldn't recommend:

http://www.damyhealth.com/2012/06/vegan-cauliflower-pizza-bites/

Firstly, 2 cups of super-fine cauliflower is closer to 1/3 a head than a full head.  I followed the recipe pretty closely -- I substituted Italian seasoning for the oregano + parsley, I used butter instead of coconut oil, I used a different brand of hot sauce, and I used egg substitute instead of a "flax egg", but otherwise I followed it exactly.  This is what I ended up with:

You might notice that it's not even vaguely muffin shaped once it comes out of the pan, but I'm not big on presentation so I don't mind (yes, I did wait to take them out of the pan like the directions said to).  The bigger issue is that it tastes like slightly burnt cauliflower and a little bit of oregano and nothing else.  It would've been better to just bake & eat the cauliflower, tofu, and chickpeas separately, with or without the hot sauce + spices.  So don't make this.  It's gross.

Zesty Sweet Chili Tofu

The cafeteria at work has a very limited selection of things I like.  But one of the few things I was really impressed with was their sweet chili tofu.  It was bright orange, sitting on a heating coil for the 3 hours that lunch was available, and had a slightly weird texture... but it was delicious.  I haven't seen it in a while though, so I decided I had to find a recipe that was like it; this recipe is just like work used to make!

I found this sauce recipe, but naturally I didn't have peppers or garlic in the apartment, so I substituted.  I also only made half the recipe; I find that gooey asian-style sauces like this that have cornstarch in them get gross if you put them in the fridge, so I didn't want too much left over.  My recipe looked something like this:

• 1/4 tsp garlic powder (probably plus a little extra)
• 1/2 tsp (very heaping -- probably closer to 3/4 tsp) red pepper flakes
• 1/8 c white vinegar
• 1/4 c sugar
• 3/8 c water
• 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp water

For the first boiling part, I left it on for way longer than 3 minutes -- it never really thickened up, but I did notice that I'd lost some liquid.  The cornstarch worked really quickly once I added it, and I ended up with this much sauce:

It all fit into the big spoon I had been stirring with, which was about how much I wanted anyway.  This ended up being very spicy; I'd probably use less red pepper if I made it again.

For the tofu, I just chopped up & pressed a block of tofu, oiled the pan & the tofu, then baked it for a little over 30 minutes at 350 then 375 (because the sauce was done and I was hungry), flipping every 10 minutes or so.  It stuck to the pan relentlessly; maybe parchment paper would've helped.  Then I tossed it with the sauce.  It was just the right amount of both, and turned out fantastic (albeit a bit spicier than I'd've hoped).  It would've been perfect with some rice, which I had meant to make while the tofu was cooking but totally forgot.  Will definitely be making this again!

Coconut Cookies

Coconut was on sale at the grocery store this week, and I haven't made cookies in a while.  These are tasty little things.  I took the comments' advice and doubled the vanilla.  They're very soft with a slightly crunchy outside.  I also made a few with dried berries added to them, which were good.  These seem like cookies that would be easy to throw other random stuff into, too.  Nothing to write home about, but still a good, simple cookie.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chewy-coconut-cookies/

The lighter ones are better & chewier.

Broccoli Cheese Biscuits

These were an experiment.  As I went through the process of making them, I substituted basically every ingredient.  First I wanted to use more broccoli.  And I didn't have the usual kind of cheese.  Then I didn't have any milk.  Then I ran out of Bisquick.  But they came out super moist & pretty delicious; could've used more cheesy flavor, and maybe some spices, but were overall quite good.  Here's the original recipe:

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/broccoli-cheese-muffins/cc0c4834-4062-44d5-841e-9e3a36564e62

And here's what I made:

1 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup white flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp half-and-half
5 tbsp water
1 egg's worth of egg substitute
1.5 cups broccoli, chopped, steamed (included the stems but not their tough outside parts)
1/2 cup shredded colby jack
1/2 cup shredded Sonoma Jack Garlic cheese

Follow the normal instructions.  I tried putting vegetarian pepperonis on & in some of them; the ones on top came out crusty and gross, and the ones inside didn't really add anything (I liked the pepperoni-less ones better).  Also, if you want them to keep their biscuit shape, you have to let them cool for a little while after you take them out.  They're more delicious if you eat them immediately as hot little balls of flavor, though.

Before...

...and After

Lemon Tofu

After discovering that birthday cake shots are better without the lemon, I found myself with 1.5 extra lemons in my fridge.  This recipe was made in an attempt to use up 1 of them.  I'm not a huge fan of lemon, so I'm not a huge fan, but the idea here was good and if I liked lemon I'd definitely like this.  It's tasty in its own way.  And the fried tofus aren't bad on their own either.  You could probably swap out the lemon bits for something else.  The one change I'd make is, for the love of god, don't put the broth into the pan with the hot oil.  Just make the sauce in the pot you made the broth in.  Note that they get less crispy really quickly (in the time it took me to write this, they went from being goo-covered & crispy awesome to cold & squishy).

http://www.omgveg.com/lemon-tofu/