Waffled sandwiches on tomato-basil bread

One of my favorite treats when I was a teenager was waffles and ice cream. There was a deli near our house that served up fresh, fragrant, warm waffles with multiple scoops of Breyer's ice cream. Peach or strawberry was my ice cream of choice. Sigh. I can almost smell those waffles as I type. (Or maybe it's the tomato-caraway bread baking downstairs!) Anyway, I still have a fondness for waffles, although now they're the vegan variety. But I hardly ever have them because I'm so lazy. The sandwiches I made recently for supper reminded me of one of my favorite treats - minus the ice cream.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I don't usually eat sandwiches. I don't have anything against a good sandwich, but it's more satisfying to me to bring leftovers to work and heat them up. Now that I've accepted the microwave into my life, (at work, not at home!) it's become much easier to enjoy a nice hot lunch. It just feels more balanced and less bread-y. But there must be some part of my sub-conscious that's been feeling sandwich-deprived, because I've certainly had my fair share of them during the last month! Today I was thinking about how I've always wanted to grill a sandwich in the waffle iron, but it seemed like too much effort to haul it down from its high storage cabinet just to make a sandwich that could be made in the toaster oven or in a pan. Today I not only made that waffled sandwich, I made the bread, too.

There was a jar of tomato juice hidden in the back of the refrigerator (my husband does the shopping so I'm never quite sure what I'll find lurking in the fridge) and a bag of basil that I got in yesterday's CSA box so I made tomato-basil bread with crushed red pepper. The color was gorgeous and the taste and texture were good, but not quite as basil-y or tomato-y as I'd hoped. There was slight heat from the pepper flakes but nothing alarming. It was made in a bread machine.


Tomato basil bread (1-1/2 pound loaf)

• 1/2 cup water
• 5/8 cup tomato juice (low sodium if you can get it)
• 2 cups white whole wheat flour (Bob's Red Mill is a good source)
• 1 cup unbleached white flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons evaporated cane juice or agave syrup
• handful (3 0r 4) basil leaves, minced
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1-1/2 teaspoons instant active dry yeast

Put everything in the bread machine in the order given. Choose medium crust. Press start.



Now for the fun part. For the sandwiches, I used a piece of Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella that was left over from making pizza last week. I've noticed that this cheese spoils really fast - I was surprised to find it still white and not pink - and I wanted to use it up. I layered it with tomato from the garden, heated up the waffle iron, sprayed both sides of the sandwich with olive oil, placed it between the grids and "closed" the waffle iron. "Closed" is in quotes because the waffler didn't really close with the sandwich stuck inside of it, but it cooked the sandwich to perfection. It looked really cool as you can see in the picture, and it was crispy and delicate at the same time. I wish I'd done this when my kids were small. I think kids would really enjoy sandwiches made this way. And although the cheese doesn't LOOK melted, it was. The sandwich was served with broccoli from our garden with raspberries from the CSA for dessert.

Sandwiches coming out of my ears

I've been going a little crazy with the sandwich thing. The truth is that I hardly ever even eat sandwiches. All of a sudden it's sandwiches for lunch, sandwiches for dinner. I made bread again and the machine worked fine, thank heavens, after my little cleaning blitz, so I made more sandwiches. I've been slicing veggies from our garden really thin and cooking them in the wok, putting them on the bread and adding a little hot sauce. I've been using eggplant, zucchini, tomato, jalapeño and homemade vegan sausage (not from the garden, obviously).
I lightly spray the wok with oil and spray again if needed. That's the dinner version. The lunch version has hummus, cucumber, tomato and avocado. I think I'm about ready for a good home-cooked meal!

Aaron's grilled tofu sandwich

When we ate at our son Aaron's apartment recently, to go with spinach salad and roasted green beans, he made grilled tofu sandwiches. He based his recipe on a sandwich he had at Baguette Box, a restaurant in Seattle, where he lives. These sandwiches were delicious and satisfying, although he said the original ones have deep fried tofu, making them even more tasty. However, grilling the tofu is healthier and less fattening so I'd go with this version. This recipe is a bit more involved — it requires some marinating, and making an easy sauce— but the result is really worth the modest effort.

Grilled tofu sandwich
•1-pound block of tofu, sliced into 1/2-inch slabs and marinated (recipe follows)
•thin-sliced red onion
•ripe avocado slices
•cilantro
•2 marinated carrots (recipe follows)
•vegan dressing (recipe follows)
•good quality bread or baguette, 8 slices

carrot marinade
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar

dressing
1/4 cup veganaise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
salt and pepper

tofu marinade
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup tamari
1/4 cup lime juice
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
black pepper
hot sauce or chili peppers (opt.)
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar (opt.)
Marinate the tofu slices in a shallow pan for at least one hour (or overnight). After the tofu marinates, Aaron cooks it on a George Foreman grill that someone gave him. I don't have one of these so I'd probably just pan fry it in a small amount of olive oil, or maybe use the grill on my waffle iron.


Julienne (or grate if you're feeling lazy) two carrots and marinate them for an hour in the 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar.

Mix together the 1/4 cup veganaise with the 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 clove minced garlic, 1/8 teaspoon cayenne, salt and pepper to make the vegan dressing.


Assemble the sandwiches with grilled tofu, red onion, avocado, marinated carrots and cilantro. Spread the bread with dressing.

I was in the kitchen thinking about the great sandwiches Aaron made for us, and I started wishing there was some bread in the house so I could make a sandwich. I considered baking bread, but it was way too hot. Too, too hot. I was thinking I would stroll on down to Trader Joe's and have a look around, when out of the corner of my eye I spied the breadmaker, sitting unused on the counter. I hardly ever use the breadmaker to bake bread. It's mostly used to make pizza or bread dough that gets baked on a stone in the oven. But I COULD use it to bake bread. All the ingredients were in the cupboard. I was feeling a twinge of guilt. So I spent about five minutes adding ingredients to the machine and went off to accomplish something while it made bread. It made a very credible loaf of 100% white whole wheat that made an excellent sandwich of thin sliced sautéed eggplant, avocado, tomato, cucumber and homemade vegan sausage.

And here's the problem. After I soaked the pan, I discovered a lot of crusty gunk under the washer-thing on top of which the mixing blade sits. I don't think this washer-thing is even supposed to come off, but at this point in the bread machine's life, it does. After I scraped everything out with a toothpick and examined it, I couldn't tell if it was old dough gunk or old washer gunk. What if I scraped out the hardened remains of some dried out rubber part? The shaft seemed a bit wobbly. So off to the Internet I went to look up replacement parts just in case, and was disturbed to find that the the only replaceable part on my machine is the little dough paddle. Some models have a replaceable pan (not my model) but the cost with shipping is about $55, making such a purchase seem weird. That machine is BIG and will take a lot of space in a landfill if I've wrecked it. I hate this. I just hope the unsavory gunk I obsessively cleaned was old dough and not old, unreplaceable machine part. By the way, I have a Breadman Ultimate TR22ooC.

Chickpea salad

It's been ages since I've posted. After my two weeks of vacationing at home with my kids and another week catching up at work, I'm finally feeling motivated to write something, even though I'm practically asleep as I type. Last night we had severe electrical storms that had me awake most of the night. There were three intense downpours with outrageous lightening and unbelievable thunder. The storms were bad, and experiencing them with our little dog made sleeping impossible. Buffy (She came from the Humane Society with this name. I wanted to rename her Fiona but the boys rebelled.) is 14, and ever since we got her when she was three, she's been terrified of thunder. I've tried all sorts of interventions to no avail. Normally she sleeps unobtrusively at the foot of our bed, but if there's a storm, she comes up to my head and tries to sleep on top of me. She pants loudly, walks all over me and shakes uncontrollably. It's kind of like being in a vibrating bed with an endless supply of quarters. Pour little girl. She can't be comforted though I try mightily. Of course, she's fine and lively today and I've been comatose and memory impaired. (More memory impaired than usual I should say.)

Anyway, I meant to post this last week but never got to it. After our big brunch, I had a bunch of cooked chick peas leftover because I had planned to use them at the party but changed my mind. The next day I decided to make them into a salad like the mock tuna salad Claire brought to the brunch, but the internet was down and I couldn't get the recipe. So, I threw together a salad based on ingredients at hand. I didn't measure anything, but this kind of salad is very flexible, so I'll give general measures of what I think I used. Here it is, more or less.

Chick pea salad ("mock" mock tuna salad)
-1/2 medium red onion, rinsed under cold water and chopped
-1 large stalk celery, chopped
-2 rounded tablespoons tofu cream cheese
-2 tablespoons lemon juice
-about 8 wasabi toasted almonds (from Trader Joe's)
-2 cups firm cooked chick peas
-large, peeled carrot, shredded

Place first five ingredients in food processor and buzz a few times until evenly chopped. Add chick peas and buzz a bit more. Place in bowl and add shredded carrot. Add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Serve stuffed into pita with shredded lettuce and pickles. I had mine on a plate without the pita, with a green salad.

These directions work best with firm chick peas — the kind you cook yourself. However, it also works great with the softer ones that come in a can if you make one small change. Instead of adding the chick peas to the food processor, mash them by hand in a bowl with a fork or potato masher. You want this salad to have some texture — not turn into hummus!

Vegans at the airport - Minneapolis

It was sad to leave Seattle. Goodbyes are hard, and we live so far away. (The photo above is of Moo-cow, who lives with A and E) Our Seattle flight was delayed, and the late start caused us to miss our connection in Minneapolis. Our last experience at the Milwaukee airport reinforced the message that vegans who don't carry snacks may be out of luck if stuck at an airport, so I'd packed small sandwiches for the trip, but those were long gone, and we had several hours ahead of us with an arrival time at home of after midnight. (By the way, don't pack soy yogurt. It will cause your backpack to be seized and searched and the yogurt will be confiscated as a dangerous "gel." Really.)

I don't think I've ever had to find something to eat at the Minneapolis airport, and I wasn't too optimistic about finding vegan food. But, we had lots of time to look around. After setting off the security alarm three times before realizing that I had a cell phone in my back pocket, they finally let me through security. Frazzled, I wasn't too hungry, but Ken and J were. As we were walking towards our gate, I spied a French Meadow Bakery Café and went to investigate. I used to purchase French Meadow sourdough bread and I knew the company had a popular café in Minneapolis.

There were a number of choices for vegans and the food I choose was fresh and organic. I was feeling kind of well-fed after our vacation, if you know what I mean, so I opted for a spa salad to eat later. It was packed with fresh raw salad stuff and a too-generous slab of grilled tofu. It came with avocado dressing on the side. Ken and J chose grilled tempeh reuben's which took kind of a long time to arrive but which they both really enjoyed. Looked a bit greasy to me but oh well. There were lots of salad greens for balance!

Grilled cheez- again

Now, doesn't this look good? I'm really getting mileage out of the cheez I made for a recent post. There was still some leftover and I needed lunch so I spread it on stale sourdough bread, topped it with leftover chipotle in adobo sauce (my favorite) and put some small sliced tomato on top. This I put in the toaster oven and toasted until the cheez was hot and "melted," and it tasted great. Gotta love that cheez sauce!

Grilled "cheese"

I got inspired by Vegan Dad's grilled cheese post, and I knew I had to have some. It's been so long since I've had this, and I just wanted a gooey, greasy, melty sandwich. I admit that I restrained myself in the greasy department and opted to lightly spray a non-stick griddle with olive oil and grill my sandwich like a responsible person, but thank goodness I have a bunch of the cheez stuff leftover and can go back and do it right! I mean, shouldn't a grilled cheese sandwich leave you with fingers to lick? I've photographed the responsible version, but you do what you think is best. I like to spread the outside of the bread with Earth Balance margarine and grill it until it's brown and toasty. The recipe comes from "The Uncheese Cookbook" and there are lots of versions of "cheese" to choose from. Naturally, I chose an easy one.

This makes a very thick cheez. If you want to use it right away to drizzle on pizza, use only half the arrowroot. You may also have to thin it down a bit by whisking it a little extra water.

Mostarella Cheeze
2 cups water
1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes (not brewers yeast powder)
1/3 cup quick-cooking rolled oats (not instant)
1/4 cup tahini
4 tablespoons arrowroot (arrowroot melts when re-heated)
4 tablespoons FRESH lemon juice
1 tablespoon onion granules
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke (if you like the taste of smoky provolone)

Process all ingredients in blender several minutes until very smooth.
Pour into a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until very thick and smooth.
Pack into a lightly oiled, 3-cup rectangular container.
Cool, cover and refrigerate overnight.


You can use this cheez right away for grilled cheese sandwiches and save the rest for another day. After it chills, you can sort of slice it. (Remember, I said "sort of.") I made sandwiches again with the leftovers and this time coated the outside of the bread with Earth Balance margarine before toasting it in my wok—more calories but more "authentic" look and taste.

Does this really taste like cheese? You know, it's made from yeast flakes and oats. That said, it makes a very tasty grilled sandwich and my kids always loved it on homemade pizza. It was also a component of my kids' favorite dish, enchiladas. I once gave a taste of something all hot and bubbly with cheez sauce to a friend who is not vegetarian, and asked her if it tasted like cheese. She said, "No. It doesn't taste like cheese, but it tastes great! What is it?" I've also taken the previously mentioned enchiladas to a potluck, where they were quickly devoured by an appreciative crowd. I haven't had cheese in more than 25 years - it tastes really good to me!

note: I just got a new copy of the updated Uncheese Cookbook now called "The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook" (my old copy is too decrepit to use any more) and there are two grilled cheese recipes - All American Grilled Cheez and Gooey Grilled Cheez. Get the book from the library and have fun. There are lots of interesting concoctions for when the dairybug comes whispering in your ear.