Dinner for the Fam, v2.0

Om nom nom! This dinner was even better than the last. Because it seemed to go so well last time, I went with a down-home southern type of theme again that Bianca Crunk would be proud of. This time it was vegan mac n' cheeze, yummy garlic kale, and curried acorn squash (okay, so that one's not so southern, but I'm a yankee. I don't know better.)
The 'rents loved it! Here are the omni-pleasing recipes:

Super Simple Vegan Mac

Ingredients:
1 box cooked whole wheat elbow macaroni
1/4 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
1/3 cup veggie broth
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tbsp whole wheat flour

What to do:
Combine your liquid ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Add in the flour and nutritional yeast and whisk until homogeneous. Add to a skillet and warm your mixture over medium heat. When your 'cheese' sauce is warm, add in your noodles. And voila! Enjoy!

Garlicky Kale


Ingredients:
1 large head of curly kale
1/4 cup veggie broth
3 cloves of garlic
Parma, for sprinkling on top

What to do:
Sautee garlic in veggie broth on medium heat until garlic is fragrant. Add in the kale and cover the pot, allowing kale to steam for about 5 minutes. Serve with Parma sprinkled on top.

Curried Acorn Squash


Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen acorn squash puree (Cascadian Farm makes one)
2 tsp curry powder
2 tbsp Earth Balance

What to do:
Steam frozen acorn squash until heated through. Add in curry powder and Earth Balance. That's it! You're done!

In Which I Make Dinner for my Family

You heard right. The other night, I offered to prepare a vegan dinner for my decidedly un-vegan family. Despite the fact that my family is about as southern as a polar bear, I decided to prepare a traditional(ish) down home dinner of barbecue seitan and broccoli from the PPK, corn muffins, and my own 'recipe' for mashed sweet taters, which was just local yams mixed with maple syrup and cinnamon. This would also be delish in a casserole with Sweet and Sara marshmallows mixed in, just sayin'. 

The Verdict: The parental units approved! They asked me to make them dinner again! *fist pump*

A recipe?

I know, I know. This blog is supposed to be lunches only. But when you make up your own AWESOME recipe, you just want to tell the world. Especially when it's vegan and gluten free.
So here it is: Balsamic baked tofu. So simple, so yummy. Served with a side of brown rice and peas, it's heaven. I cooked my brown rice in some veggie broth, just FYI. It gave it a really nice flavor.

BALSAMIC BAKED TOFU:

Here's what you'll need:
1 block of pressed extra firm organic tofu
about 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
Salt-free spice bend, to taste (I used Mrs. Dash)
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Here's what to do:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and Mrs. Dash together in a little bowl.
3. Slather (ew, icky word) it all over your tofu. Stick your tofu in the fridge and let it marinate for an hour AT THE LEAST!
3. Pop your tofu in the oven and let it cook for about 40 minutes, checking it periodically.
4. Enjoy!