Southern Saturday - Mike's birthday party

It's Southern Saturday - yaaaay!  Mike's birthday was yesterday, but no one could come round then, so we had people over today.  I made Tofu Scramble Enchiladas, Caramelized Cabbage and Onions, Un-fried Corn, and Buttermilk Ranch (as a dip) from Cookin' Crunk, and French vanilla ice cream from "A La Mode" to serve with the yella cake I made yesterday.

I served the ranch with carrot batons and crisps, but no one ate the crisps.  I don't even know if anyone other than Mike ate the ranch because I was busy in the kitchen making the rest of the food.  I did get to try it, and it was really tasty.  There's loads left, so I'll get to try it with the crisps tomorrow.

I made the enchiladas with Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food enchilada sauce, Viva Vegan! tortillas, and Tesco smoked cheese.  They fell apart a bit, but they were super tasty.  If I make these again, I would probably use store-bought tortillas just to avoid the hassle.  Because some of my tortillas fell apart before we could fill them, I still have filling left!  I might have to make a mini batch of tortillas and have breakfast tacos at some point.

I really, really liked the corn.  It was nice and creamy with a good balance of sweet and salty.  I usually don't get to eat corn as a side because Mike isn't a huge fan, so I try to make it when I'm feeding multiple people.  Having made this, I now really want to try the corn casserole.

The cabbage was OK, though I'm not a huge fan of cabbage at the best of times and usually only eat it in stir fry.  However, it was so stupid easy to make.  This would be a great side for a weekday meal.  I would maybe use a bit less sugar and just let it caramelise on its own if I made it again.

The ice cream was a bit of a mission.  I didn't read the recipe through and realised after I'd already put some of the ingredients together that I didn't have margarine.  I had the coconut oil mentioned as a suitable substitute, but it was solid!  So I boiled some water and melted the oil enough to pour it out, but I put it in the mix at the wrong stage.  In spite of all the setbacks, it was really good and was the perfect accompaniment to the cake.

Everyone seemed to like the food, and we had almost no leftovers.  And because of the dishwasher, I was able to clean as I went, so the rest of the cleanup won't be too bad.  Woo!

Vegan MoFo VI, Day 15 - Mike Makes Monday Meals - Yellow Split Pea Soup

I'm really liking this whole Mike cooking thing.  Even though I help, he still does the bulk of the work, and it makes getting a decent meal on a Monday super easy.  It's especially good on days like today when I've been sneezing since the previous day and feel like crap.

Today I showed Mike how to make the Yellow Split Pea Soup from Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food.  This was one of my favourite recipes during testing - I loved it so much that I copied it from the forum because I knew I'd want to make it again before I got my tester copy.  I don't even know how many times I've made it since testing.

The beauty of this recipe, and the reason why I showed Mike how to make it, is that it has very few ingredients and you just bung them all in the pan.  There's no sauteing of things and then adding a few more things and then a bit more.  You just chuck it all in, get it boiling, then simmer until it's done.  Even if it sticks to the pan, it comes off once it starts to cool.  It's also easy to modify by adding extra veg - I usually add in some kind of leafy green (spinach or chard) and cauliflower.

Mike thought it was really easy to make as well.  Of course it was incredibly tasty, as per usual.  I think I've mentioned this before, but this is probably my favourite split pea soup recipe of all time.  I think it's better than the one in Appetite for Reduction.  It's just really, really delicious.  I kinda want another bowl.