Off the Waffle (Remembering Eugene – Pt. 4)

One of the things Wozzie misses most about Eugene is all the COLOR in the neighborhoods near the original Veganos headquarters on West Broadway. It would be hard to walk too far without coming across some funky art or a brightly painted home. It just had personality and style.

So to walk a few blocks and find this in the middle of what was otherwise a residential street, well, it just makes sense for Eugene. Ladies and Gentlemen, Off the Waffle:

Although we only got to go there a few times before we headed East (and then back West AGAIN), it quickly became a favorite. A fun little place owned by guys with amazing hairdos (the sign is truly what their hair looks like…yeah, it’s that awesome) was just as interesting on the inside as it was on the outside.

In addition to the free book exchange and Jenga blocks strewn about, if you happened to have a shine for waffles but may be short the cash, well, let’s barter on that, baby:

In addition to an assortment of teas, the menu was simple and happily sported a Vegan option called the No Dairy Gary:

Each waffle is made to order and super yummy:

While these may be a wee bit pricey for the size, they definitely had an amazing flavor. And we just learned that since we’ve moved (sniff sniff), they’ve opened a new location near the U of O campus. So if you haven’t been off your waffle yet (and are fortunate enough to live in Eugene), it’s really about time you did.

NOM.

Scrambling Yummy

Sunday mornings are made for sleeping in, big cups of tea, and of course, breakfast. This is one of our weekend favorites. Tofu scrambles are so fun because you can really throw in whatever you fancy to personalize the tasty. This is our basic recipe but we sometimes throw in a bell pepper or some corn tortillas to make vegan migas:

1 Tablespoon Earth Balance (or oil of choice)
1/2 Medium yellow onion, chopped
3 Cups sliced mushrooms
5 Cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Pound firm tofu, drained
3/4 Cup nutritional yeast
1 1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 Cup of water

Spices (to taste):
Cumin
Paprika
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Oregano

Melt the Earth Balance in a pan on medium heat and saute the onions and garlic for around3 minutes then add the mushrooms and saute for another 5 minutes. Add the spices and mix for about 15 seconds. Use the water to deglaze the pan . Crumble in the tofu with your hands and mix well with the rest of the ingredients. Continue to stir every so often. Finally add the lemon juice and nutritional yeast.

The end result:

If you like hotness like we do, garnish with your favorite hot sauce. This also goes fine fine fine with a tall glass of OJ and a bagel smothered in Tofutti’s Better Than Cream Cheese.

Granola – By Request!

Not too long ago Rahzh let you know that we take requests. A few of you stepped up to the plate and we recently gave a yummy granola recipe a whirl. We are making it for the second time tonight so that ought to tell you that we loved this really easy breakfast dish and also love that we have been able to stop buying cereal on our weekly grocery shopping excursions because this has taken its place in a big way!

Here’s how:

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup flour

3/4 cup vegetable/canola oil

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup maple syrup (or brown sugar)

3/4 cup cup soy milk (or rice etc.)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins, and nuts to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Spread evenly into a baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 24 minutes, stirring every 8 minutes but check in the last few minutes again to prevent from it from burning. (We learned the hard way!)

This is another insanely easy but yummy recipe. It makes just about two weeks of cereal for the 2 of us (in addition to protein shakes). For some reasons the pictures we tried to take of this one didn’t come out so great but picture the tastiest looking granola you’ve ever seen and that’s exactly what this is. Until next time. NOM.

Soysage, Biscuits, and Gravy Is Oh So Vair Tasty

This has come to be our Saturday morning breakfast. And if we can’t have it on Saturday well then it becomes Sunday breakfast. And guess what happens if we can’t have it Sunday? It becomes dinner one night of the week! Yes, this is one delish and versatile dish.

Soysage, biscuits, and gravy is extremely easy to make and extremely customizable (every time we make it, it is slightly different). It all really depends on the spices/sauces that you add to the biscuits and to the gravy. Sometimes what we add, or don’t add, is just based off of what we have on hand that day. So feel free to experiment and remember that the spice is the limit!

We mess around with various ingredients, so below is the basic recipe with mention of what we like to do. You can use the recipe as a base to make your own version or make them the way we do.

The gravy recipe originated from this other biscuit and gravy recipe on Vegweb but is now much different.
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=12230.0

Gravy:

1/3-1/2 tube Gimme Lean, Ground Sausage Style
1 Tbl Earth Balance (or oil of choice)
3 Tbl flour
1 1/2-2 cups vegetable broth
Pepper

Drop Biscuits:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbl baking powder
1/2 Tsp salt
1/2 cup soymilk
1 Tbl vinegar
1/3 cup melted Earth Balance (or canola oil)

Put Earth Balance in a pan and turn on medium heat. Add the Gimme Lean and break into small pieces. Next, add whatever amount of pepper to taste and stir fry (you may need to lower the heat depending on how long you take to prepare everything else).

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Lightly grease baking sheet. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. At this point we add spices such as garlic powder (this is always the main spice for us), onion powder, pepper, cumin, and paprika, but again, these are all just suggestions. Next, mix the soymilk and vinegar together and then add it to the dry ingredients along with the melted Earth Balance. Stir until just moistened then spoon into 4 or 5 piles on baking sheet. Bake for around 8 minutes or until the bottoms are browned.

When the biscuits are nearly finished, complete gravy preparation. The Gimme Lean should be nice and browned. Add 1 cup of the broth to the pan for the base of the gravy and to deglaze the pan if that is needed. Mix the rest of the broth in a bowl with the flour to make a paste like consistency. Add this mixture to the pan and mix. This next part is what we do and is entirely optional and always varies. Depending on what we have on hand, we add things such as a couple teaspoons of A1 sauce, mustard, soy sauce (Woz’s favorite!), and/or vinegar.

Makes enough for 2 large servings or 3 smaller servings.