Update + Recipe | An Apology and a Quick Recipe

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I haven't blogged in quite some time, and it's mainly because I've been prepping to move out of my old apartment and into a new one for the past couple weeks. I haven't had any new recipes because I haven't been grocery shopping to make any remarkable dishes for you guys since I'd end up having to lug all my new groceries to my new apartment (it was bad enough transporting the little groceries I DID have in the scorching heat).

So, just a little recap on my life: I am finally all moved into my new apartment. I'm living alone now because my roommate Rachel graduated and to be honest I just can't tolerate living with anyone other than her, so this is the best option for me, lol.

Last Monday was Memorial Day and I got to go home and spend it with my family, and Chris came over which was nice. My sister visited from Virginia with the baaabbbbbyyyyyyy which was awesome since I hadn't seen her or Liam since Easter weekend. I made quiiiiiite a large spread for just my mom, my sister, my aunt, my sister's friend Dana, Chris, and I but I was too frazzled to photograph anything. I was cooking a bunch of things at the same time and I didn't have the time nor energy to capture all the steps and outcomes. I did write down the recipe to the vegan black bean and avocado burgers that I made, but again, I didn't take any pictures of the finished product. But I'll still probably make a post about the recipe soon.

I did, however, make the chickpea and avocado dip, which went over quite well with everyone who tried it! So that was nice :)

Now I'm back down by school for the majority of the summer. I babysit down here and I soon will be starting to work with a professor as a reading and grading assistant on campus, AND on Monday I have an interview at a coffee shop about 25 minutes away, so I'm hoping that goes over well. I might be biting off more than I can chew, but we'll see how everything goes :)

Tonight I had a simple dinner but it was delicious enough to be blog worthy :) It's not really a recipe... it's more like an idea: Vegan BLT

So for this I just took 4 slices of smokey tempeh, sauteed it over medium heat in some extra virgin olive oil in a skillet to get it crispy on both sides (about 5 minutes on each side). Then I added those crispy slices to a club roll from my supermarket's bakery with some slices of fresh tomato and some red leaf lettuce. The whole thing was gone in about 5 minutes. That's how good it was.

If I had more options in the fridge I probably would have added some sprouts or used kale or spinach instead of the lettuce. I was also gonna add some avocado but mine just wasn't ripe enough to slice.

Enjoy! :)

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Recipe | Vegan Veggie Melt with Crispy Tempeh

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This recipe will yield one sandwich for a super hungry person who hasn't eaten in about 8 hours :)

about 1/3 of a baguette - you can use whatever bread you like, this is just what I had on hand. If the baguette is HUGE then just use 1/4 or whatever looks like a decent size for a sandwich for you.
4 oz tempeh (1/2 of an 8 oz. package is usually 1 serving) cut into slices
A couple tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 bell pepper, sliced
1/4 onion, sliced
1 tomato, sliced
1/2 avocado, mashed
2 oz soy mozzarella, sliced
1 tbsp or so of your favorite hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

I used a toaster oven to melt the cheese, but you can go ahead and use a regular oven. Set it to 450°F before you start cooking.

Set a skillet to medium heat with some extra virgin olive oil. Begin browning off the slices of tempeh on both sides - about 3-5 minutes on each side.

When they're done browning, take them out of the pan and begin sweating the onions and peppers. Add some salt and pepper and cook them down for about 5-7 minutes.

While the peppers and onions are cooking, you can get started on preparing the bread part  of your sandwich. You're gonna want to cut the loaf in half, but don't bring the knife all the way through to the other side. You want one side still intact so your filling doesn't fall all over the place when you're eating it later. Then just gut out the bread-y part so you can fit alllllllll the fillings inside. My bread was a little stale so I just popped it in the toaster oven after I did this to toast it up a bit. If your bread is fresh, this toasting step isn't necessary unless you want it extra crispy.

When your peppers and onions are done cooking, you can start assembling your sandwich. Try not to drool all over it while you're doing this though. Especially if you have guests... I found this part especially difficult to avoid.

You don't have to assemble yours like I did. I'LL NEVER KNOW. I just found this way was best to keep everything all nice and glued together once the sandwich is finished.

Start off with the peppers and onions on one side of the sandwich and the mashed avocado on the other side.

Then, go ahead and add the strips of tempeh to the peppers and onions side, and the slices of tomato to the avocado side.

Top off the tempeh, peppers, and onions with your soy mozzarella.

Sprinkle the whole thing with some salt and pepper. Toast it up in the toaster oven, or an actual oven, for like 5-10 minutes... however long it takes for the cheese to start melting and the bread to crisp up. Top it off with your favorite hot sauce and enjoy!

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