Leftover Night

I see now that I have three blog followers - shout out to my peeps! I guess this means I should blog more often, huh?

Tonight was "get mildly creative with leftovers" night. I had a small can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls in the fridge because I planned to make turkey roll-ups for Kids - half a slice of American cheese and a thin slice of turkey lunchmeat, rolled up in a crescent roll and baked. (I've mentioned that Husband and Kids are omnis, right?) I had two crescent rolls left. I read somewhere that this brand is vegan and nothing on the list of ingredients flew in the face of that statement, so...

I took some leftover baked tofu (baked after marinating in a dijon mustard/lemon juice mixture). I then sprinkled the inside of each crescent roll with some Eden Shake, lay some leftover baked tofu on it, rolled it all up and sprinkled it with more Eden Shake. Served with a side of leftover spaghetti squash with a bit of Earth Balance.

The results: not too bad. The crescent roll was the predominate taste, mostly because the tofu was pretty mildly flavored to start. I'll definitely try this one again, but with a stronger marinade for the tofu. My usual baked tofu marinade is olive oil, balsamic vinegar and spices and it has a much more pronounced flavor.

(Like my picture? What can I say - this website is not Vegan Lunchbox...my attempts to make cutesy food don't typically come off very well.)

Amaranth Casserole

I had some amaranth in my cabinets but didn't know what to do with it. I bought it about six months ago and cooked it once, but I didn't know what to expect - it cooks up a bit like polenta. So, feeling creative, I thought I'd attempt a layered casserole. I based a lot of the recipe on one for lasagna that I found at the Fat Free Vegan website. My recipe is pretty tasty (I think the soy sausage makes it), but made a mess out of my kitchen because I had to use so many pots, pans and bowls.

Amaranth Casserole
Layer #1
3 cups water
1 cup amaranth
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

Bring water to a boil. Add all other Layer #1 ingredients. Cover; lower heat to medium low. Cook for 30 minutes. Stir thoroughly when done.

Layer #2
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb. fresh sliced mushrooms
4 soy breakfast sausage links, sliced thin
1 jar pasta sauce
1 can sliced black olives, drained

Cook oil, mushrooms and soy sausage in frying pan. When mushrooms are beginning to soften, add pasta sauce and olives. Warm through.

Layer #3
10 oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 lb. firm tofu, drained
2 tbsp. plain soymilk
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Mash all Layer #3 ingredients together.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray and layer ingredients as follows: 1/3 of Layer #1, 1/2 of Layer #2, 1/2 of Layer #3. Repeat once again, then top with remaining 1/3 of Layer #1. Cover casserole dish with foil, bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil; bake an additional 15 minutes.