mojo marinated fajitas + simple beauty minerals giveaway

Happy July! Happy Independence Day in a few days! And Happy 6th Anniversary Birthday to Simple Beauty Minerals!

In a few days the biggest celebration of the year will be occuring, Independence Day of the United States of America, and grills and cookouts are bound to be the happenings of the day. Vegan grilling and cookouts are the bestest and I'm here to bestow upon you an easy marinade, suitable for tempeh, tofu or seitan.

I made my tacos using seitan, because we LOVE seitan over here, and fixed it up right by serving it with warmed corn tortillas, adding slices of avocado, vegan sour cream and purple cabbage, also marinated in the mojo marinade and lightly grilled to cut some of the cabbage-y bite.

I used my SteaK Seitan, which is very easy to prepare and really, really good, so there is no reason not to make it, but, naturally, any setian or other vegan protein will be great with this marinade. The point is to make vegan grilling and cookouts fun and easy!

Mojo Marinade is citrus-y and garlicky and completely addictive.

MOJO MARINATED FAJITAS PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

Mojo Marinated Vegan Fajitas   

Serves 4

¾ cup orange juice

¼ cup lime juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons brown sugar

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

8 SteaK Seitan or other vegan protein

As needed: corn tortillas, vegan sour cream, avocado, thin slices of jalapeño, thin slices of cabbage or cole slaw, lime wedges, diced tomatoes, vegan cheese

1. Combine the orange juice, lime juice, olive oil, oregano, garlic, sugar, cumin, salt and black pepper in a personal blender. Blend until smooth.

2. Combine the seitan and mojo marinade in a large baking dish or zip top bag. Set aside for 10 minutes, or up to a day, to marinate. Cover the dish and refrigerate if marinating longer than 30 minutes.

3. Heat an outdoor grill or grill pan over medium heat. Grill the seitan until grill marks appear, about 3 minutes per side, basting with the marinade as needed.

4. Slice the seitan into thin strips and serve with warmed corn tortillas and any fixings you desire.

© 2014 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

CONTEST TIME!

Before you get in the kitchen to whip up this grilling marinade and celebrate the nation's independence with loads of vegan food, fireworks and adult beverages, join me in celebrating Simple Beauty Minerals' birthday with a month-long contest.

Simple Beauty Minerals is a small make up company owned by a great friend of mine. I've known Lisa since our youngest daughters met when they were six years old - they are now 14 - a long time. Lisa and I began constructing our business lives when we realized that our kids were growing up and moving on, most likely without us :) A little scary, but an amazing time for our kids.

Lisa's business is veg-owned, responsibly operated, and mostly vegan. Just as good, the make up is fantastic and contains minimalist ingredients. In fact, Lisa makes sure that all ingredients in all of her make up is top quality, contains no preservatives and, is, to sum it up, completely garbage-free.

I began my business involvement with Lisa when my daughter began wanting to wear make up. I didn't want her exposed to toxic chemicals, and Lisa's Simple Beauty Minerals was just the answer I needed.

Lisa and I are teaming up this month to celebrate SBM's birthday in style - with a month-long giveaway. The prizes are nothing short of awesome! Gift Certificates to Simple Beauty Minerals, a fragrance from Pure Natural Diva Botanicals and my cookbook, Everyday Vegan Eats, are the prizes up for the winning:

Not a moment to lose! Enter HERE.

I am linking to these recipe parties: Healthy Vegan Fridays,What I Ate Wednesday and Virtual Vegan Linky Potluck. 

 

grilled chimichurri tofu with lime-scented couscous + "vegan planet" winner

I love the flavor that grilling imparts on vegetables, tofu, tempeh, mushrooms, lemons - you name it, grilling makes it taste decidedly unique. And while grilling outdoors in not to be missed in the coming months (check out Grills Gone Vegan by Tamasin Noyes for some kick-butt grilling recipes), I love to grill year round.

That is not exactly an impossible feat, being nestled here in the moderate temperatures of San Diego, but even then, I'm more often than not too lazy to light the charcoals and wait for them to get ready. In the instances that that occurs, I'm happy as a lark, but mostly I settle for indoor grilling. Not exactly, the same, but delicious none the less.

There are other reasons to utilize grilling besides the flavor grilled food achieves - less oil. Grilling versus sauteing uses much less oil and fat required for the cooking. If you are cooking with little or no oil, you have a few choices: steaming, broiling, boiling, cooking in paper, baking or ... grilling.

I use a well-seasoned cast-iron grill pan, which as it happens, never leaves the stove top. Call that further proof of my laziness at not putting away dishes, but I just call it practical - I use the thing so often that putting it away would mean an extra preventable step come dinner time.

This recipe, Grilled Tofu and Squash with Easy Chimichurri Sauce and Lime-Scented Couscous, might sound like a mouthful, but is actually quite easy to prepare. The sauce is simple to make, as it utilizes the blades of a food processor, the veg and tofu is just skewered and grilled, the couscous is cooked and then tossed with beans, spinach and pepitas.

The best part is that it is a complete meal - grain, protein, dark leafy greens, seeds and herbs. Another great thing: you can skip the tofu and increase the vegetables since there is protein in the couscous. Gluten free? Use quinoa instead of couscous. Oh, the versatility!

We were completely smitten with this dish! The only trip-up could be that the recipe might not make enough chimichurri sauce if you are as liberal with its application as my husband was. On the bright side, this recipe calls for a fraction of the oil than the typical traditional chimichurri sauce does.

I just KNOW you have been waiting for the winner of Robin Robertson's updated and revised edition of Vegan Planet! Before I get to the winner (of which there is, unfortunately, only one), let me entice the rest of you who can also be winners in your own right if you purchase the book. As a reminder, this cookbook has been hailed  the "vegan bible," "vegan joy of cooking" and the "ultimate vegan cookbook."

It has 50 new recipes and all the information is updated for relevance to today. Here are some pictures I took during testing.

AUTUMN ROASTED VEGETABLES

CRISPY KALE STRIPS

CURRIED LENTILS WITH CARROTS AND PEAS

LEMON RISOTTO WITH PEAS AND SCALLIONS

SMOKY MAPLE KALE AND BEANS

I've strummed you along long enough! The winner of "Vegan Planet," out of 58 entries, is comment number 11 by Papa Dragon. [I feel terrible, but I was not contacted and had to choose another winner :{ ] Please email me at zsu [at] zsusveganpantry [dot] com so I can send this to you as soon as possible. Congratulations! You have until April 14 to contact me before I will have to sadly move on to another winner.

Return for another vegan cookbook giveaway on the very next blog post. I love passing out vegan cookbooks! Use the convenient follow-me buttons on the top right-hand side and don't miss a single opportunity.

I am linking to these recipe parties: The blogs hosting Healthy Vegan Fridays are Suzanne at Hello Veggie, Anna at Herbivore Triathlete, and Kimmy at Rock My Vegan Socks.  

I’ve decided to submit this dish to What I Ate Wednesday hosted by Peas and Crayons.

...and Pickled Okra.

"grills gone vegan" + giveaway

Are you ready for grilling season? I am! I just received Tamasin Noyes' new cookbook -

Grills Gone Vegan. 

 And you guessed it, .. . it is time to give it away! Cookbook contest!

 The above wrap is Smoky Buffalo Tofu Wrap, complete with cashew-based buffalo sauce and home-smoked tofu (recipe is in the book). During testing I tried my hand at indoor-smoking using a pot and lid. Although it was a bit of a mess because of clean-up, lining the bottom of the pot with foil and covering it well with foil to prevent smoke-escape would have been my follow-up way to do it, but instead, I splurged and got a stove-top smoker. Of course, I have to cover this one tightly with foil as well, but it works great. 

Grills Gone Vegan was the first cookbook I tested for, and although it has taken next to forever to release, it is here and beautiful. It is packed with grilling advice, recipes for salads, appetizers, main meals, sauces, desserts, bread, pizza, paella... let me show you. Here's the visual...

Black Bean Burger

Blushin' Russian Tempeh Panini

Broccoli and Cheeze Calzone

Charred-Leek and Dill Spread

Porcini and Sausage Paella

Quinoa-Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Teriyaki Portobello 

Tomato-Arugula Flatbread

Cinnamon Swirl

Fantastic looking dishes, right? And all of them were prepared on a grill!

I have to tell you, I was a bit of an over-achiever with my first testing experience and tested over 100 recipes for this book; it was quite a challenge to pick and choose which pictures to post here!

So, how to win your very own Grills Gone Vegan just in time for summer? Post a grilling-related comment and check back May 10th to see if you are the winner as chosen by Random.org. Sorry, US residents only.

After this book is given away, I will be following it with another contest to give away Whole Grain Vegan Baking by Tamasin Noyes and Celine Steen - another book I tested for and therefore am passing on the tester-awarded copy of the cookbook. 

On a personal note, my family is packing up our belonging, minus a bunch of junk and furniture, and heading out to Southern California - San Diego - on June 1st. Exciting! We love Chicagoland, but the weather (cold) and the long winter (no sun) are getting to us. Besides all of that, my son, Mikel, won the Steve Mendelson Memorial Award and College of Lake County's Purchase Award for his conte crayon drawing "Destruction Past." He is interested in attending University of Southern California, so it makes sense to move out there for multiple reasons. 

Mikel and "Destruction Past"

Anyway, leave your comment and get ready for grilling season. This book is a MUST have for anyone who likes grilling, likes grilled food or is just plain hungry. 

Go get a copy!