I am Baked

Sorry, no recipe tonight. I literally spent all day in the kitchen baking for the Street Fair. I will post a pic tomorrow when everything is done. Today alone I made 20 large cookies, 30 bagels, 12 baguettes, and about 20 loaves of various types of bread (it's all getting a bit hazy). Here is the card I am including with each purchase.

Shameless Self Promotion

The editors of VegNews magazine have selected Vegan Dad as one of the 21 best vegan blogs in the first annual VegNews VegBloggy Awards. Well how about that? Now I feel even more pressure not to suck. I did an interview of sorts via email and they asked for my picture, so if you are interested in getting to know the dad behind the blog, pick up the July/August issue of VegNews (available July 1).

Sloppy Joes

By now you have probably noticed the format changes to the blog. Let's just say that I learned a lesson in being sure you know what button you are clicking. I was looking through some templates, contemplating switching things up on Vegan Dad, when I carelessly clicked the button that switched the template instead of just previewing the template. Yarg! I knew I had a backup of my old template somewhere on my computer, but when I tried to load it I kept getting an error message. So, I just ran with it and switched things up. The bummer is that I lost my link list, videos, blogroll roll, etc. I am not sure where that info went. So please don't feel liked I have shunned you all--I will begin slowly rebuilding. As for tonight's meal, it is a real crowd pleaser. I love a good sloppy joe with some bite and this recipe delivers. This is an adapted recipe from The New Basics, one of those very non-vegan cookbooks I keep around (I am pretty sure there is a recipe for a ham stuffed inside a chicken stuffed inside a turkey deep fried in bacon grease somewhere in there). It has lots of information about technique and basic cooking skills, and every now and then I veganize something from it.

INGREDIENTS

- 4 cups water

- 2 tsp soy sauce

- 1 8.5 oz block of tempeh

- 2 tbsp oil

- 1 onion, chopped

- 1 rib celery, chopped

- 1/2 green pepper, chopped

- 1/2 tsp oregano

- 1/2 cup ketchup

- 1/2 cup tomato sauce

- 1/2 cup water (more if needed)

- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar

- 1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce

- 1 tbsp brown sugar

- 1 tsp salt

- freshly ground black pepper

- dash of Tabasco sauce

METHOD

1. Bring four cups of water to a boil. Add 2 tsp soy sauce. Cut tempeh into four pieces and simmer in water for 10 mins. Remove from water, cool, and grate.

2. Heat oil in a frying pan over med-hi heat. Saute onion, celery, green pepper, and oregano for 5-7 mins, until onion is translucent and pepper has softened.

3. Add grated tempeh and mix well. Fry for 4-5 mins, then add in all the other ingredients. Bring to bubbling then simmer for 10-15 mins, until sauce thickens. Add a more water if needed, depending of how thick you want the sauce.

4. Serve on toasted rolls. I like an open face sandwich, but you could also serve on mini hamburger buns for the kids. Add a slice of vegan cheese if you want.