vegansaurus!

Vegan MoFo PLUS: Tofu Xpress makes amazing antipasto!  »

The cool dudes over at Tofu Xpress were kind enough to send over a unit for review, and I was so pumped about using the nifty gadget that I decided to incorporate it into my Vegan MoFo recipe. Talk about slicing two carrots with one knife!
The Tofu Xpress is a fully dishwasher-safe, easy-to-use, gourmet kitchen tool. Though it was created to remove moisture from a traditional block of tofu, it can be used for other foods that need pressing as well. To use, place a block of firm or extra-firm tofu into the container, attach and lock the lid, and let it do its job. Most of the water will be gone after an hour or so, but you can leave the Tofu Xpress in the fridge overnight, or however long you’d like.

Once pressed, tofu becomes easier to grill, marinate, stir fry and bake and results in richer flavors and increased versatility. After food prep, the machine is easy to clean and store, with only two, corrosion-resistent parts. Miraculous! After searching for some relatively simple pressed-tofu recipes, I was thrilled to find the perfect project: Marinated Tofu Cheese.

After pressing a block of extra-firm tofu for 48 hours (I wanted to be sure!), I chopped it into small blocks and tossed it with sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, fresh basil and rosemary, extra virgin olive oil, and a little salt and pepper. After making sure it was well combined, I packed the whole mixture into a Mason jar, topped it up with more olive oil, and let it sit in my fridge—patiently—for almost four days to soak up all the goodness.

Today, I picked up an Italian loaf at a local market and packed it, along with about half of my ready-to-devour mixture, and headed into work. After tasting the antipasto goodness myself, and gathering feedback from my foodie coworkers, the consensus is that my first Tofu Xpress experience was indeed a GREAT success!
Next time I’ll add a few whole cloves of garlic to the marinade, but aside from that it was truly delicious and rich. One of my coworkers said she’d even love to serve it at a party! Win! Can’t WAIT to try another recipe!

[Tofu Xpress image via Rollin’ Oats Market]

Northern California Soy and Tofu Festival happening on Saturday in Japantown!  »

[Can’t see the video? Watch it on Vegansaurus.com]
Who loves tofu? I DO! I want tofu every day, every way, just like I want my men. I mean.

I have no idea who I am or why the tofu cube in the video looks so evil, but the first annual Northern California Soy and Tofu Festival is on Saturday, June 11, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in San Francisco’s Japantown Peace Plaza. It’s supposed to be a fundraiser for the Nichi Bei Foundation, a nonprofit benefiting the Japanese-American community, but entry is free.

Supreme yumminess will be present in the form of booths for Tofu Yu, JapaCurry, San Jose Tofu, and many other vendors and sponsors. There will also be a raffle ($1,000 grand prize!), educational materials on soy (who cares—it’s delicious), live performances from hula to rapping, and free samples (NOW YOU’RE SPEAKING MY LANGUAGE).

If you want to be one of the audience judges for the Tofu Dessert Competition, listen up: space is limited to the first 30 people who show up, and it costs $25. The desserts must be at least 50 percent tofu, but there’s no stipulation that they be vegan, so take your chances if you dare! Or have an omni friend do it and sneak you bites of the vegan ones! CAN I GET A “HELL YEAH”?!

Product Review: Rico M. Panada spinach and tofu empanadas!  »

Welcome to my new favorite thing: Rico M. Panada’s spinach and tofu vegan empanadas! I’m a fan. I’m even toasting them, as the box recommends, instead of microwaving them, as my impatient stomach demands. Many of the brand’s empanadas aren’t vegan but the spinach ones are and then they have a beet and black bean vegan one I’ve yet to try (haven’t found it yet).

As you might imagine, the flavor of this empanada is very reminiscent of spanakopita. It doesn’t have that creamy and salty flavor you get with the traditional spanakopita cheese mixture, but it’ll definitely remind you of the Greek dish. I’m pretty into them. I feel like they are something my mom could get down with but I’m not sure if they are up to my tofu-phobic dad’s level. They are kind of high in fat but have no saturated fat, they are high in protein and fiber, AND they are Mediterraneanish—total mom food. Am I right? Come on, I’m always right! At least when it comes to mom-trends. Is that something to be proud of?

They have them at Union Market here in Brooklyn. I can’t tell where else they have them! Their site doesn’t seem to say. But you should totally write them and be like, “How can I be down?” That’s what we have to start doing now; writing the hell out of everyone like, “Ship to this coast! We’re hungry!”

Nasoya + Skinny Bitch + God’s Own Shorts contest ends TODAY! ENTER NOW!  »

OK everyone, today’s deadline for the big Nasoya prize package is 1:30 p.m. Pacific time, which is just over two hours from now. If you haven’t entered already, click through to the original post and enter! What are you waiting for? Do you honestly think you can live one more day without these shorts in your life?

No. The answer is no. So don’t be a dummy and 1.) not enter! or 2.) try to enter by commenting on this post. You’re cleverer than that! Remember: a random number (between one and 2 million) or your halloween costume!

Good luck!

A Vegansaurus Giveaway: Tofu, cookbook, and THE MOST AMAZING SHORTS EVER!  »

So, last week, we were invited to The Plant Cafe to enjoy a delightful lunch prepared by Nasoya and Kim Barnouin of Skinny Bitch*. The lunch was to celebrate Nasoya’s unleashing of its new website, Nasoya’s Tofu U. It’s actually super-adorable, and aimed at making tofu cooler, which frankly, tofu needs. Tofu is the Urkel to Bacon’s The Fonz. Does that make sense? Anyway, it’s totally rad and adorable so check it out!

NOW, for the exciting part! We’ve giving away a Nasoya gift pack that includes a copy of Kim’s JUST-released Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook; three coupons for free Nasoya products; a you-won’t-be-embarrassed-to-wear-it American Apparel Tofu U t-shirt, a Tofu U rucksac (best word ever), and most importantly: THESE AMAZING SHORTS WHICH CAN BE WORN SERIOUSLY OR IRONICALLY AND ARE 100 percent MIND-BLOWING AWESOMENESS:

So if you wanted to go as Lt. Dangle for Halloween, you wouldn’t have to buy  a costume because GIRRRRL, those shorts are ALL you need! If that pair of shorts were a man, I’d already be pregnant KNOW WHAT I’M SAYING. NEITHER DO I.

For a chance to win all this awesome shit, let me know what you’re gonna be for Halloween. Or your favorite fatty bitch recipe. Or a number between 1 and 2 million. WHATEVER! I’ll pick the winner with random.org anyway! Contest ends, let’s say, next Tuesday, Oct. 26. Okay, good luck!!

*As we all know, I am ill pleased with the whole Skinny Bitch thing, but Kim’s cookbook is good, with lots of healthy recipes and beautiful pictures. Also, when I asked Kim about Skinny Bitch being so super fucking gross she said that she knows you don’t have to be skinny to be healthy and that it’s a marketing thing and she’s moving toward a Healthy Bitch brand which I think is rad SO YEAH THAT’S MY STORY.