It never occurred to me to even wonder if my dogs read my blog, because obviously they have more important things to do with their days. Plus I’ve never told them the wifi password. But then I whined to you guys about how Teddy was trying my nerves by eating everything he’s not supposed to… and then all of a sudden he seems to have smartened up! He’s warming up to me and hasn’t been bad in weeks days.
The only possible explanation is that he read the post about himself and realized it was time to shape up, right? Well, regardless of the reason, I’m happy to report that my big boy is acting more like a pet dog and less like a feral cat, which is wonderful and makes me so happy.
I’m allowed to love on him way more than I used to be, and most of the time when I’m petting him now he remains standing and wagging his tail, rather than flattening himself out on the floor. And he lets me rub his ears! Oh how I love his ears. They’re so soft. One of his nicknames is “Wolfie ears” and I’d rub those little things 24/7 if I could. Sally is “Poodle butt”, by the way. I don’t even remember why.
The other big news is that I’ve been cooking more. It was as though I lost the joy of cooking for a while there. It felt like a chore… and blogging about it felt like a prison sentence. But I’ve slowly been getting back into it which is good because recommitting myself to TWV? is one of my 40 Before 40.
This past weekend I was craving something brunchy. Something filling and healthy but disguised as many not all that healthy, if that makes sense? So I came up with Sweet Potato Hash with Roasted Poblanos. It really didn’t take all that long, and came out so delicious. I’ve been eating leftovers all week (for lunch, not breakfast, for some reason) and will be sad to see them go.
A lot of hashes, especially of the non-vegan variety, are topped with an egg. You could easily recreate that with a FYH egg or vegan egg yolk, but I chose to keep it simple. Hashes also tend to contain some sort of crumbled meat mixed in, and you could use a vegan sausage crumble if that’s your jam. I was planning to crumble up a loaf of my chick’n-style seitan and use that, but there was only one loaf left in the freezer and I also wanted to make a BBQ Chick’n Pizza that afternoon (I’ll be sharing that deliciousness next week!) so needed to save it. Long story (slightly) short, I decided to run a block of tofu through the food processor, and brown it up a little in a pan with some oil and a ton of spices. It wasn’t meant to be a scramble, I was thinking of it as a meat replacement. And it worked!
You roast the poblano yourself in your oven while the taters are cooking, and it adds such a deep almost smoky flavor, without being that spicy. You can easily up the spice factor, though, but adding some chili powder to the tofu!
- 14oz block extra firm tofu
- 2 medium sweet potatoes
- 1 large poblano pepper
- 2 generous tablespoons of olive oil, plus 1-2 teaspoons
- Salt & pepper
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- Smoked bbq salt
- 1.5+ teaspoon montreal chicken seasoning
- Put the tofu in your presser, and set aside.
- Wash and dice the potatoes, and place them on a baking sheet. Top with the olive oil and stir until they're all coated. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Stick the pepper on the baking sheet as well - no oil or seasoning.
- Turn broiler on high, place tray on 2nd to top shelf and leave for 5-7 minutes. Flip your pepper and stir the potatoes, then put back in for another 5-7 minutes. Remove the pepper and set aside, under and overturn bowl, and put the potatoes back in for another 3-5 minutes.
- Crumble to tofu in a food processor. You want little crumbles. Heat 1-2 teaspoons oil in a frying pan and add the tofu, montreal seasoning, and smoked salt. Cook over medium heat stirring occasionally until hot. Taste and add more seasoning as needed. Set the tofu aside, and water saute the bell pepper and onion just until soft, 2-3 minutes. Dry the pan before returning ingredients to it.
- Peel your poblano, removing all the burnt pepper skin, and remove the seeds. Run under water if needed. Dice and add to the tofu, along with the potatoes. Stir everything together, taste for seasoning, and serve hot!
- The smoked bbq salt is very important, it really gives the tofu a ton of flavor! And if you want this spicier, add some chili powder to the tofu as well.
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Oooh, running tofu through the food processor for a meat replacement is such a genius idea! I’ve never thought of that!!
Also, yay for Teddy! So glad he’s getting his act together. Maybe I should write about all of Maynard’s bad behaviors and see if it works for me!!
I went through a faze where blogging became a headache, so I totally understand. But I’m so glad to hear that you’re planning on blogging more again, because I love your recipes! 😀 … It’s good that Teddy’s starting to come around. My time with dogs at the shelter has taught me just how hard it is for some of them to learn to trust and be a “normal” dog, when they haven’t experienced love. And I find nothing more rewarding when I see them make that breakthrough. Thank you for choosing to adopt one of the harder cases.