Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Crunkish-ness

Because I got no shame about shameless self-promotion, I plan to make a few dishes from Cookin' Crunk every week or so and blog about them. And if you haven't bought my new cookbook yet, maybe you'll see something on here and be all like, "OMG, I have to buy that book right now!" Or if you're poor like me, you'll at least add it to your Amazon wish list and ask your parents/friends/partner to buy it for you. (There's a PayPal button on the right if you want to buy now!)

Tonight, I made a couple of old faves from the early days of the book's development, such as this classic "Some Like It Hot" TLT Sandwich:


Okay, maybe it's not so classic. It's a tofu bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich (with avocado of course!), but what makes it different is the addition of sriracha both in the tofu marinade and on the sandwich itself, along with homemade tofu mayo. Even though there's a tempeh bacon recipe in my cookbook that makes a fine TLT, I like tofu here because it makes for a heartier, thicker sandwich.

On the side, I had my White Trash Pineapple Salad:


Now I know this one looks weird as hell. And it is. But it's good! My daddy grew up eating pineapple salads topped with cheese and a mayo dressing. So I made one with vegan cheese and vegan mayo. It's creamy and refreshing on a hot Indian summer day. I recommend only using my homemade tofu mayo (also in the book) for this because it's significantly lower in fat that, say, Vegenaise. But if you don't care about fat, I bet Vegenaise would be delicious!

Did you know this is the salad featured on the cover next to the Roasted Veggie Po' Boy? Yea, it's kinda hidden by the title banner. But it's there.

For my Memphis readers: You can sample some food from the Crunk kitchen this Thursday night at Crosstown Arts' Pecha Kucha night. I'm bringing samples of my Garlickly Black-eyed Pea Hummus, Mini Pimento Cheese Sandwiches, Sweet Potato Sausage Balls, Butter Bean Bruschetta, and Mississippi Mud Cookies! I'll have books for sale there too. It starts at 6 p.m. at the Sears Crosstown building.

8 comments:

xvavaveganx said...

Love the self promotion :) The sandwich and salad look great! Avocado makes everything better! Lol I love the name of the salad, it made me smile ;)

Babette said...

Please self-promote, Bianca. It will give me inspiration for the next dishes I might try from your book.

Do you have any recommentation for hot sauce (brands, types, etc)? I like spicy, very spicy food, but I made the hot wangs with a new hot sauce and it was painful to eat! That's a shame because otherwise it would have been delicious.

Amber said...

I grew up eating the same "salad" but with canned pears instead of pineapple. Now that I've been reminded of it I must make it asap! I got your book in the mail yesterday and it all looks/sounds great. Mini pimento cheese sandwiches might have to be the first thing I make because, hello, vegan mini pimento cheese sandwiches.

Bianca said...

Babette, I use Frank's Red Hot to make those wangs! It's hot, but not too hot to smother all over something. I save the hot-hot stuff for using in smaller quantities.

Abbie said...

The more I read your blog, the more I want to take a visit to Memphis ... and get a copy of "Cookin' Crunk" for those recipes!

Kelley said...

Now you've twisted my arm~I'm going to have to make the TLT. That's one of the things I miss from my pre-vegan days; a good ole BLT with lots of mayo!

Jesse @ Happy Go Lucky Vegan said...

Can't wait to buy the book - I love all the unique food combinations. I'm in a total rut at the moment!

dena said...

I'm from Maryland (not totally Southern), and grew up eating that salad. It was my dad's absolute favorite. Thanks so much for bringing back a great memory of my dad. Gotta make it pronto!!