I Heart the 80s

Although I'm busy promoting my current cookbook, Cookin' Crunk, I'm also working hard on the next book, a collection of veganized trendy foods of the past century. So far, I've been focusing on the 50s and 60s because those decades are kinda sexy. But the book will also include dishes from more modern times, like the 80s and 90s.

I was born in 1980. I grew up eating Pop-Tarts, Pop Rocks, and (my personal fave) Franco American macaroni and cheese in a can (anyone remember that stuff? God, I loved that). Anyway, I created a few 80s dishes this week, one of which was Blackened Tofu:

In my 80s research, I've been running across a lot of recipes for blackened fish or blackened chicken, so why not blackened tofu? It's just marinated, baked tofu coated in spices like chili powder, cayenne, and garlic powder. I did learn one lesson though. Cut back the cayenne. I love spicy food, so I used a whole teaspoon of cayenne for one pound of tofu. It was okay for me, but I know it's way to spicy for a normal palette. I'll work on that. Recipes come about by trail and error.

On the side, I made one of my very favorite 80s recipes — Ramen Noodle Slaw:

My mom makes Ramen slaw every Thanksgiving, and I just LOVE THIS STUFF! Mainly because I'm a Ramen addict (and yes, I always capitalize Ramen because it's that glorious). Anyway, it's cabbage, carrots, and green onions mixed with crunchy Ramen noodles, sunflower seeds, and almonds. The dressing is unlike most other Ramen slaw recipes I've seen because I use WAY less oil and butter. And I retain the seasoning packet because why would you want to throw that goodness out?

What 80s foods would you like to see veganized? I'm up for a challenge and I am willing to try to make homemade versions of packaged foods that were popular back then. In the 80s, everything came in a box or a bag.