Cookbook Review: Scrappy Cooking

I have a new favorite cookbook! I've long been a fan of Carleigh Bodrug's Plant You book, but her brand-new book, Scrappy Cooking, has become an instant fave. The book dropped in April, and it's quite a bit thicker than her original book. The focus is on sustainable vegan recipes that help you use up produce and other foods before they go bad. She also includes a number of recipes to utilize the stuff you'd normally throw away, like onion peels and lemon peels.

I've already read the full book cover to cover, like a novel. I enjoy reading recipes, but I also loved all of the tips scattered throughout the book. And I'm always trying to be more environmentally friendly, so this book is just what I needed. I've made a number of recipes so far, starting with this Common Ground Granola. It uses spent coffee grounds, as well as leftover coffee, for an energizing and crunchy chocolate granola. Excellent served over homemade soy yogurt!

The One-Pot Orzo Casserole is fantastic, and it's loaded with chickpeas, sundried tomatoes, spinach, zucchini, and onions in a tomato-y sauce. It's topped the best homemade Tofu Feta I've ever made. That recipe alone is worth the cost of the book.

When Carleigh includes a separate recipe within a recipe — like that feta for the orzo casserole — it's usually optional, so you can save money and time if you want. But it's also used in many recipes through the book, so you don't waste the leftovers. One batch made plenty, so I also made the Buffalo Chickpea Lettuce Cups so I could use the rest of the feta. These little butter lettuce cups are stuffed with baked buffalo chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, onions, tofu feta, and a homemade hummus dressing. You'll have leftover hummus after making the dressing, but it's perfect for snacking on with crackers.

Carleigh even includes instructions for growing your own veggies from scraps. You can apparently grow from lettuce from lettuce stems, so I've currently got the butter lettuce stem in a saucer with water to try that out. We'll see!

One of my favorite recipes so far has been this Second Chance Sheet Pan Fried Rice. You use leftover rice from takeout, which I had a ton of recently after a few orders at Sen Trang. That's baked on a sheet pan with veggies and almonds (but I didn't have many almonds, so I also used cashews) and a tasty sauce. The rice gets all crispy, like it's fried. Such a great use for leftover rice!

Another fave was this Firecracker Tofu with Coconut Rice. The tofu, bell peppers, onions, and bok choy is coated in a sweet-and-savory sauce and served over creamy, sticky coconut rice. I could eat that coconut rice all day!

I've got a few other recipes on the list to make this week and next, including Rock Your Broc Mac & Cheese, Pickled Tennessee Tofu Tenders with Cabbage Slaw, a Beef and Broccoli Stir-fry (made with tempeh), and Golden Immunity Stew with sweet potatoes, lentils, kale, and a very yellow turmeric-y broth. I'm also saving my onion peels to make her onion powder, my garlic peels to make garlic powder, my lemon peels for citrus powder, apple cores to make her apple scrap vinegar, carrot tops for chimichurri, and all my other veg scraps for broth. My freezer currently looks like I'm saving up scraps for a science experiment!

Cinco Eats, Birthday Burgers, and More

My mama turned 70 this past Saturday, so I made a quick trip to Arkansas on Thursday/Friday to celebrate. My mom wanted to keep dinner simple, so she grilled some Impossible Burgers while my dad made homemade French Fries in the deep fryer. Can't go wrong with birthday burgers!

I spent the night Thursday, so we had a nice brunch on Friday morning after I wrapped up my work (I'm off work at 9:30 a.m. on Fridays). Mama made a Vegan Breakfast Casserole with Just Egg, Impossible sausage, biscuits, and gravy. And she made the best homemade Hash Browns on the side! It's been years since I've those kind of hash browns.

On Saturday night, a few friends and I had an impromptu dinner at Good Fortune. I've had all of the vegan items on their menu now, but there was one veganizable thing that I hadn't had yet. The Mazeman Ramen normally comes with egg yolk, but I asked them to leave that off. This is a tasty, brothless ramen with vegan miso butter-coated mushrooms and vegan burger meat. Really good!

And of course Sunday was Cinco de Mayo. Global Cafe hosted a beer mile, and I really wanted to do it. But it was at 10 a.m., and I have to write my column on Sundays for work. So I knew I wouldn't be able to write after four beers. But I figured one margarita wouldn't hurt. Some friends went to watch the race and then we had margs.

And I ordered Global's Vegan Avocado Toast to eat. This is a full-on sandwich with what appeared to be a whole avocado, some roasted chiles, hummus, and sprouts. Really good and very filling.

Vegan eats at a crawfish boil! And more!

A couple weeks ago, some friends from the Memphis Hash House Harriers hosted their annual crawfish boil, and you'd think there wouldn't be much there for me to eat. But there was! The hosts did a separate veggie boil for the vegans with potatoes, brussels, green beans, mushrooms, and pineapple (yes, seems odd mixed with Cajun spices, but it worked!). Plus, the red beans and rice that everyone ate was vegan!

Here's a tasty curry from Isa Does It! I made the Bhindi Masala with blackeyed peas, okra, and a thick curry sauce, served over basmati rice and topped with unsweetened yogurt.

With every grocery trip lately, I've been picking up one bag of frozen stir-fry veggies for a super-quick weeknight meal. Some nights, I just don't have time to cook a recipe. But there's usually always time to air-fry some tofu and saute with frozen veggies.

And here's a mix and match vegan burger trio from Slider Inn. Got the No Beef, No Problem slider (Impossible burger), the Buffalo Chick'n slider, and the Vegan Triple B (beet, black beans, and brown rice). All with vegan cheese! Also just note: If you're local or visiting and go to Slider, that white stuff is mayo, and it's not vegan, but it comes with every order. Ask them to bring you some vegan ranch instead!

Oh hey, I'm back with more food!

Oops! I guess I let a month go by without a post. Sorry about that. Things got busy, and then I got so behind with posting that the thought of going through my food photos seemed overwhelming. But here are a few things I've eaten lately. 

We'll start with this tasty Kung Pao Tofu Rice Bowl at Good Fortune. Had this on Friday night, and I've now eaten all of the things on Good Fortune's menu. I wasn't sure what to expect from this, and I put off ordering it because I'm always craving ramen when I'm there. But it was so good! Will definitely be getting this again.

I've been eating at Sen Trang a lot lately (we're calling it Faux Binh now since it replaced Pho Binh!), and this Tofu Vermicelli Bowl was exactly the same as it was when Pho Binh was serving it. I've been continually impressed with how well Sen Trang has recreated Pho Binh's recipes.

Here's a tasty Curried Tofu Peanut Bowl from Isa Does It. I pulled Isa Does It off the shelf recently and made a few things. Love this book, but it's been awhile since I've used it.

I also made these Muffin Tin Omelets from Isa Does It. These have been a fun grab-and-go breakfast. And yummy with a side of kale.

Bluff City Vegan Eats: Sen Trang

Back in December, I posted a sad goodbye to Memphis' most-beloved Vietnamese restaurant, Pho Binh. After 20 years, the family who owned this very vegan-friendly spot decided to call it quits, as the mother was ready to retire. When they posted about their closing, Memphis had a meltdown, and in their last two days — one of which was Christmas Eve — they were slammed with orders. We all thought we were saying goodbye to Pho Binh's famous lemongrass tofu forever.

But as customers picked up their last takeout orders, Pho Binh family members assured us that they were sharing their recipes with the family who bought the space. So, there was some hope that we'd be able to enjoy our Pho Binh faves again. But how close would the meals be to the real thing? Well, Sen Trang, the new restaurant, opened last weekend ...

And I'm happy to report the Lemongrass Tofu is exactly the same! That was Pho Binh's most popular dish, and it's long been my fave. It's naturally fish-sauce-free, and it's seriously the best lemongrass tofu you'll ever eat. I've been enjoying the leftovers for days!

I also got a couple orders of Tofu Spring Rolls, and they were also perfect. They come stuffed with fried tofu puffs, fresh tomato, Thai basil (which I pick out), lettuce, and rice noodles, and they're served with tasty peanut sauce.

I can't wait to go back and try my other Pho Binh faves at Sen Trang. The menu is largely the same as Pho Binh's with a few new additions. But next up for me will be the Tofu Pho, another classic!

Burgers and Pizza!

Slider Inn is one of my favorite places for vegan options, and they've recently added another vegan item to their already-big menu. These Buffalo Chicken Sliders with vegan cheese are SO GOOD. I tried them recently, and since it was brunch time, they offered the option of hash browns on the side instead of fries. It was my first time trying those, and they were really tasty.

My hasher friends Will and Grace hosted a backyard barbecue at their house last Friday, and even though they're not vegan, they made sure to have lots of veg options. Grace grilled Beyond Burgers and even had vegan cheese, and a bunch of friends brought vegan sides. Love my friends so much!

Speaking of those friends, some other hasher friends got together a couple Sundays ago for a full moon ritual, and Adam made Vegan Pizza in his outdoor pizza oven. He used Miyoko's pourable mozz, and this just may have been the best pizza I've ever had. Those pizza ovens are amazing!

And finally, here's a Flatbread Pineapple Pizza that I made last week. It's from Tabitha Brown's Cooking by the Spirit, and it's loaded with veggies and pineapple. I'm a big fan of sweet and savory. Another fun addition was the Everything Bagel seasoning. 

Bluff City Vegan Eats: Molly's La Casita

Molly's La Casita has been around for ages, and it's long been a favorite spot of mine for a margarita. But I recently discovered their new-ish, massive vegan menu. I say "new-ish," because they added vegan options a couple years ago, but the options have grown. And now there's a full page of vegan items, including these Impossible Enchiladas!

I went there a couple weeks ago with some friends and finally explored that big menu. They also have Impossible chalupas, a vegan taco salad with Impossible meat and vegan cheese, a plant-based pork taco dinner, Impossible burritos, veggie-stuffed enchiladas, Impossible burgers, and vegan stuffed spuds. There's even a cashew chili con queso. 

These enchiladas are stuffed with a spicy Impossible ground burger and topped with a savory ranchero sauce. You can pick your sides, so I opted for the refried beans and steamed broccoli. You can also choose from black beans and a house salad on the side.

This is great news since most Mexican places aren't very vegan-friendly. I will definitely be back to try the whole menu!

Avo Sweet Tater Toasts & a Vegan Omelet

I made another winner from Tabitha Brown's Cooking from the Spirit book last week. These Sweet Potato Avocado Toasts use baked sweet potato slices in place of bread, and they're topped with avocado, pico de gallo, pumpkin seeds, and Kelly's lemon pepper parm. Tab uses Kelly's in a lot of her recipes, and it's always a staple in my pantry.

Here's an easy and not-very-pretty Just Egg Omelet. I was out of spray oil, so I used some olive oil instead and it didn't cover the pan quite as well as spray oil. So the veggie and Chao cheese-stuffed omelet came out looking a little like scrambled eggs. Still tasted great! Avocado toast with Trader Joe's black garlic on the side.

And here's a super-quick week night dinner before kickball last week. I opened a can Trader Joe's Giant Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce and served them cold with some Air-Fried Asparagus (topped with that Kelly's seasoning). The beans had Mediterranean-style seasonings and were very flavorful. Will definitely buy again!

Ostara Eats!

The Spring Equinox, also called Ostara, was Tuesday, and it's a holiday traditionally celebrated with eggs. But that's a no-go for me. Thankfully, Just Egg is back on shelves after a brief shortage. So, I made the Blue Cheese & Mushroom Quiche from the Llewelyn's Witches' Datebook Calendar, but I subbed Just Egg for the eggs and Violife Feta for the blue cheese.

I have purchased a vegan blue cheese at Sprouts before, but they were out. Still, I think this Violife feta is closer to the crumbly texture of dairy blue cheese, so it was probably better here anyway. I made a homemade pie crust (not the prettiest but very flaky and buttery), and that was filled with sauteed mushrooms, onions, and garlic and sprinkled with the feta. Then I just poured a whole carton of Just Egg over the fillings and baked until it set.

So good! This was one of those meals I'm glad I have multiple servings of. On the side, I made the Oven Fries with Scotch Dipping Sauce (vegan mayo, dijon, and vegan honey) from the Llewelyn's Sabbats Almanac (a different book with seasonal witchy recipes).

Bean & 'Bacon' Soup, Jerk Kidney Beans, & More

I got a Llewelyn's Witches' Datebook Calendar for Christmas, and it has fun and seasonal recipes every month. For February, there was a White Bean & Bacon Soup that wasn't vegan. But it was super-simple to veganize using Lightlife Smart Bacon. I made this soup in the Crock Pot, and it hit the spot on a chilly February night. I also baked a fresh sourdough loaf that day. Nothing beats beans and bread.

Speaking of beans, I made these Jerk Kidney Beans from the No Meat Athlete Cookbook last week and served them with brown rice and steamed kale. These were just canned beans cooked with tomato sauce and jerk spices, and they were really good. I'm still on a mission to make everything from the NMA cookbook, though I've taken quite a break from it. This was one of only a couple main dishes that I hadn't made yet.

And here's a flatbread with cashew cheese, shrooms, and kale from Lulu's Cafe & Bakery. I haven't been going to Lulu's every Friday like I used to just because I've been spreading my eating-out budget around a bit more. But a monthly trip there is perfect!

Bluff City Vegan Eats: SriMu

Memphis is now home to a fully vegan cheese and wine shop! Vegan cheese-maker Julie Piatt (who is married to ultra-athlete/podcaster Rich Roll) moved her SriMu cheese shop into Crosstown Concourse several months ago, but it took a long time for the space to get its license to serve alcohol. They've been in production for months, and anyone could go in and buy wheels of cashew cheese to take home. But now they're serving vegan charcuterie boards, paired with wines.

Some vegan ladies and I met up there on Friday night to check it out! Look at these beautiful boards! 

We selected two small boards to feed the five of us, and it was plenty of food. Each had three cheeses. One had Bertie Camembert (with truffle oil!), Fire (the spicy one), and Spire (SriMu's take on blue cheese), plus fig jam, olives, pistachios, stoneground mustard, and fresh and dried fruit. The other board had Bonfire (the smoky cheese ball), Gold Alchemy (a smoked gouda), and Cloud 9 (like fresh mozz balls!).

These were so good, and we gobbled every bite and pretty much licked the boards clean. Not really, but we were definitely scraping crackers along the boards to pick up all the bits.

SriMu is open Thursday-Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. and on Saturday from 1 to 7 p.m. And you can find it on ground floor of Crosstown Concourse, across from Farm Burger and the red spiral staircase. 

Tacos, Burgers, and Tortilla Soup

A couple Fridays ago, I met up with my mom at our Native Brew Works, out favorite meeting spot in Jonesboro, my hometown. Neither of us live there anymore, but my me-maw still does, so we meet up for grandma visits sometimes. But we always start with lunch at Native. It's Jonesboro's only brewery, and they have several vegan menu items. This time, I went with the BBQ Cauliflower Tacos, a side of Black Beans, and we split an order of Guac and Chips.

I'm still steadily working my way through Tabitha Brown's Cooking by the Spirit cookbook. And this week, I made her Cheeseburgers. These are veggie-based patties with black beans, mushrooms, bell peppers, sundried tomatoes, red onion, and spinach, topped with Violife cheddar and all the fixins. It's really nice to have a classic homemade veggie patty sometimes. On the side, I had some air-fried potatoes with sriracha aioli.

I also recently made her Tortilla Soup. This also has black beans and mushrooms, but the mushrooms are oyster, which gave the soup a really nice, meaty texture. The soup is topped with vegan cheddar shreds, avocado, and tortilla chips (of course!).

And here's a quick week night meal I've been enjoying. I used a can of Trader Joe's Greek Chickpeas with Parsley and Cumin to stuff pitas, along with hummus, butter lettuce, avocado, and kalamata olives. I had some airfried potatoes with Cavender's Greek seasoning on the side and a garlicky vegan mayo for dipping.

Race Recap: Little Rock Half Marathon

I do the Little Rock Marathon — either the half or the full — every year. It's my favorite road race, and the medals are amazing. This year, I just did the half because I'm not getting back into long-distance stuff until this fall. And my friend Kate from Memphis Hash House Harriers signed up to run it, too. So, we made a plan to run together.

But first, I stopped by the race expo on Saturday afternoon. This year's race was dino-themed, so I grabbed a selfie with a dinosaur.

Then, I headed to my BFF Sheridan's house. I always stay with Sheridan and Drew when I come down for this race. I dropped off my things, and then we met up with Kate for pre-race pizza at Raduno Brick Oven. 

Raduno has some really yummy Vegan Spinach-Artichoke Dip, so Kate and I split that for an appetizer.

And then we each ordered the Vegan Pepperoni Pizza.

And the Funghi Mushroom Pie with no cheese. Yay for carbs!

The next morning, the race started bright and early at 6 am! It usually starts at 8 am, but the weather was predicted to be unseasonably warm on Sunday, so they moved the race up by two hours at the last minute. I was not too happy about this, but there wasn't much I could do. And turns out, it never really got that hot. Temps were in the 60s (not 70s), and there was cloud cover and a drizzle. Oh well. 

Kate and I stayed together for the full 13.1 miles. I had originally planned to go for a PR when I signed up, but once Kate signed up, I decided to treat this as a fun run so we could run at conversational pace. But Kate is faster than me, so she kind of pushed me more than I realized she would. And I ended up finishing with my second-fastest time! Not a PR, but I was only one minute off. 

Check out these cool medals!

I had such a good time running and talking with Kate. I'm so used to running races alone with headphones, so this was a nice change. One of the best things about hashing is having a giant group of new running partners. 

After the race, I met back up with Sheridan and Drew, and we grabbed brunch at Little Rock's new City Silo. 

This place is Memphis-based, but they just expanded to Little Rock. And even though I can eat at City Silo at home, I'd never been there for breakfast/brunch. I had an oatmilk latte and this Sunshine Burrito with City Silo's veggie burger, quinoa, sweet potatoes, and vegan cheese. That hit the spot and powered me for my right home!

Yuba Noodles, Peanut Stir-fry, and Sweet Tater Hash

On my last Trader Joe's visit, I picked up a box of the frozen Tofu Sheets everyone has been talking about. They're really just yuba sheets, and I can get those at my local Vietnamese market, which is much closer to my house. But they were cheap at TJ's, and the internet is all the rage about them, so why not? I wasn't sure what to do with them, but I googled and found this Creamy Sesame Noodles with Yuba recipe on Bon Apetit.

This has somen noodles and sliced tofu sheets in a soymilk-based broth, seasoned with miso, sesame oil, and some other spices. It was super creamy and very different from my usual ramen. The tofu sheets gave the noodle dish a nice, chewy texture. Next time, I'd like to try this vegan chicken made with the tofu sheets.

I also picked up a jar of Trader Joe's Peanut Satay Sauce on that trip, so that was a good excuse to make Spring Rolls with rice paper, tofu, carrots, and cucumbers. But I still needed a main dish, so I made Thai Tofu Red Curry with zucchini, mushrooms, tofu, red curry paste, and coconut milk. No recipe, just threw some things together and served over brown rice.

Here's another peanutty dish: Peanut Sauce Stir-fry from Plant You. A savory-sweet peanut sauce coats tofu, carrots, onions, bell pepper, and snap peas. I love every dish I've tried from Plant You, and this was no exception. Carleigh's recipes are always so very flavorful. I could eat this sauce with a spoon by itself.

I've also never made a bad dish from Tabitha Brown's Cooking by the Spirit, and I loved her Sweet Potato Hash for breakfast this week. I grated the potatoes very finely in the food processor before sauteeing with peppers and spinach. It's topped with guac, salsa, and Kelly's vegan parm. Field Roast Apple-Sage brekky sausages on the side!