Vegan MoFo 2012, Carbstrong: Potato Skins and Homefries

Ok, so it turns out that when I clean out my fridge, it's not always to the healthiest result.

Behold: the most perishable contents of my fridge on this particularly busy weekday.  Half a bag of cheddar Daiya, a few baked potatoes (both leftover from the scramble), some Tofutti sour cream, chopped red onion, and jalapeño.

What else is a girl to do?  I halved the potatoes and tried to scoop the center out with my favorite scooper.  Either because the potatoes were cold from the fridge or under-baked, it wasn't working so well.

However, I quickly learned that it was working better than a grapefruit knife, which I promptly managed to cut myself with.  Back to the scooper!

Once the bleeding stopped (kidding!) and the skins were scooped, I filled them with onions, cheddar, more onions, and jalapeño.

I baked them at 375 degrees for 30 minutes on a lightly greased cookie sheet, and served them with sour cream.

And what did I do with the scooped potato?  Home fries, of course: potatoes, butter, onions, s/p.

With black pepper ketchup.

Ah, potatoes.

Speaking of, isn't this the cutest potato scrubber you ever did see?

Vegan MoFo 2012, VM Made the Best Eggplant Parmesan EVER!

Kvetch alert: I'm swamped at work, 2 Halloween costumes are in-the-making, and MoFo is taking it's toll.  Good thing VM made the best eggplant parmesan!!

Italian and the best cook I know, I like to keep her stocked with the basics in case she has the urge to provide me with one or more of her specialties.  And it's a good thing I do; she found some gorgeous eggplant at the Red Bank Farmer's Market and was anxious to get to work had no excuse.

It was awesome on its own with pasta.

And also terrific as an eggplant parmesan hero.

I wasn't there to document the meal preparation, but I can tell you that her secret to awesomeness this time around was to cut the eggplant lengthwise instead of in circles (I'd originally ordered rollatini and then changed my mind).

I should mention that I stole all the leftovers.

Nachos, Mine

I make these nachos for my Daiya-loving family pretty frequently and they're so well-received and easy to make that I should have shared (the recipe, not the actual nachos) a long time ago.  I'm sure you could gussy them up with homemade salsa and soaked, dried beans, but this is an easy weeknight meal, so convenience is key. 

Lightly grease a decent-sized casserole dish that should allow you to do a triplicate layer of all ingredients using one bag/jar/can of each.

Start out with a single layer of corn chips (I've been hooked on Tostitos ever since Immediate Family, which also introduced me to Van Morrison).

Add a generous covering (a sprinkle doesn't cut it for me) of cheddar Daiya.  Full disclosure: I use more than a single bag of Daiya, but one should do it for normal people.

One medium size jar of salsa should be enough for the whole shebang.

Black beans, or the beans of your choice (in case you have an unnatural aversion to black beans).

Roughly chopped onions; I use red.

The secret ingredient is Secret Aardvark; use sparingly if you're sharing with the heat-averse.

Repeat once.

And again, or until your casserole dish is piled high.  Don't fret if you have chips leftover*.

Once your nachos have been assembled, bake uncovered at 375 for 45 minutes.

*Some of the chips will have been overtaken with the toppings, so serve with the leftover ships for added crunch.

Don't forget the Tofutti sour cream!