Since Carnival is in full swing (so I hear, it’s not like inland Southern California is Mardi Gras central), I thought I’d do a few days of vegan pseudo (and not so pseudo) New Orleans food. I’m sure Guy is rolling his eyes right out of his head at the thought.

Instead of using Joanna’s spice blend, I just used the salt-free variety of Tony Charchere’s (oh ho, I’m such a fucking local now), and tried the vacuum-sealed ‘high protein’ (?) super-extra-firm tofu from Trader Joe’s. I should have probably used my usual organic water packed extra-firm, because this kind is almost rubbery, so it’s probably not ideal for broiling. Other than that, I love that it’s practically a shake-and-bake sort of process. No batter fingers here, thank you very much. I put some Red Rooster on top because it’s a little on the dry side.

The collards are really, really good. (Thanks, kittee!) Of course, being a born and raised Malibu Stacey, I’ve never had them before. These are really smoky and full of flavor, pretty much exactly what I expected. And they’re not full of grease, like I imagine the original recipe to be. And it’s so easy, even dazee can make it.

Unfortunately, I took a nap when I got home from work, so it’s now too late tonight for me to get working on the king cakes. Hell, I wasn’t even going to make this, but when I woke up I turned the tv on and Emeril was on (ugh), doing a NOLA theme show and talking about how the food isn’t pretty but it’s damn tasty. I saw that as somewhat of a sign and got off my ass.

Lachesis, a PPK idol, has invented quite a few famous veganville recipes, including the Seitan O’Greatness (which I have yet to attempt.) When she gets her cookbook out, I think she’ll get a million pre-orders from her legion of seitan fans.

She posted food porn on the PPK with this recipe (I omitted the marinated mushrooms and the peas, mostly because I felt lazy tonight), and the whole world persuaded to share the details. The whole world is pleased that she did. It’s easier to make than the Vegan with a Vengeance recipe, which was my mainstay until tonight. However, unlike Isa’s recipe, it’s chock full of soy and there’s not a particle of nooch in sight. When I blended up everything, I opened the blender and smelled… garlic alfredo HOLYCRAPWHAAAT?! As a vegan, when you make ‘cheese’ type dishes, you get a certain tolerance for things not exactly 1000% smelling or tasting like the original version. Cheesecake is the one, rare, exception simply because vegan cheesecake is pretty much impossible not to make to perfection.

If it smells like alfredo, does it taste like alfredo?

You bet your ass.

For future reference, I think I’d at least halve the amount of margarine in the recipe, and maybe add some roasted garlic before pureeing.  This would be great on a white pizza. Mmm.. it is really so very good. I’d feed this to omnis without a second thought.