Scrambled Tofu

I've been wanting to try this recipe for awhile seeing as how I really like to cook at least 4 times a week.  Now that I've worn out many of my Pad Thai, eggplant or veggie wrap dishes I need something new to try.  Though I haven't tried this dish I will be doing so sometime this coming week (provided the stores have ingredients after Irene).  I posted this to give others the chance to try making the dish and then sharing their experience.  I've listed the ingredients below which were supplied by IsaChandra at Post Punk Kitchen. http://www.theppk.com/2008/10/scrambled-tofu/

Equipment
Skillet, I prefer cast iron but use what you’ve got
Firm wooden spatula

Ingredients
1 lb. extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium chopped white onion (about a cup)
2 cups cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
juice of 1/2 a lime
1 carrot (this is optional, I grate it in at the end, mostly for color)

Spice Blend
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon thyme, crushed with your fingers
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
Heat oil in skillet over medium-high. Saute onions 3 minutes, until softened. Add mushrooms, saute 5 minutes more. Add garlic, saute 2 minutes more. Add spice blend and mix it up for 15 seconds or so. Add 1/4 cup water and deglaze the pan, scrapingthe bottom to get all the garlic and spices.

Crumble in tofu and mix well. Don’t crush the tofu, just kind of lift it and mix it around. You want it to remain chunky. Let cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding splashes of water if necesary to keep it from sticking too much. Lower the heat a bit if you find that it is sticking. Add lime juice. Add nutritional yeast and mix it up. If it seems too dry add splashes of water. The moistness really depends on how much water the tofu was retaining before you added it.

Grate the carrot into it and fold. Serve with guacamole and salsa and potatoes and toast and tempeh bacon. Then rub your tummy till well into the afternoon.

Build Stronger SEO

This week I’ve been learning all about the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and it has me thinking about the ways in which we search for everything. Most of the time when I have a topic to search I go to either Google or Yahoo. If I am searching for something local I use Yahoo local. If it’s a complete question that I need answered I will to Google. It would seem at first that searching is just that easy but further research shows things are more complicated than meets the eyes.

Search Engine Optimization is just a fancy way of saying that you want to improve the visibility of a website by having it appear in more searches. Though SEO is important to many businesses that do online-marketing it is also of great importance to many in the music industry that are looking to sell records and build a name for their artists.

Here are a few keys to creating a good SEO strategy for folks on a budget or just beginning:

1. Be sure that you ping your blog, index your posts in Google and keep posting to sites. It’s also important to post to sites that have keywords that will lead to your site.
2. Doing step one will create back-links, which allows for more hits on your website.
3. Write content that references keywords someone would search to find your blog or website. Having the keywords in the content of an article on your website or even a slogan could prove useful in getting more hits.
4. Build a social network with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and a blog. This seems to go against the idea of building a strong ranking and SEO but it too can help in efforts to get your website noticed.
5. Professional networking is also a great way to get more hits on your website.

If your budget is larger and you have money to spend then some paid services are available that guarantee crawling, which is going to put you at the top of rankings. It will also allow for your site to be linked with keyword searches on sites like Google and Yahoo. Some would caution that paying for these services is a quick solution to a larger problem of the sustainability this method brings. If you pay for a service such as this it’s often hard to keep paying in hopes that you will get the same successful results. Building a strong SEO overtime is the best way to go. Remember that patience is a virtue.

Survey

When Worlds Collide

There are a lot of things going wrong in the music industry right now.   Much of the controversy in the industry surrounds hip-hop music especially.  Some in the industry are turning negative energy around and thinking about positive long-term goals.  The positive that I’m talking about is with top hip-hop stars spreading the word about vegetarian and vegan living.

Seattle has long been ahead of the game with moving towards a more earth friendly way of living.  Many people there use public transportation, bike and drive electric or hybrid vehicles.  It’s no surprise that the hip-hop and vegan worlds could intersect in that city.  The University District has been a hotbed for hip-hop music in Seattle.  One store that caters specifically to this group is Hillside Quickie’s Vegan Sandwich Shop.  This shop has hosted the likes of Erykah Badu, Saul Williams, The Roots and Black Anger.  The focus of this sandwich shop is the promotion of healthy eating through vegan sandwiches but is also greatly influenced by hip-hop. 

New York is another city that is starting to get comparisons to Seattle’s connection of vegan and hip-hop.  Russell Simmons is the first hip-hop mogul in NYC to announce that he was vegan.  He has been working to help people gain awareness of what it means to be vegetarian and eat healthy not only in the hip-hop community but also in the African American community.  It’s been said that Russell might open a vegan restaurant in New York in the future.

It’s very refreshing to see that there are hip-hop artists willing to embrace their new health conscious style of living.  The people that look up to these artists as icons will hopefully take notice of their habits and start tossing the bad habits out the window.  The best quote from this article is referring to Biggie,” in his classic single, "Big Poppa" — and evidenced by his hefty frame — is probably rolling in his grave.”  This might be true but it is evidence that times are changing, hopefully for the better.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2001964629_hiphopvegan25.html

http://sipchatchow.com/index.php/2011/01/dinner-with-russell-simmons-his-vegan-sip-chat-chow/