These unique bites are incredibly easy to make, and lend varied textures, lots of flavor, and a  sexy vehicle for your favorite marinara, arrabiata, or puttanesca sauce. You can whip up the batter in the morning, then once dinner time comes around, you only need a few short minutes before the food is on the table. Mangia!

Serves 4 to 6

3 cups vegan chicken stock
1 cup semolina flour
⅓ cup vegan parmesan, plus more for garnish
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons vegan butter, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus more to oil the casserole and for garnish
2 cups marinara, warmed
¼ cup fresh basil or parsley, torn

In a medium pot, bring stock to a simmer. Begin whisking the stock and slowly sprinkle in the semolina. Continue whisking 20 to 30 seconds until thickened, then turn off the heat, and add the parmesan and pepper. Fold in with a spatula.

Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish with olive oil, and pour in the semolina batter. Even it out with a spatula, and let it cool about 10 minutes. Then cover with plastic and chill in the refrigerator at least 1 hour, until fully chilled and firm.

Once chilled, cut the cake into quarters by cutting a cross through the middle, this will make it easier to slide a spatula under each quarter to flip it out of the casserole, instead of trying to do it all in one big mass.

Cut the cake into 2 ½ to 3-inch squares, rectangles, triangles, or rounds using a biscuit cutter, whichever you fancy. You can even cut them into little squares for an appetizer or hors d'oeuvres type situation.

It’s time to fry. You’ll probably have to do these in two batches, that’s why I divided the butter and oil.

In a wide skillet, add 1 tablespoon of butter, and 1 tablespoon of oil, and heat to medium. Once the butter is melted and the oil is shimmering, begin adding the cake portions. If the first one doesn’t sizzle when it hits the pan, stop and slightly increase the heat.

Making sure not to overcrowd the pan (there should be a little space between each cake), fry the cakes 3 to 4 minutes until golden, then flip and repeat. Briefly drain on a paper towel, then place on a pan or plate in a low oven to keep warm while you cook the second batch. Use the remaining butter and oil for the second batch.

To serve, spoon some sauce onto a plate in an artful fashion. Arrange ¼ of the portions on top of the sauce in an equally artful fashion. Artfully spoon more sauce atop the cakes. In a manner that could only be described as artful, drizzle the plate with a bit of extra virgin olive oil, then, as if you were an artist, sprinkle additional parmesan on top. Then, haphazardly throw fresh basil or parsley on top. Eat.

So, you know, Valentine's Day. This would be great for that.

Serves 4
12 ounces spaghetti
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 ounces vegan bacon, chopped
1 cup aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas or white beans)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
½ teaspoon arrowroot
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
⅛ teaspoon turmeric
3 tablespoons vegan parm, plus more for garnish

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in the spaghetti and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente 7 to 8 minutes.

While the pasta cooks, in a wide skillet, heat olive oil on medium-low heat, and add garlic and bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is slightly browned around the edges and bacon is browned, 5 to 6 minutes.

While the garlic and bacon cook, into a small food processor, add the aquafaba, nutritional yeast, arrowroot, salt, pepper, and turmeric. Blend until thickened and opaque, 20 to 30 seconds.

When the pasta is done cooking, scoop out ¼ cup of the pasta water and set it aside. Drain the pasta, and add it directly to the pan. Immediately stir in the aquafaba mixture, increase the heat to medium, and cook 2 to 3 minutes until the sauce reduces slightly.

Stir in the parmesan and the pasta water, and season with salt to taste.
​
Plate and garnish with additional parmesan and coarsely cracked pepper.

This is the last vegan fried chicken recipe you will ever need. The simple techniques in this, my latest microbook from 99 Publishing, infuses maximum flavor both inside and out, while creating the texture of a classic piece of fried chicken like never before. The tender, juicy seitan cutlets are coated with a unique mix of unexpected spices, to create crisp, flavorful, golden brown deliciousness.

This vegan chicken recipe is extremely versatile. It can be shaped into full-sized cutlets, fingers, or nuggets. Dipped in ranch, BBQ sauce, or slathered with my Low-Fat Buffalo Sauce, it's perfect party snackage. And it's here just in time for the Super Bowl! Well, whaddaya know? Sleep well, my friend. Your vegan fried chicken dreams are now a reality. Get the book! 

You can download the digital microbook instantly right HERE for just $0.99!​

​This recipe is inspired by one of my favorite podcasts, Pod Save America. When a podcast has a sponsor, the hosts usually have to read ad copy provided by the sponsoring company. Usually, you just read the ad copy, and move on. The the hosts of this show, however, tend to make fun of the ad copy that these companies sometimes come up with. Perplexing, I know. I mean, the sponsors are clients, and one doesn't make fun of one's client, right? Not in the Crooked Media universe...they burn away on what the sponsors' advertising teams write for them.

But I suppose, as former speech writers for President Obama, if anyone can properly burn someone's writing, it's them. As a listener, it makes me actually look forward to the ads, which I assume the hosts are fully aware of. I do wonder how they explain that to the sponsors. I guess I could have asked one of the hosts when I randomly met him (Jon Lovett) at an LA vegan eatery last week. Here's what it looked like when that happened...

It wasn't that random, actually...it was at a place a block away from the venue where we just saw him perform his live podcast Lovett or Leave It. One of the podcast sponsors is a meal kit delivery service who boasts a "hoppy cheddar sauce" as one of the recipes you can make. The hosts have been having lots of fun with that phrase for months.  So, once I was done fanboy-ing, I had the thought to veganize the "hoppy cheddar sauce" he enjoys making fun of so much. So here's that.

Makes about 2 cups.

​1/2 cup peeled and steamed sweet potatoes (you may know them as “yams” but technically they’re sweet potatoes)
1/2 cup chickpeas
3/4 cup aquafaba (liquid from one can of chickpeas)
2 tablespoons refined coconut oil
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon light miso (yellow or white)
1 tablespoon tapioca starch/flour
2 teaspoons lemon juice 
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon onion powder 
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of your favorite IPA

In a blender, place all ingredients except for the beer. Blend on high until smooth.

In a small saucepan, add the beer and the puree from the blender, and stir to combine. Heat over medium heat, stirring continually, until it begins to bubble and thicken, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt to taste. End of recipe.

In this video, I used the vegan chicken recipe that you can find in my upcoming microbook from 99publishing.com. Pre order Sexy's Best, Vol. 5: The Vegan Fried Chicken of Your Dreams right now!

4 servings (enough to cover about 6 cups of things-scheduled-to-be-buffaloed)

1/2 cup aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas)
1/2 teaspoon arrowroot flour/starch/powder (or cornstarch)
1/2 cup hot sauce (Franks Red Hot, obviously)
1 tablespoon vegan butter

In a small bowl, add aquafaba and arrowroot. Whisk until arrowroot is dissolved.

In a small pan over medium-low heat, melt butter, then add aquafaba and hot sauce.

Cook, stirring continuously, until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Maximum thickness is achieved when sauce reaches a light simmer.

Remove from heat, and, in a medium mixing bowl, toss with buffaloed food items of choice.

OK, not really the best idea for the title of the first post of 2018 here in America, but it's what came to mind. Yep, I kind of nuked the old site. Every recipe. Every post. Everything. Gone. I figure if there is a recipe that people really loved, they'll contact me and say, "Hey, where's that _____ recipe?" This has already started to happen, so I'm not too worried about junking all the old stuff. The beloved recipes will rise to the top, and I'll just re-post updated versions when people ask. As techniques improve, as my style evolves, and as vegan food is innovated, a lot of recipes simply become outdated. I'll be using this space to upgrade old recipes, and develop new ones for this exciting era of vegan cooking.

To be totally honest, I dislike "blogging" greatly. That doesn't mean I don't like blogs or bloggers - quite the contrary actually. They are some of the chief innovators of the vegan food movement, and are of great inspiration to me. It's just not for me though, and I only want to do the things that I really like doing. I like developing and writing recipes, and I like making videos. So that's what you'll be getting here. Simple and straightforward. A video, and a recipe. In fact, I plan on this introduction post being be the most non-recipe text I'll be writing. Although, now that I've said that, a hundred things popped into my head that I might like to write about, so I suppose I'll just spout off when the spirit moves me. But don't hold me to that.

I imagine deleting everything that I've posted for the last bunch of years, is totally against any "best practice", SEO guidelines that are common knowledge to most people in the blogging world, but I kind of don't care. If my content is good enough, people will find it, and stay tuned. And if only I end up liking it, well, then, I'm doing something I like, so I'm still happy.

The things that will be staying the same in Sexy Vegan land are my social media presence (instagram, twitter, etc.), weekly Facebook Live show (Sexy Vegan Live), as well as my 99publishing.com endeavor, and all the exclusive bonus content for my Patreon members. What will be new is that I'm reviving my YouTube channel. New videos are coming your way, and I'll be posting all of the recipe content and videos right here.

So, that's all very exciting and terrifying. Kind of appropriate for the current times in which we live. Alright, let's cook!

**While I put the finishing touches on (a.k.a. begin) my first new recipe/video post, you can check out my Patreon page where I've been posting recipes and videos for the last few months, while I transitioned thesexyvegan.com to this. If you become a patron, you'll have access to tons of bonus video content, but if you don't, there's still plenty of public content to consume.**