Thursday, December 29, 2011

Potato-Kale Soup with Chorizo

We have now entered the Detox Phase of the holidays and I'm so glad. It's such a weird thing we do, eating like maniacs for a month straight. Whyyyyy?? I feel gross and am afraid to get on the scale.

So here's some soup. It's a Viva Vegan recipe and the chorizo (vital wheat gluten-based) is hers, too. I cut the total oil in the recipe from 5 tablespoons to 2, and we didn't miss it.



It was so good I think we're just going to eat leftovers for dinner tonight instead of making something new.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Freezer Enchiladas

These are called Freezer Enchiladas because my goal in making them was to get rid of as much stuff in my freezer as possible. It's getting out of control in there.



The filling is Viva Vegan red seitan, black beans, corn, chipotles, tomatoes, garlic, onion, and oregano. The first four ingredients were in the freezer. So was the green tomatillo sauce I poured on top. The tortillas, vegan sour cream and cabbage were sitting in the fridge, left over from other things. I felt very efficient! I did buy an avocado to put on top because Avocado = #1.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christmastime!

It's Christmastime!!


OK so I am a couple days late. Ben and I had a very, very nice Christmas weekend together - I left work early Friday and we hardly left the house all weekend, except to take long walks. We did miss our families, but it's awfully nice to have a quiet Christmas every once in a while.

Christmas morning I made pumpkin pie oatmeal in Christmas ramekins! I haven't made this recipe for over a year and I have no idea why. It's super fast and delicious and it reheats wonderfully. I have some leftover canned pumpkin so I'm going to make some more tonight for weekday breakfasts. I used canola oil in place of butter in the oatmeal mixture, and earth balance for the topping. Otherwise, the recipe is already vegan.

Sorry for the blurry picture. I need to stop using my iPhone for blog pictures, probably.



Christmas dinner was chickpea cutlets with mustard sauce, herb-scalloped potatoes, kale, and cranberry sauce. I was going to make roasted baby carrots, too, but I was scared I wouldn't like them and realized I'd rather just eat an extra chickpea cutlet instead.


For dessert I made the Vegan Diner's Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding recipe, except I used a loaf of sour cherry chocolate bread I found at the grocery store. I also used full-fat coconut milk instead of light. Living on the edge! It was off the hook awesome and took no time at all to put together.





Let's wrap this up with some cat pictures. We are becoming increasingly insane about these guys.

Banana was curled up for his afternoon nap (usually 12:00 to 7:00 p.m.) and Benjamin thought he looked cold so he gave him a little blanket. Banana was not terribly amused.



But Papaya had a terrific time with all the boxes and paper left over from present opening.


Merry Christmas!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Roasted Root Vegetable Green Thai Curry

This is why I'm glad I decided to become a vegan cook - because never on my own would I have roasted some rutabagas, parsnips, and brussels sprouts and put them in a green thai curry sauce. (I'm 99% sure I'd never had rutabaga in my life until this.) It is certainly an unusual combination, but it worked. Ben complains a lot about not liking brussels sprouts, but he continues to eat them if I put them in stuff, so I mostly ignore him.



Also, I saw this stuff at the grocery store.



Yikes! I wondered why I hadn't seen that stuff discussed on my vegan message boards but then I read the ingredients and it contains whey (milk). Why vegetarian companies bother to make a complicated meat substitute and then don't make it accessible to vegans I will never understand. Although I'm not sure I want to eat fake shrimp scampi anyway. What IS it?? Scary, no doubt.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Seitan Katsu with Tonkatsu Sauce

I've put this recipe (from American Vegan Kitchen) on my weekly dinner plan at least three times but for various reasons never got around to it. And now I regret that because it was awesome. I used Viva Vegan white seitan and almost skipped the breading & frying out of laziness, but I'm so glad I didn't because breaded + fried is always a good idea.

The seitan is served with a simple cabbage & carrot slaw and an awesome sweet Japanese sauce, sort of like what is commonly on fancy sushi rolls. I put the whole thing over lo mein noodles to make it a complete meal.



Ben took one bite and said, "Well, you've really outdone yourself here." I feel bad taking credit when I'm just following a recipe! It was really good, though.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Green Deliciousness

This was a superfast thrown together dinner that gave me an excuse to eat mass quantities of the Green Goddess Dressing from Appetite for Reduction. It's just a bowl of quinoa, edamame, and broccoli with the dressing on top.



This week I brought a quinoa/black bean salad to work for our Christmas potluck and discovered nobody knows what quinoa is. Well, one person knew, and that's only because she's gluten-free so she's had to learn about wheat alternatives. I was so surprised! Quinoa is great and especially good for easy meals like this because it's full of protein.

Also, in other exciting news, Isa posted one of my favorite dinners on her blog: Hottie Black-eyed Peas with Ginger Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Apples. You should go make it right now. I'm serious.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Veggie Pot Pie Stew & Biscuits

Oh, look, it's another dinner from Appetite for Reduction! I made a few changes to both of these recipes, though.

The biscuits are in the book as Sweet Potato Biscuits, but I had some canned pumpkin sitting around, as well as some carrot/tomato/onion pulp leftover from making an Indian soup, so I replaced the mashed sweet potato with a mixture of those two things. It worked perfectly! They were delicious and soft and biscuity.

The stew is pot pie vegetables - potatoes, peas, mushrooms, carrots - cooked in a broth that is thickened with flour but also yellow split peas, which gives it some protein. I used half of my potatoes in something else a few days ago, so I used one big russet and one big sweet potato rather than all russets. The sweet potatoes broke down almost completely, but it still worked as a whole thing.



Ben said, "This is the perfect wintery dinner!" Too bad it is going to be close to 70 degrees every day this week. This has been the weirdest December ever.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Christmas Kitties!

Last night Ben built a fire in the fireplace for the first time since we adopted Banana and Papaya last summer. I sort of expected them to launch themselves over the grate into the fire, but they were both very politely interested and well-behaved about the whole thing. Banana loves to be warm so he laid like this right in front of the fire for most of the night - his fur was almost too hot to touch. Silly boy!



We also got a brand-new Ikea Expedit bookcase courtesy of my mom for Christmas! I was extremely impressed with Ben's putting-together skills; it only took about an hour and he was so patient and methodical. I don't like to imagine what would have happened if I'd tried to assemble a six-foot square bookcase.

Papaya provided some very helpful assistance for the duration of the assembly.



They are both pretty big fans of the bookcase. I still need to get some baskets and things for the empty spaces, but for now they're making it their own. (Papaya is in the lower left! She's hard to see.)

Red Wine Tempeh & Eggplant Kibbeh

The tempeh and kibbeh are both new-to-me recipes from Appetite for Reduction and both were great. The tempeh is supposed to have kalamata olives pureed with the red wine, garlic & herb marinade, but I cannot get over my hatred of olives. I've tried so many times and it's just not happening. I added some capers instead to help give that briny taste, and it seemed to work okay.

The kibbeh is a mixture of cooked eggplant, tomatoes, onion, and garlic, mixed with bulgur and baked in a casserole dish. We really liked it.



I made a simple salad of tomato, cucumber, parsley, lemon juice, and olive oil on the side. It was a nice mediterranean-ish dinner.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Potato-Spinach Curry with Chickpeas

Due to a combination of laziness and a company Christmas party, Ben and I ate big restaurant meals two nights in a row and it was very taxing! I can tell my body is getting older because if I eat too much I'm up all night. For serious! Anyway, it was time for detoxing back to our normal diet and I was glad.

I made Appetite for Reduction's Potato-Spinach Curry and added some chickpeas for protein. Served over brown rice, it was exactly what I needed.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Halal Cart-Style (not) Chicken & Rice With White Sauce

I saw this recipe on the internet the other day and was dying with want. So I veganized it!

The changes I made are pretty obvious ones - Earth Balance for butter, Vegenaise for mayo. I used vegan sour cream in place of the Greek yogurt, because vegan yogurts tend to be watery and sweet - even the plain versions have added sugar which would not work well for something like this. The sour cream (Follow Your Heart brand) worked perfectly. I used Viva Vegan white seitan in place of the chicken and also cut the olive oil in the marinade to 2 Tbsp and replaced the other 2 Tbsp with vegetable broth.


The whole thing was totally great. This was one of those dinners I immediately wanted to eat again right after I was finished eating it the first time. Fortunately, there are leftovers for lunch!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Orange-Cilantro Spaghetti with Tofu & Avocado

I've had New Vegetarian Cuisine for at least a decade but haven't really made too many of the recipes. I was flipping through the other night looking for things that were either vegan or could be easily veganized, and ran across this pasta recipe which sounded interesting. You make a sauce out of orange juice, mostly, with some cilantro, soy sauce, dijon mustard and vegetable broth (and some other things I forgot). I made the Tangerine Tofu from Veganomicon to go with, and also added that avocado I was going to use in yesterday's salad.



One of the negative Amazon reviews of the cookbook says, "If you are looking for some basic recipes you want to play around with to build your own vegetarian specialties, this book may work for you." I would agree with that. The recipe as written would have been pretty boring, but the addition of the tofu and avocado made it really tasty.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Sanctuary Chef Salad

I have been putting this off ever since I got Appetite for Reduction, because even though it sounded delicious there are a jillion steps. Here's what you have to do:

1. Make dressing (vegan ranch, but she calls it Sanctuary, since ranches are mean places for animals. Get it?)
2. Marinate and bake tofu
3. Make eggplant bacon, which involves thinly slicing an eggplant and then baking it for 9 minutes, flipping over all the little slices and baking for another 3 minutes, dredging each slice in a mixture of soy sauce and liquid smoke, and then baking again for a few more minutes)
4. Make herb-roasted cauliflower, in which cauliflower is chopped and tossed with basil, oregano, thyme, olive oil, salt, and bread crumbs, and then baked
5. Wash and chop a ton of vegetables.

SEE? It's insane. But I had the feeling it would turn out to be worth it and it was! Here's all the stuff (minus the lettuce). I bought an avocado to go with because I like avocado on salads, but after seeing all the other ingredients we felt like it would have been excessive.



Here is the result!



It was really hearty and filling and super great. I won't be throwing this one together all the time, but it's definitely worth making for a special treat.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Red Lentil & Root Vegetable Dal

I put off making this and really only went through with it, to be honest, because I had the turnips and parsnips already and couldn't think of anything else to do with them. I'm not a root vegetable fan, or so I thought. But this is in Appetite for Reduction and I've decided for some reason to make all the recipes in the book, so I made this and it was awesome.



The turnips, parsnips, and carrots become totally creamy and delicious and the flavors were amazing. I made one of those packages of Birds Eye frozen brown rice and mixed in it to make it a complete dinner stew. Thumbs up!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Braised Cabbage with Seitan

I almost didn't make this dinner, despite it being on the schedule, because a) it sounded sort of yucky and b) I was lazy and kind of headachy. If we hadn't had to pay for a new heat pump yesterday I probably would have ordered pizza, but I felt guilty about spending money.

So I made it (from Appetite for Reduction) and it's one of the most surprisingly delicious things I've made in ages. The seitan is sauteed first, and then braised with the cabbage in a thyme and garlic broth for about 15 minutes. It was super fast and the end result was super flavorful and juicy and delicious. Amazing.



Dinners like this make me glad to be vegan and also glad to have committed myself to cooking all the way through Appetite for Reduction. I would never have made this otherwise.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Mac & Cheeze with Broccoli

I don't really like the convention of spelling cheese with a Z to indicate it's vegan, but everyone does it so I feel peer pressured.

Anyway this is the Vegan Diner Cheezy Mac recipe with broccoli mixed in, and then baked with homemade bread crumbs on top. I even made the bread! Quite the little homemaker over here.



Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Sausage and Kale with Mashed Potatoes

This is vegan comfort food - quick, easy, hearty, tasty. I had the sausage (from Vegan Brunch) in the freezer and threw the rest together in just a few minutes.



I missed mashed potatoes! They've been out of the rotation recently for some reason.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Spicy Tempeh, Creole-Stuffed Peppers & Messy Rice

All of these recipes are from Veganomicon. I chose this dinner using the tried and true "open a page and go with it method", and the page happen to open to the Creole-Stuffed Peppers. Now, historically Ben has been kind of whiny about not liking stuffed peppers, but I decided to disregard that and make them anyway.

They were GREAT. Every time I've made stuffed peppers before you just slice them open and stuff them up and bake for a while, but these were boiled for 5 minutes beforehand to soften them up and it made a huge difference. The filling is black-eyed peas, carrots, tomatoes, garlic & onion, etc. Totally delicious.

I was going to just bake the tempeh but I caved halfway through the cooking time and took it out of the oven to fry it. It's better that way! And the rice was great too, seasoned with garlic, tomato paste & coriander.



Sunday, December 4, 2011

Tamarind BBQ Tempeh & Sweet Potatoes with Polenta Stuffing

This is another Appetite for Reduction meal. I've made the tempeh & sweet potatoes before but not the stuffing.



I'm glad I got around to the stuffing this time because it was delicious.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Baked Asian Tofu & Eggplant Dengaku

This dinner looks very brown. Probably I should have made some greens to go with it, but I did not. It doesn't matter, though, because that eggplant (from Appetite for Reduction) was UNREAL. I am not kidding. It's one of the best things I've eaten in ages. The eggplant slices are broiled for a few minutes and then you spread on this sauce of miso, agave, and soy sauce and broil again for 2 more minutes.



I cannot emphasize enough how delicious it is. Isa is a genius.

Oh, and I also made an asian-marinated baked tofu and some sesame rice to go with.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Cosmos Apple Pie

Apparently, according to some website I found yesterday, December 1st is National Pie Day. So naturally:



That's the Cosmos Apple Pie from Vegan Pie in the Sky. I'm not too great at making the crust pretty, as evidenced above, but it tasted fantastic. Perfect with some Trader Joe's Soy Creamy vanilla ice cream!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Tortilla Soup

This is an Appetite for Reduction recipe I hadn't tried before - kidney beans, corn, tomatoes, and tortilla chips in a cumin-spiced broth. It was good, but I've made similar recipes before so it wasn't all that exciting.



I'm starting to accept that I might not really be a soup person, though. It doesn't feel like enough of a meal to me most of the time.