Curry Saves the Day

Whew–it’s been another whirlwind couple of weeks!  One week, poor Baby H was sick with an ear infection, followed by a big growth spurt, then the week after it was time for his two-month checkup (complete with his first round of shots).  He has grown so much already and is becoming more fun, alert, and engaging every day as he learns more and more about his world.  All I can really do is try to keep up!

It isn’t always easy to take good care of myself when it feels like all of my energy is being put toward this miraculous new person.  My diet has been far less than stellar and oftentimes I forget to eat at all.  And then there are other times when the little guy FINALLY falls asleep that I am racing to fit in at least 1 or 2 of the 68094887324 things on my to-do list.

Exhibit 1:

This is my dining room table right now.  I’m trying to sort through Baby H’s clothes, putting away the stuff that doesn’t fit him anymore (there’s a lot of it!) and organizing the stuff that does so that it’s easier and quicker to get him dressed throughout the day (and yes, he goes through multiple outfit changes daily!).

Enter last night; around 6:00, baby boy went down for (what I thought was) his pre-bedtime nap and I figured I’d finally have the time to tackle some of the clothes sorting.  That was when I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything since about noon.  So the plan changes to: eat, then sort.

Fortunately, in the fridge I had a big batch of Red Lentil Cauliflower Curry (an all-time fave from Veganomicon) that I cooked up last week when my mom was here visiting and watching the baby.  I grabbed a baggie of brown rice that I had cooked and frozen when Baby H was about 3 weeks old and stuck it in the microwave to defrost for a few minutes.

Almost immediately the cries started from upstairs.  So I went up, picked up Baby H, and rocked him for about 10 minutes to get him to go back to sleep.  Meanwhile I could hear the stupid microwave beeping every 2 minutes downstairs to remind me that my rice was done.  All I could think was, “That had better not wake him up!”

Once Baby H was back down, I went back downstairs, added the curry to the defrosted rice, and began to  heat them up.  Once it was ready, I began to eat and even started drafting a blog post.  
Except that not five minutes later the crying started again (this time sounding pretty mad, actually).   I hurriedly shoveled the last few bites of curry into my mouth and went back upstairs to pick up Baby H again.

So, the clothes are still covering the dining room table.  But at least I had dinner!

Thanks, curry.

Autumn Breakfast Bounty

Over the summer I dedicated an entire post to smoothies and salads, but now that it’s fall my appetite is running toward the warmer end of the breakfast spectrum.  This means that oatmeal is back in the rotation (how 2009, I know), as well as a number of baked goods (which I at least try to keep on the healthy side).

Over the weekend, I made the Lower Fat Banana Bread (with chocolate chips, OBVIOUSLY) from Veganomicon for a football tailgate.

I was really motivated to make this because whenever I tailgate with a bunch of dudes I notice that there is a distinct lack of any food that is not either meat or a piece of bread on which to transfer the meat from hand to mouth.  I got up early that morning to bake it so that it would be warm and delicious for the tailgate.  It was a big hit and I had only 2-3 slices left over.  Here’s what I did with those:

Portable workday breakfast: slice of chocolate chip banana bread with raw almond butter.  Perfection.

I also baked a batch of Chocolate Spice Muffins from Everyday Happy Herbivore so that H and I could have a quick, low-cal, grab-and-go breakfast every day this week.

As with the banana bread, I like to cut these in half and spread a little raw almond butter on them.  Obviously this ups the calories considerably, but I am the kind of person who is ravenous by 10:30 a.m. if I don’t bulk up my breakfast a little.

^Pretty hard to argue with.

As to that oatmeal, and sticking with another recurring theme of pumpkin everything, check this out:

Chocolate Pumpkin Pecan Oatmeal
Serves 1

Ingredients
1 serving of cooked oatmeal (cooked according to package instructions)
1 tbsp. pumpkin puree
1 tbsp. vegan chocolate chips
1 tbsp. chopped pecans
A sprinkle of pink salt
[optional] 1 tsp. maple syrup

Directions
Simply cook the oatmeal, then stir in remaining ingredients and enjoy!

Oatmeal never did photograph nicely.

Oh and just in case you didn’t already know, the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival is coming up in less than two weeks!!!

I can’t wait!!

P.S. – Happy 2 Year Anniversary to my H!!! 🙂

Vegan MoFo Yellow Week Recipe Roundup – Chickpea Edition

I couldn’t go through a whole week of yellow foods without having at least some celebration of the chickpea!  Today I am sharing some recipes that showcase this wonderful legume.

Each and every one of these is a tried and true favorite of mine.  I can attest to their deliciousness AND the fact that they come together quickly.  This means that they are all great weeknight meals, and make great leftovers too!

From Cookbooks
Lemon Chickpea Lentil Soup from Eat Drink & Be Vegan by Dreena Burton (click for recipe)

Tamari Roasted Chickpeas also from Eat Drink & Be Vegan by Dreena Burton (click for recipe)

Chickpea Quinoa Pilaf from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terri Hope Romero (recipe reprinted here)

From the Blogosphere
Chick & Split Pea Curried Gravy (click for recipe) by How to Feed a Vegan (an oldie but goodie!  I posted about it way back in 2009!)

Maple Mustard Beans and Greens by Tina Haupert of Carrots ‘n’ Cake, for Health.com (click for recipe)

I made mine with frozen Swiss chard and corn (I didn’t have peas)

Chickpea Flour Pancakes Two Ways:
Jumbo Chickpea Pancake (click for recipe) by Angela of Oh She Glows
Chickpea Flour Pancakes with Cauliflower and Shiitake Mushrooms (click for recipe) by Vegan Richa

If that photo doesn’t make you want some, I don’t know what will!

If you have a favorite chickpea recipe, please share it in the comments!

Not Yo Mama’s Happy Meals

Those who know me know that I strongly believe that being vegan is a snap if you plan and are adequately prepared on any given day. Even so, in the midst of busy lives, work schedules, and obligations to family, friends, and significant others, true preparation can be a lofty goal.

I don’t know about you, but I’m feelin’ 22 I find that every aspect of my life runs so much more smoothly when I am on top of my food and eating. Recently, I did a 3-day Detox Cleanse from Maria Guadagno at Bombshell Blueprint (more information here). The cleanse was awesome of course, but what it really showed me was that having a true plan and schedule for what I’m going to eat, when I’m going to eat it, and maybe most importantly when I’m going to prep it, is the key to my feeling happy, productive, and in control of my life and health.

So today I present some of the “happy meals” that I have been eating of late. These are meals that, with a little advance preparation, can be thrown together super-quickly at any given time, whether it’s the usual early-morning-packing-lunch-for-the-workday grind or a getting-home-after-Zumba-and-have-no-time-to-cook-dinner situation.

Ever since my cleanse I have been wild about cooking up a pot of brown rice with shiitake mushrooms at the beginning of the week and using the rice in all sorts of meals. All you do is add the sliced mushrooms to the rice about 10 minutes before the cooking time is up.  You get a whole lot of extra texture and nutrition with little to no extra effort. Best of all, you can eat this rice with basically anything.

For example, here we have shiitake brown rice packed alongside lentils (which my mother-in-law cooked up with a little onion and carrot and gave to me), ready to take to work.

I stirred some turmeric and cayenne into the lentils and it was absolutely delicious, hearty and filling, not to mention healthy!

I tried the shiitake mushroom trick with soba noodles as well. Scroll down for shiitake soba noodles three ways:

1) with stir-fried green beans and red pepper (also a gift from my mother-in-law):

2) with sauteed sugar snap peas:

I topped and tailed these babies the night before, then sauteed them with toasted sesame oil (my LOVE), garlic, ginger, and a little fresh cilantro in the morning and packed it all up to take to work.

3) with the remaining sauteed sugar snap peas, with Sticky Maple Tempeh by Happy. Healthy. Life (recipe here) for dinner:

Another big reason that meal planning is mentally refreshing for me is that it allows me to actually use up the ingredients I have in my constantly overpacked fridge and pantry, which is especially important this time of year when fresh produce is everywhere. Planning also allows me to utilize a handful of the several thousand recipes I have stored in my email (never mind the ones in all my cookbooks) that I want to try which use those ingredients.

I especially love to make a recipe that leaves leftovers that I can repurpose in another way. One night I made Summer Slaw from Happy. Healthy. Life (recipe here) and used it as a base for jackfruit carnitas tacos (look out for those in an upcoming post).

The slaw recipe made a TON! So the next day I ate some of it with the leftover Sticky Maple Tempeh. The rest of the week I had it as a side with pretty much everything else that I ate. (I highly recommend both the slaw and the tempeh recipes, but especially the tempeh, by the way. I have had mixed results with tempeh in the past but making this gave me more confidence to try other things with it in the future.)

With a block of extra-firm tofu that was on sale, I made Curried Tofu from Veganomicon. That one block of tofu lasted me more than a week, and was delicious chopped up over salads or used in sandwiches like this one:

I also recently made Curried Chickpea Salad from Fettle Vegan (recipe here) one night and used it on sandwiches and wraps for days.

I only used 2/3 of the amount of mayo called for and still found the recipe a little too rich/creamy for my tastes. I’m not sure I would make this specific recipe again but I would definitely tweak it and/or use other chickpea salad recipes (Lord knows there are thousands) because I love the idea of having something like that available for quick meals, snacks, or sides.

Finally, since it’s berry season, I’ve been all about fresh strawberries and blueberries (organic because the other ones scare me). I made Strawberry Mint Salad by Maria Guadagno (recipe here) and ate that over organic baby spinach and oh my.

For breakfast, some blueberries mixed up with So Delicious strawberry coconut-milk yogurt and hemp seeds.

Or cherry vanilla smoothies that I made for H and me after finding cherries for $1.99/lb (yay!).

Each smoothie had about 2/3 cup of pitted cherries, 1 cup of unsweetened almond-coconut milk, 1/4 of an avocado, 1/2 a frozen banana, 1 tbsp of hemp seeds, and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract. They were really tasty but strangely turned a nasty-looking gray/steel color after 2-3 minutes (?!). Not sure what that was about.  I didn’t take a picture because it was disgusting.

Another popular and quick breakfast has been a sprouted whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter, hemp seeds and banana slices (this breakfast idea came from H, my little hemp seed convert).

Those are just a few of the happy meals that, along with the beautiful summery weather, have been keeping a smile on my face!

What are your happy meals made of?

Party Fare

Hello!!  I have carved out 15 minutes in today’s study schedule to blog because 1) I really miss it, and 2) I might actually walk outside and step in front of an oncoming T if I don’t do something to break up the monotony of practice essays.

In case anyone is keeping track, day one of the bar exam is one week from today, and day two is one week from tomorrow.   That means: 1) I have been studying for this test to the exclusion of pretty much everything else for 50 days now, 2) at 4:30 p.m. on July 28 (193 hours from now), I will be freed from my misery, and 3) I will finally be ready to publish posts I have been compiling for the last two months regarding my eating habits during the period, which have been both erratic and ingenious at times.

It seems I am no longer capable of putting thoughts into words without using numbered lists.

Though it’s sort of hard to remember what my life was like before the bar, I have this dim recollection that I was a happy and social being.  In fact, sometimes I even bathed and left the house, occasionally to go to (gasp!) parties, and when I did, I used to like to bring vegan treats along to generously share with those present, as well as to selfishly ensure that I would have something to eat.

Way back in May I went to H’s sister’s confirmation party and made the Mediterranean Cashew Cucumber Dip from Veganomicon.

This stuff is so amazing.  It tastes just like tzatziki but has the texture of hummus, and is perfect for dipping veggies or pita chips in, or for spreading on crackers.  This container got totally eaten up.  Proud Cook.

More pictures from when I made the dip back in 2008.

In June, when I hadn’t yet metamorphosed from well-adjusted human to Gollum, I also went to H’s other sister’s high school graduation party and made a Chocolate Cream Pie.

This pie was super, super simple.  First, you make a graham cracker crust, from whatever recipe you like.  I used this one, because it’s foolproof, and subbed Smart Balance for the butter.

Then, I made the filling.  I used Dr. Oetker’s Organic Chocolate Pudding Mix (which I bought at Whole Foods). I cooked it on the stovetop according to the package directions, using vanilla soy milk.  Next, I poured it in the pie shell and let it chill.

After I took it out, I topped it with Soyatoo. I actually didn’t do the entire thing because I ran out! But I still think it looked kind of nice.

Finally, I dusted it with a little cocoa powder, and shaved part of a dark chocolate bar over it.

Everyone at the party knew me, that I’m vegan, and that I’d brought the pie.  Those who had sampled my cooking or baking before (and there were quite a few) were happy to try it, but the rest steered clear and went for more familiar fare.  Oh well.  You can’t force people to step out of their comfort zones, and on this particular occasion I didn’t try, because it meant there was more pie for me.  Win.

Since I just talked about the chocolate cream pie, I suppose this would be a good opportunity to post pictures of the Banana Cream Pie I made a few months back too.  It’s the same exact thing as above, except I used Dr. Oetker’s Organic Banana Pudding Mix and sliced fresh bananas on top. And photographed it at night in my dim kitchen, so the picture isn’t great.

I made it for dessert for H and me and we ate it for about a week.  It was good!  Next time I definitely want to add pieces of Mi Del Vanilla Snaps (in place of disgusting Nilla wafers) into the filling.

Overall, I recommend this pie method as an easy shortcut to a yummy and not horribly unhealthy dessert, whether you choose to share or not!

Alright, break time is up (and of course it took me 40 minutes instead of 15 to put this together)!  But the next time I post, I will be doing so as a free woman.  Perhaps it will even be coherent.  Stay tuned.

Springy Soup/Soupy Spring

Last week I made the Double Pea Roasted Pepper Soup from Veganomicon.  I figured it’s spring, so peas are in season, and for some reason I also have a ton of dried split peas lying around. Mostly, I figured it’s freezing and rainy, so soup is good.

First step was to prep the red peppers. Look at these perfect little twins!

Pre-roasting (cut, seeded, and oiled):

Doesn’t the one on the top right look like a heart?

Split peas–measured, ready, and waiting:

Apparently one yellow pea got in there. Didn’t notice that until I just pulled up the picture. Nice.

I didn’t take pictures of the other steps. I think I just really liked the way the peppers and peas looked. Anyway, here is the final product (I think this is about as attractive as pea soup is ever going to look):

I liked this recipe.  It was a little bland for my taste; the addition of some salt and cayenne pepper helps.   Also, the flavor of the roasted red peppers is more apparent after the soup sits in the fridge for a day or two. It is very filling, which makes it a great lunch-time soup for those on-the-go.  The recipe also makes a LOT, so I froze some of the leftovers for later consumption. Really, that’s all there is to it!

Gobbling Garbanzos

Man, I just friggin’ love chickpeas. Their texture is pretty much perfect, the flavor is tame enough to be dressed up with just about anything, and they are super-healthy. My only problem with chickpeas is that I eat too many of them, which is not the best thing for me to do when I’m watching my weight, because they are pretty calorically dense.

But I digress. Two of my favorite ways to cook chickpeas are either Indian-style (in my own, very loose adaptation of chana masala) or in the Quinoa-Chickpea Pilaf from Veganomicon.  Observe:

Indian-style: this is one of my impromptu “masala” chickpea dishes.  Basically I sautee some onions and garlic, then add a buttload of veggies (carrots, broccoli, some potatoes, and in this one I used fresh tomatoes, though I often use canned).  Then I add a liquid, either broth or one of those delicious simmer sauces in a jar that you can buy at the store.  I usually use broth (mostly because I can’t take the salt in the jars, but they are delicious, and handy when you want something super-quick).  Then add the chickpeas (I almost always used canned these days because I’m lazy).  If using broth, you then need to add lots of good spices.  Curry powder, obviously, and some cumin, chili powder, a little garam masala, and black pepper.  I just do it to taste.  It’s so tasty and lasts for days.
(Sorry for the weird picture…for some reason, no matter how I format it, it still looks odd. Oh well. It was tasty.)

PILAF!!!  From Veganomicon, this is one of my favorite recipes ever and I have made a rule that I cannot eat any of it until 20 minutes after it’s done cooking…for some reason when it’s piping hot I cannot resist throwing back bowl after bowl of it, so I have to wait for it to cool and then slow my roll and enjoy it.  LOVE the taste of the ground coriander in this.

Oh, and I have the nutrition facts for it! Well, sort of. The following numbers are based off of my observation that the recipe yields roughly 6 cups, and then from that I derived the following numbers for a serving of 1 cup (or 1/6 of the recipe):
224 calories, 38g carbs, 5g fat, 8g protein, 6g fiber, 518 mg sodium, 14% DV iron, 26% DV Vitamin B6, 5% DV calcium, 5% DV Vitamin E. Woo!

Another fun way I like to make chickpeas in order to eat them as a snack or as a salad topping is to roast them (like Dreena’s Tamari-Roasted Chickpeas…I think from ED&BV).  And I am dying to try this recipe from Fitness Magazine for Indian-Spiced Roasted Chickpeas, for obvious reasons (namely, that I am obsessed with both chickpeas and Indian food).

Happy gobbling!

Cape Codding

Early this summer I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Cape Cod, which has quickly become one of my favorite places.  There is something so exhilarating and relaxing about spending time in a place so filled with natural beauty and simple charm.  A few weeks back, a group of my friends from law school headed out to H’s house on the Cape for a weekend of baseball and beaching. 

I took it upon myself to be the food provider for the 10 of us for the weekend, and spent several days prior to it preparing for this.  Here is what I made:

1) Lower Fat Banana Bread (with chocolate chips!) from Veganomicon

2) Five-Spice Almond Cookies (which we made into Five-Star Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches, natch) from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan

Fresh out of the oven (sorry for the craptastic picture)

Best ice cream sandwich ever (P.S.-that is not my arm!)

3) Coconut Lime Cookies from Vive Le Vegan (not pictured, but see a batch I made last year here)

4) Cumin-Cinnamon Vinaigrette from ED&BV (not pictured)…I chopped some cucumbers and tossed them with this dressing and a little oregano for a really delish salad

5) The spice mixture from ED&BV’s Blackened Tofu recipe, which I used to make cajun scallops** (not pictured, but see the results of this mixture on tofu here)
**please see my note below

6) A variation of the stuffing from Self magazine’s Couscous and Feta Stuffed Peppers recipe (not pictured)

All of the food was very well-received and appreciated, and we had a wonderful weekend!

So, about those scallops…

On the Cape the emphasis is heavily on seafood.  While I know this might be controversial to many vegetarians and vegans, I have no problem cooking non-veg options for others.  In fact, in the interest of full disclosure, that day I also made broiled haddock for the company.  My food preferences are solely mine, and I wouldn’t presume to prepare an entirely vegan menu for 9 omnivores and expect them to enjoy it as much as I would.  I feel that trying to impose my points of view on any topic (be it diet or things like politics, religion, etc.) on others can only backfire; people don’t like to be told what to do or made to feel that they are wrong…each person needs to come to his or her own decision about how he or she wants to live by making their own personal judgments.  That being said, I think it’s very important to show non-veg*ns how enjoyable vegan cuisine can be, which, if I may say, I think I did very effectively with the breakfast bread and desserts, as well as the couscous and salad.  I think every little bit counts, and each time I prepare veg food for non-veg*ns that they actually enjoy, I hope that the next time they will be slightly less surprised by the fact that they actually enjoyed it. 

Anyway, I just needed to put that out there.  I know not everyone agrees with me, and I would definitely be interested to hear the points of view of others. 

I have a ton of pictures of meals to post from the last few weeks and hope to do so soon!

Vegan-versary! And Other Strange Tales From Cook-land

I was convinced (for whatever reason) that my one-year anniversary of being vegan was December 12th (today!!!).  However, I looked back at a 2007 calendar and now I’m not so sure.  I know it happened on a Saturday/Sunday, but December 12, 2007 was a Wednesday.  Haha…so it had to have either been Sunday the 9th or Sunday the 16th.  I’m leaning toward the 16th, but I guess I’ll never know 😦   Either way, the 12th is right in between those two so I’m sticking with it!  Happy vegan-versary to me!!!   Last year around this time, I was 100% omnivore, and within two days made the switch to vegan.  It’s been an awesome year, and I have no regrets. 

I realize I have not posted for months, but I don’t feel I need to apologize because the only person who is hurt by this is myself!  I miss blogging so much, and more than that I miss reading and commenting other people’s blogs, but keeping up is nearly impossible during law school.   And the sad, horrible truth is, I have spent most of the semester mourning the loss of my dearly beloved digital camera, whose lens cracked in two places after some drunk idiot dropped it at a school event in September.  (I was literally bawling.)  Clearly, I cannot afford another one, especially not one of the same quality.  Hence, there is at least some sort of “excuse” for my lack of posting. 

HOWEVER, last Friday I made a vegan pie for a dinner get-together that was so amazing, I bit the bullet and asked someone else to take a picture of it!  So here she is in all her glory, SMLOVE PIE from Veganomicon:

The pie is made of the following components: a graham cracker crust with a chocolate filling (made with silken tofu), and the toppings are peanut butter caramel, candied pecans, and a dark chocolate drizzle.  Yes…yes.  It is not an easy pie to make, as it requires many steps as well as many idle hours.  I was home studying all day for my Contracts final (which I think went well!) so it was no biggie for me, but I just figure people considering making this pie would want to recognize the labor that goes into it. 

The description with this recipe advises that this is what Paula Deen would make if she were vegan.  Yeeeeah. I did a little calculation and figured out that this pie, if divided into 8 slices, is 671 calories and 45g of fat per slice.  YIKES.  (I actually made a mistake and didn’t factor in the 3 oz. or so of vegan chocolate chips that got added into the chocolate drizzle topping, so the calorie/fat content is actually slightly higher per slice.)  However, it’s amaaaaazing, and to be honest, it’s very difficult to eat a whole slice.  It’s incredibly filling! 

I always get really nervous when serving my cooking/baking to others, especially non-vegans, because I put so much effort into and take so much pride in the food I make.  The problem with preparing pies is that there is no opportunity to taste-test before serving (a problem which doesn’t exist with cookies, cakes, and savory dishes)!  Luckily it turned out good and everyone enjoyed it.  Success!

I thought today, as it marks a special day in the history of my eating patterns, would be an appropriate time to throw out that I am considering transitioning to a high-raw and eventually an all-raw diet.  Unfortunately 100% raw is almost totally impractical for a law student, not least because of budget concerns.  (For example, I cannot afford a dehydrator, let alone a really good quality juicer.)  However for the past few days I’ve been eating all raw except for my dinners, and I already feel a difference in my body and mind.  I’m in the middle of finals: stress levels are sky-high and I’m spending 10-12 hours a day in the library, so it’s crucial to try to maintain quality in my diet!  Anyway just throwing it out there…if I get a new camera for the holidays and transition to raw, I might have to change the theme of the blog! (An Un-Cook in the Making?) 🙂

Hopefully it will be less than 4 months before my next post…

A Mega-Post for the Greater Good

Ooookay!  It’s time to put up all the pics I have from the last few weeks in one big post.  I’ll understand if no one reads it, but I really really want to get on a regular posting schedule and blog about what I cook when I actually cook it, like the rest of the food blogging world does!  Honestly I admire all of you–I am still relatively new to this so bear with me this one time and hopefully after this I can maintain a regular schedule! 

Enough of that…on to the food!  I made a couple of recipes that I’ve seen used frequently in the vegan food blogosphere, which I had been dying to try out!

First up was Blackened Tofu from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan by Dreena Burton. 

I made mine with tofu that had been pressed, frozen, and then defrosted (because I always prefer the texture of tofu that has been frozen!).  I served it up with some couscous tossed with a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil and some chopped cucumber from our garden (which I will miss so much now that I’m in Boston!).

Couscous Closeup

A Perfect Little Meal

So simple and soooo delicious!  Definitely something I will be making often during the semester. 

I have also now successfully made the Tamari-Roasted Chickpeas, also from ED&BV, that I have seen on so many people’s blogs, and that have made my mouth water every time I’ve seen them!  Actually my mouth is watering now just thinking about them…

Made with fresh rosemary, which I highly recommend

For a really fantastic, light summery meal, I made the Chickpeas along with Kalamata Walnut Tapenade from Vive Le Vegan by Ms. Burton.  It kind of has the look of used coffee grounds, but if you are anywhere near it you can smell the delicious olive-y aroma and you will know that it’s more than edible! 🙂

I served this to Dad and M, with some crackers to go with the tapenade.  I ate my tapenade with a whole-wheat mini-bagel, and my chickpeas over a spinach salad, which contained the chopped remnants of one of the largest white mushrooms I’ve ever seen:

Apologies for the slightly horrifying no-makeup pic, but this mushroom was intense

I loved loved loved the chickpeas, and I liked the tapenade alot.  The only issue I had with the tapenade was that it was incredibly salty.  I think this is due to the olives I used, not to the recipe.  The recipe actually calls for “sea salt to taste”, but I don’t even think I added any, and it was still super-salty!  I would definitely make the recipe again though.  And as for the chickpeas, I’m pretty sure they will be made weekly here in my Beantown (how appropriate!) kitchen 🙂

Here is a pic of my little spread (a little went a long way!):

Last night, I got around to making Snobby Joes from Veganomicon. 

I love this recipe!  My roommate (not vegan but very veg-friendly–hi K!) liked it too.  I actually ate it with tortilla chips (as seen above)–maybe that’s weird but it was delicious!  I’m planning to freeze the leftovers to use all semester long. 

Actually I spent alot of the week cooking freezer-bound meals, including the Chickpea Cutlets from Veganomicon, which I’ve posted about before.  I also made Veggie Burger Patties, from Josh at My Vegan Cookbook.  I actually made these last week for a barbecue at my parents’ house, and this week while being industrious I doubled the recipe and froze eight of these beauties to eat when I will be too busy with Civil Procedure reading to even boil water for pasta!  Here is a piccie:

Do you love my mom’s little fish plate? I do!

Closeup

This recipe is a great find.  They are quite hamburger-like, insofar as I enjoy them best on a big ol’ bun with lots of ketchup, mustard, lettuce, and tomato.  I’ve also eaten them on an English muffin with salsa and that was very enjoyable too 🙂 

During my last week at home, there was another fun, simple little meal that I’d like to share. This one did not from books but consisted of one recipe-in-the-head and one recipe-from-Panama. Fresh Herb and Tomato Pasta Saladand Patacones (aka “Tostones”).

For the pasta salad, I first went a-picking:

Beautiful garden tomatoes, with some cucs thrown in for good measure

The finished product

It contained fresh chopped basil, cilantro, and fenugreek, the chopped tomatoes, and a drizzle of balsamic. It tasted so fresh and delicious and was great served cold.

Plus patacones!

These are patacones con ajo. Basically you wash, slice, and salt a plaintain, then deep fry it until it gets a little darker in color. You then flatten it (in Panama they use an authentic volcanic rock for the smashing but we used the side of a cleaver). In this case, we slapped on some crushed garlic before smashing. Then you fry them again until crispy. Totally unhealthy but totally delicious 🙂 Something we all need once in a while!

Finally, on to the soups!!  On one of my last nights at home, Dad and I whipped up the Ancho-Lentil Soup with Grilled Pineapple from Veganomicon, a recipe which I had been eyeing from the first time I ever cracked open the book!

First we made the ancho chile powder!

The finished product

Heaven.  That is all there is to say about that.

And finally, Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans, also from Veganomicon, which I made this week and which is happily chillin out (pun intended) in my freezer as we speak 🙂

Oven-roasting garlic was a new experience for me, and squeezing the soft goo out of the cloves was slightly disgusting but oddly satisfying. This soup is just delicious, filling and satisfying. And pretty easy to make too! I pretty much am gunning to make every soup recipe featured in this book, because these ladies know their soups and it is well worth the effort!

Okay I’m done! Congratulations if you’ve reached the end of this monster post!!!