Some foods I ate...

Thai Sukiyaki noodle soup. So good! My mom made this for me.

This is me when I crave sweets on a weekday. Take a box of chocolate fudge cake mix, add to it 2 mashed bananas, 1 1/4 cup of cashew milk and stir. Bake for about 35 minutes until done. Then for frosting, get a 1/2 cup of peanut butter and stir over low heat with 3 TB cocoa powder, maple syrup and agave to taste and some vanilla too.

Stir fry tofu and broccoli with chinese garlic sauce.

Falafel pita sandwich from Gaby's Mediterranean.

"Beef" Kebab Sandwich.

First thing, make this blend and keep it in an airtight container or jar. You only need about 1/2 tsp. of this for the sandwich.

Saute about 1/3 bag of Gardein beefless tips in olive oil, garlic and onions. Sprinkle the 1/2 tsp of shawarma seasoning blend and cook until browned. Season with salt and pepper.

Stuff the beef tips into two pita halves and add any veggies or condiments you want. Mine has hummus, tahini, olive salad, tomatoes, cooked squash, lettuce and hot sauce.

Seriously this was amazing. Make it today.

Pita sandwiches to die for, soup, squash and spice cake!

God this was so good. Hummus, olive tapenade, avocado and tomato in a pita.

Gorgeous isn't it?

Another sandwich, this time with pico de gallo instead of plain tomato. Just as delicious.

VWAV split pea soup never disappoints.

Beautiful baby squashes with shaved brussels, roasted.

Spice cake from a box made with canned pumpkin and topped with cinnamon bun frosting.

Aubergine Fennel and Bean Stew, Kale Salad.

This is the Aubergine (eggplant) Fennel Bean Stew from The Happy Pear cookbook. I adapted mine a bit. Used kidney beans instead of black beans and I had no pumpkin so I used yellow potatoes instead, otherwise the recipe flavors were the same. I love when eggplants get all silky in a stew like this! I loved the fennel, cumin and cardamom flavors.

Served with whole wheat pita.

Mmm.

More kale salad in a tahini based dressing with chickpeas.

Get Well Ringo! cupcakes and Falafel Sandwich.

Sexy lowfat vanilla cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. I used strawberry soy yogurt instead of vanilla and added chopped strawberries to the batter. On top, I used full fat cream cheez frosting that I had leftover in the freezer and fresh cut strawberries.

I heard Ringo was not feeling well and cancelled a show this past week. Hope he feels better today! These cupcakes are so yummy!

Falafel recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance. I modified it a bit. Added spinach, garlic-herb oil that I made the other day with fresh sage, oregano and basil from the garden. I also subbed oatmeal and garbanzo bean flour (besan) for the breadcrumbs. And I baked instead of fried. Perfection!
Stuffed into a pita bread pocket with hummus, lettuce, arugula, cucumber, tomatoes and garlic sauce that I concocted from tahini, vegan mayo, lemon juice, garlic and cilantro. Also a few shakes of Tabasco for heat!

I Love Grilled Food!

Backyard grilling again this weekend. I love it. Vegetables taste so much better when they're grilled over open flame. They get all charred and tender and caramelized and so juicy.


The usual suspects: yellow and red bell pepper, mushrooms, onions, zucchini, tomato and baked potatoes. Tofu not pictured.


Pita sandwich wrap with grilled tofu and veggies with lemon-garlic mayo sauce.


Sandwich, mid bite!

Broiled Vegetables in Charmoula Marinade and Couscous

I have this really beautiful little book called The Vegetarian Table: North Africa and there a so many exotic dishes that I've been wanting to try. I love broiling vegetables because it only takes 10 minutes or so. The couscous took 5 minutes. Very easy and very delicious. The marinade is Moroccan in origin and has beautiful flavors of olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, paprika, ginger, cilantro and marjoram.


This was lunch.


This was dinner. I made a sauce from Vegenaise, lemon juice and Sriracha sauce. Yum!

Pita Pizza.

This is a result of using what you have. Pita bread + Daiya vegan cheese + red onions = delicious and crispy pizza.

Easy weeknight meal.

I was craving baba ghanooj today so on the way home from work, I picked up a few eggplants and made it in about 20 minutes. I used the recipe from Tables of Lebanon which was a little lemony for my taste but still very good. It's probably my fault as I used 4 smallish eggplants (instead of 3 large) and didn't reduce the lemon which I should have figured to do. I also made a salad and grilled a couple of portobellos with garlic and olive oil.


The baba sure is pretty isn't it? I blended the heck out of it so that's why it is so smooth.


At the last minute I added chickpeas to my salad. Gotta have some protein.

Soeur Leila's Red Lentil Stew

This may not look like much but believe me when I say that is the most flavorful combination of comfort food ingredients: red lentils, noodles and crispy pita croutons. I've made this once before about a month ago and I was so impressed with it. Today was the perfect day for it as we just got a bit of rain outside. I got the recipe from a food memoir called "Memories of a Lost Egypt". You can find the recipe posted online here. Substitute water for the chicken broth and use a couple of quartered fresh tomatoes instead of canned. And do make the pita croutons. They are the perfect crispy accompaniment to the thick, luscious velvety stew. A squeeze of lemon prior to serving is nice as well.

Red Lentil Stew adapted from "Memories of a Lost Egypt"

2 cups red Lentils
4 cups water plus 2 TB extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, quartered
2 tomatoes, quartered
1 large carrot, cut into 1" pieces
2 small zucchini, cut into chunks
1 teaspoon cumin
1/3 pound vermicelli or angel hair, broken. I used fine cut vermicelli like this.
Salt And Pepper to taste
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
Croutons:
Olive oil
Pita bread cut into pieces

Method:
Combine lentils, water, 2 TB olive oil, onion, tomatoes, carrot, and zucchini in a soup pot. Bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until lentils are very soft. Puree entire mixture in a blender or food processor. Return to pot and add cumin, pasta, salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. In another pan, saute chopped onion in 2 TB. olive oil until well browned. Add to stew along with the parsley and simmer for 5 minutes.
To make the croutons, heat some olive oil in a pan and fry pita bread pieces until browned. Drain on paper towel.

New Year's Eve Nosh.

I am spending NYE in with some good food, records on the turntable, wine and champagne later when the clock strikes midnight. Happy New Year to all of you and I hope 2011 is a healthy and happy year. I didn't want to be fussy tonight and decided to keep it simple with a few nibbles. I flipped through my "Tables of Lebanon" cookbook and picked out 'Chickpeas in Olive Oil', Yogurt Sauce with mint and 'Potatoes with Cilantro' served with roasted broccoli and pita.


Potates with Cilantro or Batata Bi-Kizbara in arabic. This was a very easy recipe where you saute potato cubes in olive oil and toss with sauteed garlic and cilantro. It smells heavenly and tastes even more so.


Simple roasted broccoli that is so much more delicious than you think. Cauliflower would have been even better.


My plate. The chickpeas were simply dressed with olive oil, garlic, lemon and dried mint. For the sauce, I used Wildwood plain unsweetened soy yogurt that I mixed with a touch of Vegenaise and stirred in garlic, salt and dried mint.

VeganMoFo: Revamping Lentil Soup into Chickpea-Lentil Fritters

I love turning boring leftovers into a completely different meal the next day. Last night I made a very simple greek style lentil soup (recipe I got from The Olive and The Caper cookbook) and had a bit leftover so I revamped them into fritters that I made into a sandwich. Worked out great.


Here's the soup which was flavored with oregano, thyme and olive oil.



Here are the fritters made into a pita sandwich. I simply drained the leftover soup in a sieve to get all the liquid out and mashed them with cooked chickpeas. I then added chopped onion, cilantro, breadcrumbs and flour to bind the mixture. I shaped them into patties and fried them in grapeseed oil.

Split Pea-Chickpea Burgers, Pear Upside Down Cake

Burgers I made out of leftover curried split pea soup and chickpeas. Also has onions, cilantro and cumin.


For lunch I had them in a pita with lettuce, tomato and tahini sauce.


For dinner, I had them as a burger in a whole wheat english muffin with Vegenaise and ketchup. This was yummy.


I made an upside down pear cake for dessert! It was really pretty and good except it didn't cook all the way through in the middle! I swear I did the toothpick test twice and it was fine. But when I cut into the middle, it was all gloppy! Good thing vegan cakes don't have eggs!

Chickpea-Dal Fritters!

Here's another re-vamp idea. Take about a cup of last night's leftover dal, drain it of all the liquid, add it to a bowl of mashed chickpeas (1 can's worth), a handful of chickpea flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 TB regular flour, garlic powder, onion powder, coriander and cumin. Shape into little patties and fry in canola oil. YUM! I usually hate to fry so when I do, I make sure it's going to be worth it. These were worth it! It's like falafel and you know how much I loooooooove falafel!


Delicious in wrap with tahini sauce.