Another sandwich and Cake!

I made another of these lettuce/tomato/olive salad/avocado sandwiches. They are ridiculous.


Dessert was the yellow cake and chocolate icing recipe from The Complete Vegan Kitchen. I wanted to eat cake and this satisfied my craving very well.

I Love a Good Sandwich.

This sandwich was calling my name so I gave in and bought a fresh baguette. I spread Vegenaise, dijon mustard and piled lettuce, avocado (hiding under the tomatoes!), tomatoes and homemade olive salad. Damn. This was so good.

Olive Salad Recipe

1/4 cup black olives, chopped
1/4 cup green olives, chopped
1/8 cup onion, chopped
1/8 cup pepperoncini peppers, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 TB red wine vinegar
2 TB olive oil or more
Mix all ingredients together and store in a tupperware container in the fridge.

Healthy Kidney Bean and Veggie Shepherd's Pie

I'm still in comfort food mode but what I've been eating over the holiday months have contained way too much sugar, fat, white bread, etc. I'm in the process of cleaning it up a bit and focusing on beans, whole grains, vegetables and lots of them. Today I eased into it by making this healthy version of a shepherd's pie. I sauteed onions, carrots, celery, bell peppers, broccoli and mushrooms and added kidney beans with veggie broth, miso paste and tamari soy sauce for flavor. I topped the pie with leftover mashed potatoes I had in the fridge that I didn't want to waste. I would have used sweet potatoes otherwise. The pie came out really delicious and I'm glad I was able to incorporate healthy beans and veg into this comfort food classic.


Pie out of the oven.

Potato Tacos.

Delicious potato tacos all fried and lovely.

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread Pudding.

This is a good one for the holidays. I got the recipe from 1,000 Vegan Recipes. I used a day old french loaf that I knew was not going to be eaten so I used it for this. I also had exactly 1 cup of pumpkin puree leftover from Thanksgiving that was hiding out in my freezer. 45 minutes later, we have bread pudding. It was so good, soft and tender with holiday flavors. Yummy.

Indian craving.

Went out with my girlfriends last night and had some delicious vegan indian at Electric Karma in L.A. It really got me in the mood for it again so I made this potato, spinach and chickpea curry today. AND I made homemade roti for the first time. It was dead easy. Recipe here. For condiment, I had some jarred tamarind chutney that I thinned out with lemon juice and added ginger and cilantro. This food was very satisfying.

Once a Year Lasagna.

It seems I only make lasagna once or sometimes twice a year. I could be wrong but that's what it feels like. I don't know why because I LOVE lasagna. Making a vegan one is super easy and just as good as any other. The trick is to have a good creamy "ricotta" that will give you that cheese-like taste and texture. I use the cashew tofu ricotta recipe from Veganomicon. Today's lasagna has spinach, mushrooms, onions, carrots and a nice tomato basil sauce.


Out of the oven.


And plated. View 1.


View 2.