Leftovers Plus Veggies.

This was dinner tonight. I had leftover chili alongside boiled potatoes that were tossed with garlic, olive oil and parsley and steamed green beans. But I really must be out of sorts this week because I undercooked the potatoes and overcooked the green beans. Bummer.

Chili Dog.

This was my dinner tonight. I made a small pot of kidney bean and red lentil chili this morning and poured some of it on my veggie dog along with wine sauerkraut. It was very delicious.

A Greek Lunch and Chickpea Blondies!

Ah hello weekend! I had a long week and was so looking forward to a weekend of cooking, reading, dvd watching and relaxing on my patio. So far I've done all of these and Saturday is not over yet! I decided to go Greek for lunch. I pulled out my 'Greek Vegetarian' cookbook and made a couple of delicious dishes.


Gigantes which are oven baked beans with dill and tomatoes. I've made this before and I normally use dried large lima beans from scratch but this time I was lazy and used frozen butter beans. I wished I hadn't because for some reason the beans didn't get as mushy and tender as they usually do when I make this dish. But it wasn't a total loss. The flavor was amazing still!


Plated with whole wheat bread and skordalia, a very creamy garlicky and slightly tangy potato dip. So heavenly!


Served alongside a colorful salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, assorted olives, pepperoncini, pickled turnips and fresh lemon wedges.


So much flavor!


I finally got around to making these beautiful chickpea blondies. Mine are not gluten free. I used spelt flour to make these. Instead of strawberry jam, I used a combo of fig jam and date syrup! Deliciously sweet, tender and chewy.

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.

Taste of Nepal.

I love the simplicity of Nepali food. I've never been there but I'm in love with the food. I got this recipe for Black Urad Daal from a book called "Taste of Nepal". Cooked with fresh garlic, ginger, turmeric and szechuan pepper.


Potato, onion and tomato tarkaari. A delicious curry simply cooked in it's own juices and garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, turmeric and green chilies.

Father's Day Dips.

I made a couple dips to enjoy with my folks today on Father's Day. There's nothing like a beautiful weekend with sunny breezy weather, dips, chips and beer! This one is a refried bean dip with guacamole, fresh tomato, vegenaise mixed with lime juice and chili powder and sliced jalapenos.


Edamame hummus though we can't really call this hummus can we, since we're not using chickpeas? Well it's made similarly with edamame, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, ground cumin and coriander. It's a gorgeous green color and went very well with fresh carrots and celery.

Channa Masala

Stayed in today. Even though it's gorgeous out, I felt the need to be domestic today. In between bouts of laundry, scrubbing the bathroom, vacuuming and watching Doctor Who on 'On Demand' (I needed to catch up on Series 5), I whipped up this beautiful curry for lunch. Very very good and filling. Can't wait to have more for supper! I always use this recipe.

Chunky Veggie Soup 'n Spelt Dumplings

I had some produce to use up so I made this easy and comforting soup! The dumplings were an afterthought and I'm glad I made them. Extra comfort food-iness!

2 TB Earth Balance margarine
1/2 tsp. Vegemite (optional)
2 onions, cut into chunks
3 large carrots, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato, cut into chunks
2 ribs of celery, sliced
3 small yellow potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 small broccoli crown, seperated into florets
4 -1" slices of firm or extra firm tofu
water or veggie broth
1 TB olive oil
1 tsp white miso
1 TB summer savory
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 TB soy sauce
2 TB cornstarch mixed with 2 TB water
salt and pepper to taste

For Dumplings:
1 cup flour (all purpose or white spelt)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup plain rice, almond or soy milk

Heat margarine in a soup pot. Add Vegemite and stir around to let it dissolve with the margarine. Saute onions and garlic briefly then add all veggies and water to cover. Bring to a boil and add olive oil, miso, dried herbs/spices, soy sauce and cornstarch mixture. Lower heat and let simmer until veggies are tender.

Meanwhile saute slices of tofu in olive oil with salt and pepper until browned on both sides. Cut into cubes and set aside.

Prepare dumpling dough:
Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add rice milk and stir until dough forms. Add a little more rice milk if too dry.

When veggies are tender add tofu and bring soup back to a boil. Season with salt and black pepper. Add balls of dough by the teaspoon on top of the boiling broth. Cover and let boil for 5 minutes. Dough will double in size.

Bulgur, Beans & Broccoli Burrito.

I was seriously stumped as to what I was going to whip up for dinner tonight. I wanted to eat something filling yet something that would take no time at all to make. I opened up my pantry and the first thing I saw was a container of bulgur. I've been following the 'My Veggie Kitchen' blog which recently featured some quickie meals made out of bulgur. I decided to try the beans and bulgur taco filling but use it for a burrito. I used pinto beans instead of refried beans and I also added a couple tablespoons of La Victoria taco sauce. It was the perfect filling for my whole wheat tortilla along with steamed broccoli, avocado, "sour cream" (made from Vegenaise, lime juice and taco sauce mixed together) and habanero hot sauce!

A Moroccan Lunch.

I made two beautiful Moroccan salads for myself today to enjoy on my backyard patio. The one in front is called 'zalouk' which is a cooked eggplant salad with onions, garlic, tomatoes and green peppers flavored with cumin and paprika. The one in back is called 'khizou harra' which is a cooked carrot salad that is flavored with cumin, paprika, lemon, olive oil and cilantro. The zalouk recipe is from 'Olive Trees and Honey' cookbook (one of my absolute favorites!).


Such vibrant color! This carrot salad recipe is from a book called "Food of Morocco".


Served with warm whole wheat bread and a little bit of cauliflower bean dip that I made last week. Gotta have some protein!

Sauteed Kale and Black Eyed Peas with Tomato Couscous

I was inspired to use kale and beans together after looking at the latest post over at the Mitten Machen blog. I can't say I've ever cooked the two together. So glad I tried it because it was really good and went perfectly atop a mound of tomato couscous (w/ a dollop of harissa for some heat!). I had a small cup of leftover tomato soup from the other day and used that with some water to cook my couscous. Such a great revamping leftovers idea as well as a beautiful color.

Macaroni w/ Esme's Sauce and Roasted Veggies

If you haven't tried Esme's simple sauce, you must! It's equal parts tahini, miso, nutritional yeast (or mustard), soy sauce, lemon juice (or vinegar), olive oil and a little crushed garlic. Delicious on pasta as seen here. For best results, heat above ingredients in a saucepan and stir til thickened, adding a little water if too thick, then toss with pasta. (I use about 4 TB of each ingredient.)


I accidentally over-roasted my yellow squash, carrots and potatoes. Oops.


But it all tasted delicious anyway!

Salads!

I got some beautiful CSA veggies and fruits from a friend and I made these beautiful salads.


Aprium, peaches, strawberries!

Easy Jambalaya.

Haven't made this in a long time. It cooks up quick and is very delicious!

Jambalaya

4 TB olive oil
2 links Tofurky Italian sausage, sliced into chunks
1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 ribs celery, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups white rice
2 cups vegetable broth or water
1 14oz. can stewed tomatoes, with juice
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or less if you don't want it too spicy.)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pot at medium heat and saute sausage chunks until browned. Remove sausage and set them aside. Add onion, green pepper, celery and garlic to the pot and saute until slightly softened. Stir in rice and vegetable broth. Break up tomatoes and add to the pot with the juice. Add spices and browned sausage. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to low and simmer covered for 30 minutes or until rice is tender.

Quick Dinner: Soup and Sandwich.

Hot homemade tomato soup with garlic and basil. Yum.


Leftover "crab" cake sandwich on Ezekiel toast. Double yum.


Quick Tomato Soup

1 14oz. can stewed tomatoes with juice, blended until smooth
1 very small onion, minced (about 1/2 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TB olive oil
2 TB fresh basil, chopped
2 TB soy sauce
2 TB tomato paste
1 TB nutritional yeast
1 1/2 cup plain rice milk (I use Trader Joe's Enriched Original Rice Drink)
salt and pepper to taste.

In a small pot, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add blended can of tomatoes, basil, tomato paste and soy sauce. Stir to break up paste and bring to a boil. Slowly add in rice milk. Add nutritional yeast and lower heat to simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Before serving drizzle with basil infused olive oil.

Spelt Pancakes

This is what I had for dinner! I was craving pancakes like crazy so I had to give in and make them. I took the recipe from "You Won't Believe It's Vegan!" and substituted spelt flour for the all purpose flour and rice milk for the soy milk. Perfect pancakes if you ask me.

Sausage!

Got on to quickly post this pic. Tofurky sausage on a bun with caramelized onions and peppers, kraut and mustard. I had this while watching the game (Dodgers vs. Braves). Game's still on (we're tied 4-4) so see ya later...

Mock Crab Cake Wrap, Cauliflower White Bean Dip

Yesterday's "crab" cakes made beautiful wraps for lunch today.


Also on the lunch menu: cauliflower white bean dip. This was adapted from the "Lower Fat Cauliflower Hummus" recipe from Veganomicon. I didn't have any chickpeas so I used white beans as a nice and creamy substitute.

Mock Crab Cakes, Oven Baked Risotto and Steamed Spinach

This was fabulous! I had some tofu that I needed to use up and for some reason I wanted to make "crab" cakes. I've never had a real crab cake before because in my omni days I was never a fan of seafood. It doesn't matter because these were so delicious. I got the recipe from vegweb here. I did a few things differently by making my own "Old Bay" spice blend, adding a bit of spelt flour to the tofu mixture to bind it better and dusting the cakes with farina before baking. They came out crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. I served it with homemade remoulade sauce (Tyler Florence recipe using eggless mayo and omitting anchovies), a beautiful oven baked risotto and steamed spinach with lemon. The risotto was perfectly creamy and so comforting. It was a perfect side dish to the crab cakes.


Inside shot.

Beans on Toast, Steamed Chard and Carrots

I was so tired today after work that I didn't want to do anything fancy for dinner. We heated up some Heinz Beans, steamed some swiss chard and carrots and called it dinner. Simple but very satisfying.

Pad See Ew Dinner and Sunshine Blog Awards!

This was dinner tonight. Pad See Ew recipe from Buddha's Table cookbook. Yummy yummy!



I'd like to thank Vic from The Life blog for presenting me with this Sunshine Blog Award! Thanks man! I love visiting Vic's blog. He's an amazing cook with a knack for creating beautiful meals out of whatever he has in his kitchen. He is very creative with food and the majority of the recipes he uses are his very own! Thanks again Vic!

The Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspires others in the blog world. I'd like to give recognition to the following blogs that I visit often:

My Marrakesh
I turn to Maryam's blog when I want to dream. She and her family live in Morocco and have been building a beautiful guest house called Peacock Pavilions! It will open very soon. Her blog is filled with beautiful photos and stories of her Moroccan adventures as well as design, art, style and food ideas. I am enthralled each and every time I visit her blog. I will visit her guest house one of these days!

Glue & Glitter
Becky's blog is filled with crafty goodness, tips on sustainable living as well as quick and easy vegan recipes. A long time ago she had a food blog called Apron Strings that I had the honor to guest blog on every now and then. That inspired me to create my own blog soon after. Thanks Becky!

Vegan Dad
I'd like to ask the vegan food blog community, who doesn't love Vegan Dad? He's a cook and baker extraordinaire! With a busy work life and a family at home, I wonder how he does it? I've been very inspired by his cooking and always look forward to his posts.

eat'n veg'n
I believe I've been following Diann's blog for as long as I've been vegan, so that'll be about 3 years. I am inspired by her healthy way of cooking that is always full of color and fresh ingredients.

Fat Free Vegan
I've been following Susan V's blog for about 3 years as well. Her blog is one of the first I came across when looking up vegan recipes. Her recipes are outstanding and presentation/photography impeccable.

Easy Veggie
Oraphan's blog is wonderful! Her enthusiasm for food and fresh veggies is contagious. I always look forward to her posts. I'm lucky that she is my cousin so we also get to talk food and go out and have veggie lunches together.

Heathen Vegan
I love Miss Jeni's blog. It is full of fun and exciting food and yummy baked goods. One day I will try her mince pies recipe!

Tea Amigos
These guys Dax and Mike are serious when it comes to tea and they seem to know all about it. I love getting updates about the latest teas that they've discovered. Being a big tea drinker myself, I can relate to getting really excited about tea.

Mosetta Stone
Mo's blog is awesome. She's funny and knows how to cure serious cravings with the food she makes. She's a great cook and I get great ideas from her blog.

Ste Martaen
As well as a blog that showcases their love of vegan food, this lovely family also have their very own handmade vegan cheese business. I have yet to try their cheeses, they look amazing. The recipes on the blog are seriously mouthwatering. I must make "wish tacos" one of these days because I keep going back to look at that particular entry!

1,000 Vegan Recipes
I wish every cookbook had a blog that was dedicated to it. This one is run by a group of bloggers who are cooking from 1,000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson. I too have this book and always wonder how recipes will turn out so I like to peruse this blog to find out.

My Veggie Kitchen
Matt's got a great blog here. The food always looks terrific and I am always getting ideas here. His latest efforts of cooking with bulgur is very exciting to me. This is my kind of cooking!

For those of you that I named, the rules for accepting this award are:
1. Copy & paste these rules on your blog so your award winners could follow.
2. Put the logo flower on your blog or within your post.
3. Pass the award onto twelve bloggers of your choice.
4. Link the nominees within your post.
5. Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting about it on their blog.
6. On your blog post share the love and blog link of the person from whom you received this award.