Happy Halloween!

I'm being the hermit again this year by staying in and eating scrumptious foods and watching scary movies with my husband. We're starting off with Rosemary's Baby. I didn't want to make a dinner but instead do appetizers which we could nibble on with bloody marys.


Spinach Artichoke Dip with sundried tomatoes and hot chili flakes. This will go with whole grain crackers and celery sticks. Recipe here.


Stuffed baked potato skins with imitation bacon bits. Yum!


And you gotta have a sweets on Halloween. These are pumpkin bars with cream "cheez" frosting. I am not crazy about this recipe, it was only ok. The frosting didn't set at all and the bars were a bit on the mushy/gooey side.

VegNews Mac and Cheese

Tried the Veg News mac and cheese today which turned out quite delicious! I have to admit, at first bite I was a little underwhelmed but then a few bites later, I was hooked. I went back for seconds, thirds and fourths! I must have not eaten much for breakfast. But yes, it really was delicious, creamy and addicting. I used Ezekiel whole grain bread for my breadcrumb topping which added a nice crunch.


Recipe is online here.

Rice Lentil Tomato Soup

I'm known as the queen of revamping leftovers. My mom told me one day that I am just like her father who loved to make 4-5 meals out of one dish. I've never gone that far but I do love a challenge when it comes to making a new dish out of a mountain of leftovers. I made moujadara on Sunday that I couldn't get through (it made a lot!) even though I ate it for a couple of days. I am on a soup kick and decided to make this soup. All I did was saute a bit of onions and garlic in a generous amount of olive oil, added a can of diced tomatoes, tomato paste, a few cups of water and the leftover moujadara (lentils/rice). A few pinches of oregano and cumin, salt and pepper and dinner was ready in no time. It was very hearty and delicous.

Thai Delicious.

I had a small pumpkin, a container of tofu, a bag of spinach, a can of Thai green curry paste and coconut milk. The perfect combination of ingredients for this fiery green curry. I loved the pumpkin in it. I'm loving fall. Bring on the pumpkins!


My mom made this mung bean noodles and veggie stir fry especially for me. How sweet! It was so good!

Sun-dried tomato pasta and Moujadara

This was my dinner sometime last week and it was very quick and easy to throw together. I heated up some olive oil, threw in some crushed garlic, chopped pepperoncini, chopped sundried tomatoes (in oil), parsley and sauteed for a few minutes and then tossed it all with hot spaghetti.


This is the moujadara recipe from Tables of Lebanon cookbook. It's the simplest recipe of lentils cooked with rice and topped with fried onions. I ate this today for lunch with a few shots of hot sauce. It was very filling and tasty.

Soup and Sandwich.

This reminds me of a meal you'd get at a 24 hour coffee shop. My soup is Greek Manestra, a tomato and orzo soup flavored with olive oil, garlic, and oregano. My sandwich is so basic, it's Tofurky slices, a slice of Tofutti american vegan cheese, Vegenaise and lettuce on white bread. Not the most wholesome sandwich but there you go. Everything was very satisfactory, especially the soup. I sprinkled a bit of "parmezano sprinkles" for a bit of cheesy-ness.

Soup recipe from "The Olive and The Caper" cookbook. Not a vegetarian cookbook but it has a wonderful array of veggie mezes, soups and dishes. Highly recommended. And not just for the recipes, there is also a wealth of information about Greek culture and cooking.

Pumpkin Chili and Chocolate Cake

Today was a grey, drizzly day that got me in the mood for some serious comfort foods. I made this delicious pumpkin chili which I based off of this recipe. Mine is not fat free because I added a good amount of olive oil to cook the vegetables. I also used pumpkin instead of butternut squash. This chili is probably the best I've ever had. It's so flavorful and hearty.


I've been wanting a chocolate cake for the longest time! Now I am having it! I made this basic chocolate cake with a basic chocolate buttercream frosting. You can find a basic buttercream frosting recipe here. Just add 1/2 cup cocoa powder to it. I was going to make a layered cake but I got lazy.


Super moist and chocolatey. I'm a happy girl.

Spicy Szechuan Style Noodles

I've made this recipe lots of times. It's quick and easy and gets dinner on the table in less than an hour. My friend gave me a packet of indonesian ramen that I used for this. Came out delicious! Recipe is here.

Greek Lenten Spinach Pie

I've been on a greek food kick lately. Can't get enough! This is the greek lenten spinach pie from "The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen". It's basically spanakopita without the cheese. It is served during lent when animal products are forbidden. I've had non-traditional spanakopita with tofu (Vegan with a Vengeance recipe) which is very rich and filling. This pie is a little on the lighter side yet satisfactory. I think I may use a few sheets less of phyllo as I found it way too much.


My pie had a serious hump top from the phyllo puffing up a lot. It soon deflated a bit when I cut into it. I think I might double the filling next time.


Served with russian salad, a potato salad popular in greek cuisine and lutenica which is a red pepper spread from Bulgaria.


Good stuff.

Almost Manestra

Manestra is a Greek soup with a simple base of tomatoes, olive oil, oregano and orzo pasta. I got the recipe from 'The Olive and The Caper' cookbook. I call it "almost" manestra because I couldn't find orzo anywhere so I had to replace it with anellini pasta. Such simple ingredients but so tasty, warming and full of flavor. The traditional greek way to eat this is with a generous sprinkling of parmesan or kefalotyri cheese on top. I used "parmezano sprinkles" which is a mock parmesan recipe made with almonds, nutritional yeast, salt and miso paste. Worked very well with the soup. I am definitely making this again with orzo in the future.

The recipe is posted at this blog.