Curried Butternut Squash, Red Lentil and Noodle Soup

I woke early at about 7:30 in the mood to cook something but not really sure what. I dithered about in the kitchen for a few hours, leafing through cookbooks while having my tea and toast. I noticed the butternut squash that had been sitting on my kitchen table for the past week and a half that I decided I was going to use but not sure how. At first I was going to make a raw grated butternut salad but as I was peeling the thing (not fun), my comfort food monster came out and decided to chop it all up and make soup instead. I followed the butternut squash and red lentil soup recipe from 1,000 Vegan Recipes and added cut vermicelli at the end to up the comfort food factor. The ginger, curry powder and cumin flavors are warming and delicious and the noodles make it extra good.

Inari Sushi.

I love inari sushi. I've always wanted to make my own and I figured it would be easy as it's just sushi rice stuffed in a tofu pouch! I went to my local japanese grocery and picked up a packet of the tofu pouch (aburaage). I cooked up some sushi rice and grated some carrot into it for color and stuffed the pouches. Then all we had to do was dip into soy sauce (mixed with hot mustard or wasabi) and eat! Three of these was plenty for me. I packed some for lunch tomorrow.

Here's a basic recipe online.

Vegan Snack Time Again.

Homemade "cheddar" from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. It's made out of almonds, roasted peppers, miso paste, nutritional yeast and other spices.


It slices well but is on the softer side. Very tasty though! I topped a wasa bread with the cheese and olive and red pepper salad.

Vegan Snack Time.

I've been really into Wasa Crispbreads lately. Makes the perfect vegan snack paired with Wayfare Cheddar-Style spreads and fresh avocado salad.

Soy BBQ Curry

Dang, I can't believe I made this. If you are a West LA local and a veggie who loves indian food, you probably know about Samosa House in Culver City. They make really good veggie indian food that I have had the pleasure to enjoy only a few times. My favorite dish of theirs is what they call "Soy BBQ" which is a curry full of soy chunks swimming in a dark red sweet and spicy bbq/curry sauce. After having it a few times, I was determined to make it. Only thing was I had no real idea what flavors I was tasting. It is sweet with slight curry flavors and a hint of spicy kick. Today I experimented and I think I came pretty darn close. Keep in mind these measurements are very loose as I was adding a little bit of this, a little bit of that as it simmered. You do what suits your palette.

Vegan Mouse Soy BBQ Curry

2 TB canola oil
1/2 a large onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped eggplant (optional)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp hot curry powder
1-14oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1-6oz can tomato paste
2-3 TB tamarind chutney
2-3 TB BBQ sauce (I used hickory bbq sauce)
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups water or more
1 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup tvp chunks (use more if you are not using chickpeas or eggplant)
1 TB olive oil


Heat canola oil in a pot and saute onions and garlic until soft and fragrant. Add the eggplant and cook until semi tender. Add the spices, tomatoes, tomato paste, chutney, bbq sauce, sugar, salt and water. Stir to break up the tomato paste and bring to a boil.

Add chickpeas and tvp chunks. Stir to make sure tvp chunks are submerged in the sauce so they will expand and soften. Then lower heat to low, cover with lid and let simmer. Every 10 minutes or so, stir. If you need to add more water, go ahead and do so. The tvp chunks should always be submerged in sauce. Also the sauce should be medium consistency and not too thick.

Continue to simmer covered for an hour and adjust spices and salt as you go. At the end, drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil and stir.

Seedy Corn-Tomato-Avocado Salad

Got this recipe from my coworker who got it from a book called Going Raw. This was such a good salad with the creaminess from the avocado, the juicy tomatoes, zesty lime juice and crunchy pumpkin seeds. I also ate this on top of whole grain wasa crackers. Was so good!

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.