Bbq time.

The usual suspects: grilled veggies that I had marinated in olive oil, lemon, garlic, bouquet garni, paprika, grilled potatoes and Beyond Sausages! 

Chocolate sheet cake with cocoa glaze.

Fried Tofu Thai Style

Ok, look away if you don’t like fried food! I don’t normally fry but this Thai style fried tofu was really delicious. I had some tofu in the fridge that was frozen and thawed out - this creates a chewy texture when you cook it. I sliced them up and dunked them in a wet batter that was a mixture of flour, cornstarch, mushroom soy sauce, mushroom powder, white pepper, black pepper, minced fresh garlic, a pinch of sugar and water. I fried in a pan with shallow oil on all sides until browned and crisp. The batter created a wonderful crispy crackly skin! The insides were nice and chewy. And the flavor was very Thai style, salty and garlicky. I cut it up and served with rice and Hainam sauce. 

Sort of Bhel Puri.

I’ve been on an Indian snack food kick so today I made another popular snack called Bhel Puri which is made with puffed rice. I read somewhere that plain rice crispies cereal will do the trick. I lightly toasted them in a pan and added chopped onion, cooked potatoes, garlic chutney, coriander mint chutney and mango chutney. I wish I had tamarind! On top I sprinkled Bombay mix (didn’t have plain sev which are crispy chickpea flour noodles), chat masala, chili and lime juice. Burst of flavors and textures!

Vada Pav.

This is my attempt to make a less fried version of a popular Indian street food snack called Vada Pav! It’s basically potato patties that have been battered and fried and are served in a soft roll with different flavorful chutneys. 

I seasoned them with mustard seed, garlic, ginger, asefetida and cilantro. I didn’t have curry leaves and I know that flavor profile is missing. The batter is made with chickpea flour. I made mint and coconut garlic chutneys yesterday so I was glad to have something delicious to put them on. I used Vada Pav recipe from Tarladalal.com and they said it’s possible to pan fry instead of deep fry. They turned out pretty good though not as authentic because I didn’t deep fry, no curry leaves and I didn’t have the right bread. I used a soft artisan burger bun instead. But with all the chutneys piled on, it was absolutely delicious. The potato patties were slightly crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and the chutneys were spicy, tangy and so flavorful. I recommend! 

Chutneys!

I made mint cilantro Chile chutney from Vegan Richa’s  Indian Kitchen cookbook. So easy and very tasty.

I also made Coconut garlic chutney from whiskaffairs.com I’m definitely going to be giving the popular Indian snack Vada Pav a go so I can use this. It’s fiery because of the chili blend I used but also nutty and sweet from the coconut. 

Curry Casserole

Lazy meal good for weeknights. Peanut Curry Casserole with chickpeas and veggies. I adapted a recipe from The Urban Vegan cookbook. It has smooth peanut butter, Thai red curry paste, coconut milk, a bit of sugar, soy sauce, diced tomatoes, lime juice, veggies and chickpeas. It bakes in the oven covered for about 50 minutes. You can eat this on top of rice or pasta noodles.

Thai flavors.

Today was a Thai food day with red curry and ramen, Thai style. Thai style using aromatics like lemongrass, lime leaves, garlic, cilantro, onion in the broth. Everything was delicious. No leftovers!

Pav Bhaji.

Recipe here: http://onehotstove.blogspot.com/2005/04/bombay-street-food-pav-bhaji.html?m=1

Pav Bhaji is a popular snack street food in India which consists of a mashed vegetable curry (mostly potatoes and cauliflower) served with buttered soft rolls. It’s so tasty. The buttery bread is used to scoop up bites of the savory and spicy curry. I love this dish and have made it many many times. I use a recipe from onehotstove.blogspot.com. It’s perfect! Recipe linked above photo. I substituted vegan butter in mine. I also used another brand of Pav Bhaji masala mix called Suhana. 

Indian Style Chip Butty

Ok this sandwich might look a little different but it was delicious! It’s the Indian Style Chip Butty recipe from Jamie Oliver’s book VEG. It’s basically a fried ball of mashed potatoes spiced with ginger, chili and garam masala. Then piled on a bun with mint yogurt (I didn’t have yogurt so I used vegan mayo and lemon juice), mango chutney and Bombay mix. It’s supposed to have pomegranate too but I’m not a crazy about it so I left it out. Anyway yes, it’s fried but the flavors are amazing and the crispy mix gives it the nicest crunch! #vegan #jamieoliver #jamieoliverveg

Breakfast, Grilling and Cookies.

My hubby made blueberry pancakes for me on Saturday using Miyoko’s pancake/biscuit mix that we always have in the pantry.

Grilling today. It was nice to get some Beyond sausages.

So delicious with onions and peppers!

Tonight’s dinner. My grilled sausage and veg on top of romaine with maple balsamic lemon dressing. This was really good.

Veganomicon chocolate chocolate chip cookies (or is it double chocolate chip?). The perfect cookie when you just want everything chocolate .

Scrambled tofu sandwich and Nachos.

This scrambled tofu sandwich satisfied my egg sandwich craving.

Nachos with Lauren Toyota’s nacho cheese, homemade black beans and my mom’s delicious copycat Tito’s Tacos salsa.

Cake!

I was in a mean mood for cake today after having sworn to myself not to make one this week. It’s my comfort so I decided to do it! This vanilla yellow cake with buttercream and fresh strawberries was inspired by a new fragrance from Poesie Perfume called Hera, from their Greek Goddess collection that just debuted this summer. Scent notes: slices of yellow cake layered with strawberry jam, fluffy vanilla icing, soft pink lotus blossoms. 💗 I’m in love with this perfume. The thing is it’s really not a cake heavy fragrance which to me is a good thing. It’s the essence of vanilla cake in the background with the beautiful pink lotus and strawberries coming forth to wrap you in a lovely pink cloud. I highly recommend it. I’ll be receiving a full size of it soon! 

Oh by the way, the cake was delicious! My best yet!