Saturday Comfort Cookin'.

Nice to get back in the kitchen on the weekend instead of going out to eat all the time. Today I wanted comfort food so I made my standby. It's my quinoa-black bean tortilla casserole, adapted from a stuffed pepper recipe from Vegetarian Times magazine. It has layers of flour tortillas, quinoa, black beans, veggies and spicy tomato sauce with a creamy vegan mayonnaise topping. I love this thing and could probably eat the whole pan by myself. CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE. You can be creative and add any kinds of veggies you want. Today I used red bell pepper, corn and zucchini.

Along with the casserole, I made sweet corn cake which is a recipe I got from The Tropical Vegan Kitchen cookbook.

All together now. After a few shots of Tapatio, I was ready to dig in.

I also made banana bread because of some overripe bananas I had lingering in my kitchen. Who doesn't like banana bread?

I took a break from guitar practice to have a cup o' tea and a slice. So good!

More Backyard Grilling.

We enjoyed another day of grilling in the backyard. I can't wait until summer when we get some really good produce. I want to grill some corn on the cob and fresh peaches in butterscotch sauce. Today I used what was available.

Eggplant, marinated tofu, baked potatoes, red onions, red peppers and a tomato! I marinated the tofu overnight in a delicious marinade of olive oil, lemon juice, crushed garlic, hot chili flakes and cilantro. For the potatoes, I cooked them in the microwave whole (poke holes in them first) then I split them, brushed with olive oil and grilled til brown and crisp. So delicious.


The ingredients were perfect for this gigantic sandwich!


Now try to sink your teeth into that! It was hard but so worth it.


For dessert I had this idea I got from one of Linda McCartney's books where she splits open a banana, stuffs it with praline, wraps it tightly in foil and cooks it over hot coals. I used chocolate pieces instead. Really yummy.

Banana Molasses Bread

Look what I made last night! I would have taken a photo of the whole loaf but a lot of it is gone already! I based it off of this recipe. I didn't have Sucanat so I used regular unrefined sugar and added some blackstrap molasses for color. I also used spelt flour and omitted the chocolate chips. It came out so moist and amazing. This will be my go-to banana bread from now on.

Weekend Meze.

It rained last night and the forecast had predicted rain today but it has yet to come. I took advantage of the current blue skies and sun with slight breeze to lunch al fresco once again. I'm really getting used to this! It makes me look forward to the weekend. Come summer, this is will be a regular thing. Can't wait.


Another meze lunch with lots of things to nibble on and again with the mediterranean theme. I just got a new cookbook, "The Greek Vegetarian" and I wanted to use it today. I made from it Eggplant Puree with Walnuts and Fava Bean Stew with Mint. I also made hummus and a greek salad.


Hummus on the left and Eggplant Puree with walnuts (Makedonitiki Melitzanosalata) on the right. The eggplant puree was delicious and garlicky. The walnuts are first ground to a paste and then processed with roasted eggplant pulp.


Fava bean stew with mint (Koukia Stifado me Dyosmo). Delicious and filling tender fava beans with a base of tomatoes, red onions, garlic, mint and dill. I added dill because I'm crazy about it and a lot of greek dishes have fresh dill so it seemed rather fitting.


Greek salad with cucumbers, olives, red onions and "Betta Feta", a tofu based faux feta from The Ultimate Uncheese cookbook. Drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice.


First of the jasmine blooms I've seen this year.


Buster eating pita.


Dessert is banana bread that I made with the biggest ripest bananas that I found in our fruit bowl. The cake sunk in the middle a bit because of my impatience. I peeked in the oven way too many times!

Muffins for the Weekend & Thai Red Curry

Delicious muffins that I made yesterday and today. I finally cracked open my brand new copy of 'Vegan Brunch' and made the "Bakery Style Berry Muffins". I used strawberries in mine. I also made fluffy banana-cinnamon muffins from a recipe I adapted at vegetarian times. Find the recipe here.



And a simple Thai red curry with potato, carrot, eggplant, mushroom, zucchini, tofu and onions. Mmm.

Thai Karee Curry and a Frozen Banana Treat.

What to do with fresh asparagus, red bell peppers, zucchini, potatoes and tofu? Make a thai curry. I fall back on curry all the time when I have lots of vegetables to use up. I made a thai curry today using coconut milk and karee curry paste. It's super spicy and perfect with some white jasmine rice. I might turn this into a soup later in the week by adding water and lime juice.


To cool down from the furious heat of the curry I had this delightful treat for dessert. It's frozen banana chunks (that I froze last night in little ziploc bags) topped with warm unsalted peanut butter, a sprinkle of chocolate chips and a drizzle of agave syrup. Really really good.

Carob Banana Avocado Pudding

Another breakfast treat. Smooth and silky avocado blended with carob powder, a few bananas, dates and a drizzle of agave syrup. This recipe is not completely raw because I used roasted carob powder. But it was still very decadent and delicious. Reminded me of chocolate banana creme pie!

Carob Banana Avocado Pudding

8 dates, pitted
1 large avocado, pitted
2 large ripe bananas
3 heaping tsp (or more) of carob powder
drizzle or two of agave syrup

Combine all in a blender and blend until smooth.

Raw Breakfast Pudding

Last week my friend Cassidy gave me some raw strawberry pie that she made. It was deeelicious! I wanted to recreate that flavor by making this breakfast pudding. It has the consistency more like yogurt I think but the flavors were spot on. A sweet and creamy mixture of bananas, strawberries, dates and cashews. Yummy.

Raw Strawberry-Banana Pudding

8 dates, pitted
1/2 cup raw cashews
2 ripe bananas
6 strawberries, frozen
juice of 1/2 an orange

Soak dates and cashews together in a bowl of hot water for about 20 minutes. Discard the water and put the dates and nuts in blender along with the other ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into a bowl, cover with cling film and place in the freezer for about 20 minutes. (This step is not necessary. I liked eating it cold.) Serve.

Sauce + Bananas: Caramelized!

No, not sauce and bananas together! I just happened to have made two dishes with caramelized somethin' in them!



I wanted to make tofu cutlets tonight with some kind of sauce. I first thought of marsala but I didn't have any marsala wine. What I did have was red wine so I experimented and came up with this rich, flavorful sauce with loads of caramelized onions. If you're onion phobic like my husband (he didn't really like the amount of onions in it), you can cut the amount of onions you use in half. I smothered pan fried tofu cutlets with the sauce and had them that way. To be honest, I would have rather enjoyed the sauce with something meatier like a veggie burger patty or veggie meatloaf. The tofu was just too bland for me. But maybe you can make it work better than I did!

Red Wine Miso Sauce with Caramelized Onions

2 TB olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced (you may use 1/2 or less if you desire)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup red wine
1 cup vegetable broth
1 tsp tomato paste
2 tsp cornstarch
1 TB mellow white miso paste
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/4 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a saucepan on medium high heat. Saute the onions and garlic until onions are soft, browned and caramelized. Add the red wine and let it simmer and reduce for about a minute or so. In the meantime, combine the broth, tomato paste and cornstarch and whisk together. Pour this mixture little by litte into the red wine/onion mixture and stir to combine. Keep simmering for another 4 minutes or so until it gets thick and shiny. Stir in the miso paste, italian herbs, sugar and season with salt and pepper to taste.


On tofu with mash and peas.

Earlier today I got these from my banana tree in my backyard:



So I made this:



Caramelized Bananas with Cinnamon

3 mini bananas, sliced (go ahead and use a couple normal bananas or even very ripe plantains.)
1-2 TB canola oil
2 tsp sugar
couple pinches of cinnamon

Heat oil in a small saucepan on med-high heat. Add the sliced bananas in a layer and let cook for a few minutes. Sprinkle 1 tsp of the sugar on top and then flip them over either with a spatula or a "flick of the wrist". Sprinkle the remaining sugar and cinnamon and continue to cook and flip around until all the bananas are browned and caramelized. These would be delicious served on top of vanilla soy ice cream or on top of pancakes.