Perfect Roast Potatoes and Other Stuff.

I was in the mood for roast veggies last night so I rushed home from work and made the following: roast potatoes, roast carrots and Tofurky sausages and gravy. I wanted to make perfect roast potatoes so I consulted Jamie Oliver's book The Ministry Of Food. I borrowed a UK copy from my neighbor but if you go on amazon I think the US title is Food Revolution. So anyway, Jamie says to parboil the veg in water for 5-7 minutes and then let the spuds steam in the colander for 2 minutes after they are drained. Then you shake up the colander to bash the spuds a bit so the edges get kind of fluffy which makes them get all nice and crisp in the oven. Then you prepare a baking pan with a few glugs of olive oil, smashed garlic and fresh rosemary. Toss the spuds in the flavored oil, spread in the pan and roast at 425 F for about an hour. I took mine out after 40 minutes because I was in a rush and they were very well cooked and crisp. If I had left them the full hour, they would have been more perfect and crispier I suppose. But even at 40 minutes, they were delicious!!!! I will make roast potatoes this way from now on (and roast for the full hour).

I love you roast potatoes. My husband and I ate a lot and had the rest for lunch today.

Roast carrots, plain and simple.

Also a Tofurky sausage and canned peas. The gravy is my Thanksgiving orange herb gravy. The best.

Condiments are always a part of my dinner table.

Sunday Roast!

Craved a Sunday veggie roast today so I made the perfect roast potatoes, heirloom rainbow carrots, brussels sprouts and cauliflower. And to go on top of all that, Bryanna Clark Grogan's vegan brown gravy. SO GOOD!

Cantalini's Express veggie sandwich and Black Bean Tortilla.

Yesterday, we headed out to a nearby take-out italian place called Cantalini's Express. They make a great roasted vegetable sandwich that had eggplant, zucchini, red bell peppers, mushroom and asparagus. I added the Daiya vegan cheese and got it all melty. So yum!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! This was my delicious black beans that were simmered with onions, tomato, chili powder and cumin on top of a toasted flour tortilla with lettuce, guacamole, hot sauce, lime and Tofutti sour cream. I have a ton of leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

Mmm. More weekend food.

I actually had the motivation to cook this weekend. Have a look see.

Sauteed tofu on salad greens with cranberries and poppyseed dressing (Brianna's).

Stuffed mushrooms via this recipe.

Vegan cashew cheese from the Vegetarian Times recipe.

On top of crackers of course.

Homemade vegan potato salad (potatoes, vegenaise, red onion, celery, parsley, dill, mustard, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper) and roasted vegetables. Very yummy.

Roasted and Sauteed.

Tonight's dinner featured roasted broccoli and cauliflower. If you haven't tried roasting these vegetable, you must! So much better than boring steamed vegetables. Toss cauliflower and broccoli in olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast at 400 degrees F on a baking pan for about 30 minutes until golden.


I made oven baked risotto yesterday which made a ton of leftovers so I had that with sauteed Tofurky vegan sausages, onions and mushrooms. Everything was so good and so filling. I'm very full right now.

VeganMoFo: Double Carb Dinner.

Hello! It's Friday! I'm so happy it's the weekend. We usually go out on Friday nights but tonight we decided to stay in and make dinner. I made the Miso Macaroni from The Veggie Lovers Cookbook. It has this unusual sauce made from miso, broccoli, veggie broth, onions and other stuff. It's very simple and tasty. I also made roasted potatoes wedges for some extra carbs yay!

Greek Roasted Vegetables & Dijon-Dill Potato Salad

I based this vegetable recipe loosely from a Briam recipe in The Essential Mediterranean Cookbook. It's a greek vegetable casserole with assorted veggies flavoured with olive oil, garlic, oregano and dill. It's supposed to consist mainly of potatoes, tomato and zucchini but I added eggplant, onions, red peppers and carrots. They baked up beautifully.


Served with pita and potato salad. This potato salad is one of my favorites. The dressing is a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, Vegenaise, dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, a pinch of sugar, chopped dill pickles, capers and dill. So tangy and tasty!

Late night soup makin'.

I had an urge to use up the rest of the heirloom tomatoes that I got today. They were all very ripe and I knew I had to use them up quickly. I decided to roast them for soup.


Here they are halved with garlic, basil and a generous drizzling of olive oil ready for the oven.


Forgot to get a pic of them when they came out of the oven in all their roasted glory but here is the finished soup. After roasting, I transferred it all to my blender, pureed it and pressed the mixture through a sieve over my soup pot. I then added a little dried basil, a splash of balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. It's so sweet and delicious!

Tofu Scramble and Penne with Roasted Vegetables and Tunisian Pesto

For breakfast, I made a delicious tofu scramble with cremini mushrooms and red onions. Served with a blob of ketchup and HP sauce!


I'm going to a potluck today so I decided to make penne with roasted veggies and pesto. I used this tunisian style pesto that I got from a wonderful book, 'Classic Vegetarian Cooking from The Middle East and North Africa'. It's a delicious blend of fresh parsley, basil, almonds (I used walnuts), olive oil, garlic, butter (I used Earth Balance margarine), oregano, cayenne and parmesan (I used a vegan parmesan substitute). I added a squeeze of lemon for some brightness.


Tossed with the penne and roasted veggies. How festive!

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!

Pasta with Pesto and Roasted Vegetables

Today's lunch was a breeze. I used yesterday's leftover pesto and roasted veggies and added them to pasta. I also added olives and lemon juice. Delicious!

Weekend Cooking: Veggie Heaven.

This is my Memorial Day weekend cooking. A boatload of roasted veggies. They were simply tossed in olive oil, crushed garlic, dried italian herbs, salt and pepper before roasting in a hot oven.


Two recipes from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen cookbook: Bruschetta with Artichokes and Olives and Broiled Mushrooms with Pesto. Both absolutely delicious.


My plate. Also pictured, roasted red potatoes!

Weekend Cooking: Penne with Roasted Vegetables and Herbs

I was looking at one of my favorite blogs yesterday, "My Marrakesh" and saw a post about beautiful food. The pasta with roasted vegetables was calling out to me and I had to make it right away.


First I roasted some vegetables: grape tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, eggplant and mushrooms. I tossed them in olive oil that had been infused with crushed garlic and fresh rosemary, thyme and basil. I also sprinkled a bit of sea salt and black pepper on top and roasted them at 400 degrees F.


Some veggies cooked faster than others, so I had to scoop them out first... all the while I had a pot of penne simmering in water on the stove.


When all the vegetables were cooked, I tossed them with the drained pasta, added a little more olive oil, salt, freshly cracked black pepper and more crushed garlic. It was sooo good! Next time I'm going to up the veggies because I would have rather had more veg than pasta. Such a simple meal to put together and would be great at a dinner party along with salad, bread and wine!

Roasted Veg and Kale Salad

Beautiful roasted potatoes, butternut squash, red peppers, onions, zucchini and carrots with thyme, rosemary, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.


Kale salad with spicy peanut sauce. It's a knock-off of M Cafe's kale salad that I absolutely love. I'll repost my recipe here:

My Interpretation of M Cafe's Kale w/ Spicy Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
pinch of salt
1 TB or more of red wine vinegar
1 TB or more of agave nectar
1 TB or more of soy sauce
water (to help thin out sauce if too thick)
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne
extra red pepper flakes

Whisk all ingredients together or blend. The measurements for the vinegar, agave, soy sauce etc. are loose because I was basically adding them from the bottle a bit at a time while whisking all together. I also tasted it as I went along until it was just right. You should do the same. It should be creamy, peanutty, slightly tangy and sweet with a spicy kick. The consistency of the dressing should be smooth, creamy and not too thick where you can't pour it.
Blanche a big bunch of kale in boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove kale and submerge immediately in ice water. Squeeze out all the water and pour sauce over the kale. You will probably have a lot more sauce than you need. Use what you want and save the rest for another dish! Toss lightly and add sliced red onions and chopped peanuts. Chill.

VeganMoFo: Roast 'Em!

Roasted butternut squash, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, carrots, onions, red and yellow peppers, mushrooms, zucchini.

I bought a ton of produce earlier this week that I needed to use. I always get paranoid that they'll go bad in my fridge so I try to find ways to use them up as quick as possible. This is a great way to use a variety of vegetables in one dish. I've made this recipe before and it was delicious. The rosemary and thyme makes the house smell like Thanksgiving!

VeganMoFo: Weekend Cooking

I love to cook on the weekends. It's a leisurely thing I like to do on Saturday mornings. This morning I got up early and went shopping for ingredients to make the following:


Vegan Dad's mac and cheese! My favorite! With toasty panko bread crumbs on top.


With a side of beautifully roasted veggies: butternut squash, red peppers, baby carrots, onions, sweet potato and cremini mushrooms with olive oil, fresh rosemary and thyme.


I made these at 9pm last night to have for breakfast this morning! They are Vegan Brunch's "Bakery Style Berry Muffins". I used quebec wild blueberries and mango. They were perfection.


Buster likes to nap on the weekends. I tried to get a pic but he woke up and saw me!

Roasted Veggies, Potato Salad and Pine Nut Couscous

I feel like I haven't made anything really healthy in a while. Today my goal was to make something simple using vegetables. I've forgotten how simple and delicious roasted vegetables are. I made asparagus, carrots, zucchini, red onions, yellow onions roasted in extra virgin olive oil and a little bit of salt and pepper. I served them with pinenut couscous and Veganomicon's Prospect Park potato salad (I used red potatoes this time). I can eat this meal every night, it was so good.