Eggplant Caponata, Cashew Cheeze Spread and Banana Bread

I like to make snacks that I can eat all throughout the weekend. I made the caponata yesterday after coming home from work because I wanted all the flavors to meld overnight. I used a recipe from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen cookbook. The recipe asks you to roast the eggplant which I was too lazy to do, so I just threw everything in a pot and cooked it slowly. Came out yummy. I plan to use the leftovers (there are lots) to serve over pasta. The cashew cheeze is just raw cashews soaked overnight that I blended with garlic, tahini, oil and salt in my new Blendtec.

Banana bread with chocolate chips and dried cherries. This is to have with hot cups of tea.

Everything is better with chocolate!

Spicy Noodles with Tofu and Veggies

I really loves these noodles which I based off of a "Szechuan Noodles" recipe I found on about.com. My recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:
canola or peanut oil to cook tofu and vegetables
chopped garlic, ginger and onion (for vegetables)
1 box of fettucine
1 14oz container of firm tofu drained and cubed
1 red bell pepper and 1 small head of broccoli, chopped
Sauce ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/3 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium)
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 TB Sriracha hot sauce
2 TB ketchup
1 TB Sweet Chili Sauce (Mae Ploy brand), optional
1 tsp. sugar
1 TB vinegar
1 tsp. cornstarch
cilantro and sesame seeds for garnish

Method:
Boil water and cook pasta. In the meantime while pasta is cooking: Stir fry cubes of tofu in oil over high heat in a NON-STICK pan along with 1-2 TB of soy sauce, garlic powder and black pepper for seasoning. When tofu is browned remove from pan and set aside. In same pan, stir fry the vegetables along with chopped onion, garlic and ginger until tender. Remove from pan and set aside. To make sauce: Stir together in the same pan the vegetable broth, soy sauce, sesame oil, Sriracha, ketchup, sweet chili sauce, sugar, vinegar and cornstarch. Turn on heat and let it simmer while stirring. It will get bubbly and thick. Turn off heat. When pasta is done, drain it and return to the pot. Add the veggies, tofu and sauce and toss together. Stir in chopped cilantro and sesame seeds.

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!

Long time no blog!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I've been eating lots but not cooking as much as I want to. I am addicted to Domino's cheeseless thin crust pizza with mushrooms, olives, onions and green peppers and extra sauce, help! I really do want to cook from scratch at home. I have lists that I keep of foods I want to cook. Here are a few things that I've made recently.

I made another cashew cheese from the Vegetarian Times recipe, this time with a black pepper crust. So good.

Here is our spread along with goodies from the much too expensive antipasti bar at Whole Foods. $8 for the container on the right - what?

Nosh nosh!

This was a delicious grilled portobello burger along with grilled potato that I made last weekend.

Monday's chili made into chili dogs on Tuesday with chopped onions and kraut!

4 days of "Me" time.

I love these four day weekends, don't you? Mine started on Wednesday night after work. Came home and made a "meatloaf" dinnner.

Again I used the Magical Loaf Studio and created a recipe that used black beans, pecans, oats, veggies and a bunch of other seasonings. It came out of the oven beautiful.

It's not a meatloaf dinner without mash and a vegetable. For the mash, I made a creamy miso gravy to pour over. Oh, that's kimchi on the side. I love kimchi but it didn't work flavor-wise on this plate.

Yesterday, my husband and I took the train downtown to see Ringo's exhibit at the Grammy Museum. Love this place. I've seen many a good music exhibits here. As for Beatle-y ones, I've been to John's, George's and now Ringo's. When they do one for Paul, I'll be all over that. He's my favorite.

RINGO! This was all I got a picture of. It was the entrance to the exhibit. They wouldn't let you photograph anything beyond that. The exhibit itself was amazing. Ton of artifacts, Ringo's drum kits, letters, photos, video etc. I was in Beatle heaven.

After the museum, we went to The Yard House for lunch. We usually start off with drinks. The Smithwicks on the left was my husbands. The pear cider on the right is mine.

Drink #2: Moscow Mule! Vodka, lime and ginger beer. So refreshing!

I ordered a Gardein burger with fries. Yum.

To celebrate the 4th and a successful sunshine day, I made this impressive almond-coconut mango "jello".

If you want to make a vegan jello, agar is your friend. Recipe here. Just substitute almond-coconut milk for the juice.

Father's Day Food & Gluten Free Chocolate Cake!

Outdoor grilling on Father's Day as requested by Dad. I made the usual fare. Grilled veggies, Tofurky sausages, baked beans, grilled potatoes, dill potato salad and for dessert, a gluten free, vegan, flourless chocolate cake.

A whole lotta veggies!

My plate.

Found this wonderful gluten free cake recipe here

Here it is after I glazed it with a basic cocoa glaze.

So this was really delicious. Super dense like a brownie, rich, chocolatey, sweet, yummy. I would make it again.

Magical Loaf Studio

Used the awesome Magical Loaf Studio generator today and made this luscious chickpea/walnut/sunflower seed loaf. It also has carrots, onion, celery and mushrooms. I slathered the top with bbq sauce/ketchup.

Was so delicious with mash and peas.

What are you waiting for? Go here and make your own loaf!