Casserole Sunday.

I'm in serious need of comforting this weekend so I made my old standby. Yummy quinoa/pinto bean/broccoli slaw/tofurky sausage filling inside tortillas doused in chipotle tomato sauce and a Vegenaise drizzle. Recipe here. Change up the veggies like I did if you wish.


Served with steamed broccoli.

Khichadi.

This is a basic indian porridge of rice and mung beans. You may use any other kind of lentil if you wish. This reminds me very much of jok or kao thom in Thai which is a basic rice porridge, without beans but usually with added meat or vegetables. I grew up eating kao thom on days when your stomach isn't feeling well or when you are sick. Today I needed some cheering up and I wanted to enjoy some kind of comfort food. I chose to make khichadi because I like the addition of mung beans for protein.

Here's a good recipe online. It says to soak the mung beans and rice but I didn't do that. I also used white rice instead of brown. The spices I used in mine were: cumin, turmeric, grated ginger, veggie broth powder and mushroom soy sauce. The Sriracha hot sauce on top is essential!

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.

Crunchy Kidney Bean Salad

Got this recipe from my friend's vintage cookbook. I absolutely love foods that are bathed in mayo, don't you?

Crunchy Kidney Bean Salad

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup diced celery
1/3 cup diced sweet pickles (I used sweet relish)
1/2 cup sliced olives (optional)
2 TB snipped scallions
1/4 cup mayo (I used Vegenaise)
3 TB chili sauce (Heinz)
1/2 tsp salt
Mix all ingredients together, chill and serve on lettuce leaves.

Adapted from Good Housekeeping's Book of Salads, 1958, volume 6

Szechuan Noodles with Tempeh

This comes together quickly if you have instant ramen noodles. Just cook them up, drain them and set aside. Meanwhile, steam broccoli and carrots and stir fry onions, cubed tempeh and spinach. Heat up sauce until bubbly, turn off heat and toss noodles and all veggies and tempeh together. Very yummy with extra sriracha chili sauce on top!
Recipe here.

Pav Bhaji.

Indian cravings call for a spicy mashed vegetable curry (bhaji) served with "buttered" bread (pav). Pav Bhaji is a popular street food in Mumbai which is a potato based curry that is mashed up with a variety of veggies, spices and tomato until it becomes thick and saucy. I like to leave some of the vegetables chunky in mine. The recipe I use calls for cauliflower as one of the ingredients but I didn't have any so I used a 1/2 bag of "mixed vegetables including lima beans" that I found in my freezer. Worked in a pinch with the potatoes and 1/2 bell pepper I had. The curry is eaten with buttered buns which I didn't have (shame!) so I made do with pita breads spread with Earth Balance vegan margarine. I served it with mango ginger chutney, chopped red onion and a squeeze of lemon. This was SO DELICIOUS. I have to remember next time not to wear a white shirt when eating this!

Here's a link to the recipe. Don't forget to sub Earth Balance for the butter!

Pita Pizza.

This is a result of using what you have. Pita bread + Daiya vegan cheese + red onions = delicious and crispy pizza.