Shrimpfest!

Rum/Habanero/Lime marinated shrimp- Carribean style heat

Chicken Curry over Jasmine Rice

HotAnd Spicy!

How do you get the kids to love salad?

Make it Colorful and Fun!

How about a “Build-A-Salad Workshop”?  Give each kiddo a bowl of greens and then:

"Eat Your Colors"

Kids ChoiceAll Dressed Up

 

All Dressed Up

 

If you have any leftover fixins, you can create a Leftover Makeover veggie scramble for breakfast.

 

Leftover Makeover Veggie Scramble

 

 

Vegan Salad Nicoise

Adapted from the recipe in Appetite for Reduction:

Vegan Salad Nicoise for Four…

 

 

Dinner Diary at the End of Winter

The Days are Getting Longer...

 

The Produce is More Plentiful...

And We Always Have Beans!

Here are some of my favorite dinners when spring is peeking around the corner of winter:

Roasted Broccoli w/Chickpeas & Farfelle Pesto Pasta w/Veggies

Vegan Baked Beans & Corn Bread

Penne w/ Russian Kale, Yellow Peppers & Pinto Beans

Roasted Potatoes, Cauliflower & Kale w/ Vegan Baked Beans

Stir Fried Spring Veggies with Seared Gingered Seitan & Almonds with Ginger Sweet Soy Brown Rice

Green Beans in Marinara w/ Crispy Baked Tofu and Baked Potato

It’s been a yummy few weeks here in Veganland. Today I’m cooking up a chickpea soup with spring vegetables. It will be served with cherry tomato & basil crostini. Happy Eating!!

Pizza night/ Tofu Breakfast

Sis, I loved your Paella before, so I know I’m going to dig the “vegan version”! We have always done a fair number of pizza nights over here (homemade pizza dough to be sure!)- and some time back your niece invented what she called a “cheeseless meat-wonder”- just sauce and pepperoni, no cheese. Wierd, I thought; but no longer! Try as I might, I cannot find a vegan cheese that I enjoy eating, so I decided to try her cheeseless concept…

Hers, as I said was nothing but sauce and pepperoni

 Mine, on the other hand: Sauce spiked with chili flakes and nutritional yeast topped with chopped cabbage, arugula, red onions, and a ton of tofu that I marinated in olive oil, salt, pepper and italion herbs.

Yes, there was left over marinated tofu, which came in handy for breakfast, scrambled with roasted potatoes and red peppers

OK, and something I’ve found in the “pre-fab” section that I do like: “Chik’n Tenders”. I enjoy the texture and, in most cases, there is some semblance of chicken flavor. My favorite way to enjoy these is in a wrap- in this case with napa cabbage, red onion and drizzled with Sriracha

Can’t wait to see what you come up with next!

My Favorite Latin Dishes Made Vegan

Hey Bro-

Last week I made two of my all time fave Latin dishes, and I did them up all vegan-like. Check it out:

You  know how I love me some Paella, and how the traditional recipe I used to make (often) was finely honed over the 25 years since I lived and studied in Spain. Well I riffed on that recipe using 3 kinds of beans in lieu of meat and seafood. Here’s how it went down:

Vegan Bean Paella

Vegan Bean Paella:

Heat to warm in sauce pan:

6 cups vegetable broth

1 cup dry white wine (or sherry)

2 pinches saffron threads.

 Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In Paella pan ( or large high sided fry pan)  saute 2 chopped shallots and 1 diced red bell pepper in olive oil. Add 4 cloves garlic minced. Add chopped green beans or zucchini or both. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Add 2 cups arborio or bomba rice. Stir until coated with the oil and slightly toasted (about 2 minutes). Add 1 15 oz can or 4 plum diced tomatoes.

Pour in about 1/2 of the broth and simmer stirring occasionally until the liquid is reduced by 1/2. Continue adding broth and salt, and stirring and simmering until all liquid is mostly absorbed and rice is just a bit chewy to the bite. Add more liquid and simmer a bit longer if needed.

At this point add 3 cans  drained and rinsed beans. Any combo will do. I used black, red kidneys and garbanzos. Cannelini would be good too.

Next add 2 cups (about 1/2 bunch) chopped kale. I put kale in everything now…

Stir in beans and kale and place entire pan in oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes until all liquid has been absorbed.

Remove from oven, stir in 1 cup frozen or fresh peas and 1/2 cup chopped green onions.

Place a small bowl upside down in center of paella and drape a large dish towel over the bowl, covering the pan. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy with plenty of fresh squeezed lemon and freshly ground black pepper, crusty french bread and a big glass of Rioja. Que Les Aprovechen!

Now this was very tasty Bro, but I’ll admit that I missed the surprises of meaty goodness that enhance the texture of typical paella. The next time I try this I might add some seitan and mushrooms or perhaps some tempeh.

Vegan Tofu Chilaquiles:

 This is one of my fave breakfast dishes. I had some leftover beans, tofu and tortilla chips one morning so here’s what I did:

Searing tofu, red & yellow peppers, black beans, corn, garlic, oregano & chipotle powder

 

Stirring in crushed tortilla chips and a bit of tomato sauce

After it is heated through, put some vegan cheese on top and place the pan in a 400 degree oven to toast for about 5 minutes. Enjoy with Tapatio sauce, salsa, cilantro, vegan sour cream, avocados or any combination thereof. This is the perfect post party breakfast. AyYayYay!

Vegan Tofu Chilaquiles with Cilantro

And one more bit of Vegan Food Porn for you.  I can’t wait for summer and fresh tomatoes, but in the meantime I made some pretty good crostini last week with organic tomatoes from Mexico. Peep this:

A Taste of Summer in the Winter Ahhhh...

Ranch Produce/ more Tofu adoration

 Awesome Asian, Sis!  This week I found fresh Watercress at the produce market. I remember when we were kids, and our grandfather would pick it fresh by the stream at the ranch, then bring it back to the house and we would eat it with lunch. Olive oil, Vinegar, salt, pepper, nothing more- never fresher, nothing better!

  I also picked up some brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots and cauliflower and kept the theme going by tossing them with olive oil, salt and peper and roasting until just caramelized- no enhancements needed- okay, a splash of lemon juice and a few crushed red pepper flakes.

Chips and Salsa? Sure, and no oil at all- white corn tortillas dry roasted for about 15 minutes then sprinkled with a little salt- no, I didn’t make this salsa, but still- these chips beat the bag every time!

 Finally, back to my infatuation with tofu. First, I made a batch of simple spanish style rice- rice simmered with tomato sauce, garlic, bay leaf, oregano and pepper.

Then I pressed and cubed some extra firm tofu, and seared it in grapeseed oil. To that I added a steeped, strained and reduced sauce of vegetable broth, saffron, garlic, dried cascabel and arbol chilies and peppercorns- which I let further reduce to a glaze then served over the rice, and topped with some lemon juice and chopped parsley.

  There you go Sis- not a lot of spice this time, but certainly some memories!

Asian Vegan Bowls of Joy

Hi Bro-

I am digging your grilled tofu wraps and portobello burger!

This week I’ve been cooking inside as well as it’s been raining and snowing down here. When it’s cold outside I take comfort in steaming bowls of goodness. For a few weeknight meals I cooked up different versions of what I’ll call “Asian Vegan Bowls of Joy”.

First I made a rice bowl with  baked brown rice that I fancied up by adding edamame and fresh grated ginger at the end of the cooking process.

Gingered Brown Rice with Edamame

Next I steamed a passel of colorful vegetables, including bok choy, carrots, purple cabbage, red bell pepper and broccoli.

Steamy Veggie Goodness

Then  I put them together in a yin-yang (sort of ) presentation with black sesame seeds, fresh cilantro and a drizzle of Sweet Soy sauce  with fresh ginger on top. I got the sauce recipe from the Steamy Kitchen by Jaden Hair. You should get this book!  Most of the recipes are non-vegan but adaptable. I love this sweet soy sauce recipe. I change it up a bit by leaving the shallots and garlic pieces in the sauce and by adding freshly grated ginger at the end.  And here you have it, Bro:

Yin Yang Veggie Rice Bowls

For my next bowl adventure I used items I had on hand, including some organic soba noodles and the aforementioned sweet soy sauce.

Prepped and Ready

I braised diced sweet potatoes and baby bok choy, added ginger, raw cashews, green onions, cilantro and green onions. Bowled it all up on top of the cooked soba noodles and topped with the sweet soy sauce and black sesame seeds.

Gingered Bok Choy Sweet Potato Soba Bowls

Ok I’m gonna say it Bro- my kidlings were “bowled over” by these meals. They even had seconds!

I had some of the bok choy/sweet potato left over and the next day I used them to create a “Leftover Makeover” lunch.  Spring rolls with bok choy, sweet potato, rice noodles, cilantro and shredded carrots with sweet soy dipping sauce and siracha.

Sweet Potato Bok Choy Cashew N Carrot Spring Rolls

So there  you have it Bro. My week in Asian Bowl Madness! Oh and just one more pic for you just because you’re gonna love this. Last night’s take out:

Vegan Sushi!

Fast Pickles and Indoor Vegan Grilling

Cool Tacos, Sis- can’t wait to try them (especially with walnuts- !). So I finished the pickles, actually made them a couple of different ways. Last week I found a bunch of baby cucumbers at the produce market and went to work. Some of them I put in a brine of salt, garlic, fresh dill and pepper flakes. A couple days on the counter to activate fermentation and a few more days. in the fridge and

Fast Deli Half- Sours

The rest I sliced and put directly into the refrigerator with cider vinegar, a little sugar, pickling spices, fresh bay leaves and red onion (more of a marinade than a pickle. These are great tossed with a little olive oil!

Almost like Mom's!

Both turned out great and are definitely going in my recipe file!

Tofu Go To: I love your scrambled tofu recipes (and Isa’s as well) and seem to have some around all the time now. So I put some in a spinach wrap with some leftover brown rice (which I also have around all the time now!) and grilled it in the panini press. A drizzle of Sriracha finished it off

  as long as the press was out… Burgers! A portobello burger, and as ubiquitous as these have become, I still love them. This one I coated with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and habanero powder. Garnished with red onion, some arugula and brown mustard and served with chipotle baked sweet potato fries and (of course) habanero ketchup

Hot Lunch!

 There it is, Sis, now I’m off to bake a batch of your cookies!