Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Sushi ...we are addicted!


So once again we ate sushi. Its easy when you have a three year old who requests it and a family who loves it too. It was da bomb! Sesame ginger portabellas, lemon garlic mayonnaise, basil, cashews, avocadoes, and baked tofu.

Five of us ate nine rolls in about 8 minutes flat.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Soup's On




Today was the first day in a week of rain. It goes without saying that I must make soup. I am realizing that I cannot stick to one cookbook for this blog. Way too constricting for my style. So I'm gonna be improvising on cookbooks quite a bit.

I made soup today with a onion, garlic, white wine & olive oil base. I added miso and water and brown basmati rice to that. After 10 minutes or so I added cubed carrots, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, roasted delacata squash, tempeh & baked tofu. When it was almost ready to come off I added a whole bunch of beautiful purple kale that I had chopped in the cuisinart. It was lovely with quinoa, carrots, peas, tempeh & a dressing of garlic, lemons, olive oil & maple syrup.

Its good to not eat animals. I feel lighter and brighter. My hubby a self proclaimed "American eater" ie meat eater....said "I don't even feel like I need meat, your cooking is that good."

A Perfect Dinner


The title for this entry is what my hubby called this meal. The perfect dinner to follow the gut wrencher that was naughty nacho night. I baked delicata squash (partly peeled) with some butter, maple syrup, olive oil, water & cinnamon at 375 for 20 minutes or so.

While this was cooking I constructed the pita pockets. Take hummus, goat cheese, red onions, basil, red leaf & avocados and put them into lightly toasted poçkets of the pita variety.

Yum Yum Yum!

Naughty Nachos


Combine chips, cheese, refried beans, & salsa. Bake 15 minutes at the standard 350.
When finished add sour cream & avocados....you've got yourself a vegetarian meal! Not to be found in the cookbook but an invention all my own.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Sparkling Cranberries



In light of the fact that I cook much more than dinner I thought I'd branch out and make a goodie. I found this on 101 cookbooks ( a food blog I enjoy quite a bit).

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/sparkling-cranberries-recipe.html

They were yummy, I think next time I won't use sucanat on them. I will make these again...I think I want to try them in cereal to spice up the morning.

Sushi .... again



I think our daughter was Japanese in another life because she loves sushi so much. I made it last week and she has requested it at least 3 times since then. Needless to say I now keep all the ingredients ready to go (for her its only rice & avocados). For us the other night it was lemon garlic mayo, roasted cashews, avocado, and baked tofu. Soon I will add squash, basil & perhaps some tempeh!!

Shepard's Pie



So it goes that we made our first casserole. It was pretty good. Veggie burgers substituted for the meat and there was plenty of mashed potatoes on top. We ate it for a couple of days which always makes it a more enjoyable experience. The pictures turned out kinda weird but hopefully I'll figure out the perfect food photography lighting.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Tempeh and Me=Love

I am amazed. I spent 33 years thinking I hated tempeh. Now in the last two days I have made it as many times. I have found that if I marinate it for at least an hour in tamari, toasted sesame oil, apple cider vinegar, & some sucanat the taste is divine. I have been frying it in some olive oil and serving it on sandwiches as the "B" in BLAT (bacon, lettuce, avocado & tomato). Needless to say, I want to try more new things. What else have I been missing out on?

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Spinach & tofu stuffed eggplant roulades w/cobb salad

I finally got to use the eggplant in my fridge. I baked it, then filled it with steamed spinach, sauted onions, & tofu. Bake for 15 then top with a variation of hummus all warmed up. I served this with chopped spinach & red leaf, shredded carrots, cypress grove goat cheese & home grown ranch dressing. He doesn't like eggplant (one of the few things that I've actually heard him say he doesnt't like) and will find that this may be my last attempt at it. I liked it though, chewy and flavorful. Love the way that eating this way makes me feel!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Great Stuffed Portabellas

These were made a week or so ago. So amazing...homemade bread crumbs, grated mozzarella, lightly steamed spinach, thyme, garlic & onions were all married together inside a lightly pan fried portabella. Then the whole thing was baked for 10 more minutes in the oven.
Really really loving portabellas!

Veggie Sushi W/ ginger sesame portabellas

Ok Ok so I'm already duplicating things and its been under a week. I just had to have sushi tonight. I made sushi rice and added mirin & rice wine vinegar with a bit of sugar. Then to the sushi fillings ... avocado, baked tofu, cashews, portabellas and some ravigote. Ravigote is basically mayo with garlic, capers, lemon juice, S&P.

The verdict was AMAZING. Couldn't find the camera today, but next time for sure.

A veggie beginning

This is a test.
Inspired by Julie & Julia I am going to make as much of an amazing book I discovered at the library entitled "Vegetarian meat and potatoes". The book is by Robin Robertson and it is amazing. No pictures to speak of inside but I will document the meals I make as I go.

I was given a CD copy of the "World Peace Diet" by a friend and have forever been changing the way we eat here in Southern Humboldt.