African Stew and Peanut Butter Cookies

OK, well I know I gave you this recipe a while back but I recently decided to make the African Stew that I have so loved in the past from the Becoming Vegetarian book. I used a rice that required a LONG cooking time so it took well over an hour to complete this stew but I always think it is worth it. The red dots on top are juts me trying to be creative with the hot sauce. I use the Vietnamese hot chili sauce. If you decide to make this, make sure you add the lemon juice and some hot sauce. I really think it is boring without those flavors.
I must be on a peanut butter kick lately because I also decided to try these "Big Gigantoid Crunchy Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Cookies" from the Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook. They were REALLY good. Mike took most of them to work and the guys enjoyed them. I made them again later in the week since we liked them so much. One of his friends said they did not taste vegan at all-whatever that means!

Two more salads

Wow.. I really am on a salad binge here. For the one-two people who look at this blog regularly - Em is now making it official. She is pregnant. And has not been interested in eating - vegan or otherwise. So, she has been very quiet.
I am eating salads regularly and trying to incorporate CSA vegetables into my meals. So far, we have had lettuce, salad greens, herbs, green onions, radish, asparagus, strawberries, snap peas!! Can't wait for more. Our vegetables are also growing well so far. A couple of okras did not make it, but the others are still going strong!
Earlier this week, I made a salad inspired by Spinach salad, but with mixed greens instead. Today, I made a salad with only CSA ingredients - a green CSA salad! Both pictures are taken with the plate in the yard - you can see our deck and lawn in the photos too! We have been spending a lot of time on the deck and outside with the dogs!




Ingredients and Recipe:

2 Cups Salad Greens
1 Carrot, Diced
1 Orange (fresh, sliced without peels)
1 Vegan Sausage, warmed and cut
2 T Sliced Almonds
2 T Newman's Own Light Raspberry-Walnut Vinaigrette

Alterations: Strawberries instead of Orange; Roasted Walnuts instead Almonds.
Mix together and enjoy.



CSA Green Salad!


Everything on this salad today was from our CSA this week (except the almonds and dressing!). Hence the name!

Ingredients and Recipe:

2 Cups Salad Greens
9-10 Asparagus, sauteed with olive oil, salt, lemon juice and pepper
4 T Snap Peas
1 t Chives with flowers
2 T sliced almonds
1 T Olive Oil

For the dressing, I drizzled the Olive Oil on the salad. The sauteed asparagus with all the spice in it was enough for the salad along with the taste of chives.

Grilled Asparagus with Roasted Pepper and Garlic Aioli

I modified this recipe from the current issue of 'Vegetarian Times'. I read this magazine like a treat- savoring the pictures, imagining the taste and enjoying the prospect of cooking it!! It is relaxing and enjoyable afternoon of luxury. This month's cover had a photo of grilled asparagus. These are some of my most favorite vegetables. This is one of the many vegetables that tastes best when eaten in season. And right now, our CSA produce is over-flowing with asparagus and I am always looking for different ways to cook it. I have eaten in multiple types of stir fries, pastas, grilled, roasted, blanched, sauteed and loved it in every form.

I looked hard, but could not find this specific recipe posted on the Vegetarian Times website. I was hoping to make my blogging easier by just giving you the link to the website, but it looks like I may have to type the entire recipe!! The colors of this dish are striking - a red roasted red pepper puree, white aioli and green asparagus. The flavors really mix well together for a very surprising and delicious taste.

I halved the recipe and was happy with the results. It also called for white and green asparagus and I only had green, so that's what we had. The aioli calls for Vegan Mayonnaise, but I had none. Instead, I had made a paste with Silken Tofu and Tofu Cream Cheese for a pasta a couple of days ago and had some left-overs and used that instead. I also did not use as much Olive Oil as was recommended in the recipe. I added some TVP to the puree to add protien content. We don't have a grill or grill pan, so I sauteed them on the stove. I served them with quinoa (hidden in the picture), but did not add the lime wedge for garnishing :)


Grilled Asparagus with Roasted Red Pepper Puree and Aioli

Ingredients

2 lbs Asparagus, trimmed
1/2T Olive Oil
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1/2 t Lemon Juice

2 Cloves Garlic,
1/2 t salt
1 t Olive Oil
1/4 C Vegan Mayonnaise (or I used a pureed mixture of silken tofu and tofu cream cheese)

6 oz Roasted Red Peppers (if using jar, rinse and dry)
1/4 Cup TVP or Morning Star-type Grillers
1 T Agave Nectar
1 t Paprika


To make the Red Pepper Puree: Saute the TVP or morning star grillers in oil for a few minutes till cooked. TVP may have to be soaked in water first. Puree roasted red peppers, agave nectar, paprika and 2-3 T of water, to get to the preferred consistency. Add TVP to the mixture.

To make aioli: Peel garlic cloves, add a pinch of salt and mash them together. Whisk in vegan cream mixture and Olive Oil.

Saute asparagus over medium heat with 1/2 T of olive oil, salt and pepper for 8-9 minutes. Sprinkle lemon juice.

Serve puree and aioli over asparagus!

Asian-Inspired Salad

Continuing on my salad ideas, today's salad was Asian-inspired. I am still looking for ideas for salads! I made this salad as dinner yesterday and was very proud of myself for eating so healthily. Except that we went out with friends for drink and I ate more there and had a couple of calorie-busting/boosting cocktails. My new favorite - flavored vodka (citrus, raspberry etc) with tonic. It is a nice summer drink!
I just sauteed the tofu. For more flavor, marinating the Tofu in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes and some agave nectar before browning or grilling is a great option. Also, this mixture could substitute for salad dressing too. I also added 'honey sesame sticks' (from Trader Joe's) as a crunch. I really like it's taste, but may go easy on it the next time because of the calorie content. V prefers the regular sesame sticks without honey. I like a lot of variety in flavors and textures in all my foods! The vegetables I added were related to what I had at home. The salad was too 'green'. I would have used yellow or red peppers or carrots, but I am trying to cook with what we get from the CSA and reducing the number of vegetables that I buy. For this salad, I used a pre-made dressing from Trader Joe's - sesame soy ginger. I really like the dressing, but the list of ingredients in this paragraph would make a great substitution!


Asian-Inspired Salad

Ingredients

3 Cups Mixed Salad Greens (CSA)
2 Stalks Celery
1 Green Onion (CSA)
1/2 Green Pepper
1 Stalk Lemon Grass (CSA)
16 oz Extra Firm Tofu
Handful of Honey Sesame Sticks
3 T Sesame Soy Ginger Dressing
1 T Oil (preferably Sesame)





Prepare Tofu by pressing the block of tofu between two plates and placing a heavy can on it to sqeeze out the water.

Cut into cubes and sautee over Sesame Oil till light brown.
Mix together all other ingredients, add dressing. Place tofu pieces on top and you're dinner is ready!

Mexican Salad

With my produce from CSA coming in every week for the past 2 weeks, I get a lot of salad greens and half a head of lettuce. I have to eat a salad everyday to get through all the produce. So for the next few posts, I will be writing about salad. I would LOVE ideas for salads. I try to use other vegetables with salad greens (just based on what we have at home), a protien, some crunch and a low-fat dressing of sorts.


Mexican Salad:


Ingredients:

2 C Mixed Salad Greens
1 Carrot, chopped
1/2 Green Pepper, chopped
1 - 2 C Black Beans, cooked
1 C Black Bean and Corn Salsa
3 T sunflower seeds
1 t Chipotle chillis in Adobo sauce
3 T Cilantro
1 t Lemon Zest


Mix all the ingredients and enjoy!!

Non-cooking Related

This post is not related to cooking!! V had his first exhibition for his photos yesterday as part of the 'gallery walk' in town. And I just wanted to say 'Yay' for him and how proud of him I am!
V's aunt is visiting. She helped me plant a vegetable garden and I wanted to share some photos of that too.



The row closest to the fence is 'Okra' and the rest are tomatoes! Heirloom and some Beefmaster! Soon, we are going to have to put up some sort of 'cages' around the tomatoes. Although this area is fenced off and tied with a band to prevent the dogs from getting in, when we woke up on Thursday morning, both the dogs were in the vegetable garden area, with the gate still closed. We are still not sure how they got in - jumped up the fence is our best guess! I have read that the green parts of a tomato are not safe for dogs, so putting up a cage around it will hopefully prevent the dogs from eating the plant too!


Next to this block, is this L-shaped area. The far end has herbs - oregano, thyme, basil, and lemon grass. In the middle of the 'L', is spinach. We were able to find organic spinach in our local Menard's (similar to Lowe's or Home Depot)!! And surrounding the spinach are cayenne peppers.... hmmm... spicy! Closest to us are red and yellow peppers along with some cilantro seeds. I will update this blog with photos as the plants grow. I am not too hopeful... $80 later, we don't have green thumbs. So, we'll see what happens. We also have raspberry and blackberry bushes in another area!!
Yay for the nice weather!!

Broccoli-Mushroom Rice Bake

I realize that this picture looks like vomit but it did not taste like that. Now that you are hungry, I will describe this meal. I have been making lots of casserole-y things lately. Not sure why exactly? This was based on Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole from Vegweb.com. Mine was not necessarily cheesy but I tried. It was more like that green bean casserole you have at Thanksgiving but with broccoli instead of green beans and added rice. I used Imagine Portabello Mushroom Soup mixed with about 1/4 cup of Tofutti Sour Cream (I think the cream cheese may have helpoed make it more "cheesy"). My result was too watery so I will use less mushroom soup next time. I also should have sauteed the onion before adding to the recipe. I added some Follow Your Heart Cheddar to the top and mixed in some nutritional yeast and Vegan Parmesan but still very little "cheese" flavor. I topped with fried onion strips since there are still some here after the Shepherd's Pie and M and D like them. This recipe needs a lot more salt and spice than it indicates. I will try another time and see if I can perfect it (and maybe make it a bit more presentable!).