Carbonara Style Spaghetti

This recipe was 1) so good and 2) so easy that we not only made it for dinner but then again for lunch the very next day!!!
The basics are spaghetti, a cream sauce and vegan bacon.

The cream sauce consists of an onion cooked in coconut oil and a blend of 6 oz rice milk, 1.5 oz shredded cheddar style 'cheese', and 4 TBSP soy creamer. When the sauce is poured into the hot spaghetti, the 'cheese' melts down a bit and it thickens up nicely.

I made a batch of eggplant bacon and it was absolutely perfect sprinkled on top. I can see this recipe showing up weekly around here now!

Caesar Salad with Eggplant Bacon

This eggplant bacon is definitely something to write home about.

The salad consists of lettuce and a Caesar Chavez Dressing (shallots, cashews, tahini, miso, lemon juice, dijon, capers, water, salt and pepper blended) from the Appetite for Reduction cookbook.  Here is the recipe for the dressing.

The eggplant bacon is very simple (but burns easily and is then disastrous!) and includes only 3 ingredients: eggplant, soy sauce and liquid smoke. The eggplant is sliced, roasted for 8 minutes, flipped, roasted again for 3 minutes, then cooled. After it is cooled, it is dipped in the soy/liquid smoke mixture, roasted for 3 more minutes and ready to eat!

Thai Green Curry - 2 ways

We make different varieties of Thai curry for dinner at least a few times per week, so we buy the curry paste in large quantities. Recently we ran out of green curry paste and replenished our stock from the Asian market. I was so irritated to realize, after getting it home and cooking with it one time, that this brand contained shrimp paste! Fortunately, the market also carries a brand that is vegan and my friend Miriam was more than happy to take the other off my hands.

We generally make the curry sauce the same: green curry paste, coconut milk, a little vegetarian stir fry sauce, and a little palm sugar. Sometimes a splash of Mirin or soy, sometimes extra ginger and garlic. The veggies are typically onion, bell peppers, broccoli, zucchini, eggplant, and whatever else seems good at the time.

The most recent variations:

Red Rice and 'Veef' (vegetarian beef)

Noodles and Vegan Shrimp

Akara, Fufu, and Chili-Tomato Relish

We spent Easter this year in Hamburg with our friends, David and Julia. They introduced us to fufu: a staple food of West and Central Africa. Last time I was at the Asian market grocery shopping, I was really excited to find a box of plantain fufu flour. 


Julia warned me that making fufu can be a bit challenging and it takes practice to get it right. I definitely don't think ours turned out perfectly this time. It had the consistency of very dry, instant mashed potatoes but with a powdery flavor. I think I will get some advice from David and Julia before giving it another go. 


Interestingly enough, while trying to figure out what to make with the fufu, I grabbed the August 2009 issue of Veg News and flipped to the page I, at some point in time, marked with a pink post-it note. It is an article called Marvelous Mali and discusses fufu and other African foods. It was one of those really odd moments of 'way too much of a coincidence to believe'. But it quickly became part of the dinner menu for the night.


Clockwise: Garlic bread, Akara, Relish, fufu, eggplant, roasted veggies and chickpeas

Akara (Black-eyed Pea Fritters) are a nice combo of black-eyed peas, onion, garlic, chile and bell peppers, and lots of spices. They are coated in cornmeal and fried. Ideally, they become round, fried, deliciousness. Mine basically melted and became slop. We determined that they required more of a 'deep fried' technique versus the pan frying that we attempted. We just threw the second batch in the oven instead of frying. They were pretty terrible but at least remained in 'ball form'. 


The Chile-Tomato Relish was fine, but too spicy and nothing to write home about. Below is the relish and fufu (sprinkled with fresh cilantro).

Fortunately, my friend Thea brought over lots of veggies, chickpeas, and bread to save the meal!


The eggplants were sliced, sprayed with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt, herbs, and paprika and baked. 

We chopped a red and yellow pepper, broccoli, and onion along with some chickpeas, sprayed it with olive oil, sprinkled dried tomato flakes and sesame Parmesan and roasted it. 

And, the best part was the bread! Thea started with frozen rolls, thawed a bit and sliced in half. She spread a layer of dijon mustard, grated a little garlic, sprinkled fresh parsley and sesame Parmesan and baked it. The combo of flavors was fantastic. 

Pumpkin Soup, Salad, Veggies and Cobbler

Pumpkin Soup
Even though fall is over and spring is finally here, I can't stop buying the little organic pumpkins that I keep finding in little shops around town.  I made a few alterations to this recipe including: carrot instead of apple/pear and oat milk instead of soy/almond. We sprinkled spicy paprika and cilantro on top. The soup went really well with these Bread Sticks. They are quick, versatile, and have a great texture.

From the Vegan Italiano cookbook,  I also made Asparagus with Tomato Vinaigrette. It sat in the fridge overnight and was very marinated by the time we ate it. It was served at room temp.

I am really in love with this recipe for Roasted Eggplant. It is so fast and tastes really good!

I have made this salad before. In my opinion, it is the perfect combo of flavors: pasta, white beans, sundried tomatoes, fennel, olives, and more. Trattoria Pasta Salad with White Beans.

And, for dessert. Pear Berry Cobbler. This recipe is officially in my permanent mix now! 

Vegan MoFo: I is for Imam Baildi

I googled "foods that start with i" and found something called Imam Baildi. It is eggplant, fried, then stuffed with tomatoes, onions, and garlic and baked. Sold.

Here is the recipe I followed.

I also made Jasmine Rice from this fantastic recipe.