Quinoa Salad with Black Beans & Toasted Cumin Seeds

I have made almost half of the salads in Appetite for Reduction. This was good but not my favorite. I had such high expectations for the flavor of toasted cumin seeds. The book says they taste smoky, but I did not get that effect.

At any rate, it was an extremely quick recipe that includes quinoa, toasted cumin seeds, tomatoes, lime juice, agave, black beans, scallions, and mixed greens.

I also made Chickpea cutlets :-)

Catalan Couscous Salad with Pears

John made this salad, from Appetite for Reduction, for dinner one night and it was delicious and filling. The basics include spinach topped with whole wheat couscous, toasted almonds, pear slices, and Romesco dressing.

The dressing is oil-free and addicting! It consists of almonds, shallots, roasted red peppers, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, agave, salt, pepper, and water.

The salad takes very little time to put together and has the combo of sweet (pears) and savory (dressing).

Lentil Daal with Basmati Rice

This recipe is from my new cookbook Love Bites by Heather Mills. It was very easy to prepare and was filling because of the veggies, lentils, and rice.

I soaked the lentils overnight so they cooked very quickly. The sauce consists of coconut oil, cauliflower, tomatoes, onion, lime, cilantro, red pepper flakes, garlic, ginger, cumin, salt and tumeric. It is served over basmati rice.

Polenta Stuffing

This is definitely on the menu for Thanksgiving this year! It is from Appetite for Reduction and is really good. Polenta is cooked and cooled flat so that it can be cut into squares. It is then cooked with an onion, celery, garlic, sage, thyme, salt and pepper. It tastes so much like the traditional stuffing my mom used to make!

Hodge-podge meals this week...

I have been in a slump so cooking has been very simple recently. John and I pooled our energy one night to make roasted veggies, tofu, and sauteed cabbage.

The veggies were coated in a mixutre of white wine, dijon mustard, oregano, and pepper and then (over)roasted. The green beans shriveled up a bit too much!

The tofu was cooked on the stove with olive oil and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast, salt and pepper.

The cabbage was cut into shreds and cooked on the stove with an onion, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

This is quinoa salad with sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and olives. The dressing is a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and lemon juice. 

And we had this for breakfast one morning. A tofu scramble consisting of red peppers, broccoli, spinach, garlic and a splash of soy. The potatoes are diced sweet potatoes roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Christmas Presents for the Vegans in Your Life

For Christmas, my adorable sister-in-law, Terra and my brother, Craig bought us the cookbook Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. We LOVE it! So far, I have made three recipes but can't wait to try them all. The ingredients lists are short and simple, but packed with flavor. Nutritional information is included with each recipe. And, a majority are soy and gluten free, or give alterations to make them such.

Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa Salad ( because you could eat this EVERYDAY and never get tired of it!!!)

 Shaved Brussels Sprouts

Lotsa Veggie Lentil Soup

 

And, they also bought us a milk frother! So, John made Oat Milk Lattes today.

 

 

Vegan MoFo: Y is for Yogurt Cake

I have to be honest...I had zero energy to cook and/or bake tonight! But, with 2 letters and 2 days remaining in November, I decided not to push it. So, I found this recipe but did not have the lemon zest. Instead, I had fresh oranges that supplied orange zest and juice. I thought the addition of semolina was interesting. And it is no lie that this cake smells terrific while baking!

The texture of the cake was really nice. There was a thin, crisp layer to the top and edges, while the inside was extremely moist, fluffy and a bit grainy but in a very appealing way! I enjoyed the orange flavor (I also used walnuts instead of almonds) but I will also try it again with lemon someday.

Thanksgiving Dinner

 We had a fantastic Thanksgiving with delicious food, fun friends, and lots of wine.

To start, I made Pumpkin Hummus and toasted pita bread. The hummus was my attempt to make the version I had in Thailand earlier this year. It included: chickpeas, pumpkin, tahini, salt, garlic, toasted sesame seeds, and green onions.  I chopped up pita bread that I made earlier this week and toasted it in the oven for a few minutes. The hummus has potential but I think I will experiment a bit more before I call it a success.

Next, I made Onion Soup Gratinéed with Cream-Truffle Mashed Potatoes.

I also made a Kibbeh with Apples, Walnuts, and Fake Feta cheese. The recipe is in a magazine from a grocery store I used to shop at in Eugene, Oregon. It is vegetarian but easily made vegan. For the feta, I followed this recipe.

Joy made two salads that were fantastic. One consisted of couscous, apples, raisins, and almonds. The other was kale and shredded beets. If we are lucky, maybe she will post the recipes in the comments section for all of us to enjoy :-)

And finally, for dessert! Hannes made a yummie Apple Crisp and I made Sweet Potato Blondies.

And, here are the place mats and napkins that I made to decorate the table. I found nice quality fabric remnants at IKEA and put them to use.

Vegan MoFo: B is for Bagel Sandwiches

I have always wanted to make the bagels from Vegan Brunch but never found the perfect excuse...until today! I didn't worry too much about the shape because I was so nervous about the dough. But, they came out so good and tasted exactly like bagels! I was worried they would just taste like round rolls of bread with a hole in the middle. Fortunately, that was not the case.

I roasted some tomato flavored tofu and added lettuce, fresh tomato, and dijon mustard to make bagel sandwiches. 

I also made some pumpkin, quinoa and veggie soup. I followed this recipe from the Fat Free Vegan blog. I did not add the lentils though. For the veggies, I included the fresh version of the following: carrot, celery, brussels sprouts, mushrooms, spinach, and green onions.

Braised Seitan with Brussels and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

The recipe, along with the recipe for the seitan, are from Veganomicon. It calls for kale but due to the fact that we couldn't find kale at the store, we left it out. There was discussion about substituting spinach, it just didn't happen. I made the seitan the day before. Here is a link to the actual pages from the cookbook, also including the recipe for chickpea cutlets (best. things. ever.) I love this seitan recipe because it is very easy and unlike the recipe for Simple Seitan, the cutlets bake, not boil.

We spooned it all over rice and really enjoyed the flavors of the sun-dried tomatoes, wine, brussels, shallots, and everything else! Easy and delicious.

Enjedra with Spinach

I had never heard of this meal before stumbling upon it while "blog surfing." Pride and Vegudice is a very cute blog that posts interesting meals and commentary. The author provides a simple explanation as to what Enjedra is; a Middle Eastern dish consisting of spiced rice and lentils with caramelized onions. YUM!

The recipe is simple but very flavorful and filling. It is suggested that greens can be added; I added fresh spinach. Next time, I will not put quite so much salt in though. I also used Basmati rice instead of brown and 5 spice powder instead of All-spice.

It makes a lot and I have a feeling this will make for fantastic leftovers!

Soft Poppy Seed Polenta with Roasted Veggie Stew

This meal turned out to be a huge success, but it took so many strange turns during the prep that I really never knew what I was making until it was finished!

It all started out as an attempt to make a Polenta Pie. After adding the water to the polenta, I realized I was mentally following a recipe for "soft" polenta, not the kind that molds. So, I threw in poppy seeds and decided it would sit well inside a hearty stew. Veganomicon suggests this polenta with an eggplant and chickpea stew....I did not have eggplant or hydrated chickpeas. Instead, I roasted a variety of veggies and herbs (and actually burned them a bit accidentally, but the flavor was great and the crispness of the veggies held while they heated in the stew). For the stew broth, I added a veggie bullion cube to water along with 2 diced tomatoes. I had the idea of adding a tablespoon of flour to give it a bit of texture but the flour just clumped before I could whisk it together. So, I got out the blender and blended the mixture, which turned out to be a great idea!

Golden Curry with Basmati Rice

In September, I will be changing my status from full-time housewife to "I need more help around the house because I now have a full time job!"
Although I have loved spending my days experimenting with vegan cooking, obsessing over housework, reading, catching up on American TV, traveling, and other adventures inside the home and beyond, I am extremely excited about a) a schedule, b) daily adult interaction that doesn't involve someone being paid to help me (e.g, check-out clerks, ikea employees, dry cleaner, etc.) and c) my own paycheck!

To help me get back into the swing of full time work, John is helping with dinner a few nights a week. For his first meal, he chose this boxed, Indian-inspired, "just add water" dish. I love him to pieces and he is an amazing partner.....but I quickly established it was an old favorite from his bachelor days.

That aside, it was a hot vegan meal, contained veggies and rice, and came together quickly, and quietly!

He added chickpeas, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, and onion. He was going to add tofu to the mix, but forgot! :-)

Double Broccoli Quinoa and Chickpea Cutlets

This is my absolute favorite recipe for quinoa from the blog site 101 Cookbooks. I followed her recommendation to add sliced avocado, additional toasted almonds, and chili oil before serving.

Incidentally, last time we were at the Asian Market, John bought Chili and Garlic oil. It is extremely hot but added a nice element to the dish.

The broccoli pesto portion of the recipe calls for Parmesan cheese. I made a batch of Sesame Parm. I did not have white sesame seeds though, so I substituted black. Great flavor, interesting color!

Chickpea cutlets are always a hit around here and impossible to mess up.

Ginger Veggie Stir Fry (2 ways)

Initially, this stir fry was to accompany bean curd. The bean curd flopped but this recipe was a fantastic score. I made it two nights in one week, once with rice and once with noodles. It isn't really anything special (I used flour instead of corn starch) but for some reason, I couldn't get enough of it!

Roasted Vegetables with Quinoa and Tomato Sauce

Even though tofu is available here, we are trying to cut back on our consumption of soy. This means, lots of vegetables and grains! Our oven here in Denmark is exceptionally nice and roasts veggies in just minutes. The oven in Vienna could take up to an hour just to heat up. For a quick meal, I roasted zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, red and yellow pepper, onion, and garlic with a random assortment of herbs. The veggies were served over quinoa, cooked, then mixed with a jar of organic pasta sauce. On the side, olives stuffed with garlic cloves and guacamole.

Every time I make a meal that consists of random flavors, textures, and temperatures, John comments it is his favorite type of dinner. I agree!

Spicy Polenta Pie

Officially our second meal as residents of Aarhus, Denmark. (The first was just pasta with a jar of tomato sauce.... Not really blog worthy!) We are still figuring out where to shop, unpacking, and heavy duty cleaning of the new apartment. Fortunately, there is a grocery store within walking distance and they have a decent selection of organic produce, grains, cereals, and other general necessities.

I followed this recipe for the polenta but added thyme, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. I didn't use the recipe for the vegetables though. It has a really delicious, sweet flavor but I was not in the mood for anything sweet. Instead, I chopped onion, zucchini, mushrooms, red and yellow pepper, cauliflower, broccoli, and whole garlic cloves. I mixed it with olive oil, thyme, red pepper flakes, paprika, salt and pepper and roasted it.

We spooned on tomato sauce before eating. It was very simple but so flavorful.

Quick Veggie Stir-Fry

Nothing exciting, but very flavorful and quick. The veggies consisted of half a zucchini, a handful of mushrooms, half an onion, 3 garlic cloves, and a bunch of broccoli. This was slightly cooked down in a splash of water. We like a little crispness to our veggies. The sauce was a combo of soy, rice wine vinegar, Sriracha, and sesame oil, mixed and then poured over the cooked veggies. We served it over jasmine rice.

Samosa Quesadillas and Pineapple Fried Rice

With my homemade flour tortillas, I decided to try Samosa Quesadillas from the Vegan Mom blog. They sounded so easy: mashed potatoes, peas, curry. For some reason, my mashed potatoes were a disaster. I boiled the potatoes, then added them to the food processor with a little coconut milk. The result was a glue-like, completely unforgiving gooey mess. It overflowed in the food processor and created an hour plus clean-up project for me. Deciding to power on, I spatulaed the majority of the mess out of the food processor (and off the counter and in/under/around the blade) and added the peas and curry. I can see why this would be a great meal, with the right potato mixture!

I also made Pineapple fried rice. This is the recipe I vaguely followed. I omitted the carrot, raisins, peas, and the egg and instead added zucchini, green onion, and red pepper.

Spicy Lentils, Beet Salad with Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette, and Scallion Flat Bread

I am cutting way back on our weekly grocery budget because we are moving in 2 months and I want to move as few food items as possible. I have quite a nice selection of spices built up so I made two things tonight that call for a wide variety. First was Quick Spicy Lentils. I used a can of brown lentils and substituted lemon juice and sage for the coriander. I also left out the chiles. I have made this recipe in the past and the cayenne gives it enough heat to suit me. Along with the lentils, a Beet Salad with Cumin-Lime Vinaigrette. The recipe is about half way down this page. I changed many things. Here are my adjustments:
1 garlic clove
Salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 tablespoons finely diced shallot
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon of sage
¼ teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1/3 cup olive oil
3 beets
Whisk all ingredients together and pour over chopped beets.

And, to bring it all together, Scallion Flat Bread with dipping sauce. The flat bread is like a traditional paratha. It consists of flour, peanut and sesame oil, sugar, salt, water and scallions. The recipe is from Veganomicon. The dipping sauce is soy based with rice wine vinegar, ginger, sugar, and sesame seeds.