Vegan Mofo 11: Tired and Stressed Edition

Some days, I come home from work totally exhausted. It's been a crazy week (and it's only Wednesday...oy!). I had no energy to make something super involved, so I tried the "hummamole" from Quick-Fix Vegan. It's pretty versatile because it's relatively plain. It's basically plain hummus with a whole avocado thrown in. It was good as a dip for veggies, but I think it would be delicious as a sandwich spread!

Vegan Mofo 10: Favorite Vegan Cookbooks

Let me begin by saying I own a TON of cookbooks. Like more than any reasonable human being will ever need. However, I justify this because it's the only thing I collect AND I read them like they are novels. Because of this, I own vegan and non-vegan cookbooks. I love food writing by Melissa Clark (her red lentil soup with lemon recipe is my all-time favorite!), Claudia Roden, Molly Wizenberg and Dorie Greenspan. For obvious reasons, I only cook very infrequently from these books since very few recipes are vegan-friendly. Mostly, these books sit very pristinely on the shelf.

I do, however, cook like a mad woman from all of my vegan cookbooks. The pages are stained and wrinkled from lots of cooking love. I wanted to share with you some of the ones I use the most, but I should be clear: this was like choosing my favorite children. Here are five of my favorites:

1. Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz : I love all of Isa's books, but this one is really stellar and right now it's probably my favorite out of all the cookbooks I own. It is so overused in my kitchen (and by that, I mean dirty and crumpled!), that I would feel awful even asking Isa to sign it if I ever met her. I've tried many, many recipes from here and each one has become a regular part of our menu rotation: Try these: Chimichurri tofu, buffalo tempeh, butternut rice, pineapple collards, vegetable korma.

2. The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau : This was one of the first vegan cookbooks I owned. The lemon bars are what really convinced me that you don't need butter, eggs or milk to have amazing desserts. Colleen's work is crucial and I appreciate her attitude toward veganism so much. Also check out her other cookbooks, which are gems as well.

3. Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson : Robin is probably the single most prolific vegan cookbook writer (and, ahem, I own most of them!). I've never had a recipe of hers that wasn't great. This book in particular has some wonderful recipes. Try: spanokopita (life changing!), samosa pie, and tropic of tempeh. I also like this one because this is Jesse's cookbook, meaning about once a week he makes us something from here. It's a win-win for me!

4. Vegan Yum Yum by Lauren Ulm : This is how every single cookbook should look: great instructions and beautiful color photographs for all of the recipes. One of my favorite meals is the chili lime tofu with collards and quinoa. I use the dry-frying method she details in that recipe at least once a week. I still mourn the fact that she doesn't update her blog anymore! I still use it for culinary inspiration. Come back, Lauren, come back!

5. How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman : I know, I know--this one isn't entirely vegan and I also know some people have strong opinions about Bittman. However, this is a great reference book. There have been times in my life that I've purchased produce or a spice that I didn't know what to do with and this book saved the day. His app is also great for when we're traveling and need a veg recipe on the go.

What are some of your most beloved cookbooks?

Vegan Mofo 9: Quinoa

I've been trying to get better at making quick, delicious weeknight meals. This is mostly because I like to go to the gym around 8:30 pm. This week I tried another recipe from Robin Robertson's Quick Fix Vegan: Tropical Quinoa. Quinoa, black beans, mango, red pepper, spices, garlic, onion, lime juice. Yum!

I served that with some barbecue baked tofu.

Delicious dinner in about 30 minutes!

Vegan Mofo 8: Tofu and Brussel Sprout Goodness

I recently stumbled across this recipe for Tofu and Roasted Brussel Sprouts in a Sweet Chili Sauce. It contains all of my favorite ingredients, so I figured I would like it. In fact, I own the cookbook that the original recipe came from: Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. It's one of my favorite cookbooks for vegetarian inspiration, but many of the recipes intimidate me. This was a great introduction. It was easy to make and tasted gourmet, so I highly recommend it.

Prepping the green onion and the shitakke mushrooms.

Marinating tofu in the delicious sauce.

Tofu and vegetable mixture cooking.

The final product, served over brown rice.

Vegan Mofo 7: Quick-Fix Vegan

Last week I received Robin Robertson's new cookbook, Quick-Fix Vegan, in the mail. I love her recipes. They are almost always easy, full of normal ingredients and tasty. First up? The harvest cookies. Think of a spice-filled oatmeal cookie with walnuts, dried cranberries and golden raisins (though I used regular because my Whole Foods didn't have them in the bulk bins).

These are no more difficult than a batch of regular oatmeal cookies but taste ten times better.

The entire house smelled of autumn spices: cinnamon, all-spice, etc.

Yum.

I also made her Moroccan-spiced pumpkin soup. I think next time I will use two cans of pumpkin for some more heft and maybe use an immersion blender to puree the bits of onion. It is not much to look at, but it had a real depth of flavor that I didn't expect. The recipe also calls for topping it with some pistachios, which I left off.

I would like to cook pretty much every recipe in this book. Next up might be the "hummamole" (a mix of guac and hummus) and the tropical black beans and quinoa.

Vegan Mofo 5: Good Vegan Eats

Some snapshots of what I've been eating lately:

Ridiculously amazing vegan pizza from Whole Foods: thin whole wheat crust, extra garlicky sauce, roasted tomatoes, artichokes, kalamata olives, squash, zucchini, spinach and Daiya. This may be the best pizza I've ever had. And it was $3.

Curry noodle soup (rice noodles, spicy curry broth, kale, sprouts, cilantro, basil, carrots and edamame) with spicy tofu from Java Green. The perfect lunch!

Brown rice sushi with cucumber and avocado.

Tofu bibimbob (brown rice, mixed veggies, pickled radish, baked tofu), also from Java Green

Butternut squash ginger and orange soup from Color Me Vegan, topped with cilantro, orange zest and green onion

"Tropic of Tempeh" from Vegan on the Cheap: rice topped with coconut curry tempeh, carrots, red pepper, onion, pineapple and a yummy sauce.

I've eaten these things AND lost 8 pounds in two weeks. Life doesn't get much better than that!

Vegan Mofo 4: Sunday Night Dinner

I am a football widow. During neglect season...I mean, football season, my Sundays are pretty empty. Jesse joined a fantasy football league this year, which means that unlike previous years where he only watched Saints' games, this year he has a reason to see them all. I decided that because of that, I'm bringing back the Sunday dinner. It gives me something to do and ensures that I get to see him for at least a little bit on Sundays! This past week we had:

Roasted brussel sprouts. We love them, so I make enough that we can have leftovers. I sprinkled them with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder and baked them on 375 until they were brown and soft.

For the first time ever, if you can believe it, I cooked with tempeh! The Buffalo Tempeh recipe from Appetite for Reduction just looked too delicious to pass up. I used the already cooked tempeh from Trader Joe's. Here it is marinating.

Then you cook it in a pan with a little non-stick spray while reserving the marinade.

In the last five minutes, you add the marinade to let it cook down.

I also made this Lemony Kale Salad recipe that I found in the Oprah magazine. I know how healthy kale is. I've tried it baked and I've tried it in soups. I just don't really care for it. This salad is the exception. When kale is massaged, it gets a new texture that I find much better tasting. Since this recipe calls for hemp seeds, you get an extra protein boost as well! It's amazing and I highly encourage you to try it out.

Dinner is done!

Vegan Mofo 3: Choco-Chai Coffee Cake

Oh my goodness. When I saw this recipe in The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes by Kris Holechek, I could not resist giving it a try. After all, I am a serious fan of anything that includes this:

Seriously, I am a chai fanatic.

And at the end, you get this decadent but airy cake topped with some chocolately goodness. It would be perfect to take to a brunch or to give to someone that needs some chai chocolate amazing cake in their life. Next time I might try adding some more spices to mine since even with soaking five tea bags in the warm soy milk, the cake only has a mild chai flavor.

Warning: It makes a LOT. And your house will smell amazing and you will be tempted to eat it all. However, if you are trying to get healthier like me, have a tiny piece, give a big piece to your boyfriend and then gift the rest to a vegan co-worker!

Vegan Mofo 2: Pumpkin Spiced Pancakes

The weather finally shifted this weekend in the greater Washington, DC area. The air was cold and crisp. While on a grocery shopping trip at Trader Joe's, I saw a huge display of all things pumpkin. I grabbed a can of plain pumpkin puree (okay, so I grabbed a few!) because I like to put it in just about anything this time of year. When we returned home, I hit up my cookbooks to find something delicious to make. The winner? "Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes" from Julie Hasson's Vegan Diner. I've owned this cookbook for several months but I haven't made anything from it just yet. If all the recipes are as good as this one, I need to get moving on making some more!

The recipe called for a mix of ground ginger, all spice, nutmeg and cinnamon. You really can't go wrong when you mix these with some pumpkin.

First you mix together the dry ingredients. In the background, you can see my cookbook stand, which felt frivolous at the time, but is by far the best $24.95 I've ever spent.

You mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and then combine the two.

Voila! Autumn-y spiced pumpkin goodness. These will be making many repeat performances in my kitchen this fall!

Vegan Mofo 1: The Newest Mofo on the Block

Today begins Vegan Mofo! You can read more about what it is here, but basically this means that for the month of October, I'll be blogging a lot. And each of those posts will include something about vegan food, whether that be a new recipe or a review of a cookbook, product or restaurant.

Since this is my first time doing this, there won't be any sort of theme, other than the fact that we just made a commitment to keeping a vegan kitchen (which really only meant getting rid of the eggs that Jesse, my boyfriend, likes to make French toast with and the parmesan cheese I was sometimes cooking with). I'm excited to get back in the kitchen and create some yummy looking stuff. I'm also excited to use more of my many, many cookbooks. This past month has included a lot of introspection and evolution in my thinking on veganism and I'm hoping to include some of that as well. If you are new around here, some of my favorite things include my Vitamix, the Food for Thought podcast, avocado, yoga, Latin American film, Sweet and Sara marshmallows, reading lots and lots, Boston Terriers, and traveling anywhere and everywhere. I live with my boyfriend and I'm currently trying to get healthier.

So please, come along on this journey with me. I promise to try to post a wide array of things if you promise to read it. Happy cooking!

Scenes from the Kitchen

Provencal Vegetable Soup from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. I LOVE Dorie's recipes. They are always thorough and great to cook with, as well as accompanied by great stories. This soup had it all! Zucchini, green beans, white beans, small pasta, tomatoes, carrot and a ton of fresh herbs. The cherry on top? It called for making fresh pesto and putting some on top. I prompty stirred mine in after taking this shot and it took this soup to a whole new level.

Leftover pesto turned into wheat pasta shells, pesto and fresh tomatoes for lunch the next day.

I also tried my very first vegan lasagna this week! It was from The 30 Day Vegan Challenge by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (a fantastic book, by the way!). I chose this one because it didn't call for nutritional yeast. I'm ashamed to admit that, despite knowing how good it is for you, I really just hate it. Anyway....this lasagna was awesome! It came together very quickly with the help of the food processor and, due to the tofu, has lots of protein. If you make it, definitely use the fresh basil it calls for rather than trying to substitute dried. It makes the whole dish.

Delicious Dishes

Miso Udon Stir-fry from Appetite for Reduction. Let me yet again proclaim my love for this cookbook. It gave us a bowl full of yumminess: udon noodles, broccoli, azuki beans, swiss chard, green onion, miso, and assorted spices. It also taught me a new method for cooking broccoli, which I know I'll use all the time.

White bean and artichoke salad from Color Me Vegan. This one will be making many a repeat appearance in our kitchen. It was perfection.

Jesse made a southwestern shepherd's pie from Vegan on the Cheap. Another book full of winners. This was hearty, spicy, comfort food at its best.

A vegan peach galette, courtesy of Chloe Coscarelli's website. Very easy and very tasty.

Delicious Dishes: Papa Pea's Jambalaya

Earlier this week I told you about my discovery of the Peas and Thank You blog and how Mama Pea's new cookbook arrived at my door recently. My first foray into cooking from it happened to be in the form of Papa Pea's Jambalaya.

I try to make recipes close together that have similar ingredients so that nothing goes to waste (i.e. two things with cilantro so I don't buy a bunch and only use a tablespoon). This week I used celery in my very favorite lentil soup recipe, so I searched for some other way to use the remaining stalks. Enter Jambalaya! I was leaving for a work retreat for a few days, so this was the perfect way to help stock the fridge for Jesse before heading out of town. It includes meatless sausage (in the form of Field Roast chipotle sausages) and since I hate meat substitutes (an entire post in and of itself for another day), this was a perfect time to try this one. I love that it only needs one pan too, if you used pre-cooked rice.

The final dish:

Delicious Dishes: Summer Succotash Quesadillas

Last week I was scouring the interwebs looking for some dinner inspiration when I came across the Peas and Thank You blog. Mama Pea's writing style is hysterical and full of delicious-sounding things to cook. Her girls are absolutely adorable and I aspire to one day have a family like hers that likes to eat healthy, veggie food. I recommend checking out her blog if you like any of the following: veggies, little kids or laughing.

I immediately pre-ordered her new cookbook (and it arrived late last week--more on this later!), and in the meantime, we tried this recipe from her blog: Summer Succotash Quesadillas with Mmm Sauce. First, you cook up zucchini, red pepper, onions, corn and lots of yummy spices.

You also blend up the Mmm sauce. I wasn't crazy about it on its own (I don't love the taste of nutritional yeast), but it was delicious on the quesadillas.

You heat up a pan with some cooking spray and lay down one whole wheat tortilla. Put on some Daiya, some of the mix and cook away. It was my first experience with pepperjack Daiya. It's melty and yummy.
Cut it up and then you're all set! It's a quick and easy weeknight meal. Here's Jesse's dinner: the quesadilla plus a big salad of baby spinach, edamame, cucumbers and carrots.

Delicious Dishes

Summer Lovin' Curried Corn and Veggie Chowder from Appetite for Reduction. Veggie-filled, easy to make and delicious. This will definitely make a repeat appearance in our summer menu rotation. I can't recommend this cookbook highly enough and I tell everyone I know to go get it NOW, NOW, NOW! Isa, feel free to hire me as your publicist. You can pay me in scrumptious vegan eats.

Lemon Bars from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. Perfectly tart. These are the best lemon bars I've ever had, vegan or not. This is a great book for learning to veganize all of the classics. Please forgive the presentation. The recipe says to sift powdered sugar over the bars just before serving. I don't own a sifter and the organic powdered sugar I had was a little clumpy. I tried sprinkling it onto the bars and well, you can see the results. I promise they taste way better than they look!

Delicious Dishes: Jesse Edition

Now that Jesse no longer has to study for the MCAT every day, he has decided that he is going to start cooking for us one night a week. Last Friday night, he made this: a Southwestern chowder from Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson. This book uses well-known, easy-to-find and cheap ingredients to make yummy dishes. I appreciate being reminded that vegan food can be quick, cheap and healthy. There is a sidebar "Splurge a Little" section that tells you ways you can kick the dish up a bit by adding a few things here or there. This one suggested adding diced avocado on top of the soup. You don't have to ask me twice to add avocado! Mmm. Overall, this was a really good, healthy dinner that I can see us making over and over again as a weeknight staple. And a special thanks to my Love for making us dinner!

Delicious Dishes: Summer Squash Soup

Every spring and summer, I have an obssessive love affair with zucchini. Last year I think Jesse was at the point where he was going to kill me if I brought even one more zucchini into the apartment. Since it's been awhile, the Summer Squash Soup was the first recipe that caught my eye when I got Heidi Swanson's beautiful and inspiring new cookbook, Super Natural Every Day.

The price of this book is worth it for this recipe alone. A delicious mix of ingredients that include yellow squash, zucchini, Thai red curry paste and coconut milk, it's topped with tofu croutons. Jesse proclaimed that it was one of the best soups I've ever made (and, since I am a soup fanatic, you can be sure that I've forced him to try a ton of them over the course of our relationship). Best of all, it came together in about a half hour, so it's a perfect weeknight dish.

Last Weekend...

...I made a few dozen of these hamantaschen, in honor of Purim. This year I went with cherry preserves and apple pie filling. There are recipes for these all over the web but I have found that the recipe in A Treasury of Jewish Baking comes out perfect every single time. And now I've been sucking down green smoothies and eating veggie sushi non-stop. Time to do some Spring cleaning, in all aspects of life!