Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Last gasp

Last chance to blog, or update facebook, or twitter for at least two weeks while we travel in the Land of Sausage. (Not the Land of Meat, which is Argentina. We've been there before and found a macrobiotic restaurant in the middle of nowhere Patagonia.) I don't know what we'll eat in the Land of Sausage, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Plus I have the internet to help me. I've found several vegetarian restaurants everywhere we will be.

So before we leave I felt the need to cook all the vegetables in the house. There is not one thing left, except cabbage which will be made into sauerkraut when we get back anyway.

Monday night we had soup with rice, French lentils, cauliflower, carrots and sauted chard.



Oh, and I spent all night making granola. Got to have something to eat on the plane.



Tuesday night we had leftover rice in a one-pot meal (my favorite): broccoli, kale and pinto beans.



Wednesday night we had the rest of the rice (yes, we make very big pots of rice) together with cauliflower, carrots, kale, and chard, flavored with miso and served with broiled tofu (this time with lemon and lime juice!)

Monday, August 17, 2009

Some like it spicy

Last week was warm so I was perfecting my summer cooking techniques. Some dinners were spicy (a favorite of some people in this household) and some dinners were warm and comforting (my favorite). Here's a rundown of last week. (Can you guess which days were cold and foggy and which were warm?)

Monday: Sweet potato fries with a stir fry of navy beans, carrots, and kale, served over buckwheat.



Tuesday: Broccoli, canellini beans, and rice soup.



Wednesday: Quinoa with steamed veggies, marinated tofu, tossed with a spicy vinegar and olive oil dressing.



Thursday: Red lentil and cauliflower curry with rice and plain soy yogurt.



Friday: More curry.

Saturday: Corn tortillas with broiled zucchini, carrots, and tofu, served with blanched chard and avocado.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Learning Curve

Things I have learned this week: 1) I don't like daikon, that big white Japanese radish. I've tried now several times and I'm giving up. 2) I finally learned how to use the wok the way God intended. It came with this odd round disk that I wasn't sure what to do with. Apparently you put that on the bottom (over the burner) so that the wok stays upright and still. Amazing! Now it might be worth using it occasionally. 3) Staying up late to hull strawberries may not be the best use of my time. (But I can't resist the deals at the farmer's market and end up with far too many: 1/2 flat for 7 bucks this week!) 4) Following recipes can sometimes be a good thing. The dressing I made for Saturday night's rice salad made me want to lick the plate. (Thanks Veganomicon!)

Tuesday night I made fried rice in the wok, though I added shredded daikon to it which it turns out I don't like. So I was disappointed even though I had used a ton of delicious fresh vegetables. Thankfully Dandelion the Bitter Green liked it so it didn't go to waste.



Wednesday night was pasta night with sauteed broccoli, carrots and kale. Served with tofu that was marinated and browned in its own dish.



Thursday night was Taco Noche. Brown rice and corn tortillas with pinto beans, broiled zucchini, carrots, and onions, served with avocado and salad greens.



Friday night was a savory tempeh dish with steamed kale, carrots, and broccoli served with brown rice. Dandelion the Bitter Green made this one while I was out and it was so delicious!



Saturday night was the rest of the rice, leftover steamed veggies, and a can of cannelini beans tossed with a Mediterranean dressing from Veganomicon (essentially olive oil, lemon juice, and herbs), served over salad greens.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Heaven and Hell

Yes, it's true the big pot of curry lasted for many meals. I was starting to feel like the House of Rice and Curry (which is kind of unusual around here. Usually we're the House of Rice and Kale.)

Saturday night I went with some fellow yogis to see a Giants game. They provided veggie hot dogs with a homemade jalapeno masala chutney. I didn't try that because it sounded too spicy for me. But someone had also made vegan chocolate chip cookies so I couldn't pass those up!



Sunday night I tried a recipe from a cool new cookbook that I checked out from the library called Cooking with Seitan. (Note to publishers: this cookbook would be way hipper if you added some devil horns around the word 'seitan'. In fact I was really surprised that you hadn't.) It was seitan cutlets broiled with a mushroom gravy sauce. We added rice and lentils and a side dish of sauted carrots, onions and baby bok choy.



Monday night was a broccoli soup with leftover rice and lentils, carrots, broccoli, and white miso to flavor. Hearty and delicious.