Substantial Mix-n-Match Salad
Mango (Passion-less) Sorbet
Mushy Peas
Post-Race Protein Shake
Sticky Rice with Mango
Chocolate-Dipped Things
Baked Polenta Fries
Easy Apple Tarts
Orange-Soy Seitan Tenders with Polish Pimped Mashed Potatoes & red kale
How about we put the girls to bed a little early tonight and make a special Valentine's Day dinner just for us?
Side Note: Curious minds may wonder what kind of paste produces this kind of photo. The girls are brushing with Logodent. I wish all healthy habits were as easy as this one! The girls love this toothpaste and it's something I can feel good about as well. Art & I still prefer Nature's Gate Creme de Mint, we find that it gives us the maximum Valentine kissability.
Here's the plan: I'll wash kale & cook while you pop the bottle of wine & scoot the girls off to bed...
1. Purple + Green Kale. Steamed with sauteed garlic in olive oil. Art sprinkles a little sea salt on his; for me, it's lemon juice & sea salt. I like freshly squeezed, but I've wasted lemons that weren't used in time, and I've also had to go without because I wasn't prepared, possibly because they were over-priced, or because they weren't organic. I really miss CA produce, so a bottle of Lakewood is key to have on hand.
2. Couscous with Sweet Red Bell Pepper and Carrot Confetti & fresh Italian Parsley.
3. Sauteed Tofu with the current house favorite marinade, Mr. Yoshida's. We call it Mr. YO! and it blows Soy Vay away (which is better if it's diluted with a can of pineapple chunks & juice)
4. Washed down with a bottle of 2004 Red Bicyclette Merlot. Nothing fancy, but oh so smooth...and French.
BTW, This is where I've been getting my Bizarro fix since my newspaper squelched Piraro's thought provoking and humorous voice.
Hubby works out of town a few days of the week, so we celebrated with dinner & wine on Monday. I thought Valentine's Day would be about making cupcakes and paper hearts with the girls. But, when Art called this morning, he sent me on a scavenger hunt to find a gift he left. 'How it all Vegan!' and a Yoga DVD were nestled in a paper bag with his signature sketch. Such preplanned thoughtfulness!
Thanks Honey! I Love You so much! Happy Valentine's Day! XOXO
A turkey walnut marked each person's place at the dinner table. (duck & mouse nuts) Our extended families couldn't join us this year, so we invited friends who didn't already have plans. They also had to be willing to experiment with us on several new vegan dishes. Not too many food photos because they didn't turn out well due to poor lighting. I was also in a hurry to just serve the food already and spare our guests waiting for photographs. Anyway, -- this is how it went.
Jeanne's Flaky Pastry
2 1/4 c. Flour
1 tsp. Sea Salt
3/4 c. non-hydrogenated shortening
7 Tbsp. ice water
Combine flour and salt. Cut in 1/2 cup of the shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal. Cut in remaining shortening until mixture is size of large peas. Add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time -- working the dough with a wooden spoon or your hands -- until particles cling together when pressed into a ball. Cover with a damp towel; let stand several minutes. (This is a good time to prepare your pie filling) Then, divide in half; roll into 2 9-inch pie crusts.
For the apple filling, I pared, cored, & sliced a 1 lb. bag of apples. Combined with 3/4 c. Sugar, 2 Tbsp. arrowroot powder, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 Tbsp. lemon juice. Bake @ 425* for 50 minutes. When the pie edges are golden, cover with an aluminum ring to protect from burning.
Pumpkin Tofu Pie
1 15 oz organic pureed pumpkin
3/4 c. Sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. nutmeg
3 Tbsp. Arrowroot Powder
1 package silken, firm tofu, cubed
1 9-inch unbaked pie shell
In the processor, blend the pumpkin and sugar. Add salt, spices and arrowroot powder. Then, add tofu, and mix thoroughly. Pour mixture into pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes at 425*, Then lower heat to 350* and bake for an hour. Chill and serve. This pie was a huge hit! :o)
This is 'Curly Kale with Caramelized Onions' from Vegetarian Times, Nov. 2006. This was good, but I'll go back to my regular way next time. We also had 'Best Brussels Sprouts' from Vegan Lunch Box, pg. 261. The name is fitting, and is our new favorite way to eat brussels sprouts -- lightly glazed with sweet & sour. I also made Idaho Mashed Potatoes with plain Silk and Earth Balance. I peeled and chopped the potatoes early in the morning, then put them in the pot and covered with cold water and ice for later. I made 'Old Fashioned Bread Stuffing' from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, pg. 148. This was another success to add to next year's meal. It's great using the crockpot because it frees up hands to work on other parts of the feast.
This is our Tofurkey Roast -- Art added some carrots & onions. He also made Sweet Potatoes, Cranberry Sauce, and a Green Bean Casserole. I was striving for a vegan Thanksgiving, and we came very close. If The Vegan Police had made a surprise visit, they would've tagged us for the marshmallows on top of the sweet potatoes and the whip cream for the pie.
It was a great meal, and we have so much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving!
Left-Overs Pot Pie
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 small onion
1 shallot
2 Stalks Celery
Sea Salt
2 Sweet Potatoes, cubed (optional)
left-over mashed potatoes
Fresh or Frozen Corn
2 Vegan Bouillon
3 c. Water
3 Tbsp. Arrowroot Powder
1/4 c. Fresh Parsley
Puff Pastry Sheet
Heat oil and saute onion, shallot, & celery until translucent. Add sweet potato, corn, bouillon, & water. Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat an simmer until cooked through. Mix 1/2 c. liquid from mixture and arrowroot powder -- stir back into mixture. Simmer until it thickens. Preheat oven to 425*. Coat with cooking spray and press a layer of left-over mashed potatoes in the bottom of a pie tin. I also added some left-over tofurkey. Then fill with the vegetable mixture. With a pizza cutter, and using the pie tin as a guide, cut a circle from one puff pastry sheet a little larger than the pie tin. Cut air release holes in the top of the pastry and fit on top, crimping the edges. Bake 15 minutes, or until brown and puffy.
I don't "hate" sandwiches. I like them well enough, and trust me, I've eaten my fair share of them -- usually as a last resort, mind you, like after crossing a desert. Which is literally true, because when we drive to CA, we try really hard to make Bishop before Erick Schat's closes because they make an amazing Veggie Sandwich. (it's hard to get fresh veggie food on the road!) But this is my sandwich story -- and this is my new high-water mark as far as sandwiches are concerned. 
VwaV 'Tempeh Bacon' pg. 23 (cooked yesterday, cold from the fridge)
Tomato (organic, thin slices)
Kale (raw, hand-tear pieces from the spine)
Dijon Mustard (Woodstock Farms Organic)
Idaho Harvest Organic Golden Flax & Whole Grains Bread (Fresh & Local!)
Half of a California Avocado
I think kale is way better than lettuce in sandwiches. It has great flavor and really stands up to the sandwich squeezing & is prettier. 
These are 'Lindsey's Peanut Butter Cupcakes' from La Dolce Vegan! pg. 239. They were delicious, we'll make them again & again.
This morning, I made Breakfast Ice Cream -- inspired by Gaia's post. Can't wait to share the photos with you -- it was a big hit! Have a wonderful weekend everybody!
This is how we spent the morning -- on bikes with the cool-cloudy breeze all around, rushing river beside us, and the green tree canopy overhead. It was lovely. We packed a picnic of water and pb&j sandwiches and apples.
Smoothies are the best after some exercise. In the glass is a great blend of:
Fresh --- pineapple, peach, mango, banana, OJ
Frozen --- strawberries, water (ice!)
I also made 'Peanut Butter Cupcakes' from La Dolce Vegan! pg. 239 - We were pretty hungry, and they disappeared quickly sans photo. I'm still confused about the differences between muffins and cupcakes. What are the rules?
It was a bicyclin' kind of day, so we popped this inexpensive bottle of French red. It went perfectly with...
a green salad! This bowl consisted of:
Butter Lettuce
Red Butter Lettuce
Red Bell Pepper
Green Onion
Tomatoes (from the garden!)
Kale might be our favorite vegetable (we prefer VwaV 'Garlicky Kale' pg. 120) and I still had some Asian Tempest garlic around. You also see steamed asparagus & red bell pepper, which was added to the veats bites when they were finished cooking. There's also collard greens, which we think turns out best in the rice cooker with a little water and earth balance & sea salt -- that's it! Art cooked the Veats Bites with a small amout of basic bbq sauce. This is our favorite kind of meal --- Green!
Those of you who check in from time to time know that we love soul food. Here's our latest helping: Blackeyed Peas, Greens, & Seitan.
This time, Art cooked the greens. They were extra good because the full flavor emerged & wasn't covered up. This is how he prepared it:
1 bunch each: Collard Greens, Purple Kale, Green Kale
1/4 Onion, finely chopped
2 small cloves Garlic
2 tbs. Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Boil Greens in 4 quarts Water. Add Salt after simmering 1 hour. Drain, add 2 cups fresh Water & reboil to steam. Serve with Earth Balance & Sea Salt.
I've been wanting to make this jerk, Seitan, for a while now & was inspired even more by Matt over @ the BakeHouse. Experimenting is fun, so I marinated the seitan (VwaV p. 157) four different ways:
1. BBQ Sauce
2. Sweet & Sour Sauce
3. Soy Vay Teriyaki
4. Jerk Mainade (VwaV p. 159)
We think the seitan tastes best when cut into thin strips and fried.
The seitan took several hours to prepare -- mostly with tasks that don't require a lot of attention like simmering & marinating. So it was a good day to get things done around the house......
Like organizing the tupperware drawer.
Good idea, Abi! :o)
The next day, I whipped up these drop biscuits from The Vegan Family Cookbook. While the biscuits were baking, I cooked some of the bbq seitan. Put them together, & you have a little sandwich. They were so good & cute. They disappeared too quickly for a photo.
We make a lot of muffins around here, but this is my first time making Dreena's 'As-You-Like Muffins' from TEV. I used half whole wheat pasty flour & half unbleached all-purpose. This is a basic muffin recipe, and she offers many variations to make them as you like. This time, I liked mine with dried blueberries & cherries. They were delicious warm with Earth Balance and had a sweet hint of applesauce.
Liv and I went to the farmer's market while Abi napped and Art worked with a band in the studio. It was fun with just the two of us, and we wandered over to the artists' area. The market has a wonderful, free art program for kids and this week the 3-5 year olds could choose between ice painting (paint with salt), or clay painting. Liv chose the later, and here you can see a great beginning to her fish composition.
There are several artistic vendors at the market, and my favorite is always the mosaics.
I saw the sign "Zucchini Artichoke" and saw neither zucchini nor artichoke, so I asked about this strange looking veggie. She told me that it cooks like a squash, but tastes just like an artichoke. Say what? Ease of squash...taste of artichoke? Count me in. Here she is showing me how to prepare it: Cut the neck into "carrot stick" pieces, Hollow out the seeds and dice the round part. Steam. We dipped ours in fresh lemon juice and Earth Balance. It really did taste like an artichoke! But it had a squash texture.
The sign reads:
RENT A TREE
We Care For Your Tree &
You Get To Pick
CHERRIES * PEACHES * APPLES
$75.00 - $100.00
Zucchini Artichoke
Baby New Potatoes
Swiss Chard
Kermit Squash
Yellow Squash
Summer Squash
Leek
Kale
No lettuce again. Not because of the deer, but because I wasn't there within the first 1/2 hour!
During the recent heat wave, this soup really hit the spot. All I wanted was food from the fridge, and preferably the freezer. But, even I need to eat more than just ice-cream, popsicles, & fruit from time to time. So, without heating up the kitchen, I enjoyed a healthy, hearty bowl of Earthy Lentil soup from Vive le Vegan! along with some whole wheat toast. The ultimate frozen dinner.
Cannellini Bean Yam Hummus also from Vive le Vegan! sans pinenuts & cillantro. Some pita chips did the dipping:
Pita Bread (whole wheat)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Paprika
Preheat oven to 350. Cut the pita into wedges. Arrange on baking sheets and brush with oil and sprinkle on spices. Bake 5 minutes.
Dinner was centered around a jasmine rice dome topped with pineapple, but the main event was the picked-that-morning, organic kale. On the back side, you see Morningstar Meal Starter sauteed in Soy Vay with pineapple to mellow it out a bit.
Miso Kale:
1 Onion
3 Tbs. Light Olive Oil
3 Tbs. Miso Paste
2 Bunches Kale, rinsed & rinsed, and chopped
3/4 C. Vegetable Broth
In a large pan, saute the onions in oil until tender. Add the kale and broth. Cook until the kale is wilted. Turn down the heat and add the miso being careful not to boil it.
Did you know that Miso consumption is linked with up to 50% reduced risk of breast cancer?
This is our first harvest from the garden. Very exciting that it was edible. Fresh basil and some really good, plump cherry tomatoes.
and some flowers in the backyard.
Dinner was kale, plain quinoa with Earth Balance, and Blackeyed Peas with a touch of cayenne.
Vicki's Kale Recipe:
1 bunch kale, spine removed chopped in strips
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic
1/4 c. olive oil, extra virgin
1/2 c. water
1 tbsp. bragg's
sea salt
3/4 tsp. hoisin sauce
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent. Add kale, water, bragg's & sea salt. cover and cook until the kale is wilted and the water is almost gone. when there's still a little water left, add the hoisin sauce and stir together. Serve warm with lemon. Kale is a house favorite!
This is basically 'Lemon-Poppy Seed Muffins' from VwaV, except I replaced the poppy seeds with blueberries, and also used raspberry soy yogurt instead of plain. Art said, "These are vegan?! Wow, they are great muffins!" I agree, but next time, I will add more than just 2 lemons worth of zest. I like it zesty!
This is left-over collard greens from another meal. I used a recipe from The Vegan Family Cookbook 'Greens with Onions & Garlic', which didn't impress either of us -- hence, the left-overs....we always finish our greens! So I took the left-overs and chopped them up fine to use for a different recipe from from the same cookbook. See below....
'Biscuit Casserole Stew' from The Vegan Family Cookbook was a huge hit! I didn't have carrots for this dish, so I decided to give the collards a second chance in the stew. I made the stew out of new potatoes, collard greens, split pea soup, vegetable broth, and other good things. Then, before it goes in the oven, you drop 15 uncooked biscuit dough balls on top of the stew. This medium scoop from Pampered Chef made the job easy & fun.
Here it is out of the oven. This was a delicious and satisfying meal - one that will go into the regular rotation.
