It was heavenly! And it looked pretty! The sweet onions/garlic went so well with the caramalized sugars from the sweet potato, and the herbed topping was so good. The best part was getting a little of the couscous, some sweet potato, and the crispy skin. It might have been a smidge better with some salt, but that's not really an option until I go to the grocery later. Simply amazing.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
My Tastiest Creation Yet
It was heavenly! And it looked pretty! The sweet onions/garlic went so well with the caramalized sugars from the sweet potato, and the herbed topping was so good. The best part was getting a little of the couscous, some sweet potato, and the crispy skin. It might have been a smidge better with some salt, but that's not really an option until I go to the grocery later. Simply amazing.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Balsamic Creation
I made three servings of dinner (about 400 calories)- 3 cups snowpeas, 27 stalks of asparagus, and 5 cups of fresh spinach mixed with balsamic vinegar and pepper (the grocery didn't have sea salt, so now I get to go to the organic grocery and probably snag some more Better than Cream Cheese and other goodies). Meanwhile, I sauteed 6 large gloves of garlic in olive oil spray and added 5.25 cups of water when the garlic browned. On the side I mixed 1.5 cups cornmeal (my weird baking mix) with 1.5 cups cold water. Once it boiled, I added the cornmeal and stirred for 10 minutes or so until creamy. I then poured it on top of the veggies and popped it into the 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes.
So how was it? I'd say average...It needed something else...probably salt. I'd love to add some mushrooms and maybe veggie broth to it.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Chocolate Pudding
I saw this recipe awhile ago and vowed to make chocolate pudding. But it wasn't until this week when it somehow popped into my head. The recipe as written is less than 200 calories for a lot of pudding, but I have some Godiva liqueur bottles my mom gave me for Christmas that I have been trying to get rid of. Now, I'm fairly certain they are not vegan, but I can't just throw them out...
Without the alcohol, the recipe is very bland and definitely needs something (as mentioned in the recipe) to pep it up. And I have an aversion to cornstarch after an unfortunate episode with Turkish Delight (but I think all TD is disappointing...), so I got a little grossed out by the cornstarch. The chocolate and alcohol helped me get over that really quickly though :)
Herbed Onion Beer Bread
Now I just need to put it away before I eat the entire loaf...
Friday, March 9, 2007
Wannabe Pizza
Once the polenta squares were done, I smothered on my bean sauce and topped each pizza with a pepperoni. Not as good as the real pizza, but a nice little meal. Might be a good appetizer dish. A little Better Than Cream Cheese might have been nice, as well as some red pepper flakes. But I ran out of the former and just totally forgot the latter. *Sigh*
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Shepherd's Pie...sort of
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
When I was done with the sauce I put 3/4 of the split peas/onion in the blender until smooth. I then readded to the pan and put 1/2 large head of cauliflower in the pot with some salt and cumin. I thought about adding turmeric, but got scared and didn't. Now, I had this beautiful vision of a nice, green soup with pretty white cauliflower floating around and a deep red swirl, all on a bed of tasty quinoa. However, I can't seem to ever learn that when you mix red things (peppers, tomatoes, etc) with white things (cream cheese, milk, etc), it turns pink.
Overall, I was pleased with the minty taste- not over the top, but you could definitely taste it and it seemed to go well with the spicy chipotle. The cumin also helped town down the heat from the peppers. Next time I'll probably make it with brown basmati rice just for some better texture since the quinoa is a little soft. But I'll be making this one again.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
More Soup for Me
I started off by cooking 3 small onions and 4 cloves of garlic in a little olive oil. Then I added some water and .5 cup of barley. After it cooked about 15 minutes, I added 1 cube of vegan vegetable buillion and some whole Brussels sprouts. I let it cook until the sprouts were done. And it really hit the spot.
I also needed to use up the rest of the firm tofu that was in my fridge. I cut it into 2 inch by 1 inch pieces and then dipped it in some concotion I came up with. I added about .75 cup of pinto beans, a giant squirt of mustard, some leftover canned tomatoes from my pizza, Mexican-style chili powder, and a little olive oil together and blended until smooth. I rolled (dreged?) the tofu in the dip (which would make an excellent dip on it's own) and then rolled it in finely crushed Cheerios. I started crushing the little o's by hand, but that was way too much work, so then I put them in a random paper lunch bag I had, but they broke it, so I resorted to using the bottom of the mustard container to finely crush them. I then baked for 30 minutes or so on 400 and when the tops weren't brown like I wanted, I turned on the broiler until they were nice and crispy.
As always, I forgot any salt or pepper. And I think it would have been better if I'd thought about it in advance and soaked the tofu in my bean mixture for awhile. But, they were neat and I plan to try to make them again, next time with extra firm tofu and a nice long soak. Finally, a new use for Cheerios.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Pizza Party
It's Saturday night, I drank too much and stayed up too late last night, so I decided to stay in and, surprise, cook. And I decided that calories don't count today. Since I bought the soy pepperoni's, I decided I had to make a pizza and it had to be tonight, despite the fact that I lacked most other ingredients. So I began...
I got stuck on the crust because I didn't want something that would take forever to make. I checked out my favorite recipe collection at vegweb.com and came up with this one. I read through the comments and ended up with this (double the original recipe):
1 cup white flour
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
2 TB yeast
2 TB sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
Some cornmeal for extra ooomph (1/2 cup?)
I probably should have put some salt in it, but, hey, I am a little tired from last night's festivities so I forgot. I added the yeast and sugar to the lukewarm water, which I just guessed at the temperature. I let it sit for about 10 minutes until it got nice and foamy and more than doubled in size (which according to the yeast package means it's still active).
Meanwhile, in the 10 crazy minutes (because I didn't plan anything until after I got started on the dough) while I waited for the yeast, I sauteed 3 small onions and 3 cloves of garlic in some olive oil (.5 TB?) until transparent, then added half a giant can of diced tomatoes. I generally don't like canned tomatoes, but they were all I had so I went with it. I let it simmer for a few minutes and then scooped out half of it into a bowl. To the pan I added a bunch of dried spices: marjoram, basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley, and red pepper flakes. I then threw in some herbed vinegar and some white wine just because I felt a little fancy. To the bowl I added Trader Joe's Chipotle Salsa and "Mexican Style" chili powder which is chili powder with cumin in it. I then threw the bowl in the microwave with about a cup of frozen corn in a separate cup for about 3 minutes.
I mixed the flour and yeast mixture until it formed a dough, then spread it out on a regular ungreased baking sheet. Stuck that in a 425 degree oven for 5 minutes, then took out and topped. To one half, I added the Italian spiced tomatoes, Better Than Cream Cheese, and slices of my soy pepperoni. To the other half, I added the Mexican spiced tomatoes and piled high the corn and some pinto beans. As an afterthought, I added some Better Than Cream Cheese to cool off the chipotle salsa. I baked it for another 15-20 minutes until the edges of the crust got dark.
I was obnoxiously careful not to let the flavors of the pizza mingle. I went to extreme efforts to ensure my Mexican pizza would not touch or taint my pepperoni pizza. That alone probably took me 20 minutes as I cut into them.
The Mexican pizza was ok but needed something else. I didn't think Cheerios would work, though, so I just went with what I had. The pepperoni pizza hit the spot. It was 100 times better than I was anticipating and the Better Than Cream Cheese melted nicely (though I had to spread it around using the pepperoni's) and gave it a great flavor.
I ate half of each pizza and now feel like I might explode. But it was so worth it. I can't wait to make the pepperoni pizza again. And it was beautiful. I swear I'm getting batteries tomorrow for my camera.
More Mint
I'm a little obsessed with the mint now that I know I didn't exactly ruin it in the freezer. This morning for breakfast I decided to go with something crazy, mostly because I forgot to buy oatmeal last week. So I threw a frozen banana (when they start to get old I just throw them in the freezer, peel and all), frozen fresh but now dried mint, postum, unsweetened cocoa, and a splash of soy milk in the blender. But it came out too watery so I added a few cubes of ice. I poured it into a bowl and topped with a cup of cheerios. I've been dying to use cheerios in something other than cereal. I was too hungry to take the time to crush the cheerios like I wanted.
By now, you should have realized that I essentially made ice cream for breakfast. I love being a grown up.
Friday, March 2, 2007
I'm Quitting My Job
If I didn't love fighting cancer so much, I'd quit. Because I enjoy sitting around my apartment cooking all day just as much. I didn't have to be at work today so I did my favorite thing in the world. And wore my awesome "Vegan Cowgirl" t-shirt while doing it! (Thanks jennilicious!)
For breakfast I cooked 1/4 barley (100 calories) and added 1 TB peanut butter (100 calories), .5TB unsweened cocoa (10 calories) , and a splash of 8th continent light vanilla soy milk (20 calories). It was a tasty breakfast, although I sort of felt like a 5 year old. This might be a new weekend staple, probably with a mushy banana added to it.
Lunch was even more fun. I decided I had to have mashed cauliflower and it had to look just like mashed potatoes. So I steamed a head of cauliflower (I once read that cooking veggies in water destroys a lot of the good stuff in them, but steaming is ok) and simultaneously cooked 2 very tiny onions (40 calories) and 4 cloves of garlic (20 calories) in 1 TB of Earth Balance margarine (100 calories). When the cauliflower was done, I added it and 1/2 the onion/garlic to the blender with a splash of unsweetened soy milk (30 calories) and blended until it was nice and creamy. If you were looking at it (if I would buy new batteries or a new camera), you'd think it was mashed potatoes. I also threw in some salt and pepper. I added the rest of the onion/garlic mixture to them so there's be a few lumps.
I swear I couldn't tell it was cauliflower. And I love cauliflower...I generally roast it in some olive oil and add some red pepper flakes, or lately I've been putting it in my lentils with some curry. Sometimes I just eat it plain steamed. Anyway, this dish was amazing. For people who claim they don't like veggies, they've just never had them cooked the right way, and this is a great way to do it. I cannot wait to have leftovers for dinner. Yum!
Oh, and I also decided I needed a couscous dish to go with my mashed cauliflower. So I put in 1/3 cup whole wheat couscous with .25 cup golden raisins (because they didn't have sultanas when I needed them and these were a last minute replacement for another dish awhile ago), some hazelnuts (I wanted walnuts, but I was too lazy to reach farther into the cupboard to find them), and some now dried mint that was once fresh but I stashed into the freezer in it's regular package without protecting it in a fit of panic because I didn't want it to go bad when I used it in the dish I needed the sultanas for, and 1/3 cup hot water. I covered the bowl and 5 minutes later mixed it up and threw it in the fridge. Then I decided it might be too dry and it needed some liquid. For whatever reason I chose unsweeneted soy milk instead of something like olive oil that might have been a better choice. But it came out delicious- a good breakfast dish. Now I can't wait to keep using the mint...
I've Finally Done It
Not only have I conquered my fear of cooking tofu (which resulted from a very failed attempt once in college with jennilicious), but I also successfully baked polenta last night for dinner. It was amazing.
I bought some firm tofu the other day and decided I was finally ready to use it. Since I've had some sort of Indian dish with tofu and spinach, I thought I'd make something similar. So I cubed a half block of tofu (175 calories) and at first attempted to pan fry it in 1/2 TB of olive oil (60 calories), but that didn't work out so well, so I just stir fried it and after a few minutes added 2 cups of frozen chopped spinach (40 calories), about a cup or so of water, and curry powder. I also threw in 2 TB of Toffuti Better Than Cream Chese (60 calories) to make it a little creamier. I let it all simmer until it reduced down a bit- I wanted to eat it on a plate, not in a bowl.
Meanwhile, earlier in the evening I threw together some polenta (200 calories) and let it cool/congeal in the fridge for an hour or so. Then I cut it up with no rhyme or reason, some of the pieces were pretty big, and put it on a greased baking sheet in a 375 degree oven until they were golden brown on top, maybe 45 minutes? Usually I think I take it out too soon...or I do something wrong. But this time it worked out.
I put the polenta pieces on a plate after sampling one of them and topped with the spinach tofu curry mixture. For 530 calories, it was a gigantic meal and quite delicious. I can't wait to make it again. Maybe I'll add some onions, garlic, and mushrooms for some pizazz. Absolutely fantastic.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
California Dreamin'
I recently spent 10 days following the Amgen Tour of California (where I met Patrick Demsey- are you tired of seeing this picture yet?) and worried a lot about what I'd be able to eat along the way. Since I was there for business, I never knew where or when my next meal would come, so I tried to plan ahead as much as possible.
It started on the plane when I pulled out some cooked/cubed sweet potato I'd made the night before in my successful attempt to clean out every single edible thing in the fridge. I thought nothing of opening my container and chowing down until my coworker sitting next to me look in bewilderment at me and asked what I was eating. Then we decided, yeah, it's weird to bring sweet potato on a plane. But that doesn't mean it's not smart. It was quite tasty.
My options on the long plane ride were really limited: a chicken ceasar sandwich, a fruit and cheese plate, or a transfat box that contained popular killers like breadsticks and "cheese," chips and salsa, and candy. I had to choose the lesser of all evils and went with the fruit and cheese plate.
On the actual trip, I was fortunate enough to, in the beginning, be able to run for an hour through each city before stopping to get my new favorite food- a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter. As the trip went on, it got a littler harder to find this little delight, but I got by...Being in California was nice, there were a few good places to get tasty food that won't kill you, though I think I overdosed on fish while I was there, since that's the only animal that I ever really eat anymore, and that's typically once a month or so. Looks like I don't need to eat anymore of that for a long, long time.
When I returned from my trip I had to go grocery shopping almost immediately since I'd done a great job of clearing out all food. Luckily I had something I'd made and frozen that I ate for dinner the night I got back.
Usually after a trip I spend a billion dollars at the grocery store. On a regular trip I spend about $20-25 weekly with a random $60-75 to stock on up stuff every month or 6 weeks. After a trip I easily spend $100. This time, however, I barely spent $50. And I splurged.
I decided to branch out and buy some regular tofu (as opposed to silken), some veggie pepperoni, and Toffuti Better Than Cream Cheese. I'll let you know how that goes...