Aloo Gobi - Vegan Cooking Challenge

When I announced early this afternoon that I had to devote some time to browsing through my cookbooks in order to find a recipe for my weekly cooking challenge, there was a sudden flurry of activity in our little kitchen.   My four year old daughter suddenly decided that she would also be participating and proceeded to order her dad to remove certain items from the fridge and assist her with her creation.  I was amazed at the speed with which she put together her dish.  A beautiful sweet red pepper stuffed with leftover, cooked quinoa and topped with broccoli and cauliflower flowerets.  It's so cute, take a look!  I'm very impressed with her creativity and this is the first time she's ever attempted to make anything. 

My entry this week is Aloo Gobi, a curried cauliflower and potato dish using a recipe from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.   My husband keeps buying cauliflowers and this morning I found two mouldering away in the produce drawer that sticks shut, so I decided something needed to be done with at least one of them.   I sauteed ginger and cumin seeds in canlola oil then added the potatoes, cauliflower and tomato along with water, turmeric, coriander, a bit of brown sugar and salt.   Pop the lid on and let the vegetables cook.   I left it simmer longer than recipe called for because I wanted the flavours to really meld.  We didn't mind that the cauliflower sort of disintegrated because the sauce was great. 

Aloo Gobi before it cooks down.

Aloo Gobi

This week my friend Kathryn will be joining us for the first time.  Kathryn is transitioning to veganism and has prepared Auntie Bonnie's Curried Apple Soup from the book How it all Vegan! by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer.   You will find her challenge post here on her newly christened blog The Hedgehog in the Kitchen.  Isn't that the most adorable name for a blog?  I love it!  

And last but not least, it looks like Jeannette has delved into the fabulous Veganomicon for her cooking adventure this week.  She also made a soup and one that I have been curious about so I'm happy to hear the results.  Jeannette says:  

This was a busy weekend for me, but I had lots of veggies in the fridge, so I had to cook! I chose to prepare Spicy Peanut and Eggplant Soup from Veganomicon.  It was a bit of work, chopping and coordinating, but it was worth it! This is a yummy soup! The mild spiciness is a good counterpoint to the peanut butter. The eggplant was soft, and did not dominate the soup. (I did not brine the eggplant as instructed in the recipe. I skipped that step.) My peanut butter was nice and chunky, and the beans were still a bit crisp, so the soup's texture was enjoyable,too. I left out the cilantro (no surprise). I will definitely make this again!