A So-So Soup and a Delicious Dip



Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans


Father’s Day shone bright and sunny outside but inside the kitchen some of my efforts were not quite as successful.  I started by baking a chocolate cake which is always a hit and then popped two full bulbs of garlic in the oven for “Tomato Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans” from Veganomicon. The soup is not exactly a summery selection but it was the only one I had all the ingredients for and it sounded hearty enough to anchor a meal. As the soup got underway, I whipped up an intriguingly titled “Mediterranean-Style Cashew Cucumber Dip” also from Veganomicon which the cookbook authors claimed as one of their favourites.


I’m happy to say the dip was delicious; much richer than the traditional dairy based tzatziki which inspired it. The cucumbers added a welcome freshness to the cashew base. I ended up slathering the remains on toast when we ran out of toasted bits of pita triangles.

The soup was disappointing but I shouldn’t have been surprised. The recipe called for two large cans of crushed tomatoes and I almost always find tinned tomatoes to have an awful flavour unless combined with many other ingredients or spices and then cooked for a very long time. The texture of the soup was good. The brown rice gave it a wonderful chewiness. It was a major disappointment to not be able to detect so much as a hint of the roasted garlic over the canned tomato. I think this soup could be very tasty if the canned tomatoes were replaced with fresh tomatoes plus tomato paste and some veggie stock. I’m glad I tried it because I enjoyed the rice and beans combination and look forward to experimenting with the soup base.

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For our weekly cooking challenge, the dedicated and always on time Kathryn has posted a scrumptious (and easy!) looking recipe for Dark and Fabulous (Vegan) Chocolate Pudding on her blog.  Check it out here. 

Minted Baba Ganoush

Eggplant roasted with garlic

I just found out about Vegan Mofo which I've seen reference to in the past and thanks to my new friend Kika who alerted me this afternoon of the deadline to participate, I think I just squeaked in the door and hope to be included.  The Vegan Month of Food is basically a blogging bonanza where participants are asked to write as much as possible about vegan food during the month of November.  Apparently well over 500 people are doing this! 

My second foray into Robin Robertson's Vegan Planet is Minted Baba Ganoush which admittedly has the appearance of gray oatmeal but tastes good.  I think it could use a little more zing but since I have a minor obsession with eggplant, I polished off a good sized serving without any problem.  There were a few moments of panic when I realized I rarely buy fresh mint and wondered how crucial it was to the recipe but then someone reminded me that we have a slew of mint growing wild in the cracks between the patio stones in our new backyard!  Yay, I just popped outside for a sprig and took a picture on the deck.  


Minted Baba Ganoush

To accompany the Baba Ganoush, I also made a delicious flatbread (really! truly!) but sadly it was all eaten before I could get a decent photo.  They came out of the pan and straight into the mouths of some hungry family members.  I will make them again soon and hide a few so I can capture how appetizing they are.

Tomato and Caramelized Onion Pizza (Cheese free!)

Once a week, I usually I cook up a fresh batch of vegetable tomato sauce.  It's very useful to have around the kitchen and can be used as a base for many dishes.   To make it, I roughly chop one large onion, one large carrot, one red pepper and about 4 good sized ripe tomatoes.  Saute the veggies for a few minutes, throw in the tomatoes, a bit of salt and some water or vegetable stock.   I let this simmer on the stove for about 1/2 an hour and when it's cooled down I whip out my favourite kitchen tool - an immersion blender and puree the sauce.  This is the only way my daughter will ever get these particular vegetables into her body.  She has the uncanny ability to be able to sense the tiniest piece of onion in any dish, separate it and spit it out.  I happen to adore onions so I thought I would make a cheeseless pizza covered in slightly caramelized onions, tomato, garlic and a few other seasonings.   It turned out to be amazing.  I'm in the process of eating the entire thing as I write and it was so simple to make! 

Tomato and Caramelized Onion Pizza

one red onion
one large tomato
1 large clove garlic
1/2 tsp basil
1/8 tsp thyme
1/3 cup of tomato (vegetable) sauce
olive oil (approximately 3-4 Tbsp)
salt
nutritional yeast (optional)
pizza dough

1.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2.  Chop the tomato and combine in a bowl with the minced garlic, a bit of sea salt and about one tablespoon of olive oil.  Let the flavours combine while you prepare the onions.

3.  Sautee the onions in olive oil along with the thyme until soft and slightly browned and then turn off the heat.

4.  Stretch out your pizza dough and brush with olive oil.   Evenly distribute the onions and the tomato mixture.  I used a teaspoon to distribute the tomato vegetable sauce all over the pizza (basically around all the spaces left by the veggies).  

5.  Sprinkle with nutritional yeast and a tiny bit of sea salt and then pop it into the oven for about 20 minutes or until it's done how you like it. 

6.  Eat!

Tomato and Caramelized Onion Pizza

Asparagus with Peanut-flavoured Tofu Dressing

Japan has been on my mind lately and I was determined to cook something from a library book I have home called The Enlightened Kitchen: Fresh Vegetable Dishes from the Temples of Japan.    I woke up early this morning to prepare a simple and intriguing dish called Asparagus and Hijiki with White Vinegar Dressing.  I was SURE I had two packages of dried hijiki in my pantry but when I went to look for them all I could find was wakame seaweed.   Arrgh!   So I frantically pawed through the book for some other way to use the lovely and slender asparagus all steamed and ready to go.  I hit upon a salad recipe with a Peanut-flavoured Tofu Dressing and thought that might do.  And then my next challenge presented itself.  I had no silken tofu for the dressing because the package in my fridge had expired.  Darn, darn and triple darn.  The recipe said that silken tofu was "preferred" but not required so I cut up some regular firm tofu and attempted to blend it together with the remaining ingredients.   I'm telling you this story so if you ever try to make salad dressing with regular tofu you don't, unless there is quite a bit of liquid involved.  Out the window went the specified amounts of lemon juice, vinegar and maple syrup.  It was necessary to splash in at least a few extra tablespoons of various liquids along with uncalled for ingredients before the blender would even function!  

So here is my final product.  Some simple steamed asparagus with a peanut-flavoured tofu dressing.  The dressing was still a little goopy and I'm still on the fence about this particular flavour combination but since I love asparagus it wasn't a bad breakfast.  Better luck next week Lee.  I'm not going to write out the ingredients to this mess unless someone begs me.

My friend Kathryn in California seems to have had more success this week with her offering of sauteed kale.  Go and check it out!    I love, love, love kale so am always happy to find new ways to cook and serve it.  Thanks Kathryn!

Hurry Up Alfredo Sauce - We can eat it anytime!

Pasta and kale with Hurry Up Alfredo Sauce

This pasta sauce has become a family favourite, so much so that we sometimes make it for breakfast like this plate from yesterday morning.  I often cook up a batch of pasta, throw in some kale and broccoli a few minutes before it's done and then pour the sauce over.  This creamy, cashew based sauce is made in the blender and requires no cooking so its perfect for busy families.  My daughter wouldn't go near it the first five or six times we prepared it but she gradually became curious about the rapturous faces and sounds we were making while eating.   She has since been won over but to my chagrin has renamed it "pasta with hot-dog sauce".  I'm secretly horrified at the name but it seems to have stuck.  I think the dijon mustard or the combination of seasonings makes it smell like hotdogs to her.  You can find the recipe here, on Lauren Ulm's blog.  She is the author of Vegan YumYum, a beautifully photographed cookbook.  This is my favourite pasta sauce and it's also scrumptious poured over vegetables.