Szechwan Green Beans and Shallots



Szechwan Broccoli and Shallots

Okay, I know the title of this post is a little misleading because these don't look like green beans and they're not but I really wanted to try this recipe from Robin Robertson's new book Party Vegan and the closest thing I had in my fridge was broccoli. This book has been topping my pile of must read library books for a few weeks now and with so much going on around here, I have not had time to do this lovely book justice. I plan on buying myself a copy when the budget allows because it's chock full of delicious sounding recipes that are right up my alley. She is hands down my favourite cookbook author - I think our palates are super simpatico because whenever I read her recipes, I find myself drooling and inspired to get into the kitchen.

This recipe is pretty simple but as usual I was missing another ingredient, this time for the sauce. Dry cooking sherry is not something I usually stock in my pantry although I do come across it occasionally in recipes. It's one of those things I never remember to buy so instead I substituted a combination of rice vinegar and agave nectar. The recipe only calls for one teaspoon and hopefully it didn't completely alter the intended flavours of the dish.  My husband said he thought the sauce was very balanced with a nice amount of spiciness.   Because I replaced the beans with broccoli and also added tofu to make it a one pot meal, I should have doubled the sauce but it was a easy to prepare, flavourful and very reminiscent of the traditional Szechwan sauces I've eaten in Chinese restaurants.  I will definitely make it again with just beans next time.   

Sweet Potato Drop Biscuits



Sweet Potato Drop Biscuits

 After a stressful two week hiatus to take care of some family business I am back and ready to cook!   I treated myself to a copy of Isa Chandra Moskowitz's new book Appetite for Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipesand the recipes look promising.   I've been hearing good things about the Sweet Potato Drop Biscuits and decided to give them a go this afternoon.  Actually, I've never made any type of biscuit before and was a little nervous but the instructions seemed very straightforward.  It seems I needn't have worried, they came out very tender and moist.  They remind me of light and fluffy scones.  These particular biscuits contain 1 cup of mashed sweet potato and only 3 tablespoons of oil which I understand is a lot less fat than what is traditionally used.  I liked them a lot, the only change I would make would be halving the 1 teaspoon of nutmeg because it was too much for me.   

Cauliflower and Potatoes with Spices



Cauliflower and Potatoes with Spices

I borrowed The Asian Vegan Kitchen from the library and fell in love.  There are about 30 pages of photos in the centre of the book and I want to make every single recipe.  I decided to do an Indian Inspired Sunday brunch today starting with the Cauliflower and Potato with Spices recipe on page 18.  I also made up my own lentils in a tomato/cashew sauce which was delicious but I will post the recipe for that later. 

The potato and cauliflower dish is what they call a dry dish.  I don't always have fabulous results with this type of recipe and I'm definitely a sauce freak.  You basically fry the spices and ginger in a bit of oil and then add the potatoes and cauliflower with a couple of tablespoons of water and let them steam or cook in their own juices.  I was missing two of the spices; mango powder and asafetida so I'm not sure how those missing flavours would have affected the outcome but my husband and I both give this dish a 3 out of 5.  The cauliflower was a little soft and the texture of the potatoes a bit weird for lack of a better word.  I have a feeling I may enjoy this more tomorrow as leftovers. 
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My friend Kathryn over at The Hedgehog in the Kitchen has been having fun trying recipes from The Peaceful Palate and this week cooked up Pasta with Peanut Sauce.   Looks yummy Kathryn!

Lemony Roasted Potatoes

I've been cooking a lot of comforting and familiar foods lately because a friend and I are committed to not eating any refined sugar for about 6 weeks.  We hope to gain control over the sugar beast and once the 6 weeks are up, strictly limit intake to small amounts.  I gorged myself on far too many cookies, scones, and other treats.  My body and mood definitely took a beating from too much sugar and some repair work is in order.   

Lemony Roasted Potatoes


Now that the holidays are over, my other friend and fellow blogger Kathryn and I are back to cooking something new once a week.  I received my own copy of Veganomicon for Christmas and this week decided to make the scrumptious sounding Lemony Roasted Potatoes on page 109.  

Prep was easy, just peel and slice the potatoes into wedges.  Combine the sauce ingredients which were all things I had in my pantry - lemon, oregano, tomato paste, veggie stock, garlic, salt and pepper.  The potatoes are roasted in a covered casserole and require stirring throughout the cooking process.  The potatoes were tender with an extremely intense, lemony flavour.  You must be a lemon lover to enjoy these, my husband really loved them.  In order to balance the acidity of this dish I made a big green salad with a creamy, slighty sweet dressing and it was perfect. 

Kathryn over at The Hedgehog in the Kitchen also made a recipe from Veganomicon - Applesauce Cake.  I think that sounds like the perfect dessert to accompany my dinner.   It's too bad she lives thousands of miles way!

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I don't know why I haven't tried to make these before, they're easy, delicious and good for you too.   A big thumbs up from my four year old even though they had cumin which she normally doesn't tolerate too much of.  I started with the recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance which is basically a bit of oil, cumin and coriander and then added sesame seeds and salt to the mix.  The sesame seeds made these really delicious!


Sweet Potato Fries



Korean Greens

This is one of my favourite ways to eat greens.   I've made it with spinach, kale and today I'm trying swiss chard.  I discovered this simple dish while visiting the family home of my friend Patty.   As I wolfed down these vinegary-sesame greens, I quizzed her dad on how to make them.   He was very amused when I pulled out my little notebook to write down his instructions.   This dish is traditionally made with spinach but I use any greens I have on hand.   I find kale tends to hold up well, especially if you want leftovers for the next day and I was also quite pleased with the chard today. 

Roughly chop and steam a bunch of greens, do not overcook.  Drain or squeeze out excess water.  
Mix the following ingredients and then toss with the greens:

3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon (or more to taste) sesame seeds

You can adjust the amount of dressing to fit your greens.    Yummy served with steamed rice!

Spaghetti and Beanballs - Vegan Cooking Challenge

This was an insanely busy week and thankfully I had decided ahead of time to prepare something relatively simple.  My challenge recipe for week two was Spaghetti and Beanballs from Veganomicon.  The bean balls are made with mashed up kidney beans, seasonings, bread crumbs and some wheat gluten.  We liked them but weren't thrilled so to speak.  I guess I'm not a huge kidney bean fan because they tasted too bean-y to me.  The leftovers are going to work with my husband.    Next week I promise to make something more attractive and hopefully delicious! 

Spaghetti and Beanballs

And here is Jeannette's yummy looking submission:

We had a rather late breakfast today, so we didn’t want a big meal. I decided to prepare Curried Cashew Couscous from the book Vegan Express by Nava Atlas. This dish was very quick to prepare, as the recipe promised. I did leave out the ginger and the scallions (I don’t like either taste), and I added an extra ½ cup of green peas. I don’t own any “fragrant” oils, like walnut oil, so I used 2 tablespoons of good quality virgin olive oil.


The resulting dish was very pretty to look at, slightly orange from the curry and turmeric. The peas and dried cranberries added a nice pop of color. The curry was very subtle, but tasty. You could add more curry and/or the ginger for a spicier taste, but it isn’t necessary.

I am surprised by the high calorie count per serving in the nutritional information given with the recipe. There are 400 cal for the cashews and 260 for the oil, which comes to 165 cal/serving at 4 servings. That leaves another 250 calories per serving for everything else, so I think 414 cal/serving is high, especially as it makes a lot. I think it is a pretty healthy and tasty side dish. We ate it warm, but it could be good cold. I think I might add more fruit to it, too, like apples, or maybe shredded carrots.

Curried Cashew Couscous