Saturday, May 30, 2009

Cranberry Nut Bread and Suggestions needed

This may possibly be the first thing I've made from The Joy of Vegan Baking. It is the Cranberry Nut Bread. It made a really big loaf and was great for breakfast or snack. Just good all around. I used candied orange in it and it has orange juice and orange and lemon zest, so it was very orange-y. And then the cranberries and Nuts of course--Yum!

On another note, we are going on a little trip this week to San Antonio. Does anyone have any suggestions for Vegan/Vegetarian places to eat while we are there? I actually lived in San Antonio for about 6 months in the late 90's, but I can only remember two places that I used to eat (A Mexican food place off Broadway and Twin Sister's Cafe). Hopefully there are more than that.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Lentil Soup that turned into Potato Soup


I do this a lot. I look through my many cookbooks, just trying to find something to make for dinner that does not require a trip to the grocery store. So the other night I just knew I had a bag of lentils around somewhere so I started making Tomato-Lentil Soup with Brown Rice from LinkThe Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen. I started sauteing the carrots, leeks, and garlic and then realized after searching everywhere that I had no lentils. The good thing was, I hadn't gotten too far and what I had done was pretty much a good start to any soup. I did have some potatoes, so I found this recipe for Hearty Winter Potato Soup in How It All Vegan. It turned out great. Potato Soup is always a winner.

Monday, May 25, 2009

What was I thinking?

I really missed blogging! I've been making some yummy food that I just felt the need to share with others. So it was either this or make ALL of my Facebook updates about food.
So let's jump right into it....
I made this delicious quiche for a potluck this weekend. It is a polenta base and a vegetable-tofu quiche on top. It is from the Millenium Cookbook. My husband always hates it when I make something I've never tried before for a potluck. I know, it is risky. But when I told him it was a Millenium recipe he was okay with it. And it turned out well. I took it to the potluck about an hour after it was done baking. So it had plenty of time to cool. But really, this dish was even better the next day after it had been in the fridge all night. I need to make Polenta more often and do more with it.This noodle dish is a favorite of mine. Many years ago my friend gave out little cookbooks she put together of her favorite recipes for Christmas. This is a variation of one of them. The official recipe is Sesame Asparagus Noodles (not sure where she got the recipe). Here I just used the sauce and put it over soba noodles and some frozen mixed veggies (you could use whatever fresh veggies you have also). Very quick and easy to put together.

Sesame Noodles

1 package Soba Noodles
1 to 1 1/2 cups frozen mixed veggies
2 Tablespoons sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoons vegetable stock (or water)
2 Tablespoons dry sherry
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chile oil*
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons toasted sesame seeds.

Boil the Soba noodles and veggies together for 5 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to cool it off. Place into serving bowl.
Mix the sauce together: sesame oil to garlic. Pour sauce over noodles and veggies. Toss together adding the toasted sesame seeds.

*I used 1/4 teaspoon of the chile oil and it wasn't too spicy for my 3 year old.


For Memorial Day we couldn't resist cooking out on the grill. We weren't feeling overly inspired so we just did Boca Burgers and corn. My husband was in charge and did a fine job with the burgers. He forgot about the corn though and it burned. I made a little side dish with the veggies I gathered from our garden yesterday. Green Beans, Tomatoes (cherry and yellow pear) and a little Ichiban Eggplant. This dish I actually did in the oven, not on the grill. I roasted them all together with a mixture of vegetable broth, lemon juice, and olive oil. Well, it was supposed to be vegetable broth, but it ended up just being water since I forgot to add the veggie broth paste. I don't think it mattered too much. Almonds and salt and pepper were added about half way through the roasting time, actually the tomatoes too. I'm excited to get even more veggies from our small garden.

Monday, May 4, 2009

short and sweet

I just wanted to jump in to say that I am taking a break from my blog for a while. That is probably obvious since I haven't posted in so long. I'm trying to get my pet sitting business going strong after a break. And my husband is starting his own business. So hopefully, once I get into a groove with all that I can start posting again. I'm definitely still cooking!