Curried Cabbage & Peas

Curried Cabbage & Peas (page 111)
(substituting baby yellow squash for carrot)

Tonight was kind of a disorganized dinner-making experience. Still, dinner made it to the table, and that's what's important, right?

First of all, I didn't get home until nearly 6:00 pm, and I really wasn't in the mood to cook dinner as soon as I walked in the door. I was really quite tempted to just pick up some Chinese take-out on the way home, but I told myself, no, we have food at home, and Chinese take-out is way too greasy, anyway.

I had originally planned to make the Braised Cabbage with Seitan (page 97), but my week didn't go exactly as planned, and I didn't have any prepared seitan for the recipe. But, I still had the cabbage. Amy commented here on yesterday's post that she recently enjoyed the Curried Cabbage & Peas; I thought, hey, I've got peas! I'll make that! Along with the 40-Clove Chickpeas & Broccoli, since I've also got a big pot of chickpeas and some broccoli hanging out in the refrigerator. OK, a plan was in place.

I quickly got the chickpeas, broccoli, and garlic (and quartered small red potatoes) in the oven to roast, then I started slicing up an onion and the cabbage. Then I discovered, oops, no fresh ginger root. I figured this qualified for one of those "in a pinch" situations, so I subbed dried ginger. Then I realized, darn, no carrots! Well, might as well use up those baby yellow squash that have been languishing in the crisper drawer.

The resulting Curried Cabbage & Peas turned out okay, but not great. I'm sure the missing fresh ginger root would have made a big difference. And the carrots certainly would have made it more colorful. But all-in-all, it wasn't bad, especially considering the last-minute ingredient substitutions that were made.

I'm always trying to think of ways to make these veggie "side dishes" into a more satisfying complete meal. I bet this would be great served over brown rice with the addition of some cubed tofu or chickpeas.

Mango BBQ Beans

Mango BBQ Beans (page 133)

We had a busy Fourth. The girls had a ballet folklorico performance early in the afternoon, then we went over to our friends' house for swimming and potluck-ing before heading to the local park for an ArcAttack show (the Plan B for Independence Day, since fireworks have been banned due to drought conditions around here). All the kids were super excited about the show, though they were bummed about not quite making it to the Faraday cage. They were this close.

One of the dishes we brought to the potluck was the Mango BBQ Beans. The flavor was fantastic here, but I thought the sauce-to-bean ratio was a bit too high. I would probably either add more beans, or lessen the amount of liquid called for, or even let it cook down for an even longer time to allow the sauce to reduce further. I don't think there would be any harm at all in letting these beans hang out on the stove over low heat for a long a time - I would think they would only get better. Also, SweePea made the observation that she thinks small red beans would be better, instead of kidney beans here, and I think have to agree with her on that point.

Overall, these were excellent beans. El Hombre especially loved them, letting me know on more than one occasion that I can make them again any time, any time at all.

Unfried Fried Rice

Unfried Fried Rice (page 70)
with strips of Nomelet (baked vegan tofu omelet)

I have fond memories of making fried rice with egg, back in the day when we were fresh out of college and completely broke. It was so yummy and comforting. So, when inspiration hit me a few weeks ago to combine Isa's Unfried Fried Rice recipe with the Happy Herbivore's Nomelet, I got really excited to give this recipe (well, both recipes) a try.

I kept the add-ins super simple for the sake of the kids. It paid off, because SweetPea, normally not a fan of rice in any form, gobbled this up and asked for seconds. But I think it would also be great with lots of extra vegetables - carrots, zucchini, peas...

I used my cast-iron wok to make this, which I think was important in getting that crispy "fried" taste and texture here. Also, I found it necessary to turn up the heat a little higher than indicated to get things really going.

Served with a hefty portion of no-oil stir-fried broccoli in garlic, soy sauce, and a little tahini, this made a great healthy weeknight dinner.

Shaved Brussels Sprouts

Shaved Brussles Sprouts (page 92)
served with BBQ tofu, mashed potatoes and gravy, and El Hombre's everything-but-the-kitchen-sink salad

These Brussels sprouts were really simple, but tasty. I especially liked how garlicky it turned out, with plenty of thinly sliced garlic cloves. Sometimes simple is the best - this recipe is really only three ingredients (onion, garlic, and Brussels sprouts), plus salt and pepper to taste.

There were jokes aplenty at the dinner table, because of the name of the recipe. We all giggled at the thought of hairy Brussels sprouts (i.e., un-shaved).

El Hombre made an awesome salad to go with our dinner. I think he used just about every single vegetable we had in the house: mixed greens, tomatoes, yellow squash, cucumber, carrot, green onion, roasted eggplant, cilantro, mushrooms... I'm sure there was something else in there that I'm not thinking of right now.

Bee Ell Tees

Bee Ell Tees (page 271)
Whole-wheat bread, Cashew Miso Mayo (page 270), spinach, tomato, and Eggplant Bacon (page 42)

The eggplant bacon is something we keep going back to; it's been great in salads, and we loved it in the breakfast sandwich. This weekend, I thought it was time to try a simple BLT for a casual Saturday night dinner.

I also tried making the Cashew Miso Mayo for the first time. I was at a little bit of a disadvantage here because I killed my food processor just the day before (which means I'm in the market for a new one... anyone have one they love and would recommend?). I used my blender instead, which worked great at first, but the more blended the cashews got, the more thick the mixture became, which resulted in the blender just throwing all the mayo up on the sides of the blender, where it stuck instead of falling back down for further blending. I blended for many, many minutes, and scraped down the sides many, many times, but it still never got quite as creamy and smooth as it would have if I had been able to use my food processor. Still, it was really tasty, and the perfect spread for these sandwiches.

Bottom line: these sandwiches were a hit with all of us. Yum!

Mediterranean Bowl

Mediterranean Bowl (page 267)
Bulgur, roasted cauliflower, chickpeas, and Caesar Chavez Dressing (page 43)

Another Bowl to Go! Except that I ate it at home.

I figured you can't go wrong with the Caesar Chavez Dressing here. Once I actually assembled the bowl, however, I realized this was going to be a very monotone meal, unless I did something about it. It was all varying shades of beige/cream. Mmmmmm. So I went out to the backyard garden, snipped a bit of fresh parsley and sprinkled it on the top. Better.

This was good, but as we were eating our dinner, we thought of a million ways to make it better. This is supposed to be a Mediterranean bowl, right? How about some Mediterranean-type ingredients, beyond the chickpeas and bulgur? Like olives! Chopped tomatoes! Thinly sliced fresh basil leaves! An extra squeeze of lemon!

I was also missing my leafy greens with my dinner, so I thought maybe a big serving of baby spinach would be a smart addition here, too. But then, I suppose it might be more like a salad than a "bowl"... so maybe big salad to go with the bowl, to keep the integrity of the "bowl" concept.

Anyway, I'd certainly make this one again, but I'd also dress it up a more.

Classic Black Bean & Veggie Chili

Classic Black Bean & Veggie Chili, page 236

Another guest post from El Hombre, since he was in charge of getting food on the table tonight!

Tonight's dinner was very much true to the recipe. The Classic Black Bean & Veggie Chili is delicious and easy to fix. Thirty minutes is all you need to from start to finish. Basically, you chop up your onions, garlic and veggies add the broth and seasonings and you are set.

After things were nicely simmering, I reduced the heat and focused on fixing some yummy cornbread to go with dinner. I used the cornbread recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking and baked the batter in a funky little cast iron corn stick pan that la Mujer (Julie) fancies as an awesome thrift store find.

As expected, the girls were less than enthusiastic, with SweetPotato saying it was a bit "spicy." I think it was my liberal use of chili powder that got to her.

I stuck with the recipe since it was my first time fixing it, but I feel really confident about adjusting seasonings and adding a variety of different veggies. Next time, I think I'll use eggplant along with the zucchini that was called for, and I would also enjoy adding mushrooms!

Overall, a great easy to fix dinner, and you can't beat that!

Arabian Lentil & Rice Soup

Arabian Lentil & Rice Soup, page 206

After breaking triple digit temperatures here every day for over a week (nine days in a row, I think?), it finally cooled off a little. Today, it was only ninety-nine degrees Fahrenheit. I wore a hoodie and made some soup.

This was really easy to put together with simple ingredients: red lentils, brown basmati rice, and few other staple ingredients. The only chopping required was for the onions, garlic, and carrots. The end result was flavorful and hearty, without being heavy. With both lemon zest and lemon juice, the soup had a lovely bright taste that paired well with the cumin and coriander seasonings.

This recipe made a lot; I think I may try a few additions with the leftovers, something green, perhaps, like spinach or peas, and a sprinkling of chopped fresh cilantro.

Pasta de los Angeles

Pasta de los Angeles, page 177

Right off the bat, I was slightly suspicious of this dish. "Pasta goes Mexican!"? Hmmmm.

I have to say, it wasn't bad. It really wasn't great, either, but it wasn't bad. Most interesting, however, were the reactions from the rest of the family. El Hombre, who I thought for sure would be the most critical, actually seemed to like it. He said it was reminiscent of a seafood-y pasta dish (?!?), like it had those little canned cocktail shrimp in it somewhere. Huh?!? SweetPea, my nine-year old, said it reminded her of the Pasta con Broccoli, and then proceeded to douse her portion with Caesar Chavez salad dressing. Okay. SweetPotato, the seven-year old, thought it was okay, but a bit on the sour (lime) side, and the black beans were the best part. She ate the beans and left the pasta.

As for me, my reaction was "Meh." It was okay. I'm not really convinced that this is what the angels are having up there in heaven. I'd rather eat my black beans, tomatoes, and cilantro in a tortilla, or a salad, or over rice, but this was interesting to try once. I probably won't make this again.

Black Bean, Zucchini, and Olive Tacos

Black Bean, Zucchini, and Olive Tacos, page 131

The addition of kalamata olives to tacos is something I never would have thought of, but the idea is genius. The olives give this taco filling a sharp, salty kick that totally works.

These tacos almost didn't get made: after a day of redecorating and furniture rearranging with the help of my good friend, Anne, we were just about out of oomph and seriously contemplating ordering some take-out. But we sat and rested for a spell, viewing the results of our hard work while sipping a well-earned glass of wine, and then we rallied in the kitchen and made these tacos happen. And I'm so glad we did - the tacos were completely satisfying.

Instead of serving with the suggested Garlic-Lemon Yogurt, I whipped up my usual garlic sauce: silken tofu, garlic, lemon juice, and salt whirred together in the food processor. So, similar, but not the same. I'm not really a fan of soy yogurt. And, we included chopped cilantro to top off our tacos. You can't have tacos without cilantro in this house.

I thought the girls wouldn't like this at all, but they surprised me! They even enjoyed them again the next day as leftovers for lunch. I'm pretty sure the olives were the magic ingredient.