Dinner with Dilip

Leftover Vimala's Sambar and Idli, Falafel on Bagel, Raw Kale w Carrot-Ginger Dressing (2219)

2012-02-01T23:46:00.000-08:00

Kale with Carrots and Brussels Sprouts, Limed Jerked Seitan over Brown-Wild Rice

2012-01-31T22:40:00.000-08:00

My aunt and Dad came over for dinner tonight and I wanted to serve something that my Dad in particular would eat - he generally eats Indian food. I made my signature lime-marinated jerked seitan served over a mixed brown and wild rice, but omitted the seitan for my Dad (actually, I think I gave him a few pieces, and he said he liked it). Otherwise, I made a simple kale saute with Brussels Sprouts and carrots. It was a tasty and filling dinner.

Falafel, Purple Sweet Potato, Kabocha Squash, Whole Wheat Couscous

2012-01-30T23:43:00.000-08:00

I made a simple roasted root vegetable dinner with falafel. My aunt and Dad joined us for dinner; I skipped the falafel balls in my Dad's pita as he avoids garlic. I had forgotten to serve it before photographing, but I also made some whole wheat couscous with onions and bell peppers.

Kale-Ginger-Carrot Soup with Vegan Sausage-Zucchini Saute

2012-01-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

For tonight's dinner, I started making the carrot-ginger soup that we love so much (substituting raw cashews for the tofu), but saw that we had a lot of kale, so added two leaves - stem and all - of the green kale. My wife had made a curried potato side dish a few nights ago when I was picking up my sister-in-law from the airport; I added a handful of the cooked baking potato cubes.

I made a simple side dish, sauteeing a vegan apple-sage Field Roast sausage with 1/3 of an onion and a zucchini. I added some dried oregano, salt, and pepper and served.

Dinner was good - oregano lends itself well to slightly overspicing, which is what I did. I used maybe 1/4t for our two servings, and it gave a pronounced but not overpowering taste. I thought that our "standard" carrot-ginger soup was much better, but the kale added even more nutrition and the soup still tasted good.

Vegan Italian Sausage Pizza for One

2011-12-11T01:59:00.000-08:00

Tonight, my wife was hungry and while I was making my daughter's dinner, so she ate a simple meal on her own. I love Vicolo Pizza organic conrmeal crust deepdish pizza shells and made a tasty pizza with Daiya cheese and vegan Italian Field Roast artisanal sausage that I had sliced then sauteed. It was filling and tasty (I had several slices)!

Eggplant Fillets over Brown Rice Pasta

2011-12-09T23:34:00.000-08:00

Oyster Mushroom-stuffed Squash, Red Rice with Seitan

2011-12-07T21:36:00.000-08:00

Grilled Vegan Daiya Cheese, Hashed Brown Potatoes

2011-12-04T20:54:00.000-08:00

We were out tonight and I had to quickly put a little food together for my daughter, and my wife helped herself to leftovers. By the time I got our daughter to bed, it was late, so I made a simple dinner for myself. It was easy but good - hashed brown potatoes with onion and bell pepper, a grilled cheese sandwich with Daiya vegan "cheese", and tomato sliced with toasted hemp seeds.

Corn Fusilli with Vegan Apple-Sage Sausage and Chunky Vegetables

2011-11-16T18:16:00.001-08:00

Tonight, I stopped by Trader Joe's and found a new kind of pasta made from corn. I picked up the fusilli corkscrew-shaped pasta and made a simple pasta dinner.

I sauteed over medium heat in a stainless steel stock pan with a little olive oil, two cloves (not bulbs!) of garlic for a minute or so, then added two Field Roast Grain Meat Company apple-sage artisanal vegan sausages that I had chopped into 3/4" lengths or so. As the sausage pieces started to brown a few minutes later, I added maybe a fifth of a medium onion and most of a small bell pepper, both of which I had coarsely chopped into maybe 1/2" cubes. As the onion clarified, after maybe a minute and a half, I added 1/8 teaspoon or so of dried oregano and organic marinara sauce, and simmered on low for a half hour (I would have liked to also have added crushed red pepper, but did it on the plate at serving time, as my daughter might not have eaten it otherwise; I forgot, but 1/8 cup or so of red wine would also have been nice to have added at this point).

The corn pasta was easy - I just had to cook it for about nine minutes. When I was about to serve, I mixed into the simmering sauce maybe 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls of nutritional yeast, then served it atop the pasta. An avocado half and carrot completed dinner.

We loved the corn pasta! It just has corn flour and water as its two ingredients, and, naturally, has a nice corn taste. I'd like to try serving it plain with some "butter" (i.e., Earth Balance non-hydrogenated vegan margarine), fresh herbs, and a pinch of salt. As much as we like it, I think we'll use it only on occasion - its a novelty and I get the sense that I may tire of it if we ate it regularly.

Lemon Seitan with Garlic

2011-11-09T16:39:00.000-08:00

I made a simple but tasty (I think it was one of my best dinners in a few weeks) dish, reminiscent of the ways that I prepare limed jerk seitan. I didn't have much time to marinate seitan, so instead did this.

I took about a dozen small Austrian Crescent fingerling potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise, and boiled them until they were still firm but cooked through (maybe 6 minutes). I started sauteeing in a lemon-infused extra virgin olive oil, over medium heat, two cloves of garlic, thinly sliced. Just a minute or so later, I added thin pieces of seitan (I used the whole 8 ounce box). I cooked for maybe 8-10 minutes till the seitan was crispy.

About two minutes before the conclusion of the saute, I drizzled 8 or 10 drops of fresh lemon juice over the seitan. Then I decided to try something with a fifth of a lemon that I had left after squeezing juice out - I cut the lemon skin into 3 or 4 large chunks and added to the saute, pressing down on the inside side, and then cooking with the skin side down. At that time, I also added a dozen or so pine nuts.

I served the seitan with a little jerk seasoning, salt, and dried oregano. My daughter makes fresh bread rolls in her preschool every Wednesday, and I served today's roll with our meal. An avocado completed dinner. The main course was yummy!

Cooking Class: Warmup "3 a.m. Pasta" with Tempeh

2011-11-09T00:16:00.000-08:00

Tonight I started class one of six of my Ethnic Vegetarian cooking class; I don't remember teaching this on Mondays before, but I have it set for Mondays this time. As always, I have a very nice and fun set of students!

I start the first class with a lecture about the basics of vegetarianism. We get into the kitchen with just a little time to make what I call my "3 a.m. pasta" dinner - what do you do when friends come over and it's 3 a.m.? You can make this simple pasta dish with sauteed tempeh and vegetables!

Sauteed Kale with Onion and Roasted Garlic, Grilled Bread with Tomato, Leftover Vegan Sausage Mélange

2011-11-08T23:36:00.000-08:00

I wanted to use up a head of kale, and found a simple recipe online for sauteed kale, which I used as the basis of what I did. That recipe calls for coarsely chopping a pound and a half of young kale (stems and leaves). Two cloves of garlic are briefly sauteed in a stock pan until soft but not brown, then the kale and a half cup of vegetable stock is added and mixed together. It is cooked, covered, for five minutes, then the cover is removed and cooking continues, with stirring, till the liquid is gone. A little salt and pepper, and two tablespoons of red wine vinegar, are suggested, as well.

I started with maybe an eighth of a medium onion, coarsely chopped; as the onion cleared in color, I added maybe six cloves of roasted garlic and a few pinches of cumin seed, cooked for maybe 20 seconds, then added the stock and kale, and followed the instructions up to but not including seasoning. I did add salt and pepper, as well as a little dried oregano, but didn't use any vinegar. It was good!

Tempeh and Sweet Dumpling Squash over Tricolor Quinoa, Broiled Belgian Endive

2011-09-27T23:33:00.000-07:00

I made a simple meal that my wife loved tonight. I had half of a baked sweet dumpling squash leftover from a few days ago. I sauteed half of a package of tempeh, cut into cubes, adding a diced medium shallot a few minutes into the cooking, and the cubed squash a few minutes after that. When the tempeh was nicely browning after maybe 5-6 minutes or so, I added a fifth of a bell pepper cut into small pieces.

About two minutes later, I removed the mixture to a bowl, mixed in a little salt, dried tarragon, and a tablespoon or two of a Key West Mojo Criollo marinade. I kept it warm in the toaster oven till I served.

In the meantime, I prepared tricolor quinoa - it's so easy to cook this nutritious "perfect" food whose nutritional composition matches exactly what we need. I put in a measure (in this case cooking for two and a little extra for my daughter's lunch tomorrow, about 2/3 of a yogurt cup) of quinoa and twice that much water into a sauce pan, along with a vegan bouillon cube, brought to a boil, and simmered for 3 or 4 minutes, covered. I turned off the heat and let the quinoa continue to cook and absorb liquid till little liquid was left and the quinoa had the characteristic spiral shape. I served the tempeh and squash mixture atop the quinoa.

Similarly to what I did in March 2009, I also broiled Belgian endives. I took two endives, cut them lengthwise into thirds, and lay the endive pieces on a plate. I chopped into long pieces a small shallot, and arranged pieces atop the endives, then sprinkled a little garlic-flavored extra virgin olive oil on top and broiled in a toaster oven for about 3 or 4 minutes till the endives browned a bit. I served with a little dried oregano, salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

Organic Cornmeal Deep-Dish Pizza

2011-09-26T20:40:00.001-07:00

I teach a fun baby photography class as a childbirth educator at UNC Hospital, and had a session tonight. I often eat out when I teach at night, but came home right after class tonight. By the time we got my daughter to sleep and my wife and I took some time to talk, it was around 11:30p and I hadn't eaten. My wife had made something for herself, so I just had to get a meal together for myself.

I love Vicolo pizza organic cornmeal deep-dish pizza shells. I used one of a pack of two while my daughter and wife were away last weekend, and decided to use the second tonight. I did a quick saute of a chopped Field Roast Grain Meat Company apple-sage vegan sausage in garlic oil (extra virgin olive oil with garlic flavoring), adding maybe a sixth of a green bell pepper cut into thin strips. I mixed in some organic eggplant marinara sauce and topped the crust, adding cheddar-style (with a little bit of mozarella-style) Daiya vegan cheese, and baked in a 425°F oven for about 15 minutes, then served with a quick mixed greens salad with carrot.

Dinner was fast (less than a half hour from beginning of preparation to eating) and tasty! I even had several slices for leftovers, and a small slice for my toddler's lunch box.

Tempeh and Bell Pepper in Radicchio, Whole Wheat Toast with Garlic Oil, Arugula with Tomato

2011-09-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

My wife came home today with salad ingredients that I only occasionally buy, radicchio and Belgian endive. I decided to take advantage of the pretty radicchio leaf - most of us don't get enough bitter food in our diets, anyway.

I made a simple saute of tempeh, bell pepper, and onion, and filled a radicchio leaf. A simple arugula and tomato salad, as well as toasted whole-wheat bread with garlic oil drizzled atop, completed the colorful and tasty meal.

Pesto and Fresh Tomato over Brown Rice Angel Hair Pasta, Vegan Apple-Sage Sausage, and Rosemary Sourdough Bread with Golden Raisins

2011-09-20T18:33:00.000-07:00

My daughter and wife are enroute home from a lovely vacation in Cape Cod, spending the day today in Boston. I ended up missing a nice trip, including my cousin's wedding, when I hurt my toe late last week. I've missed my wife and daughter, but they'll be back in a few hours!

Today in the store, I found a new pasta, DeBoles' angel hair pasta with golden flax (gluten-free, made with brown rice) with golden flax. I've recently been craving a simple angel hair pasta with a rich but basic marinara sauce. No marinara today, but I whipped up a little pesto to top the pasta, and mixed some fresh tomatoes in. A grilled Field Roast Grain Meat Company vegan apple-sage sausage was a hearty accompaniment.

Yesterday at the annual meeting of Weaver Street Market, they unveiled a new product. They make great breads and now will be making a new variety, rosemary sourdough with golden raisins. It's quite good - and I served a piece of it with tonight's meal.

Uttapam

2011-09-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

I often make uttapam, a South Indian crepe, for my daughter - it is her favorite dinner. So we almost always have batter around (I blend in our VitaMix blender rice and then lentils that have been soaking then let the batter ferment; I should post sometime details, including ratios, time to soak, time and how to ferment, etc.). I put vegan Daiya cheese on her uttapams - not traditional, but fun and interesting. I also put a little ginger and bell pepper.

Tonight, cooking just for myself, I made an uttapam. The toppings I used were Daiya pepperjack vegan cheese, bell pepper, and shallot. It came out well!

Limed Seitan with Chard and Brown Rice Noodles, Quinoa, Corn-off-the-Cob

2011-09-09T23:12:00.000-07:00

We were enjoying a nice playdate that was ending so another fellow Dad could go home and prepare dinner for his wife, when I suggested that she come here and that I make a meal for us all. So we had a nice meal with another couple and another toddler!

I cut a box of seitan into bite-sized chunks and marinated in a Key West Mojo Criollo marinade. I started sauteeing over medium-high in Persian lime-infused extra virgin olive oil a medium onion cut into 1/4" half moons and one small diced shallot. As the onion started becoming clear in a few minutes, I added the seitan.

In the meantime, I soaked a large handful of brown rice noodles in very hot tap water in a bowl and hand tore leaves from a stalk of chard and finely diced the stems. As the seitan started just showing signs of browning, I added the chard stem pieces. A few minutes later as the seitan browned more, I added the leaves, which I roughly hand tore into approximately 1/2" pieces.

I drained and washed in cold water the now softened noodles. As the chard leaves cooked down in another two or three minutes, I added the noodles, stirred till they were cooked (about 2 minutes), turned the heat off, and mixed in a little salt, lemon pepper, and fresh basil and lemon sage from my garden (maybe 4 leaves of basil, cut into quarters, and leaves from about 1 1/2" length of the lemon sage). It came out very well!

I also served corn-off-the-cob with juice of about 1/16 slice of Valencia orange, and a little Earth Balance margarine and salt. Multi-colored quinoa cooked with a vegan bouillon cube (2 parts water to 1 part quinoa, brought to a boil and simmered for a few minutes, then removed from heat and covered for 5+ minutes till the moisture was absorbed and the quinoa exhibited its characteristic spiral) and a small salad completed the meal.

Delicata Squash with Persian Lime Vegan Sausage, Fingerling Potatoes, and Sweet Potato

2011-09-07T23:00:00.000-07:00

Our online farmer's market, Papa Spud's, delivered several delicata squashes and a few large sweet potatoes, so I got the temptation to bake them. I did just that in a 350°F oven, and threw in a few fingerling potatoes, as well. I baked the squash cut in half with the flesh face down in a plate with a little water. The small potatoes and squash were done in about 40 minutes, and the sweet potato took about an hour.

I also cooked a stuffing for the squash by sauteeing, in Persian lime infused extra virgin olive oil, two vegan apple-sage sausages cut into 3/8" slices and then quartered and a shallot. When the onion was just carmelizing and the sausage was browned, I added a dozen or so baby spinach leaves and about a quarter cup of eggplant marinara sauce. After a few minutes when the spinach had cooked down, I added some fresh lemon sage from the garden, freshly ground black pepper, and a pinch of salt.

We enjoyed the meal! I used a version of what I made to put together my daughter's lunchbox and hope she'll enjoy her lunch tomorrow. Oh, in her school, the children bake bread every Wednesday - that's her bread in the plate. It is a nice and slightly sweet bread.

Meal for Aji: Sweet Potato-Ginger Soup, Soft Curried Vegetables, Brown Basmati Rice

2011-08-30T21:38:00.000-07:00

I realize that today's is a long post on my blog, so let me start off with the way I made the dishes today. There is ample discussion following this :-) .

Sweet Potato-Ginger Soup (makes about 3 cups)

Chop a medium or large sweet potato quickly into maybe a half dozen chunks to allow it to cook faster, and put in boiling water; it should be mostlly cooked (a fork can go into the flesh relatively easily) after about 5 minutes, after which you should drain the potato; add the potato to a VitaMix blender (you can try another kind of blender)
Add to the blender half of a medium tomato (ideally, a heirloom variety; for color, try to use red or yellow, and avoid (mature) green tomato varieties like green zebras
Add to the blender half of a large apple (I used Pink Lady, perhaps our favorite variety)
Put in to the blender a medium carrot, quickly hand broken into quarters or so
Add a teaspoon of fresh ginger, a little hot pepper (I used about a fifth of a habanero pepper but was careful to not touch the pepper; certainly a quarter jalapeno would have been a fine choice, as well), and one shallot (with the skin removed!)
I like soups thick, so added about 1/4 cup of raw cashews to thicken this soup, but the cashew could be left out
Finally, add a vegan bouillon cube and 1 1/2 cups of water, along with a dash or two of salt
Blend on low (I used "4" on VitaMix's 10-point scale) for 15 seconds or so, and then run on high for 5-6 minutes till steamy
Serve with a little freshly ground black pepper

Changes I'd make next time: I loved the soup but would make it just a little less hinting of sweetness by using less than a half apple - perhaps a quarter apple. The soup had a subtle ginger flavoring, but optionally could use a little more ginger. I loved the habanero flavor and was happy that the pepper was perhaps not so hot as habaneros are reputed to be. A small pinch of ground cumin might be beneficial. I wonder if a little crushed peanut on top would be good. But the soup was also great as I made it this time!

Soft Curried Vegetables (for 3-4 people)

Cut up about 10 small red potatoes into a fine 3/8" dice and put them into boiling water.
About 2 minutes later, add a crookneck squash cut into 1/4" slices then quartered
After another 2 minutes, add about 18 okras, sliced to 1/2" thick sections
When the potato is cooked (after a total of about 12 minutes), remove the vegetables from the heat and drain
In a saute pan, saute half of an onion that has been cut to a 1/4" dice
A minute later, add half a dozen cremini mushrooms, sliced 1/4" thick
Cook another minute or so, then add the drained vegs
Add 1/4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger and 1/8 teaspoon cumin seeds; a little jalapeno can be added (I didn't), as well
Cook another minute or so, then add 1/4 cup water, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1/8 teaspoon paprika, and a pinch of salt
Cook 2 or 3 minutes till the vegetables are softened even more as the water has been absorbed, then serve.

Brown Basmati Rice

Put a ratio of 1 part rice to 2 parts water into a heavy-bottomed pan.
Bring to a boil, and simmer for 45-50 minutes.
Let stand a few minutes then fluff and serve.

We had a very nice long weekend Friday-Monday in the lovely town of Asheville in the mountains of Western North Carolina. There are many restaurants that we love there; our "must visits" are our previous favorite, Laughing Seed (the longest-open vegetarian restaurant in town, a nice, delicious place), Nine Mile (not a vegetarian restaurant but one which offers most dishes that are already or can be vegan - it's a really neat place that makes Jamaican-inspired pasta), Firestorm Cafe and Books (opposite the pub underneath Laughing Seed, a worker-owned radical bookstore and vegan cafe), and one we missed this time, Rosetta's Kitchen (an informal vegetarian restaurant that stays open most nights till 11p and Friday / Saturday nights till 3a!).

We were excited to keep up the last few months with news of the upcoming opening of a brand new gourmet vegan restaurant, Plant! We were pretty sure that this would take Laughing Seed's place as our favorite Asheville restaurant, and I think it has! Plant's head chef is Jason Sellers, who was a vegan chef for Laughing Seed for some years. Owners Alan Berger and Leslie Armstrong put together a beautiful space with a great menu of Jason's, and it just opened on August 16th, ten days before our trip to Asheville. We had our first meal in Asheville there, and were quite impressed.

Anyway, the purpose of the trip was to have a first annual family reunion on my wife's side. (It was a very nice reunion - my wife has such a nice, accomplished, soft-spoken, and kind family! Plus my daughter has a cousin who is six days older than she is, and they had a blast together!) Part of the plan was to bring Sangeeta's cousin's grandmother (Aji, or grandmother in the Marathi language) home with us for 2 nights; she is such a sweet and gentle person. She seems to be having a good time with us, but I was a little nervous cooking for her because I know she likes Indian food, which I do cook on occasion, but which isn't a specialty, and because I heard she likes very spicy food and can't chew well, so needs soft food.

She is only here for one dinner, and that was tonight. I thought I'd make a curried vegetable dish and make sure that the vegetables were cooked enough to be soft, and serve it with brown Basmati rice. Why not a soup, as well?

I had a few sweet potatoes on hand, and found a VitaMix blender recipe for Sweet Potato Soup that I decided to try out. I've noted in the past that some of my early experimentation with ad hoc soup recipes didn't come out well, but recently I've also noted some success. So I felt reasonably confident that I could try making some changes.

The recipe called for blending for 5-6 minutes till steamy: a baked sweet potato, a Roma tomato, 1/2 of a large apple, a medium carrot, 2T tomato paste, a vegetable bouillon cube, and 1 1/2 cups of water. This makes 3 cups of soup. I didn't have a Roma but did have a heirloom tomato, which I am sure added more flavor. I didn't want to open a can of tomato paste just for 2T and, besides thickening, didn't see what benefit the paste would have (I like thicker soups, so was planning on adding cashews, anyway).

Our home-delivery farmer's market service delivered three habanero hot peppers carefully wrapped separately in a plastic bag - I've never considered using or even touching these peppers that measure 100,000 and over on the Scoville scale, but Aji is said to like hot food, so I thought I'd put a little in the soup - and I'm glad that I did.

The verdict: my wife and I enjoyed the entire meal. Aji said she loved the soup and wanted the recipe. She seemed to like the vegetables but not as much as the soup. I'd love to make this soup again!

Carrot-Ginger Soup, Lentils with Mixed Vegetables, Roasted Eggplant and Onion and Potato with Tahini and Hot Sauce

2011-08-24T21:29:00.001-07:00

(I don't know why this post is formatting so strangely!) My wife has a very nice family; we had the pleasure of a visit from her cousin and her family, who drove from Wisconsin and arrived tonight for dinner. They were coming from a few days in Washington, D.C. and brought us treats from Sticky Fingers (I love their sticky buns!)!

I was a little nervous because my wife's cousin was traveling with her elder Mother, who was visiting from India. I was hoping that I would be able to put something together appealing to her - and I found earlier in the day that she can't chew well. I knew I'd be making my carrot-ginger soup and thought that I would make a very soft vegetable (which I did, with French Lentils), but my wife's niece told me that she would probably enjoy soup with rice.

Rice? We make uttapam, a fermented lentil-rice South Indian "pancake pizza" almost every day for my daughter, and I offered that - which was met with enthusiasm. (She ended up enjoying the soup and uttapam, and even ate a bit of the lentil dish, which she said she liked, as well.)

I thought that I would make, in addition to the soup, a dish with French lentils; it's so easy to cook with them. The general method that I use is to start with a little oil in a stock pot. I briefly saute over medium-low heat a few vegetables then toss in maybe a quarter teaspoonful of cumin seeds and saute just a quarter or half minute more (cumin would taste bad if burnt!). I then add water and French lentils in a ratio of 1 part lentil to 3 parts water, bring to a boil, and simmer for 30-45 minutes. I did that tonight, using a wide variety of diced vegetables, including onion, mushroom, baby bok choy, red bell pepper, a bit of jalapeno, banana pepper, and broccoli.

I liked the lentil dish, and it did seem to go over well, but I loved another dish that I made, roasted vegetables. I put a little olive oil on a baking pan and then spread in a single layer medium (a bit shy of 1/2") slices of eggplant. I drizzled a little oil on top after sprinkling 1/4" thick half-moon slices of half an onion. I prepared a second baking sheet similarly, but used two Russet potatoes, I baked in a preheated 375°F oven for about 35-40 m, flipping half-way (when I flipped, I ended up just mixing the two baking sheets and consolidating into one). When done, I mixed in about a tablespoon or so of tahini, several shakes of vinegar-based hot sauce, some fresh lemon sage and rosemary, and some dried oregano, as well as a little salt. I think it came out great!

Along with the soup, slices of heirloom tomato and radish (oh, what is this nice variety called?) completed the meal. It was filling and tasty.

Cubed Tempeh with Asparagus and Raw Grape Tomatoes, Rosemary-Shallot Mashed Potatoes

2011-08-23T21:16:00.000-07:00

I wanted to use up about ten spears of asparagus that I had, and had the idea of integrating raw tomatoes in a cooked meal. Here is what I did:

I chopped 2/3 of a package of tempeh into 3/4" cubes and began sauteeing them over medium-high heat in a combination of Meyer lemon-infused and plain extra virgin olive oil
As the tempeh browned over maybe 5 minutes, I added about ten spears of asparagus, cut into small 1/4" slices, and one clove of garlic, finely diced
I didn't cook the asparagus or garlic long, just 2 or 3 minutes till the green color intensified
I added about 3/4 teaspoon diced fresh ginger and cooked another minute or so to leave the ginger juicy
I removed from the heat and mixed in perhaps 20 small lemon sage leaves, a few drops of fresh lime, a pinch of salt and just a bit of salt-free jerk seasoning, and about a dozen small grape tomatoes, cut into halves.

Dinner also included mashed potatoes with more rosemary needles than I thought would be good (maybe 18), but which turned out well, as well as a small shallot, thinly cut. We enjoyed the meal! I would like to explore more combining raw tomatoes with cooked ingredients, such as perhaps with pasta.

Subtly spiced quinoa with asparagus, leftover seitan-cabbage-kale

2011-08-22T23:40:00.000-07:00

Okra, Vegan Sausage, Cranberry Red Potato, Mushroom, Spinach with Garlic, Brown Rice Noodles, and Turkish Acılı Ezme served w Avocado and Grape Tomato

2011-08-21T21:53:00.001-07:00

Last night, we enjoyed, as we do each year, the puppet show by Paperhand Puppet Intervention. After the show, we went out to eat at Talulla's, a very nice Turkish restaurant that has many vegan choices.

One of the dishes that we had as an appetizer was Acili Ezme, "a spread made of spicy red peppers, tomatoes, green peppers, walnuts and Aegean olive oil" (I just found a recipe for it online). We thought that this was a dip that we had enjoyed in the past, but when it came out, both my wife and I found it really too spicy to enjoy. We somehow ate a little with the bread that they served, but brought most of it home - I realized that this could be a great dish-maker diluted with, what I was thinking then, rice.

When considering further tonight, I decided to make today's main dish more vegetable than grain centered. Here is what I did (serving with avocado and grape tomato) - we both loved the dish:

I started with a half dozen Cranberry Red (also known as "All Red") potatoes, which I chopped into small 3/8" cubes. I purchased these local organic potatoes at the Carrboro Farmer's Market; they are red on the outside and pink inside. They are firm and taste good boiled (e.g., for a potato salad) or sauteed. I sauteed the potatoes over medium-high, using Meyer lemon-infused extra virgin olive oil.
While the potatoes were cooking, I soaked a handful of brown rice noodles in hot tap water.
About 4 or 5 minutes into the cooking, I added two Field Roast Grain Meat Company's apple-sage artisanal vegan sausages that I had cut into similar sized cubes as the potato.
Just after that, I added a clove (not an entire bulb!) of garlic, finely diced.
After another 3 or 4 minutes, when the sausage was starting to brown, I added 15-20 small-medium spears of okra, cut into halves lengthwise
A minute or two later, I added a dozen or so cremini mushrooms, cut into quarters.
A minute or two later, with the dish basically done, I added a handful of baby spinach leaves.
I let the spinach cook down for just a minute or so, then added the drained brown rice noodles.
I stirred till the noodles were cooked, then mixed in the leftover Acili Ezme (I had about an eighth of a cup of it) and a dash of salt - and served!

What a nice ingredient the Acili Ezme is! I will plan to pick more up from the restaurant and use it in other dishes.

Butternut Squash with Bell Pepper and Onion, Ramen Noodles with Chickpea Salad, Neighborly Tomatoes

2011-08-15T22:15:00.000-07:00

We were out this evening; my wife then dropped me off to make dinner and feed our daughter while she attended to an errand. Time was short so I had to innovate a bit more than usual.

We had gone to a vegan baby shower on Saturday and had leftover from that event a prepared chickpea salad that we had purchased from Whole Foods. I made a simple but surprisingly good dish by boiling basic Ramen noodles. I mixed in the salad and topped with a dollop of fresh tahini sauce.

I had some frozen butternut squash chunks. I steamed in a pan with a little bit of water for maybe 5 minutes till the squash softened. I drained the pan and drizzled on a little Meyer lemon-infused extra virgin olive oil. I returned to medium-high heat, uncovered and about a half minute later, added half of an onion cut into half moons that were halved lengthwise, and another two minutes or so later, a quarter bell pepper, diced to about twice the width of the onion. When the onion was clear, I added a dash of cumin seed and cooked another minute or so. I mixed in a little salt and jerk seasoning, about a dozen small lemon sage leaves from my garden, and a few drops of vinegar-based hot sauce. It came out well!

We found on our porch a bag of freshly picked tomatoes from our neighbors across the street. I included them (they were yummy!!) and avocado to round out dinner.

Kale with Cabbage and Seitan, Roasted Eggplant with Tahini, Madagascar Pink Rice

2011-08-14T22:06:00.000-07:00

I had a bunch of kale and about a third of a cabbage that I wanted to use up. I first cut up a package of seitan into matchsticks and began sauteeing over medium-high heat in Meyer lemon-infused extra virgin olive oil. I let it cook till the seitan was nice and crispy, maybe 10-12 minutes.

As the seitan cooked, I finely chopped the kale stems and began boiling them. After about five minutes, I added the kale leaves, hand torn to roughly 3/4" squares, and the cabbage, chopped into approximately 1/2" x 1 1/4" strips.

I cooked for just 2 or 3 minutes till the kale was darker in color and the cabbage softened a bit. I added several pickled red peppers, coarsely chopped, and briefly toasted pine nuts, and mixed in a little salt and freshly ground black pepper.

I also put a little bit of olive oil on both sides of thickly (maybe 1/2" or 5/8" thick) cut eggplant and roasted in my toaster oven over medium-high heat for about 15 minutes, till cooked. I served the eggplant with some tahini and hot sauce. Dinner was good!

Tempeh Saute with Raw Cherry Tomato Halves over Brown Rice Noodles, Corn-off-the-Cob with Lime Juice

2011-08-09T21:05:00.000-07:00

I have wanted for years to serve very lightly sauteed vegetables (just a few, perhaps only tomatoes) over pasta. Tonight, I made a dish inspired by that thought - but still have to make the original dish idea.

I sliced half of a medium yellow onion into thin 3/8" thick half moons and began sauteeing over medium-high heat
I took two large handfuls of brown rice noodles and let them soak in a large bowl of very hot tap water
I cut up a bit more than half of a container of tempeh into thick matchsticks, perhaps 1 1/4" long by 1/2" square, and started sauteeing them once the onion started getting clear, maybe in 3-4 minutes
I let the onion and tempeh cook for maybe 7-10 minutes till the tempeh was medium-brown, then added half of a bell pepper cut into thin strips maybe 3/4" long, as well as a medium clove of finely chopped garlic
After a few more minutes when the tempeh was golden brown, I drizzled on a little vinegar-based hot sauce and maybe 2-3T of raw coconut aminos (giving a soy-sauce like flavor); I turned the heat off and stirred, letting the liquid sizzle and get cooked into the food

In the meantime, I drained and did a quick boil of the noodles, and served the tempeh saute atop the noodles, with raw halved cherry tomatoes on top of it all. I had wanted to put some toasted sesame seeds at the periphery of the noodles, but we were out.

I also flame-roasted two ears of organic corn, stripped the kernels, and served with a few drops of fresh lime juice, a dash of salt, and about a tablespoonful of Earth Balance non-hydrogenated margarine. Avocado slices completed the meal. My wife and I loved the pasta!

Almond Grain Burger with Peach Salsa, Hashed Brown Potatoes with Brussels Sprouts and Bell Pepper

2011-08-08T22:09:00.000-07:00

My wife picked up a tempting looking peach salsa yesterday and I decided to try it atop an almond grain burger, a frozen burger that includes ingredients like spelt, soybean, okara, almond butter, carrot, lentil, and amaranth.

I first made a side dish by sauteeing, over medium-high heat in extra virgin olive oil, about half of an onion cut into thin (1/4") half moons. As the onion cleared, I added maybe a cup of shredded potatoes. As the potato just started browning I added first a dozen Brussels sprouts cut into more or less 1/4" matchsticks and, a minute later, about a quarter bell pepper cut into 3/8" x 1" or so strips. I cooked a few more minutes and then sprayed on a little roasted garlic juice and mixed in a little salt and freshly ground pepper.

Preparing the burger was a simple matter of heating each side for about 3 minutes and putting it atop a whole grain slice of bread with mixed greens, and topping it with the salsa. Wow, that salsa was so good that it really made the sandwich tasty! It was a simple but tasty dinner, made complete with an avocado half.

By the way, after dinner, I was excited to see that Michael Greger, MD, has a nice new site, nutritionfacts.org, that he has begun. It is going to be formally launched in a week. As the site describes, Dr. Greger "scours the world of nutrition-related research, as published in scientific journals, and brings that information to you in short, easy to understand video segments. We also provide links to the original journal articles whenever possible so that you can source the information directly, if you so desire." This sounds great and promises to be a valuable resource.

Acorn Squash stuffed with Corn and Smoky Tomato, Roasted Eggplant, Roasted Dutch Yellow Potato, Leftover Okra-Kale-Zucchini

2011-08-07T23:09:00.000-07:00

We had several eggplants, acorn squash, and several leftovers (okra-kale-zucchini dish I had from Tuesday and the corn with smoky tomato from our event last Sunday) that I wanted to use in tonight's dinner. I made a simple meal that accomplished this (well, I used one of the eggplants) tonight.

I halved the squash and roasted it in a 350°F oven, face down in a pie plate with a little bit of water. I also cut slices of the eggplant and drizzled some Meyer lemon-infused extra virgin olive oil on both sides, and roasted it, as well as halved Dutch Yellow potatoes, tossed with the oil and some rosemary. The total roasting time was about 45 minutes.

I served the squash stuffed with the corn. I heated the leftover okra dish as well. Dinner was good!

Cauliflower-stuffed Malaysian-style Paratha, Leftover Dhal and Black Chickpeas from Vimala's Curryblossom Cafe

2011-08-05T23:53:00.000-07:00

Last night after a photography class that I taught, we went out to see a free outdoor movie (the classic Hitchock film, North by Northwest) and picnicked on food that we picked up from one of our favorite restaurants, Vimala's Curryblossom Cafe. Her food is always abundant, so we had leftovers, which I used in tonight's meal.

I served her tasty dhal (this one was pasty and not like a soup) and black chickpeas with a cauliflower stuffed Malaysian-style paratha (which we picked up recently from an Indian store). Neighbors gave us tasty tomatoes that they had grown; I put a little Meyer lemon-infused extra virgin olive oil (just a drop or two), salt, and freshly ground pepper on the tomatoes, and served with Sungold tomatoes, fresh basil, and a few breaded mushrooms that were leftover from Cafe Parizade from last Sunday.

Sauteed Okra, Kale, Zucchini, Cabbage, 2 types Mushroom) with Dutch Yellow Potatoes

2011-08-02T01:08:00.000-07:00

I finished up the leftover Alfredo sauce from this past Saturday in tonight's dinner. We had received nice home-grown produce from friends on Sunday and got even more today in our home-delivery "farmer's market". I made a simple sautee of vegetables, cutting most to be thin and maybe 3/4" in length, and put some of the Alfredo sauce in when the vegetables were done, heating just another minute or so.

I sprinkled some hot sauce on top and served with our friends' homegrown tomato, as well as slices of boiled Dutch Yellow potatoes. It all came out well! That Alfredo sauce is a winner!

Leftover Pesto Bowtie Pasta and Smoky Corn with Tempeh

2011-08-01T20:33:00.000-07:00

A friend is moving to Korea for a year to teach English and when I called her early this evening to see when we can say bye, we decided that we would go over with dinner to her home. We had a good amount of leftovers from last night's nice party (the menu included breaded mushrooms, two kinds of pasta, corn with smoky tomato and jalapeno, Shepherd's Pie, several dips, gazpacho soup, mashed potatoes, gravy, pastries, and more - all vegan, of course), so it made it easy.

I made a simple side of sauteed tempeh at our friends' home. I served with reheated leftover bow-tie pesto pasta and smoky tomato and jalapeno corn, along with salad from yesterday's meal. Some fresh champagne mango was dessert.

Raw Zucchini "Pasta" with "Alfredo" Sauce, Vegan Apple-Sage Sausage, Sungold Tomatoes

2011-07-30T23:23:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, a friend brought over a huge zucchini from her garden. I thought that it would be fun to make a raw "pasta", since my wife enjoys most of her non-dinner meals raw. I did a little searching online and found a simple recipe (that took literally 15m or so to make!) online called Alfredo Sauce and Zucchini Noodles.

It was so easy to make. We don't have a food spiralizer, but I just used a simple shredder. I guessed that a 5" or so length of zucchini would make for a good "pasta", so cut the zucchini 5" from the end and grated it.

For the sauce, I pretty much followed the recipe that I found. I took a cup of raw cashews and soaked them for 15m (the recipe suggested 30m). I drained and put the soaked cashews into our VitaMix blender, along with a garlic clove, juice of a small lime, half a cup of water, a half tablespoon or so of nutritional yeast, and a dash of salt. I blended on high for maybe 15 seconds till nice and creamy - and that was it! The sauce tasted surprisingly rich and tasty.

I served the sauce atop the noodles, with some freshly ground black pepper. I also lightly sauteed a vegan Field Roast Grain Meat Company apple-sage artisanal vegan sausage (so it wasn't a raw meal, but that wasn't my goal) and briefly heated some pine nuts. I sprinkled the nuts atop the pasta dish and served the sausage to the side.

My wife loved the meal (I liked it, too!) and told me that she had only had Alfredo sauce once and hated it. I realized that I've never had this sauce - and don't even know what it really is. Hmm.... let me check online ... it looks like it is a cream - Parmesan cheese - butter sauce -- yikes, how fatty that sounds! So, I don't know how a traditional Alfredo sauce is supposed to taste, but I enjoyed our meal!

My favorite tomatoes are Sungold - they're so sweet! They rounded out the meal. We're hosting a party at a restaurant tomorrow, but I should be cooking again on Monday.

Prepared Achari Mushroom with Malaysian-style Lentil Stuffed Parantha

2011-07-27T00:40:00.000-07:00

I came home late from an appointment and had very little time to put dinner together. I keep some handy but also good-quality convenient foods around for such circumstances. I have had good luck with pre-cooked Indian meals sealed in an aluminum bag and ready to boil, and found a brand I'd not used before, Kohinoor. Their Achari Mushroom ("fresh button mushrooms cooked with pickled sauces and aromatic herbs") sounded good but I didn't notice the spice level hot label till I served.

I served this dish with a Malaysian-style lentil stuffed parantha, also rather spicy. A dollop of soy yogurt I thought would (and did) help. Dinner was reasonable, but my wife and I both found it too spicy - and the pickles with mushrooms was a little strange mixture.

Kale and Crimini Mushroom cooked in Meyer Lemon Infused Olive Oil, Quinoa

2011-07-26T23:23:00.000-07:00

"Rough" Pesto with Asparagus and Spinach, Leftover Green Tomato-Seitan with Madagascar Pink Rice

2011-07-05T23:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I wanted to use up the leftover green tomato-seitan dish from a few nights ago; I heated it, along with the Madagascar pink rice. I also made an interesting and simple asparagus dish in a cast iron pan. I ran out of oil, so used some Earth Balance margarine.

I cut asparagus into maybe 1 1/2" lengths. I started sauteeing a large diced shallot, adding a large handful and a half (just a little at a time) of spinach a few minutes later. When the spinach was cooked down significantly, I added the asparagus and cooked for a few more minutes, then served.

I had forgotten to dollop on a little bit of a pesto variant that I had made last night, and added that after the first few bites. Yesterday, we took a supply of basil from a friend, and I intended to make pesto by blending the basil leaves with walnut, garlic, and olive oil. But I only had a little bit of olive oil left, so had a rather rough and not smooth sauce. But it tasted fine and actually complemented today's asparagus dish well.

Last night for the 4th of July, our vegetarian society had a potluck dinner. We also distributed vegetarian literature at a fun festival for the three days ending yesterday. After the dinner, we went out for fireworks, but they ended up being rained out, alas. Happy 4th of July!

Creamy Mushroom and Kale Soup, Tempeh with Green Beans and Pine Nuts

2011-07-01T18:52:00.001-07:00

I had some cremini mushrooms on hand and yesterday my parents gave me a quart of white mushrooms that they didn't want. I decided to make a creamy mushroom soup. My experience with my VitaMix is that many dishes come out fine ad hoc, but soups generally, at least for me, need a recipe to start with.

Anyway, I thought I would challenge that today and use my normally decent sense about what foods might work well together to create a new blended soup. I used a raw mushroom soup recipe that I found on the web as initial inspiration and came up with this recipe (the soup was so interesting and good that I may try to publish it at some VitaMix recipe sites).

I put into the Vita-Mix about 8 medium white mushrooms (a quart), 5 small cremini mushrooms, a large shallot (peeled), and 3 medium potatoes, similar to Yukon Golds
I blended briefly at 40% power, just to chop; much of the mushroom ended up pureeing, which was fine
I sauteed the mix over medium-high for about 7-10 minutes till it gave out a nice mushroom aroma and the mushroom was cooked down a little
I put in the Vita-Mix 2 cups of fresh homemade almond milk, 1/4 cup raw cashews, 4 leaves (stem and leaf) kale, 1T red miso, 3/4t cumin seed, half of a jalapeno (seeds and all; the soup had a little bit too much - but still quite acceptable and nice - of a "kick" to it, so next time I'd add a quarter jalapeno), about a tablespoonful of fresh lemon sage, and a pinch of salt
I added the sauteed vegetables and blended on high for about 5 minutes till steamy hot

I served the soup topped with a sauteed mushroom mixture (4 large creminis chopped and sauteed down, with about a tablespoonful of rosemary, mixed with some freshly ground black pepper). I also put some crispy prepared onions on top.

I made an interesting course of tempeh as well. I sauteed some tempeh over medium-high heat, adding green beans when the tempeh was almost done. Just before completion, I added some pine nuts, stirred for a half minute or minute till the nuts barely showed some browning, then served.

Dinner was good! The kale added a nice surprise to the flavor of the soup. I think this soup is a winner.

Fingerling Potato-Kale-Carrot Saute with Vegan Apple-Sage Sausage.jpg

2011-06-28T23:04:00.000-07:00

Carribean Inspired Curried Coconut Seitan and Cremini with Organic White Corn-off-the-Cob

2011-06-25T23:17:00.000-07:00

For tonight's dinner, I made something that we all loved - but then, how can you go wrong with seitan and mushrooms? I used Key West Mojo Criollo sauce and reduced-fat coconut milk, along with herbs, spices, seitan, Vidalia onion, cremini mushroom, lemon peel, grated coconut, and hot sauce.

In particular:

I began sauteeing a package of seitan strips over medium-high heat
After about 3 minutes when the seitan started showing a little bit of browning, I added half of a Vidalia onion, chopped into 1/4" pieces
My toddler likes a little bit of spice, but to be sure, I have been toning down hot spices. I would have liked to have put a little jalapeno at this point. Instead, I added to my plate before serving some shakes from a vinegar-based hot sauce that I like
After another 2 or 3 minutes, I added a half dozen cremini mushrooms, cut into 1/4"-3/8" slices (for a medium-sized mushroom, approximately quartering each mushroom)
After another 3 minutes or so, the seitan was nicely browned and the mushroom was cooked down; I added about 1/2 teaspoon rosemary needles and 1/4 teaspoon lemon sage and stirred briefly
Just a quarter minute or so later, I added about 1/4 cup Key West Mojo Criollo and 1/8 cup reduced-fat coconut milk, as well as a few dashes of lemon pepper, dried organic lemon peel pieces, and a little salt
I cooked on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, then added 2T frozen grated coconut, a dash of turmeric, and a little bit (maybe 3T) more coconut milk
Like when making risotto, I added another few T of liquid (coconut milk) a few minutes later, not letting the dish swim in coconut milk but keeping it moist, and served

Tonight, we were all going to an American Dance Festival performance and I initially thought we had less time to eat than we actually did, so I made an embarrasingly simple to the main course, Ramen noodles. I should have prepared a whole-grain rice, but the noodles were fine. I also served some roasted artichoke hearts, as well as freshly flame-roasted organic white corn with a little bit of finely diced Vidalia onion, fresh lime juice, Earth Balance margarine, and salt.

Limed Jerked Seitan Crumbles with Marinara over Brown Rice Spaghetti, Cremini Mushrooms with Port and Lemon

2011-06-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

From the Nasher dinner on Thursday, I had some leftover limed jerked seitan "crumbles" (i.e., the small pieces of seitan leftover - still nicely textured and flavored), as well as the marinara sauce. I slowly heated the marinara and added the crumbles, letting the mixture simmer for the duration of the dinner's preparation.

I also made a simple but tasty mushroom side dish. I started sauteing over medium-high heat about a fifth of a medium yellow onion medium diced to maybe 1/2". As the onion started becoming clear (after maybe 3 minutes), I took about 8 medium sized cremini mushrooms, sliced each into quarters, and sauteed for about 4 or 5 minutes till they were starting to show some brown color.

Then I added a large basil leaf from my garden and about a dozen rosemary needles, let it cook a minute and a half or two, then added about an eighth of a cup of Port (a red wine would have been fine, too), dashes of salt and freshly ground black pepper, and a little bit (1/4 teaspoon?) of fresh lemon zest (it just takes a little bit, but adds a lovely citrus nuance), and cooked for a final minute or so to let the wine get absorbed into the mushrooms and the alcohol evaporate.

I served the sauce atop some brown rice spaghetti, with another large basil leaf from my garden on the side and a little bit of nutritional yeast on top of the sauce. A carrot and the mushrooms completed the plate.

My wife, daughter, and I all loved the meal! The seitan by itself added a nice texture that, sans the additional flavoring, would make it resemble a Bolognese sauce. But the hint of jerk and lime that was left gave it a Jamaican feel, reminding me a little of dishes we enjoy at Nine Mile, one of our favorite Asheville, NC restaurants.

The Best Frozen Pizza I've Found (American Flatbread's Vegan Harvest) with Hashed Brown Potatoes

2011-06-17T23:10:00.000-07:00

I have noticed a brand of frozen pizza from a artisanal New England company, American Flatbread. They use wood-fired ovens and generate a tempting sounding crust, but their pizzas, till I noticed otherwise today, were not vegan. Today, I was shopping at Whole Foods Market (they had a great one-day sale on quarts of organic blueberries for $1.99! I bought a case of a dozen for about $21.50!) and found that American Flatbread now has a Vegan Harvest variety that uses Daiya vegan cheese, and picked it up.

I wanted to put a quick dinner together for my daughter and me as my wife was going to eat on her own and go to an event, while my daughter and I would be going to an outdoor film. Frozen pizza for kiddo and me sounded good to both of us.

I was quite impressed when I opened the pizza package to find the crust looked even better than I had imagined, nicely hand-shaped. The great news - when I ate the heated pizza, I loved it! This is one fabulous pizza! I added some yellow bell pepper slices, but the base "cheese"/sauce/pizza is delicious, the best frozen pizza I've found. A little hashed brown potatoes (with the stem of a portabello mushroom and roasted garlic) and broccoli completed our dinner.

By the way, my dinner at the Nasher Museum turned out great last night! We had 80+ people, I believe. I had a great staff to work with who helped produce all the menu items, and I got to spend a lot of time circulating and talking with the guests. Without exception, people were raving about the food and remarking how upscale and delicious the dishes were. My favorites were the carrot-ginger soup, the tempeh with curried noodles (the noodles turned out so good that they stole the show and left the macadamia-encrusted tempeh tasty but playing second fidde in this dish), and the chocolate baklava and organic berry "ice cream" (the texture came out so good!) topped with cacao nibs. Yay!

Almond Grain Burger with Pesto, White Carrot, Hashed Brown Potatoes

2011-06-14T15:04:00.000-07:00

Last week when I stopped by Earth Fare, I found a frozen Almond Grain burger. I prepared it for a simple meal tonight with a little bit of homemade pesto, along with a white carrot and hashed brown potatoes.

Leftover Vimala's Tempeh with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

2011-06-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday after my advanced photography class, we visited "better than homemade" Vimala's Curryblossom Cafe, one of our favorite restaurants run by a wonderful woman and friend of ours, Vimala. I served today some leftover tempeh that she had prepared (the tempeh itself was locally made), as well as some roasted fingerling potatoes.

Mini bell peppers stuffed with cremini and tempeh

2011-06-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

Guest Chef Seitan and Tempeh Prep with Asparagus, Vimala's Black Chickpeas, Salad

2011-06-11T21:53:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted that Duke University's Nasher Museum (contemporary art museum) asked me to be one of three guest chefs this summer; my vegan meal is this coming Thursday. I spent much of the afternoon working with their head chef today, including making some walnut (substituting for macadamia nut, which we'll have on Thursday) crusted blackened tempeh, carrot ginger soup, and a jerk seitan (my menu, with some corrections to be made, is available online). The seitan that they sourced didn't look great, and in fact was okay but I'd much prefer to use another product; I'm glad we tried it out today. So, I came home with some extra tempeh and seitan.

On Thursday night after my new advanced photography class that I am teaching, we went out to one of my favorite restaurants, "better than homecooking" Vimala's Curryblossom Cafe, and have some leftovers. I used the black chickpeas from that meal. I cooked some asparagus, chopped into thirds, with a little bit of olive oil, and mixed the asparagus with the tempeh and seitan. A nice, fresh salad rounded out the meal.

Seitan and Green Beans with Pesto-Topped Mashed Potato and Rainbow Carrot

2011-06-10T22:53:00.000-07:00

I had some green beans that needed to be used, so I made a simple saute with seitan and seasonings. There was some of a "rainbow" collection of (naturally, of course, and organic) white, orange, and purple carrot left, which I served atop some salad greens with sprouts. I put a dollop of homemade pesto sauce atop some mashed potatoes to complete the meal.

Tempeh and Mushrooms with White and Orange Carrot in Coconut Milk

2011-06-08T22:27:00.000-07:00

Post-Talk Tofurky Pizza with Purple Carrot and Tater Tots

2011-06-07T22:39:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege of being invited to give a talk on plant-based diets at a local library today in Raleigh, NC. It went great - I had a very nice audience.

After the talk, I visited Earth Fare, a NC whole foods store that I have not been to recently. It was getting late and my wife had already eaten, so I wanted to make something quickly for dinner when I got home. I found that Tofurky has a few vegan frozen pizzas, and I picked a "supreme" one up.

The pizza was good but not remarkable. I enjoyed some tater tot potatoes and a purple carrot with the meal. Earth Fare also had on clearance purple carrot juice, of which I bought several bottles.

Tummy-taming Kitcheri, Kale-Mashed Potato

2011-06-06T01:58:00.000-07:00

Tempeh and potato with kale over rice noodles, salad with toasted hemp seeds

2011-06-01T23:18:00.000-07:00

Grilled Marinated Seitan with Corn, Shiitake Mushroom, and Spinach with Lemon Cucumber and Avocado

2011-05-31T22:22:00.000-07:00

Brown Rice Spaghetti with Kale Sauce, Zucchini with Pesto, Tempeh (gluten-free)

2011-05-24T18:06:00.001-07:00

We received some good fresh kale in our weekly shipment of an online farmer's market. I hand stripped the greens from four leaves of kale and put in a small pan of boiling water for about 5 minutes till the kale tasted reasonably cooked.

Then I put the kale in our Vita-Mix blender, along with a quarter small yellow onion, and briefly (setting 4 out of 10) ran the blender, just to chop the ingredients (and not puree). I put about a half cup little Fra Diavolo pasta sauce in the same pan and combined in with the kale-onion, bringing the mixture to a simmer and adding 3 or 4 roughly chopped fresh basil leaves and a pinch or two of salt.

In the meantime, I started boiling some Tinkyada brand brown rice spaghetti. I served the spaghetti with the kale sauce. A few days ago, I had made pesto sauce, and I served a bit atop some zucchini slices. Sauteed tempeh completed the meal. (I hadn't had it as a goal, but it turned out to be a gluten-free meal.)

Seitan with freshly made pesto, Salad with fresh organic strawberry dressing, jerk-spiced roasted crook-neck squash

2011-05-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

Vegan Grilled Cheese with Hashed Browns and Corn-off-the-Cob

2011-05-21T23:53:00.000-07:00

My wife doesn't like cheese, vegan or not, but we ate separately today and it was late by the time I could eat, so I made a simple grilled cheese (with vegan Daiya cheese) sandwich with hashed brown potatoes and flame-roasted corn-off-the-cob.

Brown Rice Spaghetti with Marinara and Pesto, Tempeh, Asparagus

2011-05-19T01:30:00.000-07:00

My wife and I often meet to eat out after my photography classes, but we didn't tonight. She and my daughter had eaten on their own. It was late so I put something together that would be quick.

I like brown rice pastas and recently picked up a brown rice spaghetti. I served it with marinara sauce plus a dollop of pesto. Asparagus and tempeh rounded out the filling and tasty meal.

Carrot-Ginger Soup, Marinated Seitan with Kale over Mixed Wild and Brown Rice

2011-05-18T01:24:00.000-07:00

I was delighted to have two friends and ex-colleagues over for dinner tonight. I had to show off the Vita-Mix blender and make the carrot-ginger soup that we love. I also made a marinated seitan dish over rice. I think that all enjoyed the meal, including several fruit drinks I made in the Vita-Mix.

Remedy Diner leftover Seitan Steak and Gravy over Mashed Potatoes

2011-05-17T01:07:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, we attended the NC Symphony in downtown Raleigh. I photographed several prom sessions immediately beforehand, so we had to eat after the symphony. We enjoy The Remedy Diner, very vegan friendly, and afterwards ate dinner there. Their servings are large, so I brought home a lot of the country fried seitan steak that I had ordered. I served that (including their gravy) over mashed potatoes tonight for a simple dinner.

Kohlrabi Puree over Mashed Potatoes with Jerk-Spiced Tempeh

2011-05-11T23:30:00.000-07:00

In our weekly online farmer's market delivery from Papa Spud's, we had several bulbs of kohlrabi. I've cooked with kohlrabi a few times, but wanted some new ideas and found an interesting kohlrabi puree recipe online. I adapted this recipe and served the resulting fresh, green, appetizing puree atop mashed potatoes, with sauteed tempeh spiced with jerk seasoning and a salad.

I left the skins on 4 kohlrabi bulbs, but cut the tougher very tops and very bottoms off, then cut the kohlrabi into 1" or so chunks. I simmered the kohlrabi for about 12 minutes till the pieces were tender.

While this was going on, I started sauteeing over medium heat a medium onion, chopped into 1/2" pieces. As the onion softened (about 5 minutes), I added 3 cloves of finely chopped garlic. I washed the kohlrabi leaves, composting a few that had yellowed, and roughly chopped them, adding them to the saute a minute or two later. I cooked till the leaves reduced down a bit, maybe 3 minutes.

I drained the cooked kohlrabi bulb pieces and put them in my Vita-Mix blender, then added the contents of the saute pan, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a handful of cashews. I then pureed briefly on high till smooth and served. It was delicious!

Dealing with 28 Pounds of Strawberries: Leftover French Lentils with Potato served with Injera and a Strawberry-Dressed Salad

2011-04-30T23:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my wife, daughter, and I went to what turned out to be a great certified organic and certified biodynamic farm about 30-40 minutes away. We found three tasty varieties of strawberry (Candler, somewhat rare Sweet Charlie, and Camarosa; the latter taste best when very dark burgundy and stand up well to dipping in, for example, chocolate) - and got carried away, picking 28 pounds!!

Last night, we enjoyed some take-out Ethiopian food and quickly got to working through the berries. My wife used her food dehydrator to get many of the berries dehydrated - the process still goes on today (it seems to take about 12 or more hours). I made a chocolate dip (using some bittersweet dark chocolate melted - in a bowl in a pan of boiling water to avoid burning the chocolate - and mixed with some unsweeteened "MimicCreme" almond-cashew "cream") for some dipping, and we ate plenty fresh berries as-is.

Today, I found a recipe that inspired a strawberry dressing. I put 3 or 4 large, firm Camarosa strawberries in our VitaMix blender with very little (1/2 teaspoon) extra virgin olive oil, two tablespoons or so of a vinegar-based hot sauce, about 1 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, a teaspoon or so of fresh squeezed lime juice, and a pinch of salt. I wanted to add one or two cloves of garlic; I didn't have garlic, so instead added a small segment of shallot, as well. I blended on medium (4) for 10 seconds or so, then on high for just a few seconds. I served it atop a salad that had three slices of another variety of strawberry. It was my first attempt at making a salad dressing (we usually use nothing or lime juice with a little salt and pepper) and came out well!

I heated up leftover French Lentils with Potato from Tuesday. I had picked up some extra injera, the lovely spongy sour bread made from fermented teff that is used in lieu of utensils to pick up Ethiopian food, yesterday and served my wife and myself each a lightly warmed injera.

Dinner was good! I went on after dinner to make strawberry ice cream. I simply put in the VitaMix 4 or 5 frozen berries, about a quarter cup of the unsweetened cashew-almond cream, one pitted date, and two more room temperature strawberries. I blended on about "4" till the "ice cream" formed as four humps in the blender. I served topped with a fresh mint leaf. I loved it - what made it exceptional was the fact that the date didn't get homogenized but was in pieces mixed throughout.

Potato-Kale-Asparagus Saute

2011-04-17T23:16:00.000-07:00

Simple Late Night Macaroni and "Chreese", Organic Burger

2011-04-13T20:34:00.001-07:00

Another late night! My wife went out to a performance and three roommates who could help with child care stopped by in the evening. By the time all the dust settled, it was after 11p and I had yet to eat. So a quick and easy meal was in order! Tomorrow, the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, the country's largest such festival, begins. I'll be busy Thursday-Sunday morning-night seeing many great films, some of which I've already previewed. I'll probably be eating near the Festival. I had a box of Road's End Organics' cheddar-style semolina shells on hand, so made them, mixing some bell pepper and spring onion in to the final product, and serving with some Daiya cheddar-style shreds. I also heated an organic Sunshine Burger brand "breakfast" burger and served it topped with tahini and (post-photograph) hot sauce. Simple but filling for me!

Prepared Bulgarian Eggplant Stuffed with Rice, Grilled Polenta

2011-04-12T16:39:00.000-07:00

Tonight's was a relatively quick "convenience" dinner - I'm focused on a few things I have to get done this week before the Full Frame Film Festival (the country's largest documentary film festival with over 100 films this Thursday-Sunday). I had picked up from a Middle Eastern restaurant a prepared can of Zergut brand Bulgarian eggplants stuffed with rice (eggplant, rice, water, tomato, onion, pepper, sunflower oil, tomato concentrate, sugar, salt, citric acid, parsley, black pepper, and bay leaves). It tastes very good right out of the can and doesn't need heating.

I had about half of a tube of prepared polenta. I sliced it into six slices, each about 1/2" thick, and sauteed them over medium heat in a cast iron pan for about 4 minutes per side till cooked through. About 2 minutes into the cooking, I added two scallions cut into 3/4" slices, which I served bunched in the center of the polenta. Finally, each polenta round got a dab of Jamaican hot sauce from Asheville's Nine Mile.

A salad including avocado half completed the meal. It was easy - and tasty.

Shiitake Mushrooms with Ramps served with Madagascar Pink Rice and Salad with Mango Dressing

2011-04-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

I love ramps, or wild leeks, and should try to grow them! I've only found them in stores a few times; I first discovered them in June 2008 and also cooked with them in June 2009. When we were visiting Asheville last week, I found them at the French Broad Coop in bunches of about 15 for I think $4 - yippee! I used ramps for tonight's main dish. I prepared ingredients:

Half of a package of tempeh cut into thin 1/4" strips, then cut again in half crosswise

One quarter jalapeno pepper, roughly diced (so, if they were too hot, the pieces could easily be removed from the plate)

All but three ramps from a bunch (I counted - thirteen ramps for this dish) and cut them into approximately 1/2" slices, a little smaller for the white portions and a little bigger for the green ones

About a quarter medium bell pepper, cut into approximately 1/2" chunks

A large handful of shiitake mushrooms; I have always washed mushrooms, though I know that gourmands recommend simply brushing them. Today, I brushed them clean. I cut off hardened knobby ends, then sliced the mushrooms into halves or thirds

I preheated a little extra virgin olive oil (the only kind of olive oil I use) over medium heat in a cast iron pan and added the tempeh. I cooked 3 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, then added the mushrooms and jalapeno; a minute later, I added the ramps. I cooked a few more minutes till the ramps and shiitake cooked down a bit, and the tempeh was turning brown, then added the bell pepper and cooked about two more minutes.

I enjoy Happy Human's organic spice rubs, and have their "Basic Boost" (garlic, onion, paprika, salt, echinacea, "and other super secret organic spices"). I mixed 1/2 teaspoon or so of it into the vegetables and served.

I also prepared some Madagascar pink rice by cooking one part rice to one and 3/4 part water (I think next time I may want to make it a 1:2 ratio as the rice was a little dry) and one vegan salt-free bouillon cube. I brought to a boil then simmered, covered, on low heat for about 20 minutes. I love this tasty, chewy, whole-grain rice that cooks so quickly.

I made a simple salad with mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, and carrot. We like salad simply with a little lemon or lime juice, a little freshly ground black pepper, and sometimes a touch of salt. On our Asheville trip, my wife loved a mango dressing that Nine Mile made, and she attempted to duplicate it using our Vitamix blender. She put into the blender:

Half a mango (I imagine that any kind would be good, but she used a "champagne" ataulfo variety, one of my favorites)

Half a cup of raw cashews

Six basil leaves

A small half-clove of garlic

A little salt and pepper

Half a cup of water

and blended on high for half a minute till all was liquified.

By the way, I had forgotten till I got a message from somebody, but an article about veganism that I was interviewed for appeared in today's newspaper. It mentions this blog and includes several pictures that I have taken of my dinner plates.

Broccolini Stirfry with Madagascar Pink Rice

2011-04-02T23:12:00.000-07:00

I made a stirfry dinner tonight, served with Madagascar pink rice (cooked with a vegan bouillon cube). I used broccolini, along with a number of other vegetables like potato, eggplant, quartered Brussels sprouts, red onion, and stalks of Swiss chard, as well as some seitan and a little sprinkling of a tiny bit of salt and more freshly ground black pepper. It was a tasty meal!

Brussels Sprouts with Brown Rice Noodles, Spiced Edamame

2011-03-31T22:58:00.000-07:00

I had to make a quick dinner tonight as I was attending a screening of a classic Kurosawa film, Ikiru. Over medium-high heat, I sauteed about a dozen Brussels sprouts that I had cut in half; a few minutes into the cooking, I added about a fifth of a red onion, cut into a coarse dice. When the sprouts were lightly browned on the cut sides, I mixed in some brown rice noodles that I had been soaking in hot water, draining immediately before adding to the pan. I cooked for a minute or two, then removed from the heat and mixed in a little freshly ground black pepper and salt. I also heated some edamame (soybeans), then mixed in a little diced ginger, alder-smoked salt, and just a little jerk seasoning. I served with some radish slices for a quick, filling, and tasty dinner.

Spicy Seitan Strips with Pine Nuts, Asparagus, and Madagascar Pink Rice

2011-03-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

I made a simple, but, my wife and I (and my toddler!) felt, tasty dinner tonight. I recently picked up a nice, new for me, Madagascar pink rice. It is simply cooked in a 1 : 1 3/4 ratio (i.e., put a unit of rice in a pan then add one and three quarters units water; I also put in a vegan bouillon cube). While it was cooking, I took half of a box of seitan strips and sauteed them in a little oil over medium heat in a cast iron pan. I also put in a hot chili pepper, quartered; it seemed to be quite hot, so I only left it in a few minutes, then discarded it (the flavor and heat did gently get into the dish). A few minutes into the saute, I added about a half dozen garlic chives, cut into fifths or so; a few minutes after that, with the seitan gently browning, I added a small half handful of pine nuts. Pine nuts can easily burn, so I turned the heat off and cooked, stirring, for another minute, before removing the entire dish to a bowl. I added some fresh squeezed lemon juice and Happy Human's Basic Boost Spice Rub (garlic, onion, paprika, salt, echinacea, "and other super secret organic spices"). I also cooked some fresh asparagus in that same cast iron pan over medium heat with a little oil. I cooked just 2 minutes or so, till the asparagus became a darker green. I served it with fresh lemon, freshly ground black pepper, and a little salt. Dinner was quite good. This rice has a lovely taste with lots of interesting nuances I'll have to try to identify; perhaps I'll have to make it plain without bouillon. I really like using this rice - it is a whole-grain rice but only takes 20m to cook.

Thai Eggplant Stew with Tomato Salad and Pina Colada

2011-03-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

Over medium heat, I sauteed half of an eggplant, cut into half lengthwise then 3/4" slices, in a cast iron pan while in a stainless steel stockpot, also over medium heat, I sauteed half of a package of seitan cut into large 3/4" or so pieces. When the seitan was showing signs of getting brown, I added about 4 or 5 stalks (not leaves - my wife enjoyed them with her lunch earlier) of Swiss chard cut into 1/4" slices, as well as 4 or 5 very small cloves of garlic (equivalent to one or two regular cloves, I suppose) and a little bit (1/2 teaspoon or so) of diced ginger; we are, alas, out of jalapeno, but I would have liked to have added some at this point.

After a few minutes, I transferred the eggplant, lightly brown, into the pan and added a little over half of a can of organic light coconut milk (I used about half of the remainder to make pina coladas - see below), maybe another 1/2 teaspoon diced ginger, a big handful of fresh coriander roughly chopped into halves or thirds, about a quarter bell pepper cut into 1/2" or so chunks, and a few stalks of garlic chives cut into 1" lengths. I also added some paprika and a little salt. I simmered for a few minutes and served.

We're also out of rice noodles, but I did have two packages of Ramen noodles, so heated one package and used that to accompany the eggplant. As a side, I made a simple version of Thai tomatoes by dicing most of a large tomato and mixing in 1 teaspoon or so of Ume plum vinegar, a few dashes of a vinegar-based hot sauce, and some alder-smoked salt (I wish I had Indian "kala namak" ("black salt" - really pink in color), and let it sit for as long as possible. I sprinkled the liquid and then some sesame seeds over the noodles, before serving the tomato.

I cut a fresh organic pineapple and put about half of it, roughly cut into chunks, into the VitaMix blender. One thing nice about this blender is that the pineapple core can be used, as I did. I also put in a little bit of ginger (!), half of the remaining coconut milk, maybe 3T of raw cashew pieces, 3 dates, and a few ice cubes, and blended. I rarely drink alcohol, and wonder what this would taste with a touch of rum, but in any case the drink came out well and went well with the Thai dinner.

I thought dinner was fine, but this turned out to be one of the only times that my wife said the food was "okay". I wish that I had had more of the ingredients that I had wanted for the main dish and noodles!

Organic Tricolor Quinoa with Fingerling Potatoes and Kale, Uttapam

2011-03-18T23:29:00.000-07:00

We usually have uttapam, a South Indian pancake, batter made in our VitaMix blender and ready to use - it's really quite easy and created by just blending together rice and lentils, and letting the white batter ferment a day or so. It's probably my daughter's favorite food.

Today, my wife ate Senagalese food when she went to a parents' night out. I had the pleasure of my parents' coming over to eat. My Mom doesn't eat onions or garlic, and I wanted to make something that we could all enjoy.

I made a nice quinoa dish. In the past month or so, I've found a new kind of quinoa, an organic tricolor one. I took about a half dozen or so small fingerling potatoes, cut them in half and, in a stock pot with a little olive oil, gently cooked the potatoes over medium heat for 6 or 7 minutes till the potatoes were showing just a little bit of hint of brown. I then added a small zucchini, cut into maybe 3/8" thick discs that were then quartered. A minute or so later, I added a quarter teaspoonful or so of cumin seeds, stirred for less than a half minute, then added the tricolor quinoa (maybe 2/3 cup) and twice as much water, as well as some hand-torn kale leaves, a touch of salt, and a few small pieces of ginger. I brought to a boil, then simmered, covered for a few minutes. I turned the heat off and left the pan covered for about 7-10 minutes till the characteristic spiral was evident in the quinoa.

I served the quinoa with some tasty uttapam; for mine, I included bell pepper, green onion, ginger, and Daiya vegan cheddar-style "cheese". My daughter and parents ate well, and we all seemed to enjoy!

Farro Pasta with Vegan Apple-Sage Sausage

2011-03-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

My wife had eaten on her own today before we went to a meeting. By the time I got home and was able to cook, it was fairly late, so I made a simple dinner for myself. I prepared some farro pasta, and served with marinara sauce, olives, and nutritional yeast. I cooked on a cast iron pan with very little oil a Field Roast Grain Meat Company apple-sage artisanal vegan sausage with onions and bell peppers. An avocado completed the tasty and easy meal!

Crispy Seitan and Arugula, Baked Squash, Baked Potato, Baked Purple Sweet Potato

2011-03-14T23:57:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting idea which my wife and I agreed came out tasting very good. I cut a box of seitan into thin strips, maybe 1" long and 1/4" thick, and marinated them in lemon juice for an hour or two (the longer, the better). I drained the seitan from its lemon juice marinade, pressing down to get the moisture out. I sauteed a diced garlic clove for a minute or so over medium heat in a cast iron pan with a little bit of olive oil, then added the seitan and let it cook for about 5-7 minutes till it was crispy. I mixed it in with raw arugula, topped with a little freshly ground black pepper, and a touch of salt - it was yummy!

I also served baked squash, potato, and sweet purple potato, as well as raw tomato slices. Dinner was filling and tasty!

Thai Coconut Galangal Mixed Vegetables

2011-02-28T23:40:00.000-08:00

We got home in the evening after exercising and I had a desire to make a Thai dish (an out-of-state friend celebrating a birthday was going to a Thai restaurant, and that triggered it!), but I didn't want to take a long time because it was getting late. I would have enjoyed making some Thai noodles, but we were out - and there wasn't enough time to make brown rice.

Luckily, I had a bottle of Thai coconut galangal stir-fry sauce. For the noodles, I had some ramen noodles, which served as a quick side.

Over medium-high heat, I sauteed five or six little round Yukon Gold potatoes, quatered. As the potato started getting cooked (after about 5-7 minutes), I added seitan (not enough! I only had maybe 1/8 tub, but would have liked a half or full tub, sliced thickly - since I had so little, I cut it into smaller pieces to spread out) and half of a medium onion diced into pieces maybe 1/4-1/2" in size. A few minutes later, I put in two large handfuls of oyster mushrooms, roughly cut so that each mushroom segment was halved.

A minute or so later, I added about 1/2 teaspoon chopped ginger, about 1/8 large bell pepper cut into thick halved slices, and a few broccoli florets. Once the broccoli became deep green in about two minutes, I added a few tablespoons of cashews; I had hoped to use raw, but we only had a little bit of chopped raw cashews; I added them, as well as roasted ones. I cooked just for another half minute or so, then added about 4 ounces of the sauce and simmered just for a minute or two, then served with the ramen noodles, topped with sesame seeds, and some tomato (I wish I had cucumber). It was good!

Kale-Shiitake Saute with Toasted Black and English Walnut, Leftover Mixed Vegetable Barley Stew

2011-02-27T23:21:00.000-08:00

I put two cloves of garlic, roughly chopped, in a saute pan with oil that had been warmed, and started sauteeing over medium heat for a half minute or so, then added about a quarter package of tempeh, cut into pieces maybe 1/4" x 1/2" x 1". I cooked for a few minutes till the tempeh started browning, then I added two handfuls of shiitake mushrooms, after removing the hard parts of the stems and then slicing into thirds or quarters. About a minute later, I added a little diced ginger root, a bit of red jalapeno pepper, and roughly hand-torn kale from three leaves. I cooked the kale down for maybe 3 minutes, then tossed in a few black and regular walnut pieces.

After the walnut was gently toasted (maybe 30 seconds or so), I added a tablespoon or so of raw coconut aminos (which adds a bit of a soy-sauce flavor) and a little shake of jerk seasoning. I stirred and served.

We still had some mixed vegetable-barley stew leftover from last week, so I heated most of it (a bit left for a lunch or snack the next few days!). I served it with some heirloom tomato slices to complete the meal.

Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Potato-Onion Bread

2011-02-19T23:40:00.000-08:00

My wife had purchased a few days ago a nice head of cauliflower, and I thought it might make a good soup. I did a little searching on a VitaMix recipe for cauliflower, and found a Martha Stewart one that I used as a base. It was really quite a simple recipe and introduced me to the idea of cutting cauliflower through the stalk.

Our cauliflower was somewhat small. I removed the very end of the stalk, as well as the leaves, then, as the recipe suggested, cut it into slices (I went with 1/2" or so in thickness). Sometime I'll have to do this again and photograph the pieces - they look like interesting, white trees! I then started sauteeing the cauliflower, flipping sides every few minutes. About two minutes into the saute, I added half of a small sweet onion, roughly chopped, as well as two small pieces of jalapeno pepper. I sauteed, over medium-high, for a total of about 10 minutes till the cauliflower's edges were medium brown. About a minute before I was done, I put in about 1/2 teaspoon of ginger, roughly chopped.

I put 4 cups of water in my VitaMix, as well as 2 vegan bouillon cubes, then added the cooked vegetables. I blended at a medium setting till the cauliflower was homogenized, maybe 20 seconds, then increased to high and ran the blender for several minutes till the soup was hot. I added a few pinches of salt, blended on low till mixed in, and was going to serve, but the soup was thinner than I had wanted it to be. I would have included some cashews, but we were out; instead, I added a few tablespoonfuls of potato flakes and blended a few seconds, then served.

In the meantime, I sauteed some tempeh and 1/4" thick half moons of the sweet onion. I put these on top of the soup. The meal was completed with some fresh potato-onion bread and tomato. Dinner was very good - I suspected the soup would be good, but it turned out better than I had expected.

Last-Minute Valentine's Dinner: Brussels Sprouts-Greens Quinoa, Purple-White-Purple Sweet Potatoes, Shiitake Mushroom with Lemon-Pepper Tempeh

2011-02-14T22:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! We were going to go out for a vegan meal a lovely place downtown was offering, but ended up not being able to go. Instead, I prepared a tasty smoothie (with a Acai frozen base, along with strawberries, fresh organic pineapple pieces, two types of coconut, soy yogurt, flax seed, Valencia orange, and vanilla) to accompany preparing and enjoying a nice meal.

Late last year, I remember having some very tasty purple and white sweet potato varieties. Recently, I found that the Whole Foods Market in Raleigh had two kinds of purple sweet potatoes and a white one; I cooked one of each in the toaster oven at 400°F till done (I think it took about a half hour). (They turned out to be good, but none was nearly as flavorful as what I remember from last year, for some reason.)

In a stainless steel pan over medium heat, I sauteed about a fifth of an onion cut into large pieces. After 2 minutes or so when the onion was clear, I added about a dozen small quartered Brussels sprouts and 1 t chopped jalapeno slices; after another 2 minutes, I added a little chopped red bell pepper and a handful of roughly torn greens that we had in the refrigerator, stem (they were tender) and all. I cooked another 2 minutes, added 1/2 t roughly chopped ginger, stirred, and put in 1/2 cup quinoa, 1 cup water, a pinch of salt, and half a pinch of turmeric. I brought to a boil and let it cook for about 2 minutes, then turned the heat off and let it sit, covered, for maybe ten minutes till the water was absorbed by the quinoa and the quinoa took on its characteristic spiral shape.

I served the sweet potatoes with the quinoa, as well as with some lemon-pepper marinated tempeh and shiitake mushrooms. A little cherry tomato with fresh lemon-sage completed the plate.

Brown Rice Noodles with Spicy Grafitti Eggplant-Tomato Sauce and Lemon-Pepper Tempeh Strips

2011-02-09T23:08:00.000-08:00

I was excited a few days ago when I was shopping to find brown rice noodles. I do buy Tinkyada rice pasta, but in this case I found traditional Thai rice noodles. My wife picked up some lovely grafitti eggplants a few days ago. I almost always buy Lightlife brand tempeh, but recently picked up lemon-pepper marinated tempeh strips from Turtle Island Foods.

So, for dinner, I sliced a grafitti eggplant into thirds to get 3 long "boats". I put a little olive oil on both sides of the central cut and the "flesh" side of the end cuts. I tossed on a few thin slices of onion and roughly sliced garlic clove, sprinkling a little olive oil on these, as well, then roasted in my toaster oven (approximately 400°F for about 20 minutes).

I started simmering a nice marinara sauce with some dried herbs, bit of crushed red pepper, and a pinch or two of salt. When the eggplant was lightly browned, I added the onion and garlic to the sauce and easily teased out the eggplant flesh from its skin. The eggplant was soft; I used a knife to roughly cut it apart a bit. I added the eggplant and squeezed it into the sauce.

The rice noodles took about 3 minutes to be cooked in boiling water. I served the sauce atop the noodles, along with sauteed strips of the tempeh and an avocado half.

Sweet Potato Conchiglie Pasta with Sugar Belle-touched Asparagus

2011-01-30T19:19:00.000-08:00

I put 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, chopped coarsely, into a stock pan with a little olive oil, and sauteed over medium heat for a few minutes. Then I added half a container of tempeh, chopped finely. After about 6 or 7 minutes, when the tempeh was gently warming after occasionally stirring, I added about a cup of chopped sweet potato. As the sweet potato was cooking, after about 3 or 4 minutes, I added a dozen or so baby spinach leaves. Two minutes later, I added a tablespoonful or so of pine nuts, stirred for almost a minute, then added 1/8 cup or so of pinot noir wine, a dash or two of salt, a little hot red pepper (dried flakes - maybe 1/2 teaspoonful), and 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano.

I let the wine cook down (for maybe 2 minutes), then added 1/4 cup or so of tomato sauce. I simmered till I was ready to serve atop Conchiglie seashell-shaped pasta.

I also grilled some asparagus quickly with very little oil on a cast iron pan. I served with a dash of salt and freshly ground black pepper. I'm a citrus enthusiast, and one of my favorite citrus fruits is Sugar Belle mandarin orange hybrid. I love its juice, as well as eating it fresh. I usually like to put a little lemon or lime juice on fresh asparagus, but instead used a slice of Sugar Belle.

Punjab Eggplant with Mashed Potatoes and Corn-off-the-Cob

2011-01-18T23:57:00.000-08:00

Tonight, my wife and daughter ate on their own as I was out till late. I made a simple but tasty meal of Punjab Eggplant from Tasty Bite (that just required being boiled a short while) along with mashed potatoes and corn-off-the-cob.

Kale-Rice Noodles with Tempeh and Baguette

2011-01-10T21:27:00.000-08:00

I hand stripped as best I could long, thin (maybe 1/2" x 3") strips from about 8-10 kale leaves and put them in boiling water. A few minutes later, I added around two dozen wide fettucine-style rice noodles. I cooked for another 5 minutes or so till the noodles were soft and the kale deep green.

I drained the noodles and kale, then sprinkled on about a teaspoon of sesame seeds and a tablespoon or so of raw coconut aminos (a nice product that tastes a bit like soy sauce). (At the table, I realized it needed a bit more seasoning, and added some jerk seasoning; really, I should have had a sauce.) I served sauteed tempeh on the side. A fresh baguette that I had gently warmed on my cast iron pan then topped with lettuce and tomato completed the meal.

Satay Partay Cauliflower with Cauliflower-Stuffed Malaysian-Style Paratha

2011-01-07T23:23:00.000-08:00

I enjoy the quality convenient foods from Tasty Bite, and recently picked up some of their Satay Partay simmer sauce, which I've not had before. I cooked some cauliflower and a few other vegetables with the sauce and served it with a salad and Malaysian-style cauliflower-stuffed bread ("paratha"), that I had picked up frozen. It was tasty!

20101229 Carrot-Ginger Soup, Two Kinds of Filo Triangles.jpg

2010-12-29T23:49:00.000-08:00

My brothers were visiting for the holidays, and I thought that they may enjoy eating some filo triangles, which I made in two different filled versions (I think one was primarily greens and the other was seitan and mushroom based; I also made a spiced potato batch without onions for my parents). I made the carrot-ginger soup that I described last March, which always comes out great.

Leftover Quinoa with Potato and Corn, Grilled Spiced Zucchini

2010-12-21T23:14:00.000-08:00

Fingerling Potatoes w Greens and Beans

2010-12-20T23:13:00.000-08:00

Leftover Almond Pesto Linguine, Apple-Sage Vegan Sausage

2010-12-13T22:08:00.000-08:00

I had a few errands to run and to help a family with some photography hints, so it ended up a bit late by the time I got home. Last Wednesday after my photography class, my wife and daughter, as well as a few students, joined me for a nice meal at Panzanella. I had pizza, and my wife had pasta - both very good with a vegan almond pasta.

My wife really just nibbled, so we had most of this large pasta serving waiting for us as leftovers, which they appeared as today! In addition to the pasta, I served a salad and grilled Field Roast Grain Meat Company apple-sage artisanal vegan sausage.

Amy's California Veggie Burger on Whole Wheat Bread, Leftover Macaroni and "Chreese"

2010-12-09T20:57:00.000-08:00

My wife was preparing various raw foods for a holiday party that we're hosting tomorrow, and ended up nibbling enough to be satisfied for dinner. It was just as well; by the time I got home with being out with my daughter, it was after 9p, and it was after 11p by the time she went to bed and I could focus on dinner for myself.

A few days ago, I picked up a new vegan burger from Amy's, their California Veggie Burger. I heated up leftover vegan macaroni and "chreese" from a few days ago and made a dinner of it.

Vegan Sausage and Spinach Deep Dish Pizza

2010-11-17T21:28:00.000-08:00

I've missed my wife and daughter, who left for a visit to India on November 1. They return tomorrow and are in fact enroute in the air (it's about 15 1/2 hours from Mumbai to Newark, where they connect). I know that my wife doesn't particularly like the deep-dish Vicolo cornmeal crust pizza shell, but I love it! I used it as the base of dinner tonight.

I simply sauteed a chopped link of Field Roast Grain Meat Company apple-sage vegan sausage, along with a little onion. When the sausage was lightly browned, I added a little orange bell pepper and a dozen or so baby spinach leaves. I cooked another minute or so, then stirred in homemade pesto sauce. I removed from the pan and mixed all the ingredients into a new sauce I recently discovered, made reasonably locally in the North Carolina mountains, Chef Ricardo's Mucho Macho (has a little spicy heat to it).

I spread the sauce over the pizza crust and baked it at 375°F, after topping with Daiya vegan cheddar and mozzarella style "cheese", till the cheese was nicely melted and the crust a bit crispy, maybe 8 minutes. I served it with some sections of an heirloom yellow tomato. Yum!

Hakurei Turnip Salad with Orange Chile Mustard Vinaigrette and Spinach-Seitan Saute, served Ethiopian-style with Injera

2010-11-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, in our "online farmers' market", Papa Spud's, we received Hakurei Turnips. I had ordered this when I saw its availability and, not knowing what it is, found a good article from about a year ago, Hakurei Turnips From Top to Bottom. The article describes this as also being called Salad Turnip. The greens and root (it looks a bit like a radish with a round, white root) ae both edible raw or cooked. The article says, "given the slightly nutty, peppery taste and the crisp texture of the Harukei turnip, they are best prepared with a light touch."

On my way home from class tonight, I stopped by a favorite Ethiopian restaurant, Queen of Sheba, to pick up a gift certificate for our Thanksgiving raffle. The owner, a friend of mine, had some freshly made injera (the tasty sour bread made from teff) that is so tasty - it's used to scoop up food, as Ethiopian food traditionally is eaten by hand. I asked if I could buy a piece or two, and she gladly offered the bread, but stubbornly refused to take any money! I had the vision of making a dinner and serving it with the injera so that dinner could be eaten by hand, Ethiopian style.

I ended up following the recipe in the turnip article for a salad, using sweet orange chile mustard instead of Dijon mustard, garlic chives instead of scallions, huge organic cherry tomatoes instead of Sungold ones, no salt or pepper, and much less oil and must less oil and mustard then called for. Essentially, I cut 2 turnip roots into thick discs maybe 1/4" thick, and cut the greens into maybe 1" pieces. I cut 3 or 4 tomatoes into quarters or fifths, and tossed the turnips with a half dozen or so garlic chives, cut into 1/2" pieces; a tablespoonful of olive oil; a dab of mustard; several tablespoonfuls of vinegar-based hot sauce (instead of white wine vinegar); and the tomatoes. (I tried the turnip while I was cooking - it was soft and tasty, almost like a mild, soft radish.)

I also sauteed some seitan with spinach, adding, and then a few minutes later discarding, cut jalapeno to the saute. As the spinach cooked down and wilted, I added a little ginger and a little garlic chives. Just before serving, I tossed in maybe half a teaspoon of cumin seeds, stirred, and removed from heat after another half minute or so. I served the seitan and salad with a piece of injera. It was all yummy!

I had thought I'd be making dishes I particularly like and not worry about not duplicating meals while my wife and daughter are visiting India (Nov. 1-18), but I guess not! I'll have to make this meal, or something close to it, for my wief when she returns! I hope that I'll be able to find this Hakurei Turnip again - it's a good find!

Leftover Hyderabadi Korma, "Happy" Spiced Okra

2010-10-11T23:29:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I reheated Friday's Hyderabadi korma and made a tasty okra side dish. I love Happy Human's organic spice rubs - well, I'm extrapolating, as I've only had their "Basic Boost" (garlic, onion, paprika, salt, echinacea, "and other super secret organic spices"), but it's quite good! I cut some nice, long okra that I found in the market a few days ago into halves lengthwise and sauteed till lightly brown and a bit crispy. Then I sprinkled the spice mixture onto the okra and served. Dinner was good!

Vegan Sausage - Brussels Sprouts - Eggplant Sauce with Organic Brown Rice Shells

2010-10-10T23:01:00.000-07:00

Tonight (10-10-10!), we were going to go out to the Bull City Vegan Challenge, but it got late, so I made what my wife and I felt was a very tasty dinner. I made organic brown rice large "grand shells" pasta by Tinkyada (ricepasta.com). I've had some of their other pastas and have always enjoyed them.

I made a rather interesting sauce by sauteeing onion, a Field Roast Grain Meat Company artisanal vegan sausage, Brussels sprouts, red bell pepper, and roasted garlic, adding some spinach shortly before adding an eggplant marinara sauce, and then simmering along with some fresh basil and lemon sage. It came out great!

Hyderabadi Korma with Zucchini and Potato with Brown/Wild Rice and Avocado

2010-10-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

Kitchens of India sells some tempting looking sauces, including Rich Cashew & Cumin Cooking Sauce, which I purchased recently. I was headed to see Kurosawa's funny 1962 film Sanjuro (which has a perfect 100% rating at Rotten Tomatoes) at the NC Museum of Art tonight, and this sauce was just the ticket to get dinner going reasonably quickly.

I decided to make a Hyderabadi korma with vegetables; cauliflower sounded appealing, but we were out. I cut two potatoes into large bite-sized cubes, maybe 3/4", and started boiling the pieces for a few minutes till they were barely cooked. I also used, added a bit after the potato, a medium zucchini cut and a small bell pepper, each cut into maybe 1/2" pieces. Shortly before the potato was ready, I added a quarter medium union, cut into strip maybe 1/4"x3/4".

I drained the pan, added a little canola oil, and quickly stir fried for a minute or two. Then I added most of the 335ml bottle of the sauce and simmered. It was a little (hot) spicy, but good! I will try using the 15% or so of the leftover sauce to add a little punch to some other dish in the coming days.

Leftover Mushroom-Porcini Oil pizza

2010-10-06T20:54:00.000-07:00

I had met a friend for dinner yesterday and had the greatest vegan porcini oil mushroom pizza with roasted potatoes! It sounds like an unlikely combination, but sure was good!

Tonight, I made a simple hashed brown dish and served the reheated pizza. Avocado and an interesting green whose name I've forgotten completed the meal.

Fancy Hashed Brown Potatoes with (Daiya) Grilled Cheese.jpg

2010-09-28T23:14:00.000-07:00

I am posting this well after the meal and can't remember why, but I wasn't cooking for my wife tonight. I made a simple but hearty meal of hashed brown potatoes (with mushrooms and onions) along with a grilled cheese sandwich, using Daiya vegan "cheese".

2010-09-27T23:12:00.000-07:00

Smoky Tempeh and Avocado on Grilled Potato-Onion Bread, Corn-off-the-Cob, Peas

2010-09-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

We attended the Carrboro Music Festival today, one of my favorite annual events with over 150 groups scattered around the town of Carrboro, and all free. Outdoor venues were cancelled as it rained, and it became difficult with our daughter to walk to a nearby restaurant in the rain to eat, so we came home early and I aimed to put together a quick meal. I think I succeeded in something that was fast and also very good.

I picked up another half loaf of tasty potato-onion bread from Weaver Street Market just before heading home from the Festival; both my daughter and I loved the soy-free vegan Daiya grilled cheese I made on this hearty bread yesterday. My Dad had given me a few days ago a platter of jalapeno peppers he said weren't hot - but they are hot! I thought I'd integrate a bit of jalapeno by sauteeing with my main dish one pepper cut into quarters, then discarding the pepper.

Today, I started by "buttering" (with Earth Balance margarine) one side of four slices of bread and, along with the jalapeno over medium-high heat, gently browning it till the side was lightly toasted and the bread still soft. I then removed the bread slices from the heat and put into the pan about half of a package of smoke-flavored organic "fakin' bacon" strips of tempeh, along with a half dozen or so thin slices of red onion. I cooked till the tempeh browned a bit.

I spread some Dulcet Cuisine brand sweet orange chile mustard on the non-grilled side of one piece of bread, and put half of an avocado, sliced, atop the mustard. I served the tempeh and onion on top of that, then covered with the other bread to make a yummy sandwich. I served this with some peas and corn stripped off of the cob.

Arroz con Gluten de Trigo, Avocado, Grape Tomato

2010-09-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

I had some scouting to do for a photographic job I have this coming week, and it was a bit late when we got home. I had recently picked up an interesting rice mix by a company called Nueva Cocina that one need only add browned "chicken" (I used a tub of seitan, cut into large, thin sections, maybe 2" x 1" x 3/8"), water, and wine to. It was the ticket for tonight's meal!

Arroz con Pollo ("rice with chicken") is a traditional Latin American dish and the national dish of Puerto Rico. It is rice cooked with "chicken", vegetables, herbs, and saffron. I don't know Spanish, but when I looked up online "wheat gluten", I found "gluten de trigo", so named my dish Arroz con Gluten d Trigo.

In a medium saucepan, I sauteed in a little olive oil an 8 ounce tub of seitan. Once browned, I added 2 1/4 cups of liquid - mostly water but maybe 1/4 cup of red merlot wine (the instructions suggested a white wine), along with the mix, which included Valencia style medium rice, peas, onion, garlic, bell pepper, spices, and saffron.

I brought the rice-herb-seitan mixture to a boil, then covered the pan and reduced heat to a simmer. I let it cook for about 25 minutes and knew it was done then when I removed the cover and fluffed, since the moisture was absorbed and the rice was cooked.

I served the rice with some seitan and grape tomatoes. My wife and I quite liked the rice! I'd like to try some variants, such as by integrating baby spinach and roasted garlic, and maybe even some other sauteed vegetables.

Asparagus and Pine Nut Saute with Leftover Avocado-Pesto Rice Pasta

2010-09-15T23:27:00.000-07:00

Punjab Eggplant, Curried Cauliflower, Stuffed Paratha

2010-09-14T23:21:00.000-07:00

For dinner tonight, I had to rush as I was teaching and wanted to have dinner very early (at 5p or so). I used the very nice premade Punjab Eggplant from Tasty Bite that just required being boiled for a few minutes. My wife had already prepared some curried cauliflower, so I integrated that, and heated a Malaysian style stuffed paratha.

Mixed Vegetable Saute with Malaysian Stuffed Cauliflower Paratha and Rice-Lentil

2010-09-12T23:18:00.000-07:00

Crushed Chickpea Saute with Quinoa

2010-09-11T23:09:00.000-07:00

Ever since September 11, 2001, I always feel sad each September 11th about the sad terrorism of that day. I used to attend memorial services, but after a few years, I didn't find many if any that were held locally. Here's hoping for a much more peaceful and just future.

Today, I found that my wife had soaked some dried chickpeas. I came up with the idea of crushing with a fork the chickpeas one at a time, and sauteeing with red onion and bell pepper. I did that, and served with quinoa and a salad. It was tasty.

Leftover stew and Laughing Seed dishes, Mashed Potatoes

2010-09-10T23:37:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I made a quick but tasty dinner by primarily using leftovers. I reheated the Thai seitan dish I had made a few days back, as well as some leftovers from one of our favorite restaurants, Asheville, NC's Laughing Seed. These leftovers included some pakoras (shredded vegetables in chickpea flour that is then fried) and bourbon-pecan seitan (from their menu: "tender pecan and herb crusted seitan au jus with a bourbon-shallot pan sauce, vegan creamy potato and herb gratin, and marinated green bean almondine").

Avocado-Pesto Brown Rice Fusilli Pasta with Tempeh

2010-09-08T21:38:00.000-07:00

In our weekly "online farmer's market", Papa Spuds' dropoff was a bunch of basil. We had some avocados and I came up with the thought that a pesto-avocado pasta might be good. Sure enough, a google search brought up an Avocado-Pesto Pasta recipe which looked good. We didn't have walnuts or pine nuts in stock, but usually have Brazil nuts; my friend Brenda Davis years ago taught me that Brazil nuts are a great source of brain-healthy selenium, and it's good to eat one nut a day. So, I tried the recipe with Brazil nuts!

I simply put in our VitaMix blender the basil bunch, 3/4 cup or so of the Brazil nuts, 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (the only kind I use), a pinch or two of salt, and between 1/8 - 1/4 cup Eat in the Raw's Parma! vegan "Parmesan cheese". I blended on low-medium (I think I set the VitaMix to "4") for 30-45 seconds till the pesto was well-blended, adding a little more oil to get it a little liquidy.

I made organic brown rice fusilli pasta by Tinkyada (ricepasta.com); once it was done and drained, I added some avocado and tomato (I had chopped an avocado and half of a tomato into maybe 3/8" cubes) to the pan. The heat was off, but I covered the pan for a minute or so to slightly warm the tomato and avocado. Then I served the pasta and topped with the pesto. Some sauteed tempeh and salad greens completed the meal.

My wife and I loved the pasta! I would like to try a variant - I think it would be good with additional ingredients mixed in to the pasta, such as a little cubed raw onion and artichoke hearts. The VitaMix makes it so easy to on-demand make things like pesto and then easily clean up!