The biggest hit of the season...

There has been a moderate amount of cooking happening over the last few weeks, but precious little time to blog about it. Thankfully, no one reads this blog, so the only person I am really disappointing is myself. However, I wanted to take a moment to note the biggest new recipe hit of the season. I had some extra apples that needed to be used a few weeks ago, so I went on a search for an apple cake or pie recipe. What I found was a little slice of heaven... It's from the Cooking Light website, but there is nothing light-tasting about it. Give it a go... you won't be sorry.

Thai Tofu Stew, deconstructed

I can feel fall settling in and my desire to make soups and stews is almost overwhelming. I stumbled on the recipe for Thai Tofu Stew as I was browsing the Vegetarian Times website. With it's combination of the familiar - tofu, scallions, carrots, garlic - and the slightly exotic - coconut milk, bok choy, ginger, butternut squash - it looked delicious! With an afternoon off and and a shopping trip planned, I thought I could pull it off. Chop, chop, shred... between the ginger, scallions, and cilantro, my kitchen was smelling great and I hadn't even cooked anything yet! I made saffron rice to accompany the stew (Little H loves him some rice) and we were a happy, full-bellied family this evening. Really, have you ever eaten anything with coconut milk in it and not loved it? Yummy!

The Quest of a Lifetime...

The best salad I have ever eaten was called a Life Salad and it was on the menu at the best restaurant that I ever had the pleasure to eat within the hallowed walls of, Grace Place. On December 31st, 1996, Grace Place closed it's doors. I was there that evening eating one last Life Salad with a beautiful slice of vegan chocolate cheesecake for dessert. Until they made me leave, with a menu in hand and a heavy heart.

A Life Salad had everything in it but the kitchen sink, as my mom used to say. It was made with crisp lettuce; juicy, red tomatoes; celery, and slices of cucumbers and carrots (remember when we used to eat real carrots, and peeled and sliced them?!). On top of all of those veggies, there were walnuts, beautiful slices of apple, and rolled hunks of Havarti cheese. Then, just when you thought it couldn't possibly get any better, some angel, straight from heaven, concocted the most unbelievably delicious lemon tahini salad dressing that has ever been conceived. The most perfect salad, nay, the most perfect meal... ever. I have tried many times to recreate this perfection and, sadly, have never even come close. How can something so simple be so unobtainable...?

Flash forward 10 years, to me eating at my new favorite restaurant, Ipanema (although there is nothing ever quite like your first love, no?). The first time I tried the Vegan Cesar Salad at Ipanema, I closed my eyes and thanked the Universe for giving me the gift of another glorious salad. Crisp Romain, juicy tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, all topped with this grilled tofu that tastes like... well... yummy! How do they get their tofu to taste like that?!

So, I have been back on a mission... a mission to replicate the Vegan Cesar. So far, I haven't had 100% success, but a couple of weeks ago, I stumbled on something that was pretty good. It's called a Cesar with Tofu Croutons and I got the recipe out of my Moosewood Simple Suppers cookbook. The salad was good, but not quite close enough to completely satisfy... as close as I have come, though...

Transforming Columbus Day

The only thing that makes me feel closer to my mom than cooking is gardening. My mom was a master gardener and worked most of her middle age to older adult life in various garden centers and flower shops. Nothing made her happier than, as she would say, "digging in the dirt." For awhile, she even co-hosted a gardening segment on the local weekend news (WAVY TV 10) in Norfolk with the weatherperson at the time, Greg Padgett. What a hoot they were. But I digress...

The whole reason I brought up the gardening thing is that, while a green thumb has not come naturally to me (must be a recessive gene), it is a part of myself that I have cultivated in the several years and I have come to enjoy very much, particularly in the spring and fall. Hence, my mind has been distracted over the past couple of weeks with thoughts of pansies... really, is there a lovelier flower out there than the delicate, colorful, unassuming pansy? Not that I can think of. So, this past weekend, I visited my locally owned nursery and bought about a flat-full, along with some ornamental cabbage (6'' pot on sale for $1.89 - what a bargain!).

As a state employee, I have the day off, to commemorate the beginning of the slaughter of indigenous people in this part of North America. I will not spend the day honoring Christopher Columbus. I chose to spend the day doing some planting and cooking up a batch of Sweet Potato Black Bean Burritos. Aho.

Faux Chicken Strips, Two Ways

Clearly, I have been a bit busy lately and have had limited time to cook and even more limited time to blog about cooking. I have had an opportunity, though, over the past couple of weeks, to play around with a couple of bags of MorningStar Chik'n Strips. One recipe was Thai Chicken Pizza (recipe to come) and the other was Panthay Khauk-swe (Burmese-Style "Chicken" and Noodle Curry). After taking his first bite of the pizza, Little H said, "Good sauce, Momma!" Pizza with peanut butter?! Bring it on! The Panthay Khauk-swe was an Indian-inspired dish with tomatoes, onion, lots of tasty spices, and a squirt of lime on top. Both were yummy!

What the hell is a food mill, anyway...?

Okay, the tomato situation is out of control. I searched and searched and finally found a tomato sauce recipe on the Internet that looked like something I could handle. Sure, I have never seeded a tomato and I don't have a food mill, but come on... really... a food mill? Does anyone have one? Can't my handy-dandy hand mixer do the job? Well... after an hour-and-a-half of chopping and seeding and almost 3 hours of roasting in the oven I discovered, no, a hand mixer could not do the job. Because I didn't have the mill to eliminate the skin, the sauce ended up tasting so bitter it was inedible. What a bummer. Nothing like wasting about 5 hours on a sauce that I had to throw out. Oh, well... at least I got rid of about 50 roma tomatoes. I did also make a tomato basil quiche that wasn't so bad so the afternoon and evening wasn't a total loss.

Not at all about food...

It's been a hell of a week. Little H started kindergarten and it has completely sent me into a tail-spin. I was in denial up until the orientation at his new school 4 days before his first day of school. For the life of me, I just could not get the lump out of my throat. My baby... in elementary school. He JUST came out of me, I swear! How did this all happen so quickly...?

How does this all relate to food, you ask? Well... I am not exactly sure, except to say that I pack a hell of a lunch (as does Honey) and I haven't had the time or inclination to whip up much of anything in the evening. It's tough to cook when you can't really see through the tears...

However! I had a little sit-down with his teacher Thursday after school, and since then, I have been breathing a little easier. I am hoping - with all of my might - that as we all get used to the new schedule and the new schools and the new idea that Little H is now spending more awake-time with his peers that he is with his family... well, in the words of one of my mom-mentors, I need to, "let go, let god, and let life protect Little H." Easier said than done, but try I will...

Last dance...

Good times, good friends, good food, good drink... really, what more can one ask for on a sweltering August Saturday? Our last Pool-a-Palooza was Saturday - 16 people - and it was wonderful. We are so lucky to have such thoughtful, fun, crazy, beautiful friends. With Honey on the grill doing the veggie dogs and burgers, along with some outstanding grilled asparagus, how could we go wrong?

I made three batches of the summertime-salsa and it all went. The hit of the event, however, was the batch of vegan snickerdoodles, a la the August issue of Veg Times (link to come). I used Smart Balance Light as my 'vegan margarine' and was a little worried about the consistency, but they turned out great! I should have double batched-it, they were gone in no time.

With Labor Day coming, I feel like summer is winding down. There are some cool-weather recipes that I haven't cooked in months that I am ready to take off the shelf. I think I have at least one more orzo with tomatoes, feta, and green onions left in the season, though...

It's getting hot in here...

It was 100 degrees yesterday... and it's supposed to be even hotter later today. In just a few hours, we have a pool-a palooza planned (the last of 6 pool parties that we have hosted over the past 7 weeks). Not bad weather for a pool party, but not such good weather for mowing the grass, which is what Honey had to do yesterday afternoon/evening in order to get the yard looking suitable for company today. Hence, I was thinking we might have something cool for supper last night, so as not to completely overwhelm Honey's already overheated body. So... I threw together a Southwest Salad. Spinach, black beans, corn, black olives, tomatoes (of course!), and avocado. I used to also top it with crumbled tortilla chips, but we have decided we like our salads served with a loaf of crusty bread and it just seems too decedent to top the salad with chips AND eat a loaf of sourdough... call me crazy... We also used to use a southwest chipolte dressing that was absolutely PERFECT with this salad, but I have not been able to find it for over a year now in any local store. I see the brand of dressing, but it is like they discontinued that particular flavor for some reason. Not to be discouraged, we have been using a spicy ranch, which is satisfying, but not nearly as special. Little H gets a special serving of this because he likes his salad sans black olives and he likes his avocados on the side with balsamic vinegar... have mentioned he's 5 1/2? Who ever heard of a 5 1/2 year old with that kind of palate? Overall, a satisfying choice for the evening. Now, we are all trying to mentally prepare for the pool-side revelry about to take place...

Little H's Favorite

Twenty minutes, some Morningstar grillers mixed with sauteed onion, taco shells, taco seasoning, chopped lettuce and tomatoes, avocados, sour cream, and cheese... ba da bing! Little H's favorite dinner (with the possible exception of the BBQ tofu at his favorite Vietnamese restaurant). This is absolutely one of my favorite weeknight dinners because it is easy and yummy. Little H is definitely having a growth spurt as he ate as much as the adults in the house this evening... at 5 1/2 years old... what the heck am I going to feed him when he is 16?!

Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Paprika Cauliflower Pita Pockets

Okay, really, this is the last night of fancy Vegetarian Times cookin' for a few nights... or a couple of weeks... I bought a head of cauliflower to use almost 2 weeks ago and needed to use it tout suite. So! Paprika Cauliflower Pita Pockets (PCPPs) it is! This was a hit with my honey and little H ate it, too. Here was how this weekend's eats were ranked.

1st Place - Asian Sesame Cakes
2nd Place - PCPPs
3rd Place - Pasta Primavera Salad

The recipe for PCPPs was really easy to follow, but I did forget to squirt that final 2 Tbs. of lemon juice on the cauliflower... I wonder how different the dish would have tasted if I had remembered that juice... Honey says I have too make it again so that we can see. Love the support and willingness!

A bit of a bland Sunday evening...

Another lovely afternoon/evening spent in the kitchen, but the result wasn't quite as pleasing tonight as it was last night. Tonight, it was Pasta Primavera Salad out my most recent Vegetarian Times magazine (again!) and it was A LOT of chopping and not really worth all of the work. I chopped right through The Folk Sampler and Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and I still had 2 cups of tomatoes to go (patiently working my way through the bounty). It was fun to blanch the veggies, but the dish ended up being a bit bland for my taste. My honey seemed to think it was good, but she is pretty easy to please... that is part of the reason I love her so much.

It looks pretty, though, doesn't it? Two home-cooked meals this weekend... I am feeling blessed...

WA LA!

Tomatoes, tomatoes, everywhere...

Our 8 tomato plants are in full effect and I am at a bit of a loss as to what to do with the bounty... I am thinking a brief trip to the grocery store might be in order and I might be able to make a big concoction of tomatoes, cilantro, onion, and lime juice... you can't go wrong with that combination and it never fails to remind me of my 2 years spent in the Peace Corps in Belize. I will be sure to keep you updated on the tomato quandary.

As far as the eggs go, we usually don't have a problem using those up. Thanks to Thelma, Louise, and Layla (our three egg laying hens)there is never a shortage of quiche fixings.

I love this part of summer!

Finding peace in sesame oil

Tonight, I made Asian Tofu Cakes and greens for supper. I had to use my package of extra firm tofu because it had already been sliced and drained and I didn't want it to go to waste. Also, I was home at 5 p.m., which meant I had some time to do something creative. I really think there are two key factors involved in the what-is-for-dinner-decision. #1 is time and #2 is availability (i.e. what is in the fridge and the pantry). So, I went on the vegetarian times website, put 'tofu' in the search field, and started hunting for recipes that I had the ingredients for. About 2 pages in I saw Asian Tofu Cakes. Now, one thing you should know about my honey is that she loves all food Asian. Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Indian, Japanese... really, you can't go wrong. Therefor, being the wonderful partner that I am, I clicked on that recipe to check it out, knowing it would probably be something that she would enjoy. Low and behold, it looked like I had most everything that was necessary... except for one thing... the sesame oil. Now we would see just how much my honey wanted those Asian Tofu Cakes... would it be worth an extra little trip to the grocery? Well, it just took me asking the question (with a little guilt trip thrown in for flavor), and off she went! It was a fairly easy recipe, although there was some shredding-of-ginger-and-carrots involved and I ended up putting in a bit of my skin for good measure...
As a side, I chose greens. Now, being a vegetarian, I am not used to partaking in greens very often. In Virginia, they are usually made with bacon or ham or fat-back or something equally distasteful (to me). However, my good friend (and the most amazing vegan chef I know), Quillin, shared a recipe with me that involves garlic and soy sauce and cooking the hell out of a bunch of kale. Honey and I fell in love with the greens the first time we tried them the way that Quillin cooks them. Tonight was the second time I have made them on my own and my logic was that the Cakes had soy sauce, as did the greens, so maybe it would work together. I'm not sure how sound that reasoning was, but it ended up working out okay.
I had a revelation as I spent a little over an hour preparing dinner. There really aren't many things that make me feel more at peace than spending a couple hours in my kitchen, making a new or much loved recipe, and listening to NPR. It's been while since I have had an opportunity to feel that peace... what a blessing it is that I had the opportunity this evening.