Dinner 3/12

Potato, Tomato and Sage Soup

Focaccia Pizza
(soy cheese, kalamata olives)

Braised Leeks

 

 

 

 

Sweet and Sour Seitan, Jasmine Rice, Sweet Potato and Pineapple Gratin

Dinner 3/11

Sweet and Sour Seitan
(seitan, pineapple, onion, carrot, red bell pepper, scallions, garlic, ginger and tamari -- the sauce was ketchup, cider vinegar, cornstarch, sugar)

Jasmine Rice

Sweet Potato and Pineapple Gratin
(sweet potato, coconut milk, pineapple, shallots -- from "Vegan Planet")

Dinner 3/10

Panade

Grilled Purple Asparagus*

Desert

Key Lime Cheescake


* surprisingly tasty and they didn't turn completely green after blanching them first -- adding a quick marinade (olive oil, tamari and pepper) -- before the grilling...

Dinner 3/9

Spaghetti w/ Tomato Sauce*

Garlic Bread

* Liz came through again with the food, on this the second of the back-to-back shows -- this time UnSilent Film 3: The Passion of Joan of Arc and the main reason blogging has been sporadic lately -- there's a great deal of prep (and promotion) that goes into putting on one of these events. Happily, the show turned out great, we got a big (and appreciative crowd) and I made some of my Truffle Popcorn, which turned out to be a nice surprise for those early attendees. What's watching a movie without popcorn? ;)

Dinner 3/8

Stir-Fry
(tofu, carrot, red bell pepper, baby corn, ginger, garlic and tamari)

Re-fried Basmati Rice

* Liz took care of dinner tonight while I was out playing the first night of back-to-back shows (which I haven't done in almost eight years), namely the "Rock The Runway" fashion show at Kent State Univesity. Fun show, we had about 300+ people and a nice energy and buzz -- played some of my music before and after to good response. There's a wrap-up in the Stater where I'm mentioned somewhere around paragraph 16 -- and despite the awkward sentence structure, I did not make the appetizers and the music ;)

Dinner 3/7

Eggplant Parmesan and Marinara Sauce over Pasta

Homemade Ciabatta Bread

Mixed Greens Salad
(w/ fig vinaigrette)

 

 

 

Dinner 3/6

Peking Tofu*

Jasmine Rice

Steamed Broccoli

Scallion Pancakes


* OK, puns aside, sauteed tofu w/ hoisin and orange juice, wrapped in a Mung Bean sheet (my new favorite wrapping), fried in a non-stick pan w/ grapeseed oil and a little more hoisin and orange juice. Crispy and tasty indeed...

 

 

 

Dinner 2/28

Raw "Meat Loaf"
(from Juliano's book)

Greek Salad
(arugula, tomato, shallot, olive, clove, cinnamon, olive oil, red wine vinegar and green beans from Charlie/Roxanne)


* yes, as you can tell, the new dehydrator (Excalibur 2900) is here! All I can say is Wow! -- what a difference in the way it works. The precise temp contols make a huge difference in the time it took for the "meat loaf" to come together.

Also, the whole day was raw foods (breakfast: banana, orange and mango puree, lunch: "cheese" and flax seed crackers and raw borscht soup). it looks good for the "raw foods once a week" plan...

Dinner 2/27

Eggplant In Mustard Sauce

Cauliflower and Onion Pakoras
(w/ Mint Chutney)

Puri

Matar Pulao

Turmeric Potatoes

Shredded Golden Beets w/ Coconut


* a little bit of Northern and Southern Indian food, but it was all good together ;)

Dinner 2/26

Okra w/ Yogurt Sauce
(okra, cumin, turmeric, salt, pepper, soy yogurt)

Matar Pulao
(rice and peas w/ spices)

Pan-Fried Tofu wrapped in Mung Bean Sheets*
(stuffed w/ some of the Matar Pulao and the seared tofu w/cumin, turmeric, salt, pepper)


* OK, we have found a better solution than the yuba sheets -- Mung Bean sheets. We picked some of these up in the Asian store Friday and they're more pliable, less touchy and crisp up nicely in a non-stick pan w/ oil. A nice surprise. ;)

Dinner 2/25

Tempeh Reubens*
(tempeh, red cabbage, soy cheese, onion, "french" dressing a.k.a vegenaise and ketchup on dark rye bread)

Baby Dill Pickles

Cucumber Salad


* we had a interesting foodie day -- went up to Mayfield Rd. to find a Indian market (Lakshmi Plaza), and in the process also found Mexican, Italian, Asian and Russian markets. The Russian place (Yeleseyevsky Deli) had Baby Dill Pickles and Rye Bread that were perfect for the reubens.

The Indian market yielded some fabulous okra and eggplant, the Mexican place (the name escapes both Google and me at the moment) had cactus paddles (nopales), the Italian store/deli (Ferrara's) had some unusual pasta (tennis racket shaped?!) and pickled okra and the Asian market (Sun-Land Oriental Food) had inari, konnyaku and dried Mung Bean sheets (like yuba sheets).

Sadly, I left my camera at home...

Dinner 2/24

Conchiglie Pasta w/ Pesto

Grilled Asparagus

Cauliflower Soup
(cauliflower, onion, veg stock, pesto)

Homemade French Bread


* ahhhhh... again, with the vacuum-sealed pesto from summer. it is teh r0x0r...

Dinner 2/23

Grilled Eggplant w/ Garlic Sauce

Grilled Baby Artichokes w/ Garlic Sauce

Cucumber Salad
(cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner 2/22

Panade
(bread, onion, veg stock, kale, soy cheese, salt and pepper -- from the Zuni Cafe cookbook)

Celeriac Salad
(celeriac, capers, cornichon pickles, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper)

Dinner 2/21

Seitan Bourguinon

Shaved Fennel Salad

Homemade French Bread

Dinner 2/20

Tofu Au Vin
(recipe adapted from Alton Brown)*

Boiled Potatoes w/ Parsley

Endive Salad w/ Mustard Vinaigrette

Homemade French Bread


* Liz saw this the other day and wanted to make it -- Ironically, this was the very first "vegan" dish I ever attempted (not Alton's version, but a very 1970's French cookbook that we still have). The trick is not put the tofu in with the sauce until the last minute, because the crispy flour dredged piece of tofu will turn soggy pretty quickly...

(As an aside, we haven't been able to get Spring Creek Tofu for more than a month now (production problems?) and it's making me twitchy -- the substitute -- "Tree of Life," while adequate for a stir-fry, isn't as good for cutlets (and/or dredging). It just don't saute/sear as well -- it may just be the different water content, but I miss Spring Creek...)

Liz spent the day in the kitchen not only making dinner, but knocking out some of her fabulous French bread. Yes, I'm a very lucky guy ;)

Dinner 2/19

Tofu for Almodovar*
(from Rachael Ray)

Cordoban Asparagus
(white asparagus w/ a fried bread, garlic, saffron, cumin, olive oil and water "paste")**

* a Liz staple, swap the chicken for tofu, don't put it in the sauce until the end, pop "Women on the Verge" into the DVD player and enjoy...

** from a 60's cookbook on Spanish cooking, the "paste" is a perfect complement to the slightly woody white aspargus -- I peeled them slightly which helped -- although the suggested cooking time of 12-14 minutes for the aspargus seemed straight out of the dark ages ;)

Lunch 2/19

Raw Corn Bisque
(corn, coconut water, lime, corriander seed, jalapeno, cilantro, ginger, garlic)

Raw Chiles Rellenos
(left over from last night, added to the dehydrator for an extra hour or so)

Raw Zucchini Roll-ups
(zucchini, marinara, raw cheese)

normally I don't blog lunch -- but circumstances dictated that we do today -- for two reasons: one, that we didn't use a book for a change (just sorta winged) and I took pictures -- two: due to circumstances beyond my control, this was to be the last raw meal of the week. We had ordered a new dehydrator (the Excalibur 2900) Monday, but it hadn't shown up in time to make what was to be the final raw food dinner -- Meat Loaf (from Juliano's book) -- so 14/15 raw meals would have to do...

We're going to try to do one raw dinner a week just to see how it goes, but the results this week were encouraging, it's possible to do raw in the dead of winter, but as I mentioned last time we did this preparation is the key thing. Plus, having made some of the recipes before there wasn't that feeling of being completely in over your head ;)

Dinner 2/18

Raw Chile Rellenos
(red bell pepper stuffed w/pumpkin and sunflower seed puree and dehydrated)

Guacamole Stuffed Lettuce "Burritos"
(avocado, onion, serrano chile, lime, tomato, cilantro)

Fiery Lava Soup
(carrot, jalapeno, avocado, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper)


* other than having to start the dehydrator at 6am, this is a pretty easy entry-level raw foods dinner ;)

Dinner 2/17

Tom Khai Soup
(via Juliano)

Swiss Chard Rolls w/ Mung Bean
(via Charlie/Roxanne)

Raw Pad Thai
(via Charlie/Roxanne)


* day three, and Liz hasn't killed me for lack of carbs... yet.

Dinner 2/16

Portobello Mushroom Pave
(from Charlie and Roxanne)

Raw Borscht
(from Juliano's "Raw")

Vegetable Salad
(carrot, celery, zucchini, green onion, cilantro, mint, w/ champagne vinegar and extra virgin olive oil)

* day two of the raw menu -- still hanging in there... ;)

Dinner 2/15

Raw Lasagna*

Tomato and Olive Soup

Zucchini and Corn Salad w/ Dried Cherries

Flax Seed Crackers w/ Cashew Cheese


* faithful readers (er, both of you) might recall last July when we went all raw foods for a week -- well, in a effort to see how easy it would be in February, we decided to try it again... you'll see many of the same recipes as last time, although there will be some new ones mixed in from a couple of other sources this time...

Dinner 2/14

Stir-Fry
(tofu, carrot, lily bulbs*, red bell pepper, jalapeno, cilantro, ginger, garlic and rooster sauce)

Jasmine Rice


* really quite sweet and crunchy -- and nice addition to the stir-fry

Dinner 2/13

Carbonnades a la Flamande
(seitan and onions braised in beer over pasta)

Boiled Yukon Gold Potatoes

King Oyster Mushrooms*

Braised Leeks and Carrots


* Pleurotus eryngii (Also known as King Oyster, Eryngii, King Trumpet, Pleorote du Panicaut, Argonane, Bouligoule, Champignon de Garrigue, Cardoncello, Cardarello) -- sort of the asian version of porcini -- large and tasty