Dinner 4/28

Pizza
(tomato, artichoke heart, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, soy cheese)

Dinner 4/27

Gorditas stuffed with Poblano Guacamole, Onion, Soyrizo and Romaine Lettuce *
(from Rick Bayless)

Tostones
(fried plantain chips, with cilantro/garlic dipping sauce)

Grilled Ramps **


* my first attempt at gorditas turned out very well -- as did the creamy poblano guacamole (roasted poblano, roasted garlic, avocado, salt, lime juice). The gorditas puffed up just enough to open them and stuff them with all the ingredients.

** yea! Ramp season is upon us! Something else to grill other than asparagus! ;)

Dinner 4/26

Mushroom and Tofu Marsala over Angel Hair Pasta on a bed of Romaine Lettuce*
(onion, garlic, crimini mushroom, tofu, tamari, romaine lettuce)

Ciabatta Bread

Stelline Pasta Soup**

* a mini-version of the full blown Tofu Marsala, but done with an Italian Stir-Fry flair ;)

** you have to be very careful with your pasta/liquid ratio or you end up with a huge pot of little noodles and no stock. I'm just sayin'... ;)

Dinner 4/25

Cannellini Bean Stew
(cannellini beans, seitan, carrot, onion, garlic, red bell pepper)

Basmati Rice

Braised Leeks

French Bread

Dinner 4/24

Pad Thai
(noodles, bean sprouts, carrot, tofu, red bell pepper, tamrind, sambal oelek, tamari)

Steamed Broccoli

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner 4/23

Farfale Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Basil

Steamed Broccoli

Spinach Salad
(w/ balsamic and maple syrup vinaigrette)

Ciabatta Bread

Dinner 4/22

Asparagus, Potato and Celeriac Terrine *

Arugula Salad
(w/ fig vinaigrette)

* Liz made this -- it would have made for a lovely "afternoon tea" food choice along with the cucumber sandwiches ;)

she used agar agar in place of the gelatin, and zucchini in place of the prosciutto

Dinner 4/14

Pasta Puttanesca
(over Penne)

Watercress Salad
(creamy garlic dressing)

Dinner 4/13

Sweet and Sour Seitan
(seitan, pineapple, onion, carrot w/tamari, maple syrup, ketchup, white wine vinegar sauce w/ a cornstarch slurry)

Jasmine Rice

Dinner 4/12

Tofu For Almodovar
(via Rachael Ray)

Saffron Rice Pilaf

Watercress Salad*
(w/fig vinagrette)


* the watercress we've been getting the last week or so has been outstanding...

Dinner 4/11

Kung Pao Tofu

Braised Baby Bok Choy

Jasmine Rice

* no, you're not seeing double (or triple in this case) -- this has sort of supplanted the weekly stir-fry as Liz tends to get very excited about new and tasty food combos, so we tend to repeat them a bunch of times early on ;)

Dinner 4/10

Dal Makhni
(the under-utilized whole Urad bean)

Saag Paneer
(spinach and tofu filling in for the cheese)

Spicy Green Beans

Basmati Rice

Papadams
(how do you make Papadams? You go to the store and buy them) ;)


* I'd been waiting for a good evening to try these recipes out, and today was the day as Liz was out at an auction all afternoon. The dal was fabulous, but the paneer turned out a tad bitter -- which was unusual.. not sure if the onion, ginger and garlic mixture was _too_ ginger heavy. More my mistake than the recipe, I'm sure...

Dinner 4/9

Pizza
(tomato sauce, soy cheese, stir-fried tofu, onion, shiitake mushroom, garlic)

* a long day spent trudging around the I-X Indoor Abusement Park -- don't ask, it's a long story -- meant that the absolute last thing I wanted to do was cook dinner. This is where we say a quick thanks to the growing legion of vegan safe supermarket foods -- i.e. pizza shells. as for the rest of the toppings.. well, OK, we had to cook something ;)

Dinner 4/8

Seitan and Cannellini Bean Stew

Baked Broccoli w/ "Hollandaise" Sauce

Baked Potato

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner 4/7

Kung Pao Tofu
(tofu, red bell pepper, water chestnuts, cashews, sweet bean paste, spicy bean paste, tamari, sugar, cornstarch, water)

Braised Baby Bok Choy

Jasmine Rice

Udon, Ginger and Carrot Soup

 

 

Dinner 4/6

Asparagus and Pea Risotto*

Stuffed Mushrooms Caps

Watercress Salad
(w/ creamy garlic dressing)


* made a quick fennel and asparagus stock earlier in the day using the fennel tops and asparagus bottoms -- worked out really nicely as an added flavor boost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner 4/5

Eggplant and Lentil Stew w/ Pomegranate Syrup

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner 4/4

Mexican Sushi
(soy cream cheese, soyrizo, chipotle chile, deep fried tempeh, avocado, mesclun lettuce mix, red pepper tortilla wrap)

* much better than last time -- the tempeh gave it body and was extremely delicious...

 

 

 

 

Dinner 4/3

Roasted Tofu and Jersualem Artichokes
(tofu, green olive, garlic, lemon peel, jerusalem artichoke, onion)

Tomato and Fennel Soup

Curried Quinoa and Mango Salad on Endive Leaves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner 4/2

Kung Pao Tofu

Seared/Steamed Snow Peas

Edamame

Vegetable Spring Rolls

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner 4/1

Tofu Marsala In Phyllo

Shaved Fennel Salad

Celeriac and Potato Soup

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner 3/31

Panade
(bread, onion, kale, soy cheese, veg stock, salt, pepper -- From the "Zuni Cafe" cookbook by Judy Rodgers)

Green Beans


* Liz has become very adept at making this dish -- and picking the right evening to cook it, especially when she has to work late (like tonight). Put it in the oven at 3pm at 275 degrees and let it go for 3.5 hours, then crank it up to 375 for 15 minutes to give it a bit of crust and it's good to go... drank some of the Coturri Maclise Merlot with it -- a good match for the greens

Dinner 3/30

Lentil and Seitan Stew
(seitan, carrots, lentils, onion, salt and pepper)

Celeriac and Potato Soup with Truffle Oil
(from Jamie Oliver)

Braised Leeks

French Bread

 

 

 

 

Dinner 3/29

Orange Tofu
(from Cook's Illustrated)*

Stir-fried Basmati Rice

* sort of like the General Tso's from the other night -- and an equally as tasty version of the classic Chinese takeout dish...

 

 

 

 

Dinner 3/28

Smoky Peanut Mole*
(from Rick Bayless)

Grilled Asparagus**

Plantain and Soyrizo Mash

Rice Pilaf
(onion, garlic, mexican oregano, veg stock)

Tomato and Chipotle Soup
(from Jim Peterson's "Soups")

* fairly easy to make (and on a Monday no less) this turned out nicely -- smoky (the roasted peanuts) and spicy (chipotles and anchos)

** yes, I know it's the seaon, but I'm getting rapidly tired of asparagus ;)

Easter Dinner

Easter Dinner 3/27

Vegetable Pot Pie
(carrot, celery, onion, mushroom, veg stock, tamari, salt and pepper)

Braised Brussel Sprouts

Carrot Crecy
(carrots, onion, ginger, veg stock)

Grilled Asparagus

Homemade Ciabata

Mixed Green Salad
(fig vinaigrette)

Dessert

Carrot Cake

Lemon-Lime Cheesecake w/ Macerated Balsamic Strawberries



It was a spectacular carrot cake...

Dinner 3/26

Sweet and Sour Seitan
(red onion, red bell pepper, pineapple, seitan

Stir-Fried Rice
(jasmine rice, tamari, toasted sesame oil, scallions)

 

 

 

 

Dinner 3/25

Chipotle and Soyrizo Wraps*
(onion, garlic, soyrizo, cream cheese, chiptole and cilantro)



* an experiment -- albeit a tasty one. these were just on the edge of my heat tolerance. I love spicy food, but I also like to taste the food -- I'm funny that way ;) so the balance was good, but it was missing some contrast -- the addition of lettuce would helped not only the taste but also the monocromatic color scheme (as you can tell from the picture). Also, cutting them like sushi seemed like a good idea, but like the real thing, you need a razor sharp knife and quick hands...

Dinner 3/24

Pea Soup

Homemade Ciabatta

Sauteed Oyster Mushrooms

Grilled Asparagus
(blanched, then marinated w/ olive oil, tamari, salt and pepper and finally grilled)

 

 

 

 

Dinner 3/23

Broccoli Rabe (rapini) w/Sun-Dried Tomatoes over Fusilli

Braised Carrots

Shredded Cabbage Salad*
(w/ creamy dill dressing)


* it was very close to cole slaw, but somehow... just different enough ;)