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

Seitan a la Jojo, Green Beans, Tomato and Fennel Soup

Dinner 2/12

Seitan a la Jojo

Green Beans

Tomato and Fennel Soup
(from "Les Halles" cookbook)



This was one of those Valentine Dinner "ideas" that I get occasionally -- usually laying down w/ a cool compress across my forehead is enough to make them go away -- but not this time...

What if you took the "Duck a la Jojo" recipe from Jean-Georges Vongerichten, use seitan instead -- and here's the kicker -- stuff it in a inari pocket (a bean curd product) w/ jasmine rice?

OK, so nobody's asking, but here's how it went anyway... ;)

First the rice -- usually, Inari is stuffed w/ sushi rice, but I used jasmine instead, although I did consider using the sushi rice. Maybe next time.

Working with the inari (abura-age) was an interesting experience as well. They're cut in half and then simmered in a broth of water, tamari, sake for a few minutes. I skipped the mirin, because I didn't want the skins to be too sweet, as the sauce would handle that job. They cooled for a bit then I gently pressed the excess liquid out and put them in the fridge for a few minutes to make them eaiser to handle.

Then it was a simple as stuffing them with the jasmine rice, layering the sauteed seitan on top and coating w/ the signature Jojo spice infused sauce (cinnamon, mace, corriander, orange juice, sherry vinegar and veg stock).

The result -- really, really, really really good. Shockingly (shocking!) good.

do you get the idea we liked it? ;)

Dinner 2/11

White Lentil and Seitan Stew

Baked Potato

Braised Carrots

Garlic Bread

* the white lentils were different -- a little more starchy, reminded Liz of potatoes which wasn't a good thing given that we were eating potatoes already ;)

Dinner 2/10

Pumpkin Ravioli*

Wilted Kale
(w/ garlic, pine nuts and currants)

* frozen, from Thanksgiving -- vacuum sealer = good ;)

Dinner 2/9

Gemelli Pasta w/ Tomato Sauce

Garlic Bread

Cherry Tomato w/ Mixed Green Salad

* quicky dinner tonight -- working on a school project for my son -- the good news is that I now know more about Colonial Lawyers than I had ever before...

Dinner 2/8

Eggplant Provincial
(eggplant, onion, garlic and tomato -- from Paul Bocuse)

Braised Leeks

Roasted Turnip, Parsnip and Fingerling Potatoes

Dinner 2/7

Stir-Fry
(tofu, carrot, red bell pepper, onion, ginger, garlic, jalapeno, rooster sauce)

Jasmine Rice

Dinner 2/5

Thai Styled Spicy Tofu and Noodles
(from Bon Appetit 3/05 p.36 -- swap out the shrimp and fish sauce w/ tofu and tamari)

Seared/Steamed Brussel Sprouts
(w/ sake, star anise and tamari)

Dinner 2/4

Eggplant and Spinach Lasagna*

Broccoli Raab (Rapini)
(blanched, then sauteed w/ sun-dried tomatoes)

Ciabatta



*the good thing about lasagna -- when you make a big batch -- there's always leftovers ;)

Dinner 2/2

Chiles Rellenos
(poblanos stuffed w/ potato, soyrizo and soy cheese mixture)

Tomatillo Rice
(basmati rice, onion, garlic, mexican oregano, red pepper flakes, broiled/pureed tomatillo, cilantro, salt and pepper)

Nopale Salsa
(cactus, jicama, tomatillo, mexican oregano, salt, pepper, chile powder, avocado)

Dinner 2/1

Eggplant Lasagna
(eggplant, tomato sauce*, bechamel sauce, basil)

Ciabatta

* canned tomatoes from our garden -- instant summer again ;)