Cauliflower Leek Kugel

Here’s the Cauliflower Leek Kugel from Vegan With a Vengeance! For a two-leveled casserole this was quite easy to make. It was pretty addictive, too: salty crispy herbs and almonds on top, creamy smooth cauliflower base for the pudding. I think this would make a good brunch dish: it’s got that savoury creamy thing going on. I’m in charge of brunch for Christmas morning this year, and I’m considering making this. Our Christmas is about as secular as they come, but it still makes me chuckle in a cultural appropriation kind of way to go with kugel on Christmas. Ah well, Becca says that I’m an honorary Jew. I’m running with it!

Smoky Red Peppers ‘n’ Beans Gumbo

Here’s the gumbo I made this week out of Veganomicon! There’s a bit of necessary commitment to this dish, what with the constant attention needed to make a roux, the chopping of frozen okra, the roasting of red peppers with all that finicky skin removal. But a very very tasty result.

Agedashi Tofu Steak

I took a bunch of days off, but didn’t stop cooking! This took forever because I was too lazy to post the recipe and yet wanted to, because I never do and thought I would for a change. I was looking through a Cooking Light magazine from years ago, and came across a recipe for teriyaki tofu steaks… and now I can’t find the magazine anywhere in my apartment, so my whole plan is foiled! The big change I made is that instead of extra firm tofu, I used extra-firm silken tofu slices coated in cornstarch and panfried in a tablespoon or so of oil. This way, it was more like agedashi tofu or teriyaki tofu steaks that I get all the time in Japanese restaurants back home in Vancouver. Oh, that crispy/gelatinous crust I’m always so homesick for!

Chocolate Adventures

My friend Andrew got me some organic, fair trade, vegan chocolates in Austria! At the top we have ginger dipped in chocolate and rolled in turmeric. These were the best ones. Then at three o’clock we have chocolates filled with cacao nibs and rolled in cocoa. These were a bit crunchy and didn’t have as much flavour as I’d like. At six o’clock we have your classic chocolate-covered coffee beans. At nine o’clock we have my second favourite ones, pumpkin seeds dipped in chocolate!

Now below is another kind of chocolate I recently discovered at the fair trade shop in Westdale: it’s a dark chocolate bar with crunchy grains of sea salt distributed throughout. For fans of salt and chocolate, this is a mind blower.

Scramble in the Morning

And don’t it look pretty early in the morning, cooked up with a chopped tomato and some salsa? Makes me want to make all my meals earlier in the day, for the lighting alone.

Tofu Scramble

Here’s a tofu scramble I made this week on a night where I felt like having breakfast for dinner. I used the recipe from Vegan With A Vengeance, and aside from my little bowl full of spices overturning right over the crack between the stove and the counter, it was really easy, and I got everything I needed from the little corner grocery store (having not made it to the market again this week…)

Kabocha Saag

This is the Pumpkin Saag from Veganomicon, using a kabocha squash and kale instead of spinach! A perfect fall curry, and very tasty and pretty. I also had to omit the onion for the simple reason I forgot to get one at the store, and it was still delicious (though I love onions so I bet it would have been even more awesome).

Hiatus-Busting BBQ

I took a bit of a break from the blog this past week: too much going on! But I didn’t stop eating (by a long shot! I won’t post pictures of the chip bags.) Here is some baked tofu with bottled bbq sauce, which isn’t high-tech cooking, but who cares? My new mission is to use up some of the old grains crowding my pantry shelves, so I made some barley! A third of a cup of barley sauteed with some pine nuts, then simmered with a cup of mushroom boullion until all absorbed. Very tasty! Then, some kale.

Tahini Blackstrap Toast

Instead of my usual peanut butter toast, today I felt like revisiting an old favourite I learned about in Becoming Vegetarian (I think). Tahini and blackstrap on spelt raisin toast. Sleep-in breakfast of champions.

Avocado Quesadillas

All I had tonight was a potato and an avocado. So, I made an avocado “cheese” from The Uncheese Cookbook, spread it between corn tortillas, and sauteed–I guess that’s not really the right word?–in a lightly oiled skillet. To go with it I roasted the cut-up potato with oregano, cumin, chili powder and salt and pepper.
The avocado “cheez”:
1 ripe mashed avocado, a few shakes umeboshi vinegar, 2 T nutritional yeast, garlic or garlic powder to taste, all mashed together.