Neighbour Dinner!

I am a lucky girl– my new next door neighbour is not only a riot, but also a vegan, an awesome cook, and a kind of person who knocks on your door and asks you over to eat delicious dinners on his balcony!

Lemon Pepper Tofu

I made the leftovers from the last meal into dirty rice (voila! by mixing them with rice) and made the Lemon Pepper Tofu from Vegan Brunch. It was alright. the book warns against using cheap dusty lemon pepper, and I think mine was ultimately too cheap and dusty. But okay.

Cajun-Creole-Spiced Tempeh

Wow. I love Vegan Soul Kitchen. This is a great tempeh recipe. First the tempeh is poached in broth, then fried in (quite a bit of) olive oil, then tossed in a spice/herb blend. My pieces broke up a lot in the tossing process, but it’s likely because I had to toss the mixture in a covered pot instead of a paper bag like the book suggests. I’m barely going to the liquor store this month (the dissertation calls), so I don’t have any paper bags on hand for once! To go with I made collards with mushrooms and tomatoes and garlic, and mashed yams with some lime juice, cardamom and cinnamon added.

All Dressed Nachos

Here’s a HUGE pan of nachos, and they were so good. I made a batch of the nacho cheez sauce from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook, which by itself is not one of the best sauces in the book, but provides a nice saucy salty backdrop. I actually added some tomatillo salsa to it. Then we have refried beans: an onion sauteed in olive oil, then some shakes of hot smoked paprika and coriander, then a mashed can of pintos, all mixed and warmed up together. Other toppings? Oh, let’s see: some canned green chiles, some chopped-up bottled cactus (this is a GREAT addition to nachos, I got mine from Mex-I-Can) and some regular salsa. After broiling the nachos I added guacamole, of course. These nachos were awesome and definitely an emotional eater’s dream!

“Chicken” Kale Crepes

Another round with the crepes. This time I made the mushroom gravy from Vegan Brunch (delicious, if a teensy bit on the gluey side). That’s what you see under the crepes. For the filling I sauteed my last Gardein chicken breast and combined it with some of the gravy and chopped steamed red kale. These were very tasty, too, and the filling suited crepes quite well.

Ethiopian Crepes

Another winning recipe from Vegan Brunch: Ethiopian Crepes! That’s a bit of the filling on top: I used dried split fava beans instead of lentils. And that’s some choy sum under the crepes. This was soo tasty, and no need to save making it for brunch.

Smoky Hot Hummus

I hadn’t made hummus in a long time; it’s one of those things I made all the time years ago when I first went vegetarian, and then eventually stopped making almost because it was such a standby. Anyways, in this version I added some hot smoked paprika along with the usual suspects (lemon juice, tahini, salt, pepper, garlic, chickpeas) and came up with something that both looked and tasted a bit like taramasalata, a smoked fish roe spread I used to eat in Greek restaurants. Who knew? Of course, this was less fishy and salty, and hotter, than tarama– but reminiscent nonetheless. Interesting!

Green Pea Macadamia Penne

This was a creamy pasta sauce I made when the only fresh vegetables I had in the house were an onion and some garlic. I sauteed the onion and garlic in some olive oil, then added a couple of handfuls of frozen green peas and some white wine, and some salt and pepper. I think that’s all: I know this isn’t much of a recipe, and I should have written this down!
Anyways, in a blender I blended up 15 macadamia nuts with about 3/4 c. of water, then added the cooked pea mixture and blended everything until smooth. I think I had to add a bit more water. Then I added a splash of lemon juice to cut the sweetness of the nuts and peas a bit. All in all this was a very tasty sauce!

Quesadillas!

A new use for the Gooey Grilled Cheeze sandwich filling from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook! Instead of slices of bread, spread it between corn tortillas from Mex-I-Can and fry them in your cast iron.

Kale Pesto Day 2

What do you do with leftover kale pesto, sauteed veggies, and a bunch more grape tomatoes to use up? Make more pasta! I sauteed the tomatoes with some garlic for a couple of minutes and then roughly pureed them with my trusty immersion blender, and cooked the sauce a few more minutes, adding a pinch of sugar, oregano, salt and pepper. I then added the leftover veggies to the sauce to warm everything up. When the pasta was ready I added that, too. Then a dollop of pesto to finish. I also sprinkled ersatz parmesan on top (ground almonds mixed with nutritional yeast and salt: I keep a bag of this in the freezer.)