Pecan Pepita Salad

Homemade croutons, lima beans, pecans, pepitas, avocado oil, greens! I’m sure I added some white balsamic or something too. This would have been amazing with some sauteed capers in there with the pecans and pepitas, (and a little less avocado oil), but I was sadly out of capers….

Ethiopian Favas and Onions

This is a great example of how a plain onion can jazz up leftovers from the freezer. I had some Ethiopian fava beans in the freezer from the Ethiopian Crepes recipe in Vegan Brunch. I also had an onion. I remembered Mark Bittman’s comment in The New York Times awhile ago, in his typically wry fashion, that lentils and rice are only good for lunch if you top them with burnt onions. That caramelized onions have their place, but crispy, almost burnt onions can’t be beat for lentils and rice. So I sauteed up an onion, and goldang it, Mark Bittman is right!

Bibimbap!

I had a dinner party with three friends awhile ago and tried my hand at making bibimbap! It was delicious and a hit! I based it form the recipes here. I used the Zucchini recipe and the Korean-Style Cucumber Salad, plus some sauteed mushrooms, some carrots sauteed with ginger, and some cut-up omelets from Vegan Brunch. The Kochu Chang Substitute from here (with the additions of more sesame oil and sugar and sesame seeds as noted) was what really sealed the deal. I had to add a bit of extra water, but that’s a small price to pay for one of the most addictive and easy hot sauces I’ve ever tasted.

Meet and Cheeze Pizza

I had leftover TVP “ground beef” from the cannelloni night, so I decided to make a kinda “cheeseburger” pizza. Except a little fancier– this included roasted asparagus and roasted fennel! And of course, the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Cheese Sauce from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook that I’ve posted all over this blog. Fennel went great with the “beef,” and the cheese sauce is good with anything, so this was great.

Below we have it plated alongside dad’s vegetable shepherd’s pie he’s been experimenting with, and some bean salad.

Mom’s Oyster Mushrooms

Inspired by our vegan meals in New York, mom wanted to experiment with oyster mushrooms, so she sauteed these with spinach, lemon juice and ginger. I thought they were lovely but she wished she’s done it differently: instead of quickly sauteeing it all together, we figured it would be good to sear the mushrooms separately first, and then be a little more sparing with the lemon. But as I said, I thought they were tasty anyways.

Cannelloni!

Oh, you know, I got distracted with back to school and such. Anyways, here is the Cannelloni from Nonna’s Italian Kitchen. No recipes; you’ll just have to buy this amazing book! The cannelloni have a “meat and spinach” filling courtesy of some handiwork with TVP. My mooma thought it was a very convincing “meat” dish! Frankly I would have liked the spinach ratio to be a bit higher, but that’s just me. The topping was the bechamel sauce from the same book that I’ve been excited about for awhile.

Delayed Final NYC Entry: Franchia

I took these pictures with my mom’s camera, so there was a bit of delay and travel and so forth that had to happen before I could post these. Anyways, this is the meal we had at Franchia, a vegan Korean restaurant in Midtown! This was dad’s favourite meal, and my mom and I were also extremely happy with it (though I think Dirt Candy was still my absolute favourite).
Above we have my meal: I believe it was the Tofu Stone Bowl Rice. The traditional stone bowl keeps cooking the ingredients that touch the sides as you eat, creating delightful crusty bits throughout.

This was my dad’s meal: I can’t find for sure what it was in the menu now, a month on, but I’m pretty sure it had “beef,” and it was one of the best fake meats I’ve ever tasted.

Here’s mom’s Pad Thai, which was basic but very tasty.

Hands down the best soy cheesecake I’ve ever tasted. Very sweet, but so delicious I didn’t mind at all. So rich and creamy. My mom says it’s not only the best vegan cheesecake, but the best cheesecake, period, that she’s ever tasted.