Thursday, December 30, 2010

Sweet Potato Curry with Spinach and Chickpeas and Basmati Rice (vegan)

12.30.2010 Sweet Potato Curry with Spinach and Chickpeas

The following serves 4 hungry souls ... :)

Sweet Potato Curry with Spinach and Chickpeas

Ingredients:
1 yellow onion, sliced in thin strips
1-2 tablespoons canola oil
1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder (I use medium hot madras style curry)
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
10 oz fresh baby spinach
3 medium size sweet potatoes
1 (14oz) can chickpeas
1/2 cup water
2 cans (14oz each) diced tomatoes
1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves for garnish
Optional: I like to serve my curry with Tofutti brand vegan tofu sour cream

Method:
Peel and dice sweet potatoes into about 3/4 inch cubes. Steam sweet potatoes until just tender. Meanwhile, heat oil over medium heat and add onions. Saute onions until translucent and tender. Add spices and stir to coat onions evenly. Stir in the tomatoes and their juices and the chickpeas. Simmer this mixture for a couple minutes. Add the spinach, a couple handfuls at a time, and stir to coat with the cooking juices. Cover and simmer on low heat until just wilted. Stir in the cooked sweet potatoes. Simmer for another 5 minutes to allow the flavors to come together.
Serve over basmati rice and garnish with chopped cilantro leaves. Serve with a scoop of Tofutti vegan tofu sour cream, if desired.

Basmati Rice

Ingredients:
2 cups dry Basmati rice
7 whole cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
3 cups water
canola oil
a few thin slices of onion

Method:
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat and add the onion slices when hot. Saute onion until translucent and soft. Stir in dry rice and spices. Stir for about 30 seconds so that the rice is coated with the oil. Add the water. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cover. Let cook for exactly 15 minutes with no peeking! After the 15 minutes are up, turn off the heat. Enjoy!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Vegan Chocolate Eggnog Martini

12.29.2010 Vegan Silk Eggnog Martini

My doggie Jacques knows a good martini when he sees one!

Ingredients:
1 shot vodka
3 shots Silk brand vegan eggnog
1 spoonful of cocoa powder
1 cinnamon stick

Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a cinnamon stick. Mmm mmm. Good.

Jacques continues to be too cute for words. <3
12.29.2010 Jacques 3

I went to Arizona for Christmas. It was warm and I was very, very happy. :)
12.26.2010 Phoenix Botanical Gardens ya

More pictures from our trip to Arizona and the insane effects of the recent snowstorm in NYC here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=312770&id=514802173&l=0189fd10b0

Monday, December 20, 2010

The Martini Series

The Cosmopolitan
12.20.2010 Cosmo Martini

Fa la la, la la, la la, la la ... I'm on vacation!

Thus, there will be a martini series! I'm working on perfecting a cosmo recipe.
Today's try was too tart, perhaps too much lime juice this time.
I'll post an update when I get it just right. ;)

EDIT: Cosmopolitan Martini success ...

Ingredients:
1-2 shots vodka
2 shots cranberry
1/2 shot fresh lime juice
1/2 shot Patron brand Citronge liqueur

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker over ice. Strain into a martini glass. Enjoy!

Stay tuned for a vegan chocolate martini and a sangria-tini.
Oh la la!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Old Bay Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Old Bay Baked Sweet Potato Fries

These are simple, but delicious! Cut sweet potatoes in wedges (I like to de-skin mine first, but do as you please) ... spray a cookie sheet with olive oil cooking spray ... throw wedges onto sheet ... coat top of wedges with more spray ... sprinkle liberally with Old Bay seasoning. Bake at 400F for about 20-30 minutes or until the amount of browning appears that you like. Enjoy!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Vegan Thanksgiving!

11.21.2010 Tofurky and sides

Lucas and I decided to have a "warm-up" Thanksgiving yesterday. ;)
Tofurky, Cranberry Sauce, Sage Mashed Sweet Potatoes, and Celery Root Slaw (recipe for slaw in entry below) ... yum!

Basic Cranberry Sauce

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
12 oz bag fresh cranberries
1 medium orange

Zest the orange, squeeze, set aside.
Mix sugar and water in medium saucepan, stir to dissolve sugar. Bring to boil. Add cranberries. Return to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer 10 mins. Stir occasionally. Stir in orange zest and juice. Cook 2-3 minutes more.

Sage Sweet Potato Mash
I'm always looking for new ways to eat sweet potatoes!
11.21.2010 Sage Sweet Potato Mash

4 sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons vegan butter
8 fresh sage leaves
4 scallions, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Boil or steam sweet potatoes until very soft. Mash once soft and transfer to a serving dish. Meanwhile, brown butter in a skillet and add the sage leaves. Fry until crisp. Transfer to a plate. (Mine didn't actually get crisp, so I recommend doing a chiffonade with the sage leaves.) Cook 4 chopped scallions with salt and pepper in the browned butter. Drizzle butter mixture over the mashed potatoes. Enjoy!

Recipe from Food Network Magazine December 2010.

Tofurky Roast!
Before and After!
11.21.2010 Tofurky before11.21.2010 Tofurky after

1 packaged Tofuky® roast with gravy
1 onion
some carrots
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Preheat oven to 350F. Unwrap fully thawed Tofurky® roast and place in a dish that you've already sprayed with cooking oil spray. Surround roast with chopped onion and carrots. Mix olive oil and soy sauce in a bowl. Pour half of the olive oil and soy sauce mixture over the roast. Cover whole dish tightly with aluminum foil. Place in oven for 1 hour 15 minutes. Take out and unwrap. Pour the rest of the olive oil and soy sauce mixture over the roast. Put back in the oven for 10 more minutes. Meanwhile, heat the thawed gravy in a saucepan until warm. Remove roast from oven and enjoy sliced, with gravy on top! yum!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Celery Root Slaw (vegan)

11.20.2010 Celery Root Slaw

Celery Root Slaw (quick and easy)

1 pound celery root, peeled
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons warm water
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup tofu sour cream (I use Tofutti brand Sour Supreme® - it's an excellent substitute for dairy sour cream)
1/4 cup olive oil
pepper to taste
1/4 - 1/2 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

Coarsely grate 1 pound peeled celery root. Toss with 1 tablespoon salt and 2 tablespoons warm water in a colander; let sit 20 minutes. Rinse and drain. Whisk the juice of one lemon and 1/4 cup each dijon mustard and tofu sour cream in a bowl, then whisk in 1/4 cup olive oil. Add the celery root, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Chill. Add chopped parsley before serving.

Note: This is very mustardy, so if you don't like mustard, I don't recommend it! Also, I'm not the biggest fan of raisins, but I think raisins and shredded carrots would be delicious in this!
I'm now a big fan of celery root!

Info on celery root:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celeriac

Sunday, September 26, 2010

P.S. I made the Blueberry Ginger Spelt Muffins from p.155 in Vegan Brunch today.
SUPER YUM!
I think this is the best cookbook I own. :o)