Monthly Archives: February 2013

Carrot Fries, Sweet Potato Tacos + Lemony Pan-Fried Chickpeas with Chard

Posted on February 25, 2013 | 8 Comments

Last week was super busy, so I made all of my VegCookbook Club recipes last night:

Sweet Potato Tacos

Sweet Potato Tacos

These were tasty, but I don’t know that I’ll make them again. I kept wanting them to be mashed up beans. What did excite me about the recipe is that I discovered that yams, or what some people call “sweet potatoes” have protein in them! The Sweet Potato Tacos recipe says that a serving contains 7g of protein. I was curious where it was coming from, so I did a little research. The tortillas I used, La Tortilla Factory Hand Made Style White Corn Tortillas, have 5g of protein in each tortilla. According to the SF Gate article, How Much Protein is in a Cooked Sweet Potato?,  a “4-ounce sweet potato provides nearly 2 grams of protein.” Who knew?

Carrot Fries

Carrot Fries

Crazy good. I didn’t add the recommended cumin to them, but I did add the suggested tablespoon of agave nectar. I used one bunch of orange carrots, and once bunch of purple and yellow carrots, so they turned out extra pretty (:

Lemony Pan-Fried Chickpeas with Chard

Lemony Chick Peas and Chard

Yum!  This wasn’t a particularly complicated recipe, so I can’t put my finger on why they were so good, but they were. Something about how the chick peas were cooked made them extra creamy and delicious. I followed the recipe as written, except for adding two cloves of minced garlic to the sautéing onions at the beginning.

VegCookBook Club Story Swap

What did you VegCook this week?

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Posted in Color Me Vegan

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March 2013 Cookbook: Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Posted on February 22, 2013 | 9 Comments

Vegan BrunchIt was a tight race this time, but the winner of the March 2013 VegCookbook Club poll is, Vegan Brunch: Homestyle Recipes Worth Waking Up  For — From Asparagus Omelets to Pumpkin Pancakes by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

I like the description of brunch she has on her website:

“Breakfast is whatever we eat first thing in the morning, but brunch is an event. More than any other meal, brunch seems to have a purpose in our lives that isn’t just about the food being served. It’s a time to catch up with friends. Time to slow down. Time to hatch great plans, to get all hyped up on coffee, and say dumb stuff that haunts you for the rest of your life.”

You can learn more about Isa on her website, Post Punk Kitchen, follow her on Twitter at @isachandra, and join her Post Punk Kitchen Facebook Page.

If you’re new to the VegCookbook Club, you can read about how to participate on the VegCookbook Club About page.

I’m looking forward to cooking through Vegan Brunch with you in March, and to hearing about what you cooked from our February VegCookbook, Color Me Vegan, on Monday. Have a great weekend!

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What Should Our March VegCookbook Be?

Posted on February 19, 2013 | 2 Comments

It’s time to choose our next VegCookbook! Please vote in the poll below (check out the links to the cookbooks below the poll, if you want to read more about them). I’ll announce our March VegCookbook on Friday, February 22nd.

 

Eat, Drink and Be VeganEat Drink and Be Vegan: Everyday Vegan Recipes Worth Celebrating by Dreena Burton.

 

 

 

Happy Herbivore AbroadHappy Herbivore Abroad: A Travelogue and Over 135 Fat-Free and Low-Fat Vegan Recipes from Around the World by Lindsay S. Nixon.

 

 

 

MeatlessMeatless: 200 of the Very Best Vegetarian Recipes by Martha Stewart Living.

 

 

 

Vegan BrunchVegan Brunch: Homestyle Recipe Recipes Worth Waking Up  For — From Asparagus Omelets to Pumpkin Pancakes by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

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Roasted Orange Beets with Tangerines, Brazilian Black Bean Stew + Purple Kale and White Bean Soup

Posted on February 18, 2013 | 7 Comments

Hello VegCooks!

I tried three recipes last week from our February VegCookbook, Color Me Vegan:

1. Roasted Orange Beets with Tangerines

Orange beets and tangerines

Isn’t it pretty?

This took awhile to make, but it was worth it.  One of the options in the book is to marinate the beets for half an hour in the dressing, rather than to pour the dressing over the beets and tangerines.  If I make this again, I’ll definitely marinate the beets. The dish was good last night, but it was really good today after everything sat in the dressing overnight.

2. Brazilian Black Bean Stew

Brazilian Black Bean Stew

Yum. Very tasty. My grocery store didn’t have the recommended “Mexican-spiced vegetarian sausage,” so I used Italian flavor Field Roast Sausage. I didn’t include a jalapeño (too spicy for us), and I forgot to buy a mango. I bet it would have been even more delicious with a chopped mango added in at the end. I’ll definitely make this again.

3. Purple Kale and White Bean Soup

Purple Kale and white bean soup
This soup was fine, but after the Brazilian Black Bean Stew, it was a bit of a let down. I used purple kale, but the soup didn’t turn purple. Thinking about it now, it makes sense that it wouldn’t, but I was hoping it would. How fun would it be to eat purple soup!

VegCookBook Club Story Swap

What did you VegCook this week?

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Posted in Color Me Vegan

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Six-Shades-of-Red Soup, Linguine with Purple Cabbage + Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Apples and Pecans

Posted on February 11, 2013 | 3 Comments

Six Shades of Red SoupI’m loving cooking by color from our February VegCookbook, Color Me Vegan, and am fascinated by how my color “cravings” change each week.  My favorite recipe of the week was the Six-Shades-of-Red Soup.

This beautiful soup is dee-lish-us. The only adjustments I made to the recipe were to use 1/4 teaspoon (rather than a 1/2 teaspoon) of red pepper flakes, and I blended it all with my immersion blender (the recipe suggested only pureeing half the soup).  Including red lentils in the soup made it more filling than most puréed vegetable soups, which was great!

I also made the Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Apples and Pecans (pictured above). I liked them, but I wasn’t blown away by them. I think my expectations were too high since it seems like it’s everyone’s favorite recipe so far. I added the optional lemon juice at the end, which made everything a little too sour. If I make it again, I won’t add the lemon.

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My final recipe of the week was the Linguine with Purple Cabbage, which was surprisingly good. I say surprisingly because I really didn’t expect sautéed cabbage to be good with pasta, but it, along with the sautéed red onions, gave the dish a wonderful sweet flavor, I also ground walnuts in my blender, and sprinkled them on the top, which provided a yummy contrasting texture and flavor.

I actually started out with toasted pine nuts, as the recipe suggests, but while I was blending them, I heard a terrible sound. My first thought was, “Those are some hard pine nuts,” but after it went on for a while I opened the blender to find that a very small pottery figure had fallen off my knick knack shelf and into the blender :(   Bye, bye little pottery figurine from trip-of-a-lifetime to Peru, and bye, bye pine nuts.

VegCookBook Club Story Swap

Kelley of Eatin’ Vegan in Smalltown USA made Blueberry Buckle, Quick Curried Swiss Chard, and Coconut Rice.

Elisa of Veggie Goes Vegan made Cajun Red Beans and Rice, Peanut Pumpkin Soup, and Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Apples, Nuts, and Baked Tofu.

What did you VegCook this week?

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Posted in Color Me Vegan

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Kale Chips + Garlicky Greens with Pasta from Color Me Vegan

Posted on February 4, 2013 | 6 Comments

We’re onto a new VegCookbook!  If you missed it, this month’s VegCookbook is Color Me Vegan by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.  I tried two recipes from it last week:

Kale Chips

My advice: follow her directions.  The recipe said to thoroughly dry the leaves, I didn’t, and it took forever for them to crisp. The recipe said to take out the ones that are already crisp so they don’t burn. I didn’t. They burned (a little). That said, they were very tasty.

I put the recommended nutritional yeast and a little chili powder on them. Next time, I’ll follow the directions!

kale chips

Garlicky Greens with Pasta

This recipe reminded me of a recipe for Fettucine with Greens and Garlic that I love from a 1997 cookbook, Debra’s Natural Gourmet Cookbook, so I kinda combined the two recipes.

  • I used two bunches of red chard, and one bunch of green chard, rather than the recommended broccoli rabe (my grocery store doesn’t carry it), or the mustard or dandelion greens (too spicy for me).
  • Instead of 4 cloves of garlic, I used a whole head of garlic.
  • When it came time to sauté the garlic, I also added a can of drained and rinsed kidney beans.
  • I didn’t include the 1-2 teaspoons of basil leaves ’cause basil is pricey this time of year, and I didn’t have any use for the rest of the basil bunch.

Yum.

Garlicky Greens with Pasta
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VegCookBook Club Story Swap


Because this week included two different months, folks made dishes from our January VegCookBook, Crazy, Sexy Kitchen, and our February VegCookBook, Color Me Vegan.

Color Me Vegan

Crazy, Sexy Kitchen

What did you VegCook this week?

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Posted in Color Me Vegan, Crazy Sexy Kitchen

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