Hello VegCooks!
I tried three recipes last week from our February VegCookbook, Color Me Vegan:
1. Roasted Orange Beets with 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
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
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
- Kelley of Eatin’ Vegan in Smalltown USA made Hot Tamale Pie, Yellow Split Pea Soup with Collard Greens and Yams, and Blackberry Breakfast Bars.
- Barbi made Salt-and-Pepper Tofu.
- Lydia of Vegankind is still waiting for the cookbook to be available from her library. In the meantime, she made Minestrone with Kale from Colleen’s website, and a version of Chocolate Cherry Cookies adapted by Niki of Meet Your Treat.
- Valley Vegan made Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Apples and Pecans, and Citrus Salad.
- @jomaryu made Hot Tamale Pie.
- @elisacp made Lemony Pan-Fried Chickpeas with Chard.
What did you VegCook this week?
I enjoyed cooking from the book this weekend, too. I made three things which has somehow energized me to try more. I really like the book.
I made the Tofu (Koyadofu) Teriyaki. It was super simple to make and now I have it for either stir-fry or just with some rice or quinoa for a few days. It was quite a large recipe for just two of us, and next time, I’ll make half. I cut the pieces differently than indicated and broiled the tofu rather than fried. But those were suggested alternatives.
I also made the Cashew and Red Lentil Burgers and they are fabulous! This was one of the easiest veggie burger recipes I’ve ever made. I served them plain with some Indian rice and veggies to a vegan friend of mine and she raved! I did make my patties smaller than suggested, but they are a little high calorically, and substantial enough I didn’t need a burger quite as large. I reduced the size by 1/3. These are my new staple.
And my favorite new find: The Oat Bread! Wow! This is fantastic and so easy. It was a great loaf. I’m going to do some more baking this coming weekend and give a loaf or two of bread away as gifts.
I’ll be putting the photos of all three on our Flickr page. This was so much fun.
Hi Debra,
It sounds like you did some awesome VegCooking. All of your Flickr photos look delish!
Hi again Debra,
I just tried to share your Flickr photos on the VegCookbook Club Twitter account, but they are marked as private, so I can’t. Did you mean for them to be private? It’s OK if you did. Just wanted to check.
Everyone’s eats look delicious! I’ve done a fair amount of cooking from it but nothing recently. I can vouch for the Citrus Kale Salad, Six Shades Of Red Soup, Carrot and Roasted Red Pepper Soup, Asparagus and Carrot Salad with a Miso-Walnut Dressing, Orange Glazed Tempeh (it is a rip-off from 101cookbooks), and Winter White Soup. The Asian Inspired Edamame Salad was a bit too simple for me and I found the Nori Wraps with Orange Cashew Cream lackluster, and the Quinoa, Tofu, and Kale with Walnut Pesto a bit bland, too. Did not care for Minted Chickpea Salad at all. Hope this helps people try good recipes (a few I have already posted earlier).
Thanks for the recommendations, Janet!
Tonight I made the curried cauliflower soup. It wasn’t my favourite recipe, but I think that’s because in general I like chunky soups more than blended soups. I suspect tomorrow as the flavours meld overnight it will be better as leftovers.
It wasn’t bad or anything, just didn’t jump out as me as much as other recipes I’ve tried from this book.
Hi Barbi,
That’s too bad the recipe was so-so. Hopefully you’ll have better luck this week.