Baby Pies

No, not pies of babies! Just little versions of the big ol' chocolate tofu pie we always make. Aren't they just cute enough to eat?

Kale and Potato Salad

It may not be the most gorgeous dish, but we did gorge on it. Kale from our friend Annie's garden was steamed and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Potatoes, sweet and regular, were roasted with a touch of olive oil, garlic, fresh oregano, basil, thyme, and rosemary. Mix it all together, splash a bit of soy sauce, and there you have a healthy lunch.

Beet Juice

Beets, carrots, lime, ginger. Ain't it beautiful? Tasted good, too.

Whole Enchiladas

Ok, these were heavily inspired by all of the good-looking Mexican food over at Veg*n Musings.
I'd never made enchiladas before, though I've loved many. Her recipes made me believe I could try to make my own. I forgot to add sauce on the bottom of the pan, so they were a bit dry, but I'll remember that for next time. Still, muy delicioso.

For the sauce, I roasted tomatillos, jalapenos, Anaheim peppers, and garlic before throwing them in a pot to simmer with tomato sauce, cinammon, and maple syrup. The insides of the enchiladas are black beans, onions, and bell peppers. Topped with pumpkin seeds. Saved leftover sauce. Threw a side-salad of lettuce, mango, and avocado together. And then we made the nut cheese.

Ew. I know. "Nut cheese" is not the best-sounding food item, but it serves as a cheesy/sour creamy substitute sometimes. There are tons of versions of this on the 'net and in raw foods restaurants, but ours is:

1/2 cup of cashew pieces (unsalted)
dash of Bragg's Amino Acids
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
1/4 cup of water
1/2 teaspoon of agar-agar (vegan thickening agent)

Whip it up in a food processor and ole! Que rico!

Indian food: fresh and pre-packaged

We may not have a good Indian restaurant here, but we have a good Asian market and fresh veggies. Pappadoms (the big peppery cracker-like things) came from the Asian market. Jalfrezi sauce came from a jar bought at Harris Teeter. Channa Masala is from a package from Tidal Creek Co-Op. Samosas--lovely samosas--made at Tidal Creek. Lettuce from our friends Matt & Alison's yard. Lentils from our stash...can't remember where we bought 'em. Kale also from Tidal Creek--and it's locally grown, too. Everything turned out pretty good & we have tons of leftovers for lunches. Rode bikes to a movie after eating all of this...

Asian Collard Rolls

The American south meets the far east here. These turned out way better than I thought they would. These were inspired by the Collard Green Rolls we had once in New York at Red Bamboo but those were fried in a spring roll wrapper. We also just bought some daikon radishes at the farmer's market & didn't know what to do with them, so this helped the dilemma.

Here's what we used:

fresh collard leaves

onion

firm tofu, sliced into thin strips

daikon radish

carrot

sweet potato, chopped really small

sesame seeds

soy sauce

peanut oil

white pepper

Here's what we did:

Washed collards really well. Boiled the collard leaves for a few minutes while frying the sweet potato, onions, & pepper in peanut oil. Also fried the tofu in soy sauce and white pepper. Thinly sliced the radish & carrot, and set aside.

Removed collard leaves from water. Cut out bottom of stem. Scooped potato, onion, and tofu into center, placed carrot & radish stick in center, and rolled up like a mini-burrito. Place seam-side down in pan. Repeated until we ran out of stuff. Sprinkled w/sesame seeds. Baked at 350 for 10 minutes.

While that was baking, we made the peanut sauce:

peanut butter

dash of flax oil

hunk of ginger

lemon juice

lime juice

garlic clove

soy sauce

cayenne pepper

Put it all in a food processor, add water as needed, and blend to taste.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler Crisp

There was a dinner party! We had to bring something! Fresh strawberries from Black River Organic Farm inspired this dish.

First we cut the rhubarb into little pieces, put it in a saucepan with some brown sugar & lemon juice, and carmelized the heck out of it. Added the strawberries, some cinammon, a teeny bit of grated fresh ginger, 3 drops of rosewater, and stirred until it was a batch of gooey goodness. Poured into a glass baking pan, and topped with crumble mixture made of: oatmeal, flour, Smart Balance margarine, brown sugar. Baked at 350 for 30 minutes. Cooled on windowsill so neighbors could follow the sweet smell, lifted by their noses, like in the cartoons.

Art-to-Choke Garlic "Cheese" Dip

Most vegan cheeses suck. We don't ever eat them. But I read somewhere that the new "Vegan Gourmet Cheese Alternative" by Follow Your Heart actually melts, plus we love the Follow Your Heart store & restaurant, so decided to test it out. The results were so delicious, we barely had time to take these pics. The "cheese" itself is kind of bland and tofu-like, and it doesn't have any of that weird soy after-taste many of these products have. And it did, indeed, melt; the dip was bubbling as I pulled it from the oven!

Here's what we used:
1 big marinated artichoke heart leftover from a salad bar
red cherry peppers
1 banana pepper
2 slices of green bell pepper
1 quarter of a clove of garlic
2 quarter-inch thick slices of Follow Your Heart Cheese Alternative, mozarella-flavored
tablespoon of olive oil
tablespoon of water
oregano & basil leaves from our garden
bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350. Mix everything except the breadcrumbs together in food processor. Pour into Pyrex or other baking dish. Bake for about 15 minutes. Top with breadcrumbs and bake a few minutes more. Remove from oven. Eat with someone you love.