I think the pictures speak for themselves here: as all great couples do, Marbles and I can agree on everything except the constitution of the Perfect Burger.
Posts Tagged ‘vegan’
Spiced carrot-lentil soup
It’s soup season, so of course I’ve been making SOUP! This recipe resulted from a previous cooking endeavor that only used one carrot out of a whole bunch, and a half packet of red lentils that had been glaring at me sadly from the cupboard. As the carrots wilted and the lentils moped, I said “ENOUGH ALREADY!” And then I blitzed them all into a quick, hearty soup.
I am really proud of my soup, as I’ve always hated the bland, overly sweet flavor of many carrot soups. This one, instead, is zingy, zippy, zesty and all kinds of good things that start with z. It is also nutrient dense, without becoming something you eat only because it’s supposed to be healthy. It’s a filling soup without being to heavy, with light flavors that can be spiced up or mellowed down to your own taste.
Roasted spiced carrots
I know lots of people who don’t like cooked carrots. And I understand why. There’s nothing more blah and boring than squishy, sweet carrot mush. For years I only ate them raw or lightly steamed, or chopped finely as a base for soups and sauces. But ever since I’ve discovered that you can roast carrots, I can’t get enough of the cheerful little buggers. Today I experimented a bit, and came with this recipe. The carrots are roasted for quite long, which makes them pleasantly soft but also gives them a nice hearty flavor. The spices, lemon juice and honey add some interest. If you’re one of those people who claims to not like carrots, I encourage you to try these. (more…)
Traditional tomato sauce
October 10th, 2009There are all kinds of commercial sauces available for pasta, and they all have one thing in common: THEY SUCK! Generally, they are too sweet, too watery, and too ketchup-like. And if you’re really unlucky, it will have all kinds of things that should never be in sauce-from-a-jar, like eggplant or parmesan. I mean, really? Parmesan cheese IN a tomato sauce? Barfalicious!
So needless to say, I make my own. And here’s the recipe. (more…)
Two quiches and a tart
Cupcakes are fun to make and fun to look at, but if you are in the midst of some serious birthday celebrating you need some Real Food. I know that some people (i.e. men) consider quiche to be a frou-frou girlyfood, but a good quiche is hearty, filling, and the perfect accompaniment to a glass or four of wine. So I made two quiches (one traditional quiche lorraine, and one with broccoli an blue cheese) and an upside down tomato tart.
I usually try to snap a pic of the food I make before it all gets eaten, but in this case the quiches went so fast that I only managed a few quick shots. The last piece of quiche lorraine got swiped by a hungry two-year-old. She seemed to enjoy it, so good for her.
The littlest tomato tart
We all have days where we just need to finish whatever is in the fridge. Ideally you can cook an entire meal from pantry stock and leftover produce. And as much as I enjoy being single (hurray for only eating when, where and what you want!), the huge benefit of having a girlfriend is that I get to raid her fridge in search of dinner inspiration.
I made an endives tarte tatin a few days ago, and was left with half a package of puff pastry that needed to be used fast. Instead of running to the market for quiche ingredients, I waited for my girlfriend to leave for work and inspected the contents of her fridge. In it I found half a package of goat’s cheese, a few beautiful tomatoes, a cucumber that was ready for consumption, some red onions, and pine nuts. And further inspection showed that she is in the possession of two adorable little oven dishes.
Hence tonight’s menu: a cute little tomato tart with provencal herbs and garlic oil, cucumbers with vinaigrette, and roasted portobello mushrooms (the only food purchased specifically for this meal) stuffed with goat’s cheese and pine nuts, and drizzled with honey.
Before you all go “EEEEW!” at the idea of mushrooms and honey, let me appease you by saying that this post will be about the tomato tart only. I wouldn’t insult you with a recipe that consists of directions for roasting mushrooms and sticking cheese and pine nuts on top. (OR WOULD I?) (more…)
“Moroccan” vegetable stew
There is absolutely nothing authentically Moroccan about this stew beyond the fact that I invented it in order to use this fantastic new thing I discovered: Harissa! I got it at a Moroccan grocery store, so now I associate this stew with Morocco, despite never having been in or near Morocco (YET!). If you were to serve this stew to your friends I would highly recommend using air quotes when referring to it as “Moroccan.”
Because of the harissa, this stew is on the spicy side. However, the addition of sweet butternut squash and juicy raisins tones down the spice level considerably. The first time we had this we ate it straight from a bowl, but the second time I served pita’s and some home made tzatziki alongside. This was a good call, as the stew had become noticeably spicier overnight in the fridge. It also became tastier, so I highly recommend making enough to have leftovers.
I think this stew is the perfect summer food. It’s filling and flavorful but not too heavy or greasy. It also includes most of my favorite foods and none of my non-favorite foods, which of course is a huge benefit of inventing your own recipes. It’s also one of those “accidentally vegan” recipes that I seem to come up with a lot. And it’s accidentally gluten free as well. Actually, the whole thing was one big happy accident. An accident which landed me a girlfriend by the way, so take that as a warning or as a recommendation, depending on your situation.