Slow Pho

My lady did the prep for most of the soup (I did the last bit after all the yummy ingredients simmered together). It was quite tasty. The 2nd item we've made in our slow cooker. The recipe is out of Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. The soup was really tasty. More noodly than I expected, but very flavorful. It was also the first time that we used seitan in a dish. It was good; sauted/browned it before adding it to the stock. We even got to use our new onion soup bowls we got as an early wedding gift. Topped it with some green onion & bean sprouts. Unfortunately we forgot to take pictures of the soup; our schedule was thrown off with our impending handfasting and having an out of town guest staying with us. Would like to make the soup again, it was good.

Spinach Artichoke Risotto

This dish was very disappointing. Nothing we did wrong in preparing it, but the dill was way too strong for either of our likings. Neither of us ate much of it and unfortunately the leftovers went to waste. It was from Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers by The Moosewood Collective. With spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic, scallions & feta, I thought it would be very good. We may make it again but cut back on the feta and half the dill (or omit it completely). This is the first herb that I've run across that I just don't care for much. Maybe it was just too much at once. I will try & keep an open mind and allow the possibility of using dill in the future though; give it a chance to let us enjoy it.

Frittata Rice Bites

These were taken from a recipe I found online. Now whether it was some sort of vegetarian recipe group or website, I know not.
Prep took awhile although we were able to prepare everything else while the brown rice was cooking.
They consist of rice, eggs, zucchini, red pepper, garlic, onion, mozzarella, milk, plus seasonings.
They weren't bad, although they didn't come out of the pan very neatly. In fact, a good third of them stuck in the pan. Unfortunately, it killed the pan, which was not new by any means, but still, we soaked it, ran it through the dishwasher, soaked it some more.
Anyway...the dinner was good although next time we make something like this, I think we're going to use metalic cups rather than directly in the pan. The bites could have been a cooked some more, they were a little loose I think, but still tasty.

Broccolini Cheddar Melt

Tonight we had Broccolini Cheddar Melt from the book Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers by The Moosewood Collective. It was pretty tasty actually, but....next time I think we'll double the recipe as it was only one melt each (one slice of whole wheat bread with the stuff on top). Also, the bread got a little over done in the broiler. Will have to note that for next time around. The stoneground mustard really gave it a nice undertone beneath the garlic-sauted broccolini and cheddar. And it was the first time I've cooked broccolini. Very tasty and tender! Will have to use it some more I think. I was unable to snap a picture of the dinner as our rechargable batteries were all deader than dead at the time. Oh well, there's always next time, and hopefully the edges of the bread won't be burnt!

Baked Barbecue Tofu & Peppers

This dish was fairly easy to make. It's from the book The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet by Nava Atlas. It was, meh, ok. We've had a similar dish from the same cookbook that we both liked better. I think the other one was sauted and this one was just baked. Felt like it should have been cooked more, I think. Not bad though, and Amy's Honey Maple BBQ Sauce added a nice flavor. Probably won't make this particular dish again as there are so many more recipes to try and ones we know we really like already.

Cheesy Garlic-Stuffed Artichokes

This is our first dish with our new slow cooker. It's from our, yet again different, newest cookbook, Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. It didn't take very long to prep and cooked for 4 hours on low. Make sure you snip all the pointy ends of the leaves before shoving the stuffing in between them. The stuffing was super tasty. However, the artichoke was overcooked unfortunately. I'd like to make the stuffing again but this time stuff bell peppers with it and bake them. It consisted mainly of soy crumbles, garlic sauted in olive oil, whole wheat bread, parsely, parmesan & asiago chesses and just a couple dashes each of cayenne, salt & black pepper.

We're aiming for a nice bean-based soup to try in the slow cooker next. It was kind of nice just to have dinner ready and not have had to prepare it right then. However, it was also odd not to be "in charge" so to speak of when the meal was done, having done all the prep work 4 hours earlier. That'll just take some getting used to on my part and working out the timing better.

Tomato Tortilla Soup

We made this yummy soup tonight from the book Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers by The Moosewood Collective. It was different, not what I expected from a tortilla soup. We blended the chips into a portion of the soup and then added it back to the rest of the stock. We topped it with various things: the bowl on the left has cheddar cheese and cilantro while the bowl on the right has advocado, cilantro and just a sprinkling of cheddar cheese. Some ingredient must have reacted with the cheese as it was an odd texture and stuck to everything; such as our teeth, the spoons, the bowl. All in all, a good soup. I even used our new wok to make it; the large soup pot we currently have is severely lacking in quality. Looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow evening.

Red Bean Ratatuille

Tonight was Red Bean Ratatuille from the book 150 Vegan Favorites by Jay Solomon. It was very hearty and flavorful! The leftovers kept really well too. The beans added a nice texture and some protein to the veggies. We topped it with some mozzarella, what a surprise eh? You know Luinda loves her cheese!

Cashew Tofu

We had Cashew Tofu tonight, adapted from the book Tofu Cookery by Louise Hagler. The original recipe is Almond Tofu, but we both prefer cashews.
We've made this before, and liked it. Tonight I used peanut oil to brown the marinated tofu to see if it would add a deeper peanut taste (the marinade has peanut butter in it). I think there was a tad more peanut taste. It's a good dish and I'm sure we'll have it again when we have an easy day (prep takes a while as the tofu has to marinate for 2 hours) ~ would like to try it with rice one time too.

Rarebit Risotto

Tonight we had Rarebit Risotto from the book Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers, our newest cookbook. It was pretty yummy! Very different than most of the stuff we've been making and a lot richer too. Had a very unique flavor with the beer and mustard. The tomatoes and broccoli gave it a nice splash of color. I'm amazed that the 1 1/2 cups of risotto soaked up 5 cups of vegetable broth and 12 oz of beer! All in all, pretty tasty.

Sweet and Sour Tofu with Vegetables

Tonight we made Sweet and Sour Tofu with Vegetables from The Compassionate Cook. We've made it before and really like it. The sauce is quite good and very flavorful. The strips of veggies and tofu add a nice visual touch as well. Prep is fairly straightforward. We're going to have the leftovers tomorrow night, I'll probably make some rice to put it on.

Broccoli with Five-Spice Tofu

Tonight we finally made this dish! We've tried twice but have run into ingredient issues. It was good. Very hearty and flavorful. The anise gave it a most unique flavor, as did the ginger. Had a very different flavor than most of the other dishes we've been making recently. We made it without mushrooms as I don't care for them and the broccoli may have been slightly overcooked but other than that, I'm pleased with the results.. The recipe, taken from the Vegetarian Times website, was written in a not-so-fluid manner, but it was manageable. And as with most vegetarian dishes, there was enough for leftovers for me tomorrow!

Stuffed Bell Peppers con Chili

Tonight we made "Stuffed Bell Peppers con Chili" from the book Tofu Cookery by Louise Hagler. Prep took a bit longer than I had anticipated, but with both of us preparing, it didn't seem too bad. It is a very flavorful dish! The recipe called for 6 bell peppers, we used 5, so now have 3 leftover + some filling. The filling part alone will make a great meal too. Hopefully the leftovers will keep well and we can have them for dinner tomorrow. That's one thing about vegetarian recipes; they normally yield so much food!

Spanish Potato Frittata

Tonight I made a simple, yummy frittata. My first one! The recipe was from the book The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet by Nava Atlas and consisted of eggs, an onion, red potatoes and some salt & pepper. I think it would be nice to add some fresh veggies such as broccoli for some color and added flavor in the future. Now that I know how to make a simple frittata, the possibilities are endless!

Soy Sloppy Joes

Tonight we had Sloppy Joes from the book The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet by Nava Atlas. We've had them a few times now and they're pretty yummy. We eat them open-faced on delicious sesame buns. A nice, quick, high-protein meal with enough leftovers for a lunch.

Penne Pasta and Artichoke Salad

Whipped up this lovely pasta salad from the book 150 Vegan Favorites by Jay Soloman. I aided by making the dressing, which was really yummy, tasted like a balsamic vinaigrette! The salad went over well at our potluck. We'll definitely be making this again but adding some more ingredients, such as feta cheese and broccoli to it, to make it a bit tastier for our particular liking.

Chili from a can

So I gathered all the items to make a fresh meal and when I went to grab the tofu, it had gone bad. I didn't store it properly last week after using some. I then considered making the meal anyway but after re-reading the recipe, I don't think it would have come out the same seeing as how some of the spices were for coating the tofu. Luckily I hadn't started prepping any of the veggies or anything before my discovery of the bad tofu.

So, we had some Amy's Medium Chili with a bit of Italian cheese as a garnish and eaten with delicious whole wheat crackers. Not what we planned on, but still ok. And much quicker as we were short on time with somewhere to be.

Easy scramble

Tonight I opted out of making our planned meal and instead made a quick, yet delicious, egg scramble with some soy sausage links, green onions and an Italian cheese blend for a topper. The Italian cheese gave a really nice flavor to the whole dish. Lately we have been using Muenster with eggs, but I really enjoyed the flavor of the Italian blend. But hey, what isn't better with some Asiago and Parmesan added?

Your Pad Thai or Mine

Tonight I made Pad Thai using a recipe called "Your Pad Thai or Mine" from the book Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons. I had some delicious Pad Thai during our Valentine's Day dinner and found a recipe for it in one of our cookbooks.

Prep and cooking took about 90 minutes. It turned out good. It was the first time using rice noodles and I think they came out perfect. The cilantro and lime complimented each other well. Unfortunately there are no leftovers as part of the recipe warned that reheating in the microwave would create a gelatinous blob. Seeing the final product, I could see how that would happen and so we opted not to save what was left.

All in all, a decent dish, not too filling. Will consider making again, perhaps with a bit more chili sauce after tasting it with the low end recommended amount.