Being settled in our new place meant lots more cooking and nesting :)
Getting deeper into school means more experimenting with different foods too. We're trying to do as much organic and locally grown as possible (hence the garden!).
My faves from this month have to be the chopped salad above, millet (never got a picture!), quinoa and lentils - specifically lentil loaf. Mmmm! Ooh and on the sweet side - my love, chocolate vegan cupcakes! yummer!
My salad was usually made with grape tomatoes, radish slices, cucumber and celery (all organic) just rough chopped and tossed with my fave vinagrette - olive oil, seasoned rice vinegar and a pinch of italian seasoning. Yum! Try changing up your vinegar and seasonings for different easy dressings with none of the nonsense found in store bought dressings!
This ancient grain is really simple to prepare and I have no idea why it took us so long to finally get around to making it. I bought it from the bulk bins at wegmans and it sat in the cupboard for about two weeks before i worked up the nerve to try it. i was so sure it would be mushy and gross - it was anything but! I felt like I was eating a creamy pasta or something really rich and sinful! We had it with lentils and treated it like rice and it was divine and very filling. The next morning I warmed the leftovers with almond milk, agave and spices and we had a lovely breakfast of quinoa porridge. I made it later that week as part of a chopped salad and it really made the salad very hearty and filling and was a nice contrast to the crisp cool veggies. Love! This is one for the weekly rotation.
You prepare it much like rice, except you use a 1 to 2 ratio 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and steam for 13-15 mins. You'll know its done when the curly germ separates from the grain (sexy right?).
This grain is super versatile. Think salad, soups, creamy puddings, use in place of bread in a stuffing maybe? or even to bulk up a dish. Delish.
Its really hard to believe that back in October of last year, I virtually had no CLUE about vegan baking. For hubby's birthday, he presented me with the printout of this recipe and asked me to make them. I refused.
I told him i was sure that i'd mess it up and that it would taste terrible. He begged me to try.
It was so different from what I was used to with regular cupcakes, I thought that there was no way in hell this was even going to LOOK like a cupcake.
I was really amazed when they came out of the oven looking like a normal cupcake. They smelled chocolatey and heavenly but I didn't want to taste them.
Eventually curiousity got the better of me and I had a bite. Wow! They tasted better than a regular cupcake ( i know, i know if i were you reading this i would think that i was crazy).
I melted some chocolate chips and mixed in a little powdered sugar and they were really amazing. What impressed me most was the texture. They melt in your mouth. Steve loved them and so did everyone who celebrated with him. I even emailed out the link to several people. I really would love to have that book someday. But i'm not buying a single cookbook till I get enough use out of the books i currently own.
Lentil Loaf.
Oh my sweet lentil loaf! It is ridiculously good!
There are probably a ton of lentil loaf recipes online but I used the recipe from the Naparima Girls Cookbook or the Naps book as we trinis like to say.
Basically you boil the lentils and then I put them into my mini food processor to squash it.
I grate/grind carrots and lots of fresh celery, onion, a garlic clove or two and then half of a granny smith apple chopped up. I really think that is the key. It makes it soooo tasty and a little bit sweet! I spoon on a few tablespoons of tomato paste on top to give it some colour and bake till it sets up.
I would get the exact recipe but i'm lazy.
Maybe i'll make it again and take pictures of the steps and do a proper post on it?
I think these would be great if you made them into balls and rolled them in some seasoned breadcrumbs and baked them for finger foods at a party. I've also had this sliced in bread in lieu of a veggie burger - although i'm sure you could just form it into patties before baking as well.
This is really filling and delicious! Very healthy too :)
What did you make a lot of this month?
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