This dish is a favourite in our house. I first made it when I was pregnant, when I was craving all things cheezy and carby, and it was so good we continue to make it routinely.
I have only taken photographs once, and it was when I mistakenly added twice the amount of noodles, so it wasn’t as saucy. I recommend the full amount of sauce though. This is a saucy dish and the sauce is LOVELY. Creamy, yet not heavy. Read the rest of this entry »
It might surprise you to learn I barely sit down these days. In between feeds, I have not been able to sit down for months.
When I was pregnant, people told me I’d be watching a lot of television while on my maternity leave. Nothing could be completely wrong.
Even though baby P is not crawling yet, the need for baby snuggles are real. However, our baby demands snuggles while standing. As soon as you sit down, he knows and will probably wake up and start to cry. It took me 5 months to figure out I could read my computer while standing and swaying if I brought it to the kitchen island. It is higher than my computer desk and I could work while standing. And as time passed, I started typing again.
Tofu scrambles. We’ve made them plenty of times – dillicious, chili masala, curried dill, tahini chickpea, and mighty migas. And then there was the Revolutionary Savoury Egg Mix just waiting for a tofu scramble. They are all good but we make dillicious the most often, since we love it so. However, I have to tell you. We’ve found the chickpea scramble that rules them all. The BEST tofu scramble is right here. And it is deliciously doused in nutritional yeast and also sneaks in chickpeas.
Read the rest of this entry »
In addition to peanut butter, another of my pregnancy cravings were sweet potato fries. Postpartum, I haven’t craved fries as often but I still love the sweet potatoes. These sweet potato fries have been made* regularly over the past few months. *Made by Rob (I am rather lucky). Once you have the Parmesan Sprinkles ready to go (I made this!), these are a simple side that can be thrown into the oven.
Rob and I could easily eat an entire batch with a meal. They are that good. Read the rest of this entry »
It is local corn season!
This baby business has had me cooped up most of the spring and summer and it is nice to finally feel like the early hazy days have lifted somewhat. It only took 9 weeks. One problem with having a preemie is that his newborn period runs longer. We have to wait for his corrected age for him to develop his milestones. So no, he isn’t sleeping through the night just yet. Not even close.
But, it was nice to wake up while corn season is in full force. Rob can grill the corn pretty quickly and if you have any leftover, or can spare a handful of cobs, this is a fantastic soup. Read the rest of this entry »
This summer we’ve been eating a lot of soups and stews. It could have been that we were immune to the hot weather, as we spent the majority of it in an air conditioned NICU. Or, more likely, that we’ve been making up for lost time and stocking our freezer with extra food. We have fully adopted making a second batch of a recipe and freezing half. Soups and stews are great for that. Read the rest of this entry »
Want to know what I would consider a lot of spinach? 2 pounds.
It can take me a week to finish a clamshell of baby spinach but I I figured 2 bunches of regular spinach would be 2 lbs. After prepping and removing the stems from both bunches, I barely had a pound of spinach.
Still eager to make this dish, I added our emergency package of frozen spinach (the convenience of it being de-stemmed was not lost on me) and while I still didn’t have enough spinach for the recipe, it was certainly plenty of spinach! Read the rest of this entry »
You have probably noticed I have been struggling with the blog lately. I am barely eking out a post per week. It is a combination of a few things: less time spent cooking and less time to blog about it. It certainly isn’t that I have stopped eating (HA!) but I found myself nodding when I read Ginny’s latest post about Vegan Food for People Who Don’t Cook. Combined with quite a few batches of my Easy Vegan Lasagna, and incessant snacking on hummus and crackers, it feels like I have been eating hummus non-stop. And no, I wasn’t even making it myself, the bulk of it came from store-bought varieties. Not sorry. Read the rest of this entry »
Sometimes I forget about tempeh, but it is an awesome vegan protein source with 22g of protein in 4 oz (half a package). Not everyone loves tempeh. One way to love it is to slather it with a marinade. No marinade, here. In this case, your smother it and hide it within a delicious casserole. Read the rest of this entry »
Continuing with the easy comfort foods, how about baked grits? Or creamy cheezy baked polenta? I am no stranger to the elaborate, creamy, stovetop polenta but sometimes, you want to eat something a little less laborious with all the flavour.
This dish uses a creamy concoction including sauerkraut, cashews, nutritional yeast and miso to simmer with the cornmeal for a few minutes. Next, you pop it into the oven to complete the easy side dish. Here, I paired the polenta with the Hemp Crusted Tofu with Garlic Collards in Superfoods 24/7 which I was compelled to make after seeing Cadry’s raving review and Andrea’s spin on it. Neither dish disappointed and both worked well together for a complete meal. I even snuck a few pieces of the baked grits for breakfast, too. Read the rest of this entry »
With a bold title, Eat Like You Give a Damn, it seemed fit to share this lovely cookbook around the holidays. With the American Thanksgiving/Thanksliving wrapping up and Hannukah/Christmas season quickly approaching, it should be a season for giving a damn. No?
Eat Like You Give a Damn is a vegan cookbook by Herbivore Clothing’s Michele Schwegmann and Josh Hooten and recently won Vegweb’s Favourite Cookbook of the Year. Read the rest of this entry »
Tofu scramble does not taste like scrambled eggs. Have you ever thought that?
I imagine it might be an early reaction to a tofu scramble, with the second thought reminding yourself how wonderful it tastes, irregardless. Even my favourite dillicious tofu scramble does not remind me off eggs, unless you like lumpy firm eggs? When I first cooked scrambled soft tofu, I was one step closer to scrambled egg creation. However, while the soft tofu is creamy, silky and fluffy, the problem is that it took much longer to cook. Read the rest of this entry »
As the weather cools off slightly, instead of gravitating towards my closest root vegetable (in due time), it seems I am gravitating towards meals that keep summer in my kitchen. Almost a fusion of my recent Jerk Tofu and Plantain Bowl and my Mojito-Inspired Tofu Skewers, I used a Mojito marinade for a black bean and plantain salad.
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Some of you may have noticed I changed the look of the blog. Please come over, have a look if you subscribe through email or RSS and tell me what you think.
I have also updated some of my other channels on social media.
I finally signed up for twitter and slowly figuring it out. I am also now on instagram, too, but I haven’t done much (yet). I am still on pinterest (lots of pins there!) and you can follow me on facebook now, too.
A bit slow on the uptake, but check it out and follow me, if you’re already there. 🙂
I am trying to declutter my life but we’ll see how that contributes (or not). Read the rest of this entry »
As the hot summer persists, let us marry the perfect summer eats. BBQ and salads. And for those without a BBQ, have no fear, this one is for you.
No BBQ needed, the BBQ flavour is completely from the roasted chickpeas. A bit more complex than my bacon-flavoured chickpea croutons, but definitely not any harder than pulling out a few more bottles, these roasted chickpeas are awesome. Smoky, savoury and delicious. You could just eat them with your hand (totally guilty) or add them to a salad for a more complete meal. Here I paired it with salad with mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, purple cabbage, shredded carrots and avocado with a splash of lemon juice. Mix it all together for a fabulous meal.
The smoky roasted chickpeas comes from Somer McCowan’s new cookbook, The Abundance Diet. Somer blogs at Vedged Out and is the originator behind the vegan extra sharp cheese ball and fresh vegan moxarella (a revised version of the mock mozzarella is in her book). The cookbook was borne out of her previous Green Smoothie Challenge.
I am always anxious of leafing through cookbooks marked with words such as ‘diet’, ‘detox’, or the like, but I have no reservations about this cookbook. Somer’s recipes are all gluten-free, plant-based vegan recipes and also, to the astute eye, also free of oil and refined sugars. (The tip-off are the lack of oil in the soups and stews, as I am accustomed to sautéing my onions in oil). Otherwise, the recipes are filled with an abundance of vegetables for creative meals that are relatively easy to make, too.
The recipes span the entire day (breakfast to lunch to dinner including snacks) because there are meal plans that span 28-days (they can be found here if you want a preview). She includes recipes for 26 salads and dressing. The Lentil taco salad was fabulous (even without the roasted red pepper dressing) and her Ultimate Lentil Salad reminds me of my own 11-Spice Lentil Salad with Capers and Currants (and always a hit). Her soups are equally enticing, with meal-type soups like Quinoa Minestrone and her Smoky Split Pea Soup. Others are more vegetable-based which are more suitable as appetizer.
I enjoyed her Moroccan Lentil Soup even though I substituted a handful of fresh dill for the parsley/cilantro. She also has a main dish section with recipes I have been eyeing, such as Chiles Rellenos Casserole Bake with Smoky Chipotle Enchilada Sauce and Homestyle Mexican Casserole. Green smoothies, juices, snacks, dips and desserts round out the cookbook to keep you full throughout the day.
I remember when cookbooks were mostly text, but it is so nice to see excellent photography. Ann Oliverio photographed most of the recipes and they are a treat throughout the cookbook. Just look at the delicious cover photography highlighting the Funeral Potatoes. A funeral for your fat?
Of note, while this is a diet based on vegan abundance, Somer’s narrative highlights the potential ways to expedite weight loss. Some people may not like this tone and I suggest simply enjoying the recipes. Not a fan of stevia? (Me, neither). Simply substitute dates instead for the smoothies or all coconut sugar in other desserts. Or in my case, add some beans to the vegetable-centric meals. In all, the recipes look great and only on closer inspection do they jump out as diet food.
Want your own copy?
Thankfully, the publisher allowed me to giveaway the cookbook to a reader living in the US. To be entered in the random draw for the book, please leave a comment below telling me what you like to eat in abundance. The winner will be selected at random on August 7, 2015. Good luck!
Recipes from The Abundance Diet spotted elsewhere:
Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato Bake
I am sharing this with Meat Free Mondays.
the taste space 