Backlog Photos Of Foods I Ate.

When my husband cooks for me, he almost always makes me pasta. This is a simple spaghetti with marinara (we buy Gina Rispoli, Newman's, or Mezzetta) and Trader Joe's meatless meatballs. Very hearty and filling.

Homemade sandwich on whole grain with Tofurky italian deli, Chao cheese, avocado, red onion, lettuce, tomato and Vegenaise!

Awesome sandwich.

Had my sandwich with a cup of Annie's tomato soup. This is so good if you don't have time to make your own soup.

Last Thursday was my birthday and I made my own cake! Chocolate with penuche frosting. I got the frosting recipe from a vintage Betty Crocker cookbook. It's a brown sugar frosting that is sooooo good.

My dad bought me a birthday pizza from Domino's. Thanks Dad!

For my birthday weekend, my husband and I spent time in Santa Barbara. We ate at the following restaurants:

British fish n chip shop. The chips are so good.

While my husband ate fish n chips, I had chips n baked beans.

At The Natural Cafe there are some good vegan options.

Like this sandwich. It's called the "Local's Favorite". Ask for no mayo and get a side of tahini sauce. Such a good little spot to grab lunch.

On our last night we hit up Galanga for amazing Thai food.

Spicy Mint Noodles with tofu. Make sure to order without fish sauce and egg.

Delicious veggie red curry. No fish sauce.

My plate. I was so full afterwards. Can't wait to go back to SB!

Vegan Beef Stew

Got this recipe idea over here. It uses seitan but instead I used rehydrated soy chunks. I didn't bake my stew in the oven, I just cooked it in a dutch oven on the stove for several hours on very low heat with a lid on it. I added a little more liquid to mine as well. Also other additions: green beans, celery, portobello mushrooms and marmite. I'm not big on eating soy chunks all the time but today I really wanted something meaty and comforting.

Bubbling over the stove.

I wanted to serve the stew on top of noodles that were like egg noodles. I found these at Vons and they are vegan and have no eggs yay!

So hearty and filling.

These are the deluxe cocoa brownies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I liked them but they were a little too cakey for my liking. It is mostly my fault, my oven is wonky. I'm a fan of dessert so these will keep me happy for the weekend.

Good Eats in Montreal.

Just got back from a nine day holiday in Montreal. I haven't been back in 8 years and it was so nice to be there again. This is the first time being vegan in Montreal though. I think I did ok. If I had stayed longer, I would have explored more vegan/vegan friendly restaurants. I was staying at my in-laws house, so we did a lot of hanging out and cooking at home which was fine with me!

The day after we arrived, we popped into L'Inter Marche on the corner to get a few staples. Bagels are a must. Montreal bagels are usually not vegan, made with egg and honey but I was able to find some packaged ones without any animal products yay! The hummus is by Fontaine Sante which I think is the best tasting packaged hummus I've ever had! We went through two or three tubs on this trip.

This is what my husband and I were looking forward to eating. He grew up in St. Leonard, which is primarily italian and the italian bakeries make the most delicious tomato pizza/bread. I was afraid it would be non-vegan, but alas, it is!

And it was nice to find soy milk at a little shop.

Another thing we looked forward to eating. Flakies! They are very crap for you but so good. Flaky layers of air and just a bit of "cream" and fruit filling. As far as I know, this is vegan. The ingredient list is dreadful, don't read it.

Found vegan margarine at IGA supermarket. I jumped for joy.

First meal I made was a simple pasta dish with chickpeas, olives and tomato sauce.

Second meal I made at home: pho! The bowl is tiny because they didn't have larger bowls. It worked well. It was delicious.

Home cooked meal #3. Mary McCartney's Courgette and Lemon Spaghetti. I made it without the cheese of course. Super good. Find the recipe online here.

That amazing hummus and Mary McCartney's saucy mushrooms and tomatoes on toast.

My husband's best friend and his wife took us out to Scaroli's Ristorante for great pasta. I got the primavera which was really tasty. Being vegan I run into a lot of "bland tomato sauces" at italian restos and this one was completely opposite. Full of flavor and even had caramelized red onions in the veggie mix.

Every vegan who visits Montreal eats at Aux Vivres. A friend of ours took us there and we had a great meal.

I ordered the seitan souvlaki plate. Really good stuff.

I had to order dessert. They bake their cakes, pies, brownies in house and I had a really hard time choosing. I decided on the "uncheesecake" with blueberry sauce. Amazing!

We had a quick lunch at Amir on St. Denis one day. I had the falafel pita and yummy garlic potatoes.

Paragon restaurant is a great little no-nonsense eatery in St. Leonard that makes really good submarine sndwiches. I ate there twice on this trip.

This pic does not do it justice. They grill mushrooms, onions and green peppers that are sliced thin thin thin and smother them in a toasted roll with shredded lettuce and tomato on top. I asked for no cheese and no sauce which I'm assuming is dairy based.

So after a 6 hr flight where I had to wake up super early in the morning, I arrived in L.A., headed straight to Vons and picked up ingredients to make my version of Paragon's sub. The insides were good but the bread is all wrong. Too hard, too dense. I need to find the perfect airy french roll for this. Keep your eyes on my blog, I will make this again.

Japanese, Thai and Korean deliciousness.

These lovely morsels of curried perfection are called "curry croquettes" which are made up of mashed vegetables, breaded and fried. We got these at the japanese market called Mitsuwa in their prepared foods section. They were so good, I could have eaten more!

My version of thai style noodles vegan style flavored with ginger and mushroom soy sauce. Add to it, lots of tofu and vegetables, fried garlic, chili oil and sriracha sauce. So comforting and so good.

A spicy and sour kimchi I got at Whole Foods that happened to be vegan. I can't remember the brand right now. It was great.

Spicy Noodles with Tofu and Veggies

I really loves these noodles which I based off of a "Szechuan Noodles" recipe I found on about.com. My recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:
canola or peanut oil to cook tofu and vegetables
chopped garlic, ginger and onion (for vegetables)
1 box of fettucine
1 14oz container of firm tofu drained and cubed
1 red bell pepper and 1 small head of broccoli, chopped
Sauce ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/3 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium)
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 TB Sriracha hot sauce
2 TB ketchup
1 TB Sweet Chili Sauce (Mae Ploy brand), optional
1 tsp. sugar
1 TB vinegar
1 tsp. cornstarch
cilantro and sesame seeds for garnish

Method:
Boil water and cook pasta. In the meantime while pasta is cooking: Stir fry cubes of tofu in oil over high heat in a NON-STICK pan along with 1-2 TB of soy sauce, garlic powder and black pepper for seasoning. When tofu is browned remove from pan and set aside. In same pan, stir fry the vegetables along with chopped onion, garlic and ginger until tender. Remove from pan and set aside. To make sauce: Stir together in the same pan the vegetable broth, soy sauce, sesame oil, Sriracha, ketchup, sweet chili sauce, sugar, vinegar and cornstarch. Turn on heat and let it simmer while stirring. It will get bubbly and thick. Turn off heat. When pasta is done, drain it and return to the pot. Add the veggies, tofu and sauce and toss together. Stir in chopped cilantro and sesame seeds.

Ok, bear with me...

I know I haven't posted a lot in the past weeks so I apologize in advance that the photo you are going to see in this post is of the poorest quality. I just had my house fumigated you see, and after moving back in tonight after work, I was desperate for a warm and quick meal. I rooted through all my double bagged pantry goods and came up with red lentils, spices, vermicelli noodles, an onion and garlic. This is what I made, which is my take on a middle eastern lentil and noodles soup. Try it, it's so comforting and delicious! I was in such a hurry to eat, I forgot to take a photo of my bowl, so you'll see a pic of the leftovers at the end of this post.

Lentils and Noodles

1/2 cup red lentils, rinsed
4 cups water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 tsp. cumin (I couldn't find my cumin so I used garam masala, which is an indian mixed spice blend of cumin, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Hey at least there's cumin in it!)
1 tsp yellow curry powder
1/3 cup vermicelli noodles, broken up
1/2 onion, chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste.

Place lentils, water and garlic in a pot and bring to a boil. Lower heat and let simmer until lentils get soft. In the meantime, saute the chopped onion in olive oil until nice and browned. Add the cooked onions, tomatoes, spices and noodles to the lentils and simmer on medium low until noodles are done. Stir as you go so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot. Season with salt and pepper. The soup will thicken up as it sits. You can eat this on it's own or on top of rice with a squeeze of lemon.


Picture of my leftovers that had been sitting for a while.

Szechuan Noodles with Tempeh

This comes together quickly if you have instant ramen noodles. Just cook them up, drain them and set aside. Meanwhile, steam broccoli and carrots and stir fry onions, cubed tempeh and spinach. Heat up sauce until bubbly, turn off heat and toss noodles and all veggies and tempeh together. Very yummy with extra sriracha chili sauce on top!
Recipe here.

Chinese-ish.

Was in the mood for salty and sweet Chinese food today and came home to make the following:


Vegan Dad's recipe for Pan Fried Tofu in Plum Sauce. Absolutely delicious.


Veggie chow mein based of this recipe from the MediterrAsian website. I substituted vegetarian mushroom "oyster" sauce for oyster sauce and added Thai dark sweet soy sauce.

Szechuan Style Noodles.

Yummy salty, spicy szechuan noodles for dinner tonight. This comes together in under 30 minutes. Here's the link to the recipe which I adapted:
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianchineserecipes/r/szechuannoodles.htm

Soeur Leila's Red Lentil Stew

This may not look like much but believe me when I say that is the most flavorful combination of comfort food ingredients: red lentils, noodles and crispy pita croutons. I've made this once before about a month ago and I was so impressed with it. Today was the perfect day for it as we just got a bit of rain outside. I got the recipe from a food memoir called "Memories of a Lost Egypt". You can find the recipe posted online here. Substitute water for the chicken broth and use a couple of quartered fresh tomatoes instead of canned. And do make the pita croutons. They are the perfect crispy accompaniment to the thick, luscious velvety stew. A squeeze of lemon prior to serving is nice as well.

Red Lentil Stew adapted from "Memories of a Lost Egypt"

2 cups red Lentils
4 cups water plus 2 TB extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, quartered
2 tomatoes, quartered
1 large carrot, cut into 1" pieces
2 small zucchini, cut into chunks
1 teaspoon cumin
1/3 pound vermicelli or angel hair, broken. I used fine cut vermicelli like this.
Salt And Pepper to taste
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
Croutons:
Olive oil
Pita bread cut into pieces

Method:
Combine lentils, water, 2 TB olive oil, onion, tomatoes, carrot, and zucchini in a soup pot. Bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until lentils are very soft. Puree entire mixture in a blender or food processor. Return to pot and add cumin, pasta, salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. In another pan, saute chopped onion in 2 TB. olive oil until well browned. Add to stew along with the parsley and simmer for 5 minutes.
To make the croutons, heat some olive oil in a pan and fry pita bread pieces until browned. Drain on paper towel.

Spicy Szechuan Style Noodles

I've made this recipe lots of times. It's quick and easy and gets dinner on the table in less than an hour. My friend gave me a packet of indonesian ramen that I used for this. Came out delicious! Recipe is here.

Silk Road Peanut Noodles

I have this beautiful cookbook called "Silk Road Cooking" and I've only made a few things from it. I always look through it and am inspired by all the exotic flavors but never get around to actually cooking from it. I decided to open it up today. This recipe is not too far from home for me because it is very Thai in style. It's the "Vietnamese Peanut Sauce" recipe which for me feels more Thai because of the thai chilies, coconut milk, peanut butter, lime juice and curry in it. I tossed ramen noodles and freshly cut vegetables with the sauce and garnished with Thai basil.

Thai Green Curry with Somen Noodles

This mouthwatering bowl of green curry on somen noodles was my dinner last night. Rich and creamy, fiery with a hint of sweetness. I love making this. My basic recipe is here. I switch up the veggies depending on what i have. Last night I used firm tofu, butternut squash, red and yellow peppers and cremini mushrooms. I also added kaffir lime leaves to replace the lime juice. This was delicious on somen noodles, aka "kanom jean" in Thai.

Pad See Ew Dinner and Sunshine Blog Awards!

This was dinner tonight. Pad See Ew recipe from Buddha's Table cookbook. Yummy yummy!



I'd like to thank Vic from The Life blog for presenting me with this Sunshine Blog Award! Thanks man! I love visiting Vic's blog. He's an amazing cook with a knack for creating beautiful meals out of whatever he has in his kitchen. He is very creative with food and the majority of the recipes he uses are his very own! Thanks again Vic!

The Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspires others in the blog world. I'd like to give recognition to the following blogs that I visit often:

My Marrakesh
I turn to Maryam's blog when I want to dream. She and her family live in Morocco and have been building a beautiful guest house called Peacock Pavilions! It will open very soon. Her blog is filled with beautiful photos and stories of her Moroccan adventures as well as design, art, style and food ideas. I am enthralled each and every time I visit her blog. I will visit her guest house one of these days!

Glue & Glitter
Becky's blog is filled with crafty goodness, tips on sustainable living as well as quick and easy vegan recipes. A long time ago she had a food blog called Apron Strings that I had the honor to guest blog on every now and then. That inspired me to create my own blog soon after. Thanks Becky!

Vegan Dad
I'd like to ask the vegan food blog community, who doesn't love Vegan Dad? He's a cook and baker extraordinaire! With a busy work life and a family at home, I wonder how he does it? I've been very inspired by his cooking and always look forward to his posts.

eat'n veg'n
I believe I've been following Diann's blog for as long as I've been vegan, so that'll be about 3 years. I am inspired by her healthy way of cooking that is always full of color and fresh ingredients.

Fat Free Vegan
I've been following Susan V's blog for about 3 years as well. Her blog is one of the first I came across when looking up vegan recipes. Her recipes are outstanding and presentation/photography impeccable.

Easy Veggie
Oraphan's blog is wonderful! Her enthusiasm for food and fresh veggies is contagious. I always look forward to her posts. I'm lucky that she is my cousin so we also get to talk food and go out and have veggie lunches together.

Heathen Vegan
I love Miss Jeni's blog. It is full of fun and exciting food and yummy baked goods. One day I will try her mince pies recipe!

Tea Amigos
These guys Dax and Mike are serious when it comes to tea and they seem to know all about it. I love getting updates about the latest teas that they've discovered. Being a big tea drinker myself, I can relate to getting really excited about tea.

Mosetta Stone
Mo's blog is awesome. She's funny and knows how to cure serious cravings with the food she makes. She's a great cook and I get great ideas from her blog.

Ste Martaen
As well as a blog that showcases their love of vegan food, this lovely family also have their very own handmade vegan cheese business. I have yet to try their cheeses, they look amazing. The recipes on the blog are seriously mouthwatering. I must make "wish tacos" one of these days because I keep going back to look at that particular entry!

1,000 Vegan Recipes
I wish every cookbook had a blog that was dedicated to it. This one is run by a group of bloggers who are cooking from 1,000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson. I too have this book and always wonder how recipes will turn out so I like to peruse this blog to find out.

My Veggie Kitchen
Matt's got a great blog here. The food always looks terrific and I am always getting ideas here. His latest efforts of cooking with bulgur is very exciting to me. This is my kind of cooking!

For those of you that I named, the rules for accepting this award are:
1. Copy & paste these rules on your blog so your award winners could follow.
2. Put the logo flower on your blog or within your post.
3. Pass the award onto twelve bloggers of your choice.
4. Link the nominees within your post.
5. Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting about it on their blog.
6. On your blog post share the love and blog link of the person from whom you received this award.