Life? Eh. School? Yuck. Housing? Oh boy. Relationships? Don’t go there. But I can say at least that last year, food was good. Actually, all those other things were good in their own ways. And for that I am blessed. Now to share the blessing with recipe links to my favorites, all the lovely treats I failed to share. Great timing, huh? It’s March, for heaven’s sake…
A pizza with pesto, nut “cheese”, asparagus, and green olives in the shape of a three-leaf clover for St. Patrick’s Day. Drinking a lot of beer just isn’t enough to celebrate; I do that all the time.
Layered individual lemon cheesecakes with blueberry cake and syrup, plus a dab of coconut cream. They were quite all right, with some sparkling wine, for my sweetie’s 21st birthday.
A cold salad of vegetables and kelp noodles. I decided I don’t like kelp noodles. They are expensive and have a cartilaginous bite I find not at all appealing.
Chickpea tagine from Vegetarian Times and Egyptian Cauliflower Salad from The Royal Kitchen. Of course, substituting agave nectar and soy yogurt makes the tagine vegan.
Corn, Anaheim Chile, and Eggplant Pizza with Cilantro Pesto from The Millennium Cookbook. I think you need to double the water in that book’s pizza dough recipe.
Sunny Raw Nori Rolls from Vegetarian Times. I love this idea! It’s like what you need if you can’t decide between sushi and a salad.
I made regular sushi rice rolls too: Maki Garden Rolls from Vegetarian Times, stuffed with seasoned green beans, carrots and shiitakes.
Some of the most delectable sandwiches I’ve ever munched, made with some rather flat homemade bread (I fell in love with this bread recipe with semolina for sandwiches). Deborah Madison’s Pan Bagnat with Saffron-Basil Vinaigrette from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone tosses chopped vegetables, olives, and pine nuts in a saffron vinaigrette and puts it into a sandwich with mozzarella. I used a vegan cheesy spread on that and the Mediterranean Pressed Picnic Sandwich from Vegetarian Times.
I made VeganDad’s Perfect Tempeh Burgers and served them on ill-fitting-but-tasty homemade buns and bread-and-butter pickles. Could you use some more friends? Make people those pickles.
Seitan “wings”, or pieces of shallow-fried wheat gluten meat. I like saying “wings.”
I made this pomegranate-chile sauce from Bon Appétit with homemade seitan instead of duck breasts. It was awe-inspiring and got me all fired up about coriander for the first time in my life.
I made this green tea milk bread using the “tangzhong” method described here on Kirbie’s Cravings. It produced a pillowy fluff of goodness.
I want to improve upon my vegan version of Rasa Malaysia’s Hokkaido Milk Loaf.
Robin Robertson’s Fresh Strawberry Pie from VegNews. I forget sometimes how simple things can be surprisingly good (with a dab of coconut cream, mmm?).
The Daily Raw Café has a raw apple pie recipe. I’m sure you could make it into something prettier than my funny little tarts. And serve it with raw vanilla ice cream.
I go head-over-heels for Café Gratitude’s raw key lime pie. Actually, I think other people literally would too, if I asked it of them. It would be a small feat to earn some of this marvelous rich dessert. I almost can’t believe they don’t guard the recipe under lock and key. In fact, they provide it in their Sweet Gratitude cookbook.
Café Gratitude’s lemon cheesecake is pretty ridiculously tasty, too. It’s desserts like this that remind me why insouciant descriptors like “divine” and “orgasmic” are sometimes used for food.
I made pumpkin seed brittle from Gourmet magazine and got more people to fall in love with me.
I made Apple Pie, Patis, & Pâté’s Radish Herb Butter with Earth Balance margarine.
Strawberry & Balsamic Basil Soda, from Surfas Los Angeles. A complex, adult-y drink yet still sweet and summery. Alchohol-free too, but still great.
Okay, I admit it, I just wanted to share the pretty food photos I liked.
And now that I’m getting this blog rolling again, there are many much more wonderful things in the works. Oh yes.
Plaisir 