Lentils and Rice Two Ways

This first version of Lentils and Rice is a dish we've had before and liked very much, Savory French Lentils (from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan). On this particular night the lentils were served with a brown and wild rice combo, steamed kale, and roasted butternut squash. Hearty, delicious, and satisfying on a cold winter night. These are the kind of meals that I love the most.

The second version is Curried Lentils from Vegan Planet. The curry was served over brown basmati rice with a spinach salad drizzled with Miso Ginger Dressing. Again, another delicious, warming wintertime meal.

The dressing is made by combining about 1 tsp grated fresh ginger, 1 tsp of mellow white miso, about 1 Tbs sushi vinegar, and a little less than 1/4 cup mild oil.

Something Old, Some Things New

My friend Shannon requested that I start posting some repeats so that she can be refreshed about some of my older dishes. So, the first of my repeat posts are these Tomato Basil Lasagna Spirals from Vegan Planet. I can't believe it took me until now to repeat this dish. They really are delicious!! This time I made my own pesto subbing sunflower seeds for the pine nuts, and of course omitting the pamesan. These are so good that even the omnivores wouldn't miss the meat from their lasagna. I've decided that these are the next dish I'm making for any pot lucks that may come up.........or maybe I'll just have a dinner party of my own!!!

Also, in the repeat department, we had Lentil Tacos. These appear pretty frequently on our menu, at least once a month, sometimes twice a month. The girls really, really love these tacos (Rob and I do too). They are perfect for a weeknight when I have to teach. I just prepare the lentils ahead of time and when I get home all I have to do is heat the shells, whip up some guacamole, reheat the lentils and voilà, dinner is served.

Now on to something new. The mess of a dish pictured above is the Old Fashioned Pot Pie with Biscuit Crust from Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. Absolutely delicious. The steam from the crockpot cooks the drop biscuits so moist and tender. This is comfort food at it's best.

I was short on garbanzo beans so I used half garbanzos and half black eyed peas. Plus, I didn't have any frozen peas so I subbed corn instead. This was so good I was craving it when I woke up the next day, so I finished off the leftovers for breakfast!!!

And the last new dish of this post......Channa Masala. This recipe came from The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook, but there are plenty of recipes to be found all over the internet. Again, incredibly simple and absolutely delicious. I made it quite mild so the girls would eat it, and eat it they did. Mairin finished hers and asked for a second helping, and Stella made good work of hers as well. Along with the chickpeas I served the ever popular naan bread from Manjula's Kitchen. Everyone here loves this naan so much I have to double the recipe!! This time I subbed coconut milk yogurt instead of soy yogurt and the results were fantastic. I think the consistency of coconut milk yogurt is more comparable to dairy yogurt.

And finally, is it just me, or are the rest of you finding it very difficult to be inspired in the dead of winter? There's nothing local at the grocery store, there's no CSA bounty, nothing growing in the garden. All of that equals uninspired resorting to cookbooks for me. I feel like I haven't created my own dish in months. I have my CSA application hanging on the refrigerator waiting for me, but May is sooooo far off. I guess the cookbooks will be getting some good use for the next few months!!

Golden Tempeh Curry

Tonight I tried the Golden Tempeh Curry from the March issue of Vegetarian Times. This was the first time I've cooked with or eaten tempeh, and it may be the last. I much prefer tofu to tempeh. I just didn't like the mouth feel of the tempeh, it was too.....I don't know.....too much like meat maybe?? I did buy another pack of tempeh to make sushi with this weekend, so I guess I'll at least give it one more go.

Anyway, the curry recipe was just ok. I think it's a really good start, but it definately needs some tweaking. For starters, next time I will replace the tempeh with some fried tofu. Also, this curry was a bit lacking in the heat department (but admittedly, we like our curries HOT), so I will definitely be adding some more heat next time. This recipe calls for pineapple juice, coconut milk, the tempeh of course, some stir-fried onions and yellow pepper, and some diced mango. The mango and pineapple juice were a wonderful, sweet addition. The recipe also calls for a garnish of chives. I didn't really dig the chives on a curry, next time I will garnish with either cilantro or basil.

Busy Weekend = Little Cooking

We had a busy weekend, so there wasn't a lot of cooking going on. Friday night we took the kids to the Zoo for the World's Largest Halloween Party. They had a great time. Mairin took her friend with her, so we took the kids out to dinner before we went. We went to our favorite quick and kid friendly Mexican fast-food, Q-doba. They have a few vegetarian choices, the vegetarian nachos seem to be my favorite at the moment (although they are loaded with fat.......I guess we all deserve a little fat now and again don't we??).

Saturday was/is errand day for us. So, our day started at the Farmers Market. Next week the market goes on hiatus for the winter, and it's slim pickin's there this time of year. I got some peppers that I needed for the chili we'll be having later in the week. I bought up all of the lima beans that they had left so I could freeze them. We got a few zucchini, a few potatoes, and some green beans. I wanted to get some eggs, but I didn't need them and we had a long day of errands left to do, and with temperatures in the mid-80s it didn't seem like a good idea to let eggs sit in my car all day. Next week we'll hit the market with the intention of buying everything we can that will freeze well and use it over the next few months.

Next we hit the bookstore to use some gift cards our girls got for their birthdays. And, while we were there, I picked up my copy of Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan. So, expect to see a few meals by Dreena in the days and weeks to come!

Rob has taken up biking, so after the farmer's market, we headed to the mall to pick up some gear that Rob needed for his big bike ride on Sunday. By that time it was lunch, so we decided to eat at California Pizza Kitchen. They too have a few vegetarian choices, so it wasn't difficult finding something to eat. I had the Mediterranean salad, which was delicious. Of course, I did get the standard "are you sure you don't want chicken on that?". Am I the only one that gets that "you must be crazy" stare when you order a meal without meat??

Finally, we made it to Whole Foods Market to finish our shopping. I really need to start doing my shopping at Rainbow Blossom and support local business, but Mairin would be devastated. Whole Foods is one of her favorite places to go, when asked if she wants to go out to eat, and where, the answer is always "Whole Foods".

Well, by the time we finish all of this it's evening already, and I don't feel much like cooking. So, we had our old stand-by, spaghetti with sauce from a jar. I could make this everyday and my whole family would be happy. My kids and my husband eat spaghetti like it's going out of style. While it's a really boring meal, and completely uninspired, I love that all I have to do is boil some water and open a jar and I have a meal that puts a smile on everyone's face.



Sunday, my mom and I went outlet shopping.....my kids were in desperate need of some fall/winter clothes. I knew that after a day of driving and shopping that I wouldn't feel like cooking when I cam home. However, we'd had more than enough junk, what with all the eating out we did this weekend. I really wanted to make my family a home-cooked meal. Enter, the slow cooker. We had No Hurry Vegetable Curry, from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. I pretty much followed the recipe exactly, however, I didn't have any ground coriander, so I skipped adding the 1/4 tsp of that. I also added 1 cup of coconut milk, instead of the 1/2 cup that the recipe calls for. When I got home I could smell the curry from the garage. It smelled like a wonderful Indian restaurant. I cooked up some basmati rice, while Mairin put on a fashion show with all of her new clothes.

We ate the curry over rice, with a little mango chutney on the side to mix in. I'll have to say, it wasn't the best curry I've ever eaten. But it wasn't the worst either, and the fact that the slow cooker did most of the work makes it a sure bet that I'll be making it again, although I'll do some adjusting to the recipe next time. The addition of the sweet, hot chutney really made the difference, and I think I'll just add it directly to the curry as it cooks.