Feelin' Like Summer

Hello everyone, let me start by apologizing for my long, long absence. I really don't have an excuse, other than I haven't felt much like cooking anything that hasn't already been blogged about. Plus, I'm swamped with reading from a yoga course right now, so I really don't have time to do much else beyond work and read (OK, I guess that was an excuse wasn't it?).

We are leaving today for Disney World (I'm still doing laundry, so of course in true procrastinator fashion, NOTHING is ready to go........so what's a good procrastinator to do, sit down at the computer and waste half of the morning surfing the internet and blogging, of course!!). Anyway, the point of telling you we are leaving on vacation today was to warn you that my return to the blogosphere will be short lived.

Unfortunately, for my short lived return I don't even have a recipe for you, only the lovely photo above of what may now be my new favorite meal, and something that is sure to be made over and over again this summer......Mexican Sunflower Salad. This dish is fantastic, it's nothing but chopped up sunflower seeds, tomato, onion, cilantro and some spices, olive oil and lemon juice as a dressing, and it's out of this world. My favorite way to eat it so far is wrapped up in a nice big lettuce leaf with some alfalfa sprouts. I'm waiting for permission to reprint the recipe here, so check back often because when I do this will quickly become your new summertime favorite too!!

I'll be back in a few weeks with my "Vegan Disney" report.....here's hopin' I'll get to eat more than undressed salad over the next 8 days!!!

Tortilla Soup

Before we became veg, Mairin always wanted to get the tortilla soup from Whole Foods when we went there. She doesn't get it any longer because they put chicken in it. So, tonight I tried making a vegan version of tortilla soup. The results were spectacular. Rob is not much of a fan of soup or beans, and he really liked this soup.

I served the soup topped with a dollop of Tofutti Better than Sour Cream, diced avocado, chopped cilantro, and crispy tortilla strips. I used my pasta cutter to cut the tortillas into strips, then I baked them until they were crispy. I tasted this soup just after it was finished, but I didn't serve it until 3 hours later. It was good as soon as it was finished, but it was even better after it had set for awhile. I suggest making this soup in advance.

Tortilla Soup

2 Tbs olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 large green pepper, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

9 cups vegetable stock

1/2 bag frozen corn

4 cups cooked black beans

1 jar medium heat salsa

2 tsp Mexican seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

6 corn tortillas, cut into strips, and baked until crispy

1 avocado, diced

finely chopped cilantro

Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and green pepper and saute until softened. Add garlic and saute 1 minute more. Add veg stock, corn, beans, salsa and Mexican seasoning. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat and simmer for one hour. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, or let set several hours to combine flavors. Top with avocado, cilantro, and tortilla strips before serving.

Middle East meets Mexico

Tonight's dinner was kind of an evolutionary process. I was first going to make Tortilla Soup, but realized I was out of veggie stock. So, that wasn't an option. I put a pot of stock on, and we'll have the soup tomorrow. I had planned on a night of a few different hummus flavors and some different things for dipping. So that was the route I thought I'd go tonight. But the more I thought about it, the less I wanted that. I started looking around to see what I needed to use up and came away with some cilantro, some limes, some green onions and a cucumber. Cilantro, limes, and onion meant something with a sort of Mexican vibe. So, what I finally came up with was the Chipotle Lime Two Bean Hummus, and a sort of Mexican style Tabbouleh (replacing the lemon with lime and the parsley with cilantro). This dinner worked really well, and tasted very good. It was so refreshing, and will definitely become a go-to on those hot summer nights that I don't want to turn the stove on. Not to mention this meal came together in about 15 minutes, and you can't beat that!!

Mexican Style Tabbouleh

1/2 cup bulgur wheat

1 cup water

1/2 vegetable bouillon cube

1 medium cucumber, finely chopped

4 green onions, finely diced

1 large tomato, finely diced

1 1/2 cups finely chopped cilantro

juice from 1 1/2 large limes

salt and pepper to taste

Place bulgur in small sauce pan with water and bouillon cube. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. In the meantime, dice veggies and mix together in a large bowl. Add cooked bulgur, add lime juice, salt and pepper. Mix well. Refrigerate until ready to use. This can be eaten right away, warm, but is nicer when the flavors have had time to combine

I also wanted to post a picture of our lunch today.........sort of a "Mexican" salad type day I guess. For lunch I made a bean salad. I just mixed some pinto beans with diced tomato, avocado, green onions, cilantro, and thawed corn kernels. I drizzled it with olive oil and the juice of half a lime, then salt and pepper to taste. Again, this was very good and very refreshing.

A day of Good Eats

We started our Sunday with the Banana Split Bread that I posted about this morning. Our day of good eating continued at lunch time with these Mushroom-Spinach Phyllo Triangles from Vegan Planet. These were like a mini version of Spanikopita. The filling is made with spinach, silken tofu, sauteed onions and mushrooms, and just a pinch of nutmeg. They are a great lunch, but would be awesome to take along to a pitch in, or as an appetizer for a dinner party. They are just a little time consuming though, working with the delicate phyllo and all.

We spent our afternoon at a birthday party, where there just happened to be vegan cupcakes available!! Upon our return home I started on our dinner, which was the Avocado and Pinto Bean Enchiladas from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan. These were so quick to put together, and mighty tasty as well. Mairin claimed she didn't like them, but she did manage to eat half of hers!! We had them with some blue corn chips and home made guacamole.

And to finish off our day of good vegan eating we had this Chocolate Chip Cookie Pudding Cake by Vegan Dad. If you like chocolate you have to make this cake.........it is to.die.for!!! I didn't let mine cool quite long enough, so the "pudding" was a bit runny, but believe me, it doesn't matter, this stuff is seriously good.

I love vegan desserts. I've never been much of a dessert person until I became vegan, now I can't get enough dessert. Vegan desserts are sooo good. And, while this one in particular is a little heavy on the sugar, I like to remember what Rob says about vegan desserts........"they are healthier than most people's dinner!!".