Tofu Chimichangas & Homemade Salsa

I have been wanting to make these forever and finally decided today was the day! This recipe is from The Garden of Vegan by Sarah Kramer & Tanya Barnard. The filling is a mixture of marinated tofu and refried beans. After baking the chimichangas I topped them with a little canned enchilada sauce and some homemade salsa. I served some chopped romaine lettuce and lime wedges on the side. Mmm! Mmm!Good! Now I just need some tequila!!

Dick's Salsa
2 cans 14.5 oz diced tomatoes, slightly drained
1 can 4 oz. green chilis
4-6 chopped green onions (to taste)
1/4-1/2 C. chopped cilantro (I like alot of cilantro!)
1/4 tsp. onion powder (or to taste)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder (or to taste)
salt & pepper (to taste)
couple Tbsp. of white vinegar
couple Tbsp. of vegetable oil
    Combine all ingredients and serve chilled.

As you can see, this salsa can be made to your taste! I worked with Dick about 20 years ago and our company would have customer and employee dinners. Dick would make a roaster full of this salsa! The only change I made was to use fresh cilantro instead of dried. Dick is no longer with us; so thank you Dick, wherever you are!!

Pot Pie & Dancing

I was right in the middle of making this 'Curried Vegetable Pie with Chickpea Crust' from The Garden of Vegan when I got a text from my friend asking me "Where are you?". My brother has a classic rock band and they were playing for a benefit and I was missing the party! So I finished making my pot pie, ate a piece, squeezed into my 'nice' jeans and boots and went dancing. So, I got my cardio in for the day!

Of course it's always the girls who like to have a good time and dance while the guys sit around!! We ended the night with 'Mustang Sally'-"ride, Sally, ride". I'm on the far right workin' it!

This was an excellent pot pie. It had a chickpea pie crust that was really good and chickpeas in the filling. It reminded me of the frozen chicken pot pies I used to eat. I don't know what I was thinking because we're supposed to make another pot pie today for the La Dolce Vegan! Challenge. I'll do a taste comparison.

Home-Style Green Pea Soup

A quick and easy soup from The Garden of Vegan to go with my Pesto Pin-Wheel Rolls:

I've been trying to use up odds and ends of beans, grains and legumes I have in my pantry. I had just enough dried green split peas to make this soup. It was creamy, comforting and delicious.

Lots of Greens!

I'm trying to get more greens in my diet so I'm trying some different ones. I found a recipe on food.com for "easy vegetarian collard greens". I have nothing to compare the flavor to since I've never eaten collard greens but this recipe was really good. Next time I might add a couple drops of liquid smoke. For supper tonight I made "Simply Lovely Quinoa" from The Garden of Vegan, collard greens and a romaine and baby spinach salad with the French dressing I made yesterday. The collard greens were a great combination with the quinoa dish.

I've been filling in days with recipes from The Garden of Vegan for the La Dolce Vegan! Challenge. Now I remember why I like Sarah's last cookbook the best-small serving sizes. The recipe for Simply Lovely Quinoa made 4-6 servings. My husband and I get tired of leftovers. I guess I could try freezing it and see what happens.

Easy Vegetarian Collard Greens
1 lb collard greens
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 C vegetable stock
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp smoked sweet paprika
1/4 C apple cider vinegar
          Wash greens well. Cut off stems right where leaf starts. Stack about 5-8 leaves on top of each other, then roll lengthwise. Cut rolled up leaves into 1" slices widthwise. Repeat until all the greens are done; add to a large pot. Add all other ingredients. Cover and bring to boil over high heat, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes or until greens are extremely tender. Serve hot, using slotted spoon to drain the liquid from the greens.

Does anyone have any "easy greens" recipes they like?

Cold Coconut Curried Noodle Salad~pg. 80

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I love rice noodles; such a nice change from regular wheat noodles. I must have not made enough noodles because I had way too much sauce so I just used half of my sauce. Oh well, I guess I'll have to cook some more rice noodles! The recipe calls for a can of coconut milk. I buy the lite coconut milk. It has 60% less fat and calories than the regular coconut milk but it still tastes good.

I must be craving some greens because I also made Green Bean & Fennel Toss from "The Garden of Vegan"-pg. 115 and my favorite kale salad. I'll post the kale salad recipe separately. The Green Bean & Fennel Toss has fresh ginger sautee'd in dark sesame oil then stir-fried with snow peas, green beans, fennel and bok choy. Then it is cooked for another minute with Braggs, white wine vinegar and gomashio seasoning. It's green and delicious!

My dinner for tonight~I cleaned my plate!

Tempeh Toss

From "The Garden of Vegan"-pg. 145:

As you can see, I didn't use tempeh. I have tried tempeh before and I love the taste and texture but wouldn't ya know, I would be allergic to it. I'm sensitive to foods that have been fermented like tempeh. I used firm tofu but it still crumbled up a little. I served this over brown rice and doctored mine up with some sriracha hot chili sauce and Braggs. The recipe called for 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes but that wasn't hot enough for me! Next time I might try using Gardein Homestyle Beefless Tips.

Marc's Magnificent Noodles

The Garden of Vegan~pg. 155:

 I didn't really feel like cooking supper but I made this and it was so easy-only 6 ingredients and it was quick to make and soooo good. It had soba noodles (which I love), garlic, miso, flax oil, baby spinach and green onion. The recipe called for 3 garlic cloves which are used raw in the sauce. Whew! I think we'll be keeping  some vampires away a few days! Next time I might saute' the garlic or decrease the amount. But it was still delicious. My husband asked if it had butter in it; nooo, that is the flax oil and miso!

Country Turnip Carrot Soup

From The Garden of Vegan ~pg. 81:

The picture doesn't do this soup justice. It is delicious; especially now that the weather is finally cooling off. It is chock full of turnips, carrots, potatoes and leeks. I served it with "Wolffie's 'Buttermilk' Cornbread" from La Dolce Vegan (my favorite-ever-cornbread). I'm not printing these recipes because you need to buy the cookbook! All of Sarah Kramer's cookbooks are excellent. I use them the most out of all my approx. 50 vegan cookbooks! Alot of the cookbooks use too many ingredients, unfamiliar or hard to find ingredients, are too time consuming or make too many servings so I usually go back to Sarah Kramer's cookbooks! On the days we just make a dessert I'm going to fill in with some of her recipes from her other cookbooks; it takes alot of guesswork out of what to make for supper!

Cumin Fried Potatoes~pg. 192

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I love cumin so these potatoes with cumin seed were really good. I wanted something else to go with them so I found a recipe out of The Garden of Vegan, Sarah Kramer & Tanya Barnard's previous cookbook.

Chickpeas & Swiss Chard

(The Garden of Vegan~pg. 117)

I had never tried swiss chard before but I saw some good looking organic rainbow swiss chard at the grocery store so I brought it home. Sorry kale, swiss chard is my new favorite greens! I served it on top of the Cumin Fried Potatoes with a dash of liquid Braggs.