Eda-Mamma Mia!

My mother introduced to edamame a few years back as an appetizer at a sushi restaurant. I have been hooked on these soybeans ever since. I have had it as a snack (in pods with salt) and in soups and stews (shelled). Tonight, I had it processed in pesto. All I can do is express much gratitude to Isa for concocting this amazing dish. I will never use another pesto recipe again!

The meal I made was Spinach Linguine with Edamame Pesto (pg 174-175). This dinner was simple to make, as I could prepare the pesto and do all the chopping while waiting for the pot of water to boil for the linguine. However, I ran into a couple of issues. 1)I didn't have enough fresh basil, so I had to use some dried. I also used some cilantro I had left over per ICM's recommendation. I was highly impressed with how this turned out. 2) I couldn't find any spinach linguine in this city, so I guess that means technically I made Whole Wheat Linguine with Edamame Pesto. Does anyone know where I could purchase spinach linguine? I would love to try it.

Aside from taste, the best thing about this recipe was the serving size. I have made it a priority with all of the recipes in this book to stick to sampling only one serving per meal. This has been a real challenge for me, as all the meals are delish. However, this meal is scrumptious AND filling. I was completely satisfied having one serving, which looked like this:

Steven and I both sprinkled nutritional yeast on top of this yummy dish. Our child-- I mean cat, Shinji, begged for a taste, but we hogged it all.

Happy cooking.

Appe-thai-sing

We have been eating tons of salads of late. In fact, I have been craving every leafy green imaginable for the last month. I wonder if that means my body is lacking a key nutrient... Anyway, last night I chose Pad Thai Salad (pg 33) with Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing (34). Poor Steven was disappointed when the dish presented to him had "Pad Thai" in the title but zero noodles. I, however, didn't mind the lack of noodles because the dressing was outstanding. I had my trepidations considering the amount of lime juice and Sriracha, but my stomach handled it ok after some Tums. There was enough leftover to take in my lunch. Is it bad that I drank the last bit of dressing left in my bowl?

Falafel Crunch & Au revoir Vegenaise

The first time I had falafel was on a pita at Pita Pit complete with hummus and loaded with veggies. I was highly impressed. Little did I know that I would be making these Egyptian wonders in my own kitchen years later.

I love Isa's recipe (pg 121) because 1) she encouraged making them flat rather than in balls for a more consistent bake and 2) she made me feel accepted for my love of doubling up on chickpeas. (Both hummus and falafel are made of chickpeas/garbanzo beans.)

Last night, I chose to ditch the pita and have my falafel over salad with a side of jalapeno-cilantro hummus (pg 137 & 139). Holy Hannah, if you haven't experimented with jalapenos in hummus, you are missing out. It seemed vaguely like jalapeno poppers, but you have to remember that it has been 6+ years since having them. I doubled the batch of falafel & there was left over hummus, so Steven and I took them in our lunches as wraps. This evening Steven declared it to be "the perfect lunch." I foresee many more evenings of falafel making in my future.

While I was on a "lunch" kick, I figured I would try the Cashew Miso Mayo (pg 270). Steven has been looking for a lower calorie alternative to Vegenaise. Will he really be able to give up Vegenaise? After sampling some on a Tofurkey sandwich (which, yes, he put hot sauce on), he decided that although it isn't comparable to Vegenaise, he can definitely use it as a sandwich spread. That's terrific considering it has 1/3 the amount of calories as Vegenaise!

All in all, last night was a fun cooking/sampling experience.

Thyme for Stew

Yesterday morning, I woke up to dense fog, icy roads, and frigid (to me) temperatures. Immediately I desired something warm & comforting, making Isa's Veggie Potpie Stew (pg 251) and Sweet Potato Drop Biscuits (pg 253) the perfect dinner choice. Of course by dinner time, bright sun rays were shining into my living room, but I still yearned for this meal.

My featured ingredient this time is thyme. I'm not talking dried, I'm talking about fresh thyme. Usually I prefer the convenience of simply reaching above my stove for McCormick Thyme leaves, sprinkling it on top of my soup, and being done. However, my nose enjoyed preparing these sprigs, and my mouth salivated as this fresh herb released its flavors in the final 10-minutes of cooking time. I am only more convinced that I need to have an herb garden like my mother's.

Now let me tell you about the biscuits. If you know me, you know I have a thing (read: obsession) for biscuits & rolls. Since becoming an adult, I have been pretty good at refraining, considering it's easier to put on weight these days. (Becoming a vegan has made it lots easier to abstain because I have a built-in excuse when I am not at home.) Finally, Isa has shown me a guilt-free way to have my luxury. These babies were a little crispy on the outside, but so smooth and sweet on the inside, a perfect texture for us biscuit connoisseurs.

Both of these meals were easy to make. The ingredients could be found at any of your grocery stores. (Although, I couldn't find yellow split peas, so I used green.) If you do make this meal, be prepared for a good amount of prepping. In fact, this meal took me longer than Isa's estimated time, but I also didn't have pre-baked sweet potatoes to use. The taste was fabulous, but I did add a little more salt to my stew. (Steven added his Tabasco Soy Sauce... Shock!) What impressed me most was how much the stew actually looked like the inside of a vegetable pot pie. Check this out:


So far I am 3 for 3 with being impressed with the recipes in this book. As an aside, I have lost about 3 pounds since starting this project. I think this is partially due to my insomnia subsiding, but I also think there is something to be said for following serving sizes in cookbooks. Portion control... easier said than done when you are cooking amazing meals.

Temptingly Tempeh

This week I made Tempeh Helper with Easy Breezy Cheezy Sauce (pg 171-173). Taste-wise, I give it 5 stars, as it was very flavorful. Because there was absolutely no cutting involved and I had most of the ingredients on hand, I would give it an "easy-squeezy"-preparation rating. As with the previous recipe, my only complaint was that it left me begging for more.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Tempeh, let me give you the basics. Tempeh is a traditional Indonesian soy product. It's basically like soybeans caked together to form a patty. It reminds me of a veggie patty. (Except veggie patties usually have egg holding the veggies together, but that's a complaint of mine for another time.) Once it reaches your palate, the beans sort of separate leaving the rest to melt in your mouth. For vegans it's a tasty source of protein when we want a change from tofu. I would like to see places like Subway carry Tempeh as a vegan option. For further information, you can Google it. The package I got at Fred Meyer looked like this:


I was surprised by how much this recipe really reminded me of Hamburger Helper. Yes, I hate to admit it, but I used to consume HH. It was when we were first married.... and poor.... and unaware of the degree to which we were harming animals... and.... Anyway... You couldn't trick a non-vegan into believing it was Hamburger Helper, but it definitely triggered a memory in my mind. I remembered how much I missed that quick, easy, packaged meal. Then I got to thinking, Tempeh Helper took about the same amount of time, if not less (about 30 minutes). There was no thawing out hamburger or waiting for it to brown all the way. (Tempeh fries up very quickly - 5 minutes tops.) And what a healthier/more humane alternative it is!

The cheese sauce proved to be even quicker. It made enough that I could have a little on top of some veggies as a side-dish, which was a lower-calorie alternative to having another serving of the Helper.

In the end, one serving of Helper with one serving of the cheese sauce looked like this:


As a side note, Steven didn't put a condiment on this dinner. Maybe the cheese took away that desire?

Kale-icious

I tried my first recipe out of the book last night: Curried Chickpeas & Greens (pg 228).



I would give this recipe 5 stars with my personal challenge level of 3 stars, only because of a few ingredients were used that I don’t usually cook with. This brings me to my first point: kale. I hadn’t ever cooked with kale before, but Isa had a convicting blurb about Kale’s health benefits. Did you know that kale can be an excellent omega-3 source for vegans? It reminded me of cooking with spinach leaves, as it really shrinks down after a little time. The next time you are at the grocery store, you should purchase this green leafy vegetable next to the lettuce. I actually had to hit two stores (Winco & Fred Meyer) just to get enough for the recipe, but usually it is readily available.

The other ingredient that gave me a hard time was the garam masala. I was familiar with this Indian spice but had yet to find it in my town. Previously when fixing Indian dishes, I would just add some dried versions of the spices that are in garam masala, like: cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. However, part of the purpose of this project was to challenge myself, so I was determined to find the garam masala. Winco was my first stop. After checking in with the other spices, the Asian aisle, and the bulk area, I gave up. Later, at Fred Meyer I checked the same areas as well as the health food section and was about to give up when I turned a corner and found all the speciality spices right there in the health food section. Here’s a fun fact for you: garam masala costs $22 a pound at Fred Meyer. That’s right, $22! I will tell you, it is absolutely worth it. I still keep pulling it out of my kitchen and smelling it. The strong aroma is like honest to goodness REAL Indian food! Do note that I didn’t buy a whole pound of it. I am a teacher after all, but I did buy several tablespoons. After typing this, I have just realized how hard it is to describe a scent. If you haven’t had Indian food before, you need to Google some restaurants in your area because you are seriously missing out on what I call “the most orgasmic food ever!” Chocolate is overrated; garam masala is the real aphrodisiac.

Aside from the slight difficulties purchasing some of the ingredients, this recipe was relatively easy - chopping, throwing in the pot, and stirring. I ended up with this:



I had my friend Catherine over to help my husband and I enjoy my first dish. We agreed that it proved to be a little spicy, but not too spicy. Of course Steven can’t go a single meal without putting a condiment on, so he put Tabasco soy sauce on his. Why? I don’t know. That’s just something he always does. Classy, right?

The only complaint I have for this recipe is that it was gone too fast. Next time I will double the recipe.

Ashley & Isa

I’m sure all of you have seen or read Julie & Julia. Well, I am attempting a similar project. Here is the difference: In a period of one year Julie Powell successfully prepared all 524 recipes from a Julia Child’s book, whereas I will be attempting the 155(ish) recipes from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Appetite for Reduction. I know, I know, I am not nearly as ambitious as Ms. Powell by numbers’ sake, but it will be challenging nonetheless.

Why Isa? You ask. You see, as much as Julie ridiculed veganism, Isa and I are both vegans. This is something I committed to 5 years ago today. I had a few oopsy-daisy moments that first year, but I have managed (to the best of my knowledge) to refrain from animal byproducts ever since. When people hear that I am vegan, they assume based on my smallish body frame that I do it for health purposes. That’s why she’s so thin! I have heard it a million times! On the contrary, I practice veganism because I am a fairly compassionate person. The love I feel towards dogs & cats has just extended to include all animals. For more information, you can check out the videos on http://www.meat.org/.

But why now? Unlike JP, I am not at a rut in my life. I have a fabulous job teaching 4^th grade with kind colleagues who value me as a person. I have a caring husband who is my best friend. I simply wanted a year-long project that would integrate activities I enjoy – writing & cooking. Honestly, I think being a writer would be the ideal career. The hubby & I have dreamed of being successful writers, living on the Oregon Coast for part of the year. The problem is coming up with a big idea and investing the time, so why not practice in the meantime? As far as the cooking, I come from a heritage of foodies. My childhood memories are connected to the smells in the kitchen. I can still remember the smell of the stuffed peppers Mom made the evening I found out my parents were divorcing. There are some emerging hobbies of mine that might show up throughout the year, but I will leave you wondering about those.

Aren’t you quite the copycat! Let’s not start a name-calling session, please! I am perfectly aware that this is not a unique idea. I’m not looking to get famous. I just needed to commit to something non-work related.

So there you have it. If you are open-minded and/or curious about the pleasures and frustrations of an average, not quite 30, vegan foodie, subscribe to my blog. If you are not, well, I still think you should read it. May this be a fun New Year’s resolution that I keep!