Root Lovers' Winter Salad

Sunday, November 19, 2017 - Dinner
Root Lovers' Winter Salad (with Creamy Apple Cider Viniagrette dressing)
Recipe from Run Fast. Eat Slow. by Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky



The recipe said the salad could be made with any combination of root vegetables, mixed with chickpeas and roasted. I followed the authors' recommendation and used carrots, gold beets, parsnips, and rutabaga. I've never made parsnips or rutabaga before. I will definitely make parsnips again. The rutabaga was good, but maybe not worth the trouble of scraping off the wax casing. All the vegetables tasted great, and they went well with the arugula and the creamy apple cider vinaigrette dressing. The dressing was quick and easy to make, and the leftovers were great on spinach salads.

I saved the leftover vegetables (separate from the greens) to reheat for lunches through the week. They would be fine on their own, but I mixed them with arugula to make more of the salad. I can't wait to try this recipe again and experiment with other combinations of vegetables!

Orzo Pilaf with Roasted Red Peppers and Peas

Sunday, February 12, 2017 - Lunch
Orzo Pilaf with Roasted Red Peppers and Peas (Recipe from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

This pilaf was tasty and filling, and the mild flavor makes for a good winter meal or side dish.  It was fast and easy to make, and I have plenty of leftovers for lunch for the week.

Pumpkin Curry

Sunday, October 23, 2016 - Dinner
Pumpkin Curry  (Recipe from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

This pumpkin curry was delicious, and perfect for a cool fall day.  I made it a little spicier than the recipe suggested, and it was nice and hot with a hint of sweetness.  The only thing that made it a little weird was the texture of the coconut - at first, I thought that the lentils were undercooked, but it was just pieces of coconut.  Perhaps next time I could blend the coconut before adding it to the curry sauce.  This curry dish was tasty and satisfying, and it made 10 servings, so I have plenty of leftovers for lunches!  

Pasta with Tomatoes and Artichokes

Sunday, September 4, 2016 - Dinner
Crowd-pleasing Pasta with Tomatoes and Artichokes (Recipe from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

This sauce was flavorful and easy to make, and the recipe made so much food that I'll have plenty of leftovers for lunches this week!

African Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew

Saturday, September 3, 2016 - Dinner
African Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew (Recipe from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

I've been wanting to make this recipe for a while, so as soon as my local farm had fresh sweet potatoes, I jumped at the chance to cook up this stew.  I was not disappointed.  The stew smelled delicious while it was cooking, and it tasted fantastic.

It reminded me a little of the Saffron-spiked Moroccan Stew, but while that was sweet and spicy, this one was a hearty stew with a strong peanut flavor and a hint of sweetness.

I served the stew over couscous, per the cookbook's recommendation, and added some texture and made this meal even more filling and satisfying.

Warm Spinach Salad

Monday, August 22, 2016 - Dinner
Warm Spinach Salad (Recipe from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

This salad was delicious!  It was quick and easy to make.  The recipe name is a bit of a misnomer: the spinach is cold, with warm balsamic dressing poured on top.  The dressing only took a few minutes to cook on the stove, while the pecans toasted in the toaster oven.  I don't normally like raw red onions, but when they absorbed the warm dressing, their texture and flavor turned out great.  I have a lot of leftover dressing (the recipe made 6 servings), so I'm planning to try it cold as well as reheated.  It might also be good as a marinade.

Peanut Butter Smoothie

Monday, August 22, 2016
Peanut Butter Smoothie (Recipe from Mayim's Vegan Table by Mayim Bialik)

I did not like this smoothie at all.  It was very thick, strong on the peanut butter / banana flavor, and the (optional) spinach did not go well with the other flavors, in my opinion.  I may try it again some other time - without the spinach - but there were other smoothies from this cookbook that were much, much better.

Chickpea Salad

Saturday, June 25, 2016 - Lunch
Better-Than-Tuna Salad (Recipe from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

This salad was fantastic.  It didn't taste anything like tuna (which is perfectly fine with me), although the texture of the mashed chickpeas was similar to shredded tuna.  The recipe said that the salad could be made with whole chickpeas instead, but it recommended mashing them for texture and to help it hold together better for sandwiches.  The next time I make this, I might skip the effort of mashing the chickpeas and use them whole, because I ate much of the salad by itself (instead of on sandwiches), and I could easily make pita-pocket sandwich to hold the salad.

The salad had a few ingredients that I'm not used to seeing in a tuna salad - like carrots, red bell peppers, and walnuts - in addition to the more traditional celery.  I plan to make this salad again - it would be great for summer cookouts!

Matzoh Pizza

Thursday, April 28, 2016 - Dinner
Passover Pizza (Recipe from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

This matzoh pizza was a variation of the English Muffin Pizzas from the same cookbook.  The outer edge stayed crispy, but the part with the sauce and toppings got a little softer, like a thin-crust pizza.  The matzoh pizza was okay, but the english muffin pizzas (and my own pita pizza recipe) are better.

Rainbow Smoothie

Saturday, April 9, 2016 - Dinner
Rainbow Smoothie (Recipe from Mayim's Vegan Table by Mayim Bialik)

This 'rainbow' smoothie is made from a variety of colorful fruits and veggies, including blueberries, raspberries, oranges, pineapple, and spinach.  I was skeptical about spinach in a fruity drink, but I couldn't taste it -- the smoothie tasted like berries with a hint of orange.  This smoothie was very sweet, and it was more like a dessert than a meal, but it was a relatively healthy dessert, since there was no added syrup or sugar, and since it had vegetables in it.  It was very thick, so I added a little more almond milk than what the recipe suggested.

Green Smoothie

Friday, April 8, 2016 - Lunch
Green Smoothie (Recipe from Mayim's Vegan Table by Mayim Bialik)

This smoothie was delicious!  I admit that I was not expecting to like it -- the green color is not appetizing.  The main ingredients are banana, pineapple, and spinach.  It mostly tasted like banana, and not like spinach at all.  Avocado was an optional ingredient that I didn't use this time, but I might try including it the next time I make this recipe.

English Muffin Pizzas

Sunday, March 27, 2016 - Dinner
English Muffin Pizzas (Recipe from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

This recipe was essentially a serving suggestion for making individual pizzas.  There is a similar meal that I make using pita bread for a single-serving pizza.  The english muffins provided a thicker crust, but less room for toppings.  Having multiple pizzas enabled different combinations of toppings.  The pizzas shown are tomato and green pepper (left), mushroom and pepper (top), and artichoke with olives and peppers (right).

My pizzas are vegetarian and lactose free, but not vegan, since I used "Veggie Shreds" mozzarella-style cheese, which contains casein, a protein derived from milk.  I like the flavor and texture of this brand better than most vegan cheese varieties.  The oven temperature may have been a little too high (or the cooking time too long), because the cheese turned golden brown and crispy instead of melting.

Pasta and Green Beans with Peanut Sauce

Sunday, March 20, 2016 - Lunch
Pasta and Green Beans with Peanut Sauce (Recipe from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

This recipe was tasty, and relatively simple to make.  It was fairly similar to a family recipe for an Asian pasta salad, and I prefer the family recipe.
This dish was also somewhat reminiscent of the Pad Thai recipe from this same cookbook, and I prefer the flavors and variety of vegetables in the Pad Thai recipe.

Served with tofu.  The tofu made the dish more filling, and helped it to serve as an entree instead of a side dish.

Home-Fried Potatoes

Saturday, March 19, 2016 - Dinner
Home-Fried Potatoes (Recipe from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

It's a couple days late for St. Patrick's Day, but I made this delicious potato recipe for dinner.  The potatoes were fantastic, and fairly simple to make.  Steaming them first made them fry perfectly - not too soft, and slightly crispy without getting burnt.  The fixings of onion, garlic, parsley, and paprika were a great blend of flavors for the potatoes.  I might start using a variation of this recipe when I make mashed potatoes as well.

Homemade Tofu Scramble

Sunday, February 28, 2016 - Lunch
Homemade Tofu Scramble (my recipe)

I threw this together with the ingredients I had available in the fridge.  The dish was filling, and it tasted really good.  It was a great post-run meal.

Ingredients:
1 brick extra-firm tofu
Half a large yellow onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Anaheim or other mild chili pepper, diced
Half a red bell pepper, diced
Paprika (~2 tsp?)
Nutritional yeast flakes (~1 tsp?)
Salt and black pepper
1/4 cup fresh chopped Italian parsley
Tabasco sauce (Smoked Chipotle flavor or regular)

Press tofu between towels to remove moisture.  Crumble tofu into pieces in a bowl.
Saute onion, garlic, and peppers in a small amount of water in a large skillet.
When peppers are softened and onions are translucent, add tofu and spices.  Cook 5-10 minutes, then add parsley and Tabasco and cook a couple more minutes.

Aloo Gobi (Curried Cauliflower and Potatoes)

Saturday, February 27, 2016 - Dinner
Aloo Gobi (Curried Cauliflower and Potatoes)

This recipe was delicious and filling, and I will definitely make it again.  The photos don't do it justice.  I used poblano peppers, and I could make it spicier next time by using hotter chili peppers.  The dish also included cauliflower, potatoes, tomatoes, spices, and fresh italian parsley.  Served with naan (from the bakery) and basmati rice.

Polenta Hearts and Roasted Red Pepper Coulis

Sunday, February 14, 2016 - Lunch
Polenta Hearts
Roasted Red Pepper Coulis
(Recipes from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

Polenta Hearts were a fitting meal for Valentine's Day. I used a cookie cutter to form the heart-shaped polenta cakes. The cooked polenta needed to chill for at least an hour to set up enough to make shapes, so I had enough time to clean up the kitchen, prepare the ingredients for the sauce, and go outside to run a couple miles in the snow. The recipe filled a 13x9 baking pan to half an inch deep, which yielded about 10 hearts (2-3 servings) plus another 1-2 servings of extra polenta. The finished product was delicious. The sun-dried tomatoes, fresh parsley, and fresh basil added a good mix of flavors to the polenta - and the fresh herbs made my kitchen smell great.  I'm pleased with how well some of the photos turned out - the natural lighting must have been just right today.   

The coulis was very good. It was simple: put the ingredients into a blender, then warm the blended sauce for a few minutes on the stove.  It had a good roasted pepper flavor (without the sliminess of eating whole roasted peppers), and it was a little sweet and a little spicy. I would like to make this again to try it as a pepper-based pasta sauce.

Oven-baked "French Fried" Yams

Sunday, February 7, 2016 - Dinner / Superbowl snack
Oven-baked "French Fried" Yams (Recipe from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

These fries tasted good, but they were too soft.  I adjusted the cooking time and temperature from the first baking sheet to the second one, but the fries still weren't as crispy as I would have liked.  A few extra minutes in the toaster oven helped a little.

The savory herb and spice mixture in this recipe was different than seasonings I've used on sweet potato fries previously.   It was a good flavor that went well with the sweetness of the fries.

Quinoa and Corn Medley

Sunday, Februray 7, 2016 - Lunch
Quinoa and Corn Medley (Recipe from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

This recipe was quick and easy -- it took less than 45 minutes, including prep time to chop all the vegetables and herbs.  The finished product was filling and tasted great, and since the recipe made 6 large servings, there are plenty of leftovers for lunch this week.  I really liked the mixture of Latin and Mediterranean flavors: the quinoa, corn, lemon, and parsley complemented one another well.  This is one of my new favorite quinoa recipes!

Mashed Yukon Gold and Sweet Potatoes

Sunday, December 27, 2015 - Dinner
Mashed Yukon Gold and Sweet Potatoes (Recipe from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

This was a simple and satisfying recipe on a day when I was feeling under the weather. I had some help with peeling and cutting the potatoes, then little effort remained to boil, drain, and mash the potatoes. The finished product was delicious - a sweeter version of mashed potatoes. The peachy color was pretty, resulting from the combination of yellow and orange potatoes. 

I used more almond milk than the recipe suggested, and I hand-mashed the potatoes (versus using an electric mixer) because I like my mashed potatoes to be creamy, yet lumpy.  

Prior to cooking: