Monday, December 19, 2011

Raw Cilantro Soup and more galore

I'm having a lot of fun with this box!

Yes, i made Cilantro Soup. Yes it was raw! I went to a raw food making class at Beet's Cafe on saturday and Cilantro Soup was a bonus recipe in our packet, all i could think about was that gorgeous bunch at home in the fridge. Whenever i get cilantro i never use it all before it goes bad so this was perfect.  Made in the Vita Mix with zuchhini, bell pepper, spices, avocado & all the cilantro - very very good!

I had a party on saturday where we were supposed to bring a dish so i made Tofu Dill Dip  - just tofu, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar and dill and maybe a couple more things, just google it, there are a ton of variations.  People at the party were eating it! I wonder if they knew it was tofu.



Sweet Potato Fries with TWO kinds of HP - original & fuity.  Baked in the oven and served with a veggie burger patty


The Komatsuna i did make in the Nice Ass Greens style - i really can't get enough of this recipe. Tasted amazing, it did have a distinct taste that i liked, different that other greens.

Butternut Squash - creamy butternut squash rissotto in the slow cooker - from The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester


Italian Peppers - i did use them in a salad, but also whiped up this plate of goodness, sauteed with onion, a portobello mushroom & Field Roast vegan Italian sausage.  This would be good in a rustic tomato sauce too.



I still haven't use that amazing looking watermelon radish, i think i'm going to save it for christmas day lunch at my parents, it's color is so stunning it will be a joy at the table. Will take pics n stuff

Friday, December 16, 2011

Local Box Dec 16th - a new green!

This lovely box contained 2 herbs - Cilantro and Dill and they were so pretty that i put them in a glass with water and decorated my table for dinner!

here are the contents:

Italian Green Peppers - these look like long chillies
Bunch of Scallions
Komatsuna - the new green!
Fresh Dill
Tomatoes
Oranges
Watermelon Radish - this is a huge white with a tinge of pink bulb with beautiful green leaves
Bunch of Cilantro
Butternut Squash
Sweet Potatoes

First of all that interesting Komatsuna - it looks like collards kind of. Sometimes called Japanese Mustard Greens, they are a good source of calcium! I thnk i'm going to just cook it like the kale from last time - in Nice Ass Greens - from the Sunny Days in Texas zine that i mentioned a couple of posts ago! seeing as the recipe actually says "1 bunch of unknown greens"  hahahah

Scallions will go in salads
Italian peppers, probably raw in salads and sauteed maybe with some tofurky sausage - yeah that sounds really good
Tomatoes - salads and sanwiches, i'm sort of craving a fakin bacon BLT
Sweet Potatoes - i kind of have a hankerin' for fries so i may chop them in strips and toss in oil & paprika and bake them in to fries. healthy. I like to dip them in bbq sauce or HP - a british tangy steak sauce i sometimes find in stores
Butternut Squash - will make Creamy Butternut Squash Rissotto in the slow cooker from the vegan slow cooker cookbook i have
Dill - in this Tofu Dill Dip
Cilantro - The box came with a recipe for Cilantro Pesto which looks good, i can just omit the parmesan. My son LOVES cilantro - we will have crispy tacos this week for dinner and use some of it on them
Watermelon Radish - well i was just going to slice it and use it in salads then i stumbled on this recipe for Sweet Pickled onion & Watermelon Radish Salad - that uses oranges! So can use those too. They look amazing.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Fall fruit butter

The Fall Harvest Fruit butter from The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester cookbook is sooo good - and it made the house smell amazing as it cooked all day yesterday - used the Apples, Pears & Butternut Squash in this one.
Here is a picture of it all chopped up and ready to cook:


And here is it spread on a waffle for breakfast! if i was really clever i would buy cute jars and this would be my christmas gifts...but i'm not


Here is the pasta dish i made, just sauteed some crimini mushrooms i had, with the Onion, Spinach & Tomatoes, added some canellini beans for protein, this was really really really good.



I made a salad dressing using the orages  - Orange-Sesame Vinaigrette from Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz  - here is what it looks like - it has sirracha & ginger so has a bite to it



here it is on my salad - that's Fakin' Bacon and other scrumptious goodies, i love a big ole salad

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Local Box December 1!

wow i was ready for this box - it seems that in the two weeks since the last one a somehow managed to not actually buy or cook much fresh greeny stuff.

I immediately made a salad for dinner!

the contents:

Tomatoes
Spinach
Pears
Bell Peppers - these were very pale yellow/green i almost didnt recognize them! Photo above
Lettuce bag
Kale
Oranges
Apples
Butternut Squash
Onions

So i made a salad with the lettuce, leftover radishes from last box (they seem to hold up well!) and the pale "albino" bell peppers. They were good, not sweet, definitely more like dark green ones, maybe more sharp. I may saute them with tofu scramble or something later in the week

I used some spinach this morning in a green smoothie as a birthday breakfast for my brother who should read this blog more and copy me - coconut water, banana, frozen pinaple, spinach, ginger & peanut butter.

Butternut Squash & Apples - i want to make Fall Harvest Fruit butter in my slow cooker from the cookbook The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester. It doesn't look too hard except for the dreaded peeling & chopping of an uncooked Butternut - i think there should be men hirable for this task.
There is also a butternut squash corn chowder from my holiday cookbook i want to try, we shall see.

The Kale will be cooked in my new fave way to cook greens - Vegan Lazy Smurf's Nice Ass Greens - from the Sunny Days Zine (which you should all buy, a good cause and nice ass recipes)

I have some mushrooms left over so i'm thinking an easy saute of spinach, mushrooms & the tomatoes over some pasta for a quick dinner. Oh the onions can be used here too

I'm not really a fan of just eating oranges, seeds and peeling bug me - i'm going to make Orange-Sesame Vinaigrette from Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz for my salads.

trying to eat "clean" as much as possible in between holiday parties & christmas feasts