Cook Book Challenge Week #9

Vegan on the Cheap

Last Night's Menu:  Smoky Red Bean Chili with Chipotle-Cornbread Dumplings and Chocolate Chip-Walnut Rice Pudding
Tonight's Menu:  Mexican Rice and Bean Bake with Cheezee Sauce

We had an early dinner again last night, partly because it was raining after school so we couldn't run and partly because it was an easy slow cooker meal.  I threw everything in the slow cooker before leaving in the morning, which was as easy as opening a few cans and chopping a few vegetables.  Then, per the recipe, about 45 minutes before we were ready to eat, I mixed up the dumplings and plopped them atop the chili.  By the time they finished, the entire top of the slow cooker was filled with fluffy dumplings!  We love cornbread with chili, so this recipe saved time and effort.  The dumplings were really good, but not as spicy as I expected.  The chili was smoky (no surprise) and spicy (again, no surprise), but next time I might add some extra vegetables such as corn or broccoli and maybe an extra chipotle pepper.  There was enough for a filling dinner and leftovers for lunch.

We ate the rice pudding for dessert later in the evening.  It was the first time I made rice pudding, which is really no more difficult than making plain rice.  Since I hadn't made this before, I followed the recipe pretty closely.  I used almond milk, but cut the sugar in half.  Also, I served it with a sprinkle of cinnamon.  It is for sure something I will keep in mind for a sweet, but not too unhealthy treat!

Tonight was another quick dinner, Mexican Bean and Rice Bake.  It was really quick to prep and fairly quick, ready in just under an hour.  I also made the Cheezee Sauce, which was an excellent choice.  I melted in to the bake and brought everything together.  I didn't take a picture of this meal, because, well... it was beans and rice.  Let me give you a visual-- imagine pinto beans and rice on a place with some runny sauce.  I'm not saying it was bad, it was really good, just pretty simple and not the most photo-worthy meal that I've made.  We served it with a big salad and tortillas on the side.  As my dad would say, "It hit the spot."  In fact, if I don't leave the kitchen soon, I might eat the whole pan...

Cook Book Challenge Week #4

Vegan with a Vengeance: Over 150 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free Recipes That Rock
Today's Menu: Soup!
Soup #1 Chili Sin Carne al Mole
Soup #2 Curried Split Pea Soup

Assuming the weather holds out and we have school all week, this is going to be another busy week for us.  We planned ahead by preparing two crocks full of soup last night.  Also, this week's cookbook "Vegan with a Vengeance," is probably my favorite vegan cookbook.  Maybe because it was the first one I bought, maybe because it's just that awesome.  Either way, I'm looking forward to trying a few new things this week... starting out with soup!

First, the chili.  We just threw everything in the slow cooker to make preparation easier.  Also, we didn't have any seitan on hand, so we skipped that and replaced the jalapeno with chipotle.  Other than that, we followed the recipe pretty closely.  I had a bowl for lunch today with a few tortilla chips.  I couldn't finish the whole thing though, because the soup was really rich.  I don't know if it was because I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder that it was so strong or maybe I added a little too much molasses?  It was filling, smelled good cooking all night and Chad really liked it, so I'm not sure.  If I have any more, I'll probably add some more chili powder or broth.  It would also be good with cornbread, something with a simpler flavor.

For dinner, we ate the Curried Split Pea Soup.  This was also a pretty easy recipe to make using the slow cooker.  If I make it again, I would saute the onions and garlic, like the recipe called to do, to make it more flavorful.  I also used some veggie broth that was left over from the chili.  There wasn't as much curry flavor as I expected, but it was a good soup for a cold, wintry night!  It actually reminded me more of my mom's split pea soup than I expected.  I also made a loaf of homemade artisan free-form bread to go with the soup, instead of the suggested rice.  AND ever since we had the Fettuccine Alfredo last week, Chad has been obsessed with nutritional yeast!  We always dip this bread in balsamic and olive oil, but all he could think about after school until we ate was spreading EB and "nooch" on his bread.   I'm not sure which he likes more, eating the nutritional yeast or saying "nooch." 

As I finish typing this, I received word that school has been canceled for tomorrow!  I'm off to enjoy my evening...

Cook Book Challenge Week #1

Appetite for Reduction
Last Night's Menu: Chipotle Lentil Burgers
Tonight's Menu: Classic Black Bean & Veggie Chili and Fresh Corn & Scallion Corn Bread

Chipotle Lentil Burger pre Pita

Yesterday was the perfect day for chili-- cold, snowy and windy (Chad even had a snow day!), but instead of having soup two days in a row, we opted for the lentil burgers.  Also, since Chad's basketball game was canceled and I had nothing after school, we had plenty of time to make dinner together-- yay!  Skipping the chili was no mistake... these burgers were AMAZING!  I love everything southwestern, so these were perfect for me.  We followed the recipe almost exactly, except we skipped the zucchini.  Buying zucchini in the winter is a sad thing-- it's always small and waxy.  I was worried about the texture, but they stayed together well and (since I haven't made them before) I didn't even miss the zucchini.  We served them with avocado, cherry tomatoes, cilantro and lettuce inside of a pita.  P.S. Today I made sure Chad read and reread the recipe to only include ONLY 1/4 c chipotle peppers!

swirl of Tuffuti and sprinkle of Daiya

Tonight's dinner was Classic Black Bean & Veggie Chili with a side of Fresh Corn & Scallion Corn Bread.  I followed the recipes pretty closely, but made a few adjustments to the chili.  Mainly, I didn't have zucchini (again) so I skipped it and added chopped broccoli and some leftover mashed sweet potato (from Monday).  Chad loves chili and I'm always up for another recipe, so we were looking forward to tonight's dinner.  The chili turned out great, the seasoning was just right and it was just chunky enough.  The cornbread, on the other hand, didn't turn out quite as expected.  I don't know if my corn was not completely thawed or I mixed it too much, but it had more of a spoon bread texture.  I couldn't cut it into the cute triangles that Isa suggested, rather we had to plop it onto our plates.  It still tasted okay and went well with chili, but I'll have to do some more experimenting with this one.  

After making 5 new recipes from "Appetite for Reduction," my favorite thing (other than the fonts in the book!) is the amount of veggies in each recipe.  The soups and the burgers were loaded with a variety fresh veggies and a few canned for ease.  Also, the two biscuit recipes I made called for whole wheat flour.  Everything was fairly quick and easy to make, and super tasty.  I can see all of these recipes finding their way into our usual rotation!

On to the next...