Adventures in AFR

A few weeks ago, I finally bought Appetite for Reduction and have been loving it!  We have made two or three things each week and already have a few favorites-- including Baked Falafel.  So... here are some recent pictures and thoughts on some delicious meals!

The first thing we made was Baked Falafel, which we have made probably half a dozen times now.  Last night, Chad was even successful making them solo.  The first time we made them, we just ate them plain for a snack.  Since then, we usually make a big salad with cucumber, tomato, red onion (for me) and tahini dressing.  The recipe is so easy, just throw the chickpeas and some other ingredients in the food processor, blend until smooth, mix in a few other seasonings, form and bake.  They can be ready in right around 30 minutes, so it's a surprisingly easy weeknight meal.

The second thing we tried was another salad-- Pad Thai Salad with Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing.  We doubled the veggies and added some pan-fried tofu triangles to make it a meal.  Since I've been in love with anything Thai and peanutty lately, I thought this salad was amazing... lots of fresh veggies and flavor.  I also liked making the dressing from scratch.  There are a bunch of recipes for dressing in this cookbook that I'm planning to make.  I like that you can adjust the seasoning, oils and such and know exactly what you're eating.  Plus, you can always taste freshness!

The remaining recipes in random order:

Herb-Roasted Cauliflower and Bread Crumbs

This was a simple side, but was SO flavorful.  The bread crumbs and herbs make the cauliflower taste rich and buttery.

Mac & Trees with Easy Breezy Cheezy Sauce

Another vegan mac and cheeze recipe to add to my arsenal!  This had a good flavor, not too rich.  The big stalks of broccoli (or trees) bulked it up and added more flavor.  I think I used a whole box of whole wheat pasta and still had enough sauce to go around.

Lasagna with Roasted Cauliflower Ricotta & Spinach

This recipe used a combo of cauliflower and tofu to make a ricotta-like filling and black olives on top in place of cheese.  It was really filling and made enough for dinner and lunch for me and Chad.  I can see this becoming a fall and winter favorite.

Curried Chickpeas & Greens

Another really quick and delicious meal.  This was the first time that I used mustard seeds, garam masala and I also finally bought fresh ginger.  I LOVED this recipe.  It was so flavorful from all of the seasonings (I think there is something like 10 different spices), tomatoes and kale.  I'm already looking forward to making this again!  (This picture is from my phone.  Somehow my camera battery was dead for over a week!)

Arabian Lentil & Rice Soup
I don't know how I missed taking a picture of this one.  Chad will probably say it's because he made it, which he did, but that's not why there is no picture.  This was made with creamy red lentils and jasmine rice, with its own share of veggies.  It was also a good way to use up some of our homemade veggie broth (it's taking over the freezer!).  I think we had enough of this for a few left-over lunches, so that was a little bonus.

I think that's it... so far.  I'm loving this book and there is so much that I still need to try!  I love that, like Isa's other books, there is such a variety of recipes.  There are safe favorites (like Mac & Trees  and Classic Black Bean & Veggie Chili) mixed in with other recipes that I wouldn't normally seek out (like Curried Chickpeas & Greens and Curry Laksa). I'll let you know what else I try soon...

Cook Book Challenge Week #5

Eat, Drink & Be Vegan
Last Night's Menu: Lemon Chickpea Lentil Soup

Last night's dinner was really quick and surprisingly filling.  All I had to do was chop the veggies, add seasoning, measure a few things and let the soup simmer.  Once the soup is ready, you blend it (I left mine a little chunkier) and add extra chickpeas.  It reminded me of pea soup, but with more flavor and a little lemon.  I thought it was interesting that you blended the cooked lentil, but the resulting texture was great.  I ate leftovers for lunch today, and since it was thicker today, served it over brown jasmine rice.  It was just as tasty today!

Thought's on "Eat, Drink & Be Vegan"?  Originally, I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but I was pleasantly surprised by a few things-- lots of veggies, quick recipes and simple ingredients.  I LOVED the Thai Chick-Un Pizza.  The other two recipes were good, relatively quick meals that I'll keep in mind for the future.  I'm sure there are other things in the book that I would really like, so I'll add this to my wish list!

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...