Monday, November 13, 2006

I <3 Fall

Fall and Winter are my two preferred seasons. The leaves change color, the air gets cooler, my birthday, new school year (well I'm older now),sweatshirt and warm sweaters, scarves, winter holidays and family get-to-gethers, the possibility of snow...

And it isn't my favorite thing about the cooler weather, but it sure is a huge plus - being able to truly appreciate a bowl of hot soup. Below is a recipe from Dreena Burton's new book, Eat, Drink & Be Vegan! - Spicy Pureed Yam and Chickpea Soup. Gah, it was good. The woman had me using coriander and not complaining!
I had leftover stuffed mushroom filling, and a chunk of tofu that hadn't been cooked, so I stuffed it. I marinaded the tofu chunk in braggs, olive oil and garlic, and coated it in flour/oats/nutritional yeast/basil/thyme/sea salt and freshlong grounded pepper. It was then oven baked. The things you do with random leftovers..
A recent pizza pie - before going in the oven and after.

Homemade half whole wheat pastry/half white flour garlic and herb dough, Isa pizza sauce from VWAV, roasted garlic tofu ricotta (some from a fresh batch and some that had been frozen), maroon bell peppers, collard greens, pine nuts, crushed garlic, red pepper flakes and chopped shallots on Thomas' half. I admit, I'm going nutty and sauced my slices up with Frank's Red Hot.

Half of a roasted eggplant sandwich from Veganopolis in downtown Portland. Yes, we have a restaurant called that, yes, we are lucky! I have some complaints about em, like everywhere, but really service was fast and the food was spot-on Friday for lunch.
The above is my absolute favorite thing on the menu. This one had a TON of fresh spinach since I asked for no onions, roasted eggplant slices, roasted red pepper spread and almond feta - served on a great ciabatta roll (I think from Grand Central). I took half the sandwich home for dinner and I was a full girl.
Organic mini tortilla chips with cashew cheddar from The Real Food Daily cookbook, defrosted and smushy black beans (I'll just throw the rest in chili) and chopped jalapenos. I'm on my sorta exciting homemade cheese kick!
I honestly can't decide if I like this one or last post's Smoked Gouda better. I'm leaning towards this one, since it did become a block and also melted - at least at first. So far I'm eating it on crackers, maybe shredding or melting some more soon..



Homemade garlic & herb breadsticks - I had some pizza dough leftover from that experience. These are topped with olive oil, nutritional yeast, chopped garlic, coarse sea salt and oregano. Thomas and I were both really impressed with how good these came out. We dipped them in more sundried tomato pizza sauce.

Sometimes, meals don't go as planned..... I'm certainly guilty of screwing up meals - this was supposed to be the Black Eyed Pea and Quinoa Croquettes from VWAV, and they just weren't forming. I subbed millet for quinoa, I could blame that.... Really, even with adding breadcrumbs, it was just too moist, maybe flour would have helped. Oh well..
I topped it with shiitake mushroom gravy, and on the side are roasted potatoes, turnips and golden beets.
Special occasions = half a batch of peanut butter bombs!


And lastly, home popped popcorn with melted earth balance, nutritional yeast and sea salt. Because it rules.

25 comments:

Webly said...

mmm popcorn...

Oh yeah, everything else looks good too!
(It might snow while I'm in Denver in a few days. I'll bring you back some.)

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Please do. So you're not going to be here for the Holiday Festival? :* (

Anonymous said...

ha ha-- I just loved that stuffed tofu! You kill me!

aTxVegn said...

You are such a prolific cook! Everything looks awesome! It's still warm in Texas, so I haven't been in much of a soup mood lately, but there sure are a lot of great recipes around.

I have got to stuff tofu! Is it easy to do? I don't recall seeing any recipes for it.

Lovely cupcakes.

Here's an idea - top your soup with the popcorn. Maybe only kids like it, but it might make a good picture.

Hannah said...

oooo! Poppcorn! Lovely cupcakes btw! they look great!
Amber

Eat Peace Please said...

Jess, what to comment on first... I know... the cupcakes! Wow, what a heavy load of frosting up there. That's my type of cupcake!

I make popcorn the same exact way. I agree, it rules! The stuffed tofu was a great idea, and can certainly be expanded.

I really can't wait for Dreena's book...

erica said...

That tofu looks like cartoon food! Like, something that would be on the Powerpuff girls' dinner table :D And they'd yell "Professor! Tofu a-gain!" and he'd say "But girls, this is stuffed tofu. You'll like it." and they'd be won over and eat it all up.

Ok, you can tell I'm silly this morning.

madeinalaska said...

yep, thats how we like our popcorn here too. Because after all I am addicted to nutritional yeast.
Everything looks soo yummy by the way. I mean really that pizza = vegan heaven!

Pamela said...

So how were the cupcakes? They're next on my list. :)

Anonymous said...

You amaze me again! I like how the soup has some texture with the chickpeas. Are you a tester for that book?
The tofu stuffed with mushrooms looks good to me as well, even though I don't like mushrooms.
And the peanut butter bombs...omfg!!!
Cherie

Tanya Kristine said...

my pizza was a failure.

you make me jealous.

tofu cake: funny!

i love the pb muffins too...those look delightful!

Anonymous said...

Funny, I'm 24, living in Portland and originally from New York, too! Found your site via a search for a tempeh bacon recipe—I'm trying yours tonight. Your pictures and food are wonderful! You've been bookmarked.

Thanks,
Laura

Anonymous said...

Yum! That's exactly how I eat my popcorn. The peanut butter bombs are definitely on my to do list. Yours look delicious!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

love popcorn! & i really wish i could have one of those cupcakes. stuffed tofu? you rock, jess! :o)

bazu said...

I make popcorn the same way- Daiku calls it "hippie popcorn" but I love it!
Your stuffd tofu looks really intense and those breadsticks are inspiring. After seeing everyones' pizzas and focaccias and breadsticks, I finally got off my bum and made focaccia last night- so satisfying!
Your food makes me like winter a tiny bit. =D

Ria said...

That stuffed tofu turned out pretty well!! Check my blog for cheesecake pictures after thanksgiving... I'm going to attempt it... I usually prefer pecan pie for Thanksgiving, but that's too advanced for me. I don't think Betty Crocker or Jello makes pecan pie mix...

Don't Get Mad, Get Vegan! said...

your culinary prowess never ceases to amaze me. seriously!

everything looks and sounds wonderful. i wonder how many times i can say that without sounding like a broken record. hehe

between yours and fatfree's stuffed tofu dishes, i'm totally going to have to try me some of that very soon! ;)

Nikk said...

I want a cupcake now...

Amey said...

Oh my gosh! So many good things, I can hardly remember what I wanted to comment on! First of all, I love that you included a picture of your popcorn! How fun. Popcorn really does rule.

Your stuffed tofu looks super yummy... was it? There's a vegan restaurant that I go to from time to time (about an hour away) that makes great baked stuffed tofu. Yum.

also, I wonder what happened with your croquettes? I really love that recipe, although I've only made it a couple of times.

Kris said...

Hey, Jess, someone came into the store today and said they were talking with the owner of Junior's and that she said all of the bakery stuff there is vegan now. She had such a demand for it and it always sold out, she figured she should just convert all of it over. Whoo-hoo!

Anonymous said...

i can't take out my eyes of your breadsticks yum!!!!
love the cupcakes, they looks so delicious.

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

hi jess! back for more cupcakes and to let you know that i've moved!

laura k said...

Wow, this post is fantastic. I'm so glad you made that stuffed tofu, because that inspires me to try it too! :) And I love that pizza. Mmmm. And the bread sticks--talk about appetizing! Wow!

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Yes, I think that I, along with Susan of fatfree vegan, would recommend tofu lovers try the stuffed tofu! <3

Pamela - The cupcakes were pretty darn excellent - exactly as the name says - peanut butter bombs. The peanut butter frosting was a little bit on the heavy side but I could have made it lighter if I wanted to. I used half chunky pb, since that was what I had. These aren't my favorites, but they were a perfect treat for company.

Cherie - I hope to see you make some other type of stuffed tofu! The folks at What the hell does a vegan eat anyway? have made amazing looking roasted garlic stuffed tofu before.

Springsandwells - For the croquettes, I think the problems lie with me not mashing the peas enough, and I guess using millet instead of quinoa. I had never made millet before and just did it in my rice cooker, so maybe I made it too moist or something?

Kris - What 'go portland!' news. The last few times I've been there I noticed vegan coffeecake specials, but have yet to try them. I know Webly had a piece when we went, but I don't remember if she liked it or not..

Vicki - Hello Vegan Vice! I'll updated my links - I really like the new name~

Laura - I hope you get to try the stuffed tofu! I'd thought about making it before, and before I knew it I was taking the filling out of a chunk..

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Also ATX - I have been contemplating it, but can't think of a soup I could put popcorn on.....thoughts?