Monday, February 19, 2007

Vegan chinese, Eggplant Rollatini, Test Kitchen goods and breakfast

Citrus Hoisin Tofu, red peppers and carrots. With brown rice (a new lundberg blend!) and a couple filled wontons. I'm going to post the recipe for the sauce soon, either here or in a new post..the cooking method is just like the general tso's tofu from vegweb.
Baked wonton strips sprayed with canola oil, and baked wonton pockets. The little guys were filled with a mix of sauteed, finely chopped spinach, bell peppers, chicken style seitan and carrots with sesame oil, garlic, ginger, shoyu and hoisin. Big hit with Thomas, medium hit with me.
With ginger-shoyu dipping sauce. I just don't like ginger enough to put it in the sauce next time, totally overwhelmed it.
Roasted eggplant and tofu ricotta baguette-wich.

Last minute leftovers dinner success! Leftover eggplant from the following rollatini, baked for 20 minutes at 400, brushed with olive oil and rubbed with garlic which cooked on it, baby spinach, tomato, leftover roasted garlic tofu ricotta..plus a little hot sauce.


Vegan Eggplant Rollatini making! A PPK test kitchen recipe.

Served with a side salad with lemon juice, and garlic bread.

NOT made by me - my new new new favorite breakfast in portland - Tofu Scramble with house smoked tomatoes, spinach, black beans and garlic at Genie's. Served with rye toast with mulberry jammmm and roasted potatoes.
Another scrumptious test kitchen creation, courtesy of the PPK - Sunny Carrot and Pineapple muffins with cherries. So nice and moist. The PPK has the greatest muffins.

Next time, hazelnut cushion cookies!


Okay, I've been tagged by two other bloggers now that I know of, so I did this!

Six' things' you may or may not know about me:

1) I devour lemon and lime rinds. I cherish the ones that have been sitting in my glass of water, in particular.

2) You probably know I don't like onions, or have at least noticed (or noticing) they're don't show up in my porn, except on RARE occasions. However, I didn't quite recognize this distaste until three or four years ago. Suddenly, doing my own cooking and ordering dishes without onions changed my life for the better.

3) It's not quite weird, but different - I studied abroad in the Netherlands for a semester of college. I lived in a small Dutch village within 20 minutes or so of Germany, in a 12th century castle,was an RA, and studied amazing topics like Romantic Literature and Poetry and Renaissance Thought. On the weekends (every other for an RA) and breaks, we were required, or at least encouraged, to travel Europe on our own. I'd tell more about going to the city of my last name in Sicily, but for privacy's sake, that's enough on the blog. ; )

4) I first went vegetarian to justify my picky eating habits. This was very shortly followed by my compassion for animals, but at first, I realized I didn't 'have' to eat all the gross foods I thought I should.

5) I'm more of a salty fan, than a sweet fan. I said it! These pictures lie! Give me a french fry with spicy tofu sauce and ketchup over a cupcake most any day!

6) Again, not so weird amongst cooking-obsessed folks, but I could, and have, spent very long times in grocery stores, walking up and down aisles. Checking for new products, meal planning in my head.. Sometimes I wish I didn't live across from a New Seasons, but no, I love it. The other day I realized I had been in a store for 25 minutes, just thinking to myself. huh?

In other news, the Vege Thai food cart has reopened downtown! HURRAH!

14 comments:

bazu said...

Those muffins do look good. The chinese food especially jumps out at me. And I loved reading the 6 things about you- your semester in the Netherlands sounds so cool! And I eat lemon and lime rinds too, sometimes. Appearantly the pith and the rinds are filled with nutrition, so as long as it's organic, you're good to go. Oh, and don't get me started on the untold hours and hours I spend thinking, reading, writing about food, preparing it, tasting it, etc....

MeloMeals said...

Everything looks sooo good.. I can't wait until Isa's new cookbook comes out

Anonymous said...

Oh my, everything looks soooo delicious! I love your blog!

laura k said...

The hoisin citrus sauce sounds really good... And I'm with you on the grocery store thing--I could make grocery shopping a several-hours affair. And my hubby is with you on the lemon rinds... hehe.

A.M. said...

Just out of curiosity: which city? I am from the Netherlands, living near the German border...

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Hi Arine! I lived in Well, in Limburg. Are you from around that area? Beautiful, beautiful place.

Thank you guys for the warm comments! Cedar - thank you for stopping by and enjoying! I don't think I've seen you here before.

A.M. said...

No, I live in Groningen (up in the north), and grew up in Overijssel (in the middle of the Netherlands, near the German border).

Those Vegan Eggplant Rollatini look delicious btw!

Caty said...

Wow, it all looks great, especially the Eggplant Rollatini- I can't wait for the new book, I keep on seeing pictures from the test kitchen which look awesome.

urban vegan said...

What an extraordinary array of delectable treats. The Chinese looks so authntically delicious.

It was fun to get to know more about you--you rind eater, you!

Linda said...

that eggplant rollatini looks sooo tasty!

Ria said...

Mmm... wontons!

Dan and I despise onions too.

Just call me Orangie said...

OMG I totally love eating the rinds of lemons and limes too! I also do it for grapefruit and orange rinds, which are my fav.

KleoPatra said...

Love the food especially the won tons... and really enjoyed finding out more about you, Jess.

Nikk said...

I love you for not liking onions. I can tolerate well cooked onions if they are in something very flavorful.

My life is all about the food. I don't like going grocery shopping when I 'have to go' because it's a chore. But when I can go to a specialty shop and have fun with it, I'm like a little kid! It takes me hours sometimes!

Your food looks awesome. I wish I were a tester!