Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Improvisation

This past week I have improvised several meals in an effort to use up whats in the fridge and make new and interesting meals. Unfortunately I still do not have a working camera and that is not likely to change anytime in the next few weeks due to the move. Speaking of the move, this week is it. We are packing up tomorrow, cleaning and moving small things Thursday and Friday and Saturday its truck time with heavy stuff. Cross your fingers that i find space for all my gadgets and goods!

Onto the food. First I made an interestingly spicy rice dish.

Soyrizo, black beans, onion, garlic and diced green chili's all sauted in a pan. Served over rice with corn. Was very good and filling with just a bit of heat from the Soyrizo. It was exceptional slathered with Better than Sour Cream, field greens and eaten with chips!

Next I was hungry for kale.

Sauted onion, garlic, diced kale with splashes of water if it got too dry. I looked at the pot and decided to make it a bit more filling so I added a can of lentils that were rinsed very very well. After that I diced two tomatoes and added them. This was served with mashed potatoes and smoked paprika cauliflower. It was fabulous. Hearty, thick and satisfy with just a light tang of tomato. I did add Herbs de Provance to the mix for a bit of an earthy flavor.

My husband liked it and even went out of his way to mention that he thought it was very good. He was quite shocked when I told him it had lentils as he thinks he hates lentils. This is one dish I highly recommend!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Banana Cupcakes

Last night after a lovely and five alarm spicy meal of homemade Chana Masala and Mushroom Curry I made cupcakes.

Banana cupcakes with chocolate chips in the cake. Peanut Buttercream Frosting with banana, white chocolate and a hint of Frangelica.

The cakes turned out lovely, slightly dense and lightly banana flavored. The chips add a rich sweet burst to every bite. The frosting is thick and frothy, mounded on top with a delicate peanut flavor and just a hint of banana. It melts on your tongue without being overly sweet or overly sticky. The peanut butter was from Peanut Butter & Co and is their White Chocolate Wonderful product. Yummy but I think I prefer the Dark Chocolate Dream just a bit better.

Overall this is a rich, decadent and subtly flavored dessert that I created based on the Banana Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I think I would definitely make these again, perhaps with peanut butter in the batter next time!

Monday, June 9, 2008

My daughter cooked!

Last Friday I asked Angel what she wanted for dinner early in the morning, before I left for work. In her cranky, sleepy teenage drawl she replied "Spaghetti". So I picked up all the fixings after work and we cooked!

She diced onion, mushrooms, zucchini, yellow squash and tomatoes. Plus she sauted them quite well, though she stirs things a bit much for my taste, but thats all practice! We did cheat and use a jar of sauce but she added herbs of her choice, basil, oregano and lots of garlic! The pasta turned out just fine even if I insisted on being the one to drain it.

I was pretty proud of here and I could tell, she was proud of herself!

Its funny but my mom started teaching me how to cook when I was very young. And I tried to encourage Angel to learn, but this time, I think it made an impression. How often do you get to encourage a 15 year old to cook an entire dinner?! And they do so happily? That was the best part.

Earlier in the week we tossed dinner together and did some baking for a Relay for Life bake sale at my work. First we made dinner, I made Chickpea Mushroom Noodle Casserole and she made roasted cauliflower. She picked out the spices for the cauliflower and enjoyed sprinkling on salt, pepper, garlic and 1 teaspoon Spanish Smoked Paprika. At the end of 30 minutes the cauliflower was fantastic. Sharp, pungent and a perfect veggie to serve alongside the casserole. It had the lovely hint of smoke and the faint bite of heat.

After dinner we baked up mini loaves of Banana Bread, Mini Chocolate Mousse Pies and Orange Creamcicle cupcakes. Angel did make chocolate soup that was supposed to be a boxed brownie mix, but measuring seemed to elude her. Unfortunately that had to do down the drain. But everything else was lovely. The bake sale raised over $500 from everyone's contributions! Plus I got to eat some VCTOTW Cookies & Cream Cupcakes made by a coworker! YUMMY.

This week's menu is far from complete but so far we have a large salad planned for tonight, to beat the 90+ heat. Stirfry using the leftover veggies from the salad on Tuesday and Wednesday I plan on making some delish Indian food; Mushroom Curry and then my awesome Chickpea recipe. After that, who knows!

As the move draws closer and closer my condo gets more and more boxed up and I fear cooking will become challenging. Luckily its just across town and I should be able to move the kitchen as is almost without much strife and hopefully in one day.