1 curry, 2 curry, old curry, new curry!

In her witty introduction to the curry I made last night from VwaV, Isa makes the bold statement that she pretty much lives off of curry. In the same way that I could be perfectly happy to eat soup/stew for every autumn and winter dinner, I think Mister would be in paradise if he could just eat three things:
1. pizza
2. coffee
3. curry

Every time he smells the sauteing spices that start each curry recipe, I can feel his heart soaring all the way from the kitchen. By the time he finds words, they usually sound like this:

"Oooh, that smells goooooood." And then we play the "is it done yet" game.

This week was really a Total Grocery Fail. I was so proud of myself for "finishing" my grocery shopping on Wednesday night until tonight, when I realized I was lacking one crucial ingredient from each of the three recipes left on my menu.

1. Red Lentil Coconut Curry - missing cauliflower
2. Jerk Seitan - missing lime (and I figure it's important since there are 3 Tbsp of lime juice in the recipe)
3. Chickpea Broccoli Casserole - missing....broccoli. I'm a dumbass.

So I used my rainy 45-minute drive home to brainstorm a plan of action. It came down to how easily and where I found parking. If I ended up near Essene, I would stop in for all three of my missing ingredients (or at least one). Well, I didn't, and I actually forgot about my lofty goals by the time I found parking. Fortunately, I had come up with an alternate brainstorm.

I almost completely improvised and said "forget this menu...it's caused me nothing but heartbreak!" Then I settled down and started chopping my carrots for the Red Lentil Coconut Curry while the rice cooked. By the way - just a few shakes of turmeric in the water turned the rice a gorgeous shade of sunshine-in-a-bowl:
How happy is that? Seriously? This meal ended up being very photogenic.

Anyway, I decided the cauliflower wasn't that important, so I substituted about 1/2 cup of frozen edamame and then I diced one Gala apple. I absolutely love fruit showing up in strange places. It turned out really well, and the taste of the apple blended with the rest of the vegetables better than I thought it would. Also, the original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp of honey, but when I was at Whole Foods on Wednesday night, I got me some Agave Nectar, so I used that instead.

you want it - admit it.

All food should be this pretty.

Despite all of my posts being about what fascinating, colorful, and scrumptious things Mister and I had for dinner, I think my favorite meal of the day is actually breakfast. I think that's because my cold-weather breakfasts are just so darn tasty! I am having a ton of fun finding new ways to cook my oatmeal. Admittedly, I have to figure out what breakfast adventure I want to have the night before, since I can't function in the morning, much less think.

A few days ago I cooked the oatmeal in unsweetened soymilk, then crushed two Sweetzel's Spiced Wafers into it and mixed it up thoroughly. That was awesome. I actually have yet to make my "standard" oatmeal - cooked in a half & half mixture of apple juice and water with a good sprinkling of cinnamon. Here's what I've done so far:

1. Soymilk & dried cranberries
2. Soymilk & maple syrup
3. Water/Soymilk & Chocolate Caramel truffles

4. Water & maple syrup
5. Pineapple juice & coconut
6. Soymilk & spiced wafers
7. Water & peanut butter
8. Water & Dark Chocolate Dreams

Number Nine happens tomorrow; when I was at WF, I was inspired to pick up a bag of frozen mixed berries, and I have a fantasy where I drop about 1/2 a cup of them into my little oatmeal pot in the morning with just a touch of agave nectar and let them sizzle until they get a little juicy and goopy. Then I stir in my 1/2 cup of oats and let them soak up some of the sweet before slowly pouring my 3/4 cup of soymilk in and letting everything simmer gently for a few moments while I pour my coffee. Mmm...doesn't that sound like a tasty breakfast?

I'm also considering spending a little time this weekend making myself a "just add soymilk" pancake mix, because I have seen too many pictures of absolutely luscious looking pancakes, and I think the berries would also make a delightful little compote to spoon over the pancakes. I just happen to have a copy of Vegan Brunch that is chock-full of such recipes...