pepperpot weather

The weather forecast said there was a chance for snow on Christmas Eve.  The weather map showed a contradicting and disheartening green over Philadelphia, indicating that we would have to make due with rain for Christmas.  I still spend every December hoping for a white Christmas, even though I can count the number we've had on one hand, so imagine my delight when I looked outside around 5pm on Christmas Eve and saw fluffy white flakes of real snow falling steadily from the sky!

It snowed but didn't stick, which was fine.  I was happy to see some snow on the actual ground when we made our journey an hour outside of the city to spend Christmas Day at my parents' house.

Today it was dark and gloomy and freezing cold with a bit of happy white snow in the morning that lasted about 10 minutes before turning into big globs of miserable cold rain.  In my little isolated world that unemployment creates, this was the perfect way to spend the day after Christmas, but I'm sure everyone who had to travel to work disagreed with me.  Mister and I drank plenty of warm coffee and stayed cozy while trying to be at least somewhat productive, but eventually, the chill invaded our home and my bones.

I hid in the bed for about 15 minutes before Mister found me... and decided to hide with me.  We enjoyed our warm little cave a little longer than we intended because warm + cozy = accidental nap.  Once we forced each other out of that dangerous nest, I decided dinner was probably a good idea.  I was totally fixated on making a pepperpot.

I wanted something rich and hearty, something that needed time to cook, because it was just a slow-cooking kind of day.  I have a recipe for a pepperpot stew, but I wanted something with texture, something that we could really sink our teeth into, something that felt warm and nourishing.  Coincidentally, it turns out pepperpot is a Christmas food, entirely because it does require a good amount of time to cook correctly.

Post-Christmas PepperPot
about 5 servings

2 Tbsp olive oil
14 oz extra-firm tofu, cubed
1 tsp salt + a sprinkle
1 tsp smoked paprika + a sprinkle
black pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
15 oz petite diced tomatoes, undrained
cooked rice to serve (I used Basmati)

First, drain the tofu and gently squeeze out as much water as you can with your hands.  Don't worry - you won't get it all, you just don't want it dripping all over your cutting board.  Once you've squeezed "enough" water from the tofu, cube it and lay it over 3-4 paper towels to drain a bit while you wash your veggies and peel your garlic.

Make no mistake, I very specifically had my mind set on making something with tofu tonight.  As a quick aside, for the past year that I've been enjoying my All-Clad cookware, one thing only has marred my delight; trying to cook tofu in stainless cookware is kind of like supergluing a little green army figurine to your bathtub and then trying to push him loose with your Daisy razor... not happening.  So I've been cooking my tofu in my old Cuisinart nonstick saute pan and transferring it to the other food once there's enough liquid in the pan to prevent an adhesive reaction.  Not the end of the world, but it's just another [unnecessary] pan to wash.  Enter my Christmas present: a nonstick 4-qt All-Clad saute pan.

Anyway, once all your veggies are ready to be chopped, heat the oil in whatever pan makes you happy (but it should hold at least 4 quarts) on medium-low heat.  It's ready when you plop a cube of tofu into the oil and it sizzles.  Add all the tofu and make sure it is in one layer, give the pan a little shake to make sure the oil is evenly distributed, then cover and cook undisturbed for about 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, stir the tofu so the cooked side is showing (which means an uncooked side is now facing down in the pan), give it a minute, then sprinkle a little bit of salt and a little bit of paprika over the tofu and mix well, until evenly coated with seasoning.

Stir in the celery and garlic, cover and cook for another 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid burning.

Stir in carrots and both bell peppers, cover and cook for 3-5 minutes, then stir in the tomatoes, teaspoons of salt and paprika, as well as your preference of black pepper, and the worcestershire sauce. Stir very well to ensure the seasonings have coated everything in the pot.

Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low.  Set your kitchen timer (or whatever far more technologically advanced device you may have) for 25 minutes.  If you're using white Basmati or Jasmine rice, now is the perfect time to cook it.  This way your pepperpot and your rice will be ready simultaneously.

It was so good.  It was exactly what I wanted it to taste like.  Honestly, I could have happily just eaten the tofu and given Mister the veggies (though they were also very good) because the seasoned juices from the peppers and tomatoes perfectly braised the tofu to exactly the flavor and texture I was craving. This is a great wintertime meal and I hope you make it and enjoy it and remind yourself that you can always go back and have more later (no need to continue the holiday habit of stuffing oneself until bursting!).

I love cucumbers

This is something that I forget almost every winter.  I love cucumbers.  I love the way they smell, I love the way they taste, I love their crunch and the fact that you would have to do something really bad to a cucumber to make it not naturally cool.  Something evil, like microwave it.

For however happy cucumbers make me, there is something else that makes me sad.  That thing is always the same: tomato seeds.  I don't know what it is about tomato seeds, but I find them utterly repulsive and everything about them makes me unhappy.  I hate cutting into a grape tomato to have the seeds squirt out and more than that, I hate slicing the core out of a "normal" tomato and finding it left behind a virtual colony of gross little seeds, encased in some gelatinous substance that then adheres them to the wall of the tomato I just want to dice.  There have been times that the sight has literally caused me to gag.

Fortunately for everyone, a cucumber and tomato salad cannot be beat and even I'll admit that.  Additionally, something wonderful happens to raw tomatoes when they marinate for 30 minutes or more in a "dressing" of sea salt, lemon juice, and olive oil.  It's almost as though the salt and lemon juice "cook" them a little.  My only complaint about this salad is the incredible amount of dressing left at the bottom of the bowl.

In case you haven't guessed, either by the salad or process of elimination, tonight's dinner was Chickpea Croquettes with Greek Salad Topping from Vegetarian Times: Quick and Healthy.  I've made this before, when it was originally featured in Veg. Times, but I don't remember being quite as impressed with it that time as I was tonight.

Since it was Friday and I was pretty proud of myself for making it all the way here again, I decided there was nothing wrong with a little cooking partner.  Meet Aperitif:

Malibu Pineapple Rum + Papaya Nectar + Lime Perrier
HAPPY FRIDAY

I don't know if I've only used this bag of chickpea flour for this recipe and nothing else (and therefore it has been sitting, bored and cold in the refrigerator, for a year) or if I've managed to sneak it into something else, but I have to say - I'm completely intrigued by chickpea flour.

What's even more awesome is that this stone-ground "good source of protein" has a recipe for hummus on the back which is created not by pureeing chickpeas in blender, but rather by combining this flour with water and a few other flavor elements.  I really want to try that when our current super-tasty Cava Mezze Roasted Garlic Hummus runs out.  Considering how great it is, that shouldn't take long.

I combined the hummus mix chickpea flour with cumin, salt, and chili powder, then whisked it until it was homogenous in color and not nearly as pretty as it is above.  In place of boring old water, I decided to mix it with vegetable broth for added flavor, so perhaps that was a contributor to my happiness with how it came out.

Add in some diced orange pepper for crunch and deception.  That's right - those little orange cubes are liars for two reasons.  One, they were supposed to be red, but red peppers are not having a happy season just yet.  More importantly, though, because the finished product was far more garlicky than I expected it to be, I kept expecting the crunchy texture to lead to the distinct realization that I'd bitten into a clove of garlic.  That was not true, though, as the sweetness of the pepper shone through after only an additional chomp.

One of the most rewarding parts of the evening was cooking up 8 of these suckers without setting off the fire alarm.  This may not sound like an achievement to you, but almost every time I "fry" something with spray oil on a skillet, I end up overjudging the heat I need on the burner, which results in me burning at least the surface of something (they're "blackened," like cajun-creole, ya know?) and generating enough smoke to set off the alarm.

That didn't happen tonight because I finally figured out that it's okay to a) cook with the exhaust hood running and b) lower the heat once the skillet it where it's supposed to be.  This results in more evenly (and quietly) cooked food.

When I was preparing to set the table and deliver our dinner to it, I turned to find Angst had camped out in "Roast" position in front of the fridge.  Bizarre little cat.  Turns out he was thirsty and knows that's where Mommy keeps the "special" (Brita) water.  Spoiled, I tell you.

Anyway, dinner was delightful, especially with the crunch and sweetness of the orange pepper to break the potential monotony of a pretty bland-looking meal.  Chickpeas in chickpea flour?  It doesn't exactly scream excitement.... but maybe it should.  After all, it is spiked with chili powder and cumin.

Speaking of spiked....

happy smells like toasted coconut and lime

Earlier today, before I started preparing dinner, I had a strange, out-of-the-blue hankering for cookies.  It was so unlike me that when I told Mister I wanted a cookie, he was truly surprised and had to repeat me: "You want a cookie?"  We then had a conversation about the pros and cons of going out to buy cookies versus me making cookies (all kinds of unnecessary, weird crap in the ingredients vs. big messy kitchen right before dinner).  When I started pulling together dinner ingredients, I noticed I did not have the coconut milk I thought I had until I had a memory flashback to the empty shelf at Superfresh.  So....since I had to stop by Essene for that crucial ingredient (otherwise the Coconut Rice would just be.....Rice, which is not terribly interesting), I picked up some organic, special, not-gonna-kill-ya cookies and felt that was a reasonable middle ground.

The problem starts here, though: before I went over to Essene, I made the marinade for tonight's Jerk Seitan from Vegan With A Vengeance so it could start its hour of marinating time while I went to the store. As I combined the dozen ingredients in a spouted measuring cup that I would use to pour the marinade evenly over the seitan (which was carefully placed in real Gladware this time around... it only takes once for me to learn my lesson), the amazing scent of the two fresh limes I juiced attached to my skin and smelled better than my Mediterranean Fig perfume.  Once everything was all mixed together, the most amazing scent filled my kitchen, thereby shoving out any real desire to eat cookies.  Or anything that was not Jerk Seitan on Coconut Rice for that matter.

The coconut rice has two layers to it, which I hope I've captured with this image - the first "layer" involves cooking Basmati or Jasmine rice in a water + coconut milk + cinnamon mixture which is divine all by itself.  The second layer, however, really cements this rice as more than just a side dish or meal base.  What you see unceremoniously dumped sprinkled gracefully on top is a 1/2 cup of toasted coconut flakes.  Do you know that almost nothing smells better than coconut toasting on your stovetop?

Well... ask me again in October/December and I may have a different answer, usually involving chocolate and my oven or ginger+molasses and my oven, but you know what I mean.  The best part is how the scent lingers in the air even now, even after a thorough searing of the peppers and seitan with leftover marinade.

That looks delicious.  However, I promise you, the picture does not do it justice.  For one thing, you will never understand how amazingly flavorful and tasty this dish is until you go out, buy VwaV and make it (just be sure you won't be sharing with more than one other person or you're going to have to double the recipe).  For another thing, although the marinated seitan and perfectly pan-seared green peppers are unbelievably tasty all by themselves, the level of flavor satisfaction you will reach when you eat these jerked bits over the sweet, fragrant Coconut Rice cannot be described.  I'm not even going to try.

Instead, I'm going to focus my energy on willing you to visit your nearest independent bookstore (or go online, if you must) and get yourself a copy of Vegan with a Vengeance, because if you don't, you will never find true happiness.

I don't want that for you.  I want you to be happy.  Go buy the book.

just not into the jerk

I've mentioned before how treacherous a place a recipe finds itself if it has to hang on to one of the last spots on the menu.  There are so many different reasons that could happen - normally it's a time concern, although other times I've lost interest.  Tonight, I dealt with kind of a combination.

See, we have a tie for "last place."  Tonight's choices for dinner were either Mama Pea's Chickpeas and Dumplings, accompanied by the spinach, lentil and tofeta salad from The Low GI Cookbook or Jerk Seitan from VwaV.  I have every faith in the universe that I will absolutely love the Chickpeas and Dumplings....yet, I've fallen out of love with the idea of cooking from my company-endorsed cookbook.  Too many bland/uninteresting recipes will do that to a person's drive.  Regardless, there were two things that kept me from making that meal tonight: first, it's hot as can be in my second-floor, non-corner-property apartment and by the time the A/C did anything effective, I'd have eaten my own fist (an hour and a half commute usually results in a pretty hungry Natalie by the time I get home).  Second, the tofeta needed to marinate for an hour, which was definitely not in the cards.  For the same reason, the Jerk Seitan, though delicious, fell out of my favor when I confirmed my suspicions - the seitan also had to marinate for an hour.

A person might think that after working their butt off all week, like I did, a dinner where most of the prep time involves sitting and screwing around while something marinates would be ideal.  That would be logical.  However, I am to the point of delirium and exhaustion where I fear what would happen during that idle time - I don't like pre-dinner naps, so I wanted to make something active.  Additionally, as I mentioned earlier, I'm pretty darn hungry by the time I get home from work, so sitting around would just make me focus on that hunger.  I wanted to keep my mind and hands busy enough that even though dinner ended up taking just as much time as it would have if I'd let the tofu or seitan marinate, I was active the whole time.  Was I sweaty by the time I plunked dinner down on the table?  Yes, but was I awake?  Yes, so I consider it a win.

This, I also consider a win.  Since I vetoed both of the remaining dinners, I now had two new options: go out to Cedars or Stella for a relatively inexpensive dinner I didn't have to prepare or clean up, or improvise.  Since Horizons called me this evening to confirm our 9pm reservations there tomorrow night (the last night! boo hoo!!), I decided it was far more fiscally responsible to make something up as I went along.

I opened up my mind and the refrigerator to take stock of what I had to work with.  Gathering up the green pepper meant for the Jerk Seitan, as well as the seitan itself, I also grabbed my big bag o' carrots, the tamari, and my tub of white miso.  Oh yes, and also the wine.  Happy Friday!

Five-Spice Seitan Noodle Bowl
serves 4
Ingredients:
8 oz rice noodles
12 oz seitan in broth, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 generous cup of julienne carrots
4 cloves of garlic, pressed
2 Tbsp peanut oil
1/2 tsp dark sesame oil
3 Tbsp tamari/soy sauce
2 tsp miso, dissolved in 1/3 cup hot water (steal from noodle water before you drain the noodles but after it stops boiling)
1 tsp Chinese 5-Spice powder

Prepare the noodles according to package directions.  If possible, coordinate the pasta's cook time with the time you start sauteing the vegetables.  Julienne the carrots and slice the pepper thinly, lengthwise.

Heat the peanut oil on medium heat.  Add garlic, peppers, and carrots - stir well to coat evenly with oil. 

Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 3-5 minutes, until crisp-tender, then add the sliced seitan and stir well to combine.  Cook for about 5 minutes, until seitan begins to brown, then sprinkle on the 5-Spice powder and tamari.  Mix well and lower heat to medium low. 

The noodles should be ready by now.  Remove from heat and steal 1/3 cup of the hot water to dissolve your miso, then drain the noodles.  Whisk together the miso and hot water until completely dissolved, then pour into seitan mixture along with the sesame oil and drained noodles.  Cook, stirring constantly, about three minutes more, until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

It was very easy to eat - the savory notes of the tamari balanced by the sweetness of the white miso I used.  As is the intention, the 5-spice powder completed the flavor spectrum in an extraordinarily subtle way - you really had to be paying attention to know it was in there.  I was hesitant to add fresh ginger, but I think the dish will benefit from just a bit of it in the future.  Due to the generally savory nature of the dish, Mister asked if it was "beef" stroganoff.  I didn't have a response other than to just stare at him until he retracted it and I pointed out that we were using chopsticks to eat, which usually indicates an Asian-intentioned meal.

the dinner that almost wasn't

Would you believe I nearly changed my mind at the last minute?  Would you believe, after all my odes of affection and volumes of sonnets for the wonder that is Punjabi Peppers and Tofu, that I nearly pushed it aside tonight in favor of something completely different?  Choices, choices - a divine Indian dish created by two Canadian vegans who make edgy non-leather purses or Texas BBQ?  And what disparate choices they are, aren't they?

I'm sure you'll be relieved to know that I made my old favorite instead of doing something adventurous and intrepid (and far more blog-worthy).

But it's just so good!  Besides, I was a little too brain-drained to come up with something creative and worthy of my prize.

Prize?

I have mentioned before (at least a few dozen times) that I work for a weight loss company.  If you have any Google skills at all, the information I'm about to share will tell you what I wont (that is, which company).  There are two parts to the story - the first one, I may have mentioned, is that this week was devoted to employee appreciation so there were little events and giveaways all week.  The second part is that last December, we started working with a group of chefs from all over the nation - Miami, my beloved Tahoe, Texas, New York City, and of course, a local fellow representing Philadelphia.  All of these chefs have been on Bravos Top Chefs and Masters programs and they have all been acclaimed as outstanding in their field - in fact, the Philadelphian chef was just awarded "Best Chef Mid-Atlantic" by the James Beard Foundation.

He's very friendly, too.  I know this because today I had the privilege of meeting him, as well as the other four chefs who make up our culinary council.  They came to "visit" on the last day of Employee Appreciation week and cooked up a storm of low-calorie, healthy, delicious food and then let us eat it.  The offerings were still weighted in favor of eating animals, but here is what I could eat (and did, with gusto!): a sprout salad with fresh peas, radishes, broccoli sprouts, broccoli slaw, and a bunch of herbs (there's nothing quite like biting into an entire leaf of fresh cilantro), tahini hummus, grilled vegetables (mainly peppers), grilled pineapple (unbelievable!), and fresh salsa with tortilla chips.  Can you believe there was a ton of meaty "delights" in addition to all that fun?

Another part of employee appreciation has been little tokens of thanks, mysteriously appearing on our desks each morning.  It's a fun thing to walk into, I'll admit.  I'm a little sad that all I'll walk in to see on Monday is my desk and all the work I have to do.  Anyway, apparently, they were saving the best for last because today's little thank you took the form of a bottle of barbeque sauce.

It's not just any sauce, though - it's all natural and made by one of our celebrity chefs in Texas, where they definitely know BBQ.  There were three flavors distributed throughout the company: I got Ancho Chili (and I'm a little worried about the heat, but we'll see - tofu has a very fortunate heat-calming property that should balance it out), but others got Peach or Teriyaki Honey.

People at work were intrigued by what I would possibly find to put BBQ sauce on.  They relaxed a bit after I shared that it goes very nicely with baked tofu, sloppy joes, and beans and that I have been in the habit of making my own BBQ sauce so I shouldn't have any trouble finding something to do with it.  Quite the contrary - I'm so excited about it (allow me five minutes of company pride) that I nearly ditched one of my favorite meals in order to play around with it.  I finally decided that I wanted to specifically design a meal around it and that I was way unprepared to do so tonight.  Mister and I think it might be fun to hang onto it until July 4th and then do something really spectacular with it.

Good thing July 4th is two weeks away, because I have absolutely no idea what that will be...

sunday, windy sunday

Aside from the near-cyclonic winds blowing down through the concrete jungle today (and by the way, Chestnut Street makes a mighty fine wind tunnel), it was a gorgeous sunny day.  It seems like ordinarily, I spend gorgeous sunny days in my cube farm, alternately wishing I was outside and wishing my office had no windows.  Today, though, I spent the whole day wandering around Philadelphia with my dear sister, delighting in one another, the sunshine, and a feeling of glamour that can only come from shopping (with a side of gossip).

You want Hollywood glamour?  Look no further than this incredible consignment store find - a black, sequined mini-dress, shrouded by a sheer black-and-white, leopard print (sometimes) overlay with a train.  We were daring each other to wear it to Brother's wedding next month in between giggles.  After all, the whole point of the trip was to find a fabulous dress for the wedding.

Bohemian Barbie

Backyard BBQ Barbie

1920s Glamour-puss Barbie

I am so blessed to have such a stunning sister - when I look at her, I think how serendipitous it was that her parents named her after a Greek goddess - this lady should be in magazines and on some billboard on Times Square.

This lady should not.  No, I did not leave with that hat - it stayed in the store where it belongs.  I did get a snazzy scarf (50% off!) that Mister said looks exactly like my other scarves; I explained that it was different - this one has tinsel woven in.

The most clever back-door-protection I've seen.
Arcadia Boutique on Rittenhouse Square

Eco-Chic Barbie

By the way - in case you were wondering - nothing looks bad on her.  She is simply breath-taking!  In addition to playing Runway Model, I also had fun walking down the streets of Philadelphia with her and watching all the guys checking her out.

After we had exhausted ourselves and most of the clothing stores we were interested in, we stopped into a few other places - the Borders closing sale, the Kimmel Center so she could see the Eiffel Tower, and Anthropologie, where I haven't been in forever.  We had fun poking through the clothes and oddities, and then came upon a table full of houseware treasures.  We examined a set of [presumably] hand-painted measuring "cups" and after a discussion on how I still need beautiful things to be functional, dear Sister scooped up the cups I had been admiring and headed for check-out.  Over my protests, she explained that she had to buy me a housewarming gift since she didn't get to help me clean when we first moved in.

Have I mentioned I love this girl?

After Anthropologie, we stopped into Starbucks for the first iced coffee beverages of the year, which we sipped through funny green straws as we walked home through sunshine and flower petals.

Lots of petals.  I wish they would stop raining, actually.  But it was still a lovely scene, and a cat hung out with us a few minutes, too, so that's always fun.

Once I had bored Mister half to death with my new measuring cups and scarf, I went out to be a responsible adult.  In other words, I went food shopping....for this menu:

1. 2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma from Appetite for Reduction, since I failed to make this last week.  Mainly, because Mister failed to be awake for dinner.

2. Jerk Seitan on Coconut Rice, both from Vegan With A Vengeance; same story as above. 

3. Garlicky Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Basil.  Aside from the pretty recipe box I was given at my bridal shower 4 years ago, I have no idea where this recipe came from.  I'm not too sad about that  because it's just barely a recipe.  It sure makes for a tasty (and simple) pasta dish, though.

4. Mediterranean Chickpeas and Vegetables from an old issue of Cooking Light magazine.

5. Mediterranean Pasta with Artichokes, Olives, and Tomatoes, from an old issue of Body + Soul magazine.  This is one of the first pasta dishes I made that did not involve a heavy red sauce, so it has a special place in my heart.  Oh, and it's also hella delicious.

6. Spicy Black Bean Burritos, adapted from the original red-and-white-checkered Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, lovingly given to me by my mother before I had figured out how to cook.  I've made the recipe straight before, but Mister and I agree that it tastes far better when wrapped up in a soft, salty tortilla.

So, tonight, I has happy to be able to employ the help of two of my new measuring dishes:

flaked coconut never looked so pretty

I love jasmine rice anyway, but it's far prettier now

After oohing and aahing over my pretty dishes, I got to work on Jerk Seitan on Coconut Rice, which is hardly a one-pot meal.  It's actually more like a three-pot meal, if you must know.  It smelled so delicious and so tropical, between the coconut, cinnamon, and lime scents filling the air.  To tell the truth, my hands still smell like the three limes I juiced (two for the marinade and one for the rice).

The Coconut Rice recipe yields a huge amount, so although there were no leftovers of the peppers and seitan, there is leftover rice.  I'm contemplating turning it into an easy-to-reheat breakfast cereal, although it could come in handy as a base for the Korma.  I guess you'll just have to check back and see what happens!

Bon Soir, mes amis!

(sorry.  too much PIFA)

you lose some, you win some

So, I don't think I did too much to hide my disappointment with the Sicilian Market Pasta.  It had so very much potential to be an amazing pasta dish, but just not enough flavor in the end.  I was able to resurrect it and enhance it with some dollar tomatoes, but when I followed the actual recipe, it was nothing Mister and I would eat again.

But the chili was so good we ate until we were fat (which probably contradicts the purpose of the recipe) and Mister actually requested that I heat up the leftovers last night instead of cooking a new dinner.  So, when I got my peppers out to make dinner tonight, I had forgotten that I was afraid her infrequent use of pasta in recipes made Susan slightly less skilled in using it as an ingredient.

When I put my peppers (and tomato) on the counter to wait for their scrubbings, I was struck by the vibrant color contrast.  I love when recipes use multi-colored peppers, because unlike M&Ms, you actually can taste the difference between red and green and yellow.

One of the things I initially found intriguing enough about this recipe to include it in our weekly menu were the instructions to roast the peppers and sausages while the pasta cooked.  Once everything was laid out on the baking sheet, I was struck by two thoughts.

1. Look how pretty those peppers are!
2. Maybe I should just saute these buggers in some olive oil.

In then end, I just hoped the extra spray of olive oil would keep everything from drying out in the oven (my main concern was the Tofurky, honestly) and tried to give Susan another chance.  That positive thinking got me as far as combining the pasta with the roasted peppers and sausages before I started muttering under my breath about how she managed to win blog awards when she clearly doesn't know anything about cooking pasta, and what kind of nut doesn't love olive oil, and how I was going to ignore her blog from this point forward.

In other words, I lost my faith.

Turns out, I was a little premature.  It tasted just as good as it looks.  Granted, I did some serious tweaking to the tomato sauce, incorporated not only a generous bit of olive oil but also my "secret" ingredient - V8 Spicy Hot.  I was right about the sausages drying out a bit, and the roasting enhanced their flavor a little too much for me - they're already pretty intense; they don't need any help.  The peppers, however, were divine.

In fact, the only complaint I have about Pasta with Peppers and Sausage is that my mouth is too small.

I need an intervention

I am going through a serious bout of IDC and the only thing I can think of to do (besides giving in to my darker nature) is to re-read the first chapter of Skinny Bitch until I can convince myself to give up my most recent vice.  Right about now, though, you're probably scritching at your noggin wonder just what exactly IDC is.  Insatiable Desire for Chocolate.  I cannot get enough and it's awful.  Maybe it's my body's attempt to battle the blues and anxiety that come from drastic cost reduction efforts... efforts that provoked terrible and understandable gossip in my recent absence from work, since the day I left early was the day our company "right-sized" by asking about 100 staff members to leave.  "Asking," by the way, is a euphemism.

In any case, I find myself craving chocolate in a way I haven't craved chocolate in many, many years.  All weekend, I was fighting a hardcore need for chocolate cake.  I can't explain it, I just really wanted chocolate cake.  With icing.  And layers.  I'll pause my self-flagellation for a funny story about that:

I'm at my desk at work; it's around 6pm.  My boss comes over with an incredulous expression.
Boss: Do you want to see an amazing chocolate cake?
a big, bright lightbulb shines into brilliance above my cranium.
Me: No.  I would like to eat an amazing chocolate cake.
Boss: Okay.  Follow me!

One of the supervisors was throwing a little party to celebrate recent achievements of two hard-working members of her team.  One of the teammates brought in a beautiful chocolate cake, in which I indulged with my boss's encouragement and shared guilt.  Every bite was exactly what I wanted it to be.  I don't even like cake.

You would think that would be the end, right?  Wrong.  Instead of quelling my IDC, it intensified it.  This will not end well.

I would love to use anything I just shared to segue into our dinner, but there is absolutely no common thread.

The only dinner left on my menu was Savory Sausage and Peppers from Vegan on the Cheap.  I delayed making this one for two reasons:
1. as you can probably tell from the picture, there was a lot of chopping involved and I just haven't had the energy.
2. I was afraid it wouldn't be as awesome as it was the first time I made it.

I needn't have feared - it was just as delicious in my mouth as it was in my memory.  There is something so perfect about the combination of potatoes and "sausage."  The abundant flavor of the Tofurky Italian Sausages that Mister chose for this dish were calmed and complemented by the creamy blank slate of the potato slices.  The tomatoes and peppers provide little bursts of juicy sweet-tartness amidst the already magical flavor profile.

I think one of the things that really "makes" this dish is that the very first step is to brown the diced sausage in a tablespoon of olive oil, then remove it from the skillet, add another tablespoon of oil and proceed with adding the rest of the ingredients for a hearty saute.  Although there is nothing in the recipe that specifically instructs me to do so, I do my best to rescue only the sausage from the skillet, leaving behind the flavor-infused oil, rich with the essence of sun-dried tomatoes and italian herbs.

The only complaint I have about this dish is that the potato slices stick together and no matter how gently or insistently I try to coax them apart with my spoon or spatula, I cannot get the slices to spread out from one another.  They're like a really snobby food clique.  I think the dish would be even more amazing if I could get the slices to stay away from each other long enough to absorb the infused oil and play nicely with their orange, red, and green neighbors, but the potatoes are not having it.  Does anyone know any tricks for keeping them from sticking to one another?

~*~

Angst is so good at sleeping, I know I show you an inordinate number of pictures of him being adorable and sleeping somewhere ridiculous, but I'm so amused watching him adjust to his new home.  I like seeing him explore and find new places he can call his.  I'm currently in the midst of creating a little Kitty Cave for him; his very own "bedroom" for the first time in six years, dressed completely in leopard print decor 'cause that's how he rolls.

For now, though, he has found that squishing himself into the space where the seat of the couch becomes the back of the couch is a really comfy place to fall asleep:

(I can't wait to get a slipcover)

the last supper

I hope that wasn't sacrilegious.  The finality of tonight's dinner was just weighing on me a bit and that seemed an appropriate title.  I do apologize if I offended anyone.

Now that I got that out of the way, let's talk about tofu.  I finally made the Punjabi Peppers and Tofu from La Dolce Vegan.  I didn't have much choice, since it was the only dinner I had ingredients left for, but please don't get the impression this was a last resort!  If you look back over the last two posts, you'll see I actually thought of my poor tofu, getting lonelier in the fridge with each passing night, but I had to be careful in my planning, lest I have to take dirty tupperware to my new home.

By the way, my evil scheming came out perfectly - last night's dinner made exactly enough leftovers for me to have lunch at work today and tomorrow, and tonight's dinner is part of our Perfect Portions Series.

It has a lot of other nice qualities, but the lack of leftovers thing is what got it in to the Final Five.

I really love the way the spices work their way into the little nooks and crannies of the tofu, infusing those little cubes with a flavor that is out of this world.  I could very happily eat just the tofu, but then I would be missing out on the phenomenal combination of green and red bell peppers with tomatoes and spices.  The whole dish is terrific - the only weak link is the brown rice, but I didn't feel like replenishing my rice collection when we're only two days from moving.

The plan for dinner tomorrow is Blackbird - we'll share the hand-cut fries and I don't know what Mister's getting, but I am looking forward to trying the Roasted Eggplant Grinder.  I hope to provide some kind of follow-up review (click here for the first one), but I also intend to spend some time tomorrow night packing up my kitchen .   It felt so weird putting away the pots and pans and dishes after I washed them, knowing that I was really preparing them for packing, kind of like a funeral home beautician (except not quite as morbid since I'll be "resurrecting" them in a few days at the new place...wow.  I think I just bought a first-class ticket to Hell on the Blasphemy Train).

Well, before I seal my eternal damnation, how about a cute picture of a sleeping kitty?

Mister decided to move the cat into his new home completely, so now we have his blanket shoved in the TV stand with his pillows just outside so he knows where they are.  Although my first reaction was that this was totally ridiculous since we're moving in a couple of days and will have to uproot him all over again anyway, but then I saw how very much more peaceful my poor little bug was.  He looks so happy and cozy...against my better judgment, I may let him keep that spot when we move...at least it will be something he recognizes, which might prevent him from destroying the door jambs on the very first night we live there, like he did 6 years ago when we moved here.  He'll be joining me on the Train...

snow day(s)!

It seems the last couple of posts have incorporated a plural noun..."fortunate locations" or "comforts of homes."  I'm hoping the trend continues and that I have more than one snow day purely because I made my title plural.  Well, I guess the blizzard outside can play some part.

I have a really strong urge to bake but I really can't just bake every time it snows....can I? We'll have to come back to that later.

I spent the better part of yesterday reassuring one of the managers at work that the snow wasn't going to be that bad and it would probably be fine.  I have very little faith in the weatherguessers, you see, so when they get all excited and put up a big red warning for 4-6 inches, I'm not inclined to believe them until I see it.

I got up this morning, bright and early, figuring I'd head out to work, possibly get delayed by a few minutes, but be at work before any serious snow started.  That way, at least I'd show my face before probably leaving early, before the train tracks froze.  I put the teapot on to boil and started to make breakfast and prepare my matcha.  It was only then that I looked out the kitchen window and saw, to my unabashed surprise, a decent accumulation of snow!

While eating breakfast, I checked out weather.com and discovered that the forecast was now calling for 6-8 inches, mingling with some freezing rain for some nice snow-ice-snow Oreo action.  I was surprised that there were no tweets from SEPTA regarding delays in transit, so I kept moving toward the goal of going to work, despite the foreboding forecast.  After showering, I found that the snow had gotten huge and was falling at a far heavier rate than originally forecast.  Upon checking the weather again, I found a big mea culpa from the weather folks, saying that we were getting heavier snow than anticipated and upping the total accumulation expected to nearly a foot!

I'm sure you know where this is going.  Much hemming and hawing and pacing the apartment later, I did one more evaluation and upon seeing that trains were running 15-25 minutes behind, buses were being detoured, and people were slip-sliding all over the place in their cars, I decided to keep Angst company.  I wish I'd gotten some pictures of him earlier - the snowflakes were probably about the same size as his paws and he was sitting in his window just batting at them (and hitting the window instead).  He got himself all worked up - it was quite a sight.

After another unsuccessful attempt to buy shoes, I started dinner.  Mister didn't have any opinions since he knew he would like anything on the menu, so I made Seitan Cacciatore from The Accidental Vegan.

I've made this a few times before, although this is the first time I used homemade seitan, so it looks a bit different since I cubed the seitan.  Also, I'm pretty sure the seitan I buy (Ray's, Michael's) is simmered, not baked, so it has a different texture.  As it was coming into its final five minutes of simmer-time, I realized I hadn't made anything upon which to serve it.  I wouldn't say I panicked, but I was a little worried about how Mister would take it - we've had a couple of conversations in the past about the necessity of a grain/pasta/carb-of-some-sort as the base to our meal and how he can't cope with a meal made of only vegetables and a protein source.  I wished with all my heart for couscous to magically appear in the cupboard, but it did not happen.  There was not enough time for rice and I used up all the bulghur in the stew...

Fortunately, between the pepper "noodles" and the big "meaty" chunks of seitan, Mister didn't even reach for bread!  I guess it passed muster, but I'll still make a grain with it next time.

I was not nearly as productive today as I wanted to be and the snow got heavy way later than it was supposed to.  I'll be interested to see what that does to the morning commute.  I'm not going to deny that I'm hoping for another snow day... but for now, I have to answer a very important question:

to bake or not to bake?

super foodie post

Please pardon what is probably about to be a somewhat random post - there will be at least one connecting thread: everything will have to do with fabulous vegan food!

Most of the time when I post my menu, I do so at the conclusion of the post.  However, it seems like the best place to start this one, considering my Ode to Cookbook Browsing and my Look What I Can Do posts this week.  So, I did finally sit down with a glass of Beaujolais and Vegan on the Cheap last night and figured out what we're eating this week:

1. Caldo Verde with Vegan Gourmet grilled cheeses.  This looks like a hella hearty soup - potatoes and kale work together so nicely, texturally, taste-wise, and nutritionally.  I love the combination of the smooth, squishy potatoes with the chewy, stern kale.

2. Savory Sausage and Peppers which was dinner tonight, so you'll read more in just a moment, but I'll give you this one little hint:  it was so freakin' good.

3. Tropic of Tempeh Tofu - It really makes me sad that Mister crumples into a heap of hurt whenever he eats tempeh, because I really like it and never get to eat it.  Nevertheless, this recipe looked way too good to bypass just because Mister can't eat the main ingredient...so I changed the main ingredient.

4. Better Bean Burgers with oven fries and these super-slick "burger thins."  I can't wait to make this and photograph it because these things are awesome - they're like the Macbook Air of bread products.

5. Tuscan White Bean Pizza because Mister loves pizza and I love Mister.  And I love pizza.  And all things Tuscan.  Plus, it takes a pretty picture.

So, tonight's dinner was Savory Sausage and Peppers and it was delightful.  How can you go wrong with a skillet supper involving diced Tofurky, bell peppers, and sliced potatoes (among other things)?  Also, there is something magical that happens when you add thyme to potatoes.  It seems like most people associate rosemary with potatoes, but I think they missed the boat - Thyme is where it's at.

It looks just as good as it tasted.  Between the intensity of the Italian Tofurky and the herb and salt-rich sauce, I was able to limit myself to just one-and-a-half servings, preserving a decent bit of leftovers for later this week.  This dish smelled phenomenal while it was simmering, even drawing Mister away from his computer and into the kitchen (all 7 steps) to see what smelled so tasty.  I wasn't at all surprised that it tasted as good as it did, but its inherent attractiveness shocked the heck out of me.  I mean, look at it - it's gorgeous!

Breakfast was also stupendous - a girl has to get fueled up for a fun day of grocery shopping and baking for work potlucks, right?  As promised, it comes with another recipe.

Banana Pecan Oatmeal
serves 1 (but easily multiplied)

1 banana
1 cup of nondairy milk (I used Almond Milk)
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup pecan pieces
1 Tbsp agave nectar (although I find the banana, when very ripe, is sweet enough)
cinnamon sugar for sprinkling

Bring nondairy milk to a light boil.  Shake in oats, stirring, then reduce heat to low.  Simmer 3-5 minutes, stirring often.  Meanwhile, break the banana into pieces and place it in a microwave-safe bowl.  Nuke on high for 45-60 seconds, then mash to near-liquid consistency with your spoon.  Pour oatmeal into the same bowl, along with half the pecan pieces and stir to combine with banana.  Taste and add agave nectar if necessary.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (if using) and remaining pecans.

Tomorrow will bring three blessings (we have to counteract that whole Bad Things Come In Threes thing somehow, right?):

1. For me: When I leave work tomorrow night, I will be halfway through my work week :)
2. For everyone at work: we're having a Thanksgiving potluck and surely, tasty food will abound.

Applesauce Softies from VCIYCJ, more in a minute

3. For YOU:  finally, after all your patience, The Great Chocolate Round-Up.  Yes, I promise.

So, Essene was having a sale last week and I took the opportunity to stock up on BOGO Santa Cruz Organic Applesauce.  There are a ton of amazing holiday recipes which recruit applesauce as a fat replacer, binding agent, or just plain fabulous flavor to incorporate into autumn eats.  One of the reasons I don't have a pantry is...well...because there's no room for one.  Honestly, I would give up my dishwasher to have space for a pantry.  The other reason I don't have a pantry is because even though I have the purest of intentions, when there is a sale that causes me to get things I wouldn't ordinarily buy or have no specific use for right now, I bring them home, thinking I'll store them somewhere until I need them, but then they stare at me until I do something with them.  Such was the case with my applesauce, so when I remembered this afternoon that I have a potluck at work tomorrow, I decided to try my hand at the Applesauce Softies that have been softly whispering to me since I got the book (within days of its release to bookstores).

The first step of the recipe involves reducing the applesauce by simmering it until it becomes more dense and concentrated.  The recipe says this should take about 25 minutes, but it took me about 45 minutes to reduce the sauce from 1 1/3 cups to 2/3 cup.  I had hoped that the simmering applesauce would fill my home with the tasty scent of autumn and apples, but it really didn't smell much as it evaporated the juices into the air of my apartment.  The cookies, on the other hand, smelled amazing!  Mister and I did a small sampling, to make sure I wouldn't accidentally poison my work-mates.  The taste is subtle but they are pillow-soft and rather light for cookies.  The best thing to compare them to would be muffin tops - the kind you want to eat, not the kind that make you avert your eyes out of courtesy and self-preservation.

One last tangent, then I'll let you go dream of chocolate in anticipation of tomorrow's round-up: I stopped into Essene today for my last test chocolate, a pizza crust, and hand lotion (can you develop a more disparate shopping list?) and came away with a bonus prize.

That is an organic Winesap apple.  Until today, I was unaware of their existence.  I still haven't eaten mine - I will probably save it to savor for breakfast on Wednesday morning, but I fear that I will become addicted to these the way I have recently become addicted to Honeycrisps.  I fear this because they are not inexpensive, but heavens!  Look at how red that apple is!  The deep crimson apple, along with my newly ebony hair and perpetually ivory skin made me feel something like Snow White...so I took a cheesy picture: enjoy!