free Beaujolais? mais oui et merci!

So, tonight was the Midtown Village Beaujolais Nouveau festival, honoring the third Thursday of November, when the Beaujolais Nouveau is introduced to the waiting (and aware) world.  It involved 12 restaurants serving Beaujolais-soaked entrees or appetizers (or maybe just constructing a specialty cocktail involving Beaujolais, like the Sangria at the Stephen Starr Mexican joint) and 9 area retailers (including my store) offering sales and complimentary tastes of the new vintage.  Some highlights?

• Beaujolais risotto
• Beaujolais-braised short rib pizza
• Beaujolais-inspired chocolates
• Beaujolais soap and lip balm
• and my favorite... Beaujolais jello shots

There were several other things, but those struck me as most outstanding and interesting.  I was working for the first two hours of the festival, but when my shift ended, I headed out to see what was still going on.  I entered Duross & Langel and was treated to a dixie cup of 2011 Beaujolais Nouveau and a complimentary tin of Beaujolais lip balm (it kind of smells like cherries, but whatever - it was free and makes my lips feel shiny).  They have some amazing handmade soaps in there and I will almost definitely return for the holiday shopping season - this stuff is great for that person who has everything because they are both novel and expendable.

After sniffing to my heart's content (and wishing things had price tags), I gave my empty cup to the jovial young man who had given it to me when it contained a swallow of wine and headed out the door. I wandered next door to Paper on Pine, owned by a neighbor of mine and a lovely woman (who also patronizes our shop).  As soon as I came in, the owner recognized me and gave me a more generously-poured plastic cup of 2009 Beaujolais-Villages (which wasn't exactly the point, but it is considered Georges deBoeuf's Vintage of a Lifetime and it's one of my favorites) to sip on as I chatted with her and wandered around her delightful little store.  I ended up with a lovely card and some stationery.  I will undoubtedly revisit her establishment not only for Christmas shopping but for many other things (she does custom-printed invitations and announcements, too).  As I was paying, she asked if I wanted more wine - what a lovely woman!  Alas, it was time to go home and make dinner, so I just stopped into my "local" wine store and picked up my own bottle of 2011 Beaujolais Nouveau to enjoy over the weekend.

It was only by reminding myself that payday is tomorrow that I was able to prevent myself from calling the newly-opened Vedge for reservations.  I've waited this long...

Nevertheless, by the time I got home, it felt too late to start making a dinner with an hour and a half of cooking time, so I decided to wing it!

Mister and I had a field day trying to come up with a cookbook-worthy name for this creation, but unless anyone would like to volunteer something a little snootier, we're going with

Pasta with Green Veggie Marinara

6 generous servings

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil

5 medium cloves of garlic, pressed

generous pinch of red pepper flakes

1 bunch of asparagus (roughly 1lb), bias-cut into 2" pieces

10oz frozen spinach, thawed

24oz prepared marinara

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a sauteuse on medium-high heat.  Add garlic and red pepper flakes, then reduce heat to low and saute, stirring frequently, 3-5 minutes, until golden.  Add asparagus and stir well to combine with garlic.

Cover pan and raise heat just slightly to make the asparagus sizzle a little.  Saute 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Meanwhile, cook the pasta of your choice (my choice was penne) according to package directions.  When the asparagus is tender, stir in thawed spinach.

and then add the marinara and stir well to thoroughly combine.

Simmer, uncovered, 5-7 minutes.  Drain the pasta and season the sauce with salt and/or pepper to taste, then toss the sauce with the pasta and serve!

Enjoy!  (with some Beaujolais Nouveau...)

Cheers!

autumn minestrone = awesome sauce

This is truly one of my favorite times of year.  I love each "first" of fall - the first cool day, the first time you pull on a long-neglected jacket, the first scarf draped loosely around your neck.  I love the first nip in the air and the first time it is truly justified and not just paranoia to button/zip up your jacket and maybe hunch up a little against the wind.

I love the smells - the crisp scent of firewood set ablaze in someone's cozy fireplace, the smoke wafting from their chimney and filling the air with an unmistakably autumnal feel and smell; the first emergence of cinnamon brooms and pine cones in the supermarkets, and the syrupy aroma of freshly baked apple cobbler in your own kitchen.

Yours.  Not mine.  I'm not baking until Wednesday at the earliest.  But you can share your smushy, cinnamon-y, warm apple-y cobblerness with me if you'd like.

Today was the first day the sunlit temperatures couldn't find their way out of the 50s, which meant it was also the first day we didn't have the a/c on at work, which meant it was the first day I was actually warm.  Regardless, the walk home was all the chilliness I needed to be perfectly provoked to make Autumn Minestrone from the Moosewood Restaurant Soups & Stews Deck.

To a soundtrack of Apoptygma Berzerk, I lovingly made the broth myself last night, following a recipe from the same deck for Garlic Broth.  Believe me, anything involving 3 heads of garlic is okay in my book.  I expected the resulting soup to be a bit brothier, since it called for 6 cups of the broth I painstakingly simmered while playing on facebook,  but I guess I underestimated the sheer volume of veggies that would be going into it.  Believe me - I'm not complaining about the veggies.  Every time I eat something this full of veggies, especially lovely, dark green, Tuscan kale and Vitamin C-rich cauliflower, I can just about feel the health flowing into me.

I could use a little boost right now.  But hey, when I can breath without tightness in my chest, I'll appreciate breathing all the more, right?  This is just another opportunity for gratitude.

Nevertheless, I did anticipate the soup would be, well....soupier, so I asked Mister to pick up special rustic Italian bread for us to dip in the broth and make our soup dinner a little more substantial.  Turns out I needn't have worried, but the seeded spelt bread he picked up was still a delightful addition to our light Mediterranean feast, which I topped off with a generous bowl of mixed olives.

One final thing of note, merely because I'm making such a concerted effort to improvise more: somehow, in a moment of brain malfunction, I used up the zucchini I meant to add to this soup.  After a thorough interrogation of the cat, I remembered what I had done with the zucchini and moved on to being grateful I was too lazy to make the roasted cauliflower appetizer I had intended for a few nights ago (when I used up the zucchini without realizing), so I subbed the cauliflower for the squash.  Mister loves cauliflower and merely tolerates zucchini because it's a part of so many recipes there would be nothing left for me to cook if he outlawed that ingredient, too (along with eggplant, mushrooms, tempeh, quinoa, and "squishy wheat").  Mister and I agreed, though, that this soup was far better completed by the cauliflower than it would have been with zucchini.  The texture it leant was perfect, as was the subtle flavor and the barely perceptible way it soaked up the garlic broth.

helpful reminder

It feels like fall is arriving a week early.  Mister and I are completely okay with that, although I need to be a little more vigilant about wearing enough clothes to deal with the lower temperatures.  Due to "rail improvement," what is usually a 30-minute train ride to teach turned into an hour-and-15-minute-long odyssey.  At the conclusion, I decided to treat myself to a coffee to wake me and warm me and as I was walking back to where I teach, I passed a restaurant marquee that struck a chord (sorry, terrible pun).

"It's time for soup and chili!"

Obviously, that was meant to be an invitation for passing cars to pull into the parking lot and enjoy soup and/or chili inside the restaurant, but as I strolled by, coffee in hand, I thought, "Yes, yes it is."  During the long way home, I had plenty of time to plot my replacement for what was supposed to be Spanakopita, including which grocery store to hit for supplies.

So, as I sunk into my light scarf and hooded shirt and watched the dreary scenery of West Philadelphia pass by my window, I daydreamed of a hearty, savory soup and September Lentil Soup was conceived:

September Lentil Soup
6 servings

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 large cloves of garlic, pressed/minced
1 large green bell pepper, diced
3 large carrots, peeled and diced (I quarter them lengthwise and slice at about 1/2-3/4")
5 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp kosher salt (or whatever suits you, though I wouldn't recommend amethyst bamboo salt)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1 Tbsp [vegan] Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp tomato paste

1/2 cup brown lentils (a la Goya)
1/2 cup red lentils
4 cups vegetable broth

Recipe:
Heat oil in a large saucepan or soup pot (I found my 2.5 qt saucepan was just fine), then add garlic and green pepper.

aim for all veggies to be of uniform size

a shortcut I find helpful is to press the garlic onto
the peppers and scoop the whole mess into the pot

Cover the pot and reduce heat to low.  Saute garlic and pepper for about 5 minutes while you're dicing the carrots, then add them to the party.  Cover again and saute 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, while you dice the tomatoes.

Stir in tomatoes, thyme, salt, and black pepper.  Sprinkle on liquid smoke and Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine, then cover and simmer 5 more minutes.

Stir in both the brown and red lentils, then pour in the broth.  Add tomato paste and stir well to make sure everything blends together.  Raise heat to high and bring to a boil.

Once the soup has come to a rolling boil, reduce heat to the lowest setting and allow to simmer, uncovered, 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender.

enjoy!

Mister and I certainly did enjoy it!  It was everything I wanted it to be and it was really a great feeling to recognize that I now have an adequate enough understanding of how certain things taste and how those flavors can work together that I can create a tasty recipe out of thin, chilly air.  It was perfect - an attractive, chunky, filling and totally savory soup.  Mister, who does not normally appreciate soup dinners went back for a generous second helping.  Fortunately, he was also in total agreement with the marquee that started it all...

pale september

Pale September... I wore the time like a dress that year.  The autumn days swung soft around me, like cotton on my skin.  But as embers of the summer lost their breath and disappeared, ....all my armor falling down in a pile at my feet,and my winter giving way to warm...

Yes, it is finally September.  As the nighttime temps seem to be habitually landing in the mid- to low 60s, I turn my face happily toward Autumn - my favorite season.  A season when Mister's allergies finally get a small bit of reprieve, a season full of beautiful colors, incredible scents (they already have the cinnamon pine cones at Superfresh!) and shorter days through which to squint.  A season when the spiders in my basement, theoretically anyway, should leave me to do my laundry in peace, rather than sending Mister down to make sure they're not waiting to eat me and then freaking out halfway through loading the second load into the washer because a new, not-dead, spindly spider is creeping up the wall only a couple of vulnerable feet away.  If you'll wait a moment, I need to go ask Mister to switch the loads now...

Anyway, to celebrate the new month, we met up with my parents for lunch today.  Okay, actually, it was completely coincidental that they were in town today and it just happened to be the first of September.  Regardless, we met them at Cooperage, outside the Curtis Center, and I finally got to sit at the wood veneer tables in those neat black wicker booth benches with orange cushions.  Normally, the orange and black combination makes me think of Halloween, but for some reason, with this place it just makes me think of manly men who drink bourbon and how masculine I fancy myself sometimes.  I'm probably going to regret writing that.

I got a veggie burger with sweet potato fries - yes, sweet potato fries!  This was a very exciting moment for me.  Unfortunately, they were not nearly as tasty as the ones I've had out west.  At this point, it may be a power of suggestion kind of thing.  The veggie patty was okay, but since Mister's squooshed out in every direction, I just ate mine with a fork.  Not very manly of me, I'll admit.  Then again, neither is this drink:

That's my Bumboo Punch and it had something like 5 different fruit nectars in it.  It was strong, though - despite the many competing fruit juices, I could taste the rum quite distinctly.  It was a fun lunch - our water was served in mason jars with handles and our sandwiches came in shallow metal pails.  I'm not totally sure what that was about, but it definitely added to the whole Early 20th Century vibe the place had going on (which was exactly why I chose it).

Nevertheless, after sitting in the sun for about an hour and drinking that tall, fruity, rummy drink, I was ready for a serious nap when we got home.  Instead, Mister and I had a pot of coffee.

Isn't that pretty?  Mister bought me that tea-cup a few years ago and his mom got me the saucer for my bridal shower.  Normally, I just display all of my antique tea-cups (and saucers, of course!) on my china cabinet shelves, but I thought to myself today, "What's the use in having pretty things if I don't occasionally use them?"  So I pulled that pair off the shelf, rinsed them off and had my coffee in pretty china.  That made Mister smile at me.

This makes me smile.  Actually, it makes me smile and giggle a little, too.  It never stops being funny to me how I can make Leftover Molds.  I told Mister I didn't want to make Lasagna tonight because we still had so much Jambalaya leftover, so I heated up the three pounds of leftovers for dinner tonight.  It didn't taste any different than the first time, but it sure was more amusing, slipping out of the Gladware and holding its shape like a little Cajun Bundt cake made with rice, vegetables, and seitan.

spice and rice and everything nice

I'm already thinking [dreaming] of autumn, my favorite time of year, and even the dead cold of winter.  No, it's not actually all that hot right now, no 100+ temperature heatwaves to complain of (although Mister and Angst are wilting and weeping like there is).  I seem to have a penchant for cooking spicier-than-I-thought-they-would-be meals in the middle of summer, when the last thing I want to do is overheat my body from the inside out.  So I'm thinking of how handy Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo is going to be come the snowy, bitter winter months, when all we want is something that will heat us from the inside out.  Or maybe just keep the inside warm.

Isn't that a fabulously trippy package?  I love all the colors that really ought not be combined - quite amazing, but I'll tell you, it's not difficult to locate on the shelf!

By the way, if the meat association I made last time wasn't gross enough for you, I'm just going to let you use your own colorful imagination on this next one.  Once I had freed the chorizo from its non-intestinal casing, I thought it looked super gross.  Good thing I already knew how it tasted...

ew.

Regardless, I chugged along, combining the various components of Granada Paella from The Urban Vegan and testing the true capacity of my 2.5 quart pot (because I was too lazy to clean up the pot I meant to use last night - Fridays are not good for my energy level).

I'm pretty sure if it could have overflowed, it would have.  I was kind of envisioning the funny moment in almost every sitcom or comedy movie in the late 80s, early 90s where the pot of popcorn pops too much and pushes the lid off of the pot and spills onto the stove and floor.  You do know what I'm talking about, right?

Okay, so stupid memories and poor analogies aside, it made for a very tasty and very innard-warming dinner.  Not the best thing in August, but at least I have another hot meal in my arsenal for that first bitter chill this fall.

When I told Mister it was the same chorizo I used to burn my face off with the tacos, he laughed incredulously and asked me why I used it again.  I explained my expectation that the basmati rice would calm the flavor a bit.  It did, actually - it was still quite spicy and hot (if I haven't made that clear yet), but the rice dispersed the heat and made it tolerable enough that although my face still turned red and my nose still got sniffly, I only needed my Apothic Red and a little TJs Belgian chocolate to sooth the burn this time around.  Which is fortunate, since I didn't want to test my luck trying to get ice cream home from TJs today.

So, in the interest of saving money (and showing Whole Foods they aren't the only game in town - I'll let you know when the post is up), I'm making a habit of doing my menu and grocery list on Friday night or Saturday morning, then stopping at Trader Joe's on my way home from teaching.  Since I was doing my best to get everything I would ordinarily get at WF, my bill was a bit higher than it's been...but it was still well under $40, so I consider it a total victory.  I filled my basket with many tasty things to make:

1. Panang Cucumber Curry from the new Vegetarian Times magazine that made my mailbox happy a few days ago.  I don't know if I've ever actually cooked cucumber, so this should be interesting, to say the very least!

2. Braised Cabbage with Seitan from Appetite for Reduction, which has been feeling a little left out lately, so the rest of the menu is also sourced from that amazing cookbook...since I know I can count on Isa to never let me down!  This is actually in a section of the book some people might consider appetizers or side dishes, but it looks substantial enough to me - protein, veggies, served on Basmati for a starch...we're good to go!

3. Forty-Clove Chickpeas and Broccoli, which I intend to serve over mashed potatoes, because that's awesome.  It's also awesome that at Trader Joe's, they call russet potatoes "The" Potato and only charge 29 cents apiece.  Compared to other produce prices at Whole Foods, I'll admit that $1.79/lb sounds like a great deal for potatoes...until you realize that most russet potatoes are nearly a pound each!

No, I'm probably never going to stop being awed by how much I'm saving by shopping across town.

4. Pasta Con Broccoli to make up for the blandest meal I've ever made.


5. Ginger Bok Choy and Soba.  Maybe.  If I can find soba and bok choy.

6. Moroccan Chickpeas and Zucchini which I realized, as I was flipping through the pages, I've never made before.  I scanned the ingredients and discovered that this may be the first recipe I'll make that has the word "Moroccan" in the title and does not include fake ground meat.  So, of course, I needed to try it.  Let's see if Moroccan food can be tasty when it's only vegetables!  (I'll bet it can.)

a delicata situation

My sister has accused me of having a strong personality.  Actually, she meant it as a compliment and that's exactly how I took it.  It came as a bit of a surprise to me, though, after what felt like a lifetime of being "the girl with."

The girl with?

You know, the girl with Kara, the girl with Mandy, the girl with Mindy.  The girl with.  I wasn't Natalie or anyone really - I was Michael's girlfriend, Scott's girlfriend, Annie's friend, and occasionally, when I was lucky, That Girl Who Sings.  My personality was smothered by my friends' bigger personas, prettier faces, or just my own personal weaknesses and fears.  So when my sister told me I have a strong personality, I loved her more than ever before, and I loved me, too.

Unfortunately, there is a downside to having a strong, confident personality - people who are still who I used to be: uncertain of themselves, lacking confidence, thin-skinned.  So, I have recently found myself pussy-footing around the insecurities of entirely too many people for my own comfort. 

When I was younger, I was the target of many pickings-on at school.  I wouldn't ever say I was bullied, but I was definitely terrorized a little by my classmates.  I used to come home and cry to my mother and beg her to intervene somehow that wouldn't make people laugh at me or to send me to a different school where I could start over.  She almost relented and I know it hurt her to see me so sad, but she said something to me that helped me to become who I am, who I love now.  She told me I was too sensitive and needed a thicker skin.

She was right.  If she hadn't said that to me (and believe me, I didn't appreciate it at the time), I might have become one of the people I'm busy trying not to offend now and I wouldn't have liked me nearly as much as I do.  Now, if only someone would tell my colleagues/"subordinates" to toughen up a little.

As long as we're talking about delicate situations, let's talk about my new Wednesday Night Adventure:

Broccoli, Delicata Squash, and a sweet potato, all scrubbed and ready for roasting.  I've never had delicata squash before, but there was a whole basket of little, pretty delicatas at Essene the other day, and I thought they were pretty when I read this post, so I thought I'd give them a try.  On a Wednesday.  Because Mister hates squash.
 
I came up with a new recipe when I picked up the squash, because I was also craving tempeh, so I figured I'd really do it up this week on One-Serving Wednesday since I slacked off last week and shoved vegan pizza in my face instead of cooking (one plain cheese and one with sausage and avocados).

 

Tamari Tempeh with Roasted Vegetables

2 large or 4 small servings

8 oz tempeh

1 small winter squash (I used Delicata)

1 small jewel yam or 2 medium carrots

1 head of broccoli, cut into florets

2 Tbsp tamari

1/4 cup water

olive oil

sea salt (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Cut the yam and squash into generously bite-sized pieces (remember, they'll compress a little while roasting), toss with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with sea salt if desired.  Spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and roast for 35 minutes, stirring every 7-10 minutes.  Add the broccoli florets and more oil in the last ten minutes, stirring to combine. 

Meanwhile, cut the tempeh into four equal pieces and place in a large skillet with sloped sides.  Combine tamari and water, then sprinkle liquid over tempeh.  Heat over medium heat until liquid has been absorbed by the tempeh, flipping once or twice with tongs.

   

I stopped at Whole Foods on my way home from the train tonight because I was one breakfast away from running out of fruit.  After selecting one of each variety of apple (because I live to make life difficult for the cashier), a bunch of almost-ripe bananas, and a couple of kiwis, I also picked up a new-to-the-shelves jar of apple butter.  I spread some on a slice of bread while the veggies were roasting and realized that I probably would have been perfectly happy to make a meal out of that, so it was a good thing I'd already set the wheels in motion for my roasted dinner.  

 

Happy October!  (again)

it's time for soup and sweetzels!

Happy October!  Yes, it's still exciting, especially since last night (after clearing some room in our bellies after our Blackbird feast) I welcomed Autumn the best way this Philly gal knows how:

Nothing says "Welcome to October" like that first glorious display of these familiar orange and brown-black boxes of locally made ginger snaps.  Sweetzels are as much a Philly tradition as pretzels and cheesesteaks, but fortunately, they are vegan without any tweaking.  Served on a pretty plate along with a nice hot cup of decaf hazelnut coffee, they walked me down a path of memories scattered here and there like the leaves which will soon crunch beneath people's feet.  I remember when I was a child, how excited my father got this time of year - it was time to break out the Sweetzels and the apple cider (and apple cider donuts if we were really lucky), maybe pay a visit to Highland Orchards and take a hayride before filling our arms with apple butter and donuts (maybe a few caramel or candied apples for good measure).  It also signified that there were only a couple of months until my father's other favorite seasonal treat - egg nog.  It took me years to realize how gross that stuff is, but it still invokes nostalgia if I smell it and I just might take a chance on Silk's "egg" nog this December.

Yesterday was a beautiful autumn day, growing crisp as the sun began to fade beyond the far silhouette of the treeline as we left Lancaster county and re-entered our familiar city limits.  Today was just miserable, cold, and rainy: the perfect day to stay curled up in bed, emerging closer to noon than sunrise (if, indeed, you could find the sun) to drink cup after cup of coffee while eating toast or waffles or fruited oatmeal.

I went to work.

After a brisk walk through the mist upon returning home, repeating a mantra-prayer that went something like this "please don't rain 'til I'm home, please don't rain 'til I'm home" repeat ad infinitum.  It appeared to work, because I was only a little misty when I got home, rather than wet and sad.  Either way, I was chilled and wanted one thing only.

Tonight's dinner was White Bean-Tarragon Soup from The 30 Minute Vegan which I served with surprisingly tasty grilled cheeses made with cheddar Rice Vegan on Whole Foods brand multi-grain bread.  Hopefully, my mother will read this at some point, look at that picture and laugh at me because I burnt the sandwich.  I was such a pain when I was younger - I think I gave her anxiety problems just from my grilled cheese requirements, chief of which was don't burn the sandwich.

In any case, I was impressed with how flavorful the cheese was.  It didn't melt as in "get all gooey," but it did bind the two pieces of bread together, so it must have done something.  I don't think you can tell a difference between this "cheese" and regular cheese in a burnt-ish grilled sandwich, which is fine by me and Mister didn't appear to mind.  I could justify adding this to my fridge-pantry list, though I would like to try some of the other brands out there now that we have so many choices....here in the city...not in Lancaster.

Enough Lancaster-bashing (for now), let me tell you about my soup!  The broth was extremely flavorful and there was a definite Asian influence, probably owed to the minced ginger and tamari.  The soup was actually far chunkier than I thought it would be, which I believe was its saving grace with Mister.  Half the ingredients are herbs or spices and the other half are celery.  Okay, maybe not, but it sure seemed like the celery was almost as prevalent as the beans!  The grilled cheese didn't necessarily go, cuisine-wise, with the ethnic-inspired soup, but grilled cheese and soup go together like Angst and his blanket.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways

I love October.  What's not to love?  In the Northern Hemisphere, the weather is cooling into a delicious (if not sniffle-inducing) autumn.  Having recently become a train commuter, I'm looking forward to watching the trees turn beautiful colors without having to worry if the jackhole in front of me just slammed on his brakes to stare at the accident on the other side of the highway.  Autumn in Pennsylvania is gorgeous, specifically October, which is Pennsylvania's most popular wedding month for that very reason.  So, of course, I'm also looking forward to another celebration of marriage this weekend between a dear friend and his ladylove.  I'm also looking forward to driving the Audi A4 I reserved through PhillyCarShare to arrive at this blessed event in style.

The end of the month will find Mister and I winging our way to sunny Southern California.  Mister will be attending the much-coveted BlizzCon with our brother-in-law and my dear sis-in-law and I will be frolicking old school style (but with the addition of her adorable little son).  I'm already starting my list of awesome places I've read about and desperately want to visit at least once, including Real Food Daily.

love her!

We'll be flying home the day before our anniversary, so we can celebrate by dining at our favorite restaurant instead of flying and going deaf from the air pressure changes.

Last night I made Pasta Jambalaya from Vegan Express and aside from finally fully cooking the celery, there wasn't much to say about it.  Tonight, I reprised Isa's Braised Cauliflower in Three-Seed Sauce from Vegan With A Vengeance.

It was magnificent - far better than I remembered it, and I remembered it being pretty darn good!  There was some neat interaction going on between the tomatoes and seeds that really enhanced the flavor of the dish.  Another part of it might be the minced poblano pepper I sauteed with the garlic in place of the jalapenos called for in the recipe.  Ordinarily, I leave out hot peppers without bothering to substitute anything in place of them, but I've been wanting to cook with poblanos and the one I picked up at Whole Foods was just so pretty and ready to be cooked.  I'll admit, I was a little trepidatious when I was mincing it, since I touched my tongue to a piece and it was a little burny.  I seemed to have cooked out all the hot, though, because it seemed to enhance the sweetness of the sauce which dressed the cauliflower.  It also looked pretty.

Next week is looking to be a bit hectic at work.  We greeted the fourth fiscal quarter today, which generally means a serious slow-down in activity for our sales agents (not many people are eager to lose weight heading into a season peppered with parties and eating - that's what January is for.  It's like a month-long hangover from the festivities that took place between Halloween and New Years.), but it means a serious ramping up in the training department.  In preparation for the penitent clogging up our phone lines come January 1st, now is the time that my boss and I scramble to train roughly 80-100 new hires before Christmas.

What I'm trying to say is this: don't be surprised if the new menu (up soon) is comprised mainly of express meals.

harvesting the nectar before it's gone

It was a gorgeous almost-autumn day today. The temperature was hovering in the low 70s, the sun was out but there was a nice breeze blowing... I wandered down to the Italian Market to try (again) to get either Beluga lentils or more French lentils and they were out of both. How disappointing, but at least I got to take a walk. I bought bunches of vegetables, including 9 different bell peppers - it's going to be a pepper-heavy menu this week, but it seems there's a bumper crop, so it works out.

I also got more bananas which may or may not get to stay whole for more than a day... last time, I was just a day late in eating them all up and the fruit flies won that round. The little buggers only live about two days, but for those two days, they are annoying as hell. Chocolate Covered Katie has a recipe for banana butter which I'm considering, since I still haven't settled into an oatmeal routine. Maybe I won't - I could just spend the fall and winter experimenting, but I have learned several times over that I really just don't like chocolate oatmeal. That probably will not stop me from trying again, though.

Anyway, tonight's dinner was Stewed Lentils with Soy Sausage and Fingerling Fries, both from Vegan Express by Nava Atlas. It was not a fast meal, but that is owed to two factors:
1. I don't believe in canned lentils. They just seem gross.
2. My stove got crippled somewhere between reheating that amazing lentil soup we had earlier this week for lunch and making dinner tonight and all that came out of the burner was the wretched smell they put in natural gas to prevent you from killing yourself accidentally. So, down a front burner and too short to reach the back burners for something requiring frequent attention, it took a little longer because I had to trade off.

The stewed lentils looked kind of gross, but it tasted good and that's really what matters. The fries were both attractive and tasty, though a little bland because I'm very conservative with the salt (you can always add more, but you can't take it away, right?).
I stand corrected, now that I've made a whole bunch of recipes from Vegan Express - Nava has two standard ingredients: sun-dried tomatoes and Tofurky sausage. It kind of works out, though, because Mister loves Tofurky everything and I have thus far been unable to give him a Tofurky for a holiday feast. Someday...when our home is big enough for guests...

I thought I had finished my food shopping today, but it turns out I did forget to pick one thing up at Whole Foods. I'm glad I have to go back because when I was looking at some of the blogs I follow today, I found that my absolute favorite fruit and nut bars are being discontinued! So, I'm planning to march my butt back to Whole Foods tomorrow and buy every Lemon Vanilla Cashew Nectar bar and Dark Chocolate Walnut Nectar bar they have. It's ironic - after all my bar testing, those remained my favorites for many reasons.

In any case, here is the menu for this coming week. I still have one more Isa soup I'm making tomorrow night, though, from last week's menu.

1. Potato Corn Chowder (from Accidental Vegan by Devra Gartenstein)
2. Seitan Pepper Steak (also Accidental Vegan - this was one of the recipes that made me buy the book)
3. Vegetable Etoufee (from One-Dish Vegetarian Meals by Robin Robertson - this is another old standard that I make almost every time I flip through this cookbook)
4. Punjabi Peppers and Tofu (from La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer, the crazy Canadian who introduced me to the wondrous world of vegan cooking, as well as the magical spice medley called Garam Masala)
5. Penne Pasta with Fresh Veggies (from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau) That has to be the most unimaginative name I've ever seen for a recipe, but we'll forgive her because she comes up with clever-cute names for her full menus.

bring on baking season!

The perfect way to welcome September - with Apple Pie! Okay, it was just a larabar, but it was delightful!

This was a dense and very sweet bar. I was initially inclined to think it was too nutty, but after a few more bites I realized that the nuts helped to calm the flavor some. It reminded me a bit of the Apple Cinnamon Nectar bars (which also have gorgeous packaging), but easier to eat, due to the nuts - the Nectar bar is just too sweet.

The first thing I noticed when I unceremoniously ripped open the wrapper was the wonderful smell of apple and cinnamon...absolutely one of my favorite scent combinations. It was like tearing open the wrapping paper on Autumn (my favorite season).

Now, when I say "baking season," I am primarily thinking about tasty little treasures made up of warm syrupy fruit, smothered with an oaty, streusal topping, or maybe the melt-in-your-mouth crumbs of a coffee cake, or these fantastic little cookies baked with freshly cut apple chunks. However, I also love baked dinners. They provide warmth from the inside out in a way only slowly cooked foods can...the rich scent of lasagna or pastitsio, the tenderness of stuffed peppers baked in the oven, rather than on a skillet, and the inherent sweetness roasting brings out in vegetables. Also, baked dinners allow me a little bit more time to relax in the evening, as opposed to the whirlwind of perpetual motion that leaves me dancing around my small kitchen, tending to three pots at once and hoping I don't burn the garlic.

My inaugural baked meal (welcome, dear September!) was Isa's BBQ Pomegranate Tofu, served on a bed of coconut rice (with real toasted - and almost burnt - shredded coconut). I love this tofu - I keep saying "this is my favorite," but seriously - this is my favorite tofu. It's baked to perfection, then smothered in the best BBQ sauce ever and baked some more. We ate every last morsel!