Well dang, that was tasty

Today's VCI LDV challenge was Baby Spinach and Apple Salad with Sweet Red Wine Vinaigrette. I have to admit that when I hear the word "salad" I don't get excited. And it's so weird, because then I eat a salad and I'm like, "YUM". So, whatever, I'm a weirdo.

I sincerely apologize for this overexposed washed-out weirdness of a photo of my ghosty pretty salad, but I was working without my usual equipment.

I did a few substitutions; pumpkin seeds went in place of the pine nuts, Craisins went in place of the raisins. This is what I had on hand, so I went with it.

Also, for the dressing it calls for "oil" and then lists several varieties as suggestions (hemp, flax, grapeseed).  I didn't have any of those so I used avocado. Totally a worthwhile splurge, if you can swing it. Makes a good gift.

So there you have it. Tune in tomorrow for "Noodle Salad (*sigh*, haha) with Spicy Nut Dressing".

Blueberry Dilly-Dally

So, I'm going to have forego tonight's challenge to make the "Blueberry Dilip". I just can't in good conscience prepare such an item without a.) someone here to share it with and b.) some of this.  So, I'll get back to it later.

For tonight it's just me and some leftover leek and potato soup.

Lo siento, mis amigos. Hasta luego.

Sopa

Today's post will be a shorty. A series of events left me with little time for blogstuffs, apologies.

The recipe of the day was for Simple Leek and Potato Soup. I followed the recipe relatively exactly, with the exception that I used all 4 of the leeks that came in the bunch I purchased.

Too many leeks? Perhaps.

But alas, the proof is in the pudding soup.

A pretty yum accompaniment to my Tofurky sammie, and a welcome salve on this rainy, rainy night.

Cheers!

Today's a Two-fer

Hello!

Getting caught up here. Today's challenge is Estrellasoap.com Peanut Butter Fudgie Mounds.  I was pretty stoked to find that I had all of the necessary ingredients already on-hand.

So I got to cooking.

You like that live-action shot of the stirring, don't you? ;-)

Sadly, my results turned out less-than-picturesque. They taste pretty darned excellent, however.  Messiness factor notwithstanding.

I also took care of making Day 2's challenge, The No Salt Shaker.

Here's my "creative" shot.

It reminds me of this sand sculpture my mom had around when I was a kid.

I guess now I know why mom never let me play with it.

Happy labor day to US readers and cheers to all!

La Dolce Vegan Challenge - Gerry’s Artichoke Heart and Basil Pasta

Ok folks, here we are at day 3 4 (thanks Raven! whoops!) of Vegan Culinary Institute's cook-through of La Dolce Vegan challenge.

So here's my funny story about going to the grocery store. I looked over the recipe for today and realized that I'd have to go out and pick up a few things. One of the things I was missing was the 6oz jar of marinated artichoke hearts.

I head up to the closest place. The first location in which I find artichokes in the store is in the canned vegetable section. They had canned un-marinated artichokes, and then they had "Rosa" brand marinated chokes. I see the 12 oz jar on the top shelf and sitting next to it is what I assume is the 6oz jar, but there's no label for me to confirm. NONE of the jars in that size had a label. I thought this odd, but chalked it up in my mind to a manufacturing defect and perhaps an oblivious stock clerk. In an effort to avoid a difficult time at checkout, I decide to see if I can find a jar elsewhere.

Further on down the same aisle I come across the "italian" section. Again, top shelf I find jars of "Cento" artichoke hearts in the 6oz and 12 oz size and AGAIN, no label on the 6oz!

I don't know what possessed me to grab one of the unlabeled 6oz jars...

But that's when I noticed this...

Hahaha! I am an IDIOT.

(I went back and got the Rosa ones since they were 20 cents cheaper. Yes, I am a cheapskate.)

Anyways, I traipsed around the store and gathered up my remaining missing ingredients. (I actually showered, dressed and made it out of the house today...aren't you impressed?)

The pine nuts, the tomato and the garlic came from the store. The fresh basil came right out of my herb garden! (Yay!) I felt pretty confident that the tomato I chose qualified as "large".

So everything got sauteed up in a little bit of olive oil.

And tossed up with some pasta.

And voila! Dinner is served.

More dark dinner photos...sorry. Hunger often trumps artistic display around here.

Don't forget some fancy-pants eye-talian agua for good measure.

Ciao bellas! 

Ketchup post

Okay, no actual ketchup will be featured in this post. This post was supposed to go up yesterday so...you get the idea.

Yesterday, continuing on the La Dolce Vegan path, I made the "Portobello Pot Pie" recipe. In keeping with my past bad behavior established theme, I ended up subbing some ingredients for items I already had on-hand. So, in reality what I made was a "Shitake Pot Pie", since no portobellos were actually involved.

I also subbed a small sweet potato for the small potato called for, so as you can see there is a lot of orange in this pot of chopped up veggies.

It smelled so good when it was simmering on the stove. What made it smell so good? I suspect these guys are the culprit.

For liquid, we added some veggie broth and a couple of tablespoons of (my apparently well-loved) tamari.

Crap, did I remember to preheat the oven?

Haha, yes I did.

I didn't photograph the dough-making process, but I assure any dough-fearers out there (like myself), that the process was easy and relatively painless.

And so, after some simmer time and about 25 minutes in the oven we had a lovely little dinner on our hands.

Sorry about the dark photo...I was too hungry to fuss with it!

There were no leftovers.

I hope to post Friday's challenge later on today along with today's challenge, and I also promise to get my first field report up very soon as well.

Hope y'all are having a great weekend so far, signing off for now.

La Dolce Vegan Challenge - Day 1

Just as I decided that I would venture into the wild world of serious and committed blogging, I ran across Vegan Culinary Institute's cook-through "La Dolce Vegan" challenge via Krys of Two Vegan Boys. I have never cooked through an entire cookbook before, but it is definitely something I'd like to try.  Today's challenge, the first, is to make "Wolffie's Banana Blueberry Muffins" for which, thankfully, all of the ingredients are already in my cupboards.

Once I actually started measuring out and combining I found I was a little light on ground ginger, so I just dumped in the remainder of the jar. It appeared to be less than the prescribed 1 tsp., but I wasn't too worried about that.

My bananas probably didn't qualify as "large", but I was afraid if I used two that it would be too much.

Always trying to put a healthy spin on things, I opted for the "White Whole Wheat" flour from Trader Joe's.

Aw, look at this cute little group of ingredients, huddled together.

As you'll note in the photo, I opted to use coconut oil for the "oil". You can get it much cheaper if you buy it at an indian/asian market, as opposed to a health food store.

Here's what I used as "milk".

Can't forget the sugar, although I did cut it back to a little more than 1/4 cup, as Raven at VCI suggested.

Slap it all together, and after 20 minutes in a 375 degree oven you get...muffins!

I had to make mine mini, because my full-sized muffin pan is a little rustified, and I was out of liners (and too lazy not properly dressed to go out and buy some).

Verdict: pretty darned tasty! The hubs and I enjoyed them warm out of the oven, spread with a little whipped Earth Balance.

Thanks Raven for organizing this challenge! I look forward to the rest of the journey!