Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Lots of Tasty Eating Goin' On

We've been eating lots of great food here lately at Chez Vegan Eats & Treats... it's been wintery, and I've been happy for the excuse to cook up some warm, hearty meals.

This recipe has become a favorite of mine, it's a Sweet Potato and Collards dish with coconut milk from "Fresh Food Fast," except that I use butternut squash because someone (read: Mr. Vegan Eats and Treats) doesn't like sweet potatoes. It's very thai-inspired, it comes together in a flash, and it's so delicious. Plus, the hot jalepeno is a great touch on a cold day.

First up, a big batch of Roasted Root Veggie Soup - I had some turnips and butternut squash from the garden, and some rutabegas & carrots from the farmers' market. I even snuck in some sweet potato, which was well received!! I peeled and chunked all of them, tossed with a little bit of oil, and also roasted some shallots and garlic cloves... then I threw 'em in with some homemade broth, fresh herbs from the garden, salt and pepper... cooked it a while, and pureed it. mmmm. SO good. We ate it with fresh rye bread and roasted brussel sprouts. Perfect food for a cold and wintery night.

We are planning a trip to Morocco, Lisbon, and Spain in a couple months, so we asked our TV to record anything with the words "Morocco" or "Moroccan," which resulted in us recording an episode of Emeril, of all things! I made his Moroccan Vegetable Couscous, with a few modifications - 2 tsp of oil, instead of 6 Tbsp oil + 1 Tbsp butter (!!), and made my couscous the quick and easy way. It looks so incredibly lovely, but I have to say it was missing something. It was so very mild, even after I had doubled most of the spices. I wanted some heat, and it didn't have any... so we ended up adding hot sauce to jazz it up a bit.

Here it is, all plated up and topped with a lovely yogurt sauce also from Emeril. I used Wildwood Unsweetened soy yogurt, 1/2 an english cucumber (peeled and seeded and chopped), a couple Tbsp of fresh mint- finely chopped up, a pinch of salt, and about a 1/2 tsp of fresh lemon zest. SO good. After dinner I ate the whole bowl of yogurt garnish plain. It was lovely!

These baked jelly donuts are one of the recipes I baked up to help Alicia test for her upcoming cookbook. I was totally stoked on these little babies! Choosing the baking, rather than frying, option meant that these were a really nice treat and decidedly low fat. Definitely something I would make again. Also, it turns out that injecting jam into jelly donuts is a rare thrill.

Another evening of testing for Alicia, potato salad and baked beans - hearty fare for a hungry tummy!

Inspired by the success of my pantry party, I have been making some serious headway on clearing out more goodies from the pantry. When I was making the jelly donuts, I had risen two batches of yeast, because I was suspicious of their yeasty-rising-capacities. Well, it turns out that they BOTH rose just fine, so then I felt like "I can't just let this little bowl of rising yeast go to waste!" So, in about 10 minutes flat, I whipped up a batch of whole wheat cinnamon rolls and used my canned pineapple from the cupboard in the filling. MMmmmmm. I popped 'em all in the freezer and every once in a while I'll take one out for a treat.

Last week was our little dog Stevie Wonder's 5-year Adoption Day! So, to celebrate, I made a batch of sweet potato-peanut butter-molasses doggie treats. I took a recipe i found online, tweaked it around a little and made a big batch of treats for Stevie and her doggie friends.

Here is little Stevie, practicing a new trick of leaving the treat on her paw before she is allowed to eat it. I love you, Stevie!!

Here's the whole trio of them... staring at the treats longingly. They look pathetic, but don't worry, they got to eat SO MANY of them!!

ps. today is our cat Yummers Potatoes' 9-Year Adoption Day!! It's Yummers Day! So, he'll be getting a special bowl of broccoli or green beans tonight - his favorites. I promise to take pictures. :)

17 comments:

  1. Emilia6:25 PM

    Mmmm- Can you send me the recipe for the Sweet Potato and Collards dish and roasted root veggie soup? That'd be great. Now that I see how they turned out- by you- I'm dying to make the dishes :). Overall, you did great on the cooking.

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  2. Awwwww, congrats to both Stevie and Yummers! All your animals are so sweet and adorable. :)

    Those cinnamon pineapple rolls look soooooo good!! *drool*

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  3. Your cooking looks so yummy ! And I love the oven baked donuts :).
    As I am new to veganism, I am not sure to know who is Alicia... but for sure I want to track her upcoming book ! Could you indicate Alicia's blog address, if she has one ?
    Thansk a lot for your great blog !!

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  4. Happy Yummers Day!

    I was looking for a way to email you and can't find it on the blog anywhere.. I have a question.. would you please email me at lisamunley@ca.rr.com? Thanks!

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  5. Those all look so good (even the dog treats. HA)

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  6. i love, love, love the dogs. they are precious.

    http://nuestracena-vegancuisine.blogspot.com

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  7. Oh my, the jelly donuts and cinnamon roll look mouth watering! Not something I want to be lusting after at 10:30 pm! :)

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  8. Woah, jelly donuts!

    And I've always wanted to go to Morocco, I hope you document some of your travels for the blog!

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  9. This all looks awesome! The root veggie soup sounds especially tasty, and the jelly donuts look perfect. Your doggies are too cute, and I love that Yummers eats his greens! I don't think my cat would give broccoli a second look.

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  10. Everything looks supper yummy! Sadie wants to know if you can fed x some of those treats so she can "help" celebrate. Stevies paw trick is pretty sweet. Love to you my friend.

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  11. Anonymous12:24 PM

    wow, all amazing as usual, but esp. the soup/brussels/rye bread - that is my kinda meal. wish it would magically appear here right now for lunch on this rainy day!
    -jen e.

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  12. Oh Happy Adoption Day to all! So freakin' cute that pic of the three pups. Everything looks delicious as always! especially yummy are the jelly donuts & sweet potato/coconut milk soup- so perfect for the buckets of rain we have here in NY this weekend...

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  13. Precious pups! Looks like you had some fun Adoption Day celebrations. But I dislike you very much for not sharing cinnamon rolls with me... great post! Going to go gnaw on my hand now (guess that wouldn't be vegan, but eh).

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  14. I was thinking another awesome batch of yummy looking food, then I got to the baked jelly donuts - OMG! :-)

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  15. Oh heck i'm not even a dog but i'm eyeing those dog treats like they're human food! Sorry, that was embarassing! This is such a fabulous blog!! i'm excited to read more!!

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  16. Wow, those are some delicious meals there! yum.

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  17. Whoa: Stevie is TALENTED. What a good dog and cat mom your are. :)

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