Terry Testers!

I'm sure most of you know about the glorious Ms. Terry Romero, author & co-author of so many esteemed vegan cookbooks. She's hard at work on another cookbook, and I'm one of the many folks helping out by testing her recipes. Sometimes I get jealous when I'm surfing the blogs and I read about people who are testing for cookbooks - it feels like they're in on some big exciting thing that I'm not a part of. I hope you won't feel that way! Testing is definitely fun, but it also really keeps you busy and sometimes the meals don't turn out perfectly because the recipe is still being adjusted or refined.

So, ever since VeganMoFo ended, I've been busy in the kitchen cooking up meals from Terry's tester database, and I call them "Terry Testers." As you know, I am a big fan of cooking foods from around the world, and that's just what Terry's new book will be. Here are some of my favorites so far:

Japanese Night:

Okonomiyaki - a Japanese savory veggie pancake thingee that was 5-star mega delicioso. I am in love with this tasty item!

Here it is without any of the sauce or garnishes on it... nekkid!

Along with the Okonomiyaki, we also had these delicious Japanese Greens with Sesame. So delicious, and cute too!

Moroccan Yumz:

Moroccan Butternut Squash "Salad," with jicama

I really fell in love with Moroccan food when we went to Morocco a couple of years ago, so I've made a lot of the Moroccan style dishes in Terry's tester file. I remember so many dishes like this one, and they were all called "salads." Basically, they were warm or room-temp veggie side dishes... using a vast array of veggies, spices and herbs. Moroccan food is definitely a cuisine that knows what to do with a veggie!

Moroccan Carrot "Salad" with whole-grain bread slices.

OH MAN, did we love this one.

Another Moroccan-y dish; sort of a Tempeh Tagine with Carrots and Preserved Lemons, plus delicious toasted couscous. I've always wanted to make my own Preserved Lemons, and Terry's recipe is totally easy and fool-proof. How fun! That's another thing we saw (and tasted) absolutely everywhere when we were in Morocco... so the flavor really made these dishes taste authentic (and nostalgic!) to me.

Salad with Fennel & Oranges.

We ate so many oranges in Morocco, so this salad really hit the spot. I think we were served fresh oranges at every meal we ate in Morocco... and we saw them growing on the trees everywhere. Lately the oranges at the farmers market here have been really delicious, so I was happy to have a reason to make this salad!

Other Yumz:

A Middle-Eastern style salad with quinoa and chickpeas and sprinkled with sumac. I made this one just last night and it was absolutely incredible. Everything you could want in a meal all wrapped up in one pretty dish.

Afghani Ravioli!

There used to be a really excellent Afghani restaurant here in Santa Cruz, and they had lots of vegan options on the menu. These "ravioli" were something I remembered so fondly, so I was really happy to learn how to make them. They turned out even better than the ones at the restaurant! Big Yums.

Some simple tofu (not a tester recipe) with Greek rice and greens recipes. I love simple and hearty dinners like this. The rice was so easy to make, but came out tasting so special and much fancier than it actually was to prepare. Perfect!

Bonus Furbabies!

I couldn't decide which sleepy cutie picture to share, so I'm sharing them both:

Little Snoopy spotted our guest comforter folded up on the green chair, jumped up, royally messed it up, and got himself all tucked in. So cute. I think he was there for about 2 1/2 hours!

A while back, while tidying the bedroom, I put down a red pillow in the corner (thinking it would just be there for a moment.) Yummers pounced on that pillow and spent about one month completely inseparable from his red pillow. Just the other day he discovered this pillow, and now I can put the red pillow away, but not this one.