Potato Broccoli Soup

Had dental work done today, so no hard chewing allowed. My boyfriend pureed up some potato broccoli soup and we had soft brussels instead of rough salads. The soup was good, greener in person than in the photo. Lots of fresh thyme.

Queen of Sheba

Here is a lunch photo from Queen of Sheba at 1503 9th Street, Washington, DC. It is a veggie platter with misir wot (spicy lentils), atkilt (with cabbage and carrots but sadly no potatoes), collards, tomato and peanut butter fitfit (crazy, filling injera salad), and green beans. The alcohol, caffeine, gluten, and sugar cleanse I started this month is almost over. I'm glad I got some Ethiopian food into the mix.

Black bean burritos

Here are black beans (with garlic, onion, tomatoes, brown rice, and squashes) and corn tortillas. We ate these burritos with my cousin who is just returned home from a long stay in England. She confessed that Mexican food is hard to find over there. Although I'm not sure if this counts as Mexican food. More like hippie Tex-Mex.

Garlic stir-fry

This is a garlic stir-fry with tofu, fresh chives from PA, and fresh broccoli from the farmers' market. The baby corns were canned and the snow peas were frozen but not too awful. (Some vegetables freeze better than others. In my opinion, snow peas, green beans, and carrots are especially not at their best frozen.) Brown rice and garlic are great fall comfort foods. And big salads are wonderful year round.

Dosa Hut

We went to Fairfax, VA last night for veggie Indian food at Saravana Palace. I got this giant paper masala dosa, listed in the "Dosa Hut" section of their menu. It was the biggest dosa I'd ever seen and had potato and onion curry filling. (A small boy at a nearby table got a similar sized dosa in a pyramid shape.) I also had bowl of mulligatawny soup and chili pakora.

Nufu and tomato sandwiches

Second weekend of my alcohol, caffeine, gluten, & sugar cleanse. Really do miss the caffeine the most. Planning all sorts of post-cleanse binges (bread sandwiches, Sticky Fingers spree, baking a whole cake, etc.). Last night we finished off the gluten-free bread and tried another new product: nufu. Paired well with tomatoes and a tahini dressing.

African Peanut Soup

Recently returned from a whirlwind trip to Philly. I was worried that the city's excellent bread and brew would suck me in but I did okay. Had a caffeinated tea by accident.

This thick African peanut soup filled me up before and after the journey. It is rich stuff, with peanut butter, brown rice, squash, onions, peppers, tomatoes, and garbanzo beans. And here is an impressive pile of roasted brussels sprouts.

Tempeh and avocado sandwich

Tonight's dinner was tempeh sandwiches on gluten-free bread called "Glutino." The sandwich was loaded with avocado and thick slices of tamari marinated tempeh. The bread kind of fell apart, even though it was toasted. Also had salads. The salad below looks messy but tasted great.

White beans, red quinoa

Tonight we were planning a rice and beans dinner, a good Sunday staple. But the natural food store's bulk section was sold out of long grain brown rice. (I told my mom about it and she said Rachel Ray was to blame, for spreading brown rice to the masses of late.) So we had our first red quinoa, which had a great nutty flavor. And super large salads.

Veggie Soup

Day two of this three-week October cleanse. Doing it to shake up some habits I've developed. So far, so good. Mainly I am jonesing for caffeine, especially at work and bike commuting.

Tonight my boyfriend (the usual cook, who doesn't burn quinoa) made an excellent veggie soup with some farmers' market produce (sweet & white potatoes, yellow squash & zukes, tomatoes), leftover quinoa, broccoli, and baby corn. And I made the huge salad, this time with the addition of white peaches.

Vegan MoFo

Vegan MoFo returns! This will be my second year participating in the vegan food blogging month. I've just started a 21-day health cleanse, ala Kathy Freston. So these will be an interesting first three weeks. Then I hope to bake something crazy on Oct. 22nd that combines alcohol, caffeine, gluten, & sugar.

So here is a first cleanse dinner. It is a big dark, leafy green salad with squash, peppers, tomatoes, and peperoncini. And spicy chili atop quinoa, which I somehow managed to burn (first time for lots of things).

Asparagus and Daiya

These are the two hot items at our apartment.  Local asparagus roasted or grilled.  And the trendy new vegan cheese, Daiya.  We scored the asparagus at our local Farmers' Market.  The Daiya was available at Sticky Fingers.  We've used it to top pizzas, burritos, pastas, and even salads.  I think we overdosed.  But it does melt.  

Product review: Amy's Kitchen Roasted Vegetable Pizza

Here's a photo of a cooked Amy's Kitchen Roasted Vegetable Pizza, which was available at our Safeway grocery store.  It is great to have a vegan option in the frozen pizza section and I really like that the box announces "NO CHEESE" in bold letters.   My review is: not too bad for frozen pizza.  Rather sweet flavor with agave as a main ingredient.  Too bad they don't do a whole wheat crust.  It did seem small for two people, but I'm used to mammoth portions with home cooked pizzas.  And it is pricey compared to making your own pizza, around $8 I think.  You could probably freestyle a baguette pizza for less cash.      

Cookies and brownies

Here is my return to food blogging with two baked goods photos.  The chocolate chip coconut cookies are a recipe of Sarah Kramer, the punk rock vegan version of Betty Crocker.  I've made this super easy recipe to great success many times now.  Here is the recipe and video link with Sarah Kramer in action.  This video also inspired me to buy an oven thermometer, which is a godsend invention and has greatly improved my baking experiences.  

Meanwhile, the brownies are from the latest May + June VegNews Magazine, the recipe of Sweetpea Baking Company in Portland, OR.  I can't travel easily right now due to an epic foot injury but have decided to travel in recipe form.  Portland tastes sweet.      

  

New Year's Day eats

We spent New Year's Day at the farm in PA with lots of good food. Here are photos of blueberry pancake breakfast, tofu pizza lunch, and a huge dinner spread that included mini rosti (cleverly baked in muffin tins), sauerkraut, chickpea curry on toast, roasted cauliflower, and apple sauce. My mom has set the bar high for good luck foods.

Biggest salads of 2008

These were some of our biggest salads of 2008. The one with the baby corns was huge. I resolve to eat even more dark leafy greens in the new year.