Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Cooking with Lindsay S. Nixon for January

This month's VegCookbook Club featured author is Lindsay S. Nixon, aka the "Happy Herbivore." I don't own any of her cookbooks but was able to borrow The Happy Herbivore Cookbook through my public library on Overdrive. I find the Overdrive app a little cumbersome for cookbooks. It's hard to navigate to a specific recipe; I usually start in the index but am plunged into random locations from there. However Lindsay Nixon has a number of well-designed print books and many recipes available on her user-friendly blog.

Here's what I've made so far this month. I'm not sure how much more I'll cook up, as I'm moving to a new apartment in February and my energy is shifting to those non-foodie preparations. All of these recipes are highly recommend for fast, uncomplicated, and healthy eats.

Baked Onion Rings
I never thought I'd be able to make healthy onion rings at home but these oil-free versions--made with whole-wheat bread crumbs, cornmeal, garbanzo flour, vegan milk, and spices--are the bomb. You get all the fun of onion rings without feeling gross from deep frying. I served these with a trio of condiments: ketchup, mustard, and Sriracha vegan mayo.

Quick Queso Sauce
This is a nutritional yeast sauce more than a "queso" or cheese-flavored spread. That said, it is a cinch to make and really livened up my leftover burritos this week. It calls for whole wheat flour, vegan milk, spices, and "nooch." You heat it on the stove top, taking care not to burn the bottom. Maybe next time I'll add tomatoes and green chilies.

Single-Serving Brownie
Another quick and easy recipe, this time it's a dessert. This single-serving brownie is a cinch to throw together. I cooked it in a metal measuring cup in my toaster oven, one of the suggested methods. An intense chocolate fix in 15 minutes without firing up the oven; how cool is that?

Tofu Ricotta Cheese and Low-Country Cucumbers
I made these two recipes on a Sunday to use on salads throughout the week. The tofu ricotta cheese recipe tastes less like cheese than herby tofu, which is fine by me. The cucumbers were simple and spicy. They disappeared faster than the tofu.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

NYC bites

It seems to take holiday weekends for me to update my blog. Here are some food highlights from a pre-holiday trip to NYC. My boyfriend and I ate lots of sandwiches during this visit, as it was a balmy December weekend. We also enjoyed some dim sum, a seasonal favorite, in Chinatown. My favorite thing was the bowl of steamed spinach that we had at the handy midtown Loving Hut before catching the bus back to DC. It was nice to eat something simple and healthy in the midst of our holiday binge.
Grilled Nama Gori panini and home fries at Sacred Chow, the best sandwich of our trip!
Dim Sum at Buddha Bodai, includes turnip cake, mushroom congee, meatballs, veg spare ribs, and spinach roll.
Mushroom panini at Peacefood Cafe 
Udon Thai Curry at Loving Hut
Sauteéd Spinach at Loving Hut

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Favorite 2013 VegCookbook Club Recipes

It's New Year's Day and I realized that I didn't post about VegCookbook Club for December but I have been revisiting my favorite recipes from 2013. Below are some photos, largely from Instagram, with links to my initial reviews from earlier in the year. Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan got my vote for cookbook of the year, but all of the books that I sampled were winners. I didn't get my hands on Isa Does It, the November book, which won the popular favorite. However I will be cooking from the January selection, the books of author Lindsay S. Nixon, aka the Happy Herbivore.
Top Smoothie: Crazy Sexy Goddess Smoothie, I posted about this amazing smoothie twice!
Top Dressing: Dijon Vinaigrette. Okay, I really like making salad dressings. This one is classy.
Top Baked Good (savory): Cornbread Biscuits
Top Baked Good (sweet): "You Got Peanutbutter in my Chocolate" Cookies, also from EDBV. Oops, I never posted about this one. But it was good enough for my office holiday potluck.
Top Dessert: Sinful Chocolate Pudding. So easy to make.