VegCookbook for January

January's VegCookbook Club is Crazy Sexy Kitchen: 150 Plant-Empowered Recipes to Ignite a Mouthwatering Revolution by Kris Carr with Chad Sarno. What a beautiful book to behold!  It's filled with glossy, "food porn" photos and has a colorful, attractive design. I'm just starting to cook from it and am totally pleased. It's the perfect volume for January detoxing. Here's what I've made so far:

My new favorite smoothie

Crazy Sexy Goddess Smoothie
So refreshing! It looks dark purple and viscous but it tastes summery and airy, like a fruity gazpacho. I've fallen in love with this blend of cucumber, coconut water, greens, blue berries, and banana. I left out the main ingredient: avocado, opting for some nut milk instead. I also didn't add any stevia, as I'm not a fan of extra sweeteners. I did add raw cacao, the suggested superfood. It gives the smoothie a chocolaty under taste.

Green Colada
This smoothie is a tropical pick-me-up. It calls for vegan milk (I used unsweetened almond), pineapple, orange, banana, and spinach. The results are a nice color, unlike many of my usual brownish "green" smoothies. I think I was in a smoothie rut but this cookbook is a revelation.

Warm Kale and Quinoa Salad
This warm salad is a breeze to prepare. (My boyfriend said it smelled like green peas while it was cooking.) I think it might be more of a quinoa kale salad in terms of its ratio. When I make it again, I'll triple the kale. I used almonds and dried cranberries here. I'm sure you could swap all types of nuts and fruits. You could also play with the dressing for more variety. However sometimes it's nice to have a simple and straightforward grain. It'd work well as a subtle side dish.

Lotus Cafe in Silver Spring

For New Year's Eve, my boyfriend and I got our Vietnamese fix at Lotus Cafe in Silver Spring, Maryland. Located at 8077 Georgia Avenue, Lotus Cafe is next door to Jackie's Restaurant and can be spotted from the Metro train when it surfaces. We had visited this unassuming spot before, back when it was called My Le. I remember dining alfresco on the wooden patio. This visit we checked out the restaurant's interior--a bit funky but not without charm. In fact, we had the whole dining room to ourselves because other folks must prefer posh, white table cloth restaurants for New Year's celebrations.

Summer rolls

We started our meal with artfully arranged summer rolls. These tofu rolls were a nice, fresh break from the many deep-fried spring rolls of Christmas past. I ordered the Half Burn Rice Noodles (top), not entirely sure what the name meant. The thick, wide rice noodles that came out were, in fact, half-charred and deliciously so. My boyfriend ordered pan fried rice noodles (below), which came as a thinner vermicelli. These plates were very similar in terms of fried tofu, veggies, and sauce. Really, the style of noodle was the big difference.

Lotus Cafe has a sizable vegetarian section on their menu. They also have a full bar, which was essential for the holiday. Their patio alone deserves a revisit in nicer weather.    

Paragon Thai in Cleveland Park

Pad bean sprout close-up

My boyfriend and I ate out way too much during December because we were on our holiday dinner and a movie kick. For Christmas Eve and day, we had great Chinese food at Harmony Cafe in Georgetown and at Jackey Cafe in Chinatown. I took photos of these two spots but the lighting was often too dim for blog purposes. Guess I'll just have to visit each another time. (A good problem to have.) However one restaurant that we visited on the Christmas holiday weekend had both great food and excellent lighting: Paragon Thai Restaurant.

This welcoming Thai restaurant is in a small strip mall at 3507 Connecticut Avenue. It's extremely handy to the Cleveland Park Metro station and steps away from the Uptown Theater, the greatest movie screen in the District, now an AMC Loews cinema. Paragon Thai was very busy on the night that we visited but the staff was attentive and kind.

We started the meal with two appetizers: Tao Hoo Tod, aka crispy golden tofu triangles, and deep-fried spring rolls. These appetizers were both excellently done, appealingly greasy. Next we had two mains. My dish, the Ka Pow Jae (below) was very spicy, as advertised. It was almost "Thai-hot," as some menus call it. This level of spiciness is a challenge that I love to meet.

My boyfriend got a mild pad bean sprout dish (top) with lots of mushrooms in a brown sauce. Paragon Thai also offers brown jasmine rice, for an extra charge. They have a full bar and reasonably priced Asian beers.    

Ka Pow Jae

New Year's Eve cookies

Chocolate Nut Cookies

Here's my final recipe from the VegCookbookClub December pick, Vegan Holiday Kitchen by Nava Atlas. I made these spicy chocolate nut cookies for a weekend party but still have some extra for New Year's Eve. I used granulated sugar for topping rather than powdered sugar. It gives the cookies a snowy, sparkly look--very fitting for the holiday.

I enjoyed Nava Atlas' cookbook and will surely return to it for special occasions. But I'm eager to quit overindulgent, seasonal eating. Next up is January's book, Crazy Sexy Kitchen. I scored a copy from the public library and am excited to dig into it. Kris Carr's motto is "Make juice not war!"

Christmas brunch: vegan ebcb

Here's a photo of the British-style brunch plate that my boyfriend, Matt, dished up this Christmas. He is a long-time fan of ebcb reviews on the blog eggbaconchipsandbeans. I guess this non-traditional, vegan version could be called ttcb, for tofu, tempeh, chips, and beans.

Matt made a delicious silken tofu "scrambled egg" and baked fat and crispy sweet potato chips. He served these with Lightlife's organic smoky tempeh and Whole Foods' 365 Organic baked beans. For condiments, we had ketchup and malt vinegar on hand. Sadly, no brown sauce, which I guess is proper. Served up with piping hot tea.

Holiday drinks

Here are two holiday drink recipes from the VegCookbookClub December pick, Vegan Holiday Kitchen by Nava Atlas. I used some Kraken Black Spiced Rum for these but they'd be excellent virgin too. Cheers!

"Vegg" Nog
I couldn't find cheap cashew butter, so I made the drink base from raw cashews, blended in my food processor. Just add almond milk, agave, vanilla extract, and nutmeg to taste. I can't remember what egg nog is actually supposed to taste like, but this is a sweet, creamy, and rich treat.

Hot Spiced Apple Cider
When my parents visited last week, they left me some apple cranberry cider, which worked well with this recipe. It calls for a spicy simmering mix of orange slices, cinnamon sticks, and cloves. I skipped the cloves (and the cheesecloth), adding an orange slice to each mug and plenty of nutmeg. It seemed sweet enough, so I didn't add any extra sugar.

Pot pie and dilly dip

Here are two more recipes from the VegCookbookClub December pick, Vegan Holiday Kitchen by Nava Atlas. The cashew chocolate mousse pie that I made last week turned out great! My parents were impressed and I had a left-over pie crust. So this time, I tried a savory pot pie recipe and a quick appetizer.

Hearty Vegetable Pot Pie
Above and below are two photos of the vegetable pot pie. I'd never made a pot pie before but I remember them from my childhood. This recipe had lots of room for play. I got to choose 3 veggies: collard greens, broccoli, and mushrooms. Then I swapped Japanese sweet potatoes for the regular white potatoes. I "made" the breadcrumbs as directed, which wasn't hard at all. And used a Penzeys salt-free seasoning blend called "Forward!," instead of Spike or Mrs. Dash. Overall, I was happy with this recipe. It didn't slice perfectly, but I really stuffed it with ribbony and chunky veggies. I'm certain to make the pot pie again with other variations.

Pot pie cross-section

Dilled Miso-Tahini Dip
This creamy, versatile dip was a cinch to make with soft tofu, tahini, and white miso blended together with lemon juice, dill, and scallions. I left out the optional nutritional yeast but added garlic, giving it a "hummus flavor." This recipe makes a thick dip that really clings to your crudités. (I recommend raw broccoli.) It also makes a nice sandwich spread and a handy dressing for massaged salads.