Quick Fix Vegetarian

Operation Cook Book is in full swing! This week I cooked several dishes from Robin Robertson's Quick Fix Vegetarian. What I really like about this book is that it's full of creative flavorful recipes that all take half an hour or less to make - proof that quick vegan dishes don't have to be bland or boring. Despite the name, the dishes are all egg and dairy free. I also like the clean page layout of one recipe per page. I really hate when recipes run into each other on a page! My one complaint is that I think the dishes don't have enough veggies. That's a simple fix though - just add more veggies!

Polenta and Pinto Bean Pie. This recipe is super easy to make and really tasty. It's basically pre-cooked polenta, a jar of salsa mixed with a can of pinto beans, tortilla chips and cheese, all baked together. I added sautéed peppers and onions to mix.

 Spicy Coconut Rice Noodles with Tofu and Cilantro. I added red peppers and snow peas to this dish to make it a complete meal. Yum!

 Tempeh with Coconut Peanut Sauce. By now, I think my love of peanut sauce is well known, and because of it, this was my favorite dish that I made from Quick Fix Vegetarian. I made a peanuty kale dish from this month's issue of Vegetarian Times to go with it. When Dennis had the leftovers for lunch the next day, a few coworkers followed their noses to his office and asked what the amazing smell was!

 Stir-Fried Tofu and Vegetable Teriyaki. I loooove teriyaki sauce, and this dish was quite delicious. 

Udon Noodles with Bok Choy and Creamy Tahini Sauce. This recipe called for baby bok choy, which I couldn't find, so I used the regular sized variety. I added red peppers and shittake mushrooms for some color and because I wanted a few more veggies in the dish. The tahini sauce was so good that I'm sure I'll be using it again on other dishes!

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Whole Foods Vegan Mousse Parfaits

Not that I really need to eat dessert, but while at Whole Foods a few days ago, I found myself standing in front of the dessert case looking for more Candle Cafe mini tarts. To my disappointment, there were none to be found, but I was quite surprised to find vegan mousse parfaits in about 5 or 6 different flavors. Of course, I had to try one! I got a chocolate parfait and Dennis got a raspberry one. They were quiet tasty and the chocolate one was so rich that I couldn't finish it!

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Three Sisters and Curly's Vegetarian Lunch

Dennis is difficult to shop for, so I usually buy theater tickets for his birthday. This year, I bought tickets for Three Sisters at the Classic Stage Company. It's a really great theater because it's small and there is no stage - the play takes place in the center of the floor and the audience sits in seats along the walls. We had front row seats, so we felt like we right in the action. And Peter Sarsgaard whacked me in the knees with his coat! 

After the play, we went to Curly's Vegetarian Lunch, which is two blocks away from the theater. Years ago we used to frequent Veg City Diner on 14th Street and 6th Avenue, but sadly it's now gone. Curly's is owned by the same people and has similar diner food items on their menu, but it's much, much smaller that Veg City Diner. I counted the tables, and I seems like the restaurant seats 20! We've only eaten there once before - about 5 years ago when it first opened. I'm not sure if the food has changed, or if my taste buds have, but I will admit that it wasn't as good as I remember. I'm not saying it's bad, but I couldn't help but compare it to Red Bamboo, which has similar food that's much tastier. I would eat there again though!

 We started with buffalo wings.

I wanted to faux tuna melt, but they were out of the faux tuna, so the waitress recommended this sandwich. I'm not even sure what it was called! It had baked tofu, avocado, lettuce, tomatoes and Daiya cheese. And I had curly fries on the side! 

 Dennis had a Philly cheesesteak and curly fries.

Curly's has Vegan Treats cakes, and I just couldn't pass up a slice of Peanut Butter Bomb cake. I could only eat half and had to get the rest wrapped up to go. 

Dennis had a slice of coconut lime cake. 

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Vegan Brunch

I mentioned last week that I want to pick a cookbook each week and try three recipes from it. Well, I've had a head start on my goal! Not only did try three recipes from Party Vegan, I also made a few things from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I love this book and have made many delicious things from it in the past.

 It was cold out, and I was craving hot tea and warm muffins, so I flipped through Vegan Brunch to see if there were any recipes that I could make with the ingredients on hand. Coffee Chip Muffins seemed to fit the bill! I swapped out the wheat flour for spelt flour. They were super quick and easy to make, and they were absolutely delicious!! These muffins totally hit the spot!

And because those muffins were so good, I also made Zucchini Spelt muffins. The recipe calls for 2 cups of shredded zucchini, but once I had my zucchini all shredded, I had three cups. I made a batch and a half and made 12 mini muffins as well as 12 regular sized muffins.

 I made a Puttanesca Scramble for dinner (or should I say brinner?) a few days ago. I added nutritional yeast and a little Daiya mozzarella to it because I was in the mood for something cheesy. This was a really good twist on the tofu scramble. The olives and tomatoes gave this dish so much flavor.

I also made Potato Spinach Squares. Potatoes and spinach go so well together! This is the same recipe I made for the brunch potluck on Sunday.

The scramble and squares were perfect together. I had meant to make this meal for Dennis's birthday brunch, but it didn't happen. I'm glad I was finally able to make it, because it was delicious!

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Candle Cafe Mini Tarts

Apparently I missed the email that said Whole Foods was going to be carrying Candle Cafe desserts, so I jumped up and down with joy and surprise when I found these little tartlets a few days ago. I was so excited that I bought one of each flavor. And no, I did not run home and gorge myself on sweets. Dennis and I slowly ate our way through these over the course of a few days. I found that half a tart was a decent sized portion, and only eating half meant I had some leftover the next day!

 Dennis loves fruity desserts so this raspberry linzer tart was perfect for him. He loved it!

 I'm more of a chocoholic, so I went straight for the chocolate mousse tart. This was incredibly rich and creamy. Amazing!

We split this chocolate peanut butter tart. Who doesn't love peanut butter and chocolate together? Yummy!

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Party Vegan

As I mentioned last week, Dennis gave me Vegan Party by Robin Robertson for Christmas. And as I also mentioned last week, I'm going to try to make three recipes a week from a different cookbook every week. Last week I made a few things from Vegan Party:

 First I made Confetti Corn Muffins. I didn't need to wait for a party to make these! I made them just because I was in the mood for a muffin. They have chili peppers, bell pepper and corn in them, which is what makes them "confetti" muffins. They were really tasty!

 I had friends over and made Chickpea Artichoke Bites with Rosemary Aioli. These were a HUGE hit. They didn't last very long! 

I also made Potato Skins for my friends. These went even faster than the Chickpea Bites! I mixed together Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream with chives, onion powder and garlic powder and served it with the Potato Skins. Can you say "Yummy"?

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Brunch Potluck

On Sunday, Montclair Vegans had a brunch potluck at my friend Rachel's house. Brunch potlucks are a lot of fun because people get really creative with the food they cook. And everyone's food was always really amazing! A few people came in after I took pictures, so I don't even have a record of just how much food there was! This was a meal of epic proportions.

 I made potato spinach squares. There weren't any left at the end of the day! The recipe is from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

 Jessica made tofu scramble.

 Rachel made build your own tofu rancherous fixin's.

 Caren made mini pumpkin muffins.

Eileen also made tofu scramble. 

 Lori made a 7 layer dip.

Amanda made muffins. 

 Beth made potato and veggie sausage hash.

Stephanie made tofu another scramble.

 Jenna made crepes.

 Jen C made carrot cake pancakes. 

 Karen made tofu scramble with greens and sweet potatoes.

 Jen G made mini muffins.

 Deana made polenta frittata.

 Venkat made a bean dish.

Irina made roasted squash.

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