Pasta Fagioli

Pasta Fagioli: olive oil, celery, carrot, onions, garlic, vegetable broth, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, kale, navy beans, macaroni, oregano, red chile flakes, pepper.

Served with homemade whole wheat flax bread and roasted cauliflower.

BBQ Tempeh Rice Bowl

I can't really give you much info on the cooking methods or ingredients, because Tomas made it, but I can tell you it was delicious. Brown rice topped with kale braised with chili and garlic, BBQ tempeh chunks, carmelized onions, sliced avocado with sesame seeds.

Bienvenidos a Queens!

It's been a while since I posted and lots has happened in food- and non-food related news. I'm starting grad school in August, cut my hair off, and started baking bread every week. Also, Tomas, Simone and I moved to Sunnyside, Queens and I've been eating well the whole way.

Queens has fewer exclusively vegetarian and vegan restaurants than Brooklyn does but there is lots of good eating for vegans and overall everything here is considerably more affordable. In our neighborhood we have a Mexican restaurant with a special vegan seitan burrito on the menu (and they deliver!) as well as some very friendly Thai spots whose staffs have all been very accommodating to our "no egg, no fish sauce, extra tofu!" requests. We live above a 24-hour grocery store with a seemingly special room for kimchi and fresh noodles and there are several specialty Middle-eastern markets within a 3 block radius so many varieties of halvah and spiced teas are readily available. We also enjoy an abundance of Irish bars with very affordable happy hour specials for those rare occasions when food isn't really necessary...

Some recent homemade dinners made by Tomas, who is happy to be back to his home borough (where his New York-ese accent fits in better):



Here are the Courico Tacos with Grilled Pineapple Salsa from Vegan Brunch. God I love this book. And tacos. I love tacos. Seriously, the spicy soy filling is a great contrast to the salsa: sweet pineapple chunks, cilantro, red onion. I would eat these for any meal.









Yellow rice with peppers, cilantro and pinto beans, garlicy kale and sweet fried plantains (platanos maduro).

Tempeh-tastic

Homemade tempeh bacon based somewhat on the VWaV recipe: steamed tempeh marinated in maple syrup, tamari, liquid smoke, orange juice, garlic and chile flakes fried in peanut oil. Roasted yukon gold potatoes (just with a little canola and salt,) and some mixed baby greens with maple-mustard dressing (maple syrup, dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt).




If you've never cooked with tempeh before, you should definitely give it a try. Tempeh is a Indonesian-style fermented soy product. It's made with whole soybeans and has more protein an fiber than tofu. You can pick it up at a well-stocked health food store or grocery usually in long cakes. I usually steam it first, to remove some bitterness and to tenderize it. Just a few minutes will do fine. Then throw it in a stir-fry, like this one...




Tempeh stir-fry: Steamed tempeh, steamed kale, broccoli, red bell peppers, sesame oil, peanut oil, scallions, minced fresh garlic, minced fresh ginger, agave, tamari, peanuts, sesame seeds, served over brown rice.

Vegan pronto

Two quick Italian dinners:







Basil-almond pesto with kale: basil, almonds, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, brown rice pasta, kale.












Polenta with spring vegetable ragu: cornmeal, artichokes, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, onion, garlic, red chile flakes, oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, salt.

Italian Scallion!

It's red, white and green-- get it? An improv potato soup inspired by my Mom who taught me to cook without recipes.

New potatoes, kale and red scallions from the farmers market with garlic, Earth Balance, soy milk, thyme, rosemary, oregano, black pepper and red chile flake. Lots of leftovers of course, which will be even better when accompanied by some really, really delicious vegan "cheese" crackers.