Spinach Tofu Quiche

It seems like all my veg cookbooks have quiche recipes, and I can never remember which one is the one I prefer. But I think I've finally figured it out: the one to go for is The New Farm Cookbook spinach quiche.

Essential ingredients in any tofu quiche recipe (besides the obvious pie crust and tofu) are lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and garlic granules. I generally saute a couple cups of whatever veggies I have in the house - red bell pepper, mushroom, kale, or any combo thereof are good substitutes for the spinach. Should there happen to be another spinach shortage. I also tend to use a store bought crust, since the quiche already bakes for nearly an hour. This way prep takes about 15 -20 minutes, and I can do other things while it bakes.

Soba Noodles with Chinese Vegetables in Ginger Garlic Sauce

This is a good one for busy nights! Keep some fresh ginger in the freezer and you will always have some ready for grating. (No need to thaw.)

I used two bundles of Soba noodles, a 10oz bag of frozen Chinese vegetable mix, two cloves of garlic, a teaspoon of ginger (pretty mild - add more if you like a gingery zing!) some soy sauce and a teaspoon or so of sesame oil. Add some diced Japanese tofu (Mori Nu) if you want protein.

Set the water to boil, and cook the noodles. Meanwhile, sautee the ginger and diced garlic in canola oil for a minute or two, then add the frozen veggies and cook lightly. Toss the cooked noodles with soy sauce and sesame oil, then add vegetables. Taste and add more soy, sesame oil, some hot chili paste, or pepper. Good hot, cold, or lukewarm.

What Rosie and Dan Ate This Month

It's official - Amy cooks more in two weeks than I do most months! Luckily, I have an archive of every meal Dan and I cooked over the past year to call on for this blog. Here are a few things we ate in November. I'll enter details if I have time!

11/5 Soba Noodles with Chinese Vegetables in Ginger Garlic Sauce
11/6 Spinach and Red Pepper Tofu Quiche
11/8 Yellow Soup
11/13 Kale dogs on French bread
11/14 Pasta e fagioli

Guest bloggers coming! And a baby!

I apologize for my long hiatus from menu posting. We are expecting another baby in the summer, and this first trimester has left me tired and not at all in the mood to cook! Even the thought of sitting down to consider the week's menu is unappealing. We are unfortunately eating a lot of takeout, although we have also thawed some things from the freezer to eat, which has been nice.

I'm hoping my culinary desires return in a few weeks. In the meantime, my friends Dan and Rosie had a great suggestion--vegan guest bloggers who post their own menu plans for the week! I love the idea of seeing what other friends are planning. Dan and Rosie have long kept a dinner journal, where they jot down what they prepared or ate that evening. Once I figure out how to grant them posting permission, look for their great menu ideas! They both have great taste in foods. Dan is the general manager of Wheatsville, our local awesome food coop. Rosie is an amazing vegan baker--her pies and cakes are to die for! I'll also see what other friends might want to join in.

I am also considering getting more serious about a once-a-month cooking concept, where you spend a day or a weekend cooking up a storm for the month, and then freezing things in meal-sized portions. We'll see if I can muster up the energy for that. :-)

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We had a huge vegan potluck feast with friends, then visited our family the next day. Our feast included a homemade "No Turkey" roast filled with marinated seitan, stuffing, and gravy, covered in a pastry shell. It was delicious--thanks to the McElwees! On the side we had mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, homemade rolls, roasted Brussel sprouts, and bread stuffing. Desserts included pumpkin pie, cherry chocolate pie, dark chocolate cake, and apple pie. Whew! We were full, needless to say.

Look for more posts and posters soon!

Grilled Chili Burgers and Fries

Pretty basic and not very photogenic on its own, so I'll just share a photo of Berkeley enjoying his burger. He actually ate it all together, instead of peeling off various ingredients and then ignoring the patty.

Black Beans Charros with Cornbread

Finally! We made this last Thursday for some friends, and I am just now finding time to post about it. As I said, this recipe is from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian cookbook. It is so easy and really succulent. The book is wonderful, because it gives specific directions on preparing every kind of bean and grain, as well as lots of great recipes.

Black Beans Charros

1 1/4 cup dried black beans, cooked until tender
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 T canola oil
5 T finely chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
6 canned plum tomatoes, finely chopped, plus 1/4 cup of their liquid
1/2 to 1 jalepeno chile, very finely chopped
2 T chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic, stirring and sauteeing until golden. Add the chopped tomatoes and their liquid and the jalepeno, and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook gently for 10 minutes. Stir the tomato mixture and the chopped cilantro into the beans, and bring to a simmer over low heat. Simmer gently for 5 minutes and serve hot.

I served it with diced tomatoes, tofu sour cream, and guacamole to put on top. I also made cornbread to go with it.

Dinner Menu for the Week of November 12

Sunday
Grilled Chili Burgers and Fries
Rob is going to grill burgers out on the deck, and we'll bake up some fries to go with them. For the grill, I prefer Amy's Texas Burgers--they are so good! We'll top them off with some chili. Messy but good.

Monday
Gemelli Noodles with Tomato Sauce
The pasta sauce (my mom's recipe) is left over from a gathering this weekend, and we'll cook up some gemelli pasta for it. Garlic toast on the side, and a tossed salad with vinaigrette.

Tuesday
Take Out Night
We'll be at a meeting all afternoon, so we'll take the easy way out tonight with takeout. Maybe from Hao-Hao, a Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant nearby that delivers...

Wednesday
Taco Salad with Cornbread Muffins
Chopped romaine with fresh diced carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, and black olives, topped with seasoned black beans and guacamole. I'll make a tomato vinaigrette dressing and serve it with cornbread muffins on the side.

Thursday
Cream of Potato Soup with Sauteed Greens
The chilly weather this week makes more soup a must! This recipe (my mom's) is soooo easy and comforting. The greens, most likely collards, will be sauteed with garlic and served on the side.

Friday
Breakfast for Dinner!
Scrambled tofu, breakfast potatoes, and "buttered" toast with some fresh fruit on the side.

Saturday
Leftover Potluck

Back next week...

Sorry for the lack of menu this week. There were various events, meetings, and more meetings that have led to us eating leftovers or takeout so far this week. However, I am finally making my black bean stew today! We are taking some over to our friends who had a baby recently, along with some cornbread and guacamole.

I'll be back to a regular menu starting Sunday!

"Cheesy" Lasagna with Tossed Salad and Bread

I adapted this recipe from this one. I found it required much less sauce and spinach than the recipe called for. I also was out of nutmeg so I skipped that part. I liked the addition of vegan cream cheese to the "ricotta" part--it did make it cheesier. All in all, I liked it! I melted some Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella on top. One of the best parts about making lasagna is all the leftovers...I think it will last us at least 2 more meals. Berkeley managed to pick the spinach and carrots out (of course) but he loved the noodles and filling.


"Cheesy" Lasagna
2 jars of your favorite pasta sauce (or a homemade batch, if you have time)
1-16 oz bag of spinach leaves (I think you only need about half this amount)
1/2 lb. carrots
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup veggie broth
1 lb. herbed tofu (I just used extra firm tofu, mashed up, and threw in some oregano, basil, and salt)
8 oz. vegan cream cheese
2 T lemon juice
12 lasagna noodles, cooked (I used more--probably 16)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Shredded vegan mozzarella

Directions:

Slice carrots and steam, set aside. Add some olive oil to a large skillet, place over medium-high heat until hot. Add parsley and garlic, saute for 1 minute.. Add carrots and veggie broth; simmer uncovered for 5 min. Add tofu, vegan cream cheese, and lemon juice; stir well. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until cream cheese melts and blends. Stir in nutritional yeast. Remove from heat; keep warm.

Place 4 lasagna noodles in bottom of 11x7 baking dish. spread carrot mixture over top, place 4 noodles on top of that and spread pasta sauce and spinach on top of those, repeat process until all noodles are used up. Top with pasta sauce. Cover and bake 15 min. at 375 degrees. Uncover, add shredded "cheese" to the top, if desired. and bake an additional 20-30 min. until it is thoroughly heated.

Autumn Quinoa Pilaf with Sauteed Greens

This pilaf recipe is so intriguing! It has a lot of sweetness to it, but some savory as well. It is hearty but not heavy, and it's perfect for a fall evening. Pretty easy to make too. I have adapted the recipe from when I originally got it online, but it apparently came from a book called Wholesome Harvest by Carol Gelles.

I ended up steaming the collards instead of sauteeing them, and we topped them off with some of last night's tahini sauce.

Autumn Quinoa Pilaf

3/4 c quinoa
2 T vegan margarine
3/4 c finely chopped onion or celery
1 T fresh ginger, minced
3/4 c orange juice
1 c water
2 T liquid sweetener (I used brown rice syrup)
1/2 t salt
1/4 t coriander, ground (I was out of this)
1/4 t cardamom, ground
1/8 t nutmeg, ground (I was out of this, too!)
2 c sweet potato, diced (or 1 c sweet potato, 1 c butternut squash)
1 1/2 c cooked/canned butter beans, drained and rinsed (I used Great Northern)
1/4 c cranberries, chopped
1/4 c pine nuts, toasted

Thoroughly rinse the quinoa by placing it in a large bowl and filling the bowl with cold water. Drain the quinoa and repeat the rinsing and draining 4 more times; set aside.

Melt the margarine in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion (or celery) and ginger, and cook, stirring, until the onion is softened. Stir in the orange juice, water, sweetener, salt, coriander, cardamom, and nutmeg; bring to a boil. Stir in the sweet potato and squash; bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, 7 minutes. Stir in the beans and quinoa, and return to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, 15 minutes. Stir in the cranberries; simmer, covered, 5 minutes longer. Stir in toasted pine nuts. Serve.