foodluv.net

You can click the image above and read the Wikipedia page about broccolini but my math is all you need to know. The tender, slender form of asparagus combined with a slightly subtler flavor of broccoli equals my new favorite veggie! I was hoping that it would make every dish delectable but our second recipe turned out only “pretty good”. The best thing we’ve done so far was to simply blanch for a few minutes to get it nice and green (and hot) and then cover with salt, pepper, “butter” and a little lemon juice. Delicious all on its own!

It looks like broccolini has been around in the States since the mid-90′s but I’d only heard of it recently. It also doesn’t help that broccolini is a trademarked name and most grocers label it generically as “baby broccoli”. But whatever you want to call it, try it!

This cucumber kimchi recipe was so easy to make especially since I already had the Korean brand red chili flakes (handy in cooking in general).  We had a bunch of cucumbers from Farm Fresh Delivery that were starting to go bad.  I was thinking I wanted to make dill pickles out of them, but then kimchi popped into my head instead.  The thing about kimchi versus dill pickles, for me at least, is kimchi almost always sounds good, but dill pickles I need to be in the mood for.  I swear I should’ve been born Korean My mp3 player thinks I was!

So first step was googling since I was at work, I also checked one of my Korean cookbooks when I got home, but I ended up sticking with the one I found online for a reason i have since forgotten.  I have made a cabbage kimchi before and this was a lot easier in my opinion.

Cucumber Kimchi recipe

What I did differently

• used non-Asian cucumbers
• Let them sit out with salt longer just because I didn’t get back around to them when they specified
• cut the green onion up thinly instead of big pieces like the recipe photos show
• I missed the part about letting the jar sit out 24 hours before refrigerating until I reread it as I made this post. oops! still yummy!

If you make some please share!  I plan to make more tomorrow!

I’ve refrained from cooking with eggplants because I’ve heard that if you screw it up they’re really bad.  I just need to throw that idea out the window because they’re so yummy and cool looking!  Last night we made Eggplant Paprikash from FatFreeVegan.com.

The only real changes we made were maybe not using enough eggplant or peppers (we had a green pepper) and using store bought Tofutti sour cream.  As we made it I worried it wasn’t going to turn out right, but in the end it was really delicious!

I have leftovers for lunch and I can’t wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  No really, I mean that!

Her recipe can be found at the above link with a yummy looking photo, but this is what she has (please still see her site, lots of great recipes!)

Eggplant Paprikash by fatfreevegan.com

1 large onion, halved and cut into thin wedges
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. red pepper (optional)
1 tsp. salt (optional)
1 1/2 – 2 lbs. eggplant (about 2 medium) cut into 1-inch cubes
2 bell peppers, any color, sliced (I used red and yellow)
1 cup vegetable broth
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes (I used Muir Glen Fire Roasted)
1/8 tsp. Liquid Smoke flavoring
1/2 cup tofu sour cream (see below)

Tofu Sour Cream:

1/2 package (about 6 ounces) lite silken tofu
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tbsp. cashew butter or tahini
1/4 tsp. salt (optional)

Blend all the ingredients for the tofu sour cream until completely smooth, and set aside in the refrigerator until needed.

In a large, non-stick saucepan, sauté the onion in a small amount of water until it begins to brown, about 5-8 minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, and red pepper (optional), and stir for one minute. Add the salt, eggplant, peppers, vegetable broth, and tomatoes. Cover and simmer until the eggplant is tender, about 15-20 minutes.

When the eggplant is done, check the seasonings and add more salt if necessary. Stir in the Liquid Smoke (optional) and the sour cream, and cook for another minute, until warmed through. Serve over pasta (I used Tinkyada Pasta Joy brown rice noodles) or rice. Serves 4.

Loving Cafe
(513) 731-2233
6227 Montgomery Road
Cincinnati, OH 45213

Loving cafe always has specials on Saturday’s at lunch, but some of them have been added permanently to the menu.  My favorite is the BBQ Chik’n Wrap pictured below.  For those concerned, it’s not spicy at all from what I can tell.  It’s more the sweet BBQ flavor similar to the BW-3′s sweet BBQ sauce that’s 1 or 2 from the bottom in spiciness.  Inside the wrap is fried rice with veggies in it like edamame & corn, lettuce, vegan mayo and some sort of fake chicken that has a great texture and taste.  It’s all I’ve ordered since last fall when eating there, I believe.  I crave it sometimes, yum yum!

There’s another overarching post to be made about spicy/hot/tasty snacks but for now I just wanted to make a quick post about these chips. Garden of Eatin’ is the brand and our local Kroger grocery stores carry a few of their many products. I have a bag of regular ol’ Blue Corn Tortilla chips for salsa at work but I grabbed these on account of their ridiculously cheap clearance price. I could go on (don’t worry, I will) but I think the most telling admission is that they don’t need to be marked down and near expiration for me to grab a bag of them ever again.

Ok, going on… I was expecting to bust out more salsa but the flavor on these chips is like a natural, hot Dorito; somewhere between the regular cheese and Cool Ranch taste with a whole lot of spice. There’s no need for salsa with the Red Hot Blues and you can check your guilt at the top of the bag, too, because they aren’t stamped out by factory equipment and coated with MSG and chemical dust!

Ingredients: Organic blue corn, expeller pressed oleic safflower and/or sunflower oil, dehydrated tomato, rice flour, salt, paprika, spices, smoked torula yeast, dehydrated onion, natural flavor.

Ok, you can check your guilt about processed and chemical-riddled foods but the calories are on par with a bag of Doritos. About 15 chips will pack on 150 calories but these are some substantial chips; thick, crunchy, and hot. Check ‘em out next time you’re fiending for Doritos. I, for one, am hooked!

Today we went to Melt and had a wonderful brunch.   Shawn got the vegan biscuits & gravy and I got the Rosemary Redskin Mess.  Both were delicious and came out very quickly despite being so crowded.

The dining room floor overlooking Fountain Square

We didn’t plan it when a friend of ours invited us downtown to Via Vite but we continued on our vegan pizza vision quest last night. Unsure of what was vegan beyond a side of Bruschetta (which was tasty as well), we had the red-headed Maggie to thank for guiding us through the menu towards one of Via Vite’s wood fired pizzas. All of the pizzas on the menu include meat or cheese (the crust is vegan) so we had to DIY it — again with the unshakable Maggie at our side — with some basil and peperonata.

Even after Maggie’s detailed explanation (did she just give us an insider recipe?) I wasn’t sure what to expect but a stew of red and yellow peppers, onions, vinegar and sugar sure sounded tasty. And tasty it was! A little runny, as I’m sure it normally sits amid cheese, meat and other toppings, but with fork and knife in hand, I dove in. I suppose the next line would be that I dove into the deep end and cracked my skull on the bottom because after being goaded into juuuuust one more piece I was starting to feel a little overstuffed. Overstuffed quickly turned into stomach pain which lasted through the night but I’m not blaming the quality or ingredients, only my stubborn desire to eat delicious pizza.

Honestly, the peperonata pizza was so great that I’m more than willing to put up with some indigestion to have it again, and if that’s not a glowing endorsement (albeit one probably not fit for a slogan) I don’t know what is!

I went to Amma’s Kitchen again for vegan buffet day (every Wednesday!).  Getting the buffet carry out works really well for me because I get full quickly so buffet is not a good deal for the money.  This way, I can eat this for days!  They even gave me a dosa (thing on foil) which normally is only for dining in!

Burgundy Stew ala "Vegan Dad"

This afternoon I made Burgundy Stew from the recipe at Vegan Dad. Other than a few hiccups, it turned out great!  The recipe is as follows:

INGREDIENTS
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 leek, white and light green part, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 15 whole pearl onions
- 3 turnips, cubed
- 2 parsnips, sliced
- 2 large carrots, sliced
- 2 large potatoes, cubed
- 2 cups red wine
- 2 cups veggie broth (more, if needed)
- 1 19oz can white beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 tbsp basil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 cups baby spinach
- 1/4 cup tomato paste

METHOD
1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute leeks and garlic for 5-7 mins, until softened and beginning to brown. Add onions, turnips, parsnips, potatoes and fry for 2 mins.
2. Add wine to deglaze the pan, then add veggie broth, beans, and basil. Season to taste, then bring to bubbling. Reduce heat, loosely cover, and simmer for about 20 mins, until veggies are cooked. Add more broth if stew gets too dry.
3. Mix tomato paste into the stew, adding more broth if needed to get a nice thick consistency. Add spinach to the pot and cook for a min or so, until spinach wilts but is still a vibrant green. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve.

My only problems were, either my pan was considerably smaller than his (he doesn’t specify) or the potatoes and turnips were considerably larger than his.  What I ended up doing is, after I did step 1 part 2 and saw that I couldn’t remotely stir the contents, I dished back out lots of the turnips and potatoes into a bowl.  That bowl is now in the fridge and possibly will be boiled to make some sort of mash later. Also, he doesn’t mention when to add the carrots.  I added them with the onions, turnips, parsnips, potatoes in part 1 and it worked fine.

The rest of the recipe stayed the same and the stew was quite good and very hearty as stated on his site.  Shawn and I both liked it, but Shawn would have liked a fake beef-ish product in it with it being a stew.  I have gotten to the point where some fake, heavy wheat derived products make me sick, so I’m cool as is.

Side note, the white beans came in 15 ounce cans, so less of those.  Spinach came in a 6 ounce bag, so I have more than 4 cups, but I could see adding more, and I have more, so YAY!  I used a generic cooking wine for the red wine since I did my shopping before 11 am on a Sunday and couldn’t buy real red wine.  It was good enough, I would’ve bought some cheap-ass red wine anyway haha!

If you make this, please take a photo and let me know…let Vegan Dad know too while you’re at it ^_^

This is it!  The Golden Bowl recipe I got from Vegetarian Times has come through several times.  It’s become a guide that can be changed depending on what veggies you like and/or have.  If you like tofu and soy sauce, you’ll like this too!

Give it a try! Let me know if you like it!