LOVE what's cooking in February. . .and March!

[kismetbaby]

The thread for inspiration in the vegan and vegetarian kitchen!

Please post here with what you are up to in the kitchen: meal plans, recipes, ideas, what's working, what isn't, ingredients you are loving, etc.

Here's to a tasty February!

Baking a carrot cake as we speak. Yum.

Made a really good recipe from V'con last night--Seitanic Red bean Jumbalaya. 

[maciascl]

I made a green chili sauce that is wonderfully yummy today. I mixed some with black beans and corn for lunch. I plan to make a tofu scramble and put the rest of the black beans, corn and sauce over it. I have no odea what to serve with it though. I am so bad at sides lately.

I also made homemade Lara bar type things for desert. So yummy and simple!

[jldumm]

i went to a croissant class at a local bakery yesterday, so i finished those up this am and we had them for brunch with mini kale and red pepper fritata.

this week

red lentil coconut soup

Mexican pizza with kale and red peppers

lentil spaghetti and salad

Asian noodle soup

bean and rice burrito

eggplant curry

black bean nachos and roasted mushrooms

maple pecan granola and heart shaped eggs in a hole for valentines

[kismetbaby]

Those meals look tasty! Mmmmm

I did a croissant class just last weekend!  It was fun, although I spent the following 3 days gorging on the croissants, which were heavenly, but it made me feel guilty. I usually tend to avoid so much white flour. Oh well, sometimes you gotta live a little. :)

I'm bad at sides too. I usually just try to find one dish meals so I don't have to even worry about it.  

Ack, no idea what to make for dinner tonight and no weeks meal plan yet either.  I have a head of cauliflower from our CSA and I never seem to know what to do with cauliflower.  Better go figure that out.

[Nicoleandco]

Well,  here is the plan for the week.  Let's see if I stick to it! 

-Shepard's pie (which Dh says I can't call Shepard's pie because it's vegan!)

-Veggie casserole- http://www.frugallynatural.org/2011/01/making-switch-kids-can-eat-healthy.html

-Baked beans with salad and gluten free garlic bread (if I can get the energy to make bread!)

-Vegan sloppy joe mixture over baked potatoes.

-stirfry (which we have once a week)

I need to get some baking done so the fam can have something other than cereal! 

[jldumm]

Kismet- i don't remember if you are vegan or not, but i made a roasted cauliflowers soup last week that turned out really well.

roast cauliflower with oliveoil, onion and garlic until soft.  meanwhile boil one or two potatoes in veg broth until soft. add thyme and pepper and milk. process until smooth.  we added cheese, but i would probably just put it on the top next time.

[megame]

Heya! I've not been on this site much except for some snooping since my little man was born in Sept09.  I think that you were in my DDC kismet though i didn't post much then either.  Anyway, I left my job a few months back to do the FT mom gig and have been working on getting everything more organized.  One new skill I am trying to develop is meal planning!  I read through a bit of January's page and now this one- it's gold for coming up with ideas!  My new strategy is to stick to one cookbook a week so it makes it easier to search out the recipes when the day comes and I end up trying more of them.  Hopefully in the long run I'll be able to copy over the ones I like and perhaps save some cupboard space by consolidating.

One recipe I've made a few times which is a hit (even with my DS who up to this time refused carrots) was the leek and bean casoulet from veganomicon.  Though I'd been using biscuits that I'd made in bulk awhile back and had frozen precooked.  I just put the frozen pucks onto the top of the finished stew thing and threw it in the oven and it turned out great.  I made a double batch this last time thinking I was going to drop one off with a family who just delivered but when I checked the website I realized I made it a week early.  So I'm thinking I might freeze the pre biscuited batch and see how it tastes post thaw...

Anyway thanks for all the great ideas!  I'll post my weekly meal plan when I come up with it...hopefully soon!

[kismetbaby]

megame-- Hi!  I remember you. . .yes, I was in the Sept 09 DDC, although DS decided to wait it out and be an Oct baby. :)  Hey congrats on the FT mom thing!  Fun isn't it?  (Okay, I admit it's sometimes lonely and boring, but mostly really great.)  Anyhow, nice to "see" you around here.  I've made the leek and bean casoulet once and enjoyed it, using frozen biscuits would make it soooo much easier. I wonder if WF has some healthy, vegan biscuits in their frozen section?  

jldumm-- thanks for the idea. I was just looking at a similar roasted cauliflower soup recipe yesterday!  Although it's actually been so warm here in NorCal (I know, I know, you can hate me now), that I haven't wanted to make soup. But I may just have to b/c I am so low on ideas for that dang veg!   And I guess you could call me a vegan light.  Or an aspiring vegan.  I've been vegetarian for a decade now and dabbled in veganism, and in my heart I'm vegan, but I find that a little ice cream and an egg brunch always manage to creep in. (Shame on me!)  But I do cook mostly vegan.  

Last night I wound up with a yummy meal, just by trying to use up some stuff that was sitting around. . .love it when that happens. I simmered some random veggies in some leftover mole sauce and we ate it with some leftover rice.  

Okay, I've got a half-baked (pun, ha ha) meal plan for this week:

Tonight is leftovers for me, as DH will eat at work.

Roasted cauliflower soup (with ?)

Kale and tofu salad

Pasta with "sausage" and brocolli

. . .and Friday night I haven't decided yet. I usually try to make my nicest meal of the week on Friday for our (non-religious) sabbath meal.

I'll likely do kale chips at some point this week, b/c I love them so.  And hopefully have time for a batch of vegan cookies.  I made a good low-sugar, low-fat carrot cake this weekend.  

[nicolelynn]

Rotini with Potatoes, Green Beans and Lemon Basil Creme (from Vegan on the Cheap), Tuscan chard (with raisins and pinenuts)

Enchilada Stacks (from the Native Foods Cookbook, our local vegan restaurant), Spanish brown rice

Black bean-veggie stirfry over quinoa

Home made veggie burgers on Ezekiel 4:9 buns, red coleslaw

Comfort Loaf (from Vegan on the Cheap), mashed sweet potatoes, arugula salad

[Surfer Rosa]

This week:

-mushroom curry

-tofu satay with quinoa and kale chips

-chili with rice

-kale, sweet potato and black bean burritos

-and either a chickpea, rice, sweet potato and spinach stew or chickpea pie

...and from the looks of this thread, some yummy stuff to come!

[kismetbaby]

Mmmmm, I always love to read other peoples menus!  Vegan on the Cheap, I'll have to check that one out.  I also love to collect cookbooks. :)

Just got our CSA box today and I always have a mini-panic attack. LOL.  Suddenly, I have to figure out what to do with two bunches of chard, 1 bunch of kale, cauliflower (again!), beets and lettuce before they go bad. . .not to mention the broccoli and arugula I already have in the fridge!  Anyone have any good recipes with greens that freeze well?  

[catnip]

Originally Posted by kismetbaby 
Suddenly, I have to figure out what to do with two bunches of chard, 1 bunch of kale, cauliflower (again!), beets and lettuce before they go bad. . .not to mention the broccoli and arugula I already have in the fridge!  Anyone have any good recipes with greens that freeze well?  

Here's what I'd do: Wash and chop up the lettuce, peel, steam and slice the beet roots, and eat the slices chilled on salads for lunch. The kale I'd use in my crockpot white bean soup. Arugula I love to throw into macaroni and cheesy sauce. Just toss it raw on hot pasta and stir it in to wilt while I make up a sauce. Broccoli? Either a stirfry or this:http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10476?utm_source=DFVegan&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=DFVegan. My favorite thing to do with chard is just steam it or saute and eat it with lemon-tahini sauce. Hope that helps!

[catnip]

Oh, and cauliflower? Swap it for the pumpkin in this: http://catnip13.blogspot.com/2010/11/pumpkin-curry.html

And here's that soup recipe: http://catnip13.blogspot.com/2010/11/six-ingredient-white-bean-crock-pot.html

[megame]

Woa Catnip, that was a whole stream of amazing sounding food.  I was going to suggest blanching and freezing it in portion sizes so you could just throw it into whatever you're cooking at a later time.  I've also made green cubes for DS where I cooked in a whole batch of greens or about that quantity of various types of greens, an apple or pear, some prunes, and maybe a few other things like carrots or beets or mango or blueberries if I have then sitting around.  Then use the emulsion blender and put it in the ice cube tray.  It makes about one tray of food it seems. Though I've not done it in awhile, he really enjoyed it.

I'm going to try to make the cauliflower soup mentioned earlier this week.  Side of flatbread and salad

I've soaked a bunch of garbanzos so will end up cookign those up and throwing them into various meals this week.  Probably a pasta, try my hand at some hummus (though it always seems bland when I make it), maybe chana masala

We've not done dinner at home the last two nights, so I'm already straining to get back in the mindset.  How quickly I lose it!

I've been getting really excited about the idea of gardening this summer.  I hope it turns out as I decided not to get a CSA this year.  Last summer our garden sucked due to weather and I was lacking the motivation, but now that Olis a little older, I'm really excited.  Plus we just got our community garden plot which is going to be very close to our new place.  I just went down there and checked it out yesterday.  It has beautiful dark soil and Oli was happy as a clam falling into holes and fiddling around with things.  It's fenced off as well, so I don't have to worry about him getting too far away. I am so excited about sharing this experience with him.  I've been doing some research on what to plant and it looks like I can try to plant a few of the hardier ones now (basically kale) which I get pretty bored with by the end of summer but I've not yet tried kale chips of the kale 'sausage' soup. Historically, when I look up kale recipes they're rather blah or it can be used as a replacement for other greens but i usually prefer the original green.  Also, I keep telling myself I'm going to start doing some green smoothies.

My next two kitchen purchases are going to be a slow cooker and a bundt pan.  I swore I had one, but can not find it anywhere.  I'm trying to get out all the old ingredients- the motivation here is so that I don't have to move it, which includes quite a bit of cocount so the recipe mentioned earlier for the bundt cake will work really well for this.  And, I'd love to get that veg slow cooker book and be able to get meals going during DS nap instead of while he's grabbing my leg and wanting to be picked up while I'm trying to get things done in the kitchen which tends to happen in the afternoon. 

Happy meals to all!

[jldumm]

Kismet can you find out ahead of time what is in the csa box? I can look on Thurs for what i will get next Tues... then i can begin planning with what is in the cabinet or go to the store.  There also used to be a site that you could plug in an ingredient and a whole foods recipe would pop out. I will look around for it.

[jldumm]

http://mealplanner.eatrealgood.com/plans

[kismetbaby]

Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions ladies!  I really appreciate it! :)

I didn't know you could blanch and freeze greens, I've done this with green beans, and squash, and tomatoes. I'll have to try it with greens. . .and the baby greens in ice cube trays is a great idea!  DS is a picky eater, but I wonder if I could get him to enjoy some greens this way.  

I can check on what's gonna be in our CSA box, I'm usually just too lazy/busy/forgetful to do so. I should get in the habit of it though.  No matter what, it just always seems like a lot when we get the box, but then I manage to use it.  DH will be out of town next week, so I won't get the box and just eat up what's hanging around. It always helps to do this every few months anyway and clear out the pantry a bit.

[inkandtofu]

MMMM! Again so many awesome suggestions.  Last night I made a spontaneous soup from roasted red peppers, butternut squash, carrots, parsnips and garlic (all roasted).  So good!  That's for lunch today.  I'm thinking homemade pizza for supper tonight. And for the rest of the week I'm drawing a blank.  Oh for V-day I'm planning on making a few things from Tal Ronnin's The Conscious Cook. 

I'm thinking:

     - Twice Baked Fingerling Potatoes w/Crisped Dulse

     -  Ceasar Salad

     - Pine Nut & Basil Seared Cicken w/Lobster Mushroom Beurre Blance & Braised Kale

     - Chocolate Chip Peanet Butter Squares with berry Sorbet

[kismetbaby]

inksandtofu--Wow, fancy Vday menu!  I checked that book out from the library, but concluded that although the recipes looked so delicious and amazing, that I do not have the time for that kind of cooking.  Maybe once I don't have toddlers anymore, but at this point I need quick and easy meals.

Last night I made a delicious (and simple) cream of broccoli soup (vegan) and wonder of all wonders DS actually ate it!  Normally I can't get him anywhere near broccoli.

Tonight I am making a butternut squash which I will stuff with a quinoa pilaf, with sauteed chard on the side and some cashew-tahini sauce for all of it.

And I'm about to bake the chocolate chocolate-chip cookies from Vcon--they're to die for!

[clothdipemomof2boy]

tonight was easy and a pop in the oven night it was vegan chicken strips and chipotle sweet potato fries. It was my fattening night I get one night a week till I just get tired of it (I eat the same thing on my fat night if I get bored I will give up those nights finally). I  believe for tomorrow I will be making bbq ribs and corn. Sunday I am making some chili for our carry in dinner we are having at church then Vday will be simple since hubby works (we have our date night Tuesday) it will be the veggie wraps I love so much or pita pizzas with Daiya cheese and vegan sausage from smart dogs. For our date night we are going to a vegan restaurant after we go to a basket ball game (his Vday present) . Wednesday will be stuffed acorn squash with corn on the cob and maybe some pumkin stuff if i get to the grocery store otherwise it will be something simple again. Thatis all I have now since I dont know when I will get to go grocery shopping.