unless it’s my day off, i’m not a big breakfast eater. this is bad. but when you have to be at work at 630am, those precious last minutes in bed are hard to let go of. in general (though with a few exceptions), i don’t think i’ve been eating particularly well lately, hence my relative lack of posts. i’m working to change this.  which brings me to breakfast scrambles.

first up we have the classic vwav tofu scramble… only here we added broccoli, green peppers, and snow peas to the cremini mushrooms, omitting the carrots. and topped it with salsa! and served it with toast. delicious sunday brunch.

and next up, ani phyo’s garden scramble with save-the-chicks pate. the only thing i changed was adding some nutritional yeast and chopped parsley, because that’s how i roll when i’ve got parsley to use up. i’ve never had a raw scramble before. this was filling, fresh, and pretty damn good. i’m interested to play around with the seasonings and vegetables some more in the future.

as a bonus, here is my first veganized swedish cookbook creation (since i recently decided to start veganizing some scandinavian cookbooks i have lying around). in swedish, mjölkstuvade makaroner, in english, milk-stewed macaroni. this is super typical swedish white food: macaroni cooked in milk and butter instead of water, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg. i tried to make it a little bit healthier by using quinoa pasta and putting some chopped parsley on top, but who am i kidding? this is comfort food through and through. it was that kind of night.

vegan milk-stewed macaroni (serves 1-2):

1 3/4 c unsweetened, creamy, non-dairy milk (I used oat)
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp vegan margarine
1/2 c macaroni
ground black pepper, to taste
dash nutmeg (optional)
chopped parsley, to garnish (optional)

heat “milk,” salt, and margarine in a medium saucepan until the margarine has melted. add the macaroni and let them cook over very low heat, uncovered, for 10-25 minutes (depending on the kind of macaroni you are using), or until they have become soft. stir occasionally to prevent them sticking to the bottom, adding more milk if necessary. add the pepper and nutmeg, and top with or stir in chopped parsley. serve warm.

i definitely promise that the next creation will be healthier, prettier, and maybe even a little bit fancy!

i’ve heard it’s going to be -30 again by tonight. i can see and hear the wind blowing the leafless branches outside our 3rd story window. brrrr… so instead of dwelling on that, i’m going to conjure up fond memories of yesterday’s lunch and dinner; involving one of my favorite meal bases - noodles.

lemongrass, garlic, ginger, clementines, red peppers, scallions, pac choy, and carrots

first up we have a homemade creation - citrus peanut soba noodle saute. i bought a box of clementines that needed using, and also knew that the lemongrass i’d bought for dinner’s pad thai would be far from being all used. i realized i haven’t posted a recipe in ages, so here’s how it happened:

citrus peanut soba noodle saute (serves 1):

1 “bundle” soba noodles (one serving)
juice from 1 clementine (or half an orange)
1-2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp tamari
2 tbsp sesame oil
1-2 tbsp warm water
oil for sautéing
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, grated
1-in piece lemongrass, minced
2 tsp red chili pepper, minced
1 pac choy, roughly chopped
1 carrot, julienned
1 scallion, cut on the bias
toasted sesame seeds or gomasio, for garnish

cook soba noodles according to directions while you prepare the sauce and vegetables. drain, and set aside.

to make the sauce, “soften” the peanut butter with a little warm water in a bowl (depending on how “mixable” your peanut butter is - you may not need this step). add the citrus juice, rice vinegar, tamari and sesame oil and whisk together. set aside.

heat some oil in a saucepan or frying pan over medium heat. add the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, red pepper and carrots and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant (a minute or two). add the pac choy and continue cooking until pac choy begins to wilt slightly. add cooked noodles, sauce and scallions and mix well, then transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with gomasio. then eat!

i like the simplicity of soba noodle dishes like this. a nice sauce, some veggies, and no tofu or tempeh or seitan getting in the way. the softer bite of the soba noodles goes nicely with the crunch of carrots and cabbage. of course, it could be simplified even more, served hot or cold, and/or turned into a nice potluck treat.

getting back to that lemongrass i bought a week ago… i had been inspired to make some pad thai and have heard many rave reviews of vwav’s brooklyn pad thai. as i was flipping through extraveganza! earlier, i came across a vegan pad thai recipe in there too! since i’m on such a kick with that cookbook, and there were more vegetables involved with it, i decided to roll with it, even though that recipe didn’t call for lemongrass. i made it as is with the following changes: added lemongrass, subbed onions for scallions, subbed carrots for yams, omitted water chestnuts. i made a full batch, though i should only have made half because 1) we are only two and 2) i don’t have a wok and i ended up having to mix everything together in a glass mixing bowl. still, it worked, and was delicious! i liked that the bean sprouts were added as a saute ingredient rather than a garnish; that way they could soak up more flavor. i still want to try the brooklyn pad thai, but am certainly happy with how this one turned out.

last night rachel came over and we made sparkle ginger cookies from vwav to eat while watching superstar: the karen carpenter story. yummy!

and today, a’s friend kim came over for brunch. a and i baked some whole wheat rye bread that i rolled out instead of baking in a loaf, so you can slice them in half and have your own little sandwich thing. just the faintest hint of anise and fennel, too:

my grandma used to make rye bread this way all the time, and make little cheese sandwiches for us to eat when we went on a long car trip. i really like rye bread; i don’t think i eat it enough. i wonder if this would be a good bread to have a reuben on. anyway, we made them into sandwiches with chive and scallion cream cheese and cucumbers, spinach, and tomatoes for brunch to eat with soup.

delicious! i am glad we ended up making the whole batch of rye bread (16 rectangles total) even though i was nervous about how much it would make. i’ve already had 3 sandwiches since 1 this afternoon. i used tofutti cream cheese with chopped scallions and chives because it is delicious and fools the omnis:

and for soup i made a broth-based parsnip-apple soup with leeks, shallots, and red potatoes. i threw some white wine in there, and seasoned it with herbamare and white pepper. it was really delicious, but maybe a bit too tangy. that might have been from adding a little too much wine though. i think making it creamy would have balanced it out well, but since we were already having cream cheese spread for our sandwiches it seemed like overkill. parsnips are one of my favorite root vegetables, and it went nicely with the apples, which was a first for me to have in soup. it was a perfect gray day for a warm soup.

last night culminated in a feast that’s been brewing for 2 days.   on tuesday night i made two base staples of ethiopian food: niter kebbeh and berbere, using the recipes from pakupaku.  Niter kebbeh is a spiced fat used to saute (or fry, as the case might be) your onions and garlic and veggies, and berbere is a spicy roasted mixture of cayenne, paprika, ginger, cardamom, cloves and more!  i could just sit and have smells of the berbere all day!  yummy.

the plan also called for making injera (the spongey flatbread on which the different stews are ladled and also your eating utensil!) from scratch… however that failed miserably, mostly because i didn’t grind the teff into flour before starting the sourdough (!).  that was really dumb and unfortunate, as i ended up with wet mush in my pan.  luckily the seward coop sells injera so i picked up some of that.  i made four stews: gomen (collards), atar allecha (spicy green peas), yemiser w’et (spicy lentils), and a cabbage, carrot, potato mixture that i’ve had at the blue nile but whose name escapes me.  although i’m overall pretty happy with the meal and the work i put into it, i thought both the green peas and the lentils weren’t spicy (hot) enough, and the lentils lacked the depth of flavor i find when i eat at an ethiopian restaurant.  i think the lentils needed more berbere than the recipe called for, maybe, or perhaps i should have cooked the onions and spices together longer before adding the bulk of the dish to let the flavors develop.  it’s definitely not going to stop me from trying again sometime, but i think i’ll wait until i get the motivation to put all that time into making ethiopian again (six burners on the stove would have been nice for this).  here are some closeups of the different dishes (there is plain soygurt dolloped in the center):

now, on to the tasty dessert baking.  a was going home to visit her mom this weekend, and since i couldn’t join her because of work, i decided to bake something for her to bring along.  i went with the raspberry chocolate-chip blondies from vwav and i think they turned out pretty tasty!

this despite the fact that my glass dish was a little too small so it made more of a cake than a bar, and while wiping off the stovetop after the ethiopian cooking accidentally knocking the temperature dial up to 475 for almost 10 minutes (should have been 350)–hence, a few charred chocolate chips.  i might add more of the raspberry mixture next time and cut back on the chocolate chips (for myself), but definitely delicious!

last night i made some veggie chorizo from vwav (made with tvp).  i never seem to own tomato paste, so i just cut up some tomatoes from the garden, and i used a fresh pepper from the garden instead of chili powder.  tasty on corn tortillas!

these are the basic pancakes from vwav with a cup of strawberries and some lemon zest folded in.  delicious!  i don’t even really like american-style pancakes that much, but i think i’m starting to see the light with isa.

vwav tofu scramble with green beans and tomatoes, plus toast!

i promised a. a respite from the junk food she’d been consuming while recording their tour cd-r tonight.  so i made the handy, standby tofu scramble from vwav, adding green beans and a roma tomato from the garden, plus some cayenne for spice.  tasty!  though i over-lemoned a bit this evening (this happens when you don’t measure things, and you’ve had three beers).

we had vegan taco night the other evening.  i contributed avocado enchiladas, pico de gallo, guacamole, and horchata!  sadly, i forgot the camera for the festivities, and have only this lone photo of the pre-moistened horchata ingredients.  still pretty lovely, though.

it smelled so good!  fresh lime zest, cinnamon, almonds, and rice meal.  i want to make it again in a better blender… this cheapish one a. got for xmas can’t handle a lot of power, and it made a weird noise while i was grinding the mixture, and started spewing black melted plastic bits and made some sort of burning hot liquid residue which i (stupidly) touched.  i think it needed better blending and perhaps less straining, because it was a little grainy.  but delicious!  when it works out, i will post pictures and a recipe of the horchata, and definitely the avocado enchiladas.

thanks to everyone for commenting!  it makes me feel less in a virtual void… more cooking soon!