This Week in My Kitchen: Veggie Chorizo 3 Ways + Vegan Prailines

The last time I made veggie sausages they were good, but I didn't like the bean skins in them. This time I set out to make better ones, so I used the recipe in Vegan Brunch as a jumping off point, but ground the beans in the food processor to make a smoother texture and adjusted the seasonings more to my taste. The chorizo came out great (although the first batch was a touch too spicy), and we ate it all week!

Chorizo Stuffed Poblano Pepper, Grilled
I stuffed fresh poblano peppers with chorizo crumbled and sauteed, then Kirk grilled them just until the skin was scorched. Yum! I made a Mexican style red sauce and served it with over the peppers, which we ate with salad and grilled pineapple. I love having a barbeque! Grilled pineapple is seriously my favourite food right now.

Chorizo Jambalaya with Polenta and Salad
When my friend Stephanie came over for dinner, I used one of the packages I got in New Orleans to make jambalaya, which I served with polenta (because I suck at making corn bread), salad and young pickles. Now I need to learn how to make jambalaya from scratch!

Huge Salad with Chorizo
I did not feel like cooking tonight, so I made a HUGE salad with baby greens, bell pepper, tomato, cucumber, green onions and chorizo. Definitely satisfying!

Pecan Pralines
I had a sweet tooth this week, and was craving the (non-vegan) pralines I had in New Orleans. I found this vegan praline recipe and, because I am obsessive about keeping my pantry well-stocked, I had all of the ingredients on hand. So I decided to give it a shot. I have never made candy of any kind before, so I was a little nervous about that. I did do a little internet research beforehand and came up with this handy site. One thing I'd recommend to anyone attempting candy-making is to invest in a proper candy thermometer. I just have this kind, and I had to rig it to the pot with a binder clip. Not ideal! But it did work out in the end and the pralines turned out fabulously. I totally overdosed on sugar for two days, and finally gave the rest to my mother today.

Here's a bonus shot of Jerry in her new bed, given to her by her Aunt Nova (Mum's cat).

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This Week in My Kitchen: Polenta with Tofu & Veggies, Amazing Greek Salad, Lettuce Rolls, Curried Chickpea Soup

After Christmas I didn't do a lot of cooking since we had so many leftovers to eat. But the leftovers eventually dwindled, and I got back in the kitchen. After the glut of sweets over the holidays, I've been focusing on fresh, healthy, savoury dishes. I need to wean myself off of the sugar again!

Polenta with Tofu and Veggies
Exactly how it sounds. For my second foray into polenta of late I chose to add a half cup of water more than I did last time and set it in a loaf pan rather than free-form. I liked the loaf-shape (which served to keep me from breaking pieces off the edges and snacking on them), but the texture was a bit too wet for my liking. I marinaded the tofu in cider vinegar, veggie broth and some spices. I sauteed the tofu, carrots, potatoes, onions, celery, bell pepper and spinach, then added veggie broth thickened with arrowroot and served it over a slice of polenta. Yum!

I used the polenta to press the tofu

Amazing Greek Salad
Craving fresh veggies late one evening, I decided to make myself a quick Greek-type salad. I chopped cucmber, bell pepper, grape tomatoes and green onions (because I didn't have a red onion) and dressed it with red wine vinegar, Bragg's Sea Kelp Seasoning (because I'm out of oregano) and mustard seeds and topped it with kalamata olives. It was heavenly!

I'm hungry again just looking at this photo!

Lettuce Rolls - A Five-Minute Dinner
Last time I was in Nanaimo, my friend Carmen made these wonderful lettuce rolls, and this week I recreated them from memory. I used Asian style Yves Ground Round (you could use TVP and add your own flavourings) and sauteed it with diced onion and bell pepper. I think Carmen's sauce was made with peanut butter, but peanut butter is my mortal enemy, so I made mine by adding coconut milk to almond butter (cashew butter would be good too) and microwaving it until it was soft and soupy. I assembled the rolls by putting a scoop of the ground round mixture into the middle of a piece of iceberg lettuce, adding some sauce, and rolling it up. A cheap, healthy dinner prepared in five minutes. Thanks Carmen!

Curried Chickpea Soup

As part of my new life with a budget, I've been focusing on preparing hearty meals for very little money. I had a bag of dried chickpeas in my pantry, so I used a recipe from the ReBar Modern Food Cookbook to make curried chickpea soup. ReBar is a great little restaurant in Victoria that was one of my favourite places for breakfast. I added chopped fresh spinach, since I had some in the fridge that I had to use, and the leftover sauce from the lettuce rolls, which added a nice subtle nutty flavour.

I definitely recommend this recipe.

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This Week in My Kitchen, Part 1: Spanakopita, Polenta with Root Vegetable Ragout, Mango Curry Potato Dosa, Creamy Vegan Potato Soup

This is a long overdue post, which should be more accurately titled "This Month in My Kitchen". December, of course, is prime cooking and baking season, and it was no different in my kitchen this year. I got to bake cookies with some girlfriends, finally successfully tackle polenta, make a vegan pecan pie for the first time, and probably gain 5 pounds!

Spanakopita
Kirk's favourite food of all time is spinach pie, so I attempted to make him some this month. It was a partially successful attempt, but I don't have much experience with phyllo pastry (in fact, I spelled it "filo" on my grocery list), and I went a little to light on the layers. Next time will better. I used two packages of frozen chopped spinach, one bag of fresh spinach, lots of garlic, some tofu (cubed really small) and a few other seasonings for the filling, and it was fantastic! I served it with home made hummous, greek salad and some multigrain flax pitas. Yum!

Polenta with Root Vegetable Ragout

My one attempt at making polenta several years ago was a failure (wrong consistency, wrong texture, next-to-no flavour). I avoided another attempt for years, afraid again of dismal failure, but after a fantastic meal at Locus recently, I was spurred on to try again. This time I did my research, reading recipes, blog posts and diatribes about polenta, grits, and all things cornmeal. People are very passionate about polenta, it seems. I like a semi-firm polenta, and I ended up choosing this recipe to try. It came out great! Creamy but firm, lots of savoury flavour, perfect. I made a quick root vegetable ragout to serve with it, and Kirk and I both enjoyed it for dinner and for lunch the next day. I will be making polenta more often.

Mango Curry Potato Dosa

Kirk and I had Indian take out last week, and we ordered a potato masala dosa, something neither of us had ever eaten before. I loved it! It was like a big bready crepe filled with curried potatoes - what's not to love? I thought I should learn to make this myself - it's can't be that hard. Ha! I found this recipe, and learned that it takes two days just to prepare the batter, which is made from a very particular kind of lentil. Luckily, Famous Foods, a fantastic little grocery a few blocks from my house, carries the lentils, so I made my attempt. Not so great. Edible, but not nearly so yummy as the one from the take out. At least I tried. Maybe I'll just stick with crepes for now. On the bright side, the filling (potatoes and veggies with mango curry sauce), was really good.

Creamy Vegan Potato Soup

As many of you know, I am a big lover of soup. I could eat soup every day and be happy. So when we bought a ten pound bag of russet potatoes on sale this week, I saw the perfect opportunity to make creamy potato soup. I sweated an onion and some garlic, then I sliced up six potatoes with my mandolin slicer and boiled them in salted water with the onion and garlic and some rubbed sage in just enough water to cover. Once they were soft I drained a bit of the water and pureed it with my hand blender. I added a bit of soy milk and margarine and went to town. Heavenly!