TGI....P!

Yeah!, it's Friday!

There were times this week that this evening just could not come around quickly enough. Man, oh man, it's been...shall we say...'challenging'. However, here we are at last.....and in Massachusetts it is a holiday weekend: Columbus Day! Hurrah.

So, in celebration of having made it to this point in the week, I am making a pizza.

OK, it's a weak excuse, but I'm feeling that way tonight.

Weak.

Burnt out.

And generally tired of it all.

Work, that is.

So what is better, I ask you, than a cozy Friday night in with My Beloved, our pound puppies and a large vegan pizza? Especially as this particular vegan pizza is loaded with diary-free homemade pesto, thinly sliced potato (a la Vegan Joy), onions, jalapenos (well, My Beloved wanted them even though technically I suppose they're not super-compatible with pesto....sigh) and diced chunks of Vegan Dad's buffalo chickenless wings. And, as I type, a smattering of Vegan-rella is melting all over the top.

An aside: evestirs...did you try the Vegan-rella yet??

OK, so I hear the little timer beeping away meaning that the long-awaited pizza MAY be ready. Am off with the camera.....be right back!





And there's the finished product. Pix are hastily taken, but I am too hungry to bother with 'styling'. Let the munching begin!, says I....erm...anyone need a beer???

Oh, and Stay Vegan, Friends!

One Down, Three to Go

Squash. Everywhere I look in our (admittedly compact and bijou) kitchen I see squash.

And so I took it into my head to bake one of the cheeky little things for dinner and this is the result:



In essence, all I did was to split an acorn squash in half, drizzle the inside with a little olive oil, scatter on some salt, pepper and a tad of garlic powder, invert both halves onto a baking sheet and bake until soft.

While that was happening, I roughly chopped an onion and a pepper (colour = your choice) and sauteed them off in a little oil basil, oregano and thyme. I added some Gimme Lean (sausage-style), chopped mushrooms, sliced sun-dried tomatoes and a baby bok choy that struck me as a novel ingredient. (Although I guess celery would have been more appropriate!) As a side, I threw a mix of brown and forbidden (purple!) rice into a pan with boiling water and let it cook until chewy and beautiful to behold!

Pulling the end result together was simplicity itself: rice is rice, say no more. I spooned the stuffing mix into the hollowed out, baked squash and was dissuaded from topping with grated Vegan-rella by My Beloved who felt it would have been overkill.

And that was that. A really nice meal, pulled together fairly quickly (even quicker, I guess, if you microwave the squash - although I've never tried that so I can't really recommend it, as such) and perfect for a Wednesday night.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with the other three squash gracing the vegetable rack.....

Stay Vegan, Friends!

MoFo for Wednesday: The Utter Deprivation of the Vegan Lifestyle

Well, I struck out on the rhubarb, sadly. Everywhere I turned at the FarMar there were squash, squash and more squash, so I bought a couple...four, in fact....and am thinking about what to do with them. Two were acorn squash, one a butternut (which never fails to make my giggle in a most juvenile way) and the last was a Blue Hubbard squash, which kind of look like a deformed smurf head. Pictures will come later.

However, having commited to making a rhubarb bread, and having no rhubarb, I decided to try out the 'sister recipe' from How It All Vegan: Apricot Bread. Oh man, am I glad I did.

The original recipe calls for a 1/2 cup of nuts (your choice) but since My Beloved is not a nut fan, I decided to swap these out with 1/2 cup diced dried pineapple instead. The combo of the pineapple, diced dried apricot and the cup of fresh orange juice makes this treat heavenly. Would you just look at this golden-brown loveliness?.....



And it sliced delightfully - just look at that crumb....



And I simply could not confine myself to one lonely slice. Damn, I'll never be thin....



But I will always be vegan. And I will always laugh (surreptitiously) at those who say that veganism is about abstinence and deprivation. Bring it on, says I!

Stay Vegan, Friends!

All Hail Vegan Dad!

Over the weekend, I decided on an adventure and peeked out from behind the relative safety of my much loved vegan cookbooks to embrace a recipe or two from the blogosphere. I had stumbled, you see, upon one of my new favourite people: Vegan Dad. OK, so I don't know him personally and I am unlikely, I guess, to ever so do, however, I love his blog and was determined to test out a dish or two.

And so, in the best tradition of Saturday night 'junk food', I selected Boneless Chickenless Chicken Wings, seitan-based little morsels of delight and wonderment. Mine, not quite as pretty as Vegan Dad's, looked like this:



They paired really well with some twice-baked potato skins stuffed with garlic mushrooms and topped with Vegan-rella, thus:



And finally, celebrating the fact that we now have a broiler (a small miracle!) in an oven whose door actually closes, we also enjoyed a plate of nachos - tortilla chips, topped with a mixed bean-tomato confection and grated MELTING Vegan-rella cheddar cheese. See here:



No, I'll readily 'fess up and agree that it was not the healthiest meal I ever dreamed up, but My Beloved just was not in the mood for another plate of sauteed greens. And, on a Saturday night, who can blame him????

Stay Vegan, Friends!

I (heart) Green Beans....

Yeah, I know you're chomping at the bit for news of my rhubarb exploits, but you'll have to wait just a little longer. I don't have the pix available right now - and what is a blog post without pix, I ask you???? - so instead here are some of the brunch I enjoyed at the Green Bean on Saturday.

Having been to the farmers' market, My Beloved and I popped into our favourite place in NoHo for brunch. I am going through phases where I have the same thing over and over, so decided it really was time to break the habit and have 'Something Else'.

The herb and onion bread with almond butter gravy and a side of roasted red potatoes.

Yeah, I KNEW you'd approve!

OK, here's how it stacked up:

The cutest coffee cup in the whole wide world....



And then it found a friend.....



Sipping happily at the excellent brew, I was *thrilled* when this arrived:



and



The gravy is creamy and savoury and the kind of thing I could imagine poured over streamed greens, drizzled over crepes, or just in a bowl with a spoon. If I can ever - EVER - get the recipe, I will post it here because you absolutely have to try it. Have to.

But until that happy time, if you are in the New England area make a beeline for Northampton and the Green Bean and try it for yourself. It is well worth the trip - even if you are coming from - say - Alaska!

Anyways, better get back to work so, until next time, Stay Vegan, Friends!

PS: Oh, and the little dish of 'butter' in the background? That's Earth Balance. And it was brought to me without me even having to ask, beg, look sad, or bribe the staff. Our wonderful server simply brought it over. Because that is the vegan thing to do.