Tuesday, November 8, 2011

More questionable photos of tasty meals

So today's installment of good food, horribly immortalized in digital format, comes in part from Zoa who has lately been talking up Jamie Oliver's cookbooks. I never thought I would bother with his oeuvre, but Zoa made his recipes sound awesome so I got some of his cookbooks from the library. In this one, there was a recipe for Jools' beef stew. I guess Jools is his special lady friend? I don't know. Anyhow, the recipe sounded good except for the beef (ugh). It entailed many root vegetables, winter squash, lemon zest, sage, and rosemary.  Subbed in seitan for the beef.  It was pretty much delicious.


Now back to the Vegan Slow Cooker.  This week I made the chickn noodle recipe (it was a little on the bland side, but I think if I had a cold, I would love this. Half of a toasted cheeze sandwich on the side), and.... 


the mushroom "soysage" ragu recipe (definitely not from the Betty Crocker Cookbook for Boys and Girls--I just included that for Shen).

So far I would rate this cookbook pretty highly. I'm not blown away, but the recipes deliver what they promise: straightforward, easy, wholesome, accessible, and healthy vegan food.

9 comments:

  1. All sounds good and perfect for chilly nights...hearty and warming. I love the look of the chikn' noodle soup...so brothy. I'm sure you could ramp up the flavors in the next round...and with grilled cheeze! Very comforting.

    Jools is his wife. Incidentally, if you're on to Jamie at the moment, Oliver's Twist is available on Netflix watch instantly at the moment. It's from about 7 or 8 years ago...kinda fun in spite of his omnivore exuberance. I was hooked on it for a while. Check it out if you feel so inclined and let me know what you think. Some of the episodes really inspired me to make vegan versions of his fare.

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  2. Well, I don't know much about JO at all (no klew as to who Jools was until Rose set me straight just now) but I really am loving *Meals in Minutes*. I watched an episode yesterday at the gym where he made a steak sandwich thingy, along with some very excellent-looking baby potatoes and a grated beet salad...I have to admit that I'm at the point where I can read omni cookbooks, listen to omnis describe how to cook meat dishes, and even watch cooking shows involving meat, and unless they're actually killing something or working with an entire carcass or pulling the legs off crustaceans (and all this does happen surprisingly often on Canada's Food TV, at least the little bits I've watched, unfortunately), my mind automatically veganizes. So I'm, like, yeah, I could adapt Bryanna Clark Grogan's beefy seitan recipe for this and it would be *awesome*, but I have to stock up on urad flour first...

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  3. That last soup looks great! I almost wish it were cooler here so I could enjoy soup but I won't complain. I also appreciate Jaime Oliver.

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  4. The first stew sounds really good! And I haven't ever heard of that cookbook in the last picture? It looks old though, is it?

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  5. The Jool's stew looks very good! I like Jamie Oliver. I liked to watch that show that he had for a while..."Food Revolution" where he tried to bring healthy foods into the schools...the show didn't last very long though. I've never veganized any of his recipes. Looks like I need to check into that.
    I have an old cookbook similar to yours. I think it's called "kids can cook too" It was my moms when she was little. :o)

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  6. I foretell seeing that cookbook cover in lots of dreams tonight.

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  7. OMG Rose, you're not some kind of celebrity stalker, are you?!? Jools better watch her back :)! I will look into checking out that show. Sometimes there are annoying issues WRT what tv we can get up here in Canada (e.g., no Hulu).

    Zoa, I checked out two of his books--the other actually had a LOT of pics of dead animals in it, which was kind of disturbing to me but I guess the meat-eaters should have to be confronted w/ what they are eating.

    Maud, winter is coming soon enough, even for you New Yorkers.

    Carissa and Michelle, it is Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys and Girls. My MIL gave it to me when she noticed me coveting it. It contains such tantalizing recipes as Open-Faced Hamburgers (made with evaporated milk, no joke) and Sunshine Salad (gelatin + pineapple + carrots). Holy crap, no wonder people were thinner back in the olden days!!

    Shen, sweet dreams!

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  8. I think the reason I don't make stews and soups nearly enough is that I'm so lazy to add so many things together and peel and chop, etc. I need to stop being so lazy.

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  9. Jenny, my solution is to not peel anything. Seriously, I don't even peel beets anymore. Esp if you buy organic, I just don't think it's necessary. I tell myself it's because the peel has all the vitamins, but it's really because I'm lazy.

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