Smoky potatoes and squash rancheros

 Howdy, and happy Thanksgiving to those living in Canada's dirty beard! Maybe you will actually be spending time with loved ones, and not checking the innernerds?!? What's up with that? 

Anyhow, here are a few noms I made recently.  I can't say I followed a recipe for either, but they were both inspired by blog posts/actual recipes.  First, these smoky potato wedges from Vegan Crunk.  She doesn't give the recipe from the cookbook it came from, The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions. I'll be damned if I'll buy yet another cookbook from which I use a total of two recipes, but I wanted smoky wedges so I decided to wing it!  I tossed potato wedges in smoked paprika, potato starch, olive oil, and salt, and baked until crisp.  They were really good. 

Now, this next thing was really special albeit something I might be inclined to overlook. Beans and squash--deceptively simple! But I promise you this is really wonderful!! It was based on this recipe from the PPK.  I'm sure it'd be great if you just followed the recipe, but I used way more coriander and cumin, and substituted a chipotle in adobo + tomato paste in lieu of the jalapeno.

Holy crap, this was so good!!!  Make it now! Or after your Thanksgiving coma!!

Miscellaneous grub

This was inspired by Zoa talking about Bryanna Clark Grogan's Authentic Chinese Cuisine cookbook recently to make Dan Dan noodles.  Turns out we didn't have many of things one would need to make this recipe, so I skipped to the chow mein recipe a few pages down.  Much simpler for a lazy person like me.

 I added tofu and homemade seitan because someone once told me protein is important for satiety (the recipe in the book is just veggies; also, this photo was taken before I added the noodles. It was a good shot for me and I gotta take what I can get).

A few days later I managed to get my act together and take a picture of something I've been making quite a bit of lately: the bean-oat patties from Melomeals.  I have been having these for breakfast, actually, on top of a kale salad.  This version, though, was a little different and I recommend the approach. If you have some beans that are highly seasoned already (e.g., for chili; in the present case, I used leftover lentils from the Veganomicon's Snobby Joe's), use them instead of plain beans for EVEN MORE NOMS!!!!

Here there are in a pita with our Halloween decor.

And here's a sneaky boy, trying to steal some people food. He will actually eat almost anything if you let him. 

Chickpeapalooza

So after my last wretched-looking bean bucket post, I figured I should try to redeem myself a little bit with some slightly nicer-looking food.

I don't know if it's been noticeable or not, but my "reanimated" (spooky-sounding, for Halloween!) blog coincides with me trying to eat healthier.  I've been doing so since last spring, when I noticed that the dress I'd bought for a friend's upcoming wedding was alarmingly snug. Winter is hard on your ol' pal Stacy. I tend to sit inside and eat and drink, and boy could you tell by last spring.  Anyhow, I decided to basically eliminate refined carbs from my diet and cut out most processed foods, and one thing I started doing was to cook a batch of beans of up every week to have on hand for salads etc.

This is what I did with this week's bean batch, which was chickpeas.  First up, we have chickpeas in pesto, grilled raddichio, and polenta:

Next, a perennial favorite, the chickpea piccata recipe from Appetite for Reduction, served on top of caulipots and wilted arugula, just like Isa says:

Roasted Brussels sprouts on the side, just like *I* said!!

Just noticed we may get SNOW soon. Ugh. Can I maintain my new, healthier eating habits once the ice weasels are upon us? Stay tuned......I hear there'll be a witch going around with some Turkish Delight.

Bean bucket and nut cheeze (least appetizing blog post title ever)

I had to laugh at how horrible these lentils looked in this old bucket that my tofu comes in.  I'm passin' the laffs on to you!

Actually, these tasted great and were kind of an experiment inspired by this new cookbook I bought: the Vegan Slow Cooker. I haven't actually made anything out of the book (yet) but the Indian recipes sounded so good that I was inspired to throw a bunch of things (lentils, pintos, potatoes, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, and a dal mahkani spice blend I bought) into my slow cooker one day before heading off to work. Came home to deliciousness.  I also made a pumpkin curry but forgot to take a picture of it.  Anyhow, I am hoping to try an actual recipe from this book soon and will share it when I do so.

Nut "cheeze" update: in my last post I grappled with my overwhelming agita stemming from needing to take a dip/spread to an omni gathering.  I ended up taking this red pepper cheeze and it was enjoyed by all (despite my husband giving it to the host and announcing "Hey everyone, it's a vegan nut spread!" People still ate it). Next I want to make a version using beer.