Red beans, collards, roasted plantains and sweet potatoes w/spicy peanut sauce

Red beans, collards, roasted plantains and sweet potatoes w/spicy peanut sauce (peanut butter, sea salt, white vinegar, white miso, lemon juice, evoo, liquid smoke).

Brown rice risotto with chick peas, sweet potatoes and kale

Brown rice risotto with chick peas, sweet potatoes and kale (garlic, sea salt, evoo/flax oil, black pepper, garlic, all spice, ginger, nutritional yeast).

Sweet potato and lentil pupusas with a vegan jalapeño cheese sauce

Sweet potato and lentil (sea salt, allspice, cloves, ginger, garlic, nutritional yeast, white vinegar) pupusas (masa harina, sea salt, cumin, coriander, paprika) with a vegan cheese sauce (nutritional yeast, lemon juice, sea salt, jalapeño).

Pupusas are always a challenge to make (corn flour can be an unforgiving medium). Normally I make them by hand, but I tried rolling them out between wax paper this go around. I think it was easier to make them by hand.

Sweet potato and tofu rosti with red peppers and spinach

Sweet potato and tofu latkes with red peppers and spinach (garlic, tamari, white onions, evoo/flax oil, whole wheat flour, chick pea flour, vegetable stock).

Oven-baked sweet potato pancake goodness!

Curried chick peas, sweet potatoes and green chard w/black rice

Curried chick peas, sweet potatoes and green chard (garlic, ginger, tuermic, coriander, chili paste, vegetable stock, peanut butter, lemon juice) with black rice.

Sweet potato and vegan cheese empanada with tomato sauce and roasted asparagus

Sweet potato and vegan cheese empanada (spelt flour, yeast, sea salt; rice wine vinegar, chipotle, sea salt, cilantro, ginger, garlic, turmeric, evoo) with , tomato sauce (sea salt, chipotle, garlic) and roasted asparagus (sea salt, liquid smoke, evoo).

Hot tofu sandwich with mushroom gravy, marbled sweet and white mashed potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts

My father loved to get hot turkery sandwich when when we went to the local greasy spoon (of course, he didn't like brussel sprouts -- neither do I really, unless I imagine them as little cabbages). This is my vegan version.

Hot tofu (salt, pepper, evoo/flax oil) sandwich with mushroom gravy (arrowroot powder, garlic, portabello mushrooms, vegan red wine, walnuts, tarragon, savory, allspice) on spelt bun (spelt flour, sea salt, yeast).

Marbled sweet and white mashed potatoes (scallions, chipotle, cocoa, garlic, sea salt; rosemary, garlic, black pepper, sea salt). Each part of the mash is seasoned separately, and then both are stirred together with minced scallions.

Roasted brussel sprouts (evoo/flax oil, sea salt, garlic, ginger, turmeric).

Red beans and quinoa with roasted dinosaur kale, sweet potatoes and cauliflower in a tangerine walnut sauce

Red beans and quinoa with roasted dinosaur kale, sweet potatoes and cauliflower (evoo/flax oil, vegetable stock, ginger) in a tangerine walnut sauce.

For the sauce:
1/2 cup of walnuts
Juice of one tangerine
Half of the tangerine peel (all of the peel, not just the zest)
1 cup of water
Sea salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
Blend on high speed until liquefied.

Spinach salad with artichokes, raisins and red peppers; chick pea and pepita veggie burger with sweet potato mash

Spinach salad with artichokes, raisins and red peppers (lemon juice, black pepper, nutritional yeast, sea salt, liquid smoke).

Chick pea and pepita veggie burger (chick peas, pepitas, yellow split peas, allspice, five-spice powder, onion powder, cumin, garlic, vegetable stock), with artichoke/macadamia cheese (garlic, cilantro, sea salt, nutritional yeast) on a whole wheat beer bun (whole wheat flour, Heineken, sea salt, baking powder, evoo/flax oil).

Sweet potato mash with cilantro and chipotle (garlic, evoo/flax oil, sea salt).

The photo doesn't really capture it, but the burger was simply massive. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to eat it all. Against all reason and decorum, I decided to make a vegan version of the American superburger thing.

Sweet potato and rhubarb soup; red bean and black rice salad with spinach and orange peppers

Sweet potato and rhubarb soup.

1 medium sweet potato peeled and diced.
2 stalks of rhubarb diced.
2 cups vegetable broth.
1 tablespoon of garlic.
1 teaspoon of ginger.
1 half teaspoon of chipotle (or to taste).
Sea salt to taste.
Minced cilantro for garnish.

Rhubarb and sweet potato complement one another very well. The rhubarb works a lot like tamarind in this recipe. With some heat from the chipotle, this soup has a lot of flavour.

Red bean and black rice salad with spinach and orange peppers.

2 cups cooked red beans
2 cups cooked forbidden black rice
2 orange peppers diced.
3 cups packed spinach minced.

Dressing:
1 heaping tablespoon of white miso.
1 heaping teaspoon of hazelnut butter.
Juice from three small limes.
1 small teaspoon of ginger.
1 tablespoon of garlic.
Sea salt and black pepper to taste.
2 tablepoons of evoo/flax oil.

Ground nut stew with chick peas and sweet potatoes over brown rice

Ground nut stew with chick peas and sweet potatoes over brown rice.

2 cups of cooked chick peas.
4 carrots sliced or diced.
4 tomatoes.
1 red pepper diced.
Vegan vegetable bullion or 1 cup of stock.
4 stalks of celery diced.
1 large vidalia onion diced.
1 cup of minced cilantro (added towards the very end of cooking)
1 tablespoon of minced cilantro for garnish
2 tablespoons of organic crunchy peanut butter
1 medium sweet potato in 1/2 inch dice (or larger if you like big chunks)
Turmeric, coriander, ginger to taste (or 1-2 tablespoons of curry powder)
1 tablespoon of palm oil (or vegan ghee or margarine)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Sea salt and chili to taste.

Roasted eggplant and artichoke salad; roasted portabello steaks with a pear, chive and palm oil veloute and sweet potato and sweet onion mash

Roasted eggplant and artichoke salad (cider vinegar, sea salt, black pepper, chives, garlic, herbs de Provence, evoo/flax oil). Roasted portabello steaks (evoo, sea salt) with a pear, chive and palm oil veloute (pears, chives, whole wheat flour, palm oil, white wine, lemon juice, vegetable stock) and sweet potato and sweet onion mash (sea salt, palm oil, chives), plated, naturally, on a field of chives.

The sauce was based on a standard ravigote minus the tarragon and some additional accents. This may sound like an unusual pairing, but pear, mushrooms, onions and cheese are a common combination for panini.

Dry fried chickpeas with coriander; roasted sweet potato, eggplant and tomato curry with mushrooms and scallions over brown rice

Dry fried chickpeas with coriander (from the Alternative Vegan); roasted sweet potato, eggplant and tomato curry with mushrooms and scallions (cashew/macadamia butter, ginger, turmeric, chili, chipotle, wine vinegar, sea salt, vegetable stock) over brown rice

Vegan kielbasa in rye blankets; sweet potatoe, turtle bean and collard salad with lime/chipotle vinaigrette

Vegan kielbasa (Tofurkey brand) in rye wrap blankets.
Sweet potato, turtle bean and collard salad with lime/chipotle vinaigrette (lime zest, lime juice, chipotle, evoo, flax oil, garlic, mustard, black pepper, sea salt).

Red pepper, grapefruit, date and spinach salad; barbecued tofu riblets, sweet potato and scallion mash, and grilled asparagus

Dinner 27 April 2007.


Red pepper, grapefruit, date and spinach salad dressed in evoo/flax oil, sea salt, grapefruit juice, black pepper and jalapeno.

Barbecued tofu riblets (tofu, pomegranate juice, tomato, black pepper, chili, cumin, paprika, walnuts, lemon juice, garlic and sea salt), sweet potato and scallion mash (evoo, wine vinegar, cardamom, sea salt, black pepper), and grilled asparagus (evoo, black pepper, sea salt).

Appearing as a digestif this time around, a new favourite of mine, a screwdriver. Heaven help me. I think I may have a crush on this drink.

Collard green, sweet potatoes and vegan chicken in a spicy peanut butter sauce with black rice

Collard greens, sweet potatoes and vegan chicken in a spicy peanut sauce (scallions, chili, black pepper, white pepper, lemon juice, palm oil, peanuts, turmeric, garlic, cardamom, cumin and ginger) with black rice.

The aperitif was a screwdriver.
The wine was D'Arenberg's Darry's Original.

Pepita and potato taquitos with grilled portabello mushroom stuffed with roasted sweet potatoes, jalapeño and scallions

Dinner 7 April 2007. Petita and potato taquitos (pepitas, roasted red and white potatoes, garlic, chipotle, cumin, black pepper, sea salt, gluten-free tortillas), with grilled portabello mushroom stuffed with roasted sweet potatoes (olive oil, flax oil, roasted sweet potato, scallions, jalapeño).

Wine: Eyrie's Pinot Noir.

Asparagus soup, roasted mushrooms and sweet potato stack, fennel and orange salad, ratatouille and strawberry sorbet

Dinner 5 April 2007. I had company for dinner and some vegetables that I wanted to get rid of (so, I went for a full five courses):

• Vegan cream of asparagus soup (asparagus, soy milk, sea salt, orange juice, black pepper);
• Sweet potato and portabello mushroom milles feuilles with chipotle and lemon catsup (sea salt, tomato paste, lemon juice, chipotle, sunflower oil, garlic, stevia) with basil and oregano;
• Salad of roasted fennel, clementines, green pepper and walnuts dressed with citrus and oil (clementine juice and zest, minced fennel fronds, sea salt and sunflower oil);
• Ratatouille with cannelini beans (garlic, onion, green pepper, grilled eggplant and zucchini, tomatoes, cannelini beans, brown rice, sea salt, basil, oregano, thyme) garnished with walnuts;
  
• Strawberry sorbet (frozen stawberries, stevia and soymilk)
• And finally, espresso and cognac.

The wine was Eyrie's Pinot Noir.

Barbecued tofu with pomegranate chipotle gravy; roasted and curried sweet potato mash; black eyed peas and greens; corn bread

Dinner 3 April 2007.

Barbecued tofu (red wine, lemon juice, tamari, garlic, sea salt, sunflower oil) with pomegranate and chipotle gravy (pomegranate juice, chipotle, sea salt, corn starch, sunflower oil);

Roasted and curried sweet potato mash (sweet potatoes, black pepper, sea salt, sunflower oil, garlic, cumin, turmeric);

Black eyed peas and greens (black eyed peas, spinach, onions, Yves veggie bacon, liquid smoke, lemon juice, sea salt);

Corn bread (corn meal, vegenaise, sweet mustard, whole wheat flour, baking powder, sea salt, sunflower oil).

Chipotle roasted tofu with potato, broccoli and mushroom au gratin

Chipotle roasted tofu (tofu, chipotle pepper, tamari, stevia, sea salt, wine vinegar, garlic, cumin, paprika) with potato/broccoli/mushroom au gratin (white wine, whole wheat flour, tahini, garlic, sea salt, black pepper, vegetable stock).

Wine: Botter's Nero D'Avola



Tofu:
1 brick of extra firm tofu in 8 slices (about 1 cm each)
1 teaspoon (or to taste) chipotle
2 tablespoons of tamari
2 tablespoons (or to taste) wine vinegar
stevia, cumin, garlic to taste
Marinade and then bake until most of the sauce has reduce/been absorbed (maybe 30 minutes)

The sauce is just the chipotle reduction (roasting/baking tofu with the marinade is a good way to add flavour and improve the texture of the tofu).

Au gratin:
Several large mushrooms (about 1 and 1/2 cups sliced or 2 cups quartered)
1 head of broccoli (two stalks should be enough -- or about 2 cups)
3 medium-sized potatoes in 1/2 inch or so dice
1/2 cup white wine (I use Botter's Pinot Grigio Chardonnay for white wine recipes).
2 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon whole wheat flour
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon tahini
sea salt and black pepper to taste

I bake the au gratin in a covered casserole for about 40 minutes (you want to cook the potatoes through and reduce the stock) and then broil for another 15 minutes or so to brown the top.