Wednesday 12 November 2014

Recipe Round-Up: Isa Does It

The newest book from Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Isa Does It was much anticipated. It certainly lived up to all the hype. A beautiful book full of gorgeous photos and, most importantly, some stellar recipes!

Omaha Yakisoba with Red Cabbage and Corn and Sesame Tofu: Who doesn't love a big colourful bowl of noodles and veggies? The noodles are delicious! I used 6oz of dried udon noodles (that I cooked) rather than the precooked variety you can buy as I prefer them. It says it serves two, but they are GIANT serves. But it is so yummy that you won't want to stop. The sesame tofu was super fast to make (no marinade time) and was a tasty addition.
Rating: Yakisoba :D, Tofu :)

Omaha Yakisoba with Red Cabbage and Corn; Sesame Tofu


Pureed Split Pea and Rutabaga Soup: I scaled this recipe down to one third of the original as I had just enough dried split peas for this. It made one large mug of soup for my dinner (along with grilled cheese and sauteed kale). This is a thick, satisfying soup. I really liked the flavour that the star anise gave it.
Rating: :)

Pureed Split Pea and Rutabaga Soup


Sweet Potato and Red Curry Soup with Rice and Purple Kale: I subbed in green kale for this recipe because I couldn't find purple kale, so maybe it wasn't as pretty as it could have been, but it yummy regardless. I was cooking for just myself with this, and a half recipe made one big serving. I forgot to put on the sriracha for serving, but it had a nice enough heat for me anyway from the curry paste.
Rating: :)

Sweet Potato and Red Curry Soup with Rice and Kale


Shroomy Hot & Sour Soup: I love hot and sour soup, which is amusing for someone who doesn't like things too spicy, a nice gentle heat is my preference. I made this when I was under the weather one day, it is my favourite get better food. I was able to manage my heat preference easily here, and it had a wonderful sour flavour from the rice vinegar. I didn't serve it with the optional chow mein noodles, and got about three big servings from it.
Rating: :)

Shroomy Hot & Sour Soup


Harira with Eggplant and Chickpeas: This is in the soup chapter, but is thick and packed full of food - chickpeas, lentils, noodles and eggplant. It says serves 8-10, but we got 4 serves (served over baby spinach).
Rating: :)

Harira with Eggplants and Chickpeas


Sesame Slaw with Warm Garlicky 'Seitan': For one big dinner, make a half serve of the cabbage mix but a whole batch of the Miso-Sesame dressing (which was a bit spicy). Hell yeah! The cabbage goes a bit soft in the marinade, it is amazing. I didn't actually have any seitan so I used the gluten free option of using some of the Sesame Tofu instead, which was great.
Rating: :)

Sesame Slaw with Warm Garlicky Seitan


Sunflower Mac: I am always looking for new mac and cheese recipes, but this left me a little disappointed. It was still good, don't get me wrong, but I found the sunflower sauce was a little bitter and was hard to get completely smooth, it was a bit gritty. Sorry sunflower seeds, cashew still gets my vote. The sauce seemed to make way too much for the 8oz pasta the recipe calls for, but I used gf pasta (I just had some lying around) and it didn't seem to expand as much as regular pasta did.However, you can always find uses for extra cheese sauce! I served this with kale and some sauteed sliced sausages.
Rating: :)

Sunflower Mac


Tempeh Meatballs and Spaghetti: Balls are fun (tee hee), and these are great, tempeh-based and nice and juicy. I got 11 balls out of the mix. They are pan-fried, and I found that I needed to use quite a bit of oil to get them to brown nicely all over. Everything is doused in the Spicy Slurpy Spaghetti Sauce, which is studded with bits of sweet onion and very nice.
Rating: :)

Tempeh Meatballs and Spaghetti


Garden Shiitake and Chard Fusilli: This was a bit meh. In theory garlic, shiitake, tomatoes and silverbeet should got very nicely togehter, but it just didn't quite meld, the flavour and texture was just a bit odd. I included the option of a tin of white beans to bulk it out.
Rating: :|

Garden Shiitake and Chard Fusilli


Roasted Butternut Alfredo: OMG this is so delicious you will never want to stop eating it. The sauce is just gorgeous - cashew-based with mashed butternut, miso and nooch! Hell yes. I served this with some new spelt spiral pasta that I found, which was also really nice. Served with some kale and sauteed Fry's chick'n-style strips. It makes lots of sauce, so there is extra to put on top and mix with your greens.
Rating: :D

Roasted Butternut Alfredo


Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Dim Sim


Dim Sim is thinking about running up the stairs.

I'm still working on the holiday posts, so watch this space!

6 comments:

  1. I have most of Isa's books, but not this one. It looks great - might have to go on my wishlist! Thanks for sharing your photos and reviews :)

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  2. This all looks amazing! I haven't bought this book yet, although I have most of Isa's others...

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  3. I've only had this book for a couple of months but have enjoyed almost all of the recipes I've tried. Haven't made any of these recipes yet but now I really want to try the Yakisoba and Tempeh Meatballs. My favorite recipes so far are the Sun-dried tomato penne with broccoli and Seitan and broccoli with pantry BBQ sauce.

    P.S Was lovely to meet you last Saturday! Looking forward to reading about your travelling adventures. :D

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  4. I swear I'm the last vegan to get this book! I don't know why the delay...I think I am having a not cooking from cookbooks kind of phase at the moment. Anyway, everything I've seen looks and sounds delicious - no surprises there though.

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  5. I love this book and it's great to see some pics of things I've not made yet. We've made the meatballs and the alfredo. I love the burger recipes and the cheezy brocoli soup.

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