Recipe Round-Up: Veganomicon

Veganomicon, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero is a pretty famous cookbook in vegan circles. While the newest release of the book is the 10th Anniversary Edition, I cook out of the original version. You can see my other posts about Veganomicon here.

Sweet Potato-Pear Tzimmes with Pecans and Raisins and Spinach Noodle Kugel: The tzimmes was a very sweet dish, something that I would really think of more as a dessert than a main. There really is nothing in it that would mean it couldn't be a dessert, no onions or anything lurking, just sweet potatoes and pears and sweet stuff. But serving for dinner, it went very well with the gentle blandness of the kugel. I made a half recipe of the kugel, using a mix of frozen and fresh spinach, and broken up linguine for the pasta (I have never seen any vegan noodles that were suggested in the recipe). It also has matzo and silken tofu in it, as well as some dill. I added more dill than the recipe called for.
Rating: Tzimmes :), Kugel :)



Chickpea Quinoa Pilaf with Citrus Sesame Date Sauce: This pilaf is so simple and so tasty. I decreased the amount of quinoa to about 2/3 cup, which gave me three serves. It also has onion, garlic, spices (I used ground coriander rather than crushwed seeds), and tomato paste. I needed to cook it a bit longer than the recipe said to get everything to cook through. The sauce is made with orange juice, dates, and tahini (plus some other things like miso). It comes together so easily, and is great over grains or greens.
Rating: Pilaf :), Sauce :)



Fresh Dill-Basmati Rice with Chard and Chickpeas and Spiced Yoghurt Sauce: I am drawn to any recipe with dill in the title, it is my fvourite herb! I decreased the rice slightly from 2 cups to 1 1/2 cups, so I had a higher other stuff to rice ratio. I couldn't get silverbeet (chard), so I used some English spinach instead. Rather than steaming it, I chopped it, put it in a collander and tipped a full kettle of boiling water over to blanch it, let it cool, squeezed it dry, then chopped it again. I used lots of fresh dill, plus some dry dill as well. You cannot have too much dill. The spiced yoghurt sauce is very easy to make, I used some natural soy yoghurt and seasonings, lemon juice, and coriander are mixed in. On it 's own, it is a bit meh. But it was very nice when combined with the rice dish.
Rating: Rice :), Sauce :|



Udon with Shiitake Mushrooms and Kale in Miso Broth: This recipe says it serves four, but they are small servings. I'd double it if you really were feeding four people. It has a lovely rich broth, that is very simple to make. It would be good with some tofu added too to bulk it up a little.
Rating: :)



Almond-Quinoa Muffins: These muffins are a fun way to use up extra quinoa. Though they don't rise very high, they quinoa makes them dense and moist (sorry) and a great little snack. The almond comes from almond meal, and they also have some lovely spices and dried fruit as well (I used currants).
Rating: :)



Lower-Fat Banana Bread: This recipe uses a mix of applesauce and canola oil to make it 'lower-fat', eh, but it doesn't impact the taste at all. This is a very moist (sorry) and yummy loaf. It does have molasses in it, which gave it a lovely extra flavour (if you like molasses that is).
Rating: :)



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



A darling photo of our sweet sweet Petal. I will miss her the most!