Vegan MoFo 2014 #11: Robin Robertson Rocks - 1000 Vegan Recipes

Today is my fourteen year veganniversary. Yay! I am not doing much today, but yesterday I went out to lunch with some friends and had a Doctor Who afternoon with some other friends, so that was nice.

Back to some more of the mighty tome that is 1000 Vegan Recipes. There are so many recipes in this book that it is easy to put some together to make some great meals!

Piccata-Style Cashew Chickpea Medallions, Roasted Lemon Asparagus with Pine Nuts and Rosemary-Scented Mashed Potatoes with 'Limas' is a bit of a fancy combination. The medallions come together quickly, though I found them quite hard to smoosh down into the 1/4-inch thick medallions the recipe called for. I made 12 medallions, rather than 12, so mine in the picture are a bit smaller. I love piccata sauce, so I made a double batch to make sure there was lots for the medallions, you could even make a triple! The asparagus is incredibly simple and fast to make. For the potatoes, we don't have frozen lima beans here, so I used chickpeas instead (a variation suggested by the book).
Rating: Medallions :), Asparagus :), Potatoes :)



Coconut Jasmine Rice and Edamame with Teriyaki Marinated Tofu was sweet and satisfying. For the rice, instead of two 400g cans of coconut milk I used a 270mL tin and the rest water. This is because too much coconut fat makes me ill, so this sub gave a lovely coconut flavour without the fat. The teriyaki marinade for the tofu came together in a snap.
Rating: Rice :), Tofu :)



Mexican Green Rice and Beans covered in Roasted Tomato and Red Chile Sauce is a saucy pairing, in fact there is a whole chapter of sauces to smother other recipes with. This sauce is amazing, you could almost drink it like a soup! The rice had a lovely, creamy texture. I only used one green chile because I like things mild, rather than two or three.
Rating: Rice :), Sauce :D



Couscous Stuffed Eggplant was bulked up with a side of Satay Tempeh for a great dinner. I had to cook my eggplant shells for a little longer to get them soft enough, but they may have been bigger eggplants than the recipe was made for. The couscous calls for 2 cups of water to 1 cup of couscous, which seems like way too much, so I just followed the packet instructions of 1 cup water to 1 cup couscous. The couscous is mixed with onion, nuts, golden raisins (my favourite!) and I used shredded carrot instead of capsicum. The tempeh is marinated in a mix of spiced coconut milk before being grilled (or broiled, in my case) and smothered in satay sauce (a bit sweeter than I normally prefer, but still good, my mum loved it). The sauce was also great on the eggplant.
Rating: Eggplant :), Tempeh :)



Tamari-Dijon Marinated Tempeh and Barley Pilaf with Carrots, Walnuts, and Golden Raisins pairs some lovely flavours for great results. The salty, mustardy marinade is described in the book as 'assertive', and it certainly is (in a delicious way). This assertive tempeh goes well with the slightly subtle taste of the barley pilaf. The pilaf also had fresh dill, so of course I added much more than the one tablespoon required. Dill forever!
Rating: Tempeh :), Pilaf :)



Teriyaki Tofu Wraps and Red Cabbage Slaw with Black Vinegar Dressing makes a nice, light dinner. For the wraps I used zucchini instead of capsicum. The tofu is marinated in a teriyaki marinade, then the left over marinade is used to glaze the tofu and the zucchini. The slaw has a subtle flavour, which includes my favourite vinegar of all - black vinegar.
Rating: Wraps :), Slaw :)



Tofu Stuffed with Watercress and Tomatoes and Three-Alarm Potato Salad is a bit of a fiddly dinner, but the results are pretty fancy to look at! I downgraded the number of alarms on the salad to mildly alarmed, using a mild salsa instead of hot. I also subbed carrot in place of capsicum and onion (I am not the greatest fan of raw onion). The best thing about this salad is that is has avocado! When I was making the tofu I was terrified that I would tear it when I was stuffing the pieces, but I went carefully and all was fine!
Rating: Tofu :), Salad :)



California Pasta Salad and Cajun Tofu Crunchies were the perfect dinner for a hot summer night. The salad has a fresh lenom juice dressing and is full of vegetables, nuts, olives and avocado. I just left out the capsicum in this recipe. I bulked this up by topping with some cajun tofu crunchies, seasoned and baked tofu that gets a great crunchy-chewy texture.
Rating: Salad :), Crunchies :)



Strawberry Field Greens with Black Olives and Toasted Pine Nuts combines sweet, salty and crunchy to make a very pretty salad, all topped with a walnut oil and herb dressing. Something to impress.
Rating: :)



Ziti with Red Pepper-Walnut Sauce and Cucumber Radish Salad with Tarragon Vinaigrette was a randomly picked combination. I definitely preferred the cucumber in the salad compared to the radis, personal preference. Instead of olive oil for the dressing I used a combination of stock and guar gum, a technique I picked up reading the My Adventures Testing 1000 Vegan Recipes blog. The pasta was not my favourite, but that is not a fault of the recipe but a fault of me making a capsicum based sauce. The only time I eat capsicum is if it is roasted, peeled and blended into a sauce, though normally it is a sauce with other flavours (like a cheese sauce).
Rating: Salad :), Pasta :|



(% 1000 Vegan Recipes blogged: 22.3%)

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



My red bear Sahara. She turned 13 on the 28th of August, I can hardly believe it!