Vegan MoFo 2014 #17: Robin Robertson Rocks - 1000 Vegan Recipes

One of my favourite things this MoFo is looking through the amazing Instagram feed for #veganmofo or #veganmofo2014. When I have a few spare minutes, scrolling through Instagram gives my a MoFo fix between blog reading. Speaking of lots of reading, 1000 Vegan Recipes will keep you entertained for a long time (wow, talk about a lame segue). I always read my cookbooks like novels (several times over), and this mighty tome certainly will fill your head with exciting cooking plans.

Lemongrass Tofu and Snow Pea Spring Rolls with Sesame-Scallion Dipping Sauce and Edamame and Snow Pea Salad with Lime-Ginger Dressing is a refreshing summer dinner. I love rice paper rolls, and they are easy to make. I ended up with a bit of the filling left over, however this was excellent as the tofu is very snackable! I served with the suggested dipping sauce, which was easy and complements with more lemongrass. The salad is very fresh, and made a nice side.
Rating: Spring rolls :D, Sauce :), Salad :)



Yellow Squash with Corn, Edamame and Dill with Spiced Oven Roasted Potato Sticks, Cornmeal-Crusted Fried Green Tomatoes and Remoulade Sauce was another great summer dinner made up of a collection of side dishes. There was a bad tomato season last year, and I happened across some green tomatoes out at the shop. They were convinced I was silly for getting unripe tomatoes, but I was a woman with a plan! This is the only time I've ever made fried green tomatoes, and I was impressed - they were juicy and yummy! The potato sticks were the highlight though, they taste amazing! The book suggests the potato sticks and tomatoes be served with Remoulade Sauce, which was great. For the veggie side dish, I used 2 large button (or pattypan) squash, as regular yellow summer squash are hard to find here.
Rating: Fried Green Tomatoes :), Squash :), Potato Sticks :D, Remoulade :)



Southwestern Spice Rubbed Tofu topped with Pineapple-Lime Relish and served with Roasted Rosemary Yellow Squash and Chayote was a killer combination. The spice rub for the tofu is amazing, though I decreased the about of chili powder from to just a sprinkle for a Susan-friendly heat. The relish is a great, fresh companion, brightened up by mint leaves. The yellow squash and chayote (or choko), is also super delicious! Serve this over brown rice.
Rating: Spice Rub :D, Relish :), Squash and Chayote :D



Mango and Snow Pea Salad is a sweet and refreshing salad. It is full of snow peas, mango, carrot, cucumber and cos lettuce, and is topped with a peanutty dressing. I took the book's suggestion and made a double batch of dressing and served it all over cooked noodles.
Rating: :)



Butternut Soup with a Swirl of Cranberry and Pistachio-Pear Couscous is great for an autumnal dinner. The soup is creamy and sweet, swirled with some cranberry sauce blended up with a touch of orange juice. For the salad, I couldn't find any white grape juice to cook the couscous with, so I used apple juice (make sure to get the cloudy fresh kind, the clear shelf stable ones are processed with gelatine). Instead of chopped capsicum I used some grated carrots. Also served with some olive and thyme sourdough and leafy greens.
Rating: Soup :), Salad :)



Indonesian Green Bean Salad with Cabbage and Carrots is coated with a creamy peanut and coconut dressing and also has golden raisins and roasted peanuts in it. The cabbage softens up beautifully in the sauce. Serve over some rice for a lovely lunch.
Rating: :)



Giardiniera is something that has always interested me, but I have always been a little worried about making it. Raw cauliflower? But the long soak in salty water makes everything tender and delicious. I left out the yucky capsicum, and instead added some chopped cherry tomatoes when adding the olives towards the end.
Rating: :)



Chilled Cucumber Salad may look simple, but it is so refreshing. I didn't have dill (shock!) so I used fresh basil. I also used some vegetable stock thickened with a titch of guar gum in place of the oil.
Rating: :)



Pasta e Fieno with Peas is a bit of a rich pasta dish, which I served with the cucumber salad above. I only used 8oz of pasta total (instead of 1lb), which ended up having a very high pea to pasta ratio. This also has some chopped tempeh bacon and lots of vegan parmesan.
Rating: :)



White Bean Salad with Fennel and Avocado only served two to three by my reckoning (rather than four to six as the book says) but is very refreshing. Shredded fennel gives a lovely, sweet flavour along with the creamy beans and juice grape tomatoes.




(% 1000 Vegan Recipes blogged: 24.1%)

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



A precious photo of times past, a time of three kitties still with us (though sadly my Gizmo had left us by this time). Possum, Sahara and Dim Sim can all be seen having an afternoon nap in this photo. Dim Sim is in the pink bed on the sofa at the back of the photo, you can just see her little black body rising over the edge.