Recipe Round-Up: Yellow Rose Recipes

Another Recipe Round-Up debut! Yellow Rose Recipes, by Joanna Vaugh, is a cookbook I picked up many years ago when I was in Portland, I had never seen it anywhere else. I don't think it is print anymore (though you can buy used copies on Amazon). I have only featured one recipe from here on the blog before. Another book that has suffered some neglect, but then I brushed it off and went to town!

Penne Alfredo and Cajun Crusted Tofu: The alfredo has some cashews in it, though is thickened with a roux. The instructions are to mince the cashews as finely as possible, I just blended them with some of the soy milk to get them smooth. This has a lot of fresh parsley, and then the option for fresh or dry rosemary or dill, I used dried dill for mine. 250g penne was the right amount for the sauce. The sauce was a little sweet, it needed som emore salt added, but it was pleasant and creamy. The tofu was a bit of a letdown. The recipe tells you to make a whole batch of cajun spice (I left out the cayenne and decreased the pepper), but then you only use 2 TBS of it for the tofu (one in the soymilk dip and one in the cornmeal coating), which basically meant all the flavour was lost. The picture in the book shows it nice and red, but as you can see mine were pretty pale. I think you need a much higher spice to cornmeal ratio to get some flavour in, you'll have plenty of spice mix!). I also baked it rather than broiled it, and it ended up a bit dry. I think more flavour in the coating, and pan frying it in plenty of oil will make this a lot better.
Rating: Alfredo :) , Tofu :|



Cherry Almond Granola: I used to buy this Apple Crumble granola that I loved, but I've recently become tired of it so I am embarking on a granola making quest. I made a half batch of this granola, which still made heaps! This is a protein-packed granola, if you are into that sort of thing. You melt down brown sugar, soy milk powder (or protein powder if you prefer, it also specified vanilla but my soymilk powder was plain), some sweetners and oil, and mix it into the dry stuff. It is a fun blend of rolled oats, amaranth (which makes it super crunchy!), pepitas (which I used instead of whole flax seeds, I know they are completely differen), cherries, and almonds. I also used vanilla rather than almond extract. Even though this was a half recipe, it still filled my whole baking sheet and was quite thick. This is baked at 190dC, which seems higher than other granolas, and even with stirring by the time it got to the end of the suggested cooking time it was a touch overdone, though thankfully not burnt, so I would say go careful with the baking time and temperature on this one! I guess if you made a full batch (which surely would need more than one pan?) it would need the longer time. Great with yoghurt and berries.
Rating: :)



Taco Salad: I love a taco salad! This one uses a wonderfully seasoned TVP mince (I left out the chili and upped the paprika in the seasoning mix), and also has kidney beans - so it will fill you up! All the usual suspects are there - lettuce, tomatoes, olives, coriander, avocado. And topped with some Tofutti sout cream (there is also a sour cream recipe in the book if you like). Not pictured, but also served with some corn chips on the side because those are the rules of taco salads.
Rating: :)



Sesame Green Beans: This is a lovely, simple side dish. I made a quarter of the recipe as I was just serving myself, along with some rice and some tofu. The sesamy comes from both sesame oil and sesame seeds (I used black because I had some to use up and also I think black sesame seeds look super pretty). I left out the optional cayenne, but used the option almonds. I would suggest that the almonds are absolutely not optional, as they added a lovely crunch and flavour.
Rating: :)



Pasta e Fagioli: I am always a fan of this simple pasta and beans dish. This has some lovely flavours, with a great tomato based source with loads of seasonings and herbs. White beans are the 'fagioli' component, and also it has some baby spinach mixed in. Topped with some vegan parmesan (recipe in the book), or in my case, just some nutritional yeast.
Rating: :)



Thai Bowl: Unfortunately the sauce for this bowl was overwhelmingly lime-y, all the lovely peanut butter and other flavours were lost. The bowl itself was a nice mix of rice boodles, vegetables (I used carrot,zucchini, broccoli, no cucumber because I don't like warm cucumber and I was serving it hot initially, bean sprouts), and some Japanese marinated tofu that I added. If making yourself, I would suggest increasing the peanut butter and decreasing the lime juice in the dressing so it isn't so one note.
Rating: :|



Sloppy Joannas: There are all sorts of ways to make a vegan sloppy joe, but my favourite ones are always the ones that use TVP. TVP is awesome! I didn't have any tinned tomato puree, so I mixed some tomato paste with warm water, and added a splash of ketchup as it was salt-free so was a bit bitter. I served these with some sweet potato fries. They were tasty, but definitely a lunch rather than a dinner as they didn't fill me up for long.
Rating: :)



Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Bars: I made a half batch of these in an 8 x 8 inch pan. These are based mostly on brown rice flour, with a few other gluten free friends through in. I made these for a bake sale, but I don't remember when! My major change was I used vanilla soy yoghurt instead of blended silken tofu, and decreased the amount of vanilla essence by half. They were a tad on the soft side, probably due to this, but were still lovely.
Rating: :)



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Over the last couple of months, I have had the anniversary of both Gizmo's and Sahara's passing. And I know when I posted about them I mentioned lighting a candle. I thought I might show you that candle. It is a rose quartz candle holder, so when you light the candle it glows beautifully warm and pink. I light it every year on their anniversaries, and their birthdays. Sometimes I light it for other kitties as well. If you ever want me to light it for your cat (be it for an anniversary, or for good thoughts if they are ill), let me now and I will.