Summer of green things

So, the overload of veggies has begun with my local CSA. I'm up to my ears in lettuce! Not that I'm complaining; I just think back to six months ago when I was SO SICK of potatoes from my winter CSA. Haha, when it rains, it pours. But this does mean that I have had salad every single day, lunch AND dinner for the past week. I'm good at mixing things up though. I will usually do some sort of baked/sauteed/marinated/fried/etc. tofu or tempeh, with different seasonings, as the main protein in the salad. Fresh fruit is amazing, especially when it mixes with a vinaigrette dressing (this week, it's cherries, last week was strawberries.) Nut and seeds and whatever other veggies my CSA gives out also join in. I usually will rotate dressings (I usually make my own), with a ranch, oil/vinegar, salsa-ranch (!), or some sort of peanuty-asian-style (Nik isn't as fond of this, so not that often *sadface*). The above salad has a marinated tempeh (Shoyu, liquid smoke, a little peanut oil, pepper, and enough water to cover in pan-cooked until all liquid is gone and slightly crisp) on it and a simple ranch dressing (veganaise, a little soy milk to get the right consistancy, pepper, and a few shakes of basil, oregano, parsley, garlic and onion powder.) Yum!

Also, I only discovered this last summer, but I TOTALLY love fried green tomatoes. A little nooch, a little flour, a little cayenne and salt, YUM!!!

VeganMoFo Day 13: Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes

I looooove these so much and don't make them nearly enough. I think the capers in the sauce make this complete, but I think that capers do that to any meal. Yum yum yum. Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes, from Vegan Brunch, with heirloom tomato/cucumber salad, and steamed green beans.

Recipe testing!

Hello! I recently became a tester for Jae Steele's followup to Get it Ripe and went kinda bananas this weekend making stuff. So fun and yummy!

First thing I made was the Strawberry-Rhubarb Muffins, since hello abundance of both of these key items in my CSA this week. She recently posted the recipe for these on her blog, so you can enjoy the yumminess as well. This was my first time baking with spelt flour and it produced some pretty yummy results! I had these this morning for breakfast, paired with a green smoothie packed with awesomeness (no pic, it was in my tummy too soon!).




These are more testers: Tempeh "Soysauge" Patties, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Citrusy roasted Asparagus. Best dinner! I felt all happy afterwards.





...And some homemade strawberry ice cream for dessert...YUM! Recipe from here and I used that newish So Delicious Coconut Milk-unsweetened as the non-dairy milk. Worked really well!

Some tempeh lovin'

I made the Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes, from Vegan Brunch, the other night and oh my goodness I think I have a new fave to add into my regular recipes. Hell yes.

Tonight I had a rockin' summer-type dinner with sweet potato fries, steamed zucchini, and a tempeh salad sammich on some homemade rosemary foccacia (recipe from Veganomicon). For the tempeh salad, I steamed it with some water and a dash of shoyu and then mixed it with a couple spoonfuls of veganaise, some garlic scapes, a small red onion, and some salt/pepper when it was cooled. Yummers!




I went to Boneshakers tonight for some tea and quality doodling time and they had vegan ROCKY ROAD COOKIES. I was still full from dinner, but I HAD to have one. So gooooood. I now know what I am making with that Angel Food marshmallow kit I have in my cupboard.

Sammiches and pie

Today was a good day; Super-sunny and productive. I slept in late and made a nice pancake brunch (mmm apple-cinnamon! I have a bajillion apples!), made a grocery-run, and then worked on a painting at a coffee shop. Tonight's dinner was a ginormous beanball sub, using the beanballs from Vcon (except made with chickpeas) and just slathered with a fire-roasted tomato sauce (with added onions, garlic, and braising greens). I love mega-sandwiches!



I've made this sandwich twice this week; Tempeh slathered in a thousand island-esque dressing on crusty bread (bread pictured is Kalamata Olive). So easy and yummy. I boil the tempeh until it's super-tender.

Just when I thought I had my apple stock under control, making this Apfel Kuchen, then my CSA went and gave me 14 more apples yesterday. D'oh! I was thinking about making some apple hand-pies (like pop-tarts?) and freezing them.