Red Beans and Rice

Red Beans and Rice
Originally uploaded by pensarepink.

Mardi Gras 2006! I needed a quick recipe for red beans and rice. It's amazing how hard it is to find a recipe for a know item in my vast collection of cookbooks. Vegetarian Classics: 300 Essential and Easy Recipes for Every Meal by Jeanne Lemlin to the rescue. I had red beans and rice on the table in 30 minutes. I added a diced chipotle in adobo sauce at the end of cooking for smokey heat.

Red Lentil Soup

Red Lentil Soup
Originally uploaded by pensarepink.

A delicious soup inspired from a recipe in Neal Barnard’s Breaking the Food Seduction. I’ve replaced the water with vegetable stock, added more spices and opted to sauté the onion before adding the rest of the ingredients to simmer.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

More comfort for dessert. Chocolate Chip Cookies from Vegan with a Vengeance. When I finally located Tropical Source chocolate chips in my local health-food mega mart I knew it was time to whip up a batch of these. I only had blackstrap molasses in the pantry and I thought it might adversely affect the taste of the final product so I opted to substitute malted barley syrup instead. Syrupy liquid one for one. I needed to cook these about five minutes longer than the recipe suggested, but my oven can be cranky. No worries. We made our peace long ago and get along fine. Baked (stand-alone shot) and unbaked (full-sheet view) pics for your enjoyment.

Toasted Cheeze for Lunch

Toasted Cheeze Close-up
Originally uploaded by pensarepink.

Comfort food alert. I decided to give this toasted cheeze sandwich a try from The Uncheeze Cookbook. The verdict? Very tasty and perfect for a cold Sunday in February.

Brooklyn Pad Thai

Another recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance. This made way too much food! The recipe is set up to make 2 batches with 2 servings of noodles each. The middle pic is the pile of noodles I had left after I'd eaten as much as I could hold from the first batch. Next time I'll only make half the recipe and I'll still have leftovers for lunch. There's a lot of prep work here -- as with any stir fry. Your efforts will be rewarded. While I was eating just as I would think, "This is a bit too sweet," another flavor wave would arrive and I'd feel a rush of sour followed immediately by a spicy heat. Complex, addictive and absolutely enjoyable eats! Plus, any dish where I get to employ utilitarian garnish instantly gets the vote of the people -- squeeze on the lime.

Vegan Valentine's Pizza

Vegan Valentine's Pizza
Originally uploaded by pensarepink.

Life is good.

32 Bean Soup

32 Bean Soup
Originally uploaded by pensarepink.

How many beans? Don't even ask me to name all of them, I'm sure I won't know quite a few. In fact I'm pretty sure they're counting dehydrated celery, carrots, corn, and barley as "beans" just to get the count up to such an outrageous number. This soup was born of a mix available in the bulk section of my health food grocery. I soaked them overnight and let the soup and my improvised seasonings simmer on low for several hours. Very tasty with a splash of malt vinegar.

Tostadas!

Tostadas
Originally uploaded by pensarepink.

Vegan refried black beans, spinach, lettuce, salsa roja and a little hot sauce (you'll notice a couple drips on the side of the corn tortilla). A simple but filling dinner.