Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Tonight's dinner is not vegan nor is it particularly healthy (well, maybe the soup was). A little while back my sister-in law posted a recipe on her blog for roasted tomato soup. Apparently it was a meal that my brother had made one evening. It's funny that him and I enjoy cooking, since my mother hates it so much. But regardless- we both cook and I am now borrowing a recipe.

I woke up feeling like death today - the weather has changed here FINALLY, which I love! However, every year when the temperature drops drastically I get sick. It's a trade-off. Today seemed like the perfect day to make grilled cheese and tomato soup.

Roasted Tomato soup (Dr. B-S's changes in Italics)
4 large Tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 Red Bell Pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 large Garlic Cloves, chopped finely
3 tsp Olive Oil
1 quart Vegetable Stock
Handful of Fresh Basil
2 Tbsp cream cheese
Pinch curry powder Herbs de Provence

Roast veggies 45 minutes on 425. Add stock and cream cheeseto pan, use immersion blender to blend and make into soup. Add spices and you're done. Yum.

Now, when it comes to grilled cheese- I like to embellish. I love brie, caramelized onions and granny smith apples. However, I did not have any of those things on hand - as I don't really keep much dairy in the house. Husband Dave did have some sliced cheddar, so I used that. I like fruit, so I used some jam. Jam is by far my favorite thing in my fridge, and I have many, many varieties to suit my every fancy. The jam of the day? Candy apple. Oh yeah.

Grilled cheese:
4 slices sourdough bread
2 tsp candy-apple jam
2 slices cheddar
2 Tbsp goat cheese
1 Tbsp smart balance

Melt smart balance on griddle. Assemble the sandwiches, bread + jam + slice cheddar + goat cheese + bread. I served it with some of my Uncle's pickles. I still feel like poop, but at least I am full.

BBQ flavored white beans and sausage and spinach... and raw chunky cheesecake

Today I stayed at home to write.... I spent all day sitting and typing up my reference section and expanding on my results. How fun! At 5 I decided to do some yoga so that I would feel as if I had moved a little today. I always feel guilty going to yoga class and hearing them talk about our "home practice." I don't have a home practice. But it was kind of nice, just doing what I wanted to do for an hour. Anyway- when the husband came home he was wet and tired and hungry. I whipped up one of my favorites from Nava Atlas' Vegan Express (I've been on a kick lately). This is a meal I've made a few times, it is so simple and unbelievably filling.


BBQ-flavored white beans with and spinach:
1.5 Tbsp EVOO
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 cans white beans, drained1 14 oz. package tofurkey sausage (I like the Italian variety best)
1 cup BBQ sauce (I usually make my own, but not today)
As much baby spinach as you can fit into the pan.

Warm EVOO, saute onion and garlic - add sausage until nice and browned. Add beans and BBQ sauce - then spinach. Cover the pan until spinach wilts, then stir it all up and serve. So easy!


The whole:


The product:



After dinner I decided I would try making a Raw Vegan Cheesecake that I had seen On Love Veggies and Yoga. I had everything to make it and started soaking my cashews the night before.
Here is my crust:



I was a little bummed that my cheap-o food processor could not make the filling smooth. However, it still tasted okay. It is in the freezer now - so I will know how the final product tastes tomorrow. My blender has broken, and I think it may be time to upgrade to a bug girl Vitamix... and tonight's cashew filling has me convinced.... but to spend the actual money? That is stressful! We shall see.


The chunky cheesecake for now:

Back to "writing"! Yay!

Asheville and Bean and Corn Lasagna

I spent the weekend in Asheville North Carolina for a girl's weekend. If you've never been to Asheville, you have got to check it out. It is a vegetarian wonderland. Not only is half of every menu vegetarian, but there are even Vegan options as well. We dropped by LAB - where I had a seitan philly cheesteak sub. Then we swung by French Broad Chocolates - for some wine and vegan truffles (including a fig and port truffle rolled in sliced almonds. To. Die. For.) Breakfast was at Mayfel's - the cutest little restaurant- complete with a hostess and a potty attitude. I did have eggs and not tofu (though I could have had a tofu scramble). I had the "karma" benedict - a split BISCUIT (the best I've ever had, seriously. And I am a biscuit connoisseur) topped with a slice of ripened tomato, spinach, veggie sausage and poached egg with hollandaise. This was accompanied by cheddar jalapeno grits. It was truly the most amazing breakfast ever. Great company and great food. Now I am completely exhausted. I wanted to throw something together that would last me a week for leftovers and ready-made lunches.

I flagged this recipe awhile ago after I saw it here, on This is Vegan. It turned out great - though lacking in spice. I had left my sriracha at lab - so I was without heat. The full recipe can be found here.

Here it is hot out of the oven.



And the final dish.... garnished with cilantro and a side salad.

Jerk-Spiced Seitan and gingered-coconut rice

This weekend I met a girl who didn't eat vegetables. No veggies, no fruit. She said she couldn't get them down. I was not involved in the conversation, so I didn't want to react and admit I had been eavesdropping... but seriously? No vegetables or fruit? I know one other person who does not eat fruit/veggies, and she was explaining her "diet" to a couple of us. Someone asked "you really just don't like them?" She answered a blase ""no." My question was: "aren't you concerned about your health one bit?" But I think a lot of people can find their answers in a pill. These ladies probably take a multivitamin and think they're doing just dandy. It's no wonder people are so confused as to why I chose to alter my diet to lower cholesterol rather than take medication. But, hey - even Bill Clinton is trying a plant-based diet to fight cardiovascular disease! As I served myself dinner tonight, picking around to get the most peppers, I really couldn't imagine a life without veggies.

This brings us to dinner tonight. I was surprised I hadn't posted this dish yet, since I love it so much and it turns out absolutely delicious each time I make it. It's another favorite from Vegan Express - by Nava Atlas. I flipped past it at first, but after seeing it looking so awesome on This is Vegan, I decided to make it myself and was not disappointed.

Tonight I served it with gingered coconut rice and chile-spiced asparagus. The rice is a recipe from another Nava Atlas cookbook, The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet.

Jerked Seitan:

Jerk sauce:
1 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 Tbsp H2O
1/2 cup fruit juice (I like V8 fruit juice. Mmmmmm)
2 Tbsp molasses (it says you can use maple syrup, but why?)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1-2 Tbsp lime juice (I only have lemon)
1 tsp Jamaican jerk seasoning (I use a whole Tbsp)

The goods:
2 Tbsp EVOO
1 onion - quartered and sliced thin
1 red pepper, sliced
1 yellow pepper, sliced
1 pound seitan (the cubed variety works better than strips)

First step: dissolve cornstarch in H20, add the remainder of ingredients and set aside. Saute onions and peppers in olive oil until nice and browned. Set aside. (Because I use my cast-iron skillet, I deglaze here with a Tbsp or 2 of wine. Who can argue when you are cooking with wine?)

Add seitan to the pan and brown on all sides. Add the sauce, thicken it until it is reduced by about 50% and smells great. Add onions and peppers - and serve at once.

Gingered coconut rice:
16 oz can of coconut milk (it says to use light, but light SUCKS. Full fat is the only way to go)
1.5 cups rice (I use short grain brown rice)
2-3 garlic cloves
1-2 tsp grated ginger
1-2 tsp curry powder

Mix together H2O and coconut milk and bring to simmer. Stir in remaining ingredients, put lid on pan and simmer. Simmer for about 35-45 minutes, until liquid is absorbed. The book says the recipe serves 6, but that is a lot of rice per person.

For the asparagus, I toss it in about a tsp of olive oil, chili powder and a little cayenne and roast at 400 for about 5 minutes, and voila! You're done. A dinner chock full of veggies and other goodness.

Gardein Chicken Picatta

I picked up some Gardein chicken breasts at the store the other day because they were on sale. I was trying to think of something to do with them- and went through my flagged recipes. THIS recipe for gardein chicken and mushroom picatta popped up- on Little House of Veggies.
I didn't have any potatoes- so I just made the chicken and picatta sauce. OH man, it was GREAT. AND the best part is that the chicken breast was only 120 calories for 2 pieces! Hooray! The picatta sauce was double the calories, but so worth it! I had morel mushrooms on hand- so I used them and they were wonderful. I paired it with some wild rice and swiss chard sauteed in olive oil and soy sauce.

This crappy picture does not do the awesome-ness of the dish justice, so head over to the original site to check it out in all of it's glory.

Revisions, revisions

Imagine this: you wake up in the morning, ready to get to work and start writing. The first thing waiting for you is a paper filled with red ink. The 15th version of the same discussion. It's been 3 months. That's all you have been doing. Revising the parts with the red ink... and then getting more red ink in return. 3 months. The same words, the same paper, saying things in 15 different ways until finally you get the "okay, go." Kind of depressing, right? It gets easy to feel as if your life is devoid of all purpose. I finally got the "okay, go" last week- so we'll see how this goes.

Meanwhile - my last paper was completed LAST SEPTEMBER. Why oh why can't it just be submitted already? I need to graduate.


A peak into my reality:

My morning Smoothie

1/2 frozen banana, frozen strawberries, baby spinach, almond milk, greek yogurt, splenda.


Yes- I have started introducing some dairy back into my diet. I feel like I am missing out on a lot of protein.

I also haven't been cooking much lately- my mother and aunt were in town, and work has been annoying.... and the evening classes at the gym are shortening my days further. I'm going to try to move back to my crazy 6:00 am workout schedule. The husband is up then anyway- and then I get to come home at 5. Which is always welcome.

When I do cook, I've been repeating recipes. Grilled eggplant-olive pizza, jamaican rice and beans, taquitos... I've just been boring. However, I did have bookclub last night - we read Eat, Pray, Love. I'm not sure how much I am enjoying it - especially since I'm not very spiritual. But- the first part is about this woman's trip to Italy to gorge herself on food and wine. It's a good part. I hosted last night and put together a quick Italian spread (of course I took no pictures!) Pistachio gelato, Italian cookies, antipasto (grilled eggplant, mozzarella, cocktail onions, sun-dried tomato tapenade), tortellini with pesto and a baguette with carmelized fig and onion spread. Everyone was blown away- and in reality it took me 20 minutes to throw it all together!