Daiya Wedge Quesadilla and Pasta E Fagioli.

I bought a product called "Daiya Wedge" today in the jack flavor. I've bought Daiya shreds before but never this. It's basically a compact wedge of Daiya that you can slice and use how you wish. It melts nicely. I made a gooey quesadilla with roasted red peppers.

This is the pasta e fagioli recipe from Urban Vegan cookbook. I pared down the recipe because I was cooking for one so I think my liquid to pasta/beans recipe was a little off. Normally I like it more soupy. But this was still excellent. I added sauteed onion, celery and carrots to mine. I topped it with Parmezano Sprinkles, which is a parmesan cheese substititue that contains cashews, miso paste, nutritional yeast, and salt.

Moroccan Stew.

Today's lunch (and dinner too): Moroccan red lentil stew, couscous, baba ganoush, bread and salad.

Soup and Sandwich.

This is a "Veggistrone" soup that I made for the rest of the week. I love having soup during the week. It keeps me from overloading on quick junk food and too many carbs. Recipe here. To keep it vegan, omit the parmesan please.

And because I had some fresh rolls around, I made my a really great sandwich with Tofurky, Daiya cheese and olive salad.

Mmm. More weekend food.

I actually had the motivation to cook this weekend. Have a look see.

Sauteed tofu on salad greens with cranberries and poppyseed dressing (Brianna's).

Stuffed mushrooms via this recipe.

Vegan cashew cheese from the Vegetarian Times recipe.

On top of crackers of course.

Homemade vegan potato salad (potatoes, vegenaise, red onion, celery, parsley, dill, mustard, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper) and roasted vegetables. Very yummy.

I made a great soup last night.

Sorry I have no pictures but what I had in mind was like minestrone but I had to make do with the ingredients I had in my kitchen. I brought out kidney beans, frozen mixed veggies, basil and oregano. Then I found mushrooms, miso paste and red wine. After cooking the soup, I pureed half of it too to make it smooth and thick. It turned a dark brown color but was still so good.

Ingredients:

2 TB olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 sticks of celery, chopped
4 mushrooms, chopped
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (corn, green beans, peas, carrots, lima beans)
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3-4 cups water
1 TB vegetable broth powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp miso paste
splash of red wine

Saute the onion, garlic, celery and mushrooms in the olive oil until tender. Add the frozen vegetable, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, water, broth powder, oregano, basil, miso paste and wine. Bring to a boil and simmer until vegetables are tender. Puree half of the soup in a blender and pour back into the pot and stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Szechuan Cabbage, Spinach and Mushrooms

Delicious szechuan cabbage recipe from The Complete Vegan Kitchen cookbook. Served over brown rice with Sriracha hot sauce drizzled on top.

Soup, Salad, Sandwich and a Coffee Cake.

You guys probably know that I don't go for fancy recipes with too many ingredients or time consuming methods that keep me in the kitchen too long. I really enjoy simple food that's not fussy and requires a minimal amount of time, maybe an hour tops. As long as it's good food, I'm happy. Here are a few things I made this past week.

This is a pureed soup I've been making almost every week. It always includes a base of either red lentils or mung beans, some kind of green vegetable (spinach, kale, broccoli, zucchini), onions, carrots, a tomato, sometimes a sweet potato if I have it, and a vegetable broth, miso paste, and spices, usually hot curry powder and cumin. Boil it all up and then blend the heck out of it. Here it is drizzled with flax oil and lemon juice. So good!

A delicious salad of spinach, dino kale, red peppers, red onion, pecans, almonds, cranberries and dressed with lemon vinaigrette.

Reuben sandwich made with Yves veggie bologna, Daiya cheddar, tomato, wine kraut and homemade russian dressing on whole grain bread.

Yummeh.

This is the East Coast Coffee Cake recipe from Vegan Brunch cookbook. I made the version where you mix in jam. I mixed in cranberry sauce.