29 December 2010

11 December 2010

Calle Limon!

A modest working-class street of houses in Southeast Austin where everyone gets all holiday cheery and adorns their exteriors with LEDs galore. We've visited every year that we've been here. Yes, the name of the street really is Calle Limon.






































08 December 2010

2nd Edition!: Cooking Plant-Based Recipes -- a SIX day retrospective

The almost-vegan (we eat honey!) cooking team has returned to show off their awesome yumminesses. Annnnnnnnnd, here we go!

Thursday: Drunkard's Noodles
A delicious Thai dish, usually made with fish sauce and/or oyster sauce. Matt's recipe uses vegan oyster sauce (available at an Asian supermarket near you!). Matt's really perfected the art of deep fried delicious tofu, and I am grateful.





















Friday: Creamy Pesto
Yep, that's correct; I said creamy pesto. It's actually super easy and decadent to make one's own vegan cream. Just throw a bunch of nuts (we used cashews) and water into a food processer until, well, creamy. So delicious and fatty (just like real cream, but with the healthy fats).
















Saturday: Vegan Pizza
The key to our amazing pizza? A marble rolling pin! Seriously, don't skimp on this amazing tool. The heavier, the better. Ours was a I'm-cleaning-out-the-basement-,-so-take-what-you-want kind of gift from my mother-in-law, and it's the most wonderful inadvertent present I could have ever hoped for.

Oh, and we know a superb soy-based mozzarella cheeze, if you're interested.

When my brother visited last month, we made some pizza, and he gave us one of the best compliments on it. He said, "It tastes like pizza!" So there you go.
















Sunday: Pumpkin Muffins (breakfast) -and- Pearled Barley, Tofu, and Kale Stew
'Tis the season for pumpkin stuff, which is convenient because this prettiest veggie works well for as an egg substitute when baking.































Monday: Braised Butternut Squash in a Tomato Sauce, with quinoa
This recipe actually calls for any pumpkin or squash of one's choice. In Chile, we made this dish often with this amazing, unique pumpkin they sold everywhere. It was great. Butternut squash worked fantastically, too. This is such a simple recipe with minimal ingredients but with so many taste dimensions. Plus, one of the ingredients is wine, so that means leftover wine TO DRINK!
















Tuesday: Bulgur Chile -and- Cornbrea
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This chile recipe has a special taste component--reconstituted dried chiles of one's choice (e.g. chipotle, guajillo, ancho, etc.). The bulgur is nice and filling and takes the place of ground meat or soy chunks.