(I wish I could say I took these photos but I did not. They are all from the websites whose recipes I linked to below.)
After having not been in the kitchen much in March (being that I was away sailing the BVIs and taking fabric marbling classes and all), I went nutso this weekend and played hard at the stove, oven, and cutting board. Here are a few recipes worthy of passing on.
Kick-butt Sunday muffins - O really, any day of the week. This recipe came to me from one of the women in my fabric marbling class. It is absolutely delicious. The surprise ingredient: tomato juice! It totally works so don't be afraid of it. And if you are, read the comments for alternative suggestions. One person used orange juice and orange zest instead...something I'm going to try next time (and save the tomato juice for a Bloody Mary!).
Insanely flavorful, colorful, and crunchy salad - I made this salad to go with a black bean soup I was craving. I figured the soft texture and monotone color of the soup would be nicely complemented by it. Plus, it seemed ridiculously simple to make. Me likey that. Unfortunately, I messed up the soup by adding WAY too much chipotle chile powder, resulting in a tongue-numbing, head sweating experience that would make even the hottest habanero on the planet appear to be cottage-cheese bland. But this salad saved the meal. It's cool, sweet and savory crunch was a welcome relief after a few spoonfuls of soup. And it's chock full of good things for you (purple cabbage, edamame, pineapple, almonds!!). I doubled the number of almonds and the amount of garlic-chile sauce it called for and omitted the mint (which I'm not a fan of unless it's in Coconut Bliss' Mint Galatica non-dairy ice cream). Seriously, make this salad. You won't be disappointed.
Chickpea "Untuna" Salad - Robin Robertson is a staple in the vegan cookbook world and while I don't own any of her books, I do follow her blog. When she posted this recipe for the vegan version of tuna salad, I have to admit I was skeptical. Chickpeas taste like tuna? YES THEY DO!!! I make this recipe at least three times a month. I love it that much. And so will you.
Avocado in my hummus? Okay, I'll try that - First off, this recipe makes a butt load so cut it in half if you're not making it for an army. Secondly, I don't know where the heck I'm going to find nigella seeds to top this off with so scratch that off the ingredient list. Besides that though, I really enjoyed this take on hummus. I loved making the garlic confit--so much so I think I'll do that for all my hummus-making adventures going forward. And the Dijon mustard perfectly accented the milder flavor of the avocado. Bravo.
Is that abalone I'm tasting? - Why, yes it is. Abalone mushrooms, that is. My farmer's market has a new 'shroom guy and I simply couldn't resist buying a variety of his gorgeous blue oyster, abalone, and royal trumpet mushrooms. I cut these bad boys in half and made them according to the Mock Abalone recipe and they were fantastic. BUT...next time I'm just going to saute them straight up in garlic and olive oil with herbs from my garden. When they are that fresh, there is no need to cover them up in flour. I served them with roasted acorn squash topped with cilantro-jalapeno vinaigrette and spinach sautéed in garlic. Nummy.
The rest of this weekend's bounty came from my own made up recipes --a bean salad with cucumber, avocado, hearts of palm, and tomatoes; and homemade baked french fries to go with our Field Roast smoked apple sage sausages topped with my zesty apple coleslaw. These things I make on the fly. I always tell Emmett to enjoy them now because I'll never make them the exact same way again. And he always does.
Bon appetit!