Holiday foods

Just wanted to share with you all what we have been making and eating this holiday season.

 I made some lovely almond cheese to eat on crackers whenever the munchies strike.

 We fonue on Christmas Eve, so here's our spread: mushrooms to be stuffed with cheese or vegan spinach artichoke dip, potatoes, tempura batter, broccoli, homemade teryaki, and some roasted asparagus with lemon garlic butter.

 Sticky Buns right out of the oven on Christmas morning.  I used the recipe from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

  Roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, onion, and garlic.

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 Stuffing, Mushroom risotto, and garlicy green beans.

What did you all enjoy eating this holiday season?

Vegetarian Chili

I ate it all before we could get a photo, sorry, but its delicious.

Vegetarian Chili

1 medium onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large portobello cap, chopped
salt and pepper
2 1/2 tbsp chili powder
2 medium zucchini, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 cup of corn kernels (I usually freeze corn from the farmer's market in the summer, but store bought frozen corn works just as well)
2 cups drained and rinsed black beans (canned is fine)
3/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tbsp tomato paste
3/4 cup brown or wild rice

In a big soup pot over medium heat saute the onion, garlic, and mushrooms in a little olive oil until the onions are soft and fragrant and the mushrooms are soft and dark, about 7 minutes.  add the chili powder, salt, pepper, and zucchini.  Stir well and continue to cook about 3 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and corn and cook another 3 minutes until the tomatoes start to release their juice.  Add the beans and broth and cook about 20 minutes until the mixture starts to really combine.  Add the tomato paste and rice and cook until rice is tender, about 35 minutes, stirring regularly.  If it starts to stick on the bottom, add a little more liquid and stir more often.

Vegan Spinach Artichoke dip

I love this creamy goodness, but can't eat it (all that cheese and cream) so I was overjoyed when my sister-in-law pinned a link to a vegan version.  And it's amazing! Find the recipe here, over at 86 lemons.  I served it with sourdough bread and rice chips.  Different from one another but both amazing.
Before we started munching:

 And after the two of us gorged on appetizers:

And if you want to follow me on Pinterest so you get a heads up on my inspirations, check out my profile at, https://pinterest.com/griffindrygoods/ .

Ratatouille, a la Disney

This was super yummy, and a really light, veggie filled sauce for penne.

Ratatouille

2 medium chinese eggplant
2 medium zucchini
8 medium fresh tomatoes
5 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp oregano
a splash of olive oil

Slice the eggplant into coins, put in a colander and sprinkle generously with salt, this will pull a lot of the liquid out of it.  Let sit for at least a half an hour. In the meantime, slice the zucchini and tomatoes into coins and slice the garlic into thin pieces.  When a half hour has passed, lay the eggplant on a piece of paper towel and roll it up.  Squeeze out as much moisture as possible.  Preheat the oven to 350. Spread a thin layer of olive oil over the bottom of your pan. Layer the veg, alternating, I did eggplant, zucchini, tomato, garlic, and sprinkle oregano, salt, and pepper between each full layer.  If you have anything left at the end just throw it on there.  Cover the dish and place it in the oven for about an hour.  Serve on pasta if you like, or just eat it.

Inside out dosas

I made my friend Camille's reverse dosas for dinner last night.

You can find the recipe on her blog, GlutenFreeSoyFreeVegan.  I added some curry powder and garam masala to the daahl to make it a more dinner-like meal.  I recommend it, yum!

Massaged Kale Salad

I'm on the bandwagon.

I used this recipe. But in an attempt to match the experience to the salad I had at Cafe Blossom on Carmine, I only added pinenuts to the kale, lemon juice, salt, and avocado.  Super yummy!