Monday, May 19, 2008

lots of speckly warm confetti meals

There's this elusive flavour I can never seem to get from recipes. Simple and rustic - maybe old-school hippy if you want to call it that - but utterly delicious in it's own way, the food of the flaky potlucks I went to in my formative food years. (with roasted veg and homemade bread and vinaigrettes and lasagnas and OMG a trampoline in the backyard???)

Anyway, this pie is so it. Maybe all I had to do was not use a recipe and just try to make lunch, ha! It has millet and leeks and swiss chard and tomato and next time I'll put walnuts in the crust for nuttiness, but it was really light-yet-satisfying anyway.

And yes, those are garlic-stuffed olives. I am also a fan.

Pictured here are probably the worst (looking) cookies I've ever made, but for future reference it's good to know I can whip up a batch in less than 20 minutes. I halved the sparkled ginger cookies from VwaV, didn't have molasses, didn't wait for them to cool, and ran to a picnic, but they were awesome anyway (3 of us wolfed these down in an hour, which should be telling). I think it was the cloves that really wooed me.

Oh, and I lucked out the other day and picked up a whole bunch of super cheap cookbooks at chapters, including Moby's Teany book, which is impossibly cute and has recipes like matcha-chocolate pudding and plum french toast I really want to try (hurray for cleverly disguised vegan pseudo-cookbooks - it doesn't say vegan anywhere on it, but I knew. Oh, I knew). The first thing I made was the tvp chicken salad, cause like... sandwich-y crumbly fillings are the best. It needed a lot more mayo and I added basil and bell peppers, but it's a pretty good base and tasted great on the last of my homemade bread (yay freezers).

And Indira has done it again - I think what I adore most of all about her recipes (besides how easy and downright delicious they always are) is how clean they taste. I didn't even realize this was her take on Hoppin' John until I was halfway through making this, but it's oh-so south indian and SO ADDICTIVE. Like, "please hide the spoon from me" addictive. I love how all of the heat is from black pepper, too, it's neat. (and it has bok choy instead of mustard greens, so um... that's three points of the globe coming together for a pottage of homey happy rice? excellent)

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

That pie looks so good! Perfect for a brunch, and it must have been filling. If it's hippy food, then call me a hippy, because I think I' devour the whole thing.

Anonymous said...

Mmm.. I WANT that pie! It looks perfect :-)

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

I LOVE simple, rustic meals (haha, I like how you call it old-school hippie food)!! That millet-pie looks EXCEPTIONAL - love all the colors. And those cookies?? Classic.

Catherine Weber said...

OMG, I love garlic-stuffed olives. My boyfriend's family has them on Christmas Eve (among many other things) -- what a treat!

Carrie said...

Mmmm...I adore garlic stuffed olives! They are heavenly...

And your sandwich/bread looks so amazing...just perfect!

aTxVegn said...

That pie looks amazing! Thanks for the link to the Hoppin John recipe. I'm crazy for blackeyed peas.

Alicia said...

The pie looks perfect. We always cook vegetable pie for Christmas, and next year I will add something like millet or quinoa, you just gave me a great idea!

Lizzy said...

hooooooly shit! I'll never learn not to check out blogs when I'm at work... but WOAH, first off I need that pie! This time I don't feel like slathering it over my naked body, but dive in head first!

The cookies look delicious, aswell as the last dish, yummm!

And your sandwich looks so phenomenal that I will have to make that bread!!! No question!

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

if i could like olives, i know i'd love those garlic stuffed one.

Erin said...

Your tart looks fantastic, truly perfect potluck food. And the bread that sandwich is on...I think I could eat a whole loaf right now.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

That pie has got to be one of the most gorgeous things I've ever laid my eyes on. I know you said you didn't use a recipe, but... can you tell me kinda what you did (like what spices/flavorings you used)? Alternatively, you could just send me a slice in the mail ;o).

I so totally love barbecues when there is a trampoline involved!!!

Picks Over Peas said...

That pie looks absolutely delicious. Any hints at a quasi-recipe would be greatly appreciated on my part as well!

Jes said...

Soooo where can I find the recipe for that pie? It looks AMAZING. Yes, shout-worthy amazing. I'm also picturing eating it with some sort of herby fresh baked formless bread. Maybe a salad with tahini dressing... yeah, pretty much the rustic flavor you described. :)

Steffi said...

yeah, I also want the pie recipe! and what a sneaky little Moby :)

Ruby Red said...

that pie! wow! i want some old-school hippie flavor. right now.

i didn't have molasses when i made the sparkled ginger cookies either - i just used blackstrap instead. the flavor came out kind of weird but still good; thankfully i actually like the taste of blackstrap molasses. i googled one of those baking substitutes websites and it said maple syrup would be a good sub, so i may try that since i'm in the mood for ginger cookies now (thanks) and i still don't have molasses.

what a beautiful sandwich! you and your homemade bread awesomeness.

Theresa said...

Woah, talk about melting pot! I need to make some TVP chicken salad, I haven't had that in ages. Though, without your homemade bread I don't think it will be nearly as good as yours looks!

JENNA said...

so i just finished eating breakfast and now i want to eat all of that for lunch..right now!

jd said...

OMG, my head is spinning thanks to all of your yummy looking food!

Those garlic-stuffed olives look awesome - I can't wait to try them. And your veggie pie sounds scrumptious, in that hippy sort of way, of course :)

Anonymous said...

That pie is so pretty! It photographs very well, as does all your food! Colorful and tasty.

Hey, did you ever get to see Lymbyc Systym when they were in Canada?!

Unknown said...

That pie looks GREAT! Wow, I really need to make something like that; what a wonderful combination of ingredients in an awesome pie form.

koozie custom said...

That is really a fantastic Idea, and I encourage you about this. this is the way to expose your ideas.
Well I must try to bake it by my own and now I am desperate for doing this work.