Tuesday, December 16, 2008

from sloppy to dainty and persimmon between

Gorgeous! Floating rice in big white space! It's the hunan fried rice from Vegan Fire & Spice, which is actually pretty fantastic. It actually has flavour, and I especially love how the tofu pellets explode with sherry goodness. I switched up the vegetables completely and can see myself pulling out this basic recipe to accomodate any old veg & rice, cause it's really yum and takes like 2 minutes to bash up.

Equally fast and furious - the snobby joes from the Veganomicon on spaghetti squash with baked paprika yam fries from Extraveganza. I'm so officially hooked on spaghetti squash right now, it's like noodles except refreshing. It had been so long since I'd had it that I forgot you could actually slurp the stuff, and that became so much the deciding factor in my new love for it. Veg! You can slurp! Everyone wins. :)

Persimmon blondies!! As luscious as they sound and look, they're a tester recipe for Hannah's upcoming book. I am super lucky that things like this freeze well, or I'd have polished off the pan already. :p

And I picked up a cool looking bag of assorted herbs in chinatown the other day. It was only 70 cents and I kind of saw it as a taster pack of a bunch of exotic ingredients I might never get around to trying all in one spot. Like... lotus seeds, dioscorea, dried lily bulb, fox nuts, dried longan and polygonatum. And a big pouch of barley!

I assumed it was for boiling with chicken for to make extra-healthified chicken soup (at least according to my book on asian cooking) so I just skipped the chicken part and boiled it for 45 minutes or so. The funny thing is that I went for a quick grocery run in the middle - yes I am that bad and I leave the stove on while I'm gone sometimes ^^; - and when I came back the apartment smelled so nutty and sweet and... quite like chicken soup. Strange! But not bad. I strained it out because the solids were tasteless, added some tamari, green onion and tofu cube and it was strangely very satisfying. Not a taste sensation or anything, but it felt good going down the throat and I could see myself picking up a pack the next time I get a cold.

You're also gonna think I'm weird, maybe, but this salad was a great accompaniment to barley broth. I didn't know that endive, pear and pecan (in my case walnut) was such a classic salad! This is the veganomicon version, but I'm pretty interested in playing around with the components, maybe adding some fermented tofu as a blue cheese element, or tossing in some roasted beets like Emilie did. It's also so pleasingly in season, I love that. So far, winter hasn't been half bad!

21 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Scrumptiousness!!

Nicole said...

Yum! Everything looks so delicious. The sweet potato fries look perfect!

I have to agree with you on the blondies, I want to devour them all!

Anonymous said...

wow that looks sooo effing delicious girl!

Theresa said...

I always see those soup bags at the asian grocery but I've never been game to try them out. Maybe I'll have to follow your lead and jump in head first. It sounds kinda good...

Gina said...

Persimmons all over the place!! This is the third time I have seen them tonight. Everything looks delicious :)

Anonymous said...

those blondies look rockin!! i thought it was a pumpkin version at first. persimmons sound funky!!

Anonymous said...

Yum. That tofu fried rice looks amazing.

VeganCowGirl said...

Those blondies look amazing! And I love the pairing of the snobby joes with the squash - good call! And those fries are mouth watering.

Anonymous said...

Those blondies look awesome!
I've only made blondies once and it was a massive fail~ but yours look perfect!

jessy said...

i love it all! the fried rice is something i think i would love. i just recently started cooking with sherry, and i must say, i love it! tangy & sooooo good! mmmmmmmm!

isn't spaghetti squash the best! i love those buggers! and your persimmon blondies look great! very cool on you testing for Hannah! mmmmmmm! i've never had persimmon before - perhaps i'll find some and see what i can do with them.

endive - i see it often and never bother to pick any up. i think your combination of pear & walnuts with the endive is brilliant! tasty & perfect for using those winter yummies! mmmmmmmm!

you cook with the neatest produce! it's inspiring! i need to branch out more! wheeeeeee!

Anonymous said...

You make the yummiest foods! Can I come live with you in Montreal?

Anonymous said...

I just love reading and gwaking over what you're eating. It is so terribly healthy and delicious looking - and inspiring!

Carrie said...

Snobby joes on spaghetti squash....pure genius!

Leigh said...

Persimmon blondies? Want!

Alicia said...

I have never tried spaghetti squash, my mind kept saying "but it's not spaghetti!". However, now that you say you can slurp it... mmm... I might reconsider!

Anonymous said...

I know what you mean- I ended up finishing off the pan in about a week, with very little assistance. Should have thought to freeze them, too!

aTxVegn said...

Oh my gosh, I could never the leave the house with the stove on! I have trouble leaving with something in the crockpot!

I have a spaghetti squash waiting to be used. It's so much better than wheaty noodles. Your meals all look fabulous and those blondies are the best I've seen posted!

Anonymous said...

I haven't been to your blog for a while....and I still have the same reaction I had the first time I visited! Everything looks soOoo freaking good! Love the pictures.

Ruby Red said...

Did you know already that you are a genius?
Snobby Joes over spaghetti squash!!! That's just plain awesome.

Haha, I have wanted to leave the stove on while I made a quick trip out of the house before. I would have done it too, but my dad pressured me into halting the simmering til I came back... Glad you didn't burn anything down!

Those blondies look excellent! So perfectly shaped too.

Anonymous said...

Everytime I visit your blog I leave hungry. You need to stop posting these awesome pictures. (Just kidding)

...barbara... said...

my mouth waters with jealousy...
mmmmm....