Thursday, January 1, 2009

a fresh start involving beans

Happy new year everyone! Did you get kissed last night? I got a hug! :)

Maybe it was due to eating those lucky black eyed peas everyone goes on about. I've got no problem with an excuse to them, though, being all mushy and sweet and darned adorable with that little black spot. I found out later that the collards they're traditionally eaten with in the south symbolize paper money, so I missed out on that part, but do you see those basil leaves? Looks leafy and green to me! I even ate this all on lettuce, I'm probably set on the symbolic moolah front. Oh, and the beans themselves were a vegan version of Jukut Murab - a Balinese salad with coconut, tamarind, chile and lime and very very delicious - it's going into bean salad rotation and will definitely be gracing the table of a potluck sometime in the future. It's exotic and wonderful on the tongue and easy and healthy and cheap = win!

And speaking of inconceivably delicious food being actually very healthy - stuffed zucchini globes, Isa-style definitely qualify. How had I not made these yet? The millet here is basically a delivery device for tomato-y, olive-y, caper-y superflavour, which doesn't get any further up my alley. I ate the leftover millet rolled up in steamed red cabbage with a squish of lemon, which forgive me, may have been even tastier than the squash, and um... I even put this stuff on crackers. Recommended!

Oh Extraveganza, shall you be in all my posts and will I never mind? Yes. :)
Especially when you offer recipes like pear and cardamom pudding, zomg. I doubled the cardamom and I shouldn't have done that, because it became somewhat impossible to NOT have perfumed vanilla sweetness for dinner two night in a row. I am considering making more...

Finally, eek, I made saucy asian takeout style food! I can see why people do this now... It's kind of a Gyudon (japanese beef and rice bowl) made with eggplant, as per Vegan Ronin's excellent adaptation, and somewhere between adding a splash of requisite sriracha and licking my bowl clean this was dreamy good eating. Even the rice happened to be purple in aubergine agreement! Goodness, I think now I'm gonna have to make General Tao's tofu and cross that dish off my lifetime list now that I'm all hooked on sweet thickened sauces. YUM!


Bonus picture >>>>>>>>>>>>>
My favourite salad these days involves green apple and crushed up organic Wheat Thins, which was inspired by fatoush, if you can believe it. The crackers are sweeter than the apples, and with a noochy citrus dressing it's a perfect snack.

(can you believe I got organic crackers at the dollar store? madness! I'm not complaining though)

13 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Wonderful eats, as always.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, LIZ!!

Anonymous said...

I had black-eyed peas for new years too, so tasty. Yours look super good. And I love that millet filling from VwaV - it's so flavorful and awesome.

Amy said...

Oh it all looks so good! Happy New Year :)

VeganCowGirl said...

Happy New Year Liz! Love the fatoosh inspired salad and the stuffed squash look great! Have a great weekend!

Jes said...

Aw, you're just a southerner trapped in Canada! :) Love the beans & the pudding & the Ronin recipe (I love her blog more than my take-out loving addled brain can describe). Happy 2009!

Theresa said...

Happy new year, Liz! What a yummy looking bunch of photos. Want to move in with me and cook every day?

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year!

I repeat: Can I live with you please? Your posts make me drool with delight!

Anonymous said...

I'm with A-K, I'm coming to live with you! I'll even give you a big ole New Years kiss if I can have me one of those adorable globy-things! Oh, and some of Ronit's rice bowl!

Ruby Red said...

Hehe, "organic" and "dollar store" usually don't go together. Sounds like a good find!

I am loving your asian takeout picture! General Tao's is definitely a must-try recipe. Sooo good.

The zucchini globes are super cute! And I had black eyed peas a couple days before the new year but I am going to pretend they were for 2009. Tehehee.

Anonymous said...

I've been dying to make stuffed zucchini with those adorable 8-ball types, but I can't ever find them! Oh, they look so good...!

Meg said...

All of this food looks delicious! Love the blackeyed peas!

Sal - AlienOnToast said...

All of that looks good especially the pear and cardamom pudding - YUM!!

...barbara... said...

pears, puddings, chinese, globes, noochy citrus dressing, delicious...i am over stimulated....
*bites knuckle*
midnight snack time me thinks :)