Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Food Round-Up

You may have noticed that I haven’t been posting many photos of meals lately. I’ve had a few major ups and downs recently, but overall I have some good news coming soon. Anyways, I thought I should update you all on what’s been happening in my kitchen to keep you interested. Also, because Andy left this morning (at 5 am, ew.) for 6 weeks in Papua New Guinea so I thought I should get rid of the cooking-for-two images and get back into single-gal food while he’s gone. I noticed last time he went away that I eat very differently when it’s just me in the house.

First up is a beetroot risotto. Andy was very sceptical that this would be good, but after one bite he was convinced. It also had spinach, zucchini, and a few other things.

Here we have a nice wintry oven meal. Jerk-spiced tofu chunks, orange beetroots, and a mix of roasted veggies. The combination of sweet potatoes, onions and kalamata olives is an amazing one. If you haven’t ever tried baking olives, I highly recommend it (whole, not pitted). They get super sweet, and sort of melt off the seed. It’s very good.

We haven’t been eating much Indian-inspired food this winter, but there has been some. Like this dhal and eggplant bharta.

This is a lazy Sunday lunch we have every now and then to go with tea and the newspaper. Veggie burgers (pre-made and frozen) served on homemade bread with salad, sautéed onions, and slightly wilted Ceylon spinach from the garden.

Another oven meal: baked mushrooms with more olives, a bread roll, cannellini bean cutlet and roasted green beans.

This is a time-consuming meal to make but it is well worth it every now and then—Pierogies. They were filled with some mix of potato, onion, carrot and spices, and served with lightly sautéed green beans.

And I can’t leave you without dessert. These are makeshift strawberry shortcakes. ‘Yella Cake’ from La Dolce Vegan, but cut in half and turned into cupcakes. Strawberries soaked in sugar for a day to get super juicy. And fresh yogurt. The combination was sooo good. Somehow the tang from the yogurt was much more satisfying than custard or cream, and it feels vaguely healthy too.

Those are all the food photos I have for now. And yes, as The Little One has pointed out, I’m not shy about filling up my plate. I'm not really a snacker, I ride about 40 to 50 minutes a day (which really isn’t much) and I'm a major fidgeter, so I eat big meals. And if you think mine are big, you should see his!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Theresa

I've been enjoying your blog greatly - admiring your writing, cooking and political passion.

I sincerely hope your ups have been more up than your downs down :-)

Zeolite said...

mmmm that beetroot risotto looks delicious. I've been looking for some good vegan recipes. Your blog (and blogroll!) is a gold mine!

I would love it if you would pay me a visit Be Naturally Well and add your blog to the roll, so my readers can find you too.

If you had some extra time to spare I just started a forum there a Details on the site.

Many Blessings,
shelley

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Mmm, the risotto, pierogis, dhal, eggplant bharta, EVERYTHING, looks delicious!!

I'm praying that all is 100% well for you soon!!

Unknown said...

I love pierogies too, and I live with a Polish family.

Bianca said...

I love pierogies! Yours look really tasty...and I've gotta make some of that yella cake with the strawberries like this. Looks delectable...hang in there while Andy's gone!

Alicia said...

I should learn to make pierogies. My boyfriend's Russian and they have something very similar. But *sigh* of course not vegan.
I also loved the beet risotto and the Indian food!
I hope you don't feel lonely while Andy's away. If you need kisses and hugs I'll send you some by post!

Anonymous said...

Just gorgeous food - really nice. I love all your meals.

Unknown said...

Delicious looking food as always! Be careful that the CIA doesn't hear about your yella cake.

The Voracious Vegan said...

Gorgeous pictures! I can't choose a favorite, the Indian food, the strawberry shortcake, those delicious looking pierogis....all I know is that you have inspired me to try something new in the kitchen this weekend.

Vaala ◪ said...

Good news is always exciting!

That meal with the tofu chunks, beetroots and roasted veggies looks delicious. Perfect for the winter. I so wish winter was over. We are getting constant rain here.

Yeah, I also find I eat quite differently when J is away. No doubt he eats differently too! Looking forward to seeing what you get up to. Hope you don't miss him too much...6 weeks sounds like an awfully long time.

the little one said...

Hey, I LOVE your big plates! Everything looks delicious here. Do you get tons of work done when Andy's not around? I hopes ya make some serious progress on that diss.

Groover said...

Mmmhh, Pierogies are very delicious. I've never tried to make them myself. Just ate them in a Russian Restaurant in Berlin and loved them. Would greatly appreciate if you could share the recipe.

Katie said...

Wow! Everything looks so good! I love your blog.

The Vegan Snorkeler said...

Your beetroot risotto is beautiful! I'm jealous of your pierogie-making skills. They look amazing!

Theresa said...

Thanks everyone for your comments and well wishes! 6 weeks is a long time and I do miss Andy, but to answer TLO's question, I do get an amazing amount of work done when he's gone! So I try to look on the bright side and think about how many words of my thesis will be out of my head and onto the page before he comes back again!

Groover--I'll post the pierogies recipe soon :)

Anonymous said...

All of your food looks wonderful. Especially those delightful shortcakes. Hurry up and tell us the good news!!! I'm dying to know. ;-)

Vegan_Noodle said...

Hope things are improving Theresa!!

I love the color of the beetroot risotto! And I'm so impressed that you make your own pierogies... I haven't had one of those since childhood!

Liz Ranger (Bubble Tea for Dinner) said...

everything, *everything* in this post is so awesome, beetroot risotto?? you need to fix me a giant plate, and soon!