An Asian Delight!

  Okay I LOVE this dish!!! It was easy to make,messy to eat,refreshing and so VERY good!!! Can you tell I liked it?LOL

 This was from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau on pg 200.This woman is now my hero!! Now I can't post these recipes because they aren't mine but this dish was worth EVERY Chinese food take out order I have ever placed!!Buy this cookbook..it is amazing!!!
 
  Recipe stats...72 calories,3 grams of fat,5g of protein,8g carbs,2g fiber and my favorite 0g CHOLESTEROL!!!! Not only are my taste buds saying "yipee",my heart is saying "Thank You!"

  Wednesday I am going to share some of my new favorite things and some thing I have learned.So stay tuned.

Oh what a night!!

  So Friday I had my best friend over for a Vegan dinner.I was really nervous she is an amazing cook.The recipe I decided on was from The Vegan Table from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.It was superb.It was Tuscan White beans with Sun Dried Tomatoes on page 194 and Garlic toast made with Earth Balance butter.We HAD to have wine ...we love our wine:)

  I loved the white navy beans they were tender and perfect for the dish.The zucchini surprised me..it was really great in this dish.What blew me away was how colourful and nutritious this dish was.Sun dried tomatoes, an onion,zucchini,spinach....so many veggies and they went so well together.The spices- ground sage (rarely do I make anything with this lovely spice...it's wonderful) a hint of red pepper flakes (for that zip) and fresh basil (I adore the aroma of this herb...it will be in a pot this year on my deck)

Time to show you some pictures....

   I served it over spaghetti, in Colleen's book she suggests polenta as well.Lucky for me my friend Maura was able to talk to me about cooking polenta.I have never cooked with it myself.I have had the pleasure of eating it at one of Maura's dinner parties.So we ate our lovely meal,enjoyed alot of wine (too much...forget it... what am I saying...There can NEVER be too much wine) and talked.(What always amazes me~we never run out of things to talk about..we live next door and walk alot.But,we ALWAYS find something to talk about.lol)

  That's what food is to me.That is why it is important to me to figure out how to make Vegan food work.I NEED my friends and family and food is a way to connect.I just want it to be healthy.The evening ended up being so much fun.Now those wonderful memories will always be tied to that dish.

  I have to say one of the surprising things about my advegture so far~ is cooking.I have always wanted to cook great food.But, I found myself cooking the same old,same old.This journey right now is fantastic.It is challenging me to try new things,try new recipes and just take a chance.What the heck it's new and I'm learning.

  This is Colleen's book it was 21.95 Canadian.I think so far it has been worth every penny. If I think of all the fast food I was buying...dinners and lunches at the mall.I would easily spend about 9.00 at every meal for myself.1 family meal is for sure 25.00 or more.I have been able to get dinner and several extra meals out of all the recipes I have tried so far. I am very excited to try some of these meals for Easter.Yesterday I was able to pick up The Joy of Vegan baking by Colleen at the library.I want to give some of the recipes a try.Right away I seen Mediterranean Olive bread.Holy Mama this looks so freakin good!!

So on to the next advegture!!

Eating veg is so beautiful and full of life!

  So what do I eat?

  Well I can show you today...I took some pictures.

   
So this is breakfast...does it look weird?That's because it's the ingredients for my morning shake, I put them on a plate for a picture this morning.Starting at the bottom- 1Tbsp of gorgeous ground flax seeds( I grind them in the coffee grinder every couple of days and store them in the freezer) 1 scoop of protein powder( Last payday I replaced my Whey Protein with Genuine Health Vegan proteins,pricey but I like it.I think it will last me a month.I have a shake every morning and John and Josh have them with me sometimes.)1/2 a banana(I am always able to freeze some as they start to turn.I like them a little sweeter when they go brown)1/2 a cup of spinach( I just started adding this and you don't even notice it-seriously!)the best fruit ever...frozen blueberries usually I do about 3/4 of a cup.All these ingredients go for a spin in the blender with water(the water goes over the ingredients).Super yummy and it keeps me filled up to lunch.

 And my leftover Red Lentil Stew for lunch from the other night.

   Then this was dinner...it was FANTASTIC!!! This was ANOTHER successful recipe from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.( I am SO getting her baking book )Her dish is the one on the right...Sauteed Broccoli Rabe with olives and toasted pine nuts-pg 135.This was excellent! The only thing I have to do differently is steam the broccoli rabe for less time.Prepping and cutting still takes me a bit longer.So it steamed a bit to long...but it was SO flavourful.
  My mushrooms were crying to be eating so I did 1 tsp of olive oil,chopped 1 shallot(I sauteed for about 3 minutes until they went clear..I have learned that this is a good saute look for them),about 10 mushrooms(sauteed with shallots for a further 5 minutes).I then added....2 tbsp of red wine(I was thinking of my friend Erin when I made these) and 1 clove of minced garlic and let that simmer until wine was reduced. I added a glass of wine to my dinner and oh my...so very delicious!!!

   My glasses and plates were filled with colour and life today.They were all filling and helped with cravings.So a 85% Vegan day.I had wine which I learned has animal by products in the finishing stages (thank you JL goes Vegan!!a red wine lover herself).So I will be searching for some great Vegan wines in our town.I am sure they are out there. I will share my wine findings when I am able to do some foot work.Without Josh- who thinks Liquor stores are Wine stores thanks to me and his Aunty Maura.That's my boy:)

My greatest struggle so far....Timmy's large dble dble's.I have them at work and they have cream.This is my main battle and I figure that is not to shabby.

So off to Morocco tonight..just a short trip!

  Well I experienced my first Moroccan "advegture" tonight.And darn it .....it was TASTY! So this recipe was from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick Goudreau.It is called Red Lentil Artichoke Stew on page 70.It was very flavourful,it had a hit of heat(crushed red pepper flakes) and the spices made it so exotic.I thought I would like this recipe because of the artichokes and it didn't disappoint.I put it over basmati rice and a glass of red wine.It will be lunch for a couple of days and I am looking forward to it tomorrow.

I went to Thailand last night!

 So last night I tried a new recipe.The boys wanted pizza (It smelled good but,I didn't miss it)So I ventured into unknown territory..Thai cooking.

   The recipe is from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.It's Pad Thai on page 26.It was easy to make.It did require a bit of prep work..like getting the sauce done,tofu fried,noodles softened,veggies cut and steamed.But, it was worth all the dishes I had to wash after.I have enough leftovers for lunch today and John took some to work.In all I would make this recipe again in a heartbeat.I even took a picture.