Veggie Tales

I’m a little weird. I get that, and I embrace it. To me, a bouquet of blood-red and tangerine colored carrots is prettier than a sunset.

Orange breakfasts excited me.

Plain Greek yogurt with pumpkin purée, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, banana, almond butter, Pacific Sea Salt Somersaults

Actually, the more color, the better. With the exception of creamed frozen spinach, I never had trouble eating my veggies. There is actually a really unfortunate story involving the taking of this picture, involving a sick dog and a poor choice of photo staging.

Glutino pretzels, red bell pepper, green beans, sautéed broccoli rabe, sunflower butter, garlic hummus

My dad shows me love by preparing me big batches of comforting vegetable meals that I can eat throughout the week when I don’t have time to cook. This weekend, he chose a recipe from one of my very favorite cookbooks, Vegetarian Times Cooks Mediterranean. (It is, unfortunately, out of print, but is available used on Amazon.)

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This Vegetable Tagine with Olives and Prunes was/ is/ and will continue to be fabulous. There are so many veggies in here: green beans, cauliflower, carrots, chickpeas, fennel, celery… and the chickpeas, olives, and prunes really make it an interesting and unique dish.

When I was ready to eat it a “real” meal (as opposed to scrounging forkfuls out of the fridge), I served it over spinach and topped it with diced avocado. Fabulous! I ate it hot, but I’ve packed it up to eat for lunch today, cold, with a kale salad.

Feeling productive and surprisingly alert on Saturday morning, I did a little cooking of my own. First, this Lentil Stew with Pumpkin. The recipe calls for cubes of either sweet potatoes or pumpkin, but alas, our sweet potatoes had turned by the time I was ready to use them. Instead, I used pumpkin purée, which changed the intended texture but worked really well.

I’ve been all about the lentils lately, and think a batch of Spicy Red Lentil, Peanut + Pumpkin Soup will be in order soon!

Also made Tamari Roasted Chickpeas from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan. The recipe suggests olive oil as an alternative for coconut, but I loved the subtle coconut flavor. Savory coconut is delicious! These were intended for lunchtime salad toppers, but I’ve had trouble keeping my hands out of the container!

My final bite of vegetables this weekend came from an unlikely source: Two Boots Pizza! I’ve heard great things about this place, and stopped in last night for a portable meal en route to the Guggenheim Museum.

Holy mother! Or, I should say, Earth Mother: five from the garden with whole wheat crust.

Yes, that’s Bette Midler’s head.

It’s vegan but there’s an option that comes with cheese, so I went with that. Some of the other pizzas had thin crust, but this was thick and cakey and a little sweet, almost like a biscuit. I loved it, and it kept me full for over 4 hours.

Eaten messily while walking down the residential part of 5th Avenue, smiling at doormen and trying to hide the spinach in my teeth, it was very New York.

Then again, a man in a suit was being handcuffed by an undercover cop on one of these corners as I walked by… and that’s also pretty New York.

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Goal for 2011 update: Cook One New Recipe A Week

Week 1: Lemony Spaghetti with Bitter Greens & Chickpeas

Week 2: Lentil Chili

Week 3: Chickpeas in Star Anise & Date Masala

Week 4: Thai-Style Black Beans w/ Mango & Cilantro

Week 5: Ten Minute Tasty Asparagus & Brown Rice, Brussels Sprouts Salad with Cheddar and Toasted Almonds, Warm Red Lentil Salad, Garlicky Sesame-Cured Broccoli Salad.

Week 6: Beets, Spiced Quinoa & Yogurt, Sesame-Cooked Eggs Over Rice

Week 7: Curried Parsnip Fries

Week 8: Curried Lentils & Sweet Potatoes

Week 9: Rutabagas with Buckwheat, Black Beans & Kale, Garlicky Mushroom Greens

Week 10: Tamarind Lentils, The Double-Shift Scramble

Week 11: Spicy Chickpea Salad, Butternut Squash Mac ‘n Cheeze, Spicy Red Lentil, Peanut & Pumpkin Soup

Week 12: Sunday Night Supper Salad, Peanut Butter Banana-Berry French Toast Sandwich

Week 13: Grilled Cheddar-Mushroom Sandwich

Week 14: Black Bean Soup, Sweet Pumpkin Pudding

Week 15: Green Rice

Week 16: Matzoh Buttercrunch Candy,  Quinoa with Moroccan Winter Squash and Carrot Stew

Week 17: Truffled Turnip Soup, Nutty Lemon Brussels Sprouts, Cookie Dough Smoothie

Week 18: Raw Chocolate Fudge Cake, Spring Pasta

Week 19: Chopped Kale w/ Hot Pepper Vinegar

Week 20: Ultimate Veggie Burgers, Mmm Sauce

Week 21: Ribbed Asparagus Salad with Lemon, Spinach & Chickpeas, Chocolate-Chip Blondies, Chocolate-Chip Cookie Dough Pancakes, Leek Zucchini Pasta Salad

Week 22: Sesame Ginger Kale Salad, Hoisin Ginger Tofu with Smoky Tahini Slaw  

Week 23: Pan-Seared Asparagus Salad with Frisée and Fried Egg, Baked Ziti, Brown Butter Banana Strawberry Bread, Green Bowl   

Week 24: Quinoa Cookies, Chocolate Mousse

Week 26: Sweet Potato Stuffed with Caramelized Tempeh and Sautéed Kale, Shaved Fennel Salad, Summer Pesto

Week 27: Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

Week 28: Choco-holic Pancakes

Week 29: Green Israeli Couscous Salad

Week 30: Swiss Chard with Currants and Pine Nuts

Week 31: Babaganoush Soup, Freekeh Risotto, Brown Butter (Plum) Cake or Cobbler

Week 32: (Modified) Tomato Salad on a Roll

Week 33: None

Week 34: None

Week 35: Pappardelle with Spiced Butter

Week 36: Cucumber Peanut Salad, Grilled Peach and Avocado Salad

Week 37: Nut-Butter Crusted Fries

Week 38: Harvest Bread, Red Lentil Soup, Halibut with North African Spices, Warm Shrimp Salad with Red Chili, Kamut and Tarragon

Week 39: Roasted Garbanzo Beans and Garlic with Swiss Chard, White Bean and Parmesan Baked Orzo, Rustic Plum Crostata with Lemon Thyme

Week 40: Chocolate Cherry Pumpkin Bread

Week 41: Pumpkin Boatmeal for One

Week 42: Hot Apple Pie Pancakes, Lentil Stew with Pumpkin, Tamari Roasted Chickpeas

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Did you eat anything fun (or funny!) this weekend?