picture time!

these are two dinners that i made recently. no recipes in this post as they were both random, throw-em-together kind of dishes but both were really tasty and maybe they'll inspire your own dinner creations.

first was a noodle bowl. soba noodles in a miso broth with lots of toppings! shiitakes, tofu, slices of gigantic green onions, nori and black sesame seeds. not only was this warming and filling but we got to use our supercute noodle bowls. double success!

this next one was cooked up on st. patrick's day. i didn't go out but instead stayed home and made a dinner heavy on the green ingredients. i tossed some brown rice with pesto then topped it with roasted parsnips, blanched broccoli and avocado (i'll take any excuse to add avocado to a meal).

-d

foodbuzz and fancy cooking

this weekend i had the pleasure of attending the foodbuzz food blogger festival here in san francisco. i met some awesome new food blogger-y friends and enjoyed so much free stuff they really did spoil us; cocktails, kitchen gadgets, wine, beer, chocolate, jam, salt....i could go on and on though i must say my biggest score was a bottle of olive oil from the olive oil tasting....perfect timing as our bottle just ran out.

and of course tasting and talking about food all day put me in the mood to cook cook cook.

sunday started off by forgoing our usual weekend bagel trip for homemade breakfast of waffles and tempeh bacon (devoured...not pictured).


then what for dinner? well anytime we're looking for a big dinner project the artful vegan seems to be the place to turn. i think this was the first time i actually made complete recipes from there...usually they overwhelm me so i just pick and choose bits from a few recipes and put them all together in my own way. somehow it seems less daunting that way. this time we chose three appetizers to make (please forgive the poor lighting, setting the clock back is bad for food blogging)....

olive, eggplat and black beluga lentil caviar on toasted crostini


cumin-balsamic roasted mushrooms


heirloom tomato stack with bitter greens, avocado, basil and curried hazelnut mojo dressing


all in all a fun and delicious weekend!

-d

picture time!

these past couple of days i've had fun concocting in the kitchen. unfortunately, these creations don't translate very well to recipes for sharing. however, i did take pictures and maybe they can serve as inspiration...or something.

a little while ago...ok, a loooong time ago...my mamoo sent me and kris a clay pot. it's really pretty and i imagined cooking fabulous things in it and seamlessly tranferring it from oven to table for serving.

the only problem was that, for some reason, the pot intimidated me. i wasn't sure what to put in it or how clay pot oven cooking works. it's really not that difficult, i know, but this gorgeous vessel has been living in our cabinet for far too long. periodically, when trying to think of what to make for dinner, kris would mention the pot. one time he even looked up clay pot cooking methods and recipes and left the page open on the computer. but what finally got me to bust it out monday night was a simple challenge. i said i was going to make something in it this week. he said "yeah right sure you will." well i showed him!

what i made was basically a fridge-cleaning clay pot stew. in went tomato sauce, tomato paste, vegetable broth, sliced fennel, sliced potato, tempeh sausage crumbles, navy beans, onion and quinoa. i cooked it at 350 then cranked it up to 400 for, oh i don't know, and hour? hour and a half? until it was bubbly and the quinoa was cooked, all the while wondering if i would have to run out for thai takeout. but no! it was really really good! i made cornbread biscuits from vegan brunch to sop up the stew and we enjoyed a surprisingly delicous meal. phew!

last night was much simpler. sushi! i love making sushi and i love making A LOT of sushi. yes, it was a sushi feast. this particular batch was mashed sweet potato, smoky shiitakes and avocado.

and what to do with the leftover bits?


-d

st. patrick's day

happy (day after) st. patrick's day! we opted to sip (and gulp) our cider and guiness at home last night along with a delicious shepards pie creation. i thought this pie had a nice balance of flavors and textures, it was super flavorful and nothing overpowered anything else. everyone worked very well together.

we started off with a layer of kris's super amazing garlic mashed potatoes. we then topped that with a layer of tempeh sausage crumbles from vegan with a vengeance. we had never made them before and they were SO good. they've got a bit of an italian flavor and the texture is great as well. we think they would be perfect on a pizza. or in pasta. or straight from the pan.

but back to the pie. on top of the tempeh went a layer of grilled then chopped leeks and just barely broiled asparagus. on top of that was the second layer of potatoes (this time with some chopped scallions mixed in) and cheezy sauce! cheezy sauce is from veganomicon and it's a nutritional yeast based sauce with the consistency of thick melty cheese. it seeped into the pie and spread it's yumminess throughout. we topped the whole thing with tomato slices and popped it in the oven for a while and when it was done....it was just what we'd hoped for. a delicious potatoey st. patrick's day appropriate meal.

-d

my birthday...in food

i just had a wonderfully delicious birthday weekend*. i got the idea in my head that i really wanted to go to maggie mudd for a birthday cone. on saturday the forecast for sunday said rain...not perfect for an ice cream trek. kris said that in place of an ice cream excursion he would make me cupcakes! awwwwwwwww. he made the coconut heaven cupcakes from vegan with a vengeance. and yes, they were heavenly.




as hard as i tried though, i just couldn't seem to get maggie mudd out of my head. we went to the store and bought a pint and some cones. hey sometimes a birthday girl needs cupcakes and ice cream cones!
it's really no surprise that for dinner i picked tacos. we are super lucky to live right around the corner from the little chihuahua. there are so many mexican restaurants and taquerias to choose from in this city but this one is my favorite. agave wine margaritas, chips and salsa, my favorite mushroom taco and a black bean and plantain burrito for kris, i think it was the perfect birthday dining finale.




*the festivities began saturday night when kris took me to aziza for a fancy morroccan birthday dinner. unfortunatly i have no photos of the evening but everything we had was incredible from our pre-dinner cocktails to dessert. if you're in san francisco you must go check it out.

-d