On the weekend I celebrated my birthday.
I made fantastic stuffed peppers on a whim, my favourite warm tahini salad, and a boston cream pie: two marble cakes stuffed with vanilla pudding and topped with chocolate ganache (all gluten-free and vegan, of course).
The dressing is a whizz of soaked hemp seeds, garlic, ginger, garam masala, turmeric and some other tasty ingredients – unfortunately, this was last week and I hadn’t had a moment to post it up, so I don’t exactly recall. Lime, too.
Lots of broccoli, red onion, green onion, napa cabbage, mango, red peppers and cauliflower.
Winter is that heavy time of year: heavy snow, heavy books, heavy bodies filled with excess carbohydrates from various Christmas goodies, heavy stews, and hearty dinners.
Having only joined yoga this past August, this is my first winter as a pseudo-yogini, manuevering my ways into a variety of positions thrice weekly. Although forcing myself to attend it at the beginning, knowing that eventually I would love it, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I really dig it! (Although, I digress, my hamstrings are terrible).
After I venture home from yoga, more often than not I dream of a delicious, fresh summer salad, brimming with local (IE from my backyard) vegetables and herbs, nuts, seeds, some local (IE Niagara) berries, and… perhaps a tahini/lemon/dill dressing?
Sometimes, however, the body becomes somewhat chilled during savasana and lunch preparation. While I still desire something that lacks the heaviness of most wintry meals, a chilled avocado smoothie isn’t really going to cut it.
That’s where pureed soups come in.
I’m not one to waste anything, and never understood why I see broccoli stumps in the garbage. I can easily peel and consume them, but they make an excellent soup, too.
Pureed Stumpy Soup
stump soup
onions
garlic
any seasonings and herbs you love
nutritional yeast (optional)
peeled broccoli stumps
other vegetables (baby spinach, carrots, cauliflower, peas, mushrooms… all great!)
dairy-free milk (optional)
salt, pepper
Saute onions and garlic. Add everything else. Add water just to cover. Bring to a simmer, and let simmer until soft. Use the trusty hand blender (praised about before), give it a whirl until smooth, and add a dash or two of dairy-free milk if desired.
And then you are still in the mood for something warm-out-of-the-oven?
Serve with breadsticks.
santa hanging from his advent post
Christmas III is also Christmas Day, a day where I stared half-excitedly/half-gloomily at the advent calender, knowing that there were no more wooden ornaments to hang.After an exciting, spoiled morning of opening gifts (including a pasta maker, bread stone, much-anticipated cookbook, and other things), I set off to work on the menu for Christmas III.
This menu included many things found on the Christmas II menu, for the reason of doubling certain ingredients. The appetizers were the same, and had made a large turkey to cover both days. The salad and the gravy were consistent with the day before. For this, I made a warm roasted broccoli salad from Christmas I, since it went over so well.
Roasted Broccoli Salad – for a crowd
6 large heads of broccoli (about 3-4 stalks each)
Olive oil
Salt, pepper
About 5 cloves of garlic, minced
Fresh or dried oregano and basil
Fresh lemon
1 large red onion, diced
About 2 cups of cherry tomatoes, cut in 2s or 3s
Vegan feta cheese (as I’ve mentioned before, probably the only thing I buy that is pre-made; tastes fabulously the same as “real” feta)
Preheat oven to 425F.
Toss broccoli with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and herbs. Squeeze with lemon juice. Roast in oven until tender-crisp and lightly browned, about 25 minutes, but really, to how you like to eat it.
Remove from oven and toss with remaining ingredients. As it sits, the flavours will meld, and it’s excellent at room temperature.
I also roasted a plethora of root vegetables with fresh basil, parsley, oregano, and thyme. I did rutabagas, parsnips, sweet potatoes, and Brussels sprouts. I pre-roasted some chestnuts and returned them in the mix in the last ten minutes. I also had on hand baby red potatoes and carrots but didn’t end up using them – mostly because I had already filled two baking sheets.
Finally, I made a whack of large shells and a “ricotta” filling, and smothered them with a chunky mushroom and pepper marinara. For the ricotta, I used fresh basil, spinach, nutritional yeast, garlic, salt, pepper, a hint of lemon, and tofu. I prepped all the ingredients beforehand (except the noodles), then boiled them and assembled and baked the day of.
Happy holidays, everyone.
(Note: I write a monthly column for my local paper, which is also published in its sister papers. I’ll always link to them here).
My latest article is featured in the Spectrum section of the St. Catharines Standard, the Niagara Falls Review, and The Welland Tribune, entitled Comfort Food – Vegan Style. Here are the photographs that correspond with it if you read it online, as opposed to having a hard copy. As always, all dishes are gluten-free and vegan.
Creamy Baked Penne with Broccoli
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas
Sticky Maple Syrup Gravy with Cinnamon Walnuts
