back in action

I'm back! Took a long time - a bit longer than I expected - but I am recovered and (98%) back to normal. It seemed like I would never want to eat anything again!

Thankfully, my appetite is back, and my strength is coming back. I'm feeling so happy be living life on my on terms again and the freedom to move around (mostly) as I want. This was a great weekend, including my first venture into the kitchen in months.

For Saturday brunch I made the greek tofu benedict from Veganomicon. Two thumbs way up. Interesting flavors and a nice combination of textures. I made the sauce and roasted the peppers the night before, so all I had to do in the morning was broil the tofu. (A programming note - post surgery, after consulting with my doctors, I am low-soy but not *no* soy. I'm aiming for no more than one serving a day and no soy protein isolate. Another huge relief.) I toasted some whole-wheat english muffins for these and cut up an orange and a grapefruit for the side. Easier morning-of than making pancakes, and more impressive too.
For dinner, continued working through my freezer full of food. Re-heated some chickpea cutlets and put jarred tomato sauce on top, with whole wheat spaghetti and a little vegan parmesan. Roasted tomatoes and eggplants from the farmer's market on the side. They had white eggplant, which I've never seen before. It looked almost identical to the purple one after roasting, but had a little more firmness. Great dinner all around. I really like having the cutlets in the freezer - this came together in about 20 minutes.
In case anyone's still out there, hi! :)

QUICK Garbonzo Soup

Instead of wallowing in self-pity I figured I might as well jump into the soy-free pool. (That metaphor doesn't quite work, but I've got a lot on my mind right now, so forgive me.) I realized I already have a cookbook full of soy-free recipes - Alternative Vegan by Dino Sarma. He doesn't use any tofu or tempeh. I got this a while ago and read through it but hadn't tried anything out.For tonight's dinner I made the QUICK garbonzo soup. He's not kidding about the QUICK, it took me about 20 minutes to make from start to finish. It's a very simple, stew-like soup with chickpeas and tomatoes. I followed the suggested variation to add a bag of frozen broccoli. It's a little bland, next time I'll throw a few more spices in there, but it is tasty. It meets pretty much all of my criteria - fast, easy, not a lot of dishes, and cheap ingredients I can buy anywhere. Filling, too. Between this book and all of the (handily marked!) soy-free dishes in Veganomicon, I should stay happy in the kitchen.

Zucchini Chickpea Muffins

I pulled this off of Vegan Eating for One, shortly before it disappeared. Come back soon, Romina! I'm very happy I saved it, cause these are great. They taste neither fat-free nor sugar-free, just soft and tasty.
They don't taste like chickpeas either. I never would have thought to make muffins with chickpea flour, but it works perfectly and adds some protein to these (plus uses up something I bet most of us have sitting around). I had everything on hand to make them except the zucchini and they came together super easy. So yeah, these rock. I'd post the recipe, but I figure the archive was removed for a reason. I put some blackberry fruit spread on them from Butler's Orchard, where we picked pounds of berries this past weekend. Mmmmm.

Curried Chickpea Salad Sandwich

Since the cobbler came out so well, I was feeling adventurous and put this salad together. It's yet another spin on a very old theme, but I like the added dimension the curry and raisins bring to it.
Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3 stalks celery, minced
1/2 of a vidalia onion, minced
3 small radishes, minced (grated carrot would be good, too)
handful of raisins
Vegenaise
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp curry powder (more or less to taste)
juice of half a lemon

1. Mash the chickpeas with a tablespoon or two of Vegenaise in a medium bowl with a potato masher or fork. Mash until creamy, but not a paste (leave some big pieces of chickpea).
   
2. Stir in the minced onion, celery, radish and raisins
   
3. Stir in the few pinches of salt and pepper to taste
4. Stir in the curry powder
   
5. Stir in the lemon juice (thanks to Omnivorous Boyfriend for suggesting this)
   

To make the sandwiches, put some salad between lightly toasted whole wheat bread and top with sliced tomatoes and lettuce. Makes enough for four or five sandwiches. Quick and easy lunches for the week!