Thursday, July 17, 2008

salads!

ok, so my blog occassionally fails at the collective vegan goal of proving to the world that vegans dont only eat salad. but i LOVE salads! and these two were excellent:


1. sesame apricot salad
sweet snap peas
apricot baked tofu (below, cooled)
chopped carrot
sliced apricot
halved grape tomatoes 
diced avocado
your choice of greens
apricot sesame dressing (below)
-throw it all together! 

apricot baked tofu
2 tbl apricot preserves
1 tsp agave nectar
1/4 cup of soy sauce
splash of water
12 oz firm tofu
-preheat oven to 350
-combine all ingredients aside from tofu and mix well
-dice tofu in cubes and put in oven safe dish
-cover tofu with marinade 
-cover dish and bake for 30 minutes

apricot sesame dressing
take the remainder of the marinade and add:
1/4 cup of brown rice vinegar (or mirin)
-1 tsp of sesame oil
-1 tbl of sesame seeds
shake it all up!
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2. rockin' moroccan tomato salad


my boyfriend made this delicious salad all by himself. a critical ingredient in this salad is a tomato, green pepper moroccan salad that my boyfriend's aunt's mother makes. "nene" was a moroccan beauty queen in her day. 

nene's salad is made with canned whole pealed tomatoes, olive oil (a lot of olive oil) and some delicious seasoning. so yes! i do not know even how to make ALL of this salad, but thought i would share the picture and concept anyway. the liquid of this salad works as a salad dressing. im sure some sort of mediterranean tomato salad would work as well. i also think red grapes would work well instead of blackberries and the addition of kalamata olives would be fantastic. 

mixed spring greens
diced red onion
diced cucumber
blackberries
halved grape tomatoes
smoked tempeh (from this post)
canned artichoke hearts
tomato salad
-toss together! 

Thursday, July 10, 2008

persimmon beat couscous


recipe
serves 2

1/4 cup couscous
a few dried persimmons
1 beet
1 carrot
1 tbl agave nectar or maple syrup

1. bring beet and carrot to boil 
2. mean while, cook couscous according to package directions
3. when couscous is done, fluff with a fork and add the agave or maple syrup
4. when beet and carrots are done, remove from pot. wash off skin of beet, and chop both. 
4. mix vegetables with couscous. the beet will turn the couscous pink!
5. throw a few dried persimmons on top so everything looks fancy.

best cake ever


not a great picture, but an amazing dessert. 
another vegan treats creation. chocolate covered strawberry shortcake. seriously, chocolate what was missing from strawberry shortcake. i had it for my boyfriend's brother's birthday, i'm so glad he was born!