Saturday, January 27, 2007

food round-up

Ok, LOTS of food photos this week! I'm catching up for 2 food round-ups, but luckily for us all, there are not too many photos from this past week because I spent more time recovering from having my wisdom teeth taken out than cooking or eating. (Thank you for your well wishes, by the way! I am better now, although I still can not open my mouth too wide.)

As per usual with too many pictures, I'm going to do my best to keep the words to a minimum.

P.S. I know I promised you all recipes from the last food round-up, and I will bring you those in a separate post within a few days- I have not forgotten!

Here we go...



Salad with: home-grown mung bean sprouts, apples, raisins, celery, red and garbanzo beans, sunflower seeds, and a flax oil vinaigrette



Daiku's French-style lentils, with raisins and molasses added in for a sweet twist



This week's bread baking experiment: whole spelt bread. Very nice! And softer than the whole wheat bread from the previous week.



Pretty much becoming my favorite vegetable: fennel braised with tomatoes and garlic, served with kalamata olives.



That was a side with this whole wheat fettucini with cannelini beans and kale. Pasta with beans and greens- does it get much better than that?



Taco night would be incomplete without homemade pico de gallo (front) and guacamole (back)



Throw in some baked plantains too, while you are at it!



And don't forget fire-roasted poblano peppers! So sweet and smoky at the same time.



Typical detox breakfast: cream of buckwheat topped with walnuts and pecans, raisins and cinnamon, and tahini. I find that the tahini makes me feel very full and satisfied, probably because it's such an energy-dense food. On the side, a smoothie made with frozen cranberries, soymilk, and bananas. Ever since learning on Jackie's blog that you can use frozen cranberries in smoothies, I've been hooked. It's so delicious and healthy, and the bananas mask the tartness well. Try it!



Diann's white chili with baked tofu (I baked the tofu with nutritional yeast and veggie broth powder). This chili was SO good, and such a fun change of pace from normal red chili- thank you, Diann!



Served with whole wheat biscuits. (Modified from a recipe from the Vegan Family Favorites cookbook)



Greetings from Virginia! Here I am with pomelos the size of my head at a local Korean grocery with an insane selection of produce. (Living in Syracuse and trying to eat seasonally most of the time, I occasionally go crazy in the winter wishing for fresh produce!)



Some chinese broccoli from above-mentioned market, cooked with garlic and sesame seeds.



Which went with these falafels.



More cooking at my mom's house: fresh pesto (I made it with basil and walnuts), whole wheat penne pasta, and mushrooms sauteed with caramelized onions.



What this potato salad lacked in color, it more than made up for in flavor- I made the dressing with a mixture of vegannaise, horseradish, and Trader Joe's "21 seasoning salute". Tossed with potatoes, onions, and a touch of olive oil, red pepper flakes, and salt. I absolutely love potato salad.



My mom raved over this focaccia. I made it using a recipe I'd used before: the Vegan Chef's olive, onion, and rosemary focaccia. I made it using- gasp!- white flour! So not quite detox-friendly, but oh so good.



I brought back some goodies from Trader Joe's when I came home from Virginia, since I know Daiku misses it as much as I do. Here is some gnocchi I brought home, for which Daiku made one of my all-time favorite sauces: kind of a puttanesca without the anchovies. Tomatoes with capers, black olives, and lots of red pepper flakes. Ultra tangy and spicy, it balanced the soft soothing gnocchi perfectly. Yum!



We had the gnocchi with frozen spinach sauteed with garlic and olive oil, served with sea salt.



Then came... the wisdom teeth. These mango gels made up a large part of my diet this past week! They are made with agar instead of gelatin, and come in lots of intriguing fruit flavors (e.g. lychee, watermelon, etc.) They didn't take a lot of chewing and they cooled and soothed my mouth. Look for them in Asian grocery stores.



When I saw this on Carrie's blog, I just had to have it. Tomato lentil dill soup- all my favorite things! Too bad this was a test recipe for Dreena's next book. Oh well, I couldn't have the actual recipe, but I could approximate something like it! I went heavy on the dill, and the flavors of lentils and tomatoes went so well with it. Soothing, and didn't take much chewing.



More soft food. (I sound like a nursing home resident, don't I?!) An avocado salad with marinated red onions, modified from a recipe from Martha Stewart's "Everyday Food" magazine. My mother-in-law gave me a huge stash of these magazines over Christmas, and you can find some fun veggie recipes after wading through a lot of beef and pork. Martha! Eat more vegetables, for god's sake! Without bacon!



A classic meal at our house: black-eyed peas, turnip greens, whipped sweet potatoes. This is Daiku's plate, since it has crunchy things: pecans and crackers. Oh how I miss crunchy food!



Fun Friday-night dinner: seven-layer dip with corn chips. The layer you can see: tofu sour cream with leftover marinated onions, olives, jalapeno, and cilantro. The layers you can't see: refried beans, pinto and black beans, salsa, and guacamole. Lovely.



Finally, I was excited to at last see these raspberry oranges at the supermarket last night. I tried these for the first time last year, and got hooked. They are this beautiful ruby color on the inside, their skins have a red blush on the outside, and if you concentrate very carefully, they actually have a faint raspberry aftertaste. Magical!

Have a great weekend, everyone.


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20 comments:

Brooke said...

Where do I start?? It all looks sooooo good!
I know all about wisdom tooth pain. I have had all of my wisdom teeth removed, as well as at least 5 permanent teeth taken out (not because I have bad hygiene, but because of a tiny mouth and too many teeth!) And now I am in therapy for TMJ issues, so I wear a splint in my mouth as well as braces in the back....my mouth is ALWAYS sore. :-( *sigh*
Those raspberry oranges look awesome! I will have to look for some here asap!

arcadian~beauty said...

thanks a lot for the tip about the spirulina! And wow, all of this good-looking food!!!!! I love whipped sweet potatoes, yum! And I'd never seen a raspberry orange before! :)

aTxVegn said...

That was a huge roundup of tasty looking food! I'm so glad you enjoyed the white chili. I love all those mexican dishes you made!

I'm on my way to meet Chase at our asian supermarket, so I appreciate you posting the pics of all the cool items I need to look for.

And I'm glad you're able to eat again, even if it is soft stuff.

Candi said...

Whoa! That's a lot of great photos and foods you've got there! I love, love, love the fire-roasted poblano peppers!! The photo of you in the shop is very adorable too!!

I saw your comment on UV's blog that you have not tried the Punk Rock Chickpea gravy... so I'm here to poke you. Try it!! It's our new favourite gravy recipe now!! :) :)

village mama said...

Bazu!!!!!! WHOA!!! Thank you for this mouth watering, I want to eat every last morcel of it post.

I won't be posting on my blog until late Feb, but your post is proof that I have to keep checking in on my fave blogs or I'll be missing out on amazing info, pics and recipe concepts.

I got all four wisdom teeth pulled out in my late teens so I know about your pain. Keep being gentle to yourself ;-)

Amey said...

Oh my gosh Bazu!
So many fun and enticing things. Most of all, I hope your mouth continues to heal quickly so you can crunch and munch with the best of them again! I've never seen a raspberry orange... how fun. I'll keep my eyes out for those. Really though, I just love your big round up posts!

runswithdog said...

I am definitely putting that white chili on our menu! Hey, did you get those raspberry oranges at one of our local stores? They look different and great. Glad you are recovering from the wisdom teeth - I have successfully kept my for the last the 25 years through many dentists want to pull them :-)

Ruthie said...

Wow beautiful!

I'm really inspired by your move to eat more healthfully and locally. Two things I'm trying to get better at.

That pomelo picture is ridiculously cute!

Emmy said...

Howdy Bazu, Glad you're feeling better after having your wisdom teeth out.

This is one tasty looking post! That salad looks great and it must have tasted even better with the home grown mung bean sprouts. Sprouting is definitely something I am going to try to do this year. And Yum! on the lentils. Perfect food for this time of year. Ooooh, the spelt bread looks awesome. It would go perfectly with all those spelt pretzels I just bought! I'm drooling over the pico de gallo. It looks absolutely delicious.

Wow, those pomelos really are almost as big as your head! What a fun pic. That Korean grocery store sounds fab.

Rapsberry oranges! I want some of those! I'll have to keep an eye out for them. I'm envious!!!!

Kati said...

Ah yes, I remember the jaw pain, but you'll soon be yawning and chomping into crunchy apples pain-free. :)

I just love all your "kitchen sink" salads - do you follow a recipe for your dressings or just improvise? I have a hard time finding dressings that I like, and, therefore, don't eat as much salad as I would like to.

That raspberry orange is beautiful! I'll keep an eye out for these - they look like a good substitute for my favorite, blood oranges.

I love potato salad, too! I'm hungry after reading your post, and I wanted to workout before eating breakfast - way to go!

urban vegan said...

There should absolutely be vegan bloggong awards--and you would get the award for the healthiest food--and the most appetizing!

Anonymous said...

Oh, it all looks yumm!

Thanks for the reminder to get out the flax oil. I usually use it a lot more in the winter, as it's so good for the skin!

Great eating!

Anonymous said...

As usual, Bazu, you amaze me! I really wish I was your roomie. :)

This has given me a lot of "food for thought" for the upcoming week. I think I'm going to try Diann's White Chili. I was just looking for a recipe for that. I don't know why it's taken me so long to realize it but I don't like chili powder. I'll eat chili but I can usually only manage 1 bowl and with chili there are always tons of leftovers. Perfect!

I hope you're feeling better. Wisdom teeth removal is no fun.

Theresa said...

Oh wow, as usual, everything looks delicious and inspiring. And the fact that most of this is detox diet food totally blows the stereotype in my mind of detox meaning bland. Glad you're feeling better!

wheresmymind said...

Love the mellons ;)

Anonymous said...

What was the reason again why I can't go and live with you ? LOOOOOOL
Everything looks so incredible !
And thank you for the link to the Foccaccia recipe :)

Like Candi said, you have to try the Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy. We love it !

I hope you are better {{{hugs}}}

Gaia :)
P.S. You are so cute with those Pomelos :)

Anonymous said...

amazing long post, i love it!

laura k said...

Wow, that all looks amazing! The falafels jump out at me, though--I've had a mad falafel craving. It's time to give in.

Everything you make looks so delicious. And wow, I have never heard of a raspberry orange before. Cool!

Anonymous said...

Just one word: YUMMY!

thaneda said...

i stopped by your post as i was looking for some soft foods - had a root canal, a wisdom tooth extraction and minor surgery :D (and the endo says, you can take tylenol for the pain, right?)

anyway, 2 things:
1. love the snaps and recipes ideas! gorgeous and inspiring.
2. i have your giraffe container! hehe. got mine in san fran though.

keep posting,
-thaneda