Sunday, November 04, 2007

veg on veg




Well, if it wasn't for VeganMoFo, I probably wouldn't be blogging at 10:30 at night, right after getting back from a long drive and a weekend away from home. But this is the month of vegan food, darn it, and I'm nothing if not dedicated!

Tonight, I want to talk about "veg on veg" - one of my favorite types of meals. Veg on veg is a meal that simply involves vegetables, vegetables, and more vegetables. Anyone who knows me knows that I love grains, beans, and tofu. They know that tempeh holds a special place in my heart and that I love experimenting with seitan. They know that I love baking, whether a big loaf of bread or a decadent dessert.

But sometimes, you don't want any of that. Sometimes, your vegan heart just wants to sing about the love for produce. Pure, unadulterated, produce. So you end up with a meal like what you see above.

This was a meal that Daiku and I shared last week, consisting only of produce. The main course was a dish of roasted vegetables: butternut squash, potatoes, carrots, and onions. I love throwing onions into roasting winter veggies, because they caramelize and lend a great sweet flavor to everything. The veggies were very simply seasoned with olive and chili oils, salt, pepper, a dash of cinnamon, and a touch of sage.

To go with them, we had a simple green salad dressed with a robust dijon vinaigrette. The slight heaviness of the dijon mustard and white balsamic vinegar paired well with the heartiness of our roasted veggies.

As a final accent, we had a dish of fresh cranberry sauce that I whipped up while the veggies were roasting. I cooked some cranberries with orange zest and frozen apple juice concentrate until the berries had burst and the sauce had thickened up slightly. (Cranberry thickens up even more as it cools and sets.)

So there you go: veggies, veggies, (fruit), and more veggies. Veg on veg, one of my personal favorite aspects of veganmofo.


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16 comments:

Jody from VegChic said...

Some days, I'm definitely a veg on eg person too.

If your little jackolantern is sugar pumpkin, I recommend pumpkin sag from Veganomicon and roasted pumpkin seeds---for the little gourd's demise.

The Halloween party looked like a lot of fun. Nice costumes!

VeganMoFo...I'm can't commit posting every day. I'll try to post more often this month and join up on Isa's blog. ---You'd think with the ppk being down, I'd have way more time!

Unknown said...

veg on veg! how sexy is that?
and I hear you loud and clear, sometimes cookies are good but other times, nothing beats a bona fide veggie meal.

Anna said...

Mmmm, I love veg on veg too. Everything looks so yum in that photo, too!

anna/village vegan said...

I love having dinners like that, too! The only problem is that half the time I feel hungry again a few hours later and end up having unhealthy snacks!

And cranberry sauce....mmmmmm. That's one of my FAVORITE foods but I won't be having it this season, because I've only seen cranberries once here, and they were $10/lb!!!

Anonymous said...

Ok, please don't hate me now. But when you say veg on veg I think of vag and girl on girl stuff. I'm sorry. My mind isn't twisted really, but I'm reading lots of feminist blogs and they've been talking about different words for our genitals, vag being a favourite. I'm sorry for filthying your blog!

Emmie said...

Oh, and I love vegetables too, and that picture looks amazing with all the colours. See, I'm a normal person. It looks lovely.

bazu said...

Thanks for your comments, guys!
Jody, thanks for your suggestion - I think our little Jack O'Lantern might just be a sugar pumpkin, so I look forward to trying to eat him. Poor guy.

Village Vegan, I so wish I could send you a box of cranberries! I bet they would totally survive in the mail, too!

Emmie, I love you and your dirty mind! =)

Rachael said...

yum...
we call those veg on veg meals "clean out the fridge" night...whatever veggies we have left Friday night get roasted/steamed/broiled, whatever, to make room for Saturday's farmer's market haul. Lots of brussel sprouts tossed with balsamic this time of year, which I have no issues with whatsoever.

Bridget said...

Everything looks soooooooo good. There is something so comforting to seeing down to just good old roasted veggies.

Monika K said...

Veg on veg = delicious. Better yet, I love how healthy and happy I feel after a meal of veggies. Great post!

Anonymous said...

I love meals like that too! Have you used your turban squash yet?! I bet it would have been good in that roasted veggie dish!

Courtney

Vegan_Noodle said...

Totally true. I was talking to John about this last night...we have company coming over next week (one is actually a vegan!) and he wants me to cook seitan. But I was saying that I just wanted to focus on seasonal produce. Just seems more pure....
Would love to be eating that plate on veggies right now! (even though it's not yet 8am!)

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Yum, I LOVE roasted veggies and can easily make them my main course :o)

Yay for Veganmofo!

Unknown said...

ooohhh.... those roasted potatoes, carrots, squash & onions look heavenly.

Peggy said...

Mmm, those are my absolute favorite kinds of meals... And roasted veggies? YUM! Sounds like a perfect meal. :)

Anonymous said...

Veg on veg! Sounds so naughty but is quite the opposite. I love it! Veg on veg are often my favorite meals.