Friday, October 31, 2008

Veganomicon Feast

I went on a cooking/baking spree one day to use up the groceries I had bought, before they went bad. It resulted in two entrees and two baked goods from Veganomicon.

First, pasta della california. It's linguine with a white wine garlic sauce, arugula, broccoli and avocado. The avocado is pretty good, since it's just added in at the end, although warming up leftovers is bit harder, since I don't feel like eating hot avocado. It's a good plate though, with just enough saltiness and spicyness.

Then I made the tempeh shepherdess pie. I had two packages of tempeh in the freezer, and this was a great way to use it up. The tempeh is simmered with a tamari mixture, then cooked with spices, peas and corn, and cremini mushrooms. Then you make a gravy sauce right in the whole mix! Top it with mashed potatoes and bake, and voila, you have dinner. I didn't have any soymilk left, so my potatoes are probably a little less creamy than desired, but it still tastes great. A very homey, comforting meal.


Then, to use up the pumpkin puree I had leftover from making a pie, I made pumpkin-cranberry scones. These are wonderfully spiced and not too sweet, but not bland either! It was my first time using fresh cranberries, and they provide a nice, tangy bite every once in a while. They're topped off with pumpkin seeds.


Also, I made chocolate hazelnut biscotti. There are so yummy. I love almond extract in chocolate things. I wish I had some soymilk around so I could dunk these in tea. I brought them, along with the scones, to work for everyone to try, and the biscotti was more popular, although I prefer the scones. Not to brag, but my baked goods are somewhat treasured at work now :) Once everyone hears I brought something in, it's a race to see who will get some. And no one cares that it's vegan.


Happy Halloween!

8 comments:

Rose said...

I love the idea of avocado in pasta, I really must try that someday. Your baked good look so delicious! I was looking for a good vegan biscotti recipe but never found it. What recipe did you use?

Anonymous said...

i love that tempeh shephardless pie! are all of these recipes in v-con? i just got the book a few weeks ago and haven't cooked from it yet. i want to try the tempeh dish because i have a package in the fridge.

Melissa said...

Paulina, I used the chocolate hazelnut biscotti recipe from Veganomicon.

Joanna, if you only have one package of tempeh, you probably only have about 9,10 ounces of it right? The recipe calls for two packages of 8 oz. So maybe you could make half the recipe, or buy some more tempeh hehe.

Anonymous said...

Hi Melissa,

I've been reading your blog for a while, and I'm glad that you're back with new yummy food! Everything looks delicious!

VeganView said...

I have never had avocado on pasta but it sounds so interesting and delicious! Everything looks so tasty especially that biscotti!

The Veggie Guy said...

Everything looks wonderful, especially the Mexican wraps!

Great blog, BTW. I've added you too my blogroll.

Raw Foodini said...

Great recipes. I would love to see more raw food recipes added for those of us trying to eat as close to natural as possible. I had a heart attack and the raw food lifestyle turned my life around.

Ron

Sea said...

Could you give me your Hazelnut biscotti recipe? It looks so delicious!