A Week (or so) in VF's Kitchen

I thought I would share what I've been cooking over the last week or so.  I couldn't really decide what recipes to post, so here is a photo-essay of some of the dishes I made recently.

Last weekend, I didn't feel like cooking anything complicated.  My husband roasted some beets and I made a salad with walnuts, pears, olives and arugula.  I think the dressing was a olive oil, shallots and capers, but can't be sure.  I don't think I see any capers, do you?

For an easy dinner one night I sauteed some chick peas on top of the stove (as opposed to roasting them in the oven) in olive oil, a little smoked paprika, salt, pepper and about a tablespoon of tomato paste.  Then I took them out and sauteed some Swiss Chard in a few more garlic cloves.   I put it all back together in the same pan, boiled up some pasta shells, and sauteed everything together for a minute or two:

 One night, my hubby made dinner (he is an excellent cook).  He whipped up a "beefy" mushroom soup with Israeli couscous and parsley:  That "Better Than Bouillon" stuff is great.  We used the mock-beef broth for this.  It is called "No Beef" Beef Base. :-)

It was so good I made him write down his recipe for it.

And, let's see, I was really craving desserts, so I made the oatmeal cookies from The Joy of Vegan Baking with a few modifications.  They were truly astounding.  All the recipes I've made so far from that book have literally been the best baked goodies I've ever had. 

I was inspired by what I had in the fridge one night and wanted cauliflower, so I made a Monster Plant-Protein Packed "Gratin" with Cauliflower, Edamame and Chick Peas (yes, more chick peas, my son made me open a can of them for a snack and I had the whole can left, basically).  The "cheese" is a vegan (of course) nutritional yeast sauce that was great and easy.  Here's the pic:

It was delicious.  I served it with rice pilaf with tiny currants in it.  My son dogged it.

Then, I was inspired to bake a bunch of stuff I had into a pie.
It is an Almond Quiche with Caramelized Onions:

And I just had to try my cookbook by Bryanna Clark Grogan, Nonna's Italian Kitchen for some vegan biscotti.  I made the classic almond ones.  Top photo shows some with nuts (the cookies on the top of the screen, a few without are in that container, too.  Bottom shows ones without nuts, for my son who loves nuts but doesn't like them in things!



Because I made biscotti instead of dinner, I ordered a vegan pizza from a great place that delivers.  This time my husband remembered that we had wanted to try their whole wheat crust, so, I got it and it was GREAT.  I will never get a "regular" crust again.  There are roasted peppers, eggplant and sliced tomatoes on a tomato pie.  I just can't get the picture to upload, I'll try again later.  The place is Tony's in Haddonfield on Haddon Ave.  Their number is 856-795-4200.  Try their tomato pie with whole wheat crust.  Get some veggies on top.  It rules.

OK, that's it for now.  Enjoy your week.  Let me know if you'd like to see recipes for any of these things (the ones that are cookbook recipes I can't post, of course, but highly highly recommend those cookbooks).