Spring Goodies!

It's a miracle, the life that grows out of the soil with some simple seeds...I was surprised and overwhelmed with awe to catch this image one recent morning....my first zucchini sprouts of the season poking their way out of the soil... there was literally a hole in the earth! Way cool...






Then, literally (and barely) two mornings later, they were up and out, reaching for the sky....











Of course, it's a good thing that that I'm not a grower/farmer for the local CSA that I just joined this year, because I'd be way behind! :) Here is the load from the first pick-up of the year: a huge bag of mixed greens, a large bag of spinach, radishes, peas, shiitake mushrooms, and a huge head of bok choy. So, here's what we made with last week's "crop"....




To use up the shiitakes, and fill my craving for tofu, here are Shiitake-Stuffed Tofu Steaks with Hoisin Glaze from The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook, by Robin Robertson. I pressed the tofu while I prepared a salad, then sauteed the stuffing of mushrooms, red onion (I forgot to get scallions), garlic and ginger. Then, I stuffed my first tofu steaks! Perfect :)




Here are the tofu pieces, crisped in sesame oil and hoisin sauce. The extra "stuffing" was great on the side, along with some millet. Can you see the beautiful salad on the side? I made use of the CSA radishes, greens, and peas, topping them with a Sesame-Lemon Vinaigrette from The Everyday Vegan. I call this my "Stir-Fry Salad!" It was a great compliment to the flavors in the tofu, as the dressing also had hoisin in it.

Here's a closeup of that bad boy...It's mouth seems to be saying, "eat me!" OK, that's a little too graphic for us vegans....sorry....Anyway, hubby was impressed with the entire presentation...said it was like a gourmet chef in the kitchen! :) Four stars for this one! ****





If you've never had polenta before, try it in the pre-cooked tube! I was surprised that four out of five people in the grocery store had never heard of it (I had to ask five people to find it), and only one knew what it looked like but thought it was some kind of cheese! We're in the south - home of cornmeal, right?? Anyway, the tube is not refrigerated and you just peel away the wrapping (not very enviro-friendly, I know!) and here is what it looks like...



I bought the polenta to use in a dish that was going to use up the bok choy and spinach from our CSA pickup. Here is my mis en place - this was so easy to make! You can see chopped sun-dried tomatoes, chopped seitan (homemade, right from the freezer!), quartered polenta slices, and a big bowl of greens, just waiting for that topping of tamari and balsamic vinegar...




And here is the finished product, Seitan-Polenta Skillet with Greens, from Vegan Express. My husband (I'm going with "Mr. P.L.V" for peace, love and veganism, from now on! - tired of "husband this" and "hubby that") said that this was his favorite dish all week. He grew up in PA, so polenta was a common and favorite food of his... Four stars from him, three and a half from me. ***1/2.




I had to bring something to the CSA picnic that they always have on the first pickup night, and this Toasted Millet Salad with Curried Dressing from The Candle Cafe Cookbook was just so easy and yum! What an amazing dressing! As usual, I had to halve the dressing amount. But I forgot to halve the grain amount and ended up with enough millet to eat all week! Oh, and I had some issues with cooking the millet. Apparently, there are two ways to cook it - 1) mushy and creamy-like, or 2) fluffy and grainy-like. I wanted the grainy but got the creamy. But you know what? People at the picnic devoured it anyhow! There was hardly any left out of the huge bowl... I'd say a solid three stars ***.

With the long Memorial Day weekend, I spent one day in the garden, one day cleaning and one day in the kitchen! I got the dehydrator going and made this easy and AMAZING Come Bite the Apple Cookies from Rawvolution, my newest cookbook (well, one of them!). After a recent raw food presentation at our Vegetarian Group, I was geared up for some high-nutrient, low-heat food! Boy, these were soooo good. Just apples, raisins, ground almonds, cinnamon and agave nectar! Oh, and 24 hours in the dehydrator....not something to make the night before your child's school bake sale! (But how cool would it be to have raw cookies at a bake sale??)
After I got the raw cookies "cooking," I did fire up the oven to bake my "muffin trilogy:" Blueberry-Lemon Muffins from The Joy of Vegan Baking, Carrot-Raisin Muffins from Vegan with a Vengeance, and Apple-Pie Muffins, also from Vw/aV. I subbed some bananas for the sugar in the blueberry ones...bad choice- they just weren't sweet enough, but a great rise, compared to the other two that were a little flat. But, great taste in all three! Three solid stars for each one *** (although the carrot-raisin one was my fav, same as Isa!).

And, last week's menu....Layered Vegetable Lasagna, from Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes. This was great looking and tasting but...










Didn't quite stick together on the plate....disappointing. Good with extra sauce! Three stars ***, just about...











And, with a craving for something toothy, here are Chickpea Cutlets, made with the addition of wheat gluten, which gave them their chewy, dare I say "meaty" (which I never really go for!) consistency! Made these for Mr. PLV really...







On top of a bed of spinach fettucine with steamed asparagus! Three and a half stars....Reminded me of the horrible childhood years that I loved veal parmesan, actually...how the hell did it take me so long to connect that with this?.....














But, to end on a happy note, here is one last incredible meal (OK, so it was only a three star, but the salsa made it a four!!!) and a great vegan athlete story....
This Almond-Crusted Tempeh with Strawberry-Mango Salsa was also from Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes, surprisingly enough. I just couldn't get enough of the sweet and spicy salsa, but Mr. PLV hates fruit with his meal and had to settle for a white balsamic vinaigrette dressing that just didn't do it justice. All served over a bed of millet and yes...CSA mixed greens! The story is as follows...I ran in my first half-marathon last weekend! I felt strong and prepared and whizzed by those pokey meat-eaters on the hills! Despite previous knee-injuries acting up, I placed 130 out of nearly 2500 women, 23rd in my age group of nearly 400! Yeah, baby! Go Vegan! :)