“sayonara, summer” dinner

for the fresh cucumber salad above, toss together:

• 1 large cucumber, chopped
• 4 small-medium fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 1 apple, sliced
• a few splashes balsamic vinegar and soy sauce
• salt, pepper, and garlic

for the almond “parmesan” topping (which you can sprinkle over just about anything):

• place 1 1/2 cups sliced almonds, a few pinches salt, and some garlic salt/powder in a plastic bag.
• crush the nuts with your hands and/or a rolling pin until they’re small bits (but not yet powder!) and mix everything together.

this pasta was absolutely one of my favorite foods i’ve ever made! it’s creamy and cheesy without any soy creams or processed products. it takes a little bit of time, but it’s totally worth the effort.

1. roast 1 peeled bulb of garlic in olive oil at 350F for 35 minutes.
2. scoop out the insides of four medium squashes, and coat the cavity with a mixture of olive oil, salt, and brown sugar. roast at 350F for 35 minutes.
3. chop up 5-6 small red potatoes and place in a pan with the squash insides, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt. put in the oven with the other dishes, and let it cook for 45 minutes to one hour.
4. once you take out the squash bowls and garlic, pour out all the excess oils into a separate dish. let the garlic cool for a few minutes, then mash 2 cloves and spread it onto the potatoes in the oven. pour out any excess oil in the potato pan into that “oil” dish. turn the oven up to 450F and continue to cook the potatoes until they’re tender and crispy.
5. put a pot of water on to boil. once it’s at a rolling boil, put in a box of spiral pasta and some fresh green beans. let cook for about 10 minutes, or until the pasta is tender.
6. take that “oil” dish and add in basil, salt, and pepper. once the pasta is done and drained, pour in a couple tablespoons of the oil mixture. mix in the potatoes and squash insides until everything is creamy and broken up together.
7. put the pasta mixture into the squash bowls and enjoy!

we’re super busy lately and super broke because we’re buying a house. (turns out there are these “closing costs” and “inspections” and “lawyers fees”? pshaw.) but we’ve had this trip to indianapolis planned for a year now, so we can’t not go. (for what? you don’t want to know.) we decided to make ALL the food we’re going to eat for the next week and bring it with us, to save money and eat food that’s satisfying. our last road trip was a disaster because we couldn’t find much to eat. not this time!

these are classic road trip foods from my childhood, but veganized. you could also try these ideas for making food in bulk - i made all of these in mass amounts today in the span of a few hours, it could easily be translated to a sunday afternoon when you’re getting ready for the work week. OR if you’re a student, these were all staples in my diet when i was in college.

so we’re keeping all this food in a cooler in the backseat of the car. for those of you thinking this is pretty carb heavy, it is, but we’re breaking it up with fresh fruits and veggies, just like we do in our everyday situation. these foods all keep pretty well and you can eat them cold or hot, which is why we picked them. 

above: chickpea salad sandwiches - cooked chickpeas mashed and mixed with vegenaise, lemon juice, salt and spices. served on sunflower seed bread.

simple trail mix - all the nuts and dried fruits we had in our cupboard, mixed with granola

wild rice, barley, and red beans (beans not pictured, i couldn’t find a bowl big enough to fit in everything in this mess of a kitchen.)

cherry almond muffins - recipe here, i didn’t have sliced almond so i just used whole. original recipe from vegan with a vengeance.

coconut chocolate chip cookies - i LOVE these. they taste like my favorite non-whole-foods ice cream. use this recipe (originally from la dolce vegan) for sure, and i added in some coconut extract to make them extra flavorful.

vegan mac n cheese - for obvious reasons. use this recipe, originally from veganomicon.

peanut butter & jelly - we used our own strawberry jam, natural chunky peanut butter, and sunflower seed bread. not trying to reinvent the wheel, we’re working with perfection here.

well, we’re off for the week. happy road trips!

while we’ve been on our break, we’ve been so busy it’s hard to get back! we’re buying a house and moving in in a couple of weeks, i’m trying to get my business up and running, and we’re starting up and sorting through submissions to chickpea magazine. it’s been so hectic but super fun!

it’s nice to slow down and just make something totally amazing to eat. i think this is the first time in weeks i’ve actually cooked something substantial. this weekend we have to pack and clean our entire apartment, so today i’m going to my parent’s house and i’m bringing these mini cherry cobblers to share :)

for the filling:

• stem and pit 4-5 cups cherries. (cherries are pretty much the only fruit at the market that’s actually local right now, because of the drought here.) place in a small pan, like the one pictured.
• pour in a tiny amount of water, just a little more than coating the bottom of the pan/cup. drizzle on your favorite liquid sweetener. (i used agave.) pour a few drops of vanilla extract into each cup. let the mixture sit while you prep the topping.
• (optional) mix in 1 stem finely chopped lemon basil

for the topping: (original here)

• mix together: 1/2 cup flour, 2/3 cup oats, 2/3 cup light brown sugar or turbinado sugar (i used dark and it turned out this dark brown color), 3/4 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• pour in 1/3 cup melted earth balance (or other vegan butter/margarine) and mix until combined
• place topping on the filling, and sprinkle on 1/4-1/3 cup chopped pecans

bake at 350F for 30 minutes. serve hot!

we won’t be posting regularly again until after we’ve moved into our new place, but we’ll have some good posts coming up either way. in the meantime, consider contributing to chickpea magazine!