Tempeh Sausage

This is another great recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance. And this is my second try cooking tempeh. I took a block of tempeh, broke it into little pieces and cooked it in some water. It expanded, kinda like oatmeal. Once all the water was cooked out, I added fennel, sage, basil, red pepper flakes, garlic, olive oil, soy sauce, and lemon juice. Then I just cooked it until it browned up again.

I ate the tempeh with some jeera rice that I learned to make in my Indian cooking class and a cucumber-carrot salad that wasn't really that great. Jeera is just fancy talk for cumin seed.

I liked this a whole lot better than the last tempeh recipe I tried. I'm having a hard time not eating it all right now. Cooking it in water first really made a difference I think. It's time to go distract myself now, because the leftovers are calling my name.

P.S. At the moment, it looks like photos aren't going to happen, but I'll keep trying.

Creative Chicken Salad Sandwich

Edit: This is a guest post by my friend E

So, this one is really like a salad stuck between two pieces of bread, but it's refreshingly light and simple.

Basically, throw some grilled chicken pieces, some diced apples, whatever kind of nut you have on hand, spinach leaves and balsamic vinaigrette in a bowl. Mix it up, spread some herbed cheese (or cream cheese with some Italian seasoning and garlic salt mixed in) on both pieces of bread, and then do your best to get the stuff in the bowl in between the pieces of bread. Voila, you're done.

My friend Kristin likes it with the CapriSun, but she's pregnant, so who knows if it's really any good.

Mark Bittman's Basic Tomato Sauce, Mustard Greens with Lemon Juice, and a Cutie

I finally located my camera! But not in time to charge it before dinner finished cooking.

I want to make all the vegetarian pasta dishes from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. There are something like 38 pasta recipes, not including the Asian dishes. Here's the first. Basic Tomato Sauce really is basic. Open can of skinned, whole plum tomatoes. Cook until saucy. More or less, that's it. Except, mine was threatening to burn. And it took much too long to get saucy. I'll have 5 or 6 more times to get this right though because there are variations.

On the side, I wilted some mustard greens in a little oil and then sprinkled with salt and fresh lemon juice. I even garnished with some lemon peel. It looks real pretty. Too bad you can't see it.

And finally, a cutie. No, not me. It's some kind of citrus fruit. Like a satsuma or a tangerine.

Cauliflower and Tomato Pasta

Edit: This is a guest post by my friend E

I'd give this one four out of five stars, but it's a nice pasta variation. So, saute some crushed garlic in olive oil, add cauliflower pieces and cook a little longer. Then, poor in seeded and chopped tomatoes and let them get all soft. Add a bit of hot water to the skillet and let the whole thing cook awhile while you prepare the pasta. Once it's done, you throw everything into the skillet, add black pepper and fresh, chopped parsley. Slide it onto a plate and top with your choice of grated cheese. I also suggest some extra salt.

Spiced Hot Cider

Edit: This is a guest post by my friend Sarah

It is cold here! The wind chill was supposed to reach a high of 0 degrees today. So, my new favorite pastime is making spiced cider. Heat apple juice in a saucepan with 1 T of butter, a cinnamon stick and a clove. If it is really cold, rum can be added. Don't drink the spice pieces.

Roasted Vegetable Goodness

Edit: This is a guest post by my friend E

Hopefully the first of many, here's a recipe I tried recently. Orange juice and thyme roasted zucchini, eggplant, carrots and red bell pepper with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese and a dash of salt and pepper. My variation: stack it between layers of thin biscuits and serve it on a pretty plate that matches the place mats.