Office Party

Terry and Isa of Veganomicon fame, quit making me like stuff! Before today, I would have said I don't like cranberries and that I can give or take cucumbers. But these two dishes made a convert of me. It goes to show that you really have to keep trying new ways of preparing produce until you find one you like. Vegetable haters, take note!

Tonight is the office holiday party. Another celebration, another chance to make healthy, tasty food.


Cashew Cucumber dip with olives and pita. Very Greek, very good.

Cranberry Orange Nut Bread. Tastes like Christmas, if you're into that kind of thing.

I make up the rules as I go along

I'm trying to use up as much of the food in the house as I can before I move to Texas at the end of the month. The problem with having ten kinds of beans is that you have to pack ten kinds of beans. So that's how I ended up making chickpea polenta.

I only had about half a cup of stone-ground cornmeal left, not enough for a whole meal. So I added half a cup of chickpea flour (sometimes called besan) to my polenta. It worked great, and honestly didn't taste much different. I might be doing this more often since chickpea flour is lower in carbohydrates and has more protein. Besides, we eat too much corn as it is.

I ate my polenta topped with stewed tomatoes. (Tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, Italian spices, and a pinch of sugar simmered for twenty minutes.) A good dinner made from pantry staples.

Thanksgiving and more soup

Third time is the charm for Thanksgiving. I made these mushrooms in puff pastry for the vegetarians at my Thanksgiving. It was a success, but what was even better was the pie. If you haven't tried Isa's smlove pie yet, do it now! My entire pie was gone before the family even sliced into either of the two Sara Lee pumpkin pies. Not that I bragged all weekend or anything.

I wasn't measuring since the mushroom puffs were just for myself, but it's onions, mushrooms, and pecans sauteed in oil with a splash of brandy, a big splash of soy sauce, nutmeg, and pepper all wrapped in puff pastry squares.

It's also soup season again. Here's cashew-butternut squash soup with red curry drizzle.