trick or treat

PUMPKIN SEEDS!!!!!! One of my most favouritest things about this season!!












A relaxed day of autumn
goodness, with roasted
veggies: purple potatoes,
sweet potatoes, butternut
squash, carrots, parsnips
& turnips.

Maia wore her harvest
dress, and Ryan played
some of his funky toys
from his school party.

It was soooo windy we decided not to try lighting the jack o' lanterns. Maybe tomorrow night...before I break them down and cook them up to save for winter recipes!!

And now for the Halloween costumes...Pikmin!










































AJ sure had quite the stash before we removed all the non-vegan candies! We sent most of it away with grandma to do with it as she pleased. But the kids still had ample treats to stuff themselves silly with before bedtime. Maia tried her first raisins and Annie's fruit snacks. I did not expect her to participate in the trick-or-treating, but she wanted to go right up to people's doors and pick something to put in her pumpkin bag, just like her brothers. Too cute.

Vegan Mofo III is now complete! See you next year! Or hopefully tomorrow...

Life's Short, Eat Dessert First!

Here's a straightforward
dessert the whole family
loves...

Coconut Rice Pudding

1 cup arborio rice
1 can coconut milk
2-3 cups water
2 T. sugar
1/2 cup almond milk (optional)

Place rice in a large saucepan. Add 1 cup coconut milk and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low. Simmer about 20 minutes, stir, then continue simmering until most of liquid has been absorbed.
Add remaining coconut milk, and as liquid is absorbed, slowly add warm/hot water in approximately 1/2 cup increments, stirring almost constantly. When rice is tender, remove from heat.
Add almond milk or thin with water before serving if pudding has become too thick.
The kids love to top with a little brown sugar or fruit...I like frozen strawberries or ripe banana slices while the pudding is still quite hot. If you want, you can also add fruit during the cooking process if you prefer softer cooked fruit.

I've made a few too many
desserts this week! Finally,
a recipe from Colleen
Patrick-Goudreau's The Joy
of Vegan Baking that I
actually liked, Banana Crumble.
The top was nice and crunchy
and the bananas didn't need
to be overripe.

We ate it with Trader Joe's
vanilla soy ice cream. Their
soy yogurt imitates Double
Rainbow's brand very well.
My favourite flavour is
definitely the Cherry
Chocolate Chip.

But one cannot live on
dessert alone...
Time to roast up whatever
veggies I had on hand in
the fridge. I covered two
baking sheets with onion,
garlic, kohlrabi, broccoli,
potatoes, zucchini & summer
squash, asparagus, & colorful
bell peppers. A little olive oil,
salt, pepper in a 400 degree
oven until tender & browned
and you have a great start
to many meals.

I tossed the veggies with a
can of chick peas, and a
dressing of olive oil, lemon
juice, garlic, salt & pepper.

In the rice cooker I had a
batch of Ina Garten's
Herbed Basmati Rice ready.
The two dishes went
perfectly together. And what
a great way to use a mix of
fresh herbs.

I know some people think
a rice cooker is a single
purpose gadget, but in my
opinion they couldn't be
more wrong. There's a good
reason most asian households
have a rice cooker!

Got leftover rice? I used
a heaping of leftover rice
in this Broccoli Rice
Casserole recipe from the
VegPeople recipe archive.
It traveled well to the park
the following day in a
Thermos too (and of I
forgot to take any photos
of our picnic, oops!).

I love the cheezy broccoli.
This is a quick recipe that
uses a bag of frozen broccoli.
The sauce was a bit salty in
my opinion, which meant my
husband didn't have to add
any to his for once!

Salad Resolutions

I am not a big salad eater (yeah, I know most omnis think vegans eat nothing but rabbit food), at least not the traditional house salad served aside so many entrees in the average restaurant. But if you're trying to boost your greens consumption or increase your raw food intake, a salad is probably a familiar start.
So here are a few I do enjoy...

The first is my take on a
favourite of both myself &
my husband. A caribbean
fusion restaurant named
Ortanique located in the
Paris hotel & casino in Las
Vegas recently closed, much
to our dismay. The restaurant
had become one of our
destination locations strictly because of a simple salad, so that's saying something!!

Tropical Salad a la Ortanique

a few cups fresh mesclun (baby salad greens)
1/2 of a ripe mango, julienned
1 heart of palm (I use the jarred variety), julienned (easy to do as they act like string cheese)
candied pecans or walnuts (you can buy them at stores like Trader Joes, or make your own by toasted nuts in a dry pan, then adding a little sugar to carmelize, but don't let them burn!)
1-2 tsp. citrus-infused grapeseed oil

Pile a plate with greens, top with remaining ingredients in a visually appealing fashion, drizzling the oil over everything at the end.

Chunky Guac Salad

1/8-1/4 of a red onion
1 T. lime juice
1 ripe avocado
1 ripe tomato
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
a pinch of salt

Slice the red onion into a wedges and separate pieces. Drizzle with lime juice. Set aside for at least 10 minutes.
Slice avocado & tomato. Toss with onion & lime juice.
Top with cilantro and a pinch of salt.

(If you don't care for raw onion, feel free to roast it tossed in olive oil first, or you might prefer a smaller amount of very thinly sliced onion instead.)

Roasted Vegetable Salad

1 head broccoli
2 cups large button
mushrooms
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/8-1/4 cup olive oil
2-3 cups salad greens
1-2 T. balsamic vinegar
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

Wash broccoli & cut into bite-size florets.
Brush or wash mushrooms & cut into quarters.
Wash cherry tomatoes.
Place all 3 vegetables on a baking sheet and drizzle/toss with olive oil. Bake in a 400F oven until broccoli begins to brown and tomatoes burst, 10-20 minutes.
Place greens in a large salad bowl. Top with warm roasted vegetables & drizzle with balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper.

This next salad I ordered in
a Korean BBQ restaurant
in Tokyo...I mean, what else
is a vegetarian to do with a
bunch of omnis in a BBQ
joint? As it turns out, there
was also a large selection of
mushrooms brought to me
to grill adjacent to my meat-
eating friends...I kept my shrooms well away from their steak & pork though. The original salad was made with only baby spinach, but I make it often with a variety of fresh greens from our CSA share...

Korean Cold Tofu Salad

2 cups baby greens
1-2 slices firm cold tofu, cubed (the asceptic pack kind)
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1-2 scallions (green onions), sliced
1 T. soy sauce

Plate the greens, top with remaining ingredients.