Monday Night Dinner

The Menu:

Seitan Curry Kabobs 

Grilled Brussel Sprouts Skewers

Salad with Dijon Dressing

"Creamy" Polenta

This is one of those meals that could be very difficult but, because I'm using premade elements, it's doable for a Monday night.  I make it a point to cook a healthy vegan (mostly) dinner every night, even if I have to take short cuts here or there.  Usually, my Monday work day goes until 5 or later so getting home and getting dinner on the table before bedtime is a small miracle.  The same meal on a Sunday might get the star treatment with homemade seitan and curry sauce not out of the jar but on Mondays we do what we can.

Seitan Curry Kabobs 

Serves 3

16 oz cubed Setian 

1/2 cup curry sauce...I prefer Seeds of Change Madras Sauce

Mix ingredients, skewer and grill for ten minutes turning occasionally.

Grilled Brussel Sprouts Skewers

Serves 3

1 pound Brussels Sprouts trimmed

1 tablespoon hazelnut oil (or other nut oil)

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon mashed garlic

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the trimmed brussels sprouts in the microwave on high for 2 minutes (or quickly steam them on the stovetop).  

Mix all of the ingredients with the cooked brussels sprouts, skewer and grill for ten minutes turning occasionally.

Note:  This recipe is inspired by this Alton Brown gem.

Salad with Dijon Dressing

Serves 3

3 tablespoons white wine

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

The juice of 1 lemon + 1 teaspoon zest

1 shallot very finely diced

1 tablespoon pistachio nut oil or other nut oil

1 small bag salad mix, I like to use "super foods" salad mixes with kale and broccoli slaw

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup roasted pepitas (aka pumpkin seeds)

Whisk together the first four ingredients.  Add the oil and emulsify.  Then, pour dressing over the salad greens.  Top with dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds.  Toss.

While I'm thinking about it, I've found that the best way to juice a lemon on the fly without too many seeds crowding your dressing is to make an "X" cut into the lemon and squeeze.

"Creamy" Polenta
Serves 3
3 cups broth (Use Better Than Broth No Chicken Broth - it's seriously a life changer)
1 cup polenta
2 heaping tablespoons nutritional yeast
Bring the broth to a boil, turn down the heat to low and slowly stir in polenta.  Add nutritional yeast.  Stir constantly (as much as you reasonably can with the kids running through the kitchen and the dog trying to steal the kabobs off the counter).  When thickened, around five minutes, remove from heat and cover.  Let sit for five minutes covered.

 I'll do something interesting with the leftovers tomorrow...

Happy Cooking!

Pretty Easy BBQ Flatbread

I say pretty easy because you have to find or make your own vegan flatbread.  I happen to have a bunch of delicious options here in San Diego including Sadie Rose Baking Co. which lists on their website many of their vegan options.  My go to vegan cookbooks also have great recipes for flat and pizza breads (see below).

Serves 3

1 prepared flatbread

2 tablespoons olive oil

4-5 cloves garlic mashed

1 small tomato thinly sliced

2 long sprigs (or four short sprigs) rosemary

1/8 cup balsamic reduction

Salt and pepper to taste

If your flat bread comes par baked or you make it from scratch, you'll have to give it a few minutes in the oven first following the directions on the packaging or per the recipe.  The BBQ only heats it.




Combine the olive oil and mashed garlic to form a paste.  Spread it on the flat bread (I use the back of a spoon).  Arrange the tomato slices and rosemary on top of the flat bread and drizzle with the balsamic reduction.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  A side note on the salt - I like Eden Food Sea Salt the best and use it in pretty much everything.

Grill for about ten minutes until the toppings start to glisten and you have some nice grill marks on the bottom of the bread.  Slice using a pizza slicer if you've got one and serve.  Goes great with the kabobs that also take about ten minutes on the grill....coincidence?  I think not.

Did I mention I grew that tomato?  Not an easy feat considering our bad drought conditions down here.  I lost all my corn seedlings in an unseasonable heat wave a few weeks back, such a bummer, but the tomatoes are just barely hanging in there (literally).  The strawberries which are usually prolific in June haven't given so much as a handful.  But the grape vine is going off!  Looks like the best crop I've had yet.  Take a look...

I am growing my vegan cookbook library out of my old vegetarian cookbook library.  I have four faves right now, in no particular order:
Vegan Cooking For Carnivores by Roberto Martin
Straight from the Earth: Irresistible Vegan Recipes for Everyone Paperback
by Myra Goodman & Marea Goodman 
Vegan Planet, Revised Edition: 425 Irresistible Recipes With Fantastic Flavors from Home and Around the World by Robin Robertson 
Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook Hardcover
by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (not pictured)

Check them out for some great recipes and tons of helpful vegan info (if you haven't already).

Happy Eating!

Balsamic Summer Vegetable Kabobs

Serves 3*

Pre heat grill

3 carrots (I like multicolor carrots from our local organic farm) peeled and sliced on the diagonal 1/2 inch thick...note: you can zap these in the microwave if you chose for one minute or leave them as is for a more al dente bite

1/4 red onion chopped into 1 inch wedges

6 baby summer squash sliced in half

2 sprigs fresh rosemary de-stemmed and diced

4 cloves garlic mashed

2 tablespoons nut or olive oil...I like pistachio oil the best as it is so buttery tasting

2 tablespoons balsamic reduction (see below)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix all the prepared ingredients in a bowl, place on skewers and grill for about ten minutes

Kordi likes the squash best...especially on a quinoa burger with a mango smoothy chaser :)

Some thoughts on the balsamic reduction...

     I like to make my own balsamic reduction and I also like to buy it.  It's easy to make, just put a half cup or so of your favorite balsamic vinegar into a saucepan and cook it down over a high flame to about half it's original amount (stir constantly, it won't take that long).  You can add some sweetness by mixing in a little brown sugar, maple syrup, agave or, if you are quite a daring vegan, blackstrap molasses.  Conversely, I recommend Trader Joe's Balsamic glaze...that stuff is spectacular.

*We do things in threes around here.  Rivers (not vegan), Kordelia (a sometimes vegan) and me, Kristi (always vegan) make up our little family.  Feel free to adapt these recipes as necessary...it's nice to have you here :)