2013 Remnants

New Year's Eve was lazy and indulgent. We were in our pajamas early, and we watched Downton Abbey (almost caught up!) and The World's End (my favorite movie of 2013) and ate junk food until the ball dropped. Then I promptly went to bed!

I made arancini, risotto balls filled with gooey fontina cheese, rolled in panko and deep-fried. Dangerously good.

We dipped them in Costco-brand marinara sauce. Love that stuff.

I also sampled some Trader Joe's treats given to me by a friend. Dark chocolate caramel with black sea salt...this was one messy and decadent chocolate bar. Even better was the Sipping Chocolate. This chocolate drink is thick, almost syrupy, and not very sweet. Instead of sugar, you get true chocolate flavor. It's a great bedtime treat...I can practically feel all the tryptophan entering my system and making me sleepy.

We kicked off 2014 with lunch at Chuy's. 

Guacamole soft tacos, simple and perfect.

After the usual holiday excess, I'm trying to eat right in January. Oats for breakfast most mornings, topped with bee pollen, chia powder, maca powder, you name it.  Sometimes I'll also throw in hemp seeds or chopped Brazil nuts. Maca powder is a new experiment for me. It's an adaptogen, meaning your body uses it as needed to fight stress (not just emotional stress, but anything that's taking a toll on the cells.)  I feel like it definitely gives me added energy.

Goddess Noodles with Tofu and Broccoli, Isa Does It. The recipe actually calls for tempeh, but I subbed tofu for no reason. The more broccoli I get in me, the happier I am, so I give this dish a big thumbs-up.

Jackfruit BBQ, made with the Barbecue Saucy from Get It Ripe Around Here, topped with cole slaw and pickles, served on onion rolls. I whizzed the jackfruit in the food processor first, so there wouldn't be any big, tough chunks. Then I simmered it in the sauce for about 20 minutes and it was good to go! I love how light jackfruit is. It's great to chow down on a big, tasty BBQ sandwich and not feel totally stuffed afterwards.

Summer Vacay So Far

I haven't loved the past couple of summers in Austin. By May, the temps were already in the 100's. This year is milder, thank goodness. And we are embracing summer. We have lemonade, we have sunscreen, we have pool noodles. We are set.

One evening I made a spinach-mushroom lasagna worth turning on the oven for.

I've noticed quite a few new vegan parmesan substitutes lately. I make my own, it's super easy.

We also tried the jackfruit carnitas tacos from Vegan Eats World. I didn't love the sweetness of the carnitas marinade, but I'm open to using jackfruit as a meat substitute. Just have to find the right flavors for it. I like how light it is; you don't feel stuffed afterwards.

One evening I tried a Pinterest recipe -- Penne with Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter. We all adore asparagus, and Jackson and Olivia loved the buttery-sweet sauce coating the pasta.

Raspberry cornmeal pancakes from Garden of Vegan. I'm on a big Sarah Kramer kick lately, giving some love to the first vegan cookbooks I ever owned.

Also from GoV, Aloo Chana, and Indian potato and vegetable soup. I love making soups on hot days because I don't need to turn on the oven and cleanup is so simple -- just one pot! That means more time to relax on the patio in the evening, with a book and a cold lemonade or Lone Star, before the mosquitos come out and try to eat me up!

Vegan Fusion Testing

It's been awhile...hope you've been well! I'm not quite ready to return to regular blogging...I still take pictures of my food, but finding time to write posts is a different matter. Today I am just popping in to share some recipes I've been testing for Joni Marie Newman's new cookbook, Vegan Fusion.

 

First up, I made Spicy Korean Jackfruit BBQ Burritos. There were several components to this recipe.

 

First, I mixed together the Korean BBQ sauce. This was my first time using black sesame seeds, which I found at the Asian grocery. They taste just like regular sesame seeds, but look much cooler!

 

 

Next, I made Sesame Carrot Coleslaw. Tart and a little sweet, this is a nice light coleslaw for those times when you don't want to take the mayonnaise-laden route.

 

Those components were easy to make in advance. I made them in the morning. Then, at dinnertime, I prepared Cumin Cilantro Garlic Lime Rice with Toasted Coconut. That name is a mouthful. A delicious mouthful of many of my favorite ingredients! Being a cilantro fiend, of course I loved this rice. I could think of many different uses for it.

 

Finally, I made the Korean Jackfruit BBQ. This was my first time making jackfruit BBQ. It was difficult to find the right type of jackfruit (canned in brine, not in syrup) but I eventually tracked it down at a tiny Indo-European grocery. It was worth the search. As it cooks, the jackfruit breaks down into shreds, resembling pulled pork.

 

The final product, the burrito, with layers of jackfruit BBQ, coleslaw, rice, and a generous drizzle of BBQ sauce. This is a true fusion recipe, with so many various flavors and influences. Takes a good bit of labor, but worth the effort.

 

I also tested Creamy Cilantro Pepito Pesto Sauce, which I served over roasted veggies and rice. I'd never eaten a creamy pesto before. This one is super thick, as you can see.

 

Next up, El Paso Egg Rolls with Creamy Sesame Sriracha Sauce. The filling for these egg rolls has a Southwestern vibe, including plenty of creamy avocado. I chose to bake my egg rolls rather than fry them, but I don't recommend that. The egg roll skins were tough and leathery. This was my very first time making egg rolls, and they were surprisingly easy to assemble. So I will make them again soon, and fry them. I think the result will be much better.

 

Finally, my favorite recipe so far, Chinese Style Macaroni Salad, dressed with Sweet Chili Sauce. This pasta salad has a wonderful variety of textures -- toothsome pasta, crunchy cashews, and crisp snap peas. Then there's the sweet chili dressing, a perfect combination of sweet and spicy. Tony also loved this and requested that I add it to the regular rotation.

 

That's it for now. Tomorrow I will start preparing our Christmas feast, and hopefully be back soon to share that with you. Hope you have a lovely Christmas!

Try It Tuesday - Jackfruit

Welcome to Try It Tuesday, where we try a fruit or vegetable that is new to us.  Last week, we discovered what lies beneath the alien-like surface of the rambutan. This week I present another Southeast Asian fruit...the jackfruit.  It's the largest tree-born fruit there is, and can weigh up to 80 pounds.

You can buy it fresh, in which case you wanna look for a big greenish-yellow ball with little spikes all over it.

(image source)

You can also buy it in cans. However, I bought it frozen.

It looks like peach or mango. Tastes similar, too. We made the Urban Vegan's Jackfruit-Banana Smoothie.

Jackson sucked his down in record time.

This was all that was left for me after the kids drank their fill!

It didn't blend as smooth as I would've liked, but I think that's because my blender broke and I was using my food processor to make a smoothie, which isn't the best scenario. The jackfruit had a lightly sweet flavor and I picked up hints of cinnamon.

You can also turn jackfruit into vegan BBQ! I am totally going to do this.

Have you tried any new foods lately? I'd love to hear about it, good or bad.