More New Recipes!

I did a bunch of cooking on Wednesday night. For #17, I made the fig compote from Italian Vegan Kitchen that I'd been threatening to. It is basically soaked dried figs, baked in a simple syrup, and lightly topped with toasted walnut pieces. I enjoyed it quite a bit when it was warm, but I probably should have toweled off the figs after soaking, they were a bit soggy in the pan. As they cooled down, they were also not as tasty. However, this was a fairly simply, yummy desert. A-
#18 Was a recipe for chard. I got a big bunch in my CSA box Wednesday, and decided to make quick work of it. One of the problems with having a list a mile long of lovely vegan cookbooks is that sometimes there is a recipe that I want to cook, and I'm sure it was in that book. No, perhaps in the other one? I think to find the recipe for chard and raisins with capers I must have looked through 10 books before it surfaced in Viva Vegan. Now, one of the reasons I needed to make quick work of this chard was that I had never last year found anything to do with my chard that satisfied me. I much prefer kale, and stick it into pretty much everything when I'm not sticking in spinach. For a chard recipe, and the first time I've ever had capers, it was not bad. Will I run out to the grocery store and buy chard to make it? No, but I can see making it again when I get some chard in my CSA share. B-
Wednesday really was a big orgy of cooking. Earlier in the day, I decided to use up some overripe bananas. But what to do? I love banana bread, but I thought there might be another recipe I could use these bananas in that would count to my summer goal. I looked through the index of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and spied a neat looking gluten-free cookie that used quinoa that didn't quite fit my bill, but made it onto the "gotta try" list, and spied two banana cookies. I decided to make the banana oatmeal breakfast cookies, as they required a bit less fat and no refined sugar, but relied on agave and brown rice syrup instead. I know it's not a kale salad, but why not?
My verdict was that they were all right. I was a little low on dried cranberries, and more of those might make these pop a bit more, but really, I prefer banana bread. The Baker, too, said that they reminded them of banana bread. In order to convince myself not to eat too many, I dropped off a bag at the gym, and the Daves loved them, or at least liked them enough to try and convince me to drop cookies off more often. Personally, they are all right, but I wouldn't sell my soul for them like the fig bars in the book. B
After a lovely trip to the Indian buffet yesterday afternoon for lunch, I decided that all that naan and white rice for lunch should prompt a healthier dinner. I went for a recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, a balsamic strawberry salad. The balsamic strawberries are mouthwateringly good (I told you I love the fruity stuff!) and on top of arugula, my husband loved the peppery punch. However, I'm not as big on the peppery flavor, so next time, I think I will have my strawberries on baby spinach instead. I love this recipe. It is simple, flavorful, and healthy. I think I ate a bowl of strawberries covered in balsamic vinegar all by myself. And all without adding sugar or oil!
So balsamic strawberry salad made up #20, and I was poised to eat, I mean make, a couple more today. I got out my ingredients and started loading them into the food processor. This was my first time piloting the processor on my own, the Baker being at work. Then it happened. For the next 20 minutes, I pushed and shoved and wiggled, but I couldn't get the machine to close. This shut down the rest of my cooking day, as the planned recipes all hinged around the parsley pesto I was going to whir up in the food processor (from 500 Vegan Recipes). Drat. I made an old standby soup instead, and promise to get on with the pesto tomorrow after my hubby helps me figure out the processor tonight.
80 to go! Happy cooking!