Specifically, Appetite for Reduction Lasagna with Roasted Cauliflower Ricotta and Spinach.  The best thing I ever made from the book, and the best vegan lasagna I’ve ever made.  No fake cheese or pre-processed malarkey .. just pure veg, sauce and delicious flavor.

I once said it is a lasagna to make on a Sunday.  Given time and increased skilled, pleased to say I’m making the lasagna with almost all of the optional extras on this, a Monday night.

Way to be wrong, past me! :)

PPK Tofu Balls, AFR Marinara, Happy B’klynHeart Belly (Taken with instagram)

2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma from Appetite for Reduction.  A wholly remarkable book.  I should know.  There was a period of time where I owned two copies.

So, again, what do I know from Korma?  Except that it is a curry, and I’ve been fond of the curries as of late, so I figured I’d give it a go.

Is it just me, or does this make a lot of food?  I mean… a lot of food.  No complaints from me there, buddy!  I just upped the number of servings to suit my liking… but it still made a lot of food.  Also, very tasty food, which is the important bit.

Got a lot of coconut flavor from this, and it seems I’m becoming more and more used to coconut.  I may even like it for real one of these days, but I certainly like the dish.  The Husband wished the veg was a little more al dente, but that was mainly the broccoli (we didn’t have enough cauliflower).  Next time I’d give the broc the pass, it explodes like mad whenever I cook it, and I thought it subtracted from the dish’s sexiness.  Very tasty indeed, and I have to remark on that since, as stated, not the biggest fan of coconut, but Isa made this a tasty way to have it.

Served with basmati rice, garnished with cilantro and pomegranate… the later because I kind of wish I made the cashew cranberry biriyani that could have gone with this…

Another home run, way to go AFR!

Glorious New Year.  Glorious.

Still not great, but a better shot of the Hottie Black-eyed Peas & Greens from my favorite Vegan Brooklynite’s cookbook Appetite for Reduction.  For my second round at this recipe, I made my own beans (from scratch, take that can!) and I used Tuscan kale, which I found to have a milder flavor than the… not…Tuscan… kale I normally use.  Seriously… don’t know, it just says “kale” normally. I love all kale, and I did like the flavor of this.

The dish came out gorgeous again.  The savory kale, creamy beans, hint of heat and spice… Mmm!

I served it with perfectly-roasted brussels sprouts (which seriously… I willingly snack on these cold from the fridge, they are that good) and roasted kabocha squash (ditto).

I ate dinner, I was sated.  Yet I wanted to eat dinner again.

The Husband pointed out the particular irony of this situation, so I thought I’d commemorate it in a photograph.

(Yup, love the book that much.  Just saying.)

This week is Appetite for Reduction (WAY MORE THAN A) Week!  Posting what I am making this week (and re-posting some I’ve made in the past) because, like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it’s a wholly remarkable book. 

I’m not world’s worst blogger, but I’m up there.

Further, I made several more things from AFR in that week that was Appetite for Reduction Week that I haven’t even posted yet.

Instead, I will post tonight’s dinner.  Because frankly, I wasn’t feeling it today.  I was deciding what to have for dinner.  I went through a mental rolodex of a million-bazillion things (I kid you not) and nothing was quite right.

Maybe I didn’t want to cook.  Maybe I just wanted Ye Olde The Husbande to take me out to dinner.

So as I putzed on the interwebs for about 5 minutes (as I am often want to do), I see a reference to the latest Post Punk Kitchen blog entry… 

… and dinner out was cancelled.

Hottie Black-Eyed Peas and Greens was amazing.  I could slap myself for the 30+ years that I avoided eating black eyed peas, especially on New Year’s Day when it was somehow required if I’d wanted to be vaguely happy for the other 364.25 days (I figured 5 would buy me that ticket).  Rich, creamy and savory, the greens (yes Kale, I love Kale) was cooked to perfection and the spiciness went so well with the creaminess… oh yes.

Ginger Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Apples was sweet and heavenly.  The Husband likened it to desert.  Creamy and flavorful, their sweetness was the perfect compliment to the spicy hot tang of the beans and greens.  One mod is that I did leave my apple and yam peels on.  I am a peel-on type of gal, what can I say?

Isa said this was a comfort pair, and she was not joking.  Every bite was pure bliss (I’d alternate between the hot and the sweet… bliss).

I’ll continue to post what I’ve made (and likely what I will make) from this incredible remarkable has-yet-to-be-less-than-most-excellent cookbook.

I expect no less from a fellow Brooklynite.

This week is Appetite for Reduction Week!  Posting what I am making this week (and re-posting some I’ve made in the past) because, like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it’s a wholly remarkable book. 

2011-12-09 Second offering of the day came in the form of Buffalo Tempeh.

Yum.  Oh my sweet Wild Wing Jeebus, YUM.

This would be the first time I’ve cooked with Tempeh.  I’ve had it a couple of times before (pre-packaged bacon flavor, at a restaurant), but never have I tried making it myself.  Was not bad to make, but (as usual) I’m always (always) surprised by the texture.  I don’t think Tempeh is my favoritest of the vegan proteins, but not so far as hating.

The Tempeh was great in this.  The sauce was buffalo phenomenal.  The Husband could not stop licking his lips, fingers, etc., exclaiming “If they sold these at the wing place out here, vegans would flock there by the thousands!”

Well.  I don’t think they would, or at least I wouldn’t.  Unless it was a vegan wing place, then bring it on!

I did remind him, however, that’s why people buy this wholly remarkable book.

Paired this up with some oven roasted potatoes flavored with Nutritional Yeast, and this turned out to be the appropriate pairing.  In keeping with the nature of things, was prepared low fat, so a fun guilt-free dinner had by all!

This week is Appetite for Reduction Week!  Posting what I am making this week (and re-posting some I’ve made in the past) because, like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it’s a wholly remarkable book. 

2011-12-09 - The first offering was during lunch.  Vegan Crunk made Isa’s Broiled Blackened Tofu look too delicious, and I had some tofu in my fridge sitting idle, so I decided to make a bowl of it!

Another easy recipe to throw together and too-too easy to toss down the gullet!  Look how pretty it is!  It wound up being super tasty, the seasonings holding up quite well to the broiling (which I’m never sure with my oven).  It wasn’t as crisp as I thought it might be, but still a delight.

Paired with some leftover rice topped with gomasio and sauteed string beans and tomatoes (that were also sitting idle and needed something to do, so I selected “digestion”).

Thank you for lunch Isa!

This week is Appetite for Reduction Week!  Posting what I am making this week (and re-posting some I’ve made in the past) because, like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it’s a wholly remarkable book. 

The heck?!  Yesterday’s dinner wound up being leftover Forty-Clove Chickpeas and Broccoli, and today’s lunch being Kidney Bean and Butternut Jamba Stew.  Tonight’s dinner was capping off a day of personal fail when I gathered all of my ingredients for my next incredible Isa dish and found myself lacking curry powder.

I get why I’m out.  I’m just annoyed I didn’t do anything about it.

So enjoy this blast from the past!  This was post vegetarian-pre-vegan rendition of Lasagna With Roasted Cauliflower Ricotta And Spinach.  I never bloggered this recipe, and I should have because it wound up being the best thing I ever made from the book!

This was not a cinch to put together.  This is certainly a meal to make on a Sunday or when you have nothing to do.

With that in mind… clear your calendar for this one.

This involved a lot of work and chopping prep, as there are no convenience cheeses or the like involved.  Also, you are creating the cheeses since this is a vegan dish… but every chop, every measure, every thing comes together like magic.  Truly, lasagna (and other lovingly layered dishes, Moussaka springs to mind) is not meant to be a dish prepared in a snap.  Even “snappy” lasagna dishes take time.

Let me remind you… this one is worth it.

Fun fact:  This is where I came up with the theory that if I invented a time machine and traveled back in time to when I was a pudgy Brooklyn kid eating pizza by the truck load, I never would have believed me to be me.  When I peered into the oven and breathed deeply of the wonderful wafting aroma of roasting cauliflower… I knew I was a changed woman.*

This lasagna was so incredibly powerful and flavorful.  It takes lasagna to the next level, in my opinion.  Not your traditional, but the flavors that you get from this, the textures… I think I may need to make another one soon.

Thank you again and again Isa.

——-

* Though I’d still eat pizza by the truckload.  Only if its vegan.  Especially if it’s Isa’s.