Yummy! A vegan lasagna with whole wheat noodles, eggplant, cauliflower, onion, garlic, mushrooms, spinach tofu ricotta, basil marinara and a walnut parm on the top. I roasted the slices of eggplant before I used them. I diced fresh spinach and added it to the food processor with extra firm tofu, sesame tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt, cracked pepper, fresh basil leaves, garlic and nutritional yeast for a ricotta. The onion, mushrooms, garlic and cauliflower were sauteed for varying amounts of time. Prepare yourself for this – the basil marinara came from a jar (GASP) I was running out of time, so went with plan b. I popped the top and poured it on =) 45 minutes in the oven and voila – I could eat this all day!

A bit of an experiment here, but it came out great! This is a delicious rosemary biscuit, based on a recipe form the free news letter of the Vegan Culinary Experience. Each morning my inbox has a new recipe to check out. The breakfast sausage was based loosely on a recipe by vegan dad. I used Gimme Lean sausage instead of white beans which gave it a great flavor. I didn’t get around to making a gravy so just used Veganaise and Ketchup to top it off. It was yummy!!

I finally got my very own copy of the Vegan Lunchbox– Woohoo! I made the hummus from it. Delicious and super fast. I added it to a whole wheat bagel, loads of fresh veggies – tomato, onion, olive, cucumber and spinach. Fantastic!!!

Mmmmm, I still can’t resist the fresh produce available. I made a yummy guacamole with fresh avocados, garden tomatoes, onion and spices.

Also, a sour cream mixed with fresh lime juice and wasabi powder. And finally – fresh salsa!! I added mango, peach, green pepper, tomatoes (from the neighbors garden), onion and hot peppers, lime and lemon juice, dried chili pepper flakes, sea salt and cracked pepper. After dicing up all the veggies, I tossed a handful into the blender and pureed. I added it back to the bowl and voila – My mouth is watering just looking at the pictures =)

Mmmm – a delicious dinner – carrot and lentil burger. I used the veggie shrapnel from the juicer (carrot and zucchini) with smooshed lentils, oatmeal, vital wheat gluten, rolled oats, ketchup, balsamic vinegar, miso, barbeque spices, cumin, sea salt and cracked black pepper. I also made a guacamole to top it plus a horseradish mayonaise sauce, sliced onion and onion bun. A side of coleslaw and yum – It was fantastic!

A quick and oven free meal – Pasta Salad, Yum! This salad boasts purple cauliflower, red pepper, red onion, black olive, carrot, celery, mushroom, rotini, walnut/miso/nutritional yeast parm and a delicious dressing. The dressing was made from grapeseed oil, red wine vinegar, brown rice vinegar, dijon, agave, fresh basil leaves, sea salt, and cracked pepper.

Sorry guys! Between the REALLY LONG drive down the Alcan (6 DAYS), settling into the new house with munchkin, unpacking, restocking a kitchen o’ plenty, getting proper internet access and discovering that the mid-90’s in the midwest is really freaking hot – I am just getting back to this… I have been cooking (a little), but more importantly I have been eating the most enormous quantity of locally grown fruits and vegetables (especially watermelon – my favorite!) I also just got a new juicer (Breville – works great!)

I have a few more weeks until school gets under way and hope to do a little cooking and more acclimating. Since I am in the corn belt (is there such a thing?), I have been making plenty of salads with fresh corn. This one is particularly delicious – corn, tomatoes, onion, basil and sage with a few drops of balsamic vinager – Delic!!!!

Here’s a delicious heaping plate of wheat spaghetti, fresh green beans and a garlic bagel.

I also tried out Vegan Dad’s Reuben on a Great Harvest Bread’s Marble Rye with a side of Walnut Miso Green Beans.

I made Vegan Yum Yum’s recipe for Smoky Miso Tofu.

Here are some roasted garlic and zucchini slices fresh from the wonderful neighbors garden to my oven =)

Finally – a dessert. Local blueberries made into a blueberry crumble. Scrumptious!

One delicious breakfast for the road…. A filling concoction of papaya, strawberry, banana, oatmeal, almond, flaxseed and soy strawberry yogurt. Mmmmmmm – that should at least get me to Canada =) We are headed off today on our latest adventure – relocating from the great state of Alaska to the lower 48 for more grad school. I can’t believe I’m actually heading back to school, but such as it is. I will be incommunicado for the next week or so while I traverse the face of Canada, but expect to be at the new house cooking up a storm in my new locale. I am excited to see what fresh local produce I can find and will report back soon! Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you on the other side.

Another hit from Vegan Yum Yum – Blueberry Waffles with Lemon Icing. Delicious and beautiful!

As I continue my journey to incorporate new (and previously snubbed) vegetables I decided to try to cook something with Eggplant. I used a recipe from The Candle Cafe’s – Eggplant and Zucchini Lasagna. I did not have any Zucchini, so I stuck with Eggplant roasted in the oven with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I used some of my Farmer’s Market Tomatoes to make a homemade marinara that was stupendous! I also modified the herb ricotta by adding fresh baby spinach and a couple pinches of nutritional yeast. I layered the lasagna with noodles, spinach ricotta, roasted eggplant, marinara and then sauteed onion and mushrooms. I topped the final round of noodles with a modified pine nut cream. I remembered making a version of this recipe from Veganomicon. For my version I used 1/2 cup pine nuts, 1/2 cup soy milk, squirt of lemon juice, dash of sage and 2 T wasabi powder. I spread this on top of the noodles and baked everything for 45 minutes. It was good! I actually found the eggplant palatable! Victory was mine!!!