post-rumpus meal at Saturn Cafe

sometimes, all we want is steamed veggies...
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

We went to a not-so-wild rumpus at the local Borders tonight (which included a reading of Where the Wild Things Are), so we ate out instead of cooking. I promise I will have a real post with us really cooking very, very soon!

But, for now, can I just say, we love seeing our 3-year old gobble up veggies?? It always makes us happy that, vis a vis veggies, we've set him off on the right path....

As for us parental types...Tom enjoyed a vegan burger and I had a bowl of Moroccan Stew. We all shared some skinny fries and a couple of vegan milkshakes for dessert (but, Dylan had eaten so well at dinner, he barely had any).

vegan mofo day 1 - pasta pomodoro

pasta pomodoro
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

I'm attempting to post our vegan meals for the entire month of October as part of Vegan Mofo 2009. I can't make any promises or guarantees since having a 2-month old and a 3-year old can sometimes get pretty hairy! But, we'll see how it goes.

Expect to see mostly pictures of our meals as I'm mostly cooking from cookbooks these days...and expect easy-peasy and kid-friendly meals. But (!), for the meals I just throw together, I'll post my "recipe!"

So, to kick it off, here's our dinner from tonight: a simple pasta pomodoro. We had impromptu dinner guests who needed to be at an appointment only 60 minutes after we arrived at our house, so the meal had to be uber-easy and uber-quick!

Ingredients

• pasta
• minced garlic
• diced heirloom tomatoes
• basil, chiffonated
• olive oil

Toss cooked pasta with olive oil.

Add minced garlic and toss.

Top with desired amount of chiffonated basil and diced tomatoes. Add salt to taste (optional) and enjoy!

5-minute strawberry ice cream

The best 5-minute ice cream ever. You need a really high-powered blender (we have a VitaMix) to make this, by the way. The results are amazing. Yields about 4 cups.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of coconut milk
• 18 oz. of frozen strawberries (or peach or mango, etc.)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• ~1/2 tsp. each of vanilla extract and almond extract

Put all ingredients into the VitaMix. Begin at the lowest setting and slowly crank it up to high. Blend until 4 peaks form (just as the VitaMix recipe book states!). Enjoy!!

Easy Kale and Coconut

kale and coconut with figs
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

This is one of our favorite ways to eat kale. The coconut adds a nice nutty flavor that complements the taste of the greens really well (or, at least, we think so!). It's dead easy to make, takes about 10 minutes to prepare, and our 2-year old gobbles it up and almost always asks for more!

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of kale (our favorite is dinosaur kale)
• ~1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes or shredded coconut
• dash of salt
• ~1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tbsp. olive oil

De-rib kale and cut in coarse chiffonade.

Sautee kale in olive oil over medium heat until slightly wilted (approx. 2-3 minutes).

Add in coconut and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Add lemon juice and a dash of salt to taste.

Enhanced Hot Cereal

enhanced hot cereal
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

We're always looking to bump up the nutritional profile for many of the things we feed our 2-year old toddler. One of the ways we do this is to just make a basic hot cereal (we like Bob's Red Mill multi-grain cereals -- 7-, 9- or 10-grain) and then add coconut milk (our own idea) and a little flax seed oil (inspired by Le Pain Quotidien's Omega-3 Oatmeal).

The coconut milk adds a nice nutty flavor to the cereal as well as adding extra fat (essential to toddler development) while the flax seed oil adds extra protein and omega-3's.

Dylan loves it!

Ingredients

• hot cereal (prepared as usual)
• 1 tbsp. coconut milk
• 1 tbsp. flax seed oil

Prepare cereal as you normally would.

Stir in some coconut milk and drizzle on some flax seed oil and enjoy!

Chickpea-Quinoa Pilaf with Steamed Broccolini

chickpea-quinoa pilaf with broccolini
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

The quinoa is the first recipe we tried from Veganomicon and it was super good and super easy to make (that means it tasted good even though I cooked it!).

Having some steamed broccolini from this week's farm share was the perfect accompaniment (and Dylan loves broccolini!). The quinoa was a little on the salty side for our taste (we'd probably reduce salt a smidge next time) and the broccolini helped cut through the salt hit.

We'll post a modified version of the recipe soon....We are planning on adding butternut squash or sweet corn to make it even more interesting next time.

Bananas in Coconut Milk

This is a super easy variation of a Thai dessert called Kluay Buat Chee and is basically a minimalist version of Filipino ginataan. It takes all but 10 minutes in total to make! And, if you're wary about the coconut, rest assured that coconut milk has many health benefits.

Ingredients

• 1-14oz. can of coconut milk
• 1 or 2 medium bananas cut lengthwise and then cut across into about 4 pieces
• 1 tsp. maple syrup

Bring coconut milk to a boil over medium heat.

Add bananas and cook until soft (about 3-4 minutes).

Add maple syrup.