Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Chickpea Cakes and Tempeh Tacos

So, I have some good stuff to share:

But first, we enjoyed a Valentine's Day full of good food. The kids started out with strawberry heart butterflies for breakfast along with a "coupon" for a special treat of their choice. We had lunch at a favorite vegetarian restaurant where we had delicious cinnamon-pecan pancakes and tofu chili stuffed burrito with home fries and vegan biscuits. Juliet selected her special treat here when she saw the dessert case with a towering vegan chocolate cake. Ashton chose a cinnamon roll from Panera Bread. The kids thought they were in Heaven with this grand opportunity. Clayton and I had a wonderful Valentine's date at our favorite Cuban restaurant--mmm, black beans, rice, avocado, yuca, and plantains. We usually don't eat out twice in one day, but it was VD, so why not?

Some lunches:

Buffalo chick salad with dilly dressing and margarita spinach pizza

A meal in minutes: jarred pasta sauce and spaghetti with frozen vegan meatballs

Here is the good stuff, some awesome dinners:

Cajun chickpea cakes
Mashed potatoes and cauliflower with jalapeno-corn gravy
Steamed broccoli
Strawberries and blueberries and banana

Baja tempeh tacos with creamy chipotle dressing
Refried black beans
Guacamole
Mango, banana, strawberries

Susan sent me the link for the chickpea cakes--oh, so good! I subbed red pepper for green pepper. They were crispy on the outside and moist inside. The whole meal was excellent. The kids gobbled up the potatoes and cauliflower that were only seasoned with salt and pepper--no fat. The jalapeno-corn gravy is from Veganomicon and was slightly sweet and mostly spicy. It was a perfect topping for the mashed veggies.

I've wanted to try a vegan spin on fish tacos for a while now. I finally just did it! So yummy! This is definitely a repeat. I revised a batter recipe for the tempeh strips, coated in shredded coconut, fried until golden. I filled two warm corn tortillas with two tempeh strips, shredded cabbage, chopped onion, and creamy chipotle dressing. I made the dressing by pulsing a chipotle pepper (from canned in adobo sauce) with a little rice milk. Then I added Vegenaise to the mixture until I had the desired consistency. Finally I squeezed a little fresh lime juice in it. Seriously, these rock. I will post the tempeh recipe.

You?

4 comments:

lazy susie said...

I hope that one day I'll be able to wing it and make up my own delicious meals like you did with your tacos. Right now I've got to rely on my cookbooks and blogs instead. There is always so much growing and improving to do with this cooking gig, isn't there?

I had the cajun chickpea cakes last night with broc and rice and salad. I made a creole sauce to go with it all and also used it to make our salad dressing. It was a very delicious feast.

j said...

yum!!! i think i know i'm going to try the chickpea cakes soon!!! i really want the tempeh recipe- i think even shane will go for that. :)

i had the laugh at the post about poor callan crying for his fruta! it had me running to the store to try fruit on my own not so small baby. he told me "mommy- it slides on my teeth" but he did proclaim a love of blueberries, so we're moving forward in that arena. how i can have a child who refuses most vegetables and fruits (which are not pureed beyond recognition and hidden in his food!) is beyond me. ?!

j said...

uh oh, angela. i made chickpea patties. i think something went horribly wrong. don't get me wrong- they were edible. it was just odd. partly because i had to tweak things- i had no green pepper or celery- so i subbed a carrot. ? anyway- they seemed overly sweet. improved by a-1 sauce.

kellen cracked me up. he ate them and liked them- then he pointed to something and asked what it was- so we told him, "carrots- red onions...vegetables." his face TOTALLY changed and he said "i think i done now." :) funny. next time i'm lying. it's an all beef patty. :)

Natalie said...

I printed the crispy cajun recipe...sounds really yummy!

I've been lying around, wheezing. Finally I'm better and can't wait to get back into the kitch.