Stuffed Peppers
This is a Weight Watchers recipe that Angela shared with me. We switched to veggie ground meat and brown rice (instead of white). We also cut the peppers in half to create smaller bowls. Much easier to pack into tupperware.

Ingredients
1 package Yves meatless ground beef
1 cup cooked rice
1 onion, finely chopped
1 large can stewed tomatoes, quartered*
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp ground sage
4 green peppers, tops cut off and seeded (can cut in half to make smaller bowls)
1/2 cup tomato sauce/puree or marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Saute onions and garlic till the onions are transparent, then remove. Mix the veggie meat, rice, onion, garlic, parmesan, stewed tomatoes and herbs in a large bowl. Loosely stuff the peppers with the mixture, stand them in a baking dish or casserole.

Pour the tomato puree over the peppers; add enough water so that the liquid comes 1/4 way up the sides of the peppers. Cover with foil and bake, basting with the juices for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until the peppers and rice are tender and the filling is completely cooked, about 20 minutes longer.

*Note: we didn’t have stewed tomatoes in our pantry, so our peppers came out a little drier than usual. Wasn’t a big problem. Just needed more tomato puree as a sauce.

The recipe below is pretty darn close to what John and I would consider perfect mac and cheese. We’re almost there! (We also served this recipe at dinner/movie night on Sunday – blog entry coming soon!)

Ingredients
1 lb elbow macaroni
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper
3 cups soy milk (original is ideal, but vanilla is okay)
1 cup heavy cream
3 cups shredded cheese (ideally cheddar)
8 oz Velveeta, cut into cubes

Cook pasta until al dente – you don’t want the macaroni to get too soft. In a large saucepan/pot, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, milk, salt and pepper. Mix well and break up any lumps that form. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and mixture begins to boil. Add cheddar and Velveeta.

The mac is ready to be enjoyed, but this is when you can stick the mac in the oven if you prefer it baked. Keep the heat low (350F), so it doesn’t dry out too much. Bake for about 20 minutes until bubbly. I’ve found that the baking is not absolutely necessary.

Notes & Extras
I typically season my mac with 1 tbsp thyme and 1 tsp paprika. Sometimes I’ll also add a dash of chili powder. In the past, I’ve also simmered a couple bay leaves in the flour and milk mixture. The bay leaf should be removed before adding any cheese.

To make the mac more interesting, I’ll add some frozen peas and carrots, chopped tomatoes, 1 chopped onion, and half a package of Yves veggie ground beef. John used to think my extra ingredients were a bit weird, but I think he enjoys it now. Adding veggies is my way of making this a teensy, tiny bit less bad for you. Hah!

In the past, I’ve also added an egg or two to the mixture before adding the cheese. Beat the egg(s) in a separate bowl before adding it to the saucepan. I’ve experienced issues with the egg(s) curdling when the mac is baked. Even when the oven’s temperature is only 350F. I suspect that using the broiler will help solve this problem, but haven’t experimented with that yet.

Sometimes, I’ll stir in 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (after adding the cheese) to add texture. If you’re baking the mac, more breadcrumbs can be sprinkled on top before baking.

Here are some other dishes that our table ordered. Both Angela and Sarah ordered dinner specials. Sarah’s was a curry dish. Smelled amazing. Angela was intrigued by the raw pear ravioli, which, unfortunately, wasn’t much like ravioli at all. The four “raviolis” were basically just stacked ingredients! Looked good, but Angela was still hungry after dinner. She was tempted to stop by McDonald’s to grab a burger.

Chickpea and Date Tagine
From Vegetarian Times, December 2011

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced (2 cups)
4 cloves garlic, minced (4 tsp)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 15-oz can crushed tomatoes
3 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 15-oz cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup whole-wheat couscous
1 cup pitted dates, halved
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, and cook 10 minutes, or until starting to brown, stirring often. Stir in garlic, cumin, coriander, ginger, and cinnamon, and sauté 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, and 1/4 cup water; simmer 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast couscous in small saucepan over medium heat 5 minutes, or until fragrant. Add 3/4 cups water, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand 5 minutes.

Stir dates and lemon juice into tagine, and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve over couscous, sprinkled with cilantro.

Bacon breakfast on Sunday morning. John was feeling a lot better on Sunday. Well enough to cook us breakfast! Low-sodium thinly sliced bacon, placed in the broiler. Bacon, hash browns, pink beans, and rice. So rich, so indulgent! Kinda felt like I needed to shower immediately after breakfast. All that grease. Eek. I’m pretty sure this breakfast is the reason we’ve been eating salads for every other meal this week. Hah.

On Thursday, we got Mexican delivery as a treat. I had a coupon code for $10 off Seamless that was about to expire, and I was getting a little sick of eating leftovers. We ordered from a little place just around the corner called La Cocinita Latina. Mmm, who doesn’t love Mexican fast food! Cheese enchilada, vegetarian burrito and soursop shake ($23 before coupon). Much more food than we were expecting. This ended up being dinner for two for Thursday and Friday night. Wikipedia describes the flavor of soursop as a cross between strawberry and pineapple with a sour citrus flavor. That’s pretty much it. Mmm, enchiladas. I haven’t made enchiladas in a long time. They filled these with a lot of cheese. John said that the cheese had a squeaky sound as he bit into it. I love covering my enchiladas with salsa. Believe it or not, there’s half a vegetarian burrito hidden under the lettuce, tomatoes, salsa and sour cream. Unlike most veggie burritos, this one, unfortunately, didn’t really include many veggies inside. It was basically 90% rice and beans. A little bit of onion or pepper. I really miss the veggie burritos in San Francisco. Sob.

Dinner for 19 people with plenty of leftovers. Old friends, new friends, good food, lots of wine. Chloe cat had a great time. Tony cat, umm, not so much… but he was more outgoing than usual. Party was a huge success. Looking forward to throwing another one soon. Maybe even a dance party since we have the space. I declare this apartment officially warmed.

Ken got some nice shots on his camera. Loving the warm, yellow glow. Deviled Eggs
Love making deviled eggs for parties, and they’re always well received. Always have to remind myself that not everyone loves paprika as much as I do. Added a pinch of chili powder. It was subtle, but Mike noticed there was something there.

Garlic and Cheese Crostini
I didn’t try any of these babies! No worries. I still have Pecorino Romano leftover – think I’ll make more for Valentine’s Day. I cut back on the garlic, which was probably for the best.

Fried Wontons
Nasoya wonton wrappers, Yves ground veggie meat, cabbage, onion, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil. Soy sauce, sesame oil, hot sauce for dipping. Very similar to these dumplings. I wrapped all 40 of these on my own. Left the frying to John, as usual.

Tomato Tartlets
A little something I found in an old issue of Food & Wine magazine. The recipe makes 60 tartlets! We only made 50 because the pastry was difficult to cut. Butter puff pastry, ricotta cheese, grape tomatoes tossed and lightly roasted in olive oil, thyme, salt, pepper. So good. Definitely making them again.

Carrots, Celery, Broccoli with Light Ranch
Something light and crunchy to offset the richer foods. I love broccoli. LOVE broccoli.

Spinach, Apple, Cranberry & Almond Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette
Lately, pre-washed spinach has frequently been on sale at the grocery store. Another fresh, light dish. Plus, you can’t throw a vegetarian dinner party without a salad. Mmm, raspberry vinaigrette is delightful.

Buttery Butter Biscuits
I’ve taken this recipe from Food & Wine and made it my own. Smaller, flakier biscuits. Heavy cream instead of buttermilk for increased richness(!!!). This time, I used 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour. Created a nice, gritty texture. I like.

Mac and Cheese-style Cauliflower
Been a little obsessed with Vegetarian Times lately. This recipe was from a recent issue. So creamy! The cauliflower also adds a nice sweetness. Kevin was surprised that this was cauliflower. Apparently this was the first time he’s enjoyed a cauliflower dish!

Broccoli, Tomato & Onion Quiche
Decided to skip the Tofurky sausage in this recipe and increase the veggies. Silly me, I forgot to buy a pie crust at the grocery store. I briefly considered making this quiche in a metal pie pan, but didn’t want to risk adding a metallic taste to the quiche. Yuck.

Used a rectangular glass pan and added 2 extra eggs due to the size of the pan. I’m amazed that this quiche turned out so well. We stuck it in the oven during the party…kinda forgot about it for a while. It was perfect when we took it out.

Farfalle with Tomato Cream Sauce
Saute garlic and onions in butter. Add 30 oz tomato/marinara sauce. Add 1 cup heavy cream. Stupid simple recipe, but so yummy. I plan on making more as soon as I get more heavy cream from the grocery store.

Chicken and Sausage Etouffee
With Trader Joe’s meatless chicken strips and Tofurky Italian sausage. This was the first time we used whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour. Doubled the recipe. Should have added more chili powder/hot sauce for an extra kick. Served with brown rice and baguette slices.

Cupcakes
It’s been over a year since I’ve made cupcakes – I’m out of practice! We made Martha Stewart’s vanilla and chocolate cupcakes. Twelve of each. For the vanilla cupcakes, I used brown sugar instead of boring white sugar. Adds a special something to the cupcakes. Yum! Filled half of the vanilla cupcakes with grape jelly. Filled half of the chocolate cupcakes with chocolate syrup. Topped with vanilla frosting, sprinkles and maraschino cherries. We finally used the cupcake stand Ken gave us as a wedding gift!

More Food
Our dinner guests brought lots of tasty treats: cheese puffs with fennel, lentil soup, meatballs (with real oink oink meat), cheesecake, chai spiced sugar cookies, brownies and more cookies!

Drinks
We made a large bowl of moscato sangria with oranges, lemons, and limes. The moscato on its own was ridiculously sweet. Added about 8 shots of Bacardi rum to the sangria. You don’t really notice the rum until it’s too late (hah) – it’s hidden by the citrus and sugar.

Popped a bottle of Gloria Ferrer 2004 Royal Cuvee to celebrate. This dinner party makes our NYC move in/settling in official. We also popped a couple bottles of Segura Viudas Brut Reserva. (Thanks Brands Liquor for selling SV at unbeatable prices.) We brought out an assortment of Intwine wines for the party. There was some interest in the wines, especially the Zinfandelic, but we never got around to opening any. (Water was the most popular beverage at the dinner party.) Friends brought more wine and beer, including some beer (a stout, I think) that Will brewed himself. I’m excited to try!

We’ve only recently discovered Veggie Patch veggie meats. Their chicken cutlet is lightly breaded and very versatile. I can’t stand icy cold salads, so I usually stick my salads in the microwave for 20 – 30 seconds. I don’t mind the spinach when it starts to wilt a little. The microwave made the cheese lightly melty – so good when it sticks to the chicken cutlet and tomatoes!

The past few days have been great for food blogging! Wednesday at Bar Breton, Friday at Totto Ramen, Saturday at Vegetarian’s Paradise 2. Oh, and I recently bought coupons from Gilt for Kyotofu and Mexicue. Excited to try both places. More date nights soon – yay!

On a different note… I just learned that someone else has purchased letsnomnom.com. Noooooo! I think it just happened in the past week or so. Lately, I’ve been thinking about finally buying the domain since I’ve settled into the habit of writing on a regular basis, and I’m having fun with the blog. This is a bit frustrating. You have no idea how long it took me to come up with a good name for this blog. Sigh. You snooze, you lose, I suppose.

Appetizer #1: Avocado Crab Tartare ($5.95). Lime-wasabi infused avocado with red peppers, veggie crab and soy-protein. Served with scallion crisp crackers. I had the hardest time choosing between the crabcakes and crab tartare! Decided against the crabcakes because they come with tater tots (what?!). The tartare was all mine since John is not a fan of crab, even if it’s vegetarian crab meat. This was basically lime and wasabi flavored guacamole. No sign of red peppers. Shredded veggie crab and soy protein were exactly what you’d expect. Probably the most disappointing out of the 4 appetizers, but it had a certain lightness/freshness that served as a palate cleanser.

Appetizer #2: Collard Green Rolls ($5.95). Vegan rolls stuffed with sweet collard greens and vegetarian smoked ham served with a sweet chili dipping sauce. John picked this one. This is what happens when the classic spring roll has a baby with a side of collard greens. Tasty, especially with the sauce. Crispy, but not too greasy. The veggie ham had a nice smoked flavor!

Appetizer #3: Seitan Pork Buns. This must be new as it’s not listed on the VP2 website. This was in the dim sum section. We weren’t really paying close attention to the description and expected something along the lines of cha siu bao (steamed BBQ pork buns). Nope, this was even better. This is a veggie version of Peking duck. Crispy seitan with hoisin sauce and scallions in a pancake. I’ve been craving Peking duck recently, so this was absolutely wonderful. The pancake is much thicker than the usual Peking duck spring pancake, but it went well with the crispy seitan.

Appetizer #4: World Famous Crispy Soul Chicken ($5.95). Crispy Soy Chicken Breaded with Panko Breadcrumbs, Rosemary, Basil and Oregano. Served with a Hickory Smoke Mustard Sauce. Yep, I saved the best for last. Seven gigantic, crispy pieces of soy chicken for under a buck a piece. At Mad for Chicken, the boneless breast strips (of real chicken) are a tad bit pricier and half the size (or smaller). VP2′s soy chicken wins! Seven pieces of soy chicken were more than we needed. The table next to us ordered the entree version – huge! 2 people, 4 appetizers, 2 full tummies. Our only regret was that we didn’t order some kind of salad or strictly real veggies dish. The soy chicken got a little rich after a while.

After dinner, we met up with Evan and Meg at Fat Cat. Very chill place with live music. Cover was only $3. Fat Cat must be one of the rare large bars/lounges in NYC. Reminded me of Thalassa in Berkeley, which was one of our regular spots for several years.

Before hopping on the express train to go home, we stopped by the pizza place across the street for a late night snack. New York-style pizza is the best. I love thin crust. What a great night with lots of noms!