January 2009

Creamy Celeriac Soup

January 29, 2009
Thumbnail image for Creamy Celeriac Soup

I don’t know which is the bigger surprise, that I bought a Vita-Mix or that I bought a celery root. Since the Vita-Mix is the bigger purchase, I’ll go with that. I bought a Vita-Mix! Thanks to a generous Christmas gift, I broke down and did something I never thought I’d do. I’ve put it [...]

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Red Cabbage and Peas with Cumin and Mustard Seeds

January 24, 2009
Red Cabbage and Peas

In the middle of January, the pickings get mighty slim if you’re trying to live only on fruits and vegetables that are in season. Though I’m far from being a locavore, I do try to focus my cooking around produce that’s naturally in season, not shipped from another hemisphere where the weather is the opposite [...]

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Seitan Scaloppine with Lemon-Olive Sauce

January 17, 2009
Seitan Scaloppine

People sometimes ask me if I miss meat. I don’t. After being a vegetarian for almost 21 years, I don’t find the look or smell of meat appealing in the least. What I do miss, a little, are some of the creative ways of cooking a big ol’ slice of something in sauce. Often I’ll [...]

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Ridiculously Easy Grilled Romaine Salad

January 13, 2009
Ridiculously Easy Grilled Romaine Salad

Call me picky but I just don’t like romaine lettuce. Something about its crunchiness (I like iceberg even less) and bitter taste just turns me off. I’ll use it in a salad if I can hide it among a lot of loose salad greens and spinach, but I just can’t eat it on its own. [...]

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Happy 3rd Birthday, FFVK!

January 9, 2009
Birthday Grapefruit

Three years ago when I started this blog, I had no idea that it would gradually become not only my preoccupation but my occupation as well. Over these years, the subject of food–buying it, preparing it, photographing it, and writing about it–has infiltrated every part of my life and home. Our dining room is no [...]

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Sweet Potato Falafel with Yogurt-Tahini Sauce

January 4, 2009
Sweet Potato Falafel

I don’t exactly know how I came to have about a dozen sweet potatoes in my pantry. I seem to remember buying a few for a casserole that I never got around to making, but I’m not quite sure how the others got there. My secret suspicion is that while behind closed doors, they’re multiplying [...]

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Moin-Moin (Nigerian Savory Black-eyed Pea Cake)

January 1, 2009
Moin-Moin

Happy New Year! As you know, it’s supposed to be lucky to eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day. Every year around this time I scour my cookbooks and my imagination for new ways to cook them because the way I grew up eating them was, frankly, a little boring–as well as not vegetarian. Last [...]

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