Condiments

Ajvar (Roasted Red Pepper and Eggplant Relish)

March 8, 2013
Thumbnail image for Ajvar (Roasted Red Pepper and Eggplant Relish)

Someone once wrote that every good novel must contain at least one recipe. Although I wouldn’t go quite that far, I agree that food can be a window into a novel’s world and its characters’ culture. I always pay particular attention to what characters are eating, especially when a book is set in another part [...]

Read the full article →

Layered Salad with Black Beans and Mango-Cucumber Salsa

July 24, 2012
Thumbnail image for Layered Salad with Black Beans and Mango-Cucumber Salsa

Ever since I was a child, one of the highlights of summer is the arrival of fresh mangoes. When I was growing up in the 60′s and 70′s, mangoes weren’t available in the local A&P or Piggly Wiggly. They were a rare treat that we enjoyed only after a visit to or from our Florida [...]

Read the full article →

Tofu-Cashew Mayonnaise

April 19, 2012
Thumbnail image for Tofu-Cashew Mayonnaise

So much depends upon mayo. If you think that’s an exaggeration, try eating a dry sandwich or a tempeh salad with nothing but lemon juice to moisten it. For omnivores, the solution is easy: Grab a jar of egg-based mayonnaise off any supermarket shelf. For vegans, it’s a little more difficult; oil-based Vegenaise* and soy-based [...]

Read the full article →

Skillet Eggplant and Lentils with Almond Parmesan

August 25, 2011
Skillet Eggplant and Lentils

I’m packing my bags and getting ready to fly to Portland early tomorrow morning for Vida Vegan Con, the largest gathering of vegan bloggers ever to invade a conference center. I’m so excited to get to teach a photography workshop with two of my idols, Isa and Hannah, and to sit on a panel of [...]

Read the full article →

Watermelon Rind Preserves

June 2, 2011
Watermelon Rind Preserves

Last weekend, E and I took a train down to Louisiana for a quick, two-night visit to my parents’ house in the country. We were eating a surprisingly sweet watermelon for lunch on Saturday when my father noticed it had something he hadn’t seen in a long time: a thick rind. It seems that watermelons [...]

Read the full article →

Thai Green Curry with Vegetables and Tofu

April 28, 2011
Thai Green Curry with Vegetables and Tofu

I’m not one of those food snobs who think that absolutely everything I cook has to be made from scratch. Though I believe that the results are usually better (and more nutritious) when all the ingredients are homemade, I’m not above using packaged ingredients, such as vegetable broth or canned beans, when the ingredients aren’t [...]

Read the full article →

My Family’s Cranberry Relish Recipe

November 21, 2006
Cranberry Relish

I emailed my mother to get her cranberry relish recipe, the one my husband and I descend on like a pair of hungry fruit bats each year. She emailed me the recipe, but what she sent didn’t quite match my memory of the dish because I thought it had apples in it. By the time [...]

Read the full article →

Pumpkin-Apple Butter

October 11, 2006
Thumbnail image for Pumpkin-Apple Butter

Though my husband and daughter were hoping I’d make another Impossible Pumpkin Pie, I had other plans for the squash that was leftover after I’d cooked the cushaw. (In case you missed the last post, a cushaw is a crookneck squash that is used like pumpkin.) I wanted to make pumpkin butter so that we [...]

Read the full article →

Roasted Salsa Verde

October 2, 2006
Thumbnail image for Roasted Salsa Verde

I finally conceded defeat in the battle against the birds for the tomatoes in my garden. I had been waiting for the last few green tomatoes to ripen before I pulled out the tomato plants and planted my winter vegetables, but when I went out to the garden to check on them this weekend, the [...]

Read the full article →

Thai Red Curry with Mango Chutney

July 29, 2006
Thumbnail image for Thai Red Curry with Mango Chutney

While researching uses for mango chutney, I stumbled upon a recipe for Crawfish Curry that I just had to try to veganize. Anything that combines elements of Louisiana cooking with Thai and Indian cuisine is just mixed-up enough for me. I had to lose the crawfish, though, and since nothing can ever really replicate its [...]

Read the full article →

Green Mango Chutney

July 28, 2006
Thumbnail image for Green Mango Chutney

I was at the local Indian grocery store earlier this week, checking to see if the dal shortage is affecting my area (no shortage of dal on the shelves, but prices are up about 30 cents per pound), and I picked up a huge, green mango with the idea of making chutney. While researching ways [...]

Read the full article →

Over-Stuffed Baked Potatoes

January 18, 2006
Thumbnail image for Over-Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Last night was a quick meal night, so I baked potatoes, sautéed some mushrooms with garlic and a drop of red wine, steamed broccoli, heated chickpeas, and made a “cheezy” sauce. Simple and relatively fast. The only hitch was, instead of going with one of the vegan cheeze sauces we’ve tried before, I decided to [...]

Read the full article →