Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Feeding the Crave


I love perusing recent posts of my favorite blogs. I enjoy the personalities of my fellow bloggers and am also continually inspired by their kitchen endeavors. Sometimes it's hard to remember from whence an inspiration has come, and usually I find myself changing a recipe due to my own laziness or to avoid another trip to the grocery store. I am not the most organized vegan.

Yesterday I knew my inspiration was from something I'd seen on Stephanie Leah's "Diary of a Frenzied Vegan" (http://omnivore-no-more.blogspot.com). I began working with a dish she had created with wild rice, butternut squash and an apple among other things. But then I realized I'd been eating a fair amount of rice lately and I really wanted red quinoa instead. Looking back, I realize I'd also been inspired by a quinoa dish on Stephanie's blog as well, and I sort of morphed the two very loosely.

This dish involved a lot more effort for me than I usually expend, but then wrestling with any raw winter squash without slicing myself is a guaranteed way to kill half an hour or so. Obviously I am not eating many winter squash, but then that's what makes this delicious panful so special -- it doesn't come around every day!

After successfully chopping the butternut into submission without losing a finger (maybe I just need a sharper knife?) I did enjoy the rest of the prep work for this amazing meal. I started by roasting the butternut and the apple on a parchment sheet at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, as Stephanie does, but otherwise I used up items in my crisper which were on their way to being not so crispy -- a carrot, a large garlic clove, two sad leeks (I removed the sad parts) a cup of red quinoa, some olive oil, a vegan bouillon cube, enough water to keep most of the quinoa moist, and then added at the end three well-chopped collard leaves, a large handful of cilantro and a spring onion. I obviously followed no recipe after roasting the squash and apple, so I would definitely direct you to the source -- Stephanie's recipe.

I really enjoy "shopping my own larder" and finding ways not to waste the food within it. The food in the above panful is truly what I am always dreaming of -- deeply-colored fresh veggies with nutrient-rich whole grains. I crave it all day long. I am eating it now for my "second breakfast" (a smoothie was my first, but looking at that photo I had to have it). The leftovers are delightful, cold out of the 'fridge!

I have to giggle when I realize that many of my omni-friends will take one look at the object of my desire and grimace. I guess I may not have been so hot for this panful of yum a year ago either. But now?  Obsessed!

5 comments:

  1. Looks yummy! I had the same issues w/cutting raw squash and here's two suggestions I've found helpful. One is to bake the squash first, then peel (it will just fall out of the skin), then chop. The other is to use a veggie peeler to get the skin off. I originally just assumed it'd be so thick I'd need to skin it off with a knife, but the peeler works well. Hope that helps a little! Those squash make ya work hard!! But it's worth it!

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  2. That's great...thanks for linking : ) I love that you chopped that bad boy into submission (without slicing yourself). And that dish looks delicious though I agree probably would not constitute what my omni peeps consider a meal. But it works for this vegan! Also I rarely buy produce and so am usually limited to what is left from my CSA delivery. We learn to make it work : )

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  3. Thanks ladies, and thanks again for the inspire, Stephanie!

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