Monday, November 29, 2010

Seitan Noodle Casserole and Broccoli Soup

 Broccoli Soup (loosely based on V-con recipe) and Seitan Noodle Casserole (from 1,000 Vegan Recipes)

A family pleaser from the week before Thanksgiving.  Often I have dinner to put on the table and then I need to run to a meeting or the gym so I like to have meals I can stick in the oven or let simmer on the stove.  This way the food is ready when people are ready to eat, but I can cook when it works into my schedule for the day.  As I've stated before, I'm not a huge plan ahead kind of gal, but I do have key ingredients in the back of my mind.  I asked Rob to cook up a double batch of Simple Seitan from Veganomicon since we hadn't made seitan in a while.  The double batch was added to a wide variety of dishes throughout the week.  On this particular night, I searched my magic cookbook (1,000 Vegan Recipes) for seitan and the above is what I came up with.  Seitan Noodle Casserole is satisfying comfort food.  It is also a great way to get non-mushroom loves to eat them.  I used whole wheat pasta and topped it with chopped walnuts instead of vegan Parmesan.  I started making Broccoli-Potato Soup with Fresh Herbs from Veganomicon, but I was low on fresh herbs so I winged it (adding za'atar, of course, because I'm obsessed).  I also used sweet potatoes from our garden instead of white potatoes.  Broccoli soup is super nutritious, fulfilling, versatile, and delicious.  If I don't know what make to go with a main dish, in cool weather broccoli soup is often the answer.

 Crispy Tofu with Sizzling Caper Sauce (from 1,000 Vegan Recipes)

Here is a bonus picture of Crispy Tofu with Sizzling Caper Sauce from 1,000 Vegan Recipes.  We've already made it again since our first experience.  This is also a great quick addition to any meal.
As VeganMoFo 2010 draws to a close, I was reflecting on how often to blog and find that while I didn't write every day in November, by a long shot, I do enjoy updating the ole blog more often.  I have several posts in my drafts folder and in my mind.  I think my kids might get more involved as well.  My ten year old, Parker, is starting a homeschooling project today and he would like to share it with all of you when he is done.  Sometimes, I will log what we eat for a week or two to see how it stacks up nutritionally or to help others see what we eat.  This time, Parker is logging and choosing all his food himself.  He will use the nutrition info online to see how he does for a week.  He'll do a guest post at the end of the week to let you know what he learned.

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