Sunday brunch for 10 | Spicy cashews

We recently had the pleasure of hosting a brunch for 10 guests. Because the rest of the weekend had involved a lot of cooking, and also considering the early start to the meal, I wanted to keep the menu simple. That doesn't mean I wanted to skimp on flavor, of course, just on preparation time.



The decision was made to serve a soup, salad and muffin brunch. Way back in September 2009, I reviewed a cookbook devoted entirely to soups, Love Soup, by Anna Thomas, and I decided to make one of the memorable soups from that book.



Rich and creamy spicy Indonesian yam and peanut soup with its fragrant ginger-infused base, is entirely worthy of company meals, in my opinion. Yams, carrots and parsnips mingle beautifully with herbs and spices to compose a soup that's perfect for warming guests on a chilly morning. To accompany the soup we had a large salad based on baby greens, dressed with piquant creamy miso salad dressing from The Vegan Table by Colleen Partick-Goudreau, and low-fat chocolate zucchini muffins form The Happy Herbivore Cookbook (reviewed here). To perfectly round out the meal, one of the guests brought a toothsome loaf of homemade whole grain bread.



To finish our little brunch with a sweet flourish, we had yummy Lazy Samoas from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and monkey bread, baked by another guest.

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Spicy cashews



This is a snack I found at Manjula's Kitchen that I thought would be a nice thing to add to our usual appetizer tray of olives and artichoke hearts at the brunch described above. It sounded just like the spicy cashews I once bought at an Indian deli in Milwaukee. They tasted like they had been made with eggs, even though I'd been assured they were not. Now, of course, I know it was the Indian black salt, kala namak, that gave the cashews their characteristic sulfur (eggy) taste. The cashews I made with Manjula's recipe tasted exactly the same. I recommend trying the recipe yourself — it's delectably spiced. But I warn you, they have a distinctly eggy flavor.

I used half the oil called for in the recipe, but had a little trouble with the spice mixture coating the nuts, so ended up adding a little more oil to the warm, roasted cashews, and shaking them in a jar with the spice mix, which worked perfectly. Next time I make these I'm going to try something different. I'll oven-roast the cashews without oil, then drizzle a small amount of unheated oil onto the warm nuts and shake them with the spices. I'm trying to use less oil, and am hoping that by not letting the roasting cashews absorb oil in the pan, I can get more mileage from less oil by adding it after they are roasted. What do you think?

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Scrambled tempeh, Singapore noodles, general weirdness

Last night we attended an outdoor evening performance of Lullaby Moon, a celebration of the new moon and of dreams. The Lullaby Moon Web site says:

Lullaby Moon is a year-long invitation to Seattle to explore a world of dream. A celebration of the night sky, the series of performance events brings bedtime whimsy and wonder to parks and other public spaces throughout the city, enlivening and enlightening the dark time of each month. Performances take place on each new moon for an entire lunar year beginning in October 2008.

I can describe this event but really, I think you would have had to be there. It took place in Magnuson Park on Lake Washington. As soon as we got out of the car, we saw a line of female figures with horse heads, all in white, pushing antique white baby buggies filled with white flowers. They proceeded from the parking lot down the long winding path to the lake shore where the rest of the white-clad characters and objects interacted with the night and the audience. Along the path we also encountered an entirely white-clad young man riding an enormous antique-looking white tricycle. On the grassy "stage" there were large white beds with billowing white quilts, occupied by a changing cast of characters.

There were clock people and rabbits, and black-tuxedo clad people as well. There was a live orchestra playing lullabies and other nocturnal music, and when it got dark, there were lights. We were there with Miss E, who at 17 months, was transfixed - alternating between glee and awe.

I'm glad we forced ourselves to go out on a gloomy, overcast evening, unfed, to enjoy this spectacle of fantastic weirdness. No real supper for us last night, but we have been sampling recipes during the past week.

My son cooked one night, and he made Singapore noodles. It was really delicious but when I asked him where he got the recipe, he said he watched a you-tube video.

We also tried Scrambled Tempeh from Vegan Brunch and it was great. There were a couple of additions and subtractions to accommodate our refrigerator's contents but the tempeh was prepared according to the recipe, and kale was the green of choice. (subtracted peppers and added zucchini and green beans)

update: Here's a link to the Singapore noodle video my son watched before making our dinner. He veganized the recipe but I don't have any specific information about what he did other than to use tofu instead of meat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFVJeiHzUrQ

What we've been eating...

Walnut-mushroom loaf with mustard greens and sweet potato friesAndrea's easy vegan cooking

Another week of dirt under the nails. At this time of year I become more obsessed with what to plant than what to eat. Quite a few times in recent posts I've described the mutant invasives that have in the past covered our house in vines, and our battles against them. The vines looked nice but were so aggressive I was afraid that one day I would wake up and have to hack my way out of the house. :) They peeled off the paint and shredded the window screens.

Tofu scramble from "Vegan Brunch" made by my sonAndrea's easy vegan cooking

In order to remove them, we also had to remove all the plants that were tangled with their roots, so we were left with a lot of bare ground around the perimeter of the house. The strips along both sides of the house are now more or less planted, and the area behind the house is more than half completed. My back hurts and I'm tired. Most of the plants came from my terrace gardens that are about to be bulldozed by the city so they can replace the sewer pipes. There's a bulldozer thingy parked on the terrace, and pipes scattered about. If they don't wreck the gardens, I'm not sure what I'll do, since I plundered them freely to harvest plants for other spaces, and they now look pretty bad. Oh well. Guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Samosa mashed potato pancakes from "Vegan Brunch"Andrea's easy vegan cooking

Cooking is still happening, and I will describe some of the foods we tried from "Vegan Brunch," and other stuff we've eaten lately. Tonight, with my husband in Chicago, my son at work and the dog not in the mood to cook, I took the leftover aloo gobi and rice from last night and added tamarind paste and red pepper flakes. The tamarind turned it a brownish color that didn't look especially photogenic, so I just ate it without taking a picture. It was ok but I probably won't do that again. The curry pictured below is from earlier in the week.

Both "Vegan Brunch" dishes were made by my son. He added tomato and zucchini to the basic scramble, but I believe he made the samosa cakes by the book. He can really eat a lot, but this recipe is meant to serve many people at a brunch, and although I told him to cut it at least in half, he made the whole thing. Let me tell you, it makes a lot! He had some difficulty with the mixture being too soft, even though he added extra flour. If anything, it seemed even softer and harder to fry the next day. But it sure tasted good.

Random potato and pea curryAndrea's easy vegan cooking

The loaf pictured at the top of the page was made with quinoa as suggested by Happy Herbivore in her post about "hippi loaf." It tasted really good but I like my loaves a little firmer so will probably go back to using rice or breadcrumbs. The next day we formed the leftovers into burgers, fried them in a little oil and put them on buns with lettuce and tomato.

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Here are a couple of shots from our veggie garden. First is the Thai basil looking all cozy in its mulch nest.

Andrea's easy vegan cooking

And here is a cherry tomato called "Tumbling Tom." It's supposed to be ready 45 days after setting out the plant! I have visions of it climbing up its trellis and cascading over the sides of the pot. We'll see. So far it doesn't seem to be doing much. Has anyone planted this tomato?

Andrea's easy vegan cooking

Note: Just googled this plant and the person I got it from must have been confused because all the information I found says it matures in 65–70 days. Darn.