This Weekend

We had my brother-in-law over on Saturday to celebrate the new job he starts on Monday. We had the Brooklyn Pad Thai from Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I made a Tofu Praram by steaming some spinach, which served as the bed for the Faux Chicken from La Dolce Vegan! and the Perfect Peanut Sauce from The Garden of Vegan, both by Sarah Kramer. I made a green curry dish, primarily following the recipe on a jar of Thai Kitchen Green Curry Paste. Of course, I did not use any fish sauce and I used a vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. I added tofu, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, zucchini, red bell pepper, and straw mushrooms. It turned out well, though next time I'm also going to add some baby corn.

When I was at Trader Joe's buying soymilk, some Thai Kitchen Thai Iced Tea caught my eye. I picked up the can and quickly scanned the ingredients, all four of them: water, pure cane sugar, whole milk powder, and black tea. Then, beneath that, I noticed it said "Gluten-free" and "Vegan." Since when is "whole milk powder" considered vegan?

For dessert, I made the Frozen Coconut "Thaiphoon" with Mango, Lime, and Peanuts from Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson. This is the first vegan ice cream I've made without using silken tofu. The flavor was/is great, but it did turn out a little icy. I'm pretty sure I'll make it again, but I may tweak the recipe, substituting silken tofu for the soymilk and arrowroot.

For Sunday's dinner, I made the Grilled Seitan with Nouveau Bernaise Sauce from The Vegetarian Meat & Potatoes Cookbook by Robin Robertson. For dessert, we had the Banana Walnut Bars from The Garden of Vegan, but I substituted some blueberries for the walnuts.

Just because I had some cooked lentils, part of a can of corn, and half a red bell pepper in the frig, I made Wolffie's Black Bean & Lentil Salad from La Dolce Vegan! It turned out well, and will make a good dish to take to work this week for lunch.