Yum for the Hollandaze

Last night it was time to make sure I took care of any veggies lurking in the fridge that I'd yet to make before my next trip to the grocery store. Cauliflower and Asparagus were on the menu.

Best way to cook cauliflower? ROAST IT! Seriously, if you haven't done this yet, the flavor it has when you roast it is soooo much better than any that steaming could provide. It imparts a sweetness that I think cauliflower sometimes loses.

Here's how I roast mine... Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place one head washed florets in large ziploc bag. Add 2Tbs of olive oil, 3-4 cloves garlic (minced), and a good pinch of sea salt. Seal bag and shake to coat. Dump cauliflower in casserole dish and put in oven for 25 min. Top with 1/3 c. vegan Parmesan alternative (last night, I made my own just by throwing a large handful of walnuts, 2 heaping Tbs of nutritional yeast, and 2ts. of light miso in the food processor...sooooo good, but next time I wanna try it with pumkin seeds!) and some freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley. Set oven to broil and broil for 3-5 min, or until it's browned. Serve with whatever you fancy or eat all by itself. You'll want to!

Here's my dinner (tho, i think i need to take a remedial plating class. hehe. sometimes you something's gonna look sooo cool on a plate and find? eh, not so much ;):
I put the cauliflower over some quinoa (can you tell how much I adore this grain? make it all the time!) and steamed some asparagus. Best way I've found to cook asparagus? Wash well and break off thick part of stalks. place in wide mouth coffee mug. put about an inch of water in the mug and cover with damp paper towel. Microwave for 2-3 min, depending on the thickness of the asparagus. I only buy it when it's reeeally thin. Naturally, cauliflower and asparagus are just screaming to be accompanied by a Hollandaise of some sort. As a vegetarian this was a weakness of mine. As a vegan I've only made it once before. That time I used Bryanna Clark Grogan's recipe, which was TO. DIE. FOR. I don't even think I blogged about that one (bummer!)

Last night, however, I thought I'd try a new one... .just to try it. I chose the Hollandaze recipe from the Nutritional Yeast Cookbook. It wasn't as fab as Bryanna's and was lacking in a certain zing factor. It was more mild and relied more heavily on turmeric, which you can totally taste. I do like that taste but am more used to using it to color rather than flavor. The base is silken tofu (it's a bit thick but very creamy), so this is reeeally healthy and it's good...just maybe not what I was going for. Nice way to mix it up, but I'm excited to make the first one again for the holidays this year.

Today, for lunch, my meal reminded me of the ones you create after big holidays where you just get a sampling of all the yummy things leftover in the fridge. Here's my smorgasbord (what a word!)....
I was also uber excited to take the dog out this morning only to realize that I'd totally missed the UPS guy yesterday who brought me all of this from Vegan Essentials.
I'd been out of a few pantry staples. So excited as they sell a 6 LB PAIL!!! of nutritional yeast. Not only will this last me but I have a reusable bucket instead of all those little shaker bottles (still thinking of something to do with all of them, but that's a whole 'nother blog I've yet to create ;)! The NY put me back a bit at $50 so the rest is sparse but all wonderful....the pesto is for quick fixes when I cannot get my hands on basil (really need to start that herb garden!), got myself more agave and some for the Cap'n's mom to try (she's a dietician and is really excited to test it out), the ProBar's I've mentioned before and now have a new flavor, Mocha!, and I just couldn't resist trying the Soyatoo vegan whipped 'cream' for the vegan 'jell-o' i found and can't wait to try. I've heard some mixed reviews about the soyatoo, just had to see for myself. Will certainly let ya know about that one when we use it!

I'm feeling so much better lately, thank you all for all your well wishes! We'll be gone all weekend so I hope you all have a safe and happy one....can't wait to check out your blogs next week!