Thursday, November 09, 2006

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!

7 comments:

madeinalaska said...

what the heck caught my eye? that big ol bucket of NY! oh my! We go threw so much of that at our house- it would justify the big ol bucket worth! YOU are a lucky girl!

Funny I like to try new recipes all the time too.. or I guess I mean different takes on the same recipe. It is amazing how one version is better then the other.

I kinda like your plating by the way..

aTxVegn said...

I'm so glad I can finally get cauliflower from the farmers markets. I always roast it and I pretty much eat the leftovers like popcorn.

Glad you're feeling better.

Candi said...

My stomach hurts from laughing at that big pail of nutritional yeast!!! LOL!! I had no idea they came that huge! I LOVE nutritional yeast and have a food saver, so that would work out great! The size of the bucket had me laughing though. I had no idea.

I love the roasted cauliflower idea! I've never roasted it before...but I know I have to now! And I grabbed that recipe for Bryanna's sauce too! Thank so much!!

Yes, do let us know what you think of that soyatoo stuff! We didn't like the taste of it, but really wanted to! Lol!

I'm so glad you are feeling better!!!!

Nikk said...

I've never seen so much nooch in my life! :)

Roasted cauliflower is TO DIE FOR! I love it so much! I usually don't put anything on it, just salt, pepper and a drizzle of oil. I will try your 'parmesean' recipe next time.

And for the record, I loved the Soyatoo...but I think that's because it tasted like Cool Whip, which was a serious addiction of mine.

Anonymous said...

I'm with Julee and Candi (again ! LOL) that bucket is huge !
I get 1kg bags (2.2pounds) and they last me forever and I use it like crazy.
Maybe you should store that in the fridge, in case it last you longer than forever LOL

Anonymous said...

I agree - roasted cauliflower rocks. I had forgotten how much I like it...thanks for the reminder.

Don't Get Mad, Get Vegan! said...

hehe, i'm not kidding when i say that i add nutritional yeast to just about everything....and every recipe that calls for it gets a heaping measure of it in my kitchen. ;)

i think that as long as you keep it sealed up (i just refill the smaller container as needed) and away from light and heat, and moisture (big ole sealed bucket in the pantry does the trick) it will last and last....granted, it won't last very long around here regardless!