Thursday, March 08, 2007

Better'n Hummus 'n Other Great Eats

I love a good hummus as much as the next hungry vegan, but PPK's Lentil Walnut Dip just blows my mind AND it's packed full of not one but TWO great sources of protein. It's also just the easiest thing in the world to whip up.
I think it's best on any fresh pepper and served it with red, yellow, and orange at a recent family birthday dinner. This got a unanimous WOW! from the omni's as well.

Next up a repeat with a quick revision, Millet Loaf with Lentils!
As I had some green lentils left over from my dip, and I'd been craving a grain loaf for a while, I threw together the millet loaf I made not too long ago (no real recipe still, just a cup of cooked millet, a couple sauteed carrots, some celery, onion, roasted sunflower seeds, dill thyme, sea salt, and pepper get mushed into a loaf pan coated with olive oil and dusted with cornmeal) and this time added a cup of lentils into the mix.

The result, served over a bed of steamed kale with some quick nutritional yeast gravy and a side of mashed sweet potato...
Serious yum here, folks! The cornmeal kept the loaf from sticking this time and it all held together pretty well without my even adding four or egg replacer or anything. I cooked it in a 450 oven for about 45 minutes. it gets nice and crunchy on the outside and moist but firm on the inside.


I finally came across some Gimme Lean soy sausage and felt the need to try it out. I was never much of a sausage fan before i went veg, but always liked sausage gravy so I thought i'd try this instead of tempeh.
eh, i've used it up now both as shown (the strawberries have been superb as of late!) and in gravy and the verdict? i'll stick to tempeh. this stuff tastes like the real thing, but i guess i've acquired a taste for something else entirely.


Next up, I wanted to do something with buckwheat noodles that wasn't my usual ginger dressed version.
Here I mixed 'em with some fresh red bell pepper, grated carrot, green onion, lots of nappa cabbage and my peanut sauce (crunchy organic raw peanut butter, agave, water, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes all to taste). Super yum! A peanut-y sauce was just what i needed to shake things up a bit. The captain was a huge fan of this one as well.

Lastly, a super easy meal that used up the last of the lentils (whenever i make lentils i tend to make a ton basically because i love them and you can throw 'em in just about anything!).
I just cooked some whole wheat pasta, heated a can of no salt tomatoes with some tomato paste, garlic, basil, and oregano, threw in the lentils to heat while i steamed some kale. Then topped the whole thing with some Parma!

Mmmmmm, speaking of which...i think it's time for me to go heat up the leftovers for my dinner. I think tonight, tho, i'll add a few soy crumbles just to punch it up a bit.

5 comments:

Amey said...

oooooh!
That Lentil Walnut Dip looks fantastic. Thanks so much for the tip-off. I'll definitely try it!

:)

Anonymous said...

i will love a bite of this food! especially the hummus :)

laura k said...

Maybe I need to try that lentil walnut dip this week... sounds so tasty. Isn't it great when you realize your tastes have changed and the "real" thing isn't even appealing? I love VWaV's tempeh sausage crumbles--I should try a sausage gravy with those. Mmm, I used to love biscuits and gravy....

Candi said...

the Lentil Walnut Dip *does* look great!! Thanks for the link to the recipe.

The millet loaf looks great, especially with gravy and the kale too!

I really like how you mix different foods like the lentils on the pasta. I'd not think of that, and it's a great idea!

aTxVegn said...

My farmers market has several kinds of dip like your lentil walnut, and they are all fabulous. Your loaf looks great. I love lentils and have been looking for a loaf that will hold together. I'll have to give this one a try. And soba and peanut sauce - one of my all time faves!