Sunday, November 26, 2006

Feelin Saucy

In an effort to clean out the fridge of all the extra veggies lurking from dishes i'd yet to make I stumbled upon a GREAT sauce on vegweb. they call it Creamy Garlic Sauce, and, while i'm head over heals for this sauce? i wouldn't call anything that relies on 1tsp of garlic powder for its garlic flavor Creamy Garlic Anything. It's rich and flavorful and creamy alright, and I've a few ideas for some tweaks to make it more my own, but if you're looking for a sauce that's all garlic? this is not it. ;) tho, i'm sure roasting a bunch and blending it in would take care of that!

Here it is over quinoa smothered in roasted cauliflower 'n carrots 'n a leek we had lying around along with some sauteed broccoli (this is my favorite way to cook broccoli, thank you Marlo! I'll share it below).On the side, I decided, for a quick cold salad, to toss a lingering zucchini in the saladaccio and shred it. To it I just added the remaining Almond Roasted Red Pepper Sauce from VwaV's Revolutinary Spanish Omelet and a few leaves of fresh basil, sliced up thin. Oh my, I think I found what this sauce is PERFECT FOR! even tonight when I finished it off while deciding what to have for dinner the flavors were perfect together and it was cold and refreshing.
even our kitty, CJ was totally into it. hehe

The sauce/quinoa/veggies dish was sooo good, too. I ate it for a few meals. Tonight, tho, I realized I had just a bit of quinoa left, a little bit of broccoli, and some sauce. What to do?
I grabbed a garlic/herb wrap from our beach trip, heated up the quinoa/broccoli and added some canned, rinsed adzuki beans (heated) then chopped up some roasted red pepper and a couple sundried tomatoes. then the sauce and a good sprinkling of hempseed before carefully wrapping it up and devouring it like the amazing and mouth-watering quickie dinner that it was. I didn't know if everything would jive flavorwise, but I'd no need to worry. It was scrumptious and very filling.

I just love the evolution of a recipe from one dish to others. Does it show? ;)

want yummy broccoli to have some extra flavor and tired of steaming? years ago my now infamous friend Marlo clued me in on just how to make your broccoli sing. ya take the florets and saute them in some olive oil that you've first sauteed some garlic in (the more, the better), it begins to toast but not burn and you can smell a real nuttiness impart from the broccoli. next, add a little sea salt, oregano, and basil, then a Tbs or two of water, cover, reduce heat, and allow to steam until bright green and tender to your liking (only takes 5-10 min or so). So good.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

yum, thanks for the link, all looks very good!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures !
And the one with CJ is my favorite :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the broccoli tip! That sounds like a delicious way to eat it.

I love the progression of leftovers and always like seeing just how creative I can get. Would you believe that my brother won't eat any leftovers? He's so weird.

aTxVegn said...

You are a wizard with leftovers! I can't believe kitty was taking a bite. Thanks for the tip to add more garlic to the sauce. Of course plain old creamy sauce is good too!

I am a broccoli lover and I'm anxious to use your cooking tip. I've tried roasting and I'm not crazy about that, but your way is like roasting and steaming - perfect!

Anonymous said...

the sauce looks fantastic..and your cat thinks so too!

Anonymous said...

the sauce looks fantastic..and your cat thinks so too!

Candi said...

LOL! CJ! So aside from the cat hairs that must have been in the dish - it looks great! lol! I think the wrap idea is awesome. I'd make that right now if I had the ingredients. I should never visit your blog hungry. Lol!

Anonymous said...

I need to start using your blog, religiously, as a way to eat better and tastier! I've never sauteed broccoli because, do you do the whole florets?

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

johanna3- sure! i'm just glad i stumbled upon it. soo yummy! i really think that backing off the tamari a bit, adding roasted garlic and sundried tomatoes...maybe even a splash of soy milk? would make a gorgeous vegan parma rosa of sorts. can't wait to try that m'self!

gaia- he is the calendar kitty. hehe

vivacious- love, love, LOVE the broccoli this way. 's great to have friends who share their tips so you can pass 'em on!

my husband isn't the biggest fan of leftovers either...but i'm working on him. 's all about a great disguise.

atxvegan- cj loves to taste my food. so funny. never tried to roast broccoli before. figured it would burn or overcook too easily? i like the pan saute.... you can quickly steam it just before that happens. perfect every time!

megan- thx....he seriously would not let me take a picture. i have about ten of him eating it. so funny.

kris- i didn't ever think to do it this way until a friend did it one night while making dinner for us. it's really fab and yes, i just chop off the florets into big bite sized pcs. i need to find something fun to do with the stalks tho. so wasteful!