African Peanut Soup, and We're All Busy!

Date: 02/14/2011
Cook:  Jen C.
Menu: African Peanut Soup, Coleslaw and Delicious Rolls

We have all been very busy for the last few weeks so our meal sharing has been dialed back a bit.  Rachel is taking some time to focus on some other projects so we'll hopefully be welcoming her back in a few months.  We'll miss her yummy meals in the meantime, though!

On Monday, Jen delivered a superior soup -- an African peanut soup, with coleslaw and these extremely delicious rolls which I later found out were from Trader Joes.  Perfect tasty, light and nourishing dinner.

Special Treat: Thai Tuesday!

So savory and delicious!

Black sesame seeds and limes make brown rice extra special

I love cooking for Meal Group. Past the usual practicalities - that it saves money and time, it is also a great opportunity to stretch your culinary wings.  My husband isn't terribly adventurous when it comes to food, but every now and again, a girl likes to try something different.  Especially if the girl is South Asian, and big fan of sugar and spice (the "all things nice" is debatable).

I went to an Asian market and got creative, because I know my lovely foodie friends always appreciate my efforts, and aren't afraid to try some of the more exotic offerings.  So I grabbed oyster mushrooms, Thai basil, tofu, limes and baby bok choy and went to town. The dish is very fragrant, and I was able to make it pretty close to the way our local Thai place does, just with a lot less oil.  The key was having the wonderful Thai basil and although I didn't remember to get kaffir lime leaves, substituting a little lime zest did the trick nicely.  I fried the tofu separately in soy sauce, garlic, and a little brown sugar until it was nice and brown and then added it to the oyster mushrooms, red pepper, scallions, ginger, and baby bok choy.  Once they cooked down a little, I added the Thai basil et voila!

I made plain brown basmati, and added some sesame seed oil, lime juice and black sesame seeds (from our trip to Corrado's) to jazz it up a bit.  I had so much fun making this and was really excited to share it with the Meal Group!

Curry and Brown Rice

Date: 01/19/2011

Cook:  Rachel
Menu: Cauliflower Red Lentil Curry and Brown Rice with Mustard Seeds; Chutney

Rachel has an incredible way with curries.  Each time I eat one of her curry dishes, I think that it is the best one that she has made yet, but this time it might be the truth.  I am extremely partial to cauliflower and lentils, so there was already a predisposition for me to love this...but...YUM!  I'm also not certain how she always ends up with perfect rice all of the time, but she does!

Quinoa, Kale and Bean Stew and Biscuits

 

Date: 01/12/2011

Cook:  Rachel
Menu: Quinoa, Kale and Bean Stew and Garlic Cheese Biscuits

I cannot thank Rachel enough for dinner tonight!  I was so hungry when I got back from romping in the snow (add air quotes if you please -- I am not really the snow romping type) with my kid.  You know that kind of hungry where you feel like you have just been out in some really cold weather for quite a while and now you want to fill yer pie hole with something warm and comfort-y?  Yeah?  Then I really must recommend this meal to you!  We got home to find our meal awaiting us, and that was such a wonderful moment! The tasty stew was full of vegetables and hearty goodness, and the biscuits complemented it perfectly. 

We worked up an appetite doing wintery things like this...

...and came home to eat this!  YAY! (again, poor photo does not do nom food justice)

Enchiladas

Yeah, not the best looking picture, but it was tasty as heck.

Date: 01/10/2011
Cook:  Jen C.
Menu: Enchiladas with Cabbage-Carrot Slaw

Jen C. gave us the hook up with some really delightful enchiladas this evening.  Even the kid said, "oh, those look GREAT!" when we opened the container.  (He also enthusiastically told his dad upon the latter's arrival home from work, "IT IS A MEALSHARE NIGHT!! AND JEN MADE US ENCHILADAS!!")  The sauce was supergood and a brilliant use of leftovers from a brunch that Rachel and her partner hosted yesterday (Rachel did this awesome thing where she created a make-your-own-ranchero station).

I spent all day and evening working on a project that is due this weekend, and then had a steering committee meeting to go to for a local grassroots environmental group.  It was a joy to not have to worry about providing dinner tonight-- I am grateful for meal group.  Thanks!

Chickpea Rice Soup with Cabbage

Rachel's generous meal fed an extra person at Jen G.'s house - served up with salad, and hummus for the yummy bread

Hi there! Its Rachel here with another wintery missive from Suburban Vegan Meal Group!  I made dinner for my lovely friends on Wednesday night, and since it was a cold evening, I thought it would be the perfect time to try out Isa Chandra Moskowitz' Chickpea Rice Soup with Cabbage.    The soup is an easy, filling dinner, perfect for a weeknight, especially if paired with salad and bread.  The fresh dill elevated the taste of the more mundane ingredients - chickpeas, cabbage, carrots, brown rice.  The rice made it a very hearty meal, and I used only a tablespoon of oil for enough food to feed 7!   We had an interesting experience with the dish as well, because two of us found it too salty, while the others thought it was perfect.  I tend not to add a lot of salt to my food, so for me, the 1 tsp along with the broth made it saltier than I would like. It was interesting to see how different our perceptions were!  And it highlights another benefit of Meal Group - if something ends up not being the perfect dinner for you, you're not left with a week of leftovers.   I loved the dish, and would absolutely make it again, but will probably use a low sodium broth and omit the salt, and let people salt the soup for themselves.  I've included the recipe here, and am intrigued by some of the variations - I bet this would be delicious with mushrooms. http://www.theppk.com/2010/12/chickpea-rice-soup-with-cabbage/#comment-14734   I'm really looking forward to seeing what Jen G. makes tonight!

Stew

Please pardon the low light - I was in a hurry to eat this fine meal!

Date:  12/15/2010
Cook:  Rachel
Menu:  Cabbage and bean stew and roasted corn cornbread

Ms. Rachel was totally tuned into the zeitgeist of hearty, warm winter eating with this yummy meal!  The bean stew was filling and delicious, especially when it had roasted corn cornbread crumbled on top of it! 

Potluck Night and The Veg Edge

So much food that it doesn't even all fit in the picture!

 Date: 12/9/2010
Cooks: Jenna, Jen C., Jen G. and Rachel
Menu: A burrito bar with starring black beans, rice and some fantastic guacamole; a roasted beet, shallot and pecan salad; deluxe macaroni and cheese; zooma zoom zoom butternut rancheros and chocolate chip sunflower seed cookies

Allow me to tell you: Thursday night was a fantastic night if you enjoy good food (which we do).  Instead of doing our three nights of meal group sharing this week, we decided to combine our cooking energy into one night and have a potluck at our friend Jenna's house so that we could all hang out and watch a veg-centric show on The Cooking Channel called The Veg Edge (by the way, check out the amazing looking recipes in the sidebar).  While the show itself had some hits and some misses, the food and the company were both outstanding.  We all ate a TON, and left Jenna's full and happy.  Thank you Jenna, for hostessing!

Road Trip to Rachel's!

Date: 12/1/2010
Cook: Rachel
Menu: Cabbage poriyal and mushroom biryani with toasted cashews; pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

So! We had so much fun eating together the other night that we decided we'd do it again tonight. The two Jens headed over to Rachel's and she had this amazing meal waiting:

  

Cabbage poriyal and the most delicious biryani a girl could dream up!

 

True story: I asked for a spoon so that I could shovel this deliciousness into my maw in the most efficient manner possible

Though we had lofty thoughts of Scrabble, our baser instincts prevailed and we watched TV together for an hour.  With Cuddles.  And Vito Kitty.  The muffins were so tasty, Rachel did this thing where she added chocolate chips and magic.  Again, those who were not with us were sent home big jars of leftovers...lunch for tomorrow!  Thanks, Rachel!

Cuddles cuddled with us while we watched the decidedly non-vegan Top Chef All Stars together.  He is a dog who lives up to his name!

Rachel Shares Some Thoughts on Meal Group

Hi there!  I'm Rachel, and I'm the third member of Suburban Vegan Meal Group.  The reasons I joined up with the lovely Jennifers were as simple as variety, economy and community.   

 

First, variety.  I don't know about you, but there is something about cooking for a larger group of people (especially when they are as good at cooking, baking etc as both Jennifers are) that really makes you step up your own game.  I've tried a lot of recipes that I would never make for just my partner and myself.  Plus, there is the HUGE bonus of no leftovers. Instead of making a large recipe and eating the same thing over the course of 3 days, now I get to share my meal with awesome friends and have something fresh and exciting the next day (though leftovers make the best lunches).  And of course there is all the variety that my Meal Grouping cohorts bring to the table.  I'm not as comfortable with lasagnas as Jenn G is, so where for me lasagna is a whole day endeavour with lots of cursing, thanks to Meal Group I get fantastic lasagna delivered to me that my partner and I get to fight over.  Each of us has a different set of go to dishes we love making, and so instead of eating my own few rotating recipes, my partner and I get a much more varied set of meals to try, and we've been introduced to new ingredients that are now part of our repertoire.

 

Second, economy.  It takes as almost as much time to cook for 2 as it does for 10, so Meal Group is a huge time saver.  And it means that for 2 nights a week we get a delicious homemade meal, with no effort or cost to us. WIN!  Plus, because I work in the City and have a long commute, I find that instead of coming home exhausted and deciding to eat out or order take out, I get to have a home cooked awesome meal.  My partner and I used to eat out 3 to 4 times a week, and since joining Meal Group we eat out about once a week. 

 

Third, community.  Nothing brings you closer to people than sharing meals with them.  We touch base about who wants what, we know each other's preferences, give each other feedback on our meals and we get to be a big part of each other's lives. The community it creates has become a vital part of my life, and I'm so grateful to have such amazing women in my life.

A Vegan Girl's Guide to Life Brings the All the Lady Vegans to the Yard (If a Store is a Yard)

We are here, in all of our glory!

We are all taking this busy, hectic week off from our own meal sharing to share compassionate meals with others.  But! No worries-- we had lots of fun sharing a meal together at our local Ethiopian restaurant the other night along with the author of The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life, Melisser Elliot, and her entourage (hi Jen!) and friends/fans (hi Lori, Jenna and Diane!).

On Sunday, Jen C. hosted a Vegan Girl's Guide to Life book signing at Go Lightly-- and what a fun event.  Not only was it great to hang out with all of the ladies (or ladybros, as Melisser might say) and soak in the major awesomeness of these vegan rockstars, but it was a very laid back and comfortable vibe.  And Melisser's book is really VERY informative and well done, so if you are looking for a book that is jam-packed with straightforward info on living la vida vegan, pick this one up stat!

Check in later this week for some more meal share ideas - and we're thankful for you being you, lovely readers.

We Miss Rachel

...our third meal group member has been having amazing adventures! Here is a picture of her message in the sands of the Sahara! I absolutely adore this picture.