Tofu with Vegetables, Brown Rice and Confetti Slaw

Date: 05/11/2011
Cook:  Stefanie
Menu:  Cubed Tofu with Collards, Asparagus and Mushrooms with Brown Rice, Confetti Coleslaw

With asparagus in season, this meal was delicious!  The tofu was seasoned really nicely and the accompanying veggies were super and made me feel healthy and good.  As if we needed to feel more virtuous about this meal, the confetti coleslaw was a light and delightful complement.

Spaghetti With Non-Meatballs, Garlic Bread and Salad

Date: 05/04/2011
Cook:  Stefanie
Menu: Spaghetti With Non-Meatballs, Garlic Bread and Salad

This simple meal was so tasty!!  Stephanie didn't know that we were celebrating a birthday in our household and that her meal that night was incredibly welcome-- and devoured in a flash.  I loved the Non-Meatballs. I traded my child extra non-meatballs for the garlic bread, which he loved. 

Curried Veggie Fritters

Date: 04/27/2011
Cook: Stefanie
Menu:  Curried Vegetable Fritters, Basmati Rice with Mung Beans and Spinach Salad with Sesame Dressing; Banana Chocolate Pudding

Curried Vegetable Fritters.  Rice and sprouted mung beans.  A savory spinach salad. Need I say more? DELICIOUS!!  The whole meal worked so well together and was a treat to eat.

Polenta, Sauce, Slaw

Date: 04/13/2011
Cook:  Stefanie
Menu:  Carrot Polenta with Sausage and Pepper Sauce, Confetti Slaw, Tropical Fruit Cream

I can't say that I have ever had carrot polenta before but it was delicious and I hope to have it again in the near future!  Stefanie appears to have a way with polenta because it was a lovely texture and her servings were generous (and colorful-- think a rich orange hue).  The polenta was perfectly paired with the sauce, which was heavy on peppers and sausage - very very very very good.  We loved the confetti slaw and the tropical fruit cream as well.  Thank you Stefanie!

Spanish Beans and Rice

Date: 03/30/2011
Cook:  Stefanie
Menu: Spanish Beans and Rice, Salad and Chocolate Nutty Balls

YUM! I do love a nice bowl full of beans and rice.  This rice was extra super good, full of savory deliciousness.  I especially loved liked the green olives-- a nice, yummy touch.  Such a good meal, thanks Stefanie!

Root Veggie Dal With Brown Rice, Butternut Squash Soup, Green and Fruit Salads

Stef leaves us a thoughtful, delightful note in our deliveries!

Date: 03/16/2011
Cook:  Stefanie
Menu: See note above!

Stefanie is becoming known in my household for some hardcore delicious and really healthy meals.  I loved her dal, and her salads are fabulous. 

I'm not the only one in my family who loves her food.

A young child eats salad voraciously, soon to move on to the rest of the meal.

Nourishing Late Winter Meal

Date: 03/09/2011
Cook:  Stefanie
Menu: Mung beans, kasha with mushrooms and peas, sprouted lentil salad and fresh fruit salad

I sprouted mung beans and lentils! The mung beans were sauteed with bok choy, garlic and ginger.

Salad was mixed lettuces, sprouted lentils, chopped sweet red pepper and celery with seasoned asian vinegar and a touch of olive oil.

The grain was kasha with shitake mushrooms and peas and dessert was fresh tropical fruit: pinapple, orange and mango.

Welcome Stefanie!

Date: 03/02/2011
Cook:  Stefanie
Menu: Chickpea Curry with Rice, Spinach Salad with Walnuts and Strawberries and Mango Coconut Fruit Salad

Jen and I extend a very warm welcome to Stefanie, who is giving mealgroup a whirl for the month to see if it is a good fit for her family!  Stefanie thoughtfully took the time to write up some of her thoughts about her initial experiences with us:

I'm happy to have joined this group. Its the end of my first week, and I'm totally psyched about cooking and being cooked for. First meal was Jen C's: spicy burgers, oven fries, succulent edamame succotash and satisfyingly rich choc-chip cookies. All of these treats were different for me, and fun. I especially enjoyed the burgers.  Then it was my turn to cook. Coming from a big family (but living as a twosome now), it felt good to cook for a group again. Preparing food for the group gives me incentive to make a proper meal and try new recipes.

Last week I got a new cookbook entitled Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Yamuna Devi. It inspired me to make a chickpea curry. In the intro to beans, the author states that sprouting beans increases their vitamin, mineral and protein content. So I sprouted the chickpeas for a couple of days before cooking. I also prepared a spinach salad with strawberries and walnuts, topped with poppy seed dressing: 1/4 c each olive oil and Japanese "seasoned" vinegar, 3 teaspoons poppy seeds,  1/4 teaspoon each fresh grated ginger and garlic, pinch of salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper. Mix well into salad before serving. Dessert was mango coconut fruit salad: frozen blueberries, mango and cherries dressed in mango coconut milk yogurt with 1/2 c. shredded coconut.

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)

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! 

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!