The rhubarb season has arrived!
Luckily, my mother-in-law always tells me when the rhubarb in her backyard is ready.
She lets me “harvest” ones I like, and I really enjoy finding dark red ones and pulling them one by one.
I have a lot of ideas of how to use it, but one thing I always make every year is pickles.
Sweet, tart, and crunchy.
Tasty!!
When it’s pickled for a few days, it turns pretty pink (see the top pic).
I was so spoiled!!
My husband ordered a full-course dinner takeout from http://roottorisekitchen.com/ to conclude the celebration of my birthday month.
I was so excited to pick it up.
Everything was packed so well, and opening each box was like opening my birthday present one by one!
I knew he ordered a course meal for me, but the menu was a secret.
Hearts of Palm & Jackfruit Crabby Cakes.
Unripe Shaved Papaya Salad.
Spicy Pumpkin and Coconut Thai Soup.
Butternut Squash Tamale with Roasted Orange Sauce Wrapped in Banana Leaves.
Hummus Platter with Seasonal Fruits and Veggies.
Avocado Chocolate Soufflé.
Everything was absolutely delicious!!
It was one of the best course meals I’ve ever had, vegan or not.
My husband chose the dishes, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well he knows my food/flavor preference!
Although we are not spending time with our family this year, making a vegan Thanksgiving meal for two is the same as usual.
The stuffed vegan roast took the center stage this year as well.
It just looks so festive.
I always have a hard time deciding if I want corn bread or dinner rolls, but this year the choice was easy just because creamed corn casserole was on the menu.
I like how these cloverleaf rolls look.
So pretty!
Loved these rolls.
This year’s Thanksgiving menu…
-Crimini Mushroom and Italian Olive Stuffed Vegan Roast.
-Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Gravy
-Creamed Corn Casserole
-Sauteed Green Beans
-Lingon-Cranberry Sauce
-Cloverleaf Rolls
This year I plan things well, and as a result, the whole process went so smoothly.
This is our third plant-based Thanksgiving, and I guess practice helps.
I usually make a dessert myself, but this year I decided to order it from a local vegan baker, Rachel with RachCakes.
This worked out great because I had to work the day before this year, and I also wanted to try her baked goods anyway (and why not supporting small business particularly this year).
I got two kinds of pies.
Apple Cranberry and Salted Chocolate Caramel Pecan.
They were both excellent!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
Remember my sourdough starter?
Well, we call him “Bobby” around here (lol).
He is doing well, healthy.
Today, I wanted to discard a little before feeding him, and I decided to make crackers with the discard.
This was so easy to make, and it turned out great!
I sprinkled vintage Merlot fusion salt, mostly for the pretty purple color.
While baking the crackers, I decided to make vegan feta because I don’t know about you but I do need some type of cheese spread for my crackers.
Crispy crackers, creamy vegan feta, and lingonberry jam.
So good!!
Where is my wine?
Last night I wanted one more vegetable side dish, and I remembered I had one zucchini I waned to use up in the fridge.
You saw this dish in my previous post.
It was a part of our last night’s Japanese style dinner.
This zucchini dish is actually not really a Japanese dish.
But that’s okay.
Grilled zucchini, lemon zest, homemade vegan feta cheese, parsley, freshly squeezed lemon juice, olive oil, and salt.
Delicious.
My husband is not a big fan of zucchini (or anything that looks like cucumber), but he even liked it.
I’ve been making different kinds of vegan meat now, but this was my first time to make bratwurst.
Got some ingredients ready.
Right out of the steamer.
This is the picture when the steamed sausages were pan-sautéed.
These turned out amazing!
Loved everything from the taste, look, to the texture, but the perfect texture really blew my mind!
I loved this vegan chicken recipe so much.
You don’t need any crazy ingredients, and the whole preparation and cooking process is so easy and quick.
Remember I made fried chicken with this?
This time I decided to turn the chicken into Panko crusted Katsu.
Crispy outside and juicy inside.
Come back to see how I enjoyed this Katsu.
Sake-kasu is the solid left from the sake production.
It has the miso like paste texture and very unique flavor.
It’s been traditionally used to flavor fish, soup, and pickled vegetables for many years.
But it has become so much more in the recent years, and it’s now used to flavor many baked goods as well.
They are so good as they are.
These are slightly sweet, but more like a snack than a dessert.
These are perfect for an afternoon wine/beer time.
At the last minute, however, I decided to add a little more sweetness (who doesn’t like extra sweetness?!) and color.
Pretty and tasty!
The inspiration came from the sweet cherries I had in my fridge.
This salsa (or pico de gallo) was fruity and super refreshing!
Cherry salsa: cherries, tomatoes, red onion, jalapeno peppers (pickled), cilantro, salt
I also made spicy Yuzu sauce.
This was not my initial plan, but at the last minute I decided that I wanted homemade tortillas.
Cumin and oregano homemade gluten steak, cherry salsa, and a drop of Yuzu cream on warm tortillas.
Super tasty!
I like rules, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I am a rule-follower in general.
I read furniture assembly instructions.
The best part of learning a new language for me is learning the grammar.
However, when it comes to cooking and baking, I am everything but a rule-follower!
I hate following recipes, and I’m always looking for food ideas that are unconventional.
So when this savory cookie idea came to me, I got excited.
I used one of my favorite cookie recipes as a base, and I added things that I like (olives, sun-dried tomatoes, Italian inspired dried herbs, fresh dill, black pepper).
So I was pretty confident that these would turn out good.
Well, these turned out not just good, but great!
These are salty and slightly sweet, the dangerous flavor combination that makes you want to keep eating!
Do not serve with milk. (lol)
Recommended beverage: chilled white wine.
Olive Sun-Dried Tomato Herbed Cookies– makes 24 cookies; adapted from this recipe
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup almond butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
1.5 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
sundried tomato, chopped
black olives, chopped
dried Italian herbs
fresh dill, chopped
black pepper
1. Mix all the ingredients.
2. Roll into small balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten a little.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
