Udon With Shiitake Mushrooms And Kale In Miso Broth

The ladies were almost spot on with their summary of this dish: "This is a great weeknight meal that's healthy and hearty." Spot on, with one minor nuance being that I would say it was good and not great.

There wasn't a ton of flavor in the dish, but it was indeed hearty and healthy. Anything with kale makes me happy. The miso didn't add as much flavor as I thought it would, so next time I may add just a bit more. But I just love the texture of udon noodles, enough to even eat them plain with just a little salt. And I certainly wouldn't mind adding sauteed seitan, as they recommend. But that would take this from an easy weeknight meal to perhaps a weekend meal.

Price: $9 (about half of this was from the kale, which is probably cheaper most anywhere else).
Difficulty: Simple.
Modifications: None.
Cleanup: Easy.

This recipe is on page 201 of Veganomicon.

Mac Daddy

When I read the ingredients for this recipe I wasn't sure it would be any different or better than versions of "mac n cheese" I've already made. I was mostly right.

The sauce was different than others I've made, mostly due to the addition of flour, which I thought was a great way to make the sauce cheesy, and the lemon juice, which to me made the sauce a bit too tangy. I prefer the richer, creamier type sauces. I know they exist; I had the most amazing "Mac N Yease" at a local vegan restaurant, Plum Bistro, a few months ago. I think the Mac Daddy sauce was on the right path, although I'm not sure yet what's needed to make it purely decadent.

I'd give this dish a B. All in all, it was good and I wouldn't mind eating it again. Not a resounding endorsement, I know, but hey, in order to appreciate the really fantastic meals you have to have some just plain good meals sometimes.

I paired the pasta with a large side of tater tots (one of my biggest vices) and some sauteed kale. They did a nice job of balancing out the tang of the pasta.

Difficulty: Simple.
Cost: $6-$7 (excluding the sides). About $10-$12 with the sides.
Modifications: None.
Cleanup: Average.

This recipe is on page 195 of Veganomicon.

Baked Potato and Greens Soup With Potato-Wedge Crutons

This soup was deeeelish. And how can you go wrong with a huge crispy potato wedge nested right on top!?

There's not much else to say, really, other than the soup was hearty, healthy (a special thanks to kale, our new best friend), salty, hot and thick. That's the kinda soup I like. This soup will definitely go into the rotation.

As for adjustments, I think I pretty much stuck to the script on this one, even using white wine. It was a cooking wine, yes, a no no, I know, but I knew we wouldn't drink it, thus the reason I used it instead of a 'good' white wine.

The cost was a tad higher than I like, around $10-12. It could have easily been below $10 if the store where we shop didn't charge so much for kale. This would be a good time for a shout out to local farmers markets, where the kale is probably a lot cheaper. But since we don't have a car, laziness tends to predominate (although one might wonder why we have thrice walked 5 miles to get donuts).

Make this one. You'll love it. The recipe is on page 146 of Veganomicon.

Potato And Kale Enchiladas With Roasted Chile Sauce

This dish was wonderful, rich, warm and filling. It was also very authentic.

It was also a two-plus hour endeavor. But that's the point of the name of this blog. I am not going to be uninhibited with my cooking. Normally I would have seen this recipe and been like "oh, hell no!" With that said, I still plan on going back to, at least partially, being a lazy, inhibited cook once I'm done going through the book.

Anyway, back to the food. The enchiladas were certainly a labor of love, but the result was (mostly) worth it. They were hearty and full of flavor with just a little kick of zest from the lime juice. The kale gave the filling a nice chew, while the pepitas added just a little bit of crunch. The sauce was also a winner, rich and flavorful with a hint of spice.

By the way, the only substitute I used for this meal was instead of an Anaheim chile I used a poblano pepper. It was the closest I could find.

As for the Mexican Millet, it sure did take a while (45 minutes, but hey, that's what they said) but tasted so much like authentic Mexican rice. I'll definitely make that again as it was simple and healthy as well.

This may have been the most expensive dish yet from the book. It was roughly around $20 for all the ingredients. Okay, that just scared me. That's more than most meals we eat out. So, aside from the spend-the-whole-night-cooking thing, I probably won't be making this dish often because, well, I'm a tightwad. Sure, laugh at me now, but just wait 30 years.

But this dish is well worth making at least once.

This recipe is on page 162 of Veganomicon.