Vegan or Vegan Option — Experimenting to make delicious food with fresh ingredients.

Jan 1

Jan 1 Focaccia Bread

Focaccia bread is made with a yeast dough, which is very easy and forgiving. If you feel uncomfortable working with yeast, this is a great place to start because the presence of olive oil 1) makes the dough a bit easier to work with, and 2) prevents it from drying out if baked too long. I love serving focaccia bread when I have company; it's neither time-consuming nor demanding, and I've found that guests always appreciate homemade bread. It's also the bread I use if I'm serving "fancified" sandwiches for dinner (i.e. salmon or eggplant sandwiches). Read more.

Nov 10

Nov 10 Zesty Dressing

Leila

Vegan or Vegan Option, Dressing, Gluten-Free

Salad dressing is not among the most visually remarkable condiments, so here's a picture I recently took of wild turkeys in our backyard. I always know it's November when the turkeys arrive. Last week's flock consisted of 11 females and 1 tom (who seemed to be entirely preoccupied with impressing the ladies with his fan). They're a bit noisy, but their clumsiness is a joy to watch. Whenever I shoo them away from our grass seed, they fly up into the branches of nearby trees with what appears to be great effort. The whole maneuver is awkward yet beautiful, like Foghorn Leghorn if he were to take flight in those old Looney Tunes cartoons.

Anyways... this salad dressing packs a real punch. I always keep a jar in the refrigerator. It works best on hearty greens (i.e. kale or romaine), or in a cucumber and tomato salad, or even on tabbouleh and other grain salads. I've found that it overwhelms more delicate greens (i.e. arugula, mâche, red leaf, and bib), which become soggy. Read more.

Nov 10

Nov 10 Tabbouleh

Leila

Vegan or Vegan Option, Salad

Tabbouleh is a salad traditionally made with bulgur wheat, lemon juice, olive oil, and raw vegetables. Somewhere along the way, I opted to add roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions, and a little zesty salad dressing to amp up the flavor. So if you're not opposed to breaking from tradition, give this version a try. This tabbouleh is not vegan, but it easily can be if you use the vegan version of the zesty dressing. I love bulgur wheat, but if you are looking for a gluten free option, substitute the bulgur with cooked quinoa. Read more.

Oct 31

Oct 31 Falafel

Leila

Dinner, Vegetarian, Vegan or Vegan Option, Gluten-Free

I first tasted falafel a few years ago at Oleana, a restaurant in the Boston area that serves phenomenal food with a Turkish and Middle Eastern spin. At the time, I didn't even know how to pronounce falafel. But soon after tasting it, I knew I wanted to try making it at home. Traditionally, falafel is made with chickpeas that are soaked, ground, and fried. There's nothing quite like falafel fresh out of the fryer, but it can become a bit heavy and dry if left sitting for too long. Read more.