Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Curry

I like recipes. For so long I have clung to recipes as if they were life or death. I am slowly getting over that however because some of my favorite meals are those that you just throw together.

You know the kind; figure out what you have in your house, mix it in a pot, add some spices, and hope for the best. I have a friend that is a pro at that- although 9.9 times out of 10 it ends up being something Mexican. The moral of the story is that salsa, chili powder, and black beans make everything better.

Which we all know is true.

This is my throw it together for Sweet Potato & Cauliflower curry. It is the shell of a great recipe so you can add to it what you would like. It really came out of me having sweet potatoes and cauliflower that I needed to use, throwing them together in a skillet, adding some spices, and here you go.

Do you have a favorite throw it together recipe? What is it? 

Recipe after the jump…

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Fried "Chicken"

It is incredible how intoxicating smells can be.

In all of my heart and conscious mind I have no desire to eat things like fried chicken or bacon. Any weird desire for that kind of thing is completely gone. Lucky me! But, for whatever reason, when I am in a confined space and people are cooking certain things (fried chicken or bacon) I feel like Pepe Le Pew sniffing in the air for the lady skunk (whose name is actually Penelope Pussycat).

Phew… It feels good to get that out. Does that make me a bad vegan?

The thought of eating bacon or fried chicken repulses me beyond belief, but those smells just do something to my head. It’s like a drug.

*Light Bulb*

Alas, I know better. I know that the chicken frying in the pan is a life lost from horrible treatment and factory farming. I know that bacon is a pig that is smarter than most of the people I interact with on a daily basis. They are lives, not food. So take that drug like smells! I am stronger than you!

Plus, I have a vegan “fried chicken” recipe in my arsenal that is out of this world. This little ditty uses Gardein Chicken Fillets or Scaloppini with a light breading and quick trip in the frying pan.

This recipe is a super easy one from Vegan Pandamonium that she modeled after an Argentinean recipe from her mom.  So cute! One of our friends, who happens to be a chef, tried it and said, “This tastes just like fried chicken.”

Why yes. Yes, it does.

Recipe after the jump…

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Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Husband worked at a steak house right before I met him. Gross.

One of the things this particular steak house was known for was their potato soup. Women would sell their children for a drop. Grandmothers would cut someone.When the server brought it to the table people would faint from pure potato soup jubilation.

It was popular.

Ever since, husband has declared himself a potato soup expert. Naturally.

Sadly, this restaurants soup was full of bacon, dairy, and god knows what other horrifying ingredients. I have always wanted to find a vegan soup recipe that would satisfy his judgmental soup palate.

Recently I have achieved victory in this quest.

I stumbled upon a recipe for Roasted Cauliflower Soup topped with Curried Cashew Crème in the January/February issue of VegNews magazine. It was one of their 7 “must try” soups; which I guarantee you is no lie.

When I told him I was making cauliflower soup he seemed a little unsure, but after snarfing down two bowls he was a surefire fan. I believe his exact comments were, “this may be the best soup I ever had.”

SUCCESS

*happy soup dance*

So it’s still winter and (for most of us) is cold and dreary out. This soup will make a delightful end to a cold and nasty day.

To soup!

Recipe and more photos after the jump…

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Give it up for Cauliflower

I am the least picky vegan on the planet. Really, I am… It is probably why I am chubby.

*womp womp*

There are just no vegetables that I don’t like. Okra, bring on the goo! Sugar snap peas, yes please! Shallots for my palate(s)! You get it.

There was a time that I remember eating cauliflower and thinking it was not very good. I ate it raw as a kid and thought it was weird. Of course this was one of the few times I tried a vegetable as a child that was not corn, peas, or green beans.

Well cauli-baby, times have changed!

Cauliflower is one of the most versatile vegetables. It is high in dietary fiber, low in fat, high in vitamin C and just all around delicious! You can eat it raw, pickled, steamed, or fried. You just can’t go wrong!

One of my absolute favorite ways to eat cauliflower is mashed with potatoes. This is a much healthier way to eat mashed potatoes, considerably cutting down the calorie content and pumping up the nutritional value.

Vegan goddess Isa Chandra Moskowitz calls them “caulipots” in her cookbook “Appetite for Reduction.”

I just call them scrumptious!   

See more after the jump…

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