savory

Vegan Fried Bacon Mac and Cheese

August 17, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea Leave a Comment

Fried bacon mac and cheese (vegan, obviously), is the food of my dreams. Creamy, cheesy macaroni is pan fried with your favorite meat-free bacon. See, it’s the food of your dreams too! If you haven’t already been lusting after having some fried bacon mac and cheese in your life it’s probably because you’ve never heard of Upton’s Breakroom in Chicago. It’s owned and run by the same people who own Upton’s Naturals, and has tasty tacos, sandwiches, soft serve, and, of course, fried bacon mac. We didn’t go there often when we lived in Chicago, because it was on the other end of town and more of a lunch spot, but when in the area I’d go out of the way to get some of their vegan bacon mac….

Favosalata: Yellow Split Pea Dip

August 15, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea Leave a Comment

Back in June Omar and I ate out at a Kapnos, a pretty vegan-friendly, Greek restaurant in DC, where we discovered this amazing dish called favosalata. Is that not incredibly fun to say? Favosalata! It was creamy and super flavorful, despite only really being flavored with scallions, olive oil, white wine, black garlic, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Made from yellow split peas, it was a bit reminiscent of hummus, but really only in the fact that it’s a legume purée. We really enjoyed dipping our freshly made flatbread into the flavorful bright yellow spread. It was one of the highlights of the meal for us! So much that when I was at the grocery store the following week I picked up a bag of split yellow peas to recreate it ASAP. And then they sat in my pantry for 6 weeks….

Homemade New York Style Bagels

August 10, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea Leave a Comment

What makes bread a bagel? Is it the shape? The texture? Where they come from? Yes, yes, and no. Let’s start with the last question: I emphatically believe that you can make or get a damn good bagel anywhere in the world… provided you can source the correct ingredients that is. Now a disclaimer – I’m not from NYC, nor have I spent a crazy amount of time there (but I have eaten NY style bagels). But, I’m excellent at research, both book research and hands on experimenting. And a lack of good locally available bagels has led me to do a lot of bagel baking over the years. And these bagels have been tested on people from NY. Plus, the recipe is adapted from Peter Reinhart, and would he steer us wrong? No. As for the first two questions: the shape and texture of a bagel are related, you wouldn’t be able to get that quintessential bagel texture without the hole in the center. The hole allows for the entire bagel to have a chewy crust, without would lead to a soft and tender center….

Indian Spiced Chickpeas and Greens

August 1, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea Leave a Comment

I make a lot of food that I never photograph or share with you guys. It’s not because it’s not delicious, but because I’m too hungry (or occasionally too lazy) to plan or take photos or measure ingredients and generally be meticulous about the process. This chickpea and kale recipe was originally one of those meals. We were at home on our last night before a short trip, and had a big beautiful bunch of lacinato kale to use up. Omar was working, and I needed to get dinner made quickly so I could move on to other chores. It was literally me throwing things I had to use up into a pan, including 2 half-used onions from the fridge, one red and one yellow. I didn’t even decide to use Indian spices until halfway through cooking. So, you can imagine my surprise, when we finally sat down to eat that we were blown away by how delicious it was!…

Vegan Jalapeño Cheese Biscuits

July 27, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea 3 Comments

It’s a good thing that biscuits are supposed to be consumed on the day that you bake them, and ideally while they’re still warm out of the oven. It gives you an excuse to shovel the entire batch into your mouth within hours. I think the photographing these biscuits while they were still hot has been the hardest thing I’ve had to wait for to date. And I make and photograph a lot of pizzas. Like seriously, a lot. It was all I could do to keep myself from stealing bites between shots. And if I’m being 100% honest with you, my dog Selkie felt the same way, helping herself to the remaining few biscuits from our most recent batch when Omar and I stepped out of the house for a couple hours. Oops, guess we should have put them out of her reach….

Vegan Southwestern Black Bean Burgers

July 25, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea Leave a Comment

I would hazard a guess that every vegan and vegetarian and most non-veggie eaters have had a black bean burger before (at least in the US). They are certainly one of the most common veggie burgers offered at restaurants and in stores. And for good reason! They’re delicious, and a vegetarian classic. There might a million and one black bean burger recipes, but this one is 110% worth making. They are healthy and super delicious and indulgent tasting. These black bean burgers are made with roasted beets, southwestern spices, and have a roasted hot (sorta) pepper kick….

Broccoli and Tofu with Black Bean Sauce

July 20, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea Leave a Comment

What’s your favorite dish to order at a Chinese restaurant? I’m really bad at picking favorites, but any dish that includes a black bean sauce is definitely up at the top of my list. I love that it’s a bit spicy, and I love the depth of flavor you get from the fermented black bean paste. My biggest problem with restaurant versions is that they tend to be rather heavy for every-day sort of eating.

This recipe for making broccoli and tofu with black bean sauce at home has all the flavor of Chinese take out and none of the guilt. The tofu is baked for a chewy texture, instead of deep fried. There’s very little oil in the sauce and used to stir fry, so no pooling of oil will happen here! Broccoli and the tofu soak up the sauce and diced red bell pepper provides a complementing sweet, juicy, and crunchy flavor and texture….

Vegan Homemade Pretzel Buns

July 18, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea 2 Comments

There’s nothing quite like freshly baked bread. And when it comes from your own hands and your own oven it’s even better and more satisfying. I love bread and encourage everyone else who feels the same way to try their hand at it too! I’ve always enjoyed the process of making bread. It’s methodical and relaxing, and I always feel proud of the end result. Plus when your friends come over for veggie burger parties they’ll ask, “did you really make this all from scratch?” I know this because that’s what my friends do.

So anyway freshly baked homemade bread is great, yeah, we know (unless of course you don’t eat gluten, and then, I’m sorry, this post isn’t for you). Pretzel buns are certainly no exception! Chewy and doughy-soft, with that delicious pretzel flavor, they are the perfect accompaniment to your veggie burgers. Pretzels are traditionally made with a lye bath, and it’s this ultra caustic environment that allows the dough to brown to that rich color, and also gives it the characteristic pretzel flavor. Browning in cooking occurs via the Maillard Reaction, but how acidic or basic your food is affects how browned it gets (and by basic I don’t mean this kind of basic, haha). The higher the pH (more basic), the better/darker your food will brown….

Penne with Buffalo Cauliflower Cream Sauce

July 13, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea Leave a Comment

I have an unofficial countdown running in my head, as I wait for mid-August to arrive. What happens in mid-August? Well, my best friend from college is moving to DC! She’s going to be right across the street from us! I’m so excited I can’t wait for us to eat all the vegan pizza-I mean all the food-together (did I mention she’s vegan too?)!

She came to visit last month to scope out the area, and while she was here we went out to eat at DC’s newer vegan diner Fare Well. It’s run by the same people of Sticky Fingers and opened last fall. To be honest, I’ve had mixed experiences at the restaurant, while I think the food has been steadily improving, the service has been super hit or miss for us. Nevertheless, while my friend was in town we went there for dinner and ordered an INSANE amount of food for three people. We ordered my favorite appetizer, a house-made vegan burrata that comes with a delicious caper and pesto salad and grilled buttery bread. But we couldn’t help ourselves and ordered a second appetizer that I had been eyeing for months (I just couldn’t bring myself to ever order it over the burrata, ya know?): a whipped cauliflower and cashew buffalo dip. And guys. OMG. The dip was SO GOOD. It was served in this mini-cast iron dish and insanely smokey and deliciously buffalo-y. Like, I’m definitely going to have to take turns with my appetizer ordering in the future….

Stuffed Mediterranean Veggie Burgers with Greek Marinated Tomatoes

July 11, 2017 By thecuriouschickpea 2 Comments

I’m sitting here trying to think if my summer eating and cooking is actually any different than my wintertime eating. I know some people avoid the stove as much as possible, but hey even when it hits 90 ºF I’ll still turn on the oven (apparently). I probably make less casseroles, but like, they’re as convenient in the summer as they are in the winter! I will say that I get 1000% more inspired by summer produce and eat about 12x as much fruit (like the time I got 22 mangoes and ate approximately 90% of them by myself–though making these mango lassi’s definitely helped). Ok, so I love taking advantage of seasonal produce, and you see that with my recipes! Rhubarb took center stage for awhile and I made my almond rhubarb bundt cake, corn has made a small appearance in my sweet corn velouté, but it’s still early in the season, asparagus took over my produce drawer for awhile and it was delicious on this asparagus pizza.

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