VeganYumYum

I must say I really like the VeganYumYum recipe book. I’ve made a lot of the recipes out of this book already. She uses so many great photos, and a lot of the recipes have common ingredients. Here are two more recipes that I have tried over the last week…

Golden Chickpea and Artichoke Salad
1 Tbsp oil, plus additional
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained
5 to 7 artichoke hearts, drained and sliced lengthwise
1/4 to 1/3 c sliced almonds (toasted if desired)
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley

Heat oil in seasoned wok or cast-iron skillet. Add chickpeas and cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, stirring only occasionally to prevent burning, until chickpeas are golden brown all over. When done, transfer chickpeas to large mixing bowl and set aside.
Add more oil to pan and sauté sliced artichoke hearts until browned. Add artichokes to bowl of chickpeas.
Toast almonds in dry skillet (if desired) and then grind them in food processor. Add almonds to artichokes and chickpeas. Season salad with lemon juice and salt and stir in chopped parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature, adjusting seasoning if needed.

This chickpea salad tastes great and it’s full of protein. It was a bit dry, so I added some more lemon juice. I ate it along with some baby bok choy that was sprinkled with umeboshi vinegar and salt and pepper.

Vegetable Fried Rice With Tofu
This recipe includes almost every vegetable under the sun. It’s a pretty basic recipe for rice, but what I love is how the tofu is prepared. You fry your tofu pieces in oil until it gets crispy on both sides. Then, mix 1tbl soy sauce with ½ tsp of ginger powder and add that to the tofu while it’s still in the pan. The result is a crispy, glazed, delicious piece of tofu. For those of you who say they don’t like tofu, it might be because it wasn’t cooked right, or it had a rubbery texture. I say it’s ALL about the texture with food. Frying your tofu like this, and then adding it to any stir fry would be a great place to start.