Invasion of my Wok

It was just like any other ordinary evening. After prepping the veggies I got out my wok to start stir frying. I casually grabbed the bottle of olive oil and drizzled a bit in the pan, turned my back to grab a spatula for only a moment, then returned to my wok to find this weird little guy looking back up at me.
You know how sometimes you see produce that is just so beautiful that you put it in your basket and forget to check the price until you see it flash on the computer screen at check-out? This happened to me with some gorgeous graffiti eggplants (not sure why I didn't photograph it), now forever known as the $7 eggplant. I kept it simple and served the eggplant napoletana style with artichokes, tomatoes, and capers from VWAV. Being a somewhat picky eggplant eater, I thought the graffiti eggplant had a milder flavor, but probably not quite worth the high price!

I recently picked up a copy of Vegan Express and have been meaning to try out a recipe from it. Wow, do I love how fast this meal got cranked out... grilled polenta with spinach, black beans, and sun-dried tomatoes (I also added a few chipotles in adobe sauce). This meal also reminded me how much I love my grill pan!
And after dining at the real Candle Cafe in NYC back in July, I dusted off my Candle Cafe Cookbook to make the tempeh scallopini. You honestly can't go wrong with a mushroom sauce made with wine. This sauce theme was continued later in the week when I made purple hull pea and quinoa croquettes with mushroom sauce from VWAV (but the picture turned out kind yucky).
I am so ready for the weekend! We have our first Houston Vegan Knitters meeting on Sunday at Field of Greens, and I think I'm going to attempt veganyumyum's knit cupcakes for the occasion! Oh yeah, and I turn 29 on Monday....

So Wishing That Sunday Wasn't Almost Over Pie

Yep, that's the new name for this pie, also known as the smlove pie from Veganomicon. Tonight we watched Waitress (one who makes awesome pies based on her current life drama) on dvd and in preparation, I was inspired to make a pie (but not the crust, it's straight out of the freezer). The heart doily (sp?) underneath is courtesy of my talented sister-in-law.

Here's an up-close shot just to get your mouth watering. The verdict? We both loved this pie. Not sure if it was the type of chocolate I used (El Rey 70-something percent cocao), but the chocolate filling itself wasn't terribly sweet, which allowed you to fully enjoy the peanut butter caramel, maple pecans, and chocolate drizzle on top. If you aren't so crazy about no-so-sweet chocolate, maybe using a different chocolate would be better, but this suited us just fine (and went along perfect with the movie:-)

For dinner tonight, another V-con special, the red lentil and cauliflower curry. I changed it up a bit and subbed red pepper for parsnip, added a can of fire-roasted tomatoes, and a big handful of chopped kale (can you tell I've kept my resolution about eating more greens?). Very filling and this made enough to feed us for the next few days I'm thinking.

And earlier in the week I covered new territory, something I had hoped to do back during Vegan MoFo (November), but never got around to it. I finally tried Soy Curls! After seeing DGMGV show us so many tasty and easy way to eat these, I dove in head first. After rehydrating these for just ten minutes, I browned them and added a healthy Texas serving of BBQ sauce. Add some black beans with sauteed onion, garlic, kale, and plenty of chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, and you've got yourself a meal! I ordered 6 more bags of these from Food Fight the very next day.

Okay, time to go face reality. I think I need another piece of pie....