Curried Potatos and Peas in Butter Lettuce (with Tomato Chutney)

Look at that plate of beautiful food! It's enough just to feast on the colors and textures, but it's the flavors that make this meal really special.

These excellent recipes come from Vegetarian Today magazine (April 2017). They suggest serving the potato mixture samosa style - stuffed in pie crust and baked-- like a hand held pie. I decided to serve it on butter lettuce and it was amazing!

I don't think I should post the recipes here because of copyright issues. I'm positive you can find recipes for potato and pea curry and also a spicy tomato chutney all over the internet. And if you are a subscriber to Vegetarian Today (formerly Vegetarian Times) check out the recipes there. AMAZING. This one is going in the 'save' pile

Easy Vegan Gravy

Here's a simple recipe that packs a perfect punch when you need a quick gravy. I served it over a creamy cauliflower and potato mash. Please notice the gorgeous Portobello Wellington on the plate also! You can't believe how easy that Wellington is....find the recipe HERE.

Easy Vegan Gravy
 
Here's what you need:
1/2 C flour
1/2 C nutritional yeast
pinch oregano
pinch black pepper
olive oil
soy sauce
soy milk

Here's what you do:
In a cast iron skillet, toast the flour, yeast, oregano, and pepper. When you see the flour browning and it starts to smell toasty, blend in just enough olive oil to create a roux. Stir and whisk and stir and whisk. Add water and soy milk to create a gravy that is a pleasing consistency. At the end, add a few shakes of soy sauce.

Shannon’s Four Greens Pesto

My sister-in-law made this delicious pesto for us when she was here visiting from her home in Brazil.

 It was October and we spent time up north where we rented the most glorious house for a few days. Can you picture the very tip of the Leelanau Peninsula?  Not sure what I’m talking about? Well, can you picture the very tip of the pinky finger in the imaginary “Michigan Map” that your left hand makes? The very tippy tip? That’s where we were, mainly dodging rain drops and battling cold Michigan wind.

There is a wild beauty in the outdoors in October as you can see from my photos. You can also see that I tried to capture all the shades of color that I saw in a 5 minute period out our window.

Can you read the recipe and figure it out? Basically, put it all in the food processor and serve over fettuccine, garnishing with the obvious things.  I didn’t think using all four greens would be good ...that it would have too many flavors. But I was wrong. This is a super pesto! 

Roasted Curry Cauliflower

“Everything’s gotta have a concept!” My husband has been repeating this all week long. He is reading a book on how to get people to read your writing (says the woman who writse a tiny blog that has no concept and that no one reads….., but I digress……), and the entire message of the book it this : Everything’s gotta have a concept.

Well, did we experience ‘concept’ recently at Olives and Wine in Traverse City. I would never have imagined such a concept! Upon entering this establishment, you put money on a card and then use the card to purchase glasses of wine. Insert the card, push the button, center the glass under the little hose, and sip! The wine was organized simply in reds and whites, all available to try and taste. At first, it was overwhelming, but after a glass or two, it was super fun! I admit,  I prefer when the waiter teaches me about new wines and makes suggestions based on my preferences,but this was fun! And we had some good wines. 

Another concept at this establishment was the Greek menu. They served an excellent hummus with the most delicious curried cauliflower and I replicated it perfectly at home.

Such a simple preparation, but oh, what powerful flavor! Simply cut an entire head of cauliflower into large flowerets, douse them liberally with olive oil, and spoon lots and lot of curry power over it all. Use your hands to massage it all together and bake at 400 or 450 until its nice and soft and toasty in all the right places.