Culinary Delights-week 1

Recipes Tried Since Jan 5: 45!/250
1 Week of my challenge complete and it had it's ups and downs!! aka--mental breakdowns, thinking of food ALL the time, living in the kitchen, spending hundreds on groceries. But its fun!
I was planning on giving a review of all the recipes i tried so far, by week. But i've cooked so much its hard to remember or keep track so i'm not going to do that.

highlights;
Ok so i tried my first fancy dish- Risotto. Wow you really feel like a top notch chef cooking this dish as it requires that you stay in front of the stove for aprx 30min, constantly stirring and adding liquid until the dish turns into a velvety, creamy, fluffy-melt-in your mouth deliciousness. And if you put in the time, it does!

i've made it twice this week, different flavors, the first version was better in my opinion
Dish 1: Sweet Potato, Sage, Scallion Risotto from Healthy.Happy.Life/ this is a great combination of flavors and would make a great vegan thanksgiving entree as the sage fills the house with that turkey cooking aroma. A+! i would make it again, but its so rich the butter/oil combination is a bit much. I added far less then the recipe calls for.

Dish 2: My first "Bruchetta":Red Pepper and Olive Bruchetta the recipe comes from my good friend jeannie17 on PeerTrainer. And combines; tomatoes, basil, white onion, red pepper (raw), kalamata olives, olive oil, red wine vinegar, s&p (scant oil)/ this tastes great on top of melba toast or maybe toasted baguette. The olives add a distinct unexpected flavor- its so simple and elegant it will defiantly be on my list of party appetizers. Thanks Jeannie!

Dish 3: Radicchio Truffle Oil Pizza (Spelt/Whole Wheat Crust) i've never had radicchio or truffle oil before so this was an exciting experience for me. The recipe is from the Kind Diet*/ at first taste of the raw mix i was worried i was not going to like it, the lettuce is extremely bitter and the truffle oil is expensive!! but has an odd flavor, i'm probably just not used to it. Either way, im adventurous so i figured id still give it a go, i added some caramelized onions we had on hand because i was worried the lettuce on its own would be bland- when it cooked, it transformed!!! suddenly the bitterness was mellowed by rich olive oil, sharp sea-salt- and the sweetness of the caramelized onions. what a great combination! needless to say- i ate the whole pizza, i didnt miss the cheese, and i will be making it again! A

Among other things; these 3 dishes are the stars this week. Looking forward to another week of great food! hopefully my stomach can keep up, because im also trying to loose that last 5lbs. ha ha! wish me luck

NOTE: i just got the Kind Diet, which is Vegan- Alicia Silverstone's cookbook. i was very excited about this because first of all a) she is lovely and thin! b) the dishes are exotic and decadent c) she claims you will loose weight by cooking this way!! all bonuses. The only thing that worries me is less fruit and more emphasis on exotic vegetables and ..ick..sea vegetables. I know they are 'good' for me, and as a vegan i need the nutrients. But im so scared to try!! that seems like weird vegan food to me. Another thing she emphasizes is a lot of Greens, even for breakfast! and im not shy of greens, so i'm not worried about that.
Unfortunately, this diet may not work well where i am as almost all of our food is imported, especially in the winter. So i'll try my best to incorporate what i can.
One thing im going to work towards is "Superhero" status which will introduce a lot of different foods, whole grains, vegetables, shoyu, umebochi plums, miso. bring it on!

I've added her recipes to my list of to-do's this year, and it rings up at 89 recipes! almost the whole book. Its a great book, i highly recommend it to all vegans and non-vegans alike.

happy cooking! xoxo Green Love Goddess