Robin Robertson

Some people crave chocolate.  I crave cauliflower.  And sometimes chocolate, too.  But mostly cauliflower.  I’ve actually  been obsessed with cauliflower for years, so it’s nice to see that the rest of the world is catching up!  Lately I’ve been seeing cauliflower everywhere I look –prepared in so many delicious and creative ways.

Growing up, my mother prepared battered and fried cauliflower and also blanketed with a cheddar cheese sauce, so loving the snowy crucifer came easy to me.  When I went macrobiotic in the 1980s, steamed cauliflower mashed with cooked millet became my new mashed potatoes.  Eventually, I left out the millet, and enjoyed the mashed cauliflower on its own. Cauliflower also makes an amazing mac and cheese.  Far and away, however, my favorite cauliflower preparation is roasted.  I love it roasted plain, or picatta, doused with a Manchurian-style sauce, as a pizza topping, or topped with a creamy lemon sauce  or vegan hollandaise sauce, as shown above.

Here is a round-up of some of my favorite cauliflower-centric posts:

Cauliflower Picatta

Mac and Cheddar Cauliflower

Manchurian Cauliflower Pizza

Buffalo Cauliflower Pizza

Creamy Picatta Orechiette over Roasted Cauliflower

Gobi Manchurian

There are also some great recipes featuring cauliflower in my newest book, Nut Butter Universe, such as Roasted Tahini Cauliflower (featuring two of my favorite ingredients!) and the Scalloped Cashew Potatoes and Cauliflower tastes more decadent than it really is.  I think my favorite, though, is the Pasta with Cauliflower-Cashew Alfredo — I used to love creamy Alfredo sauce, and am thrilled to be able to enjoy this healthy vegan version that is super creamy and delicious.

Pasta with Cauliflower-Cashew Alfredo from Nut Butter Universe

I also like to make cauliflower “rice” and of course, cauliflower is terrific in curries.  The list goes on…

So, what’s your take on the cauliflower craze?

The enthusiastic response to my latest book Nut Butter Universe has been overwhelming.  Many thanks to all of you who sent me an e-mail about how much you are enjoying the book.

Even beyond the amazing Blog Tour (you can catch up here if you missed any of the posts), there have been lots of Nut Butter Universe sightings on various blogs and websites, including Olives For Dinner where you will find the recipe and gorgeous photos (such as this one) of Indonesian Eggplant with Peanut Sauce.

On Keepin’ It Kind, Kristy posted the recipe for Black-Bottom Peanut Butter Freezer Pie along with some yummy photos of the Nut Butter Fantasy Brownies that she made from Nut Butter Universe — I especially like this photo:

Yummy Plants explained why they’re nuts for Nut Butter Universe and posted their photo of Oatmeal with a Swirl of  Almond Butter and also the recipe for Cheesy Almond Broccoli Soup.  The Kitchn shares some views from inside the book, and VegBlogger is excited about Nut Butter Universe and promises to post some photos soon!

If I missed any site where Nut Butter Universe has been featured, please let me know so I can share the link.  If you have the book and are loving it, I’d really appreciate it if you would take a minute to leave a brief review on Amazon to let others know about it.  And if you haven’t gotten your copy yet, you can pick one up on Amazon for only $11.61!

St. Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite food holidays. I love coming up with fun new ways to enjoy green food — extra points for adding an additional Irish spin to the dish. I can’t decide what to make this year. I can always go traditional and make the Corned Seitan and Cabbage from Vegan on the Cheap. It’s made in a slow cooker so I can set it and forget it.

I might also get a second slow cooker on the job and make the Colcannon from Fresh from the Vegan Slow Cooker:

Or I could just have fun with colcannon,maybe some Colcannon Quesadillas

or these Colcannon Fritters:

Then again, I might go all out and make the St. Patrick’s Day Menu from Party Vegan:

~St. Patrick’s Day Menu~
Pea Green Soup
Irish Whiskey and Soda Bread
Colcannon-Topped Irish Stew
Shamrock Vegetable Salad
Creamy Lime-Pistachio Parfaits

(I especially love the Irish Whiskey and Soda Bread!)  But most likely, I may simply “go for the green” this year with this Shamrock Pizza:

It’s simple enough to make — just divide enough dough for a personal-size pizza into three equal pieces (after first pinching off a small piece for the shamrock “stem”) — shape each of the three dough pieces into shamrock leaves (heart-shaped) and pre-bake the dough until almost done. Then fit the leaves together into a shamrock shape (you’ll have to trim the ends so they fit into place where the leaves and stem join. Assemble the fitted shamrock pieces on a pizza pan and spread with your choice of toppings — I went all out with a vivid green spinach and white bean spread made by sauteeing onion and garlic in a skillet with spinach, salt, pepper, and a little basil and oregano. I then pureed the spinach mixture with cooked white beans, a few capers, a couple green olives, a dash of lemon juice, and 2 chopped scallions. (When it tastes good enough to eat with a spoon it’s ready!) You could, of course, then top the spinach mixture with a little shredded Daiya, but I preferred to leave mine boldly green.  I may even wash it down with a green smoothie:

What are you making for St. Patrick’s Day?

My friend and colleague  Robin Asbell, who recently hosted me during my blog tour for Nut Butter Universe,  invited me to participate in a “blog hop” in which several cookbook authors  answer a set of questions about their “Next Big Thing” and then ask their blog readers (you!)  to “hop” from this blog to several other sites where you can read about what’s new with some other authors.

For this blog hop, I was asked to answer the following questions to tell you all about my “Next Big Thing“:

What is the title of your upcoming book?

Well, I actually just came out with a new book, Nut Butter Universe, so to me that’s my “Current Big Thing” that I’m very excited about.  But My “Next Big Thing”  is One-Dish Vegan which I’m looking forward to as well.

Who is publishing your book and what is the expected release date?

One-Dish Vegan will be published by The Harvard Common Press.  It is due to be released in September of this year.

How long did it take you to research and write this book?

This book is a compilation of my favorite one-dish meals.  Some of the recipes are brand new while others originated from some of my early books, so I guess you could say the book took me several years to research, but less than a year to put the finished work together.

What inspired you to write this book?

One-dish meals are some of my favorite ways to cook and serve food.  I like the idea of preparing something that includes all the components of the meal in one.  One-dish meals can range from easy weeknight comfort food dishes to delicious meals that are special enough for company.

What is your favorite aspect of writing a cookbook?

I love the creative part at the beginning of writing a cookbook, when all the pieces start falling into place.  I especially love naming recipes – it’s so fun to come up with recipe titles!

What is the hardest aspect of writing a cookbook?

Recipe testing is definitely hardest for me because working all those years in restaurants, I never measured anything – everything was intuitive.  So I’m very grateful to my wonderful recipe testers who are so diligent and precise with preparing all of my recipes and providing feedback about what works and what doesn’t.

What interesting things would we find in your refrigerator right now if we were to open it?

The entire top shelf and door of my refrigerator is devoted to condiments and sauces.  I think I have every type of hot sauce there is, from sriracha and Tabasco to sambal oelek and gochujang and then there’s chutney, salsa, a few kinds of mustard, olives, and capers. There is also lots of  fresh produce and a pot of bean soup.  The freezer is stockpiled with cooked rice, pizza dough, seitan, and the last of last summer’s pesto and blackberries.

What is your favorite sound in the kitchen?

My favorite sound is when someone (usually my husband) comes into the kitchen and says, “Wow, that smells so good!”

What three ingredients can’t you live without?

Only three?  There are at least a dozen, but let’s start with garlic, tamari sauce, and peanut butter.  Those simple ingredients can make magic happen in the kitchen.

So, do you have an agent?

Yes, my agent of many years is Stacey Glick of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.  I can’t imagine doing what I do without her.

Which actors would you chose to place your main characters in the rendition of this book?

I think it would be hilarious to see a movie version of a cookbook!  But if it were a movie of my life, I’d love to have Rachel Weisz play me – just on the off chance I’d get to meet Daniel Craig!

To read about  “THE NEXT BIG THING” from some other cookbook authors, hop over to these sites:

Robin Asbell, The New Vegetarian
Victoria Moran, Main Street Vegan
J L Fields, JL Goes Vegan
Jill Nussinow, The Veggie Queen
 Nava Atlas, Veg Kitchen

I’ll leave you with a photo of one of the recipes from One-Dish Vegan:

Pesto Lasagna from One-Dish Vegan (photo by Lori Maffei)

SPREAD IT AROUND….   The Nut Butter Universe Blog Tour begins today with the first stop being VeggieGirl who has posted my recipe for Szechuan Stir-Fry with Fiery Peanut Sauce and is also hosting a giveaway of the book.  Be sure to head on over there to check out the recipe and enter the giveaway, but first, let me tell you about the rest of the blog tour…

During the  next two weeks, Nut Butter Universe will be featured on the blogs listed below.  Some of these wonderful blog hosts will feature a sample recipe from Nut Butter Universe, others might have a guest post (by me!), and others may be doing a giveaway or a review of the book.  Some will be doing a combination!  You can check back here each day for a link to each post (the links will be updated each day when the post goes live).

I hope you enjoy this tour of my new cookbook, Nut Butter Universe: Easy Vegan Recipes with Out-of-This-World Flavors.

NUT BUTTER UNIVERSE BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday Feb 18:  Veggie Girl

Tuesday Feb 19: Robin Asbell 

Wednesday February 20:  Julieanna Hever

Thursday February 21:   Savvy Vegetarian

Friday February 22:    Go Dairy Free

Monday February 25:   Veg Kitchen

Tuesday February 26:   Julie’s Kitchenette

Wednesday February 27:   JL Goes Vegan

Thursday February 28:   Manifest Vegan

Friday March 1: Vegan Crunk

Friday March 1: Hungry Vegan

I want to close this post with something delicious, so here’s a photo of the Linguine with Thai Pesto from Nut Butter Universe, taken by recipe tester VeganAide who also happens to be hosting a giveaway of Nut Butter Universe right now on her blog, Weekly Vegan Menu, so be sure to enter that one as well!