Robin Robertson

I like to keep cooked brown rice and beans on hand for busy weeknight meals. A quick sauté with onion and or garlic, some herbs and spices, and some fresh spinach, chard, or other vegetable, and I can usually have dinner on the table in about 15 minutes.

Last night my easy go-to meal took a different turn. I had planned to make brown rice with white beans and roasted asparagus. I no sooner got the oven preheating and the asparagus prepped for roasting when I realized I was out of cooked rice. It was then I remembered that I had some shelf-stable gnocchi in the pantry that my supermarket just started carrying. In addition to coming in a package that needs no refrigeration, the gnocchi is vegan and cooks up in about 3 minutes — (an ideal inclusion for my Vegan Unplugged pantry!)

Since pairing white beans with the white gnocchi would look too much like a hailstorm, I opted for slicing up two vegan sausage links instead. While the asparagus roasted, I boiled the gnocchi and sautéed the sausage in olive oil with loads of minced garlic and red pepper flakes. After draining the gnocchi and taking the asparagus out of the oven, I combined it all in the skillet with the sausage and garlic, tossing gently to combine. It was a fabulous meal that was on the table in about 18 minutes. Best of all, I now have a new favorite pantry ingredient to keep on hand.

I have a super-busy today today. For one thing, today I’m a guest on the Jazzy Vegetarian radio program. Tune in today at 1:15 Eastern time for some of my favorite party planning tips and the recipe for Sherried Mushrooms from Party Vegan.

No matter how busy, there’s always time to make an easy appetizer that can be assembled in seconds, right? Take these Tapenade-Stuffed Peppadews, for example. If you enjoy surprising your taste buds with several flavors at once, you just might like these little peppadew chiles stuffed with tapenade. I happened to have a little tapenade leftover from Halloween and a few of those adorable peppadews in the fridge, so what else could I do but stuff the tapenade into the peppadews?

In addition to being cute as a button, these zesty little appetizers pack a flavor wallop. The burst of flavors you get include sweet-spicy, salty, and just plain delicious. If you’re not a fan of peppadews or tapenade, then you can cherry tomatoes and stuff them with something else — but then you’ll have to call them something other than “Tapenade-Stuffed Peppadews.”

Vegan Mofo Giveaway #1:
Today is the first of a series of my Vegan MoFo Giveaways. To be automatically entered in next week’s drawing for a copy of my book, Vegan on the Cheap, just leave a comment at the end of this post that answers this question: What kind of stuffing would you put in a peppadew (or cherry tomato)?
A winner will be chosen at random (using Random.org generator) and announced on Tuesday, November 9.

Good luck in the contest!

Don’t you love it when two divergent ingredients merge to create something better than you could have imagined in the first place? That’s what happened to me when I needed to use up some leftover momo filling (see this post). I remembered that I had some yuba (bean curd sheets) in the freezer, leftover from when I made my Crispy Stuffed Filet of Soy.

I stuffed the yuba with the momo filling (sauteed shredded cabbage, scallions, and ginger, etc.), rolling them up eggroll-style. I then sautéed them in a little oil to brown them and then baked them for a few minutes in the oven to finish browning and make them crisp on the ouside and hot in the middle. I then whipped up another batch of tomato achar to dip them in and a new favorite recipe was born!

Bonus:  In addition to being delicious, using yuba as eggroll wrappers are great not only for vegans but also for those who avoid gluten, since many of the eggroll wrappers available in stores contain egg and are made with wheat.

In other news…Check out today’s post on GoDairyFree.org — I’m today’s guest blogger! My post includes Thanksgiving tips and the recipe for the rich and yummy Chestnut Bisque from Party Vegan.

Let me count the ways….
I love my momos steamed. But I love them even more when steamed first and then sautéed in a little soy sauce. Most of all, though, I love momos when liberally doused with spicy tomato achar — a “must have” accompaniment for any serving of momos.

I wish I could share the recipe, but I can’t right now because it’s scheduled to be in an upcoming issue of VegNews magazine in my Global Vegan column. For now, the above photo shows some of the yummy momos in achar that I made recently — the photo was taken just seconds before they were devoured.

Other News:
Cookbook Giveaway on Vegan Appetite: Head on over to Vegan Appetite for your chance to win a copy of Vegan Unplugged — the pantry cookbook (with recipes ready in 15 minutes) that also doubles as an emergency guide for when the power’s out.

Other, other news:
My Black Bean and Butternut Chili from Party Vegan is featured in this week’s Splendid Table newsletter!

On Tuesday, November 2, I will be the guest blogger on GoDairyFree.org.

On Wednesday, November 3, I will be a guest on the Jazzy Vegetarian radio program.