Besides posting our interview (see my post below for the link), Jill of Veg Cookin’ also featured The Blooming Platter: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes on her home page. Many thanks, Jill!
Jill of Veg Cookin’ recently contacted me to inquire about whether I would be willing to be interviewed for her wonderful website.
Boy, would I?!
I let her know, and last Friday she emailed me 5 insightful questions that were really fun to answer–not your typical interview questions–and posted our “conversation” on her website today.
In fact, when I received the questions, I emailed her back asking for a deadline. But by the time I heard from her–which wasn’t much later–I had already answered all of the questions and sent them off, as I found them very engaging. Hope you do too!
Read the interview here! Thanks, Jill!
Dianne “Veggie Girl” is running a give-away of The Blooming Platter Cookbook: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes! Click on the link to go directly to her post where entering is simple! Just leave her a comment at the bottom of the post sharing your favorite vegan dish, and then cross your fingers. Hurry, as the contest ends this Thursday, May 19, with winners announced on Friday, May 20!
While you’re on the Veggie Girl site, enjoy all this vegan health counselor, cook, and writer has to offer. I was completely “plattered” by the attention she lavished on TBPC as her featured cookbook. And she’s bringing it back for a second week in a row!
Last week, she prepared and photographed five of the recipes from the book–and did a beautiful job with all–adding an intro plus comments that are thoughtful and generous in their praise of the dishes. I love some of her twists, like serving my Chinese Tempeh Lettuce Wraps in collards when the lettuce didn’t look good at her grocery story (I am a south’ren gal, after all); or serving my Tofu with Tomato-Caper Wine Sauce over quinoa and kale for a nutritional powerhouse of a meal.
I can’t wait to see what this week holds!
Thank you so much, Dianne (aka Veggie Girl) from the bottom of my bloomin’ heart!
Yield: 4 salad, side dish or light main dish servings (easily doubles)
A heck of a multi-purpose dish–salad, side dish or even main dish–this new Indian inspired favorite goes together quickly and with few ingredients. It’s inspiration came from several sources.
After the VEER Magazine cover photo shoot for The Blooming Platter Cookbook, there were lots of veggies to cook and enjoy. So before the photographer was barely out of the driveway, I was roasting the asparagus and broccoli together. It was still in the fridge today, and still good, but I had almost forgotten about it.
Then yesterday, on a Hampton Roads Magazine reconnaissance mission for our “Best Of” issue, I came home with a couple of jars of different Indian chutney: a cilantro and a mint, not sure how I was going to use them, but knowing they would give something an extra special flavor boost. Some prepared foods are so good that I can’t make them better at home, and these are two examples.
And finally, I had purchased some poppadom on the International aisle of my local Kroger–another prepared item that I wouldn’t even try to make at home–to accompany a dish that I ended up popping in my freezer a week ago when I realized that there wasn’t time for a photo shoot. Stay tuned for that one!
With all of those tasty ingredients in my larder, I went for a pre-lunch dog walk, fantasizing all the way about what my mid-day repast would be. I decided to toss the roasted vegetables and a can of chick peas together with a dressing made of both of the chutneys and a small dollop of vegan sour cream (or yogurt), and serve the dish room temperature over a poppadom, tostato style.
Oh my goodness. This is a keeper for sure: so quick, so pretty, intensely flavorful and highly nutritious. Plus, it ‘s fun to serve and eat. Enjoy!
1 tablespoon vegan sour cream or vegan plain yogurt (I think the latter can sometimes be too runny and too sweet)
1 tablespoon prepared Indian cilantro chutney
1 tablespoon prepared Indian mint chutney
(or you can use 2 tablespoons of either type of chutney)
1 tablespoon vegan sour cream or plain yogurt
2 cup roasted vegetables (virtually anything would work, but I like asparagus and broccoli; I also like a lot of caramelization, so I roasted a small bunch of each with a little olive oil and sea salt for about 25-30 minutes at 450 degrees, and had twice as much as I needed)
1-15.5 ounce can chick peas, rinsed and drained
Optional Garnish: small slices or wedges of tomato and sprigs of cilantro
Accompaniment: one o per person, microwaved for 1 – 1 1/2 minutes
In a medium bowl, combine chutneys with vegan sour cream or yogurt. Add roasted vegetables and chickpeas and toss well to evenly coat. Serve one-fourth of hte vegetable mixture mounded on top of a poppadum, garnished as desired with tomato slices or wedges and cilantro sprigs. Wait until just before serving to heap the mixture on the poppadum to prevent them from getting soggy.
You may alternatively serve this dish slightly heated to open up the flavors a bit. Heat the vegetable mixture separately from the poppadum and mound it on top just before serving.
Recently, my sister-in-law, who had built up so many points with Keurig that she was entitled to some free purchases, generously sent a single-serving “on demand” coffee maker to Joe and me.
I love the idea of making coffee–whatever type you prefer (hopefully fair trade)–one cup at a time and almost instantly.
However, I HATE the idea of all of those NON-recyclable K-Cups ending up in the landfills. Though I would love to see what the “Visual Team” from Anthropologie would create with them since they are utter “recycled art” geniuses.
I hope this doesn’t sound harsh, but I feel that it is socially irresponsible for companies who manufacture the K-Cups not to do so with recyclable plastic. I just don’t understand.
At any rate, I did a little research and mine seems to be a prevailing sentiment. But my research also turned up Green Mountain’s refillable/recyclable K-cup adapter and filter, so I just placed an order. Yes, it takes a tiny bit more time to scoop, but I can enjoy my cuppa with a clearer conscience. Hope you will too! (For coupons generously offered by Green Mountain, click here.)
I’m so excited! Exactly one week from day, Mayer Fine Art Gallery is hosting “Incredible Edibles,” the official launch party, book signing and food-in-art exhibition for my new cookbook, The Blooming Platter: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes!
Click on the ‘Incredible Edibles” link above to go right to the Facebook event page with all the details.
Gallery owner, Sheila Giolitti, has generously made special arrangements with the publisher, Vegan Heritage Press, to have books for sale that night, so please plan to buy your book–or additional books!–at the party. I would love to personalize your book(s) for you. I’m even having special “bloomin’ bookplates” designed by my talented designer friend, Cae Hyrskanich.
Hope to see all of you folks in the local area at the party–it is free and open to the public!
Note: Sheila invited me to create an artwork for the show and for her to feature on the invitation, so the piece on the left-hand side is a painting I made entitled “Fertile Ground.” I’m picking it up from the framer today and can’t wait to see it.
If you think the Chocolate Carrot Cupcakes below look scrumptious, you should try them with my Coconut Cream-Mango Sorbet: just a tiny scoop in a Chinese soup spoon!
The dessert display at the party mentioned in the cupcake post was beautiful, clean and modern with a sweep of white ceramic soup spoons filled with golden-orange globes of sorbet playing off the robin’s egg blue cupcake decoration–perfect complementary colors and flavors.
But with its subtle hint of fresh lime and tropical-sweet fruit flavor, this sorbet is luscious on its own or, if you don’t want to go so far as a cupcake, with just a rich chocolate ganache squiggle as in the photograph.
This recipe and over 150 more, plus color photos, fill the pages of my new Blooming Platter Cookbook: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes. Your copy awaits at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Prince Books (both online and in their Norfolk, VA, store)!
This weekend, my husband hosted an overnight house party for 14 of our closest couple friends including a dear friend from D.C. The beautiful venue was an oceanfront house he rented in Sandbridge, a coastal community in southern VA Beach. The two-story house–with a kitchen on each floor!–accommodated us all very comfortably, with rooms to spare.
The party concept was entirely Joe’s idea, though he turned all of the details over to me. Through the efforts and generosity of many, I have to say that everything was completely perfect, far surpassing my greatest expectations! Thanks to all!
We based virtually the entire catered menu for Saturday night’s dinner on recipes from my new cookbook, including these exquisite cupcakes artfully crafted by Chef Emily de Long of the Gourmet Bake Shoppe in Virginia Beach.
After an initial meeting, I emailed Chef de Long the Chocolate Carrot Cake recipe from The Blooming Platter Cookbook, and she used her own naturally vegan buttercream and sugar artistry to recreate two different cupcake designs I had researched, lending to them her own special touches. Then she wrapped them in scalloped cupcake wrappers I had made using a template I found online and scrapbook paper from a local arts and crafts store.
The end result is my idea of a Blooming Platter!
I ordered far more cupcakes than we needed because I wanted a bountiful display. But I also ordered individual cupcake boxes so that I could send the leftovers home with our guests. They made beautiful Mother’s Day gifts, as several people were meeting their mothers for brunch today.
Stay-tuned for more food-related posts from this lovely party and Happy Mother’s Day to mothers of all kinds wherever you may be.
For this luscious recipe, I hope you’ll consider purchasing a copy of The Blooming Platter Cookbook for your collection. It is available at Amazon; Barnes & Noble; and locally at Prince Books, Norfolk’s favorite book store: 109 E. Main Street, Norfolk, 757-622-9223, staff@prince-books.com.
If my dear mama lived in Virginia, I would make this dish bloom on her platter for Mother’s Day. When I served it to a friend while creating recipes for my Blooming Platter Cookbook, she described it as having a texture similar to bread pudding. I agree!
This photo was shot last summer for the book when blueberries were in season. Since it’s early yet for blueberries, at least where we live, why not try strawberries?
The garnish is one of my favorite newly discovered herbs: lemon verbena. It flourished in our garden last year and I noticed recently that it had returned this spring. I can’t wait to infuse pancakes, cookies and much more with it’s complex citrusy flavor and aroma this summer.
Happy Mother’s Day to mothers everywhere!
Yield: 8 servings
6 ounces firm silken tofu
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup natural sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
2 tablespoons natural sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 pint of fresh berries, rinsed, drained and patted dry
1. Lightly grease a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie pan and set aside. Combine the tofu, soy milk, canola oil, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor. Process until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Transfer the mixture to a medium mixing bowl and stir in the oatmeal. Spoon this mixture into the prepared pan, gently smoothing the top. Sprinkle the surface with the remaining sugar and cinnamon, cover with foil, and refrigerate overnight.
2. When ready to bake, remove the dish from the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Stud the top surface of the oatmeal with berries, and bake for 35 minutes or until just firm. Serve hot.
Note: The oatmeal may be reheated by covering the baking dish with foil and placing it in a cold oven. Turn the oven temperature to 300ºF. and heat for about 20 minutes, or until warm.
May marks, well, let’s just say a fairly significant birthday for me. My husband teases me about my month-long birthday celebrations which have become tradition. But you see, it’s not “all about me;” it’s all about my relationships with my friends and family, so it’s really all about them!
Still, this month is shaping up to be an embarrassment of riches with, most notably, the official launch party, book signing and food-in-art exhibition for The Blooming Platter Cookbook hosted by Sheila Giolitti at Mayer Fine Art Gallery on May 21, 7-9 p.m. If you are in the local area, please come!
But there is much more to be grateful for, including that Jeff Maisey, editor of VEER Magazine, selected me as his May-June cover girl with photos by well-known Hampton Roads photographer, Kathy Keeney, and my cookbook the subject of the cover story written by a similarly well-known writer in our area, Kristen Kirk.
The photo shoot was this past Wednesday right after I got home from school. I had hoped against hope that my braces would be taken off the day before, but it turns out that I have two more weeks to go. Darn. So we took a lot of “closed mouth” shots. When we were finished inside, I sat down on the steps outside just to chat, but Kathy said she liked the pose and grabbed her camera again, snapping some shots like this one.
At one point, she asked me to hold my hand a certain way because she liked my wedding band, a birthday gift to myself (still more of the embarrassment of riches). My husband “bought that ring twice” as he says because the center stone–his birthstone–broke twice in the original gold setting. So I bought a $15 sterling silver band from Express(!) and have been wearing it for about as many years.
Last spring, with Joe’s and my 20th wedding anniversary approaching in September, I looked into having a mold made and the ring cast in platinum since I only wear silver-toned metals now. But, even without a new stone, it was more than I wanted to pay. So then, a few months ago, with this birthday approaching, I got serious about a solution, wondering about a completely new design that incorporated only the diamond baguettes from the original.
I called upon Mary Beth Nixon, my wonderful high school art teacher friend with an MFA in jewelry design from VCU. I described my desire for a sleek, wide, quasi-industrial band with a little sparkle from the baguettes. Together, we created a design that features those elements plus contrasting satin and polished finishes. She, in turn, consulted with her friend Don Elliott who we hired to do the work. And what masterful work he did, don’t you think? You can find him at D.H. Elliott’s in Richmond, VA, 804.222.2806.
Thanks Sheila, Jeff, Kathy, Kristen, Mary Beth, and Don!
Incidentally, the watch I’m wearing is a cherished gift from Joe and his sisters Terri Ann, and Tina. It belonged to their mother, our beloved Terry, who sadly passed away on April 13, losing her fight with brain cancer after several years. They generously gave me her watch the day before her funeral and I find it a comforting symbolic connection to her. Mary Beth and I designed the ring months before Terry died, but doesn’t the watch look uncannily compatible with it’s square face and tiny square diamond “numbers”?
Thank you Joe, Terri Ann, and Tina.
