More of the Daily Foods

This month is going to be a busy cooking month, particularly the end of the month. Of course you'll all get to experience, virtually, the dinner, desserts and snacks that will be had by family and friends of mine, but for now I will continue with the weekly soups and work lunches.

Most recently, I made a matzo ball soup.



Being that matzo is purely wheat and water and I only added 2 tbsps of potato startch, I truly thought this soup would be a little on the plain side. Well, I was pleasantly surprised! The matzo took on the flavour of the broth, simmered with green onions, carrots and peas. It was both hearty and delicious! Oh, and not to mention- nutritious.

Next up we have more lunchables. First, I made a coconut curried noodle dish.



All it requires is cooking up some rice noodles, simmering shallots, garlic, sesame oil, curry powder (the original called for paste, but I preferred the powder), tamari, turmeric, salt, and coconut milk. After it's mixed altogether, you throw in some some diced tomatoes and fresh basil.

For a different noodle dish, I made rice noodles with spicy nut dressing.



For the salad, I chopped red and yellow peppers, added some freshly chopped cilantro (and let me tell you- it was the first time using my food processor and I was beyond amazed at how wonderful it is at chopping such food items!) and toasted peanuts. The dressing included peanut butter, veggie stock, rice vinegar, tamari, toasted sesame oil, a bit of sugar, cayenne pepper and a freshly grated ginger root.

I prefer the nut dish over the curry dish, personally. I think the sweeter flavour does me right.

Next up is a macaroni bean salad. This is one of my faves and I plan on making a big bowl of it for future cookouts.



After boiling up some elbow rice pasta, I mixed together some Veganaise (is there any other kind?), fresh minced parsely, red wine vinegar, sugar, basil, celery seed, paprika, salt, pepper and garlic powder. I combined this with grated carrot, green bell pepper, red onion, and tons and tons of kidney beans. The recipe called for relish, but I'm not much of a fan.

Psst... Add some dijon. You won't regret it.

Lastly, I give you the typical black bean and corn salad, but with an excellent dressing.



Lime juice, flax oil, red onion, cilantro, green onions, cumin, chopped tomato, salt and black pepper made this a very tasty work lunch indeed. However, I think throwing it in some whole wheat wraps makes it even better. So that's exactly what I did.

Now for a review: Hemp Milk vs Soy Milk



I tried chocolate hemp milk for the first time last week and I have to say, I didn't like it too much at first. It's definitely an acquired taste. Mike described it best: It's like a protein shake. It's grainy, it tastes a little like chalk. But you know what? After a few sips, I started to like it. It is very reminiscent of Ovaltine and I used to drink that stuff by the gallons when I was a kid.



However, nothing can win my heart over like soy milk. Certainly not rice milk. Bleck! I love rice, but not when it's all liquidy and gooey. No, no. My heart belongs to the almighty soy, master of several different milky flavours, including vanilla, chocolate, chai, mocha, coffee, spice, nog, pumpkin, chocolate mint, etc... Not only is it delicious and a very good substitute for recipes requiring milk, it is also a pleasant treat in a glass, void of all grain and chalk.

Of course I am aware that plain soy milk gives off a tofu-y flavour when consumed by itself, but why drink it plain when you could always have chocolate? :)