eclaire (what's in a) name?

ever since mike and i began avidly cooking and subscribing to vegetarian times to obtain new, delicious recipes, we rarely repeat a recipe. if we do repeat a recipe, it’s usually over a span of a month or two, while the produce it utilizes is fresh and available – but that recipe rarely makes it to the next year when the season rolls around again. this recipe, for honey tofu and couscous, is one of the rare exceptions to our constant desire to try new recipes and experience new flavor combinations. we stumbled across this recipe shortly after thanksgiving, when nothing sounded good to eat because we were still reeling from our veggie tday feast. we made it once, then the next week, then the next one after that. and before we knew it, we were both making it for our respective family’s christmas celebrations.

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i love polenta. it is one of my all time favorite foods — if, and only if, it is made from scratch. the first time i spied tubes of polenta at trader joe’s i literally squealed with delight and threw a package into my cart, imagining all sorts of possible delightful dinners. but when i got home and opened said tube, i was thoroughly disappointed. the polenta did not have a good texture, taste, or consistency, so i made the decision never to buy the tubed stuff again. the from-scratch-kind of polenta tastes like fresh corn, is creamy and smooth, and can be eaten porridge-like or allowed to congeal (sorry, k, know you hate that word!) into a smooth base for toppings. the latter is the way i prefer polenta, and even though it is a little time consuming, it’s a fantastic treat and quite simple to make.

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many years ago, when i moved into my first apartment in davis, i mostly alternated between the three quick stand-by dinners of spaghetti, burritos, and tofu/veggie stir fries on weekdays so i could save most of my time for studying. on the weekends, though, my roommate and i would make big dinners for the all the housemates (plus our then-boyfriends, now husbands) by rolling corn tortillas around massive quantities of cheese, dousing them in enchilada sauce, and making large pans of spanish rice and refried beans to serve on the side. these days, enchilada feasts are a much rarer occasion in my life, but every time i make a pan, i feel a twinge of nostalgia and think about those days in davis. ok, to be honest, it’s really only a small twinge, because my life has changed in so many ways for the better since the days when i thought cheese was the best enchilada filling in the whole world.

this recipe, for avocado bean enchiladas, is one of the best enchilada fillings i’ve ever consumed. it has a great spice combination and an unexpected crunch from the cashews, all mixed in between soft pinto beans and tangy lime juice. this recipe comes from the amazing cookbook eat, drink & be vegan by dreena burton, which was given to me as a birthday present (thanks, l & r!). i know that i tend to exaggerate or overstate things, but SERIOUSLY, this is one of the greatest cookbooks i have ever used (besides the standard joy of cooking, that is). since i received it in the middle of july, not a single meal that we’ve made at home has come from anywhere else, and all of them have been delightful. i really can’t rave about it enough, dear readers, and if i had the money, i’d buy all of you (yes, even the omnivores!) a copy. instead, i’ll be posting about the inspiration for delicious meals that i’ve gained from this cookbook’s author, who also blogs here, and maybe the tantalizing photos and descriptions will inspire you to go out and buy yourself a copy! i’m sure i’ll have some commentary and changes to her recipes later (although i’m madly in love with everyone so far and wouldn’t change a thing), so stay tuned!

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i turned a year older last week, received some amazing presents from my family and friends (many of which will make it into another blog post because i want to share them with you), and had several fun celebrations.

a looong time ago, when i turned 10 years old, my parents threw me a party at natural bridges and had pizza delivered to the beach. i was SO excited by the prospect of having a delivery person show up at the beach, asking for “emilie’s party” that the pizza tasted even better than usual when it finally arrived. so this year, when i debated where and what to do for a small gathering, i realized – hey! i live on the westside now! why not go back to natural bridges and have another pizza party? – but since i’m double the age i was at my last beach pizza party (plus seven years), i decided to make it a little more grown up and make the pizza at home (and ask the numerous fantastic chefs in attendance to bring something delicious to share).

when i tell people that i make pizza dough from scratch, many people try to tell me how much time i could save by buying prepared crusts. but my parents raised me to expect that the default pizza dough would be handmade, so no use in trying to change that now! (that delivery pizza experience for my 10th bday was one of the few times i can recall eating non-homemade pizza.)

for this beach party, i made three different pizzas to appease the variety of eaters in attendance: one with mozzarella, homemade tomato sauce, pineapple, and fake canadian bacon; one with soy cheese, the same homemade tomato sauce, olives, and mushrooms; and the third with a vegan spread (annie’s spread is amazing, if you have never tried it before), plus zucchini and red bell peppers. i was so focused on making it to the beach on time that i didn’t take many pics (with my BEAUTIFUL new camera!!) of the finished products, so you’ll just have to ogle the dough instead.

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after a fun and food filled weekend, mike and i decided to make a hearty, healthy, vegetable-laden dinner to start out our week and counterbalance the weekend’s excesses.

we made this recipe for the first time a couple weeks ago (it was in last month’s vegetarian times), and it was printed as a two part recipe – the first being a mango teriyaki sauce on grilled tofu and the second part brown rice. the mango sauce, which is salty and sweet and very bright tasting (unlike the bottled stuff), is the most amazing part of the recipe, and i think it would lend itself well as a topping on all sorts of other concoctions. we LOVED this sauce and its juxtaposition with the aromatic and nutty flavored rice so much that we decided we had to make the whole dish again, but this time add lots of vegetables and make it a stir fry instead of grilled tofu over rice.

so the recipe i’m giving you has three components – rice, sauce, and veggie/tofu stir fry. while typing out the recipe, i became a little worried that you, dear readers, might think that it’s a little daunting. but i assure you, we completed the whole meal in less then 30 minutes of hands on time (we started the brown rice in my trusty rice cooker before heading down the hill to new leaf), and while there are a lot of components, each is pretty simple.

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