Post Punk Kitchen Forum

So my sister made the brocolli chowder and declared it a great success (even though she DID sprinkle cheese all over it).
I made the split pea soup. I thought it was good but SOOO salty. I think it must be my bullion making everything salty - instead of veggie broth I have been using the Better then Bullion stuff and I need to cut that out because it is just too much. The smoked paprika really does give a nice smokey flavor to the soup.

I use regular veg BTB and love it, but they do have a lower sodium veg option, too.

My honey was sick on Saturday, and he requested the Arabian Lentil Soup. We were eating it and saying "why don't we make this more often?" haha. Leftovers today will be glorious.

I was very meh about it first time I made it but with everyone raving about it I tried it again. So glad I did because I thought it was fantastic this time round. I really enjoyed it at work today for my lunch.

I've had the Arabian Lentil and Rice Soup twice and both times it was fine, but it certainly didn't make me rave about it. I guess I'll try it one more time with brown rice (long-grain, as I don't have brown Basmati; I've previously used white Basmati) - maybe that's what makes all the difference?

I really wanted to like the Red Wine & Kalamata Tempeh, but it just wasn't for me. I think it was mostly to do with the thyme - my nemesis. I should've used oregano. The flavour was OK, but the texture was wrong - I felt like I was eating dirt and twigs. And, having finished it, my tongue feels weird. I might try it again but with a different herb combo (and when I'm just cooking for myself since Mike is now convinced he doesn't like tempeh).

I usually use better than Boullion for the soups, but I use a smidge less than a tsp per cup and I don't add salt anywhere else. Otherwise, it does sort of come out tasting like a salt lick. But, I think BtB has the best depth of flavor overall, so it's worth fiddling.

I love the Arabian lentil soup to pieces, but my mom isn't as crazy enamored. I think it depends how much love you have for lemon. The pea soup is both of our favorite soup now. Oddly, my dad thinks its gross and insists in a can of Cambells.

Mine came out so gross! I marinated overnight. Haha. Don't do that.

Making the chickpea piccata over polenta! Omnomnomnom!

I feel the same way about the soup, fruitbat. I thought it was meh - had it all week for lunch & by the end of the week I was really done with it.

Snap!

I liked the Kalamata Tempeh, but I used veggie broth instead of the wine.

I am making the chickpea piccata tonight for dinner and one of the pasta salads for lunches for the rest of the week (I forget the name but it has sun dried tomatoes and walnuts in the dressing).

Oh, the trattoria pasta salad. That's probably my favorite recipe in the entire book. Goes over well at potlucks too.

That's the one, it sounds really good.

Ahhh, this is genius! I'm doing that next week.

I had the chickpea piccata last night and stole Tofulish's idea of having it over polenta - it was awesome. But I wasn't struck on the rocket leaves, I think I would probably stir them in a wilt them next time. But tonight's leftovers will be rocket-less because I didn't realise it was in the pasta salad too and didn't buy enough.

The trattoria pasta salad is great too by the way, the dressing is so good.

Made the tortilla soup for dinner tonight, it was a hit! I halved the lime, added heaps of tobasco, and left the seeds in the jalapeños. Soooo good.

This is one of my favourites! I have some in my freezer, must dig it out sometime soon.

I made the chickpea piccata on Friday night for a fancy meal during the blizzard. It was superb, I placed it on top of mashed potatoes and fresh baby spinach. The spinach wilted and on a whole this dish just looked beautiful. Paired it with some white wine and dark chocolate for dessert...super classy.

I made the hummus this evening. Instead of reserved liquid (since I was using dried chickpeas rather than canned) I used a tablespoon water and one of rapeseed oil. I subbed rapeseed oil since I was out of olive oil and added in an extra tablespoon of lemon juice. It turned out to be the nicest hummus I've ever had. I don't know why but I seem to prefer it without tahini.

I use dried chickpeas too, and just use the water the chickpeas were cooked in. It strengthens the flavour of the hummus and, to me, tastes much better than plain water!

I just bought this book and made the cranberry cashew biryani and 2nd Avenue korma for dinner tonight. Both were so good, and my omni husband loved them too. I am making the pad thai salad with basic tofu later this week. I cannot wait to cook my way through this book.

Usually I do that but I dumped the water without thinking! Silly me.

Anyways, a couple of people at work had a bit and they loved it.

I love thyme, but I was having major issues with it for a while there, totally hating it. It was, like you said all twiggy and dirty.

It was the brand of thyme I was using. I switched to another kind, that was more leaves, and less of the stems, voila, I love thyme again

I have similar issues with the kind of Mexican Oregano I have been using. Lots of twigs/stems. Yucky. I have to crush it up between my palms, and pick out the twigs.