I’m so glad we had this time together,
Just to have a laugh, or sing a song.
Seems we just got started and before you know it
Comes the time we have to say, ‘So long.’
Can you name that jingle? Hint: family tv hour, 1970’s, USA. Let me know if you get it!
So, 20 posts in 30 days and Vegan MoFo 2014 has come to a successful close. I met lots of great new people – readers and bloggers, both. Circle expanded, check! I seem to have been offered a regular contributor position at a major vegan website (more on that once I make my final decision about it). Exposure and opportunity, check! I provided you my readers with a bevy of new recipes and heard from many of you that you’ve already tried and liked many of them. Extra points to those of you who sent pictures – I loved that! Provided service and value, check!
But the final thing I join MoFo for – to discover new blogs and gather new recipes – didn’t really happen so much. So many people were signed up but didn’t actually participate and many who did wrote an awful lot of product and restaurant reviews, rather than recipes. And what was with the blogs participating and posting non-vegan content?? I think Vegan MoFo hey-day is over. For me, at least. This will be my last.
I don’t have a final recipe for you today. Instead I thought I’d share some of the recipes I didn’t get around to making. I would have held them over for next year but since deciding that there will be no next year, I am passing them on to you. Ta da! My Jewish readers still have the hurdle of Sukkot cooking looming ahead of them, so I’m hoping that some additional vegan recipes will help you plan your menus.
1. First up is this Syrian Lentil and Swiss Chard dish that I was planning to make for Rosh Hashanah and then blog for you today. Deep into my holiday cooking, about an hour after the stores had closed for the holiday, I opened my pantry to pull out the lentils and… yeah, no lentils. I don’t think I have been bereft of lentils EVER since becoming a vegan in 2009, but you know, Murphy had his way with me that fateful day and my lentil dish was not to be. But it’s OK, because I can send you to the source:
Syrian Lentils with Swiss Chard
2. Next we have Tofu Chraime by Ori Shavit. Ori is a major vegan blogger and animal rights activist here in Israel. She has a full blog in Hebrew and then a partial blog in English. Chraime, for those who are not familiar with it, is a Moroccan dish of fish stewed in a spicy tomato sauce. When I posted this recipe on Facebook the other day, Sivan, editor of The Vegan Woman, told me it’s her favorite recipe and she makes it all the time. Sounds good to me!
3. I had planned to make the Pomegranate Tabouleh from an Israeli cookbook I own, but this one looks similar:
4. Cardamom Spiced Pancakes with Homemade Date Jam from One Arab Vegan were on my list:
Cardamom Spiced Pancakes with Homemade Date Jam
5. Continuing the cardamom love, this Cardamom Rose Cold Brew Coffee caught my eye:
6. Fellow MoFo’er Zsu’s Vegan Kitchen, who did a month of vegan burgers worthy of a looksie, shared this Tempeh Gyro Burger that fit my theme:
7. Hearty White Bean Soup with Spinach, Rosemary and Garlic would be delicious on a cool evening in the sukkah or at home:
Hearty White Bean Soup with Spinach, Rosemary and Garlic
8. Coconut Rice Pudding from one of my favorite blogs, May I Have that Recipe, looks divine!
9. These Sesame and Hummus Bites from another favorite blog, Coconut and Berries, is as close as you’ll get to baked falafel on this blog. People kept asking me “Do you have a falafel recipe?” Folks, I just could not bring myself to do it. First of all, falafel is deep-fried, that’s what makes it taste so good. Secondly, I have falafel abundance at my fingertips here and would never, ever even WANT to make it at home, let alone, ack, bake it. Falafel snob, sorry. But these look interesting enough to try:
Sesame Hummus Bites with Mango Tahini Sauce
10. I’m planning on using my leftover freekah to make this version of Mejadra, which is usually made of lentils and rice, here made of freekah and black lentils. This recipe uses goat yogurt but can be easily veganized with vegan yogurt or just by omitting yogurt entirely:
So my puppies, that should keep you busy for awhile! I shall be back to blogging soon, but perhaps will take a week or two off. A reminder that MY recipe posts for several years of Vegan MoFos Past, can be found on my recipe index page and by searching posts with the Vegan Mofo category tag.
Here I am, oven-mitt waving at you, in front of the very stove where I have been standing all month. And yes, indeedy, short hair happened this month too!
Thank you all SO much for hanging out with me in the kitchen!! All the best, emily