BBQ Cauliflower

1 Head of cauliflower
1 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
sweet baby ray's hawaiian bbq sauce
1 tbsp vegan mayonnaise
4 chopped green onions

Cut cauliflower with stems attached and place in a large bowl. Add olive oil, salt to taste, and garlic powder, toss until well combine. Bake for 35 or until cauliflower is Al-dente and starts to brown. Take pan out of oven, using a silicone brush, add bbq sauce and bake 15 minutes more.

Optional dip. I use a simple and quick mayo and 1/2 of sriracha with chopped green onions

My Blue Apron

Last week I had an opportunity to try Blue Apron Recipe Meals delivery service. I read reviews about blue apron last year and didn't think this service would work for me because they are not vegan friendly but they do offer vegetarian recipe meals, so I thought I would give it a try.

This is what was delivered to me

They give you everything you need to make the meal (except olive oil) and  8x9" recipe cards with step by step instructions on the back of the cards.


I couldn't wait to get started cooking. My first meal, which was the barley soup in which I took a picture to compare to their photo. lol

The Barley soup was easy to make. My only complaint? They don't tell you to crush the whole spices that they've already included in the bag of Barley soup spice blend mixture. While I eating my soup I crunched on - fennel seeds, aleppo pepper and coriander seeds.  I'm on a vegan diet and couldn't use some of the ingredients they included for this particular recipe, for the instance the parmesan cheese and the cream fraiche. I did how-ever already have a vegan recipe for the cream fraiche and I always have on hand, vegan parmesan cheese.   This soup was plenty and enough to feed at least 5 people.

My next meal was the Stir Fried Rice Noodles, YUM!

I can honestly say that this recipe is vegan friendly! It was so delicious and my friends enjoyed it to! I've never had Gai Lan vegetable before which is included in this recipe. I had to google to find out what it was, only to find out it was just Chinese broccoli. I learn a few things about mixing different ingredients, I would never had thought about using together like, peanut butter with coconut milk which  the recipe called for in order to made a cream base to mix with the noodles. 

The last recipe I made last night was the Ramp & Snap Pea Fregola Sarda

Again there was a couple of food items I couldn't use for this recipe like the butter and parmesan cheese that blue apron included. I substituted some earth balance butter and vegan parmesan. This was an interesting dish, not one of my favorites but it wont go to waste. I found the fregola sarda pasta to be quite chewy.  I didn't care to add the walnuts to this dish that was included. The mint was a good choice for added flavor to this pasta dish, again, I would never thought to add such a combination. I had a lot leftover. This meal was enough to feed at least 4 people.

I wrote to Blue Apron last year, to request if they would create some vegan recipe meals for delivery services and they was kind enough to rely back stating that they will look into it in the near future.

I believe their meal plans are for two people, 3 meals per week $9.99 per person for a total of $59.94 and they have a family plan.

This recipe meal delivery service is good for those who like having their meals to cook delivered and it's good for those who are interested in expanding their cooking techniques in my opinion.

I hope this helps

Yeast Buns

INGREDIENTS

4 cups unbleached flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1(2 1/4  tsp) packet active dry yeast
2 t Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 3/4 cups hot water (about 105 degrees)

DIRECTIONS
in a large bowl mix together flour, salt, and yeast, and form a well in the bottom.
pour in water and add the oil.
with a wooden spoon slowly pull the flour into the liquid until it's fully adsorbed.
work it into a ball with your hands and place on a floured work surface.
the dough should be tacky but not hopelessly sticky. sprinkle flour on the work surface and hands if needed; continue to knead the dough for 5-10 minutes or until the dough becomes elastic.
rinse and grease the large bowl, then place the dough back in it. cover lightly with damp cloth or plastic wrap. let rise in warm place (i usually turn on my oven and place the dough on the stove above it) until double in size (about 1 to 1-1/2 hours).
turn dough back out onto floured surface. punch down and kneed slightly to work out air bubbles.
divide the dough in half, form round loaves and place on lightly oiled pans. preheat oven to 375 and let dough rise 20 more minutes.
bake 30-40 minutes

Strawberry Jam

16 oz. Fresh Strawberries
1 Lemon Juice
1 tbsp Chia Seeds
1/2 cup cane sugar


Instructions
In a medium saucepan over low to medium heat, add the quartered strawberries. Cook on a low heat until softened. Use a potato masher to break them up.
Add the lemon juice and sugar. You might need to add more sugar to your sweetness of taste.This will vary depending on the ripeness and sweetness of the strawberries. Add the chia seeds and cook on low heat until thickened. About 5-10 minutes. It should be thick and gelatinous. Allow to cool and transfer to one of your recycled jar. Refrigerate overnight. This will help the seeds to soften even further. Spread on your morning toast or muffin. This recipe makes about 1cup of jam and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.