A No Cook Sunday Dinner & Birthday Cupcakes

Sunday was the first time we reached our normal high temp of 100 degrees. Inspired by Urban Vegan, Megan, DGMGV, and Vegan Noodle (sorry if I’ve left anyone out) we made a Sushi and Summer Roll Sunday dinner. We used half sheets of nori for the sushi and they were difficult not to overstuff. Chase made most of it. He got creative and rolled up some baked tofu along with red pepper, daikon, and cucumber.



I tried to be creative with the summer rolls. We filled the rolls with leafy greens, broccoli slaw, cilantro, mango, avocado, onion chives, and baked tofu. I wanted a couple of rolls without tofu for myself. To distinguish the rolls, I rolled the filling without tofu halfway, then added the chives, more cilantro, and the tofu (or not) so you could clearly see which roll was which.

I also made a yummy salad with spinach, mung bean sprouts, radish, oranges, mango, craisins, and peanuts. The fruit was so juicy I only needed a little dressing, so I mixed up 1 tablespoon each of soy sauce, maple syrup, and cider vinegar, and just a teaspoon of sesame oil.

I even changed up the broccoli and added a miso dressing using a recipe from The Saucy Vegetarian.

What a nice, light, and refreshing meal. Here’s a plate…..

… and the table.

I have been anxious to make Green Bean Swirl Bread ever since I saw it on Dr. Stonielove’s blog. The green paste is verrrry sticky and a little difficult to work with, but this is a delicious, slightly sweet bread. My top separated - that's never happened before - but we just overlooked that.

Isn’t it pretty (pretending the top is fine)? I’m envisioning a version with cherries in it for Christmas. I toasted slices of the bread and added fresh fruits and NadaMoo vanilla for our dessert. The bread is really nice toasted.

Yesterday was my mom’s birthday. She requested VWAV Lemon Gem Cupcakes. I reminded my nonvegan mother that she was asking for vegan treats, and she assured me those were her favorites. Yay! We like cake and not so much the frosting. Here’s what I hastily baked Monday night.

They were the best batch I’ve ever made. The cake was so soft and lemony. Last night we went out to eat at my mom’s favorite seafood restaurant. She called ahead and was assured the chef could prepare two vegan entrees. On most occasions, Chase and I have been very well accommodated. But last night we were shocked when the waitress told us the chef could make us baked potatoes without butter. I almost said, Well I would hate for him to go to any trouble. But we made out okay. We ordered broccoli without hollandaise, sugar snap peas in sesame garlic sauce, and soba noodles without crab on top. Nothing was picture worthy, except the decoration on my mom’s dessert.

That's it for the family birthdays until next year.