Cookbook Project: Quick and Easy…

It’s been my goal to finish this project in 2021. Now, in mid-November, I feel like I have quite a few cookbooks left! So when I realized I had pretty much everything I needed to make recipes from two of the cookbooks, I took an evening and made it happen!

#1. The City Gardener’s Cookbook

I love the P-Patches around the city so obviously I love this cookbook inspired by them! I picked this up at a used bookstore, so it has notes on some of the recipes from a former owner. I decided to make a cookie recipe that involves cooked beets mostly because I couldn’t even imagine how these would taste!

Adding the beets and feeling kind of skeptical…

Post bake and feeling better about these! They spread more than I wanted them to, but tasted surprisingly good - the recipe called for cardamom (my fave) and nutmeg so they were really pleasant and felt perfect for fall!

#2. Vegan Meal Plan for Beginners

Jonathan bought me this book as I am eating more and more vegan food. At first, I wasn’t sure what I’d want to cook from it. There are a lot of recipes that are either for pantry staples that I already have or for some kinds of “faux meat” which I don’t usually like. However, the fried tofu eggs appealed to me. I try to eat a vegan diet before dinner every day, which means I miss out on egg sandwiches in the morning. A tofu replacement sounded appealing!

First up, marinating the tofu. The color comes from turmeric and helps the final result look surprisingly convincing!

A quick stint in the frying pan (while the bagels are toasting…)

Add some vegan cheese and you’ve got a decent egg-free egg sandwich! I could see myself making these in the mornings in the future and I’m really happy about how easy they were to make!

After making these, I went back to my master list for this project. Turns out I have five cookbooks left to work from!