Now I'm cooking!

In the last few days I have made quite a number of recipes. One day I made this amazing Coconut Peanut Sauce/Dressing. I loved that it was so versatile. You could put it cold on a salad, or you could use it warm on noodles or rice or meat or likely a number of things I haven't thought of. I had some Capellini noodles with the sauce on it and then a salad with some on as a dressing for lunch. I will post this particular recipe at the bottom of this post.

The next day, I made hummus and a fresh fruit salsa in the morning. In the evening I made quinoa with wild mushrooms and mixed squashes. I was absolutely pleased as punch with myself. I have never been as interested in cooking as I am right now. All of recipes I am making are vegan, and the one thing I have been surprised with is that so far I have yet to hit on a recipe that is time consuming or hard. I haven't been looking for recipes with these qualities, it just happens. I don't know if most vegan recipes are just like this or I have been lucking out.

In my meat-eating days, there were so many times when I felt the need to choose a new recipe from a magazine or book to make for my family. There were many times when I couldn't locate a certain ingredient, or it took hours to prepare the meal, or when I finished it wasn't what I expected it to be.

The other thing I was thinking is that because most regular cookbooks use every ingredient under the sun and the vegan cookbooks often have similar ingredients in their recipes (or at least a narrower range) that it might feel easier to cook vegan. You don't have to buy that spice that you have never heard of before and then have the almost full bottle sit in your cupboard forever more if you decide not to make that recipe again. Some of the vegan ingredients might not be familiar to someone who does not usually cook this way, but once you get to know them they seem to pop up everywhere from recipe to recipe. I might be naive about this and not have experienced enough yet to know better, but so far this has been a bonus in my world.

Coconut-Peanut Sauce or Salad Dressing (from Vegan Express by Nava Atlas)

One 8 oz jar Thai peanut satay sauce
1/2 cup light coconut milk
juice of one lime
1/2 teaspoon red or green Thai chile paste
2 teaspoons brown rice syrup, agave nectar or maple syrup

1.Combine the ingredients in a small mixing bowl and whisk together until completely combined. Use at room temperature as a dressing.
2. If you would like to use this as a warm sauce, combine the ingredients in a small saucepan, whisk together, and heat gently until warm.