Cookbook challenge: Tamale pie and zucchini muffins

A good cookbook can be worth its weight in gold. Or in the case of this week’s cookbook challenge book, Yellow Rose Recipes, worth a couple of hundred dollars on Amazon. I was lucky enough to pick up a more reasonably priced copy from Joanna, the lovely author, before they sold out. It was a wise move, because this has become a well-used cookbook in our house. With its simple recipes, cute drawings and lots of photos, this is Chadwiko’s favourite cookbook in our collection, and the one that he turns to when it’s his turn to cook.

But it had been a while since I tried anything new from Yellow Rose Recipes, but a quick flick through its pages showed me that it definitely had a few more tricks between its covers. I decided to kick off the week with a recipe that I’d heard great things about, but had never tried before.

Tamale pie

Before this week, I didn’t even know what a tamale pie was. But I’ve now been educated, and realise that aside from being a fairly unphotogenic dish, it’s also a traditional American pie with a polenta crust and, in this case, a filling of corn, seitan, beans, tomatoes, chilli and vegan cheese. I was impressed with how easy this was to make for such a filling and satisfying meal- perfect for the rainy days we’ve been having lately. This was made even better with the cool contrast of avocado and Tofutti sour cream. And the best part- a lot of leftovers for when I can’t face the prospect of heading to the supermarket in the rain.

And freshly baked this afternoon, some healthy sweet treats:

Zucchini muffins

I love zucchini bread, so even I was surprised that I’d never tried these zucchini muffins before. I left out the raisins, because I kind of hate them, and added extra pecans, and these were delicious. They’re a little denser than I’d expected, but I like that in an acceptable-for-breakfast muffin. The lemon zest really adds something special here. These are more convenient than a slice of zucchini bread to grab as I run for the bus in the morning, so I can see these being made again and again.

I just wish I had more time in the week to make everything I want to try from Yellow Rose Recipes.

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