VeganMoFo Day 1: Romesco picnic

I don’t know how it happened already, but it’s that time of year again- the Vegan Month of Food! All month long I’ll be blogging both here and on the official MoFo blog, testing the limits of my organisational abilities and/or complete madness to see if I can post every day, just like last year.

This year, I’ve decided to combine two significant October events- VeganMoFo, and Frocktober! Each day this month I’ll be wearing a different dress from my shamefully large collection, and cooking something somehow related to the dress (stay tuned to see how tenuous these links become!). Noble theme, or desperate attempt to legitimise my dress-hoarding? This year, the readers decide!

I’m kicking things off with a vintage dress in a very VeganMoFo shade of orange.

This dress kind of makes me feel like a walking picnic blanket, in the best possible way.

And since I actually wore this on a quick day-trip to Sydney yesterday, portable picnic-style food was definitely in order. But what to make that would reflect all that blinding, MoFo-ing orange? Just as I was pondering this, it was Isa Moskowitz to the rescue (and not for the first time).

These romesco roasted vegetable sandwiches emerged in the tester kitchen for Isa’s upcoming book just in the nick of time.

With a delicious romesco sandwich spread; roasted zucchini, capsicum and cauliflower; mounds of basil and fresh Turkish bread, these fit the bill perfectly. Much more than a mid-afternoon snack, these sandwiches were a main meal in themselves. I was glad I saved mine for an early dinner on the drive home.

Since this recipe is still under lock and key (or maybe just password), I thought I would share a few of my other favourite dishes from testing for Isa’s upcoming book, Isa Does It.

This chana saag is one of the quickest Indian meals I’ve ever made, but rest assured no flavour is sacrificed here! A delicious, go-to weeknight meal.

This harira was a lifesaver this winter. The mint and Moroccan spices set this comforting soup apart from the rest.

Simple food is often some of the best, and this pesto-cauliflower pasta with crumbed tofu was an instant favourite!

I made these chocolate chip gingerbread cookies just last week, and they went over a treat with everyone who tried them. I’m craving more already!

And lastly, this malai kofta recipe reintroduced me to one of my favourite dishes in the world (and one that I never thought I would be able to eat again after going vegan). This recipe is worth the cost of the book alone!

Hungry yet? I know I am. A second dinner wouldn’t be so wrong, would it?

Tagged: cookies, indian, isa does it, moroccan, sandwich, tester, veganmofo

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