Today was one of those days that felt super long and busy, yet in hindsight we didn’t accomplish a whole lot. After a lot of driving around to markets and hardware stores and other such exciting places, I was in the mood for a pretty easy meal. Luckily, I had just the dinner (and dress!) in mind!

It doesn’t really look it here, but this dress is super ’70s. Mainly because under the cardigan, there lurk some pretty massive bell sleeves. They’re a bit much for me (I’m somewhat tiny, so they dominate me!), but I liked the rest of the dress enough that I bought it anyway- it probably helped that I bought it from a pretty popular vintage boutique run through Facebook, where things are snapped up pretty quickly. That kind of pressure doesn’t give you much time to think about a purchase!

I decided to run with the ’70s theme and make a super retro dinner. I’m not sure whether it was a predominantly Australian phenomenon, but apricot chicken was huge back then and is remembered as the food of the decade. I had a vague memory of seeing a recipe for an apricot, red lentil and chickpea stew in Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s Colour Me Vegan- it sounded like the perfect veganisation, already taken care of for me!

I actually bought this book a couple of months before VeganMoFo, when I already had my theme in mind and was thinking that it might be useful if I got stuck cooking for a particular dress. That hasn’t happened yet, so the book went unused. It seems that some people are bothered by the book’s odd structure- organised by colour- but I don’t mind it. But my MoFo theme probably indicates that I’m a pretty visual sort of person! I’ve only had a quick flip through the book, but there are some things that sound interesting- the blueberry ketchup has to be a stand out! Some of the Wiko household’s favourite recipes are from Colleen’s other books (Chadwiko loves the tempeh shawarmas from The Vegan Table, and the mac and cheese from that same book is my hands-down favourite ever), so I have a lot of faith in her recipes.

While this didn’t blow me away like that mac and cheese recipe always does, this is a really nice, comforting meal- if not the most visually appealing thing I’ve ever made. I’m not the hugest fan of dried fruit (it’s always kind of grossed me out, but I’m getting better about it!), but the dried apricots here were really nice. The long cooking time gave them a melt-in-your-mouth texture that wasn’t obtrusive. Red lentil stews and curries are one of my go-to weeknight meals, so it’ll be nice to have a new option for when I’m inexplicably not in the mood for my beloved Veganomicon red lentil cauliflower curry.

It was a good show from Colour Me Vegan on its first outing, and I’m looking forward to exploring it a bit further. And with a layout made for dress-matching meals, I’ve got no excuse!

Tagged: colour me vegan, veganmofo