OLD FASHIONED LENTIL LOAF, MASHED POTATOES, AND BROCCOLI WITH GARLIC BUTTER AND CASHEWS

Yesterday I Made:

OLD FASHIONED LENTIL LOAF, MASHED POTATOES, AND BROCCOLI WITH GARLIC BUTTER AND CASHEWS for DINNER.

Loaf and broccoli recipes from THE VEGAN TABLE.

The loaf is packed with lentils, onions, bread crumbs, walnuts, spices, seasonings, and topped with ketchup.

We both weren't too crazy about this recipe.

Every bite reminded us of lentil soup.

The broccoli was perfectly crunchy and full of flavor, sweet, tangy, and salty.

I don't think I'll be making this recipe again.

But then again, I'm a little biased since I don't really care for broccoli.

The mashed potatoes were divine.

So easy to make, you don't even need a recipe.

I do recommend using yellow potatoes.

All you do is wash (leave peel on the potatoes) and cube the potatoes.

Place in a pot and cover with water.

Cook over medium-high heat until soft.

Drain and place in bowl for mashing.

Add room temperature soymilk, Earth Balance, salt and pepper.

Use a potato masher and mash until desired consistency.

GARDEN PATTIES,GRATED RAW BEET SALAD, AND BROCCOLI

Today I Made:

GARDEN PATTIES, GRATED RAW BEET SALAD WITH JICAMA AND GRAPEFRUIT, and BROCCOLI WITH VEGENAISE SHOYU DIPPING SAUCE.

The garden patties are literally filled with vegetables,grains, and nuts.

Millet, quinoa, onions, red bell pepper, carrots, celery, spinach and tons and tons of nuts:

Almonds, pumpkin seeds, and cashews, and spices.

Overall, they turned out delicious, but they fall apart easily.

I followed the recipe pretty much to the letter, with one exception, I used cashews instead of sunflower seeds.

Once all the ingredients were combined, I ended up having to add vegetable broth to make it more pliable, because it was just too dry to come together.

I also refrigerated the patties for an hour, so they wouldn't fall apart on the skillet.

They turned out really tasty.

Savory, crispy, and crunchy.

I described them to my husband as being similar to a trail mix bar but savory.

I topped them with my mom's homemade salsa.

The raw beet salad added even more crunch to the mix.

Julienned raw beets, jicama, grapefruit sections, chopped cilantro, and a grapefruit dressing.

The original name for this recipe is GRATED RAW BEET SALAD WITH JICAMA, AVOCADO, AND ORANGE, from this month's VEGETARIAN TIMES.

But, I didn't have any avocado, oranges, or orange juice concentrate.

Even though, it was delicious, refreshing and very memorable.

The broccoli dipping sauce was actually a vegan adaptation of a sauce my mother-in-law introduced me to years ago.

Mayonnaise, shoyu ( Japanese for Soy Sauce ), and ground sesame seeds.

While busting my head trying to figure out how to serve this amazing broccoli from the Pasadena Farmer's Market, I realized that I could veganize my mother-in-laws dipping sauce by just using Vegenaise instead of mayonnaise.

Turned out just the same and even better since it was cholesterol free.

This entire dinner was made even more special because we bought all this week's produce from the farmers at the Pasadena Farmers market this weekend.

The quality of the produce bought at the farmer's market compared to what you get at Whole Foods or even a regular market is so much more superior.

Unfortunately, the market is on Saturdays and it's 25 minutes from our house.

It's also too hard to get up early on Saturday mornings.

So, this week's produce is a total treat for us.