Sunday's Cooking Round-Up

To go with left over Truffled Mushrooms over Whipped White Beans, I wanted a big salad for lunch. I made the Mediterranean Olive Oil and Lemon Juice Dressing from Veganomicon to go with it. It was really good--reminds me of the dressing they use in Greek restaurants with oil, lemon juice, garlic, and lots of herbs. The recipe made enough to last me all week.I also had left over hummus (Veganomicon recipe) from last night so decided to make Sesame Pita Pockets from Mark Bittman's Food Matters Cook Book. As with all his bread recipes, they were pretty easy to make--just time consuming, though mostly unattended. The recipe called for all-purpose flour, wheat flour, instant yeast, salt, olive oil, sesame seeds, and molasses mixed in the food processor. It rose for two hours, then I made little balls. After they rested for a while, I flattened them into pitas. And after another rest, I baked them. I couldn't taste the sesame seeds, and I didn't cut them into pockets. But they were sooooo good! I've never made (or tried) home-made pita bread before. It was fantastic. The recipe made 12, and I can freeze them. Happy I found one more thing I can make from scratch to save money. (Next time, I will use less flour while rolling so they turn out prettier.)
I also made another pot of Slow Cooker Roasted Vegetable Stock to freeze for future recipes.

For dinner, I made the Leek and Bean Cassoulet with Biscuits from Veganomicon. It was very time intensive. First, you saute leeks, onion, carrots, and garlic then add seasonings and vegetable broth mixed with cornstarch. Then you add boiled potatoes, frozen peas, and a can of white beans. It simmers into a rich, thick stew.
Next, you make biscuit dough from flour, salt, vegetable shortening, and water. You put the veggie stew into a casserole dish, drop the biscuit dough right on top, and bake it until the biscuits are done. It was really good comfort food. It reminded me of a really good veggie pot pie loaded with veggies in a thick and yummy sauce, with biscuits mixed right in. Though my omnivore husband said it was "good, but nothing special," I really liked it.