No Appetite for Choppin'

All for me?

I have learned a very, very important thing in cooking the recipes from Isa's Appetite for Reduction:  Aside from the Quinoa recipe, if you are a B'klyn<3, then this is not a weeknight cookbook.


I really, sincerely have a chopping problem.  I strive for perfection, and the amount of effort I put into it usually doesn't even show!


This night saw me making two dishes from the book; Jerk Asparagus (because I like jerk seasoning as well as immature laughter at calling something like asparagus a Jerk.  A suggested main course for this was Caribbean Curry Black Eye Peas with Plantains, a recipe you can find on Isa's very awesome website, Post Punk Kitchen.


This was a preparation nightmare for me, as I am incapable of a) chopping anything in a time that even vaguely resembles reasonable, and b) doing more than a couple of things at once in the kitchen.  I should note that although the meal took ... 3 weeks, I'd guestimate, longer to prepare than it should have, I did manage to get it all to completion at the same time.  This would be the first time ever.

Caribbean Curry Black Eyed Peas With Plantains

I still managed to get confused.  "Finely dice"... wouldn't that be a mince?  What kind of chunks are we talking about with one inch chunks?  Juice of just half of a lime, what?  And, of course, what the heck is a Ninja Storm?!


Out came a dish that left me wondering (again), does this look right?  Is it right?  No, it turns out I did screw up the plantain chopping... but I could not deny the sweet and spicy flavors this dish offered up.  This was... oh my goodness, this was gorgeous!  Vegans eat very, very well, thank you very much!


The Jerk Asparagus (heh heh Jerk), on the other hand, turned out to be... asparagus with effort.  It was slightly spicy, and perhaps it was operator error (I wouldn't put it past me), but ultimately I could produce the same effect with a lot less effort by using a scant amount of oil and ground spices.  The Husband took great offense that the asparagus, while called Jerk (tee hee Jerk),  didn't use any hot peppers in the seasoning.  (The curry did, and it was fabulous, he's looking forward to me making more of her curries).  

I'm either a bad photographer or you are drunk.

So almost done with this tour of a Vegan cookbook.  I can see I will use it again and again, but not on a school night... or, indeed, any night where I'm needing to chop-chop-chop!  Fortunately I did leave the lasagna for the weekend, and will wrap up the review.  So far, I'd say it's worth a read.  


Now I need to find a slightly faster (at least for B'klyn<3s) cookbook of light vegetarian/vegan cuisine!