Apple Almond Crumb Pie

Here's another test recipe for Julie Hasson: apple almond crumb pie. The crumb topping is actually supposed to have sliced almonds in it, but I like my almonds ground up, so that's what I did. I think apple pie may very well be one of my favorite desserts, and this recipe was certainly no exception. Lucky for me, it is apple season. I am really enjoying the crumb topping options Julie has for many of her pies, as my favorite part of the pie is definitely the filling rather than the crust.

Paella with Tomatoes

We recently picked up a copy of The New York Times. I flipped through the dining section, not really expecting to find anything applicable to vegans. I was surprised to find a vegan paella recipe (assuming you use vegetable stock), especially since I always thought paella had shellfish in it. The paella with tomatoes recipe by Mark Bittman can be found online here, although I'm not sure if you'll need to log into the NY Times site in order to view it. Since I had the recipe in mind when we were at the Nashville farmers' market, we got local roma tomatoes there. Yum! Unfortunately we don't have an oven-safe skillet, so we had to make this on the stove-top. It worked all right, but I plan on trying it again in the oven once we get said skillet. I served this with sautéed chickpeas and artichoke hearts (I added some spices and such, but can't remember what I used besides nutritional yeast). This was very good, but we both agreed that we might add a little heat to it next time (cayenne or red pepper flakes, I suppose).

Long Time No See!

Sorry it's been so long since I posted. We went to the beach for a week, then we went to Nashville for a couple of days. I have been cooking, but I don't usually blog about what I cooked unless it is something new. We have a lot of repeats. What can I say? We like our comfort food.


This is bengan bharta (eggplant). When we were in Nashville, we went back to the farmers' market. At the international store there, we got various Indian spice mixes, one of which was for bengan bharta. We got lots of veggies at the market too, including eggplant and local tomatoes. I followed the basic recipe on the spice mix box, but it really didn't have much heat to it, so I added a bit of red pepper powder (also found at International markets). I tasted it and then decided that I'd made it a little too spicy, so I added some plain Silk soy yogurt. I really wish I hadn't done that. Before that, it was tasty, but a little too spicy. After the soy yogurt addition, it had a sourness that I really didn't care for. Oh well, I'll know better for next time not to add Silk soy yogurt to Indian food.