One of my favorite quick dishes that I like to serve to others is Pad Thai, especially the recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance, with some extra vegetables thrown in. You can’t beat the garlic, lemongrass, chile, peanut, and lime flavors - such a great combo!
Between legumes, nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, it’s hard to pick one from each category as a favorite, but for VeganMoFo (and only during this special month-long project! :p), I will attempt to do so.
If I had to choose a favorite legume, I think it would be white beans, specifically the cannellini variety. Besides being high in protein, dietary fiber, calcium, and iron, they have great taste and a creamy texture to boot!
Excellent in my Cajun white bean soup and white bean gremolata with lemon, garlic, parsley, and extra-virgin olive oil, I’m guessing this legume also makes quite the appearance in Veganomicon’s Leek & White Bean Cassoulet with Biscuits. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, try the white bean & tempeh patties or white bean gravy from Vegan With a Vengeance.
Photo from PinkHairedGirl!!
Cajun white bean soup with recipe: http://utopiankitchen.wordpress.com/2007/10/22/cajun-white-bean-soup/
White bean gremolata with bread & pita chips:
Vegan With a Vengeance for ricotta
Finally, I made something picture-worthy! I’ve been eating a lot of greens and broccoli. In fact, broccoli was my appetizer to this dish. 
Let me just say, when people tell you that fresh pasta is so much better than dried, they are not exaggerating. Fresh is delicious! I love the texture and the fun of making the sheets, and then cutting them or making the raviolis. I made some whole-grain spelt fettucine as well.
You know what I missed when I was on vacation? Ethiopian food! This time, the miser wat is accompanied by Vegan With a Vengeance crepes, and they make a nice pairing, without the headache of making injera that may not turn out. By the way, I use a cast-iron skillet for the crepes and have no problems with sticking; it’s an excellent recipe.
Vegan With a Vengeance
This is definitely my favorite way to eat millet, and I have made this recipe quite a few times! This time, I served it with a basil pesto instead of a sun-dried tomato pesto, but I had fresh and sun-dried tomatoes on the side with my dish. It’s very easy to make and millet forms into squares just as easily as cornmeal/polenta. The polenta is low in fat, but the pesto adds enough richness and flavor to make a complete meal!
Don’t buy your special someone diamonds (http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/courses/306/africa_diamond_wars1.htm). Encourage peace with these date-nut diamonds from Vegan With a Vengeance. Has coconut, a flaky crust, and walnuts.
Vegan With a Vengeance
Eat this hot or cold, left over or not, with veggies or just spices! My favorite tofu scramble. Actually, the only one I will eat so far. I made one years ago with Gimme Lean, which was the turning point in which I didn’t like any items that were similar to “meat.” I’ve also made this topped with avocado, but this time, it has green bell pepper, onion, and carrots.
Vegan With a Vengeance
I had to put this together quickly, as we are going skiing tonight. It’s a bagel with Vegan Gourmet cheddar, a tofu cutlet (seasoned with rosemary, garlic, salt, turmeric, and nutritional yeast), and VWaV tempeh & white bean sausage patties. The salad has baby spinach, lemon-chive dressing, roasted pumpkin seeds, and dried cranberries. How’s that for fuel prior to exercise?
Vegan With a Vengeance
If you haven’t made Isa’s tempeh sausage crumbles yet, you should definitely try them! They are perfectly spiced, with fennel, marjoram, red pepper, basil, sage, and garlic. I didn’t make the bean gravy this time, but her gravy recipe is awesome as well! Can’t wait to have this atop the biscuits below (by the way, the biscuits aren’t so good plain or with jam second day or after cooling, and they really didn’t rise enough, as I stated, but they’ll be excellent for serving under gravy).
