Thursday, March 29, 2007

Mr. Potato Head Returns


I again interrupt my break to bring you a photo of this New Potato Spinach Artichoke Salad with Pine Nut Dressing.

Those of you that have been around for a while, know about our love of spuds in our house and the reigning Mr. Potato Head!

This salad will appear in my next VegNews article (July/Aug) issue, and you're gonna' love it! The Pine Nut Dressing is earthy and tangy, and gives a slight creaminess that is still light rather than the typical heavy mayonnaise dressings used in potato salads.

The entire salad is superb! I personally love it still warm, but it is also ideal for packing to tote on picnics or casual summer lunches.

It's kind of odd working on food articles months in advance, trying to envision what dishes we'd most enjoy that particular time of year and what produce items are seasonal. Also fun right now though... it's getting me in the feel of spring and summer!

Ok, I have more writing to get back to. Will be back with you soon... (and remember what you need to do, um - rhymes with stick, pick, flick, trick, kick?!)

25 comments:

bazu said...

I am also a lover of all things potato. Your salad looks so gorgeous! I love pine nut dressings, and it's so cool that there are endless (healthy) variations on good ol' potato salad. Yum.

scottishvegan said...

I love potatoes too :) That salad looks espeically delicious. I like the idea of a pine nut dressing...yummy!

urban vegan said...

Staying true to my Polish roots, I love my taters. Salad looks like a fun new twist on an old favorite.

Judy said...

That salad looks great. Can't wait to try it!

Aurelie said...

Your potato salad looks delicous. Um- and what was the thing we were supposed to do? (When I don't have to brainstorm words, I do. When I have to brainstorm a word, I can only think of one word.)

Valerie said...

Potatoes and artichokes are my two favorite foods! This looks delicious. I'm always anxiously awaiting my Veg News magazine, but the anticpation will be even greater for the July/August issue. I can't wait to make this for picnics and cook-outs.

Carrie™ said...

I'm with Urban Vegan, only I'm staying true to my Irish roots, and I also loooovin' my spuds! I'm drooling over the photo with the big chunks of potatoes. Mmmmmm! Can't wait for my magazine to arrive.

Teresa said...

Oh yum that sure does look good. I've been on quite the potato quick lately. One question- what kind of potatoes do you usually buy. Are certains kinds better for certain dishes? Good luck with the rest of the writing!

-Teresa
...does somebody want us to click???

Everyday Superhero said...

Oh my! That looks yummy!

Twisted Cinderella said...

That does look wonderful! I love potatoes as well!

JENNA said...

i'm obsessed with pine nuts and potatoes. I can't wait for that issue of VegNews to come in the mail!

JENNA

VeggieLawyer said...

Hi. I just bought Vive le Vegan after having excellent results with your recipes from VegNews. I have a question about the Easy Pleasin Oat Bars that I hoped you could answer.

What exactly is fruit sweetener?

Thank you!

Aurelie said...

Oh, click! I thought it had something to do with cooking!

Anonymous said...

looks very good!

Dreena said...

Hiya guys, thanks for offering up your feedback... lotsa' potato heads out there!

Liliy, you're funny, I was going to write back with a reminder, but it obviously "clicked" with you later on!!

Hi Teresa, yes, certain potato varieties work better with some dishes than others. I have a section in TEV that covers the difference between potatoes (p32). Not sure if you have TEV, but you know what, I'll do a post about potatoes when I return. Your comment reminded me that there can be confusion about potatoes so it will be a great topic to cover. Thanks... :)

Hi Jams59, that's really super for me to know, thank you. I'm glad you've liked the VegNews recipes thus far. You know, I thought I covered fruit sweetener in my glossary of Vive, so sorry that reference is confusing. There are a number of natural, liquid sweeteners that can be used as an alternative to honey (or just as healthy sweenteners). Fruit sweetener is a thick, liquid sweetener made from concentrated fruit juices. It is actually much thicker than honey. There are two other sweeteners you can substitute for fruit sweetener - brown rice syrup and barley malt syrup. They are just as thick as fruit sweetener, and I use brown rice syrup myself most recently in most of my baking when I need a thick sweetener, as with these oat bars. I think brown rice syrup and barley malt are also now preferable unless you can get an organic fruit sweetener - because if the fruit sweetener is made mostly from juices of fruits high in pesticides (ex: grapes, apples, peaches), I personally prefer to buy/use brown rice syrup or barley malt. These three sweeteners are similar in texture (oh, and Vive does have info on brown rice syrup and barley malt in the glossary). Then, other sweeteners like agave nectar and maple syrup aren't as thick as those three (but are sweeter, particularly maple syrup). I've gone on here, but I hope this clarifies things for you. Happy baking... be sure to let me know if you have other q's!

VeggieLawyer said...

Thanks very much for replying so quickly. I checked the glossary for fruit sweetener and didn't see it -- but it's possible that I somehow missed it.

I have brown rice syrup in my pantry, so I'm going to try out the oat bars tonight!

Thanks again.

Jessica

Dreena said...

You're welcome, Jessica... and I wasn't very clear in my last response - I inadvertently omitted fruit sweetener from my glossary... you didn't miss it looking for it. Hope you like the bars! :)

Peace, Love and Veganism said...

Hello again! Just love artichokes and pine nuts! Now that it's spring, I'm craving everything fresh and green! I have a question: where can I find umeboshi paste? I got the vinegar at Whole Foods, but have not been able to find it anywhere else! Any online recommendations??

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

Hi Dreena! I'm crazy about potatoes & this salad looks fabulous. Can't wait to try it. :o)

On a completely different topic -- I just received the Living Multi Vitamins purchased from you Faves link, and noticed that they recommend taking 6-9 caplets per day... that seems like a lot to me -- any suggestions?

Dreena said...

Hi Peace, Love and Veganism. I too never see the paste in stores, only the vinegar. Amazon carries the paste though, that might be your best bet for online in terms of price.

Hey Vicki! Yeah, the vitamins are a little intimidating at first because (1) they're kinda big and (2) the dosage. I typically take 6 a day. 2 in the morning, 2 at lunch, 2 at dinner hour. If I'm feeling quite tired or have extra demands/work any given day, I may take an extra one or two along the way. When I first started taking them, I thought "man, this is crazy, I should only have to take one vitamin a day"! But, I'm telling you, these are the best multi I've ever taken. Other multis I feel like they don't do much, like they're probably just passing through me! These, as you can see in the ingredients, with the mushrooms and sea vegetables, are abundant with nutrients. And because these nutrients are "bioavailable" I'm certain that's why I feel a difference taking them. I've run out of them a couple of times and replaced them with other multis that I thought would be comparable, and they just weren't. I feel so much better with these, and maybe taking them a couple of times through the day also helps. I've gone on a lot here, but if you take them with meals, you should find that works easy enough for you. I hope after a few taking them you are as happy with them as I am. (wow, you'd swear I worked for the company... really, I have no connection whatsoever!) And happy belated bday to Abi! :) I'm not on the blogs much these days, but I did see your post and those awesome cupcakes!!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

Hi Dreena & Thanks so much for your response! I knew that I needed to start taking a multi, but didn't know where to begin narrowing down my options. Then, I remembered your Faves link! It was nice to confidently buy there instead of facing rows & rows of vitamins in the store. I'll be taking them with meals as you suggest. I took one yesterday on an empty tummy and was pleasantly surprised that I didn't get an awful after-taste or yucky burps like I have with other vitamins. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise and knowledge on this and so many other topics. You are a trusted voice, and amazing resource. :o)

A.M. said...

I love potatoes... (and that's a good thing if you're being a vegan in the Netherlands, 'cause a typical Dutch meal is meat, vegetables and potatoes. When you're having dinner at somebody else's who cooks very traditional, they just leave out the meat...

I made Vive's Banana Bliss Pancakes today, and I love 'em!

I also made the filling of the Banana Hazelnut Cream Pie (I had lots of bananas and silken tofu that needed to be used but I didn't have any ingredients for the crust...), but it tasted a bit too banana-y for me (just recently learned to eat bananas...). I loved the texture though - is it because of the flax meal that it came out that way, or the combination of flax and silken tofu? Maybe I can make the filling with something else than bananas...

Dreena said...

Vicki, that's so kind of you to say. You are a sweetie. :) And I agree, no icky vitamin burps with these babies. Even though they look big and ugly, they are easy to digest!

Hi Arine, I'm so glad you liked the pancakes. Try the Apple Oat ones sometime too - if you aren't super fussy with bananas, you may actually prefer the Apple Oat. I have several new pancake recipes in the new cookbook that you'll probably love. Can't wait to share them with you (and everyone else). I'm always surprised when I hear people like yourself mention they are new to bananas or don't really like them. I always thought bananas were a very 'friendly' food for many people, especially because most of us give bananas to our babes from early ages. So, hearing from people about bananas has been eye opening! Anyhow, yeah the texture of the pie is partially from the silken tofu, and partially from the flax - but also the banana lends some texture. You might have preferred the filling in combination with the crust, just because the nuts and cookie crust balances some of the banana taste. But still, if you aren't big on banana flavor, you may not fully dig it. I've never subbed another fruit for the banana, because banana has a very unique texture and not much moisture. If you sub something, fresh mango (pureed) might be a nice sub - but you may need a touch extra thickener in the filling - you can try adding 1/2 tbsp of arrowroot, for instance. Thanks for the comment, and good luck if you try it out! :)

A.M. said...

Of course I have already tried something that has 'oats' AND 'apple' in the title. ;-)

'I have several new pancake recipes in the new cookbook that you'll probably love. Can't wait to share them with you (and everyone else).'

And I can't wait 'till it is shared with me! :-D Looking forward to the pancake recipes! We have to wait 'till fall, right?

I already thought that the banana lends texture too... And also that the crust would balance the banana taste. But I'm sure if I made the banana 'pudding' for my brother, he would love it... Maybe when I get my hands on fresh mango I'll try it. And I'm definitely going to make that crust, because it sounds yum!

Tonight I made the Hummus Tortilla Pizza. Delicious! What a clever idea to make pizzas with tortillas!

O how I love Vive... I actually think I never used a cookbook this much. Thanks!

Alison Cole said...

I made the spinach potato salad last week - very yummy! I love the tangy taste of the dressing, and it's a great way to incorporate spinach into your food. I also added sundried tomatoes and a sliced Italian Tofurky sausage.