This dinner was a meal of two firsts and an old faithful (though not that Old Faithful!). We’ve been on a bit of a veggie-seafood kick lately, having recently discovered the bounty of Sophie’s Kitchen (no kickbacks, I swear – I’m just enamored of the products!), and now that the CSA has kicked back up again in earnest, I’m getting a wonderful array of vegetables to use each week alongside.
First up tonight was the mashed potatoes and broccoli. I found this recipe over at Real Simple, and tonight was its maiden voyage. First, I chopped two large heads of CSA broccoli in the food processor, then added it to a steamer basket along with a bag of small potatoes, which I halved to speed up their steaming process. Then it was just a matter of steaming them (I found that the cooking time took about 20 minutes – longer than the 10-12 Real Simple called for), and them mashing everything together with the potato masher, adding the mix-ins as I went. Next time I might even add some veggie bacon for taste!
As the broccoli and potatoes steamed, I baked four vegan crab cakes in the oven at 375 for about 15 minutes, flipping them over halfway through. When I had about five minutes left of cooking time, I heated up a bag of frozen mixed vegetables – they go with any meal! I placed them in a serving bowl and garnished them with a little chipotle powder, my new go-to seasoning.
Once everything was cooked fully, it was time for serving – and taste-testing! We were eager to give all of our new recipes a try, and thankfully we weren’t disappointed! The crab cakes were sufficiently “fishy” without being fishy, and they went great with my little fake-cocktail-sauce of mayo and spicy ketchup. The mashed potatoes and broccoli were fantastic – I mashed everything roughly, leaving some chunks of vegetables here and there, and we both loved the texture and the flavor, which was creamy even though we didn’t use any milk. And of course the mixed vegetables filled out the plate (and our stomachs) beautifully.
We’ll definitely give this meal – both in whole and in part – another try! It’s a keeper, for sure.
:)