Collard Greens with Butternut Squash, Curried Cauliflower

Similarly to what I did last October, I hand ripped collard green leaves from the stems into roughly 1 1/2" squares. I boiled about 3/4 cup of water plus a vegan bouillon cube, then added the greens and cooked, covered, reducing the heat to a simmer. After 3 or 4 minutes, I added about 3/4 of a cup of frozen butternut squash cubes and let them steam with the greens. After a total of about 7-10 minutes (i.e., about 6 more minutes), I turned the heat off, mixed in a little salt and dried tarragon, and served.

I also prepared some cauliflower; we had only a small amount, maybe 2/3 of a cup of florets. I sauteed in some hot chili oil the cauliflower florets for a few minutes, then added a little bit of olive oil, about a quarter medium onion, diced to maybe 1/4", and a fifth of a small bell pepper, diced similarly. I sauteed for a few more minutes, then added 1/8 teaspoon or so of cumin seeds, and stirred for half a minute. I then added about 1/4 cup water and a few pinches of turmeric, just brought to a boil, then simmered, covered, for 5-8 minutes till the water was largely absorbed.

Finally, we had at the recent Spice Street tasting some smoked tempeh / tomato / asparagus skewers, and had some leftovers we brought home. I heated them and served with our meal; a carrot completed the plate.

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We are lucky to have a vegan baker named Dina in town. She graduated this past year with a political science degree and wants to become a human rights lawyer, but also has many years experience in vegan baking - her Mom I believe is a long-time vegan baker. So, Dina opened Dharma Bakery, an all-vegan outfit that takes custom orders for both local pickup and anywhere delivery. Other than some Earth Balance margarine, she made a soy-free set of desserts for us, which we picked yesterday - including creamy and crunchy peanut butter cups, an amazing lemon coconut-milk based cupcake, pumpkin cookies, truffles, and more. After dinner, I heated a chocolate croissant that we had picked up and served it - wow! It was very good!