This week’s cookbook challenge book- Eat, Drink and Be Vegan- is one of those books that I’ve been meaning to buy for, well… just about forever. When it came to this week and I looked more closely at the contents and the recipes available online, I had to finally order it. Nearly everything sounded completely delicious. But alas, my copy still hasn’t arrived and I’m stuck cooking from the fairly limited selection of recipes on Dreena’s blog and other sites. Fortunately for me, the small selection makes my job of choosing from so many great sounding recipes so much easier.

Both Chadwiko and I were home late the other night, so I needed a quick recipe. We also haven’t been eating as much pesto lately as we usually do, so the first Eat, Drink and Be Vegan recipe for us to try was clear- sun-dried tomato pesto.

Sun-dried tomato pesto with toasted almonds and pine nuts

I chose to keep this pesto fairly chunky, since I haven’t made one this way for a while and I just liked the texture. This was so simple and quick- I could put it all together while the pasta cooked. Definitely a great weeknight meal for those nights when you get home late due to someone handing you something important to do just as you’re about to switch off the computer and leave work, thus reinforcing the soul-crushing tendencies of professional life. Chadwiko raved about this fresh-tasting pesto, so I’ll be making it again sooner rather than later.

And on last night’s menu, home made pizzas- mine being the highly recommended Thai ‘chick-un’ pizza.

Thai chick-un pizza

Yes, those are bean sprouts. And spring onion, chickpeas and pineapple. Not things that I would usually add to a pizza. But they work well with the standout addition, the peanut sauce. This stuff was so good, I didn’t even mind that it made way too much for one pizza. I’ll eat it on anything and everything. I enjoyed this, it won’t be my go-to pizza but it’s definitely good for a fun change every once in a while.

Chadwiko was sceptical about the unusual combination of ingredients, so he made his own pizza.

Chadwiko pizza

I was shocked when we first met to hear that he’d never made home made pizzas as a kid, so I immediately showed him how- and it’s been one of his favourite meals ever since. He still takes pride in his creations, so I thought I’d share it with the world- like the blogging equivalent of sticking his drawing on the fridge. It’s not vegan, just vegetarian, but home made pizza is the only thing that he ever eats cheese on anymore so I won’t deny him that. But rest assured, if Daiya is ever made available in Australia, he’ll have no problem leaving his dairy-laden pizzas behind.

One day, one day…