Vegan Dinner Attempt 2

Sunday night I was feeling adventurous & decided to try the Gnocci with Thyme Vinaigrette & Lemon Cashew Cream from Lauren Ulm's fantastic cookbook {page 190-194 to be precise} Vegan Yum Yum: Decadent {But Doable} Animal-Free Recipes for Entertaining & Every Day. Last time I tried out her Seven Spice Udon {page 214-215} & ended up with amazing results, so my expectations were high.

Now, I have never even had gnocci, let alone make it from scratch, so I was pretty nervous. The Thyme Vinaigrette & Lemon Cashew Cream were totally manageable to make & surprisingly delicious. Although, I didn't have any of the correct/high tech kitchen equipment {i.e mortar & pestle to grind the thyme & salt}, so I improvised {standard for a poor graduate student}. After removing the potato from the skin, we decided to be resourceful & not waste anything {i.e we were starving!!}, so we added some soy butter & soy cheese, some salt & pepper while the empty skins were hot & had a little appetizer.

Everything came out great, it was wicked fun to watch the gnocci float to the top as instructed {yah...I'm simple} - a tell tale sign I was on the right trail. However, I'm not sure I like gnocci. Similar to that time I made a giant pot of leek & oatmeal soup, only to realize I'm not a fan of leeks. The texture bothered me, which is weird because I adore potatoes, but I'm not a pasta fan, so maybe the combination just didn't settle with me. I had an idea to fry them, but decided that I needed to fight against my American blood to fry, fry, fry.

The recipe was really delicious & Lauren is wicked good at being clear in her directions {especially for mildly complicated steps -I have plans to try her dumplings soon!}. We served it with baked asparagus with lemon & garlic {yum!}. Does anyone out there have any gnocci-eating suggestions? I don't want to give up after one try!

Disclaimer: It should be obvious by now, but I am by no means adept at taking pictures. I can only handle the basics, so don't judge please!