Anniversary Dinner!

John and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary with this lovely dinner. I did most of the prep work the day before (Sunday) so I could have it on the table at a decent dinner time (Monday). The meal included:

Cashew Nut Loaf stuffed with Garlic and Mushrooms
Silky Chickpea Gravy
Butternut Coconut Rice
Green Beans with Truffle Oil and Sea Salt
Lemon Macadamia Nut Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

So, the loaf is excellent. My mother-in-law made if for Christmas dinner last year and John specifically requested it for this meal. Instead of making a stuffing (an option in the recipe), there is a layer of sauteed garlic and mushrooms in the middle (assembly process shown below). I have always shied away from nut loafs because of a previous, bad experience. Fortunately, this one has turned me back on to the concept.

I used a combo of almonds, pecans, and cashews. For the bread crumbs, I used a combo of panko and crushed spelt crackers (I didn't realize that I didn't have enough crumbs until it was too late to go buy more! But, it worked out very well.)

The gravy is rich and thick and salty and sage-flavored. It went nicely with the loaf.

I do not have a link to the Butternut Coconut Rice, which is a complete shame because it was the highlight of the meal! I am not a huge fan of rice, but I will make this recipe any and every time I can find a butternut squash at the grocery store! It is a combo of garlic and ginger along with sesame oil, shallot, lime, red pepper flakes, and topped off with creamy coconut milk. We also sprinkled toasted coconut on top. It is addictive stuff! And even better, the recipe is from Appetite for Reduction.

The green beans were sauteed in a touch of truffle oil and sea salt.

And finally, the dessert! I bought new cupcake liners (silicon) and was really excited to try them out. They worked very nicely, left no paper waste, released the cupcakes very easily and in perfect shape, and were easy to clean.

The recipe is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. The cupcakes are tangy and fruity while the macadamia nuts are crunchy and delicious! I did substitute almond meal for the macadamia nut meal and, in the frosting, coconut oil instead of shortening.

We also had Tofutti Strawberry flavored icecream. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed. The flavor was so bad we are considering writing the company. John even suggested that we somehow got a 'bad batch' because of how awful it tastes. It is reminds me of some horrible chemical strawberry flavoring. It is organic and I am usually not disappointed with the brand (LOVE the icecream sandwiches). But, in this case, we will never buy this product again!  

Trattoria Pasta Salad with White Beans

The salads alone make the cookbook Appetite for Reduction worth the purchase. Everything else is great also, but the salads...yum! They are meals. They do not leave you with the feeling, "All I had for dinner was salad..."

Pasta, northern white beans, arugula, red onion, roasted red pepper, kalamata olives, pepper and a Sun-dried Tomato-Walnut dressing make this meal complete.

The dressing blends the flavors of sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts, fennel seeds, shallots, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and marjarom.

Catalan Couscous Salad with Pears

John made this salad, from Appetite for Reduction, for dinner one night and it was delicious and filling. The basics include spinach topped with whole wheat couscous, toasted almonds, pear slices, and Romesco dressing.

The dressing is oil-free and addicting! It consists of almonds, shallots, roasted red peppers, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, agave, salt, pepper, and water.

The salad takes very little time to put together and has the combo of sweet (pears) and savory (dressing).

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Grilled Tofu

So. Good. Another score from Appetite for Reduction. The salad is topped with a Peanut-Mint Gremolata that is heavenly. The dressing is sweet and spicy with soy and lime flavors. A combination of tofu, lettuce, vermicelli noodles, veggies, and mint made this salad such a satisfying meal.

Vegan MoFo: Y is for Yogurt Cake

I have to be honest...I had zero energy to cook and/or bake tonight! But, with 2 letters and 2 days remaining in November, I decided not to push it. So, I found this recipe but did not have the lemon zest. Instead, I had fresh oranges that supplied orange zest and juice. I thought the addition of semolina was interesting. And it is no lie that this cake smells terrific while baking!

The texture of the cake was really nice. There was a thin, crisp layer to the top and edges, while the inside was extremely moist, fluffy and a bit grainy but in a very appealing way! I enjoyed the orange flavor (I also used walnuts instead of almonds) but I will also try it again with lemon someday.

Thanksgiving Dinner

 We had a fantastic Thanksgiving with delicious food, fun friends, and lots of wine.

To start, I made Pumpkin Hummus and toasted pita bread. The hummus was my attempt to make the version I had in Thailand earlier this year. It included: chickpeas, pumpkin, tahini, salt, garlic, toasted sesame seeds, and green onions.  I chopped up pita bread that I made earlier this week and toasted it in the oven for a few minutes. The hummus has potential but I think I will experiment a bit more before I call it a success.

Next, I made Onion Soup Gratinéed with Cream-Truffle Mashed Potatoes.

I also made a Kibbeh with Apples, Walnuts, and Fake Feta cheese. The recipe is in a magazine from a grocery store I used to shop at in Eugene, Oregon. It is vegetarian but easily made vegan. For the feta, I followed this recipe.

Joy made two salads that were fantastic. One consisted of couscous, apples, raisins, and almonds. The other was kale and shredded beets. If we are lucky, maybe she will post the recipes in the comments section for all of us to enjoy :-)

And finally, for dessert! Hannes made a yummie Apple Crisp and I made Sweet Potato Blondies.

And, here are the place mats and napkins that I made to decorate the table. I found nice quality fabric remnants at IKEA and put them to use.

Vegan MoFo: U is for Udon Noodle Stir Fry

John made dinner tonight because I was busy making placemats for the Thanksgiving table.

My original plan was to make homemade Udon noodles but I bought a pre-cooked package over the weekend as backup. They were a lifesaver!


John mixed the leftover Thai Peanut-Burgers, crumbled, and peanut sauce from last night's dinner,  into the pasta along with zucchini, carrot, onion, and orange pepper.

Vegan MoFo: Q is for Quiche

I have made quiches before, but this quiche is the king of quiches. It took me an hour and 45 minutes to prepare, contains pricey and unique ingredients, and packed so many flavors in that I figured today was the perfect day to spend making it.

                           

While I was preparing the crust I was thinking, there are easier crust recipes out there. But, it really was worth the effort. I love the addition of flax seeds and chickpea flour. I used dried herbs instead of fresh.

For the sauteed filling, I used half a red and half a yellow pepper. And for the blended part, I used cornstartch instead of arrowroot, sesame parm, and one slice of Tofutti Mozzerella style cheese.

The crust got a bit too dark while baking but the center took longer to get firm than the 40 minute recommended bake time. It didn't taste burned though!

All in all, I would make this again for a brunch or other special occasion but probably not just for John and myself. Also, the 1 TBSP of red pepper flakes is too much for our liking; next time I will use a teaspoon. And finally, John tried to eat one of the baked lemons. This is not recommended!

Vegan MoFo: N is for Not-tella

The Danes love chocolate and bread. Although Nutella is popular here, more traditionally they have thin sheets of chocolate that they lay on slices of bread and eat for breakfast.

Unfortunately, Nutella contains milk. But, this easy recipe solves that!

Vegan MoFo: A is for Apple-Peanut Butter-Caramel Bars

My peanut butter mixture did not "drizzle" the way the recipe describes that it should. But seriously, who cares! These bars are fantastic.

Pumpkin and Wild Mushroom Lasagna

The original recipe, from Vegan Planet, calls for butternut squash, not pumpkin. But, because it is Halloween and I was able to find pumpkin and not squash, I thought it would be a very creative and delicious swap. It was!

Here is the recipe. The tofu that I used had basil in it and I left out the vegan mozzarella completely. I used 2 cups of fresh, white mushrooms and 1 cup of a re-hydrated blend of wild mushrooms.

It seemed that there was too much of the tofu blend when I was assembling the dish, but after it baked I was not disappointed. We dug in before it had sufficient time to cool so the pieces didn't come out so beautifully!

Soba noodles, Salt and Pepper Tofu, and Ice Cream Balls

We are having dinner guests tonight. One is a vegetarian! I am really excited because there is so much less stress in cooking for people that are not a) scared of tofu, b) going to ask me defensive questions about my dietary choices during dinner, and c) going to describe to me how they are going to "un-vegan" the meal in the future because it was so good. :-)

So, on the menu:
Soba Noodles with Zucchini and Carrot Ribbons (Thank you, Vegan Vicki) (left out the mushrooms; added carrot ribbons)
Salt & Pepper Tofu (Thank you again, Vegan Vicki!)
Oven Roasted Green Beans
Sauteed Mushrooms (substitute vegan butter!)
And for dessert:
Ice Cream Balls with Hot Fudge Dipping Sauce

I found organic soba noodles at the Asian Market (that 18.00 price tag is Danish Kroner not USD!!). The package says they are ready in 6 minutes but mine were done in less than 3. The package contains 3 individually wrapped groups of noodles. I made all three and it was a good ratio of veggies to noodles (I tripled the veggie recipe) but too much food for 4 people. I am not complaining about the leftovers though!


The veggie stir fry originally calls for Mirin. I did not have this and did not feel like buying a bottle of it considering I have lived without it for this long. Instead, I added half the amount of Rice Wine Vinegar. The result was a much tangier flavor; not the sweet/saltiness of a Mirin and soy combo. I think it went over well. As for the "ribbon" style veggies, I spent over an hour with a veggie peeler making these ribbons with carrots and zucchini. For guests, worth the effort. If I ever make this again for John and I, I would just chop it all up and call it a day.


I was really interested in the "5 spice seasoning" that this tofu recipe calls for. It is a new spice for me and I get easily excited by new flavors! John was not crazy about this tofu but I enjoyed it. Instead of a jalapeno pepper, I used red pepper flakes and they definitely added a kick.

I love the flavor of lemon in mushrooms! I added a tablespoon of diced red pepper simply for color.

I don't have a picture of the green beans, but they were green and slightly shriveled. John's first comment about the meal, "The green beans were good." Enough said.

And finally, the ice cream balls! I bought sugar free strawberry ice cream from a place called Paradis. All of their fruit flavored ice creams are vegan making it a very dangerous place for me. Here is an example of why:

After my second trip to Paradis, I returned home with this "feeds 4-6 people", multi-flavor packed, Styrofoam cooler of vegan ice cream.

The Hot Fudge Dipping sauce was more like mousse because I left it in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving it. Below are the soy creamer and vegan butter that I used.

Double Broccoli Quinoa and Chickpea Cutlets

This is my absolute favorite recipe for quinoa from the blog site 101 Cookbooks. I followed her recommendation to add sliced avocado, additional toasted almonds, and chili oil before serving.

Incidentally, last time we were at the Asian Market, John bought Chili and Garlic oil. It is extremely hot but added a nice element to the dish.

The broccoli pesto portion of the recipe calls for Parmesan cheese. I made a batch of Sesame Parm. I did not have white sesame seeds though, so I substituted black. Great flavor, interesting color!

Chickpea cutlets are always a hit around here and impossible to mess up.

Marinated Tofu and Noodles

This was a very hodge-podge dinner. I marinated the tofu in a random grouping of things such as garlic, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, lime juice, Sriracha, and maybe a few other things. It then baked and turned out mouth watering! I used almost exactly the same mixture over the noodles along with carrot, green onion, and toasted almonds.

Almond Biscotti

My current baking obsession is Biscotti (Italian twice baked cookies). I followed a recipe from Vegan Italiano. Here is a link to the recipe, only it is doubled in this version.

I dipped mine in melted, dark chocolate and additional slivered almonds. Not that the Biscotti needed more flavor, but it just sounded (and tasted!) like a good plan!

This recipe uses applesauce for a significant portion of its moisture, instead of oil. I was very happy about that!

I also made a batch of Mom's Scrambled Tofu from the Vegan Dad blog. On a side note, my mom did tell me that she is almost virtually vegan these days! I am thrilled with this news! Spreading the Vegan Word!!!!!!!!!!!!