"It's All Good"

I am not a huge fan of processed foods but I really like this line of fake meats. The "Santa Fe Good Stuff" is basically a chicken-like substitute stuffed with beans and corn and a red sauce. Good flavor and heats up in under 2 minutes! The pasta is mixed with onion and garlic sauteed with olive oil and a handful of spinach and chopped fresh basil, salt and pepper. I added a bit of vegan butter toward the end to give it a rich, creamy taste.

Baby Broccoli

My latest veggie addiction is baby broccoli. Last night we paired it with Rigatoni with Red Pepper, Pine Nuts, and Bread Crumbs. I have made this pasta recipe in the past but used pine nuts instead of almonds this time. The baby broccoli was washed, the ends were trimmed and it was cooked on the stove with a bit of olive oil and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. My acupuncturist told me when eaten raw, it can prevent heartburn. Not so much though with red pepper flakes!

Olive Tapenade

I ate this entire bowl in a day and a half along with an entire loaf of Olive Ciabbatta bread!!! I had never been a fan of olives until we went to a friend's house for a BBQ and someone brought a container of olives. John basically forced me to eat one and I have been addicted ever since. Last time I was at Whole Foods, I went a bit crazy at the olive bar. I filled up one of their largest container with black, green, and kalamata olives. I added these olives to the food processor with about a third cup of sun dried tomatoes in oil, 5 cloves of garlic, a bunch of basil leaves, and a sprinkle of vegan sesame parmesan cheese. I pulsed this about 5 times and it was absolutely heaven.

Mexican Millet, Chile Cornmeal-Crusted Tofu and Pesto Hummus

This was my first attempt at millet and I loved it! It is very delicious, light, slightly crunchy, and much more appetizing and less filling than rice. The recipe came from the Veganomicon Cookbook, easily becoming one of my favorites. The tofu is Chile Cornmeal-Crusted also from the same cookbook. I did not use the Old Bay Seasoning (the recipe in the cookbook also does not call for it). The hummus was what brought the meal together though! It seems like an unlikely match to the flavors of the other items in the meal but it actually was perfect with the tofu. I added to the food processor a can of garbanzo beans, a large bunch of basil, lots of olive oil and the surprise ingredient, Gyoza dipping sauce. The recipe that I started to follow but quickly strayed from called for soy sauce of which I did not have. I decided to give the Gyoza sauce a try and it was delicious. I didn't have to add any salt or additional seasonings to the mix.
The circular "rock like" item on the plate was my attempt at cheddar dill scones. One I will not be trying again any time soon!!!

Sun Tea

With a week of 100+ degree weather, nothing was more appealing to me than Sun Tea! I had a bunch of fun flavors to choose from but settled on Mango Passion Fruit from the Stash herbal tea sampler collection. I put 4 tea bags in the pot and set it in direct sunlight for about 4 hours. I let it cool a bit and added it to a glass of ice. It was very refreshing!

S'mores

We recently went on a camping adventure to Mt. St. Helen's. So far, as a vegan, I have not found anything I could not veganize or find an acceptable substitute for. Knowing we were going to have a campfire, I decided to challenge myself with the task of making vegan S'mores! It was pretty simple once I found the marshmallows. Many people don't realize what ingredients are actually in real marshmallows but let me assure you, they are not vegan!!! Food Fight, a completely vegan grocery store, had Dandies Vegan Marshmallows available. They are small, not the miniature version but smaller than a regular sized marshmallow. Health Valley makes an Oat Bran Graham Cracker that is also smaller than an average graham cracker so it went perfectly with the size of the marshmallow. We added a bit of mint chocolate to the fire toasted marshmallow and had an insanely good camp treat!

New To-Go Ware

We are fans of the To-Go Ware line of products that replace traditional (and wasteful) "doggie bag" style containers at restaurants. We decided to get a second set for John to use to carry his lunch to work daily. This particular style is 2 tiered but can be carried as a single container also. It comes with a little sauce container that is very handy.

Mango Parsley Green Smoothie

Definitely not our favorite Green Smoothie so far! The mango was very stringy, almost like drinking something with hair in it!!! 2 mangos (peeled), 1 large bunch parsley, 2 cups water. Blend and drink (if you can stand it!!!)

Mac & Teese

I continue my search for a vegan cheese that is actually good. I am not saying it has to be exactly like cheese. I gave up cheese long ago and truly have lived very happily without it. But, the one consistent comment I get from people is, "I could never give up cheese." I guess because of how often I hear this comment, I continue to seek out a replacement that, even if it doesn't taste exactly like cheese, serves the same function in a recipe. With all that said, I feel that the cheeses I make myself are much more satisfying than the ones I have purchased from the grocery store. My latest splurge (vegan cheese is very pricey!) is called Teese. I mixed it with some Quinoa pasta. I was not impressed. For the record, I do not eat imitation foods, like meats and cheeses, because I miss the real thing! I like a diet that varies in flavor and texture. These imitations are generally great sources of protein and add nice flavors and consistencies to meals. The quest continues!

Chocolate Mint Cupccakes

Favorite cupcakes ever!!! It all started with a trip to my favorite grocery store here in Portland, Food Fight. I noticed they had these really cute pastel M&M like candies. They are called Whizzers Chocolate Beans. I remembered seeing them on top of a mint flavored cupcake in my cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. The mission began to put these cute little candies to use. The one problem I came upon was the green food coloring that was called for. I did not want to buy regular food coloring because I have found many different sources that identify disgusting animal ingredients and/or chemicals used to create the coloring. I wanted a vegetable based source but let me tell you, this was not as easy as I was hoping! Thanks to google, I ended up finding a company called India Tree that makes vegetable based food coloring. I called every grocery/kitchen store in the area and no one had the product! I was just about to give up when I decided to take a trip to Whole Foods and search their shelves myself. On my way, I passed a fancy kitchen store, Sur La Table, and decided to check. Sure enough, they had exactly what I was looking for! Three colors come in the set and they mix together to make a variety of other colors. Now, I have to be honest about one ingredient, glycerin. The yellow and blue contain this ingredient. My assumption is that the glycerin is vegetable based considering the whole concept of the coloring is vegetables! But, I have not done any research into the actual origin of the glycerin. Therefore, I can't say for sure if it is vegan! But, I feel 100% confident that even if it isn't vegetable based glycerin, it is better for me that the chemicals in regular green food coloring.
So, I finally had the ingredients I needed and decided to make these delicious cupcakes for John and his co-workers, otherwise I would have eaten all 12 of them myself! The cupcake is the Basic Chocolate Cupcake recipe but includes 1 teaspoon of mint extract added to the wet ingredients. The recipe for the mint icing is on page 73 of the cookbook, if the link doesn't take you directly to that page. The chocolate on top is the same Rich Ganache I used on my 4th of July cupcakes. Again, these cupcakes are irresistible. I highly recommend having somewhere to take them or others to give them away to or you will probably devour them all yourself!

Spiced Banana Pancakes

Taken from the Vegan Planet cookbook, this recipe was the perfect way of getting rid of 3 very, very ripe bananas! The recipe that the link above takes you to is a bit different from the one in the cookbook and I followed the original. I used All-Purpose flour instead of Whole Wheat and Almond Milk instead of Soy. I also used Pumpkin Pie Spice instead of All Spice because they are very close and it is what I had! I doused my pancakes in Maple Syrup. Unfortunately, it was Canadian syrup. In the future, I will support PETA's request to boycott Canadian syrup in support of the efforts to stop the slaughter of seals. I know, I know, I usually don't get involved in PETA issues. But, I did a little research and felt it was the absolute least I could do for the poor seals.

Chocolate Creme Filled Cupcakes

These also went to the 4th of July BBQ. I worked for almost an hour at a cute icing flower for the top of them, but failed miserably! So, I settled for red sprinkles. The chocolate cupcake recipe is so good, moist, and basically never fails. It is from the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World cookbook. I put a filling in the cupcakes that consisted of a stick of Earth Balance vegan shortening, a tub of Ricemellow Creme (be careful! This stuff is addicting), powdered sugar, and a little vanilla and salt. These ingredients got tossed into the food processor and mixed. I then squirted them into the cupcakes until they started to break apart. I have since purchased a better device for filling that will hopefully prevent so much cracking of the cupcakes. The frosting is from the same cookbook and is called Rich Chocolate Ganache Topping. It is ridiculously good. Boil 1/4 cup almond milk, remove from heat. Add 4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped, and 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup. Mix until chocolate is melted. Set aside at room temp until ready to use.

Asparagus Pasta Salad

We took this dish to a BBQ for the 4th of July. It was on the cover of VegNews Magazine. The Feb 09 issue. The odd thing was that the recipe did not appear anywhere in the magazine! I did some searching online and found that it mistakenly was left out. Fortunately, VegNews put the recipe online. I did not put a full cup of pine nuts in, probably closer to a half cup. I thought a cup would be a bit much. It is an awesome recipe with fantastic flavors, especially for asparagus lovers like me!!!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

We have a birthday party to go to tomorrow night so I decided to make Peanut Butter Cupcakes to bring. The recipe came from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I made a few changes. Instead of soy milk, I used Almond and instead of canola oil, I used safflower. I also substituted dark molasses for maple syrup.

Cheesy Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

I always laugh at the title of this recipe because they mention cheese TWICE and there is absolutely no cheese in these enchiladas! On a positive note, they are the richest, creamiest, most delicious enchiladas I have ever eaten. They make a huge batch so I usually freeze half of it for a later dinner, unless company is coming for dinner. The first few times I made my own enchilada sauce but have recently just been purchasing it to save time. It is nice because you can make them mild, medium, or spicy based on the sauce you choose.


I made guacamole and served chips on the side. The guac recipe is in an earlier post.

Summer Delight Green Smoothie

My friend Debbie introduced me to the book Green For Life. It is a nutritional plan based on the diet of chimpanzees that requires the blending of lots of greens and fruits. I was so happy when John jumped right on board with replacing a meal a day with a smoothie. He also found me a fantastic industrial strength blender on Craigslist for $10! First, the smoothies are unbelievably delicious. Second, it is so fast and easy to get a variety of nutrients from greens and fruits by drinking them versus taking the time to cook and/or eat them. Third, nothing is lost, as is sometimes with juicing, and it is raw, whole, fiber and vitamins. It can get pricey, but it is worth it to buy organic.

This smoothie is a combo of 6 peaches (no pit), 2 handfuls of spinach, and 2 cups of water blended smooth.

Asparagus Quiche with Tomatoes and Tarragon

Not only was this meal so delicious but it looked really cute! It did take a few hours to put together but was worth the time because we had a lot of leftovers that heated up really nicely the next day. I have been on an asparagus kick lately but have just been cooking it in a little olive oil, stovetop. The asparagus is pureed in this recipe. The baked tomatoes on top added a perfect additional flavor.

I am not sure I would call it a quiche in front of people that are non-vegan. It did not taste like, have the texture of, or resemble a traditional quiche. In my experience, if you use a non-vegan name for something that has been "veganized", people expect it to be like the traditional dish.


On the side, we had a simple Caesar salad. The highlight was home-made croutons. I found the recipe here. I used Ezekiel Bread and left the onion powder out because I didn't have any. The dressing was from an earlier post.

Apple Wrapper Pie

I found this recipe in a children's cookbook a long time ago. It is like a super quick and easy apple pie. I recently made it vegan and loved it equally.
1 cup flour
1/2 t salt
1/3 cup vegan shortening
2 - 3 T cold water
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
4 cups apples
1 T butter

Mix the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening. Add water. Shape into a ball and refrigerate 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425.

Mix the apples, brown sugar and flour.

Roll dough into 13" circle. Top with the apple mixture. Fold edges over apples. Top with butter cut into squares.

Bake 30-35 minutes.

Mushroom and Spinach Strata

I have never made a strata before, or heard of one. But apparently it is traditionally a layered bread casserole with an eggy custard holding it together. Tofu took on the role of the "eggy" part.

6 slices stale bread, cut into 2" pieces (toast them in the oven if they are fresh)
1 1/2 cups shallots (5 or 6 big ones)
3 T olive oil
8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 t dried thyme
1 t dried rosemary
1 t dried oregano
1/2 t crushed red pepper
several pinches of fresh ground pepper
1 t salt
10 oz fresh spinach

For the custard:
1 lb soft tofu
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 t yellow mustard
1 T arrowroot
1/2 cup veggie broth
1/4 t salt

Preheat oven 350. Cook the shallots in 2 T of olive oil. I used a cast iron pan so I could cook and bake in one. Add the mushrooms and cook until tender. Prepare the custard by putting everything into a food processor. Add the garlic and herbs to the shallots and mushrooms and saute. Add the spinach by handfuls, waiting for it to wilt before adding the next handful.
Turn off the heat and move the veggies to one side of the pan. Add 1 T olive oil and the bread. Mix it up and distribute with the veggies. Pour the custard over everything and smush it all together. Make sure everything is coated without "outright" mixing it all together.
Bake for 55-60 minutes. When finished, should be firm and lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes and eat!

Ginger Apple Coconut Granola

I have been playing around with a basic recipe for granola and found a favorite! I bought dried apples at the Portland Saturday Market. The ginger was purchased in bulk from Capella. It is candied (dried and sugar coated). I added coconut flakes and walnuts to the recipe and they toasted along with the oats. The apples and ginger were added after the granola came out of the oven. I love to eat it with Almond Milk!

Brazilian Dill Cheese

This stuff is amazing! It is very soft but slices and goes really great with ciabatta bread.
2 1/4 c water
3 T agar agar flakes

1 cup brazil nuts
1/2 c chopped onion
2 T lemon juice
3 T nutritional yeast flakes
2t salt
1 clove garlic

1 t fresh dill

Soak water and agar flakes in a saucepan for 10 minute. Simmer, stirring constantly for 3 minutes. Add to blender with remaining ingredients, minus the dill. Blend until smooth. Add dill and blend briefly. Pour into a small bread pan and refrigerate until set.
Keep it wrapped tightly in plastic wrap for storing.

Chili

I have made vegan chili in the past but used TVP (textured vegetable protein) as the "meat." This time, I was making it for a family at our school and I wanted it to taste as "real" as possible so I used Boca Burger Crumbles. I think it turned out fantastic. I added a green pepper (as opposed to red) for a touch of brightness. I did worry that I made it a bit too spicy for the kids in the family, but I am very sensitive to spice so maybe it was just me. I used black beans and pinto beans (instead of kidney). Here is the recipe.
I also made mini cornbread muffins to send with the chili. I am not a fan of corn bread but think these, made as little muffins, are delicious (It definitely could be the large amount of maple syrup in the recipe!) It comes from a blog titled Vegan Lunch Box and is at the bottom in the comments section. Here is a copy of it (with my changes in parenthesis).

2/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup canola oil (safflower oil)
1 cup plain soymilk (unsweetened almond milk)

Stir above together. In another bowl whisk together:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup fine organic cornmeal
1 TB baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt

Mix wet and dry together and pour into a greased 9x9 square pan. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 (or in miniloaf or muffin pans for about 25 minutes), until tester comes out clean.

Hot and Sour Soup w/Mushrooms and Cabbage

The recipe came from the Veganomicon cookbook. I couldn't find dried wood ear mushrooms so I used dried shiitake. I didn't have Asian hot chile oil so I added 2 extra teaspoons of white pepper (as the recipe suggested to do). Next time, I will only add one (or maybe even less) because it became very, very (too) peppery. Regardless, the soup was awesome. If I were to rename it, I would substitute sour for tangy. Edamame on the side was perfect.
1/2 oz dried wood ear mushrooms
2 cups boiling water
8 leaves napa cabbage
4 cups veggie broth
1/4 cup soy sauce (I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 teaspoons Asian hot chile oil
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 1/2 cups thick-sliced white mushrooms
1 heaping Tablespoon arrowroot (or cornstarch)
1 cup cold water
1 lb extra-firm tofu, pressed and cut into match-sticks
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 cup chopped scallions

Place the dried mushrooms in the boiling water, covered, for 20 minutes.
Cut the napa leaves into thin slices, widthwise.
To a soup pot add: veggie broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, hot chile oil, sesame oil, and white pepper. Bring to a boil and add the cabbage and fresh mushrooms. Cook until the cabbage is completely wilted, about 5 minutes. Drain and dice the wood ears and add them to the soup. Mix the arrowroot and water until dissolved. Add to the soup along with the carrots and tofu. Cook until heated through. Garnish with scallions.

Lemon Bars

This recipe is from the Veganomicon cookbook. It is easily becoming one of my favorites! I have wanted to make these lemon bars for over a year and finally broke down and gave it a go. On a scale of 1-5 they were probably a 3.5. I would change a few things next time though. They were extremely tangy, which is great for a lemon bar! But, next time I would make sure there was a outer crust around all the bars. My "No Edge" pan worked perfectly except I didn't push the dough high enough to create a crust. The lemon custard part took over the top and was a bit too powerful! We topped the bars with soy whipping cream and this helped mellow it out a bit.
Crust
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (I used spelt)
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch (I used arrowroot)
1 cup non hydrogenated vegan margarine

Filling
1 1/3 cups water
3 Tablespoons agar flakes
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tablespoons arrowroot powder
1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup soy milk (I used almond milk)

Preparing the crust
Pulse the flour, powdered sugar, and cornstarch in a food processor. Add the margarine and pulse until crumbly. Press into a 9x13 baking pan, making sure to raise the edges slightly. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven 350. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool.

Preparing the filling
In a saucepan, let the agar soak for 15 minutes. Mix the arrowroot into lemon juice to dissolve. Bring soaked agar to a boil and boil for 10 minutes until dissolved. Add granulated sugar and turmeric. Boil until dissolved, about 3 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and add the arrowroot/lemon juice mixture. Add lemon zest and soymilk. Whisk until thickened, about 5 minutes. Pour onto crust. Let cool then refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Sift powdered sugar on top of bars, cut and serve!

Carrot Cuppies w/Candied Walnuts

This is the same recipe I used for the carrot cake a few posts back. The only change I made was letting the batter sit for about 15 minutes before pouring it into the baking cups. It allowed the oil to soak in and the carrots to soften more. The recipe made about 2 dozen cupcakes but left a lot of leftover frosting! The cupcakes are so moist, they started to pull away from the paper as soon as I took them out of the pan to cool.
I added candied walnuts to the top. My friend Ariel gave me this recipe.
1 cup walnuts
4 tablespoons Earth Balance Butter
a splash of vanilla
a sprinkle of salt
1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix and bake for about 10 minutes at 350.

Granola

My best girlfriend Susan gave this recipe to me a few years ago. I pulled it out to make because I was looking for a good granola cereal at Capella a few days ago and they were all ridiculously expensive. I remembered that I could just make it for a lot cheaper!
I bought Just Fruit Munchies made by a company called Just Tomatoes. They have lots of dried fruit and veggie options. A bit pricey but not compared to the store bought granola cereal!
Mix all ingredients except fruit. (I didn't read ahead and added my fruit before baking...it got a little hard. I will remember next time!)Place on a large cookie sheet on wax paper (I used foil). Bake for at least 45 minutes. I set the oven at 300. Then mix in fruit.
5 cups rolled oats
1 cup nuts
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup safflower oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup dried fruit

Marinated Tofu

I have been making this tofu, marinated, breaded, and fried in olive oil, quite a bit lately. It is fast and has a really great flavor. I press the tofu for at least a half hour first. The marinate is random amounts of fresh garlic and ginger, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, Sriracha chili sauce, rice vinegar, some splashes of lime juice, and olive oil. I then bread the tofu in a mixture of panko and nutritional yeast. Finally, I fry it in olive oil. Here is also made green beans with walnuts and shallot crisps (recipe from Thanksgiving meal!)

Carrot cake with Cream Cheese Icing

I have made this recipe before, not vegan. Tonight I tested it with egg substitute and vegan cream cheese and was definitely not disappointed. It is from an In Style magazine from 2005 and is called "Jenny Belushi's Carrot Cake." The ingredients for the cake are: 2 cups All-Purpose flour (I substituted one for Whole Wheat Pastry), 2 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp salt, 2 cups sugar, 1 1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used safflower), 2 eggs (Ener-G Egg replacer), 4 cups grated carrots, and 1 cup sweetened (I used unsweetened) coconut. Heat the over to 350 and grease/flour two 9" cake pans. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a medium bowl. In a large bowl beat sugar, oil and eggs until well blended. Beat the two mixtures together. Add carrots and coconut. Divide between two pans and bake for 40-45 minutes. Cool on wire wracks. Ingredients for the frosting are: 11 oz. Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, 4 TBSP Earth Balance butter, 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tsp vanilla (I forgot to add the vanilla). I added all the ingredients to my food processor and mixed. I had to add at least a cup more powdered sugar to make it thick enough. This cake rocks!

Mushroom Turnovers

This recipe is from an old Cooking Light magazine. It was not vegan but very easily converted. I used Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese and for the butter, Earth Balance. Instead of egg, I used Ener-G Egg Replacer. The only other substitute was to replace one of the cups of All-Purpose flour with Whole Wheat Pastry flour. Mine baked for almost double the time specified and I only had filling enough for 15 instead of 24. I froze the extra pastry and will make more filling in the future.

Rigatoni with Red Pepper, Almonds, and Bread Crumbs

Happy New Year....finally! I don't think I am going to even try to catch up! I really have cooked a lot lately but haven't taken many pictures so I will wait to make it all again before I post recipes! Tonight though, I tried a recipe that my friend/co-worker Debbie gave me. I roasted three small red bell peppers for the 1 cup the recipe called for. Instead of buying croutons and crushing them, I made my own breadcrumbs. I have been saving my "heals" of bread for a while in the freezer and they worked really nicely! I just laid them on a cookie sheet and baked at 225 for about a half hour. Then I dumped them into the food processor with a little sesame Parmesan cheese and they were ready to go. 3/4 cup of oil really seems like a lot, but it needed it! I also substituted toasted hazelnuts for the almonds because I had run out.