Posts tagged ‘vegan’
A very orange dinner.
In the continued spirit of all things fall, tonight’s dinner was an ode to everyone’s favorite bloggie vegetable: the butternut squash. Once upon a time I spent hours hacking at a full squash to get to the inside, and after breaking a knife and nearly my own hand, I vowed never again. So thankful it comes pre-chopped at most grocery stores.
I haven’t been cooking dinner much due to D’s being in law school most nights, but I decided as the weather changes that I miss making dinner, and vow to cook it at least 2x a week. So tonight’s dinner was an attempt at mixing some autumn with some Mexican. So doable.
I found a recipe for “Butternut Squash Enchiladas” on vegetariantimes.com and it was pretty much what I was going to do anyway. Here’s what I changed:
- Used about 12 ounces of butternut squash – cubed and microwaved for 10 minutes, then mashed
- Used Tofutti cream cheese (approximately half a container)
- Used Daiya to top the enchiladas
- Swapped out the green onions for a chopped green bell pepper
- Nixed the cumin & nutmeg – the adobe was flavor enough!
It was very very orange indeed – especially coupled with the Spanish Rice (which btw yellow rice not even vegetarian, read labels peeps!). And no, not a healthy dinner – but the butternut squash does take it up a notch in that area. This was one of those decadent and divine dinners that you savor every bite of – so rich in flavors. D went back for seconds, which carries a lot of clout around here in terms of re-makeability.
Definitely makes enough for leftovers (see: tomorrow night’s dinner) and fills the belly big time. I forgot that I had become un-Daiya. After using it again tonight, I think I still am. Back to the faux-cheese hunt I go. But not before I enjoy an orange-colored pumpkin chocolate chip cookie!
Woodstock Animal Sanctuary.
Since I learned of the Woodstock Animal Sanctuary I have been dreaming of taking a field trip to visit all the lovely animals that were lucky enough to reside there. The owners take in animals that were victims to animal cruelty and provide them with an environment of love. Who can’t get behind that?
The weather today called for absolute fall perfection, and so my friend Sarah and I drove north 2+ hours to meet and tour the farm which houses over 200 animals including cows, pigs, goats, lambs, ducks, hens, roosters, geese, and turkeys. We were given a tour by one of the owners of the sanctuary, who called over all the animals (BY NAME!), shared some of the animals’ sad history, and shared some information about the torture involved in dairy farming and how to implement a vegan diet. I think for people who are not quite as informed as many of us, this may be a bit of a shock. The tour was really informative and so fun! Please enjoy some of the photos of all the lovely animals we got to meet today!
Afterwards we headed over to a vegan restaurant which had a pretty awesome menu, called Garden Cafe on the Green in Woodstock, and both enjoyed the sweet potato black bean burger. The rest of the afternoon was spent enjoying the perfect fall day and reveling in all things autumn!
How’d you spend this perfect fall weekend?
Autumnal Treats of the Pumpkin & Apple Variety.
Today was a perfect fall Saturday, definitely the way I imagine all fall weekends should be: chilly and sunny and spent outdoors with a hoodie. Last night I got the baking itch and with 1/2 a cup of pumpkin left from my oatmeal this week, I knew that pumpkin chocolate cookies were exactly what was called for.
D and I made these together in California four Octobers ago (I can’t believe it was that long ago!) when he was visiting me after a day of pumpkin picking and goat petting – and we haven’t returned to them since. I followed the recipe from The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes for “Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies”. What turned out was exactly as light and fluffy as the non-vegan cookies D and I made years ago. The only change I’d make is subbing pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon – more of that pumpkiny flavor! Dee-lish!
Apple Cider Donuts!
Okay so back to tonight – we were closing out our day out and passed by some apple cider. My eyes lit up and I told D I could make us apple cider donuts. He asked if I was serious – and the jug came home with us. The recipe search was far more complicated. I decided to wing it and just used vegan margarine (Earth Balance) and 2 Ener-G egg replacers and followed Emeril’s recipe. Instead of frying, I baked the donuts in my donut pan at 350 degrees for 13 minutes. Glazed with a 1 cup powder sugar + 1/4c apple cider glaze dipped in sugar/cinnamon. D approved!
Best enjoyed with some hot apple cider (check!) and a horror movie (check!).
This Bread is Bananas!
I adore anything and everything pumpkin. Back in college my roommate and I would wait impatiently for the pumpkin muffins to become in season – which would officially mark Halloween season. One year we went overboard way too early. It was September, and we started to buy anything and everything of the pumpkin variety. Well only a week into October and we were over it. We ruined the season too early and felt like we rushed fall. This was the year we learned our lesson and instated our cardinal October 1st rule. No pumpkin flavored items to be enjoyed before October!!
So that delicious baked good you see above? It’s not pumpkin bread. It’s banana bread. Because after this week, it’s full out pumpkin party time! I followed the recipe from More Great Good Dairy-Free Desserts Naturally by Fran Costigan (Book Publishing Co.). All the recipes in the book truly are comprised of natural ingredients, making for quite a healthy treat! The recipe was for “Banana Walnut Bread” (sans walnuts) on page 122.
There is no sugar in the recipe. Seriously. Just maple syrup, ripe bananas, and a drop of vanilla extract as natural sweeteners. And this is quite delicious! It’s very flavorful and doesn’t scream “healthy” the way it so naturally is. I’ve even done the specs for you – a whopping 95 calories for each of 12 servings. The servings aren’t that large – it actually didn’t rise too high, but the bread isn’t overly dense and is just right.
Book Publishing Co. is promoting “Luscious Vegan Desserts” through the end of October. If you visit their promotion page, you can register to win yourself a dessert book! Check it out!
Today I ran a 5k – which was supposed to be a 10k. Unfortunately my right knee has been all swelly and painful after I stopped going to yoga 3x a week, so I dropped to the 5k. Still, the first mile was characterized by shooting pains at every step – which eventually subsided (thank you 800mg Ibuprofen). No PR here, just needed to get through it.
But making banana bread is obviously the best way to recover from masochism.
What’s your favorite food season? Pumpkin is definitely mine and I cannot wait to get into it!
Excuses, Excuses, and some baking on the side.
I suppose my lack of visiting of blogs – and blogging – continues to go hand in hand with my food apathy. While I am a bit more enthused about food, I 100% attribute this funk to the weather (not to place blame or anything). I read all of your lovely blogs to share the joy of cooking and baking, and become inspired to continue on that road and pay it forward here with my own creations. It’s just this weather. It’s hot. So so hot. I have no interest in cooking, and dinners have been thrown together re-makes of countless meals of the past. While they are good – nothing new to satisfy or photograph.
Except the other day I got this itch for a double-chocolate cookie that I had to scratch in the worst of ways. I turned to the illustrious Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar and dived into the recipe for “Chocolate Fudgey Oatmeal Cookies”. Can I just say? Wow. As I ate nearly 1/4 of the badder by spoon (the joy of vegan baking, no doubt) I seriously considered ditching the oven and making a cold cookie, but I just wasn’t certain they’d survive a cold-state so well. Into the oven they went (and there I was again reminded why I am in this cooking funk, heat).
I highly suggest these be attempted. They are gooey almost to the point of fudge brownie (hence the title?), but also maintain a certain outer crisp that was reminiscent of a chocolate Rice Krispie treat. That being said, throw in some “marshmallows” or “white chocolate chips” and I think you may just die from the divinity that lies within this cookie. Both D and his brother shared their enjoyment in the moist flavor party in this cookie.
Moving on, I have a confession. Another reason why I haven’t been blogging so much is because I have gone full forward into design mode, often confused with “nesting” I think – which there should be no confusion about here. I’ve been busy scouring Etsy.com and ordering cool prints for around the casa. I also ordered new couches and am on the hunt for the perfect rug for under the dining room table. Once we get close to where I want to be I’ll share what I’ve been up to, but it’s given my summer a mission and taken my mind off the food funk.
I have also used some free time to give back some hard work to my friend whose helped me in my recent cupcake orders. Last week we tackled some more Bridal Shower cupcakes (photos below courtesy of her camera), and this week we’re tackling a tiered Bridal Shower cake. Stay tuned friends.
VEGAN BLONDIES HOORAH!
Don’t mind the caps-y title, but before we get to the aforementioned vegan treats – let’s talk dinner. Having tried many many vegan Pad Thai recipes, I had to flip to the recipe in The 30-Minute Vegan’s Taste of the East that I won last week, which obviously promises for a delicious quick dinner recipe. I almost screwed it up tonight: I accidentally forgot to buy a lime (whoops), ran out of sesame oil halfway through, and ran out of shallots. Other than that we were good to go with the recipe with the only modification being added 1.5 tbsp of smooth natural peanut butter to the sauce.
The noodley part of the dish was absolutely phenomenal, with just the right hints of sweet and hot (with a touch of creamy). D went back for seconds, which is basically the litmus test of all good meals. We both were not into the tofu part of the dish, to no fault of the recipe. I didn’t have time to press the tofu for more than 10-minutes and it was all sorts of wiggly jiggly and neither of can handle our tofu without the firmness of a brick. So verdicts?
First recipe from this book is a success! There are a plethora of awesome looking recipes that seem so much less daunting than usual due to the 30-minute nature of the book. I can’t wait to share more!
Yesterday I had a terrible day, and thought it was good bloggie etiquette to leave my issues off this page. I desperately wanted to bake but due to exhaustion had to nix the thought – which quickly reared it’s beautiful head this evening. As a rule, I like to always have “cookie” ingredients on hand – which ultimately always include the presence of semi-sweet chocolate chips. I have been under the false belief that I had exhausted my supply – to find a lone bag at the highest shelf of my baking cabinet! Imagine my excitement!
I have been yearning for a white chocolate butterscotch coconut blondie – however due to a lack of white chocolate and butterscotch en casa, I had to settle on a straight up brownie recipe. I found a recipe on allrecipes.com. I subbed Earth Balance for the butter and an Ener-G egg replacer. After baking for 23-minutes, I let them cool for about 10-15 – so that they still maintained their melty gooey state.
These are SO out of control!!! REALLY! While I am still searching for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, these may be the perfect chocolate chip blondie. D commented that they were like a huge piece of cookie cake – and *gasp* went back for seconds. He said they were the best vegan cookie to date, and he would have believed me if I had said they were not vegan. My friend was over and I gave him one too, and he said they were A-MA-ZING before I told him they were egg/dairy free. Score! Ooey, gooey, chocolate success. Just what I needed.
What’s the best baked good recipe you’ve veganized successfully? I think this is my first attempt at a non-already vegan recipe. Relief!
Seasonal dinner reversal.
Today I got down to it. Rather, I really really tried to get down to figuring out what I wanted to eat this week. Nearly a month ago I purchased American Vegan Kitchen by Vegan Appetite‘s Tamasin Noyes, and haven’t gone further than throwing some flags in the recipes that I wanted to try. So when D offered that chili was a food he’d be willing to eat, I knew right where to turn. Sure it’s over 90 degrees and humid, but this solved a dinner dilemma and a dusty new cookbook dilemma. I cranked the a/c and scurried down to Whole Foods to stock up on all the necessary ingredients for “Chase-the-Chill Chili”, and made sure that I had ingredients on hand at home for “Yankee Cornbread”.
I pretty much stuck to both recipes, however subbed a bag of Boca crumbles for the seitan, went with a cherry flavored beer (recipe calls for beer), didn’t use any vegetable broth (I like my chili thick), and cut down on the cumin since that is a “no no” taste around here. As for the cornbread, I just threw in 1/3 cup frozen corn kernals (all I had) – and got to cookin’!
Look at how hearty that chili is! And yes, my cornbread chunk was really about half the size of my bowl. And I had more.
I think this chili was fantastic! It was definitely on the hot side – which was awesome for me, but not so much for D (he is more of a bland/mild chili guy). The sweet cornbread really was necessary to balance out chili kick. I have to say, I wasn’t sure all the flavors were going to mix (beer? cocoa? molasses?) but they work together fabulously! This made a huge portion and since D couldn’t deal with too much of it, I froze half and will enjoy the rest for lunch this week.
The rest of my week’s dinners are going to be pretty simple and sort of “the norm”, but hopefully I can find a way to twist it up. I’ll leave you with my princess cat Veruca, enjoying some of her homegrown treats D has been working on this summer.
What special treats do you make/buy for your pet family? And major thanks to Gail at Hungry Vegan – I won 30 Minute Vegan and can’t wait to start cooking through it!
Whoops I did it again. A manifesto.
Sometimes this happens. Actually this is really the first time it’s happened in 7-months to this extent. I haven’t been posting because I have had this weird aversion to food lately. Don’t fret, I’m eating, but nothing appeals to me. Nothing. I eat for the sake of eating. I don’t want fruit, I don’t want vegetables, I don’t want something too carby, I don’t want something hot. I don’t really know what I want (okay that’s a lie – the past two days all I want are pita chips and hummus).
This has obviously taken a toll on my creativity, my interest in blogging, and my interest and reading blogs (so please do NOT take this personal – I’m going to catch up). I have a feeling it’s because my vitamins are all effed up or something, as I haven’t been consistent in almost 2-months with taking them. I’m working on it. It’s the best explanation I can come up with. So, for all these reasons, I have not blogged or participated in blogging. I’m hoping this changes.
I’ve attempted to make awesome ice pops, which tasted amazing and got stuck in the popsicle mold. Fail.
However last night, for the first time in literally two weeks, I made a new dinner. We’ve been pretty much living off of frozen throw-togethers from Trader Joes until this point.
Mexican Polenta Casserole
- 1 polenta tube
- 1.5 cups frozen “Latino Blend” vegetables (corn, peppers, onions, black beans)
- 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup daiya (or cheez of your choice).
This was super simple. Preheat the oven to 350. Meanwhile, after oiling a pan, saute frozen vegetables until smelling fragrant over medium heat. Add entire can of tomatoes to vegetable mixture until begins to bubble. Lightly oil a casserole dish, then layer the bottom with slices of 1/4 inch of polenta slices, pressing into the bottom. Layer with 1/4 cup of cheez. Cover with vegetable/tomato mixture. Top with remaining polenta circles and remaining 1/4 cup of cheez. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.
I think this was pretty tasty and so so so easy to make. And it was my first time using polenta! Honestly though, the vegetable/tomato mixture stole the show. The polenta added the right flavor and texture to beef it up. The Daiya was a fail. I love Daiya, but I think my food apathy is not a fan of it. I would have preferred a different cheese to take things up a notch, preferably of the pepper/jack variety? Any suggestions?
When I’m not dealing with food apathy crisis 2010, I’ve been hitting up hot yoga like crazy. I learned of the terrible things that happen when you go to hot yoga, in the heat of summer, not properly hydrated. Not doing that again. I also am cheating on my yoga studio with a studio that is around the corner from where I live (versus 15-20 minutes), currently promoting a $50 unlimited month (versus $15-17 a class), and where I am beginning to at least build a relationship with my teachers (class of 5-10 versus 25-50). While I love love love my regular studio, and this studio does not compare on many levels, I can’t say I’m not enjoying the pros of the current change. I think in the future I’ll probably juggle both studios, for convenience and love.
Anyhow, yoga and the message of “letting go” have totally become my mantra this week. An old friend, who I once was best friends with and haven’t spoken to in 4-years, jumped out of their car and stopped me in the middle of my run on Tuesday. He shared how much he missed our friendship and sincerely valued how great of friends we once were. In the past, I’m not sure how I would have responded to this. Considering the circumstances of our dissolved friendship, I’d mourned this friendship’s end long ago and went through all the phases of sadness, anger, etc. etc. But it was just so easy to let it go. And accept that the past was the past, and there was some good in that. And I missed our friendship too. And so we are moving forward, after four years. It’s something to think about.
And finally, I end with a few photos from where I spent my day today. At a coworker’s home, with her animals. I love animals, and I completely fell in love with her cat.
Have you ever had a random food apathy episode?! I’ll be catching up with your blogs this weekend, promise!! 
Also I joined twitter, and am sort of embarassed? Are you on??
Introducing: Wally the Waffle Iron!
I mentioned earlier in the week that I have never been so lucky as to enjoy home-made waffles anywhere but in diners or breakfast joints. They aren’t my #1 breakfast food, but they sure are a delicious treat that I’ve wanted to try veganized. So last week I bought Wally, the Waffle Iron. I couldn’t wait for “Sunday Breakfast” and started on it today. I followed Isa’s Recipe on PPK, however subbed the lemon juice with 1 tsp. vanilla extract. I also added 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar to the soy milk and let it sit a minute before adding it to the wet ingredients, to thicken it up a little. The soy yogurt I used was vanilla flavor.
I had to “prep” the waffle iron, so the first pancake was a little greasy.
I then got a little creative, and decided to powder the waffles.
And caramelize bananas & strawberries. Best decision yet!
The caramelized fruit totally stole the show, turning the waffle more into the vessel for sugary fruit consumption. However, I did manage a few bites sans fruity delight and the waffle was pretty damn good. It does have a grainier aspect to it, due to the cornmeal, however this recipe fluffed right up and maintains a thick consistency, with no holes or breaks in the waffle (which I hear can be a bit of an issue with vegan waffles).
D is eating these right now, sans fruit because I ate it all, but with powdery goodness and maple syrup. They’re actually reheated because he woke up late and he says they are really good. Hip hip hooray! Off to a day full of hanging curtains and World Cup. Happy Saturday!!
No Questions: Best Pizza I’ve Ever Made!
A few years ago I went around telling people that my dream was to own a pizzeria. I became so die-hard that I didn’t eat pizza for 4-months in anticipation of a trip to Italy, where I made sure to sample the alleged “First Pizza” in Naples, and the “Best Pizza” in Naples, and consequently almost made us miss our train back to Rome. Point is, pizza has played a big part in my life for a very very long time. And I’m not here to tell you that it’s place in my heart has changed at all.
During the past year and a half of living with D I have tried on countless occasions to make us all sorts of pizza, each an attempt to perfect the art and call it my own. I consistently have come face to face with the ultimate obstacle: soggy crust. This is all just background info before I introduce to you the “BEST PIZZA” I’ve made to date! That’s right, straight from D’s lips to your computer screen. It was fresh, gourmet, and fantastical.
The Bruschetta Pizza.
- 5 ripe Roma tomatoes, diced
- 1/4 medium red onion, diced
- 1 cup basil, chopped
- 4-5 garlic cloves, pressed
- sprinkling of garlic salt, to taste
- drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil
- your favorite, or easiest, pizza dough recipe
Simply mix all the ingredients, drizzle with olive oil and garlic salt, and let sit at least 30-minutes to let the flavors mix. Meanwhile, prep and bake your dough without adding the topping (well we did drizzle a little olive oil)! This is essential to gain the crisp, crunchy crust that compliments the pizza style. When pizza crust is ready, remove and add the room-temperature bruschetta. Slice & serve!
D’s half was topped with sliced mozzarella, and he couldn’t say enough good things about the pizza. I mean all the flavors and textures were perfect – and this took all of about 15-minutes to throw together. Can you really beat that? Mind you, all the ingredients cost me about $12 – the price of a pizza – but nothing really beats homemade pizza, where you are in control of the ingredients and flavors. This is now my #1 in a rush-ready to impress- recipe. Give it a try!
Whats your favorite food of past and present? Have you perfected it?
