Happy Anniversary

August is my "anniversary month"; it was one year ago that I decided to "go vegan" and I made my first cooking challenge post on August 29th, 2010.  It's been a great year! :-)   Thanks to my (non-vegan) husband for being super supportive and cheerfully eating the vegan dishes I've cooked all year, and to my veg*n friends for cheering me on and answering my many questions.

Here's happy Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle enjoying some tea (with almond milk instead of cream, of course)  and reflecting on all the yummy vegan meals she's seen in the kitchen over the year:

Ambrosia Salad from "How it All Vegan"

After my husband's long a difficult work week away from home, I wanted to make him a special treat.  As I thumbed through How it All Vegan, newly brought home from the library, I was surprised and elated to find a recipe for Ambrosia Salad.  My husband loves ambrosia salad but I doubted we would ever make it given my vegan restrictions and his intolerance for dairy.  Well, this recipe turned out beautifully!  Hubby missed the marshmallows (I know there are some vegan ones out there, but not at our stores) but otherwise he thought it tasted good if not quite like the ambrosia salads he was used to.  I told him that's because it didn't have artificial flavorings and Red FC&C 6, etc. on the ingredients list ;-)  I really couldn't tell you what traditional ambrosia salad tastes like, so I thought this was delicious and I couldn't have asked for more.  Alas, we were a little limited in the fruit on hand, but I'd love to make this again after a trip to the farmer's market!  Here is a quick and rather unappetizing pic I snapped before it was all gobbled up:

Mac n' Yeast... er, Cheese

Last weekend, we enjoyed a visit with friends.  One of them had heard rave reviews about the heavenly flavor (and low-cal benefits) of nutritional yeast sprinkled on popcorn.  The review came from a reliable cooking magazine and he was eager to try it.  Alas, he had tried it a few days before our visit and the results did not meet his expectations.  Knowing I'm a vegan, he very kindly passed along the jar of nutritional yeast to me.  We joked with him and his wife about making "Mac n' Yeast" since vegans often use nutritional yeast to make substitute cheese sauce.  Here, then, is my attempt at vegan "Mac n' Yeast"  ;-)

The recipe is Best Vegan Mac n Cheese in the World... Seriously from VegWeb.  Several other reviewers agreed with the boastful title. but I'm not sure I was completely amazed.  Still, the dish did fascinate me; it wasn't exactly tasty, but it wasn't exactly unpleasant.  It has a very unusual taste, a heavy and deep flavor that I'm not sure I really enjoyed and that seems very different from my (fond) memories of cheese. 

I do have to say that I did not use the small amount of silken tofu when I made the recipe as I thought I had some and didn't!  I don't think the tofu would have really altered the flavor, but it might have made it a tad creamier.  To compensate, I added some Tofutti to the finished product and it did enhance both creaminess and flavor.  I also cut back on the garlic powder and salt as other reviewers suggested.  After I snapped the picture and started chowing down, my sister (who was over for dinner) suggested adding peas to help offset the strong taste and that did help.  

This is my second attempt with nutritional yeast (I tried it some time ago and wasn't a fan then but chalked it up to being new to veganism and vegan cooking).  I'm not sure I'm a fan yet, though I will definitely try a few more recipes to use up the jar from our friend and perhaps I'll alight on just the right one.  If any of you have a favorite nutritional yeast recipe (esp. one that tastes most like "real" cheese), please let me know!

"Happy Birthday" with Carrot Cake

My husband requested carrot cake for his birthday.  Happily, I had recently checked out How it All Vegan from the library and they had a delicious looking recipe.  (I had previously planned to try the one from Peaceful Palate but it required too much time and I was in a pinch to get it made after work before a big family dinner on Friday night.)  I'm happy to say it turned out great and met the birthday boy's expectations! ;-)  Alas, I forgot to snap a picture in all the hub-bub, but it looked marvelous, all golden and lovely, and like a proper carrot cake!  In addition to the basic recipe, I added raisins and chopped walnuts as I've seen those featured in other carrot cake recipes and know he likes them.  I was surprised at the differences in the amount of shredded carrot in the recipes; the How it All Vegan recipe called for only half a cup, whereas the Peaceful Palate wanted two cups!  I might have to try a few more recipes out of curiosity down the road but the one we made was a definite success!

As for the frosting, I modified one of the traditional cream cheese frosting recipes substituting Tofutti and Earth Balance for the cream cheese and butter, respectively.  I didn't think it tasted *quite* as good as the "real stuff" and had a slightly odd aftertaste but it was still pretty good. I've seen some other recipes recommended, such as one that uses tofu, so I will definitely try some of those and see if I can find one that fits my tastebuds better since real cream cheese frosting was always one of my favorites!