Halloween Cupcakes (Chocolate-Orange)

A friend gave me some adorable Halloween cupcake liners and decorations, so I felt inspired to make some cupcakes for this year's Halloween treat.

Yummy!  There were definitely no tricks in this recipe from the GoDairyFree website.  I did not have any orange zest--I'm sure it would have been even more orange-y and delicious with that.  As it was, they were more chocolately but still very delicious.   Also, I used coconut sugar instead of the granulated sugar. 

Instead of frosting, I elected to dot the cupcakes with vegan marshmallows before I baked them.  They turned out beautifully browned on top and super gooey, reminded me of s'mores.  

Though these are "Halloween cupcakes" they really could be enjoyed any time of the year.  It's a recipe I would definitely like to make again.

Extremely Easy Lentil Soup

Last night, I was too tired to get very creative in the kitchen and we'd had such a busy weekend that we hadn't gone grocery shopping, either. I've also been hoping that autumn will hurry up and get here, so in my eagerness for fall weather I made a quick-and-easy lentil soup.  

Lentil Soup

1 onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced (I like garlic!)

1 tsp basil

dash of cumin

1 bay leaf

olive oil for bottom of soup pot

1 cup lentils (I had red lentils on hand)

4 cups water

salt and pepper to taste

That's it!!!  You cook the onion and garlic with the herbs and olive oil until translucent and fragrant. Add the water and lentils, bring to a boil, then let simmer until well cooked (about 45 minutes).  Salt and pepper to taste.  I also added a splash of balsamic vinegar which I saw suggested in a recipe online.  I loved it!

You could also add carrots, celery, tomatoes, etc. if you have other veggies on hand.

Easy and Delicious Stir Fry

This delicious recipe reminds me of a "Buddha Bowl" I got at a vegan restaurant in Newport, Oregon over the summer.  It's delicious in its simplicity, the rich creamy comfort of the rice and the delicately sweet and gently spicy sauce that allows the flavors of the veggies to come through.

The rice is brown rice.  The veggies are a kale salad mix (kale, cabbage and carrots) from Whole Foods (but you could use any type of stir-fry veggies). The sauce is a modification drawn from a few online recipes; I like it so much better than the store-bought kinds.

Stir-Fry Sauce 

1 1/2 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp minced garlic

1/3 tsp minced ginger

1/2 cup veggie broth

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp coconut sugar (or brown sugar)

1/4 tsp black papper

1 tsp lemon juice and 1/2 tsp lime juice (or 1 1/2 tsp of one)

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

1 tbsp rice vinegar

Heat the sesame oil in a small saucepan.  Add the ginger and garlic and bring out the flavor for about 30 seconds.  Add the broth, soy sauce, sugar, lemon/lime juice and pepper.  Bring just to a boil, stirring.  Dissolve the cornstarch in the vinegar and whisk into the sauce. Heat until sauce thickens and comes to a full boil.  Simmer for 30 seconds.  Remove from heat.  Pour over your choice of stir-fried veggies and rice.  Enjoy! :-)  

 

Gold Medal Scones

In honor of the opening ceremonies for the London Olympics, I wanted to make something British-y and ended up making scones.  These were quite yummy and very easy to make.  Having some raspberry jam and fresh raspberries on hand was the "cherry on top" of this delicious tribute to the UK.

Here is the recipe from the MapleSpice blog.  I looked up "caster sugar" and it is the British term for what we call fine granulated sugar.  I just used regular granulated sugar and it turned out great.

Asian Salad

Needed a quick, no-cook dinner for last night and the Asian Salad from Vegan Cooking for Carnivores fit the bill.  While I really can't stand the title of the book, I've been enjoying it so far and plan to write a (favorable) review of it soon.  The recipes are by Ellen (DeGeneres) and Portia's personal chef who is not a vegan but had to learn to cook vegan when Ellen and Portia went vegan four years ago.  So far, many of the recipes look very tasty and I like the layout and tone of the book.

The salad was quite tasty, though I thought that the dressing recipe made WAY too much (I halved the recipe and it was still borderline too much soy sauce for me!) and will have to check with future recipes that it isn't a trend.  Otherwise, this was good. I don't think I'd ever had a raw cabbage-based salad before but it was very tasty.  The result was fast, tasty and even quite pretty, we thought! :->

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Mini-Muffins

Yummy! I am always on the look-out for healthy vegan desserts (contrary to what some non-vegans might think, not all vegan food is healthy, alas) and this absolutely hits the spot.  Huge thanks to my friend Lisa for alerting me to this tasty, easy recipe.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Mini-Muffins by Katie Higgins, courtesy of VegNews.

I don't have a muffin tin, so I made these as cookies (the recipe also allows this) and they turned out beautifully!  Sooo moist, delicious and satisfying.  Even my husband (an ardent cookie fan) loved them.

I altered the recipe only by using coconut sugar instead of brown sugar. I try to never use white or brown sugar anymore and coconut sugar tastes a lot like brown sugar to me, so I think it was an apt substitution.  I used the full amount as per the recipe and the cookies were plenty sweet.  I might cut back to 1/2 cup next time as I have a feeling they will still be quite sweet and that would be even healthier.  

I am not sure how the recipe can possibly make 24 muffins--they must be very mini indeed--but I got about twelve cookies out of the batch.   I'll definitely make this again if we have more cool mornings this summer when I don't mind heating up the oven. Otherwise, it's on my autumn dessert list for sure ;-)

No-Bake Summer Treats

With the arrival of summer and hot weather, it's hard to justify turning on the oven.  But, my sweet tooth hasn't gone away.  Thank goodness I've found a few delicious no-bake summer treat recipes.

First is Chia Seed Pudding, courtesy of the May/June issue of VegNews. 

 This is a photo of the serving for my husband, since he loves bananas. I happen to loathe them, but they did make the pudding look a bit more interesting.  The serving suggestions also include berries, though I didn't have any fresh on hand at the time I made this.  If you haven't seen chia seeds before, they are very small and plump up in the pudding rather like tapioca.  Chia seeds are touted as one of the newest "must have" health foods.  (I suggest buying from the bulk bins the first time if you are going to try this to see if you like it--then you only need to get the half a cup and you don't have to pay the crazy prices for a whole bag.)  The pudding is tasty; the seeds are perhaps a little more bitter than sweet so you do have to add a few tablespoons of agave (also, we always buy unsweetened almond milk, so probably if you use sweetened this would be plenty sweet).  I can't find a link to the recipe, and don't want to post it here due to copyright issues, but if anyone wants a copy I'm happy to send it. It's super easy to make and all you do is refrigerate one hour before serving.

Second is N0-Bake Energy Bites from GimmeSomeOven  Huge thanks to my friend Wendy for finding such a wonderful vegan recipe and making these for me and my sister last week--she was even thoughtful enough to use agave instead of honey and I thought it turned out great.  Here is my own attempt.  I used ground flax seeds instead of the wheat-germ so I think this could also be gluten-free if you have gluten-free oats.  I also added a few carob chips.  Yummy! 

Both recipes are also much better for you than the typical baked goods like cookies and cakes.  Here's to an oven-free, tasty and healthy summer! :-)
 

Easter

We enjoyed a delicious Easter dinner.  

I thought of the Easter Bunny and incorporated carrots into our dinner in the form of maple glazed carrots (recipe from the Dinner Peace blog)--mmm, almost as sweet as those jelly beans the Easter Bunny left for us, and just a bit healthier ;-> 

Tyler wanted to use some of the fresh mint from our garden, so I found this recipe for Basil Mint Parsley "Pesto" from the Gluten Free Goddess website.  It was absolutely delicious when paired with spaghetti noodles, it tasted so fresh and spring-like.

We also made the amazing Ambrosia Salad I've made before, from How It All Vegan.

Finally, we enjoyed a vegan twist on the traditional Easter hot cross buns, courtesy of the Vegan Dad blog.  Mine turned out especially huge, but they were still tasty ;->

Happy Spring, everyone!  Hope you enjoy a season of good eating and some seasonal treats.

Vegetarian Vietnamese Cuisine

I haven't posted much since I've been busy, and spoiled.  My husband has been doing a lot of the cooking, though now that he has an exciting new job, I will probably end up doing a lot of the cooking again, so watch for more posts soon :->

Meanwhile, I wanted to share a few pics of the gorgeous, delicious dishes we found at Mon Chay  a wonderful Vietnamese all-vegetarian restaurant in Carmel.  Apparently the recipes were created by Buddhist nuns and all the faux meats, broths, sauces, etc are created in-house.  It was absolutely delicious and so much fun to be able to order anything on the menu (except the sweet teas that had milk in them). 

For our first visit, we tried an amazing "hot pot" recipe with tofu in the most amazing, delicate, flavorful broth I've ever tasted:

We also ordered the deep-fried oyster mushrooms (a huge splurge but worth it! they melted in your mouth. Mmm!) and the lemon "chicken" -- tasty, but not quite my favorite.  

The next day (yes, we went back!) we also tried spring rolls, eggplant stir-fry, and Tyler got the famous "pho" (sp?  it's pronounced "fuh") soup which he loved no end.  I was too hungry to bother snapping pics that day ;-)

Chocolate Pudding

My husband loves chocolate pudding. Since he is lactose intolerant now and I'm vegan, we've struggled to find a recipe that meets his exacting standards.  They just never seemed quite the right flavor and, especially, consistency, without cow's milk.

Enter the Post Punk Vegan Kitchen's recipe for Chocolate Pudding Pie.  We simply made the pudding part of the recipe* and chilled it in a bowl in the fridge.  Delicious! :-)  Tyler is thrilled, and I love it, too.  Tasty and smooth.  It's very easy to make and there is no flour so I think it would work for gluten-free diets, too if your almond milk and cornstarch brands are safe.

* we substituted carob chips for the chocolate chips. I have also used agave as a substitute for the sugar and that is nice, too.

Snape's Stuffed Toadstools

"Even your slimy gits will love this yummy treat!",  winkingly promises the recipe for Snape's Stuffed Toadstools   Well, we had no slimy gits about to try this out on (the Malfoys of the world are not invited to our Harry Potter Movie Marathon, thank you very much!), but the Hufflepuff sisters certainly enjoyed this tasty treat.

We modified it, of course, using vegan breakfast sausage, vegan Parmesan cheese, with a little olive oil in the pan.  The stuffing mix was really, really good!  We were so happy with it.  Yum!  The mushrooms themselves could have been a bit better--I don't really like EarthBalance with baked mushrooms (sometimes there really is no substitute for butter; I remember some wonderful baked mushrooms we used to make, with delicious melted butter filling the caps-- it was my grandpa's favorite!) but I think next time we would just use a bit more olive oil and maybe a bit of lemon to be sure they are fully coated before we put in the stuffing.

All in all, though, a winner!  Who knew Snape was such a good cook?  Then again, he is used to following (and improving upon) recipes from making all those potions, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised ;->

 

Indian Spiced Peas with Tofu

OMG!!!  Tyler made me an awesome themed dinner tonight.  What a happy treat to come home and enjoy a house smelling of Indian spices.  

He said the main dish was really a thrown-together recipe, as our cupboards are pretty bare. He did one of those "I have X, Y and Z ingredients on hand" recipe searches online and came up with this winner from the Whole Foods website, Indian Spiced Peas with Tofu.

It's served here with the masala dosa from Trader Joe's (soo yummy for an occasional treat!)

Variations Tyler made to the recipe, thanks to our limited stock on hand:
half the onion 
half the peas
tomato sauce instead of the "diced tomatoes with sauce" and veggie broth (with a few grape tomatoes cut up and tossed in)


I really loved this so much that I would probably make it the "Tyler way" next time vs. the regular recipe.  If you like Indian food, do give it a try. He said it was surprisingly
quick and easy to make, too :-)  


Mmm, I'm looking forward to the left-overs for lunch tomorrow!

Disney World Deliciousness

I haven't posted for awhile since I was off enjoying Disney World last week.  I really can't say enough good things about the strides Disney is making to provide vegan guests with good food.  While custom-made vegan food might be expected at the more expensive restaurants, we were treated with a warm welcome and eager-to-please attitude even at the counter-service restaurants.  If vegan fare isn't already on the menu, the chefs will come out to speak with us about our dietary needs (including allergy needs, in my mom's case, gluten-free) and prepare something special for us.  It was wonderful!

As ever, my favorite meal was at Boma Restaurant at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.  We had perhaps the sweetest chef in the universe, Chef Brian, who not only walked us through the buffet and tirelessly pointed out what we could enjoy vs. had to stay away from, but he also prepared us special desserts and even made me a few vegan versions of some of the side dishes from the buffet, with quite possibly the most delicious broccoli I have ever tasted: 

I loved the couscous so much, I rather shamelessly asked if there was any more to be had as it was so delicious I could eat it as my dessert.  I think Chef Brian was totally tickled by that and pleased to bring me more.  It wish I could figure out how to recreate it.  It was a sweet couscous with pistachios and almond slivers, and golden raisins.  

I told Chef Brian I would be posting photos of my wonderful meal and sharing them with my vegan friends online.  Thank you, Chef Brian! ;-)

One thing I do wish Disney will incorporate in the future is more vegan desserts.  Of course, it was probably a good thing for my waistline that I had to avoid pretty much any dessert fare in the parks, but part of vacation is splurging a little.  Thank goodness the famous Babycakes bakery from NYC recently opened in Downtown Disney.  Oh  my gosh, I was sooo happy to look at a bakery display and know I could choose anything I wanted!!! :-D  Babycakes is vegan and gluten-free, so my mom was also thrilled.  If you ever find yourself near a Babycakes, GO and enjoy!!! ;->

"Fronch Toast"

I've gotta say that really good breakfast food is probably the one thing I miss being vegan.  I used to love eating breakfast food, especially at restaurants.  Now, I have to pretty much kiss restaurant breakfast food good-bye.  And, while tofu scrambles are okay and I've found some good vegan pancake recipes to make at home, my beloved French toast has always alluded me. 

Until now!

Ooo-la-la! ;-)

This is probably the closest to "real" French toast that I've come, most other recipes yielding rather disastrous results.  Thanks to the Post Punk Vegan Kitchen, you can find the recipe online here.  I was a bit skeptical at the chickpea flour, but I've liked most of Isa's recipes and this is no exception.  It really gets that nice crunch on the outside and moist center that I love from regular French toast, and it tastes wonderful with jam. 

Smoky Southwest Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

As I dragged myself back into the house on Monday after a long day back at work following winter break, I was greeted with a deliciously spicy-sweet smell and my husband telling me not to look in the oven as he had made a surprise for dinner.

And what a lovely surprise it was!  This take on the traditional British dish is a long way from the flavors I come to associate with Shepherd's Pie, yet I absolutely loved it!  It has a layer of mashed sweet  potatoes to create the top crust and the filling is beans, corn, carrots, onion and a spicy salsa to add some heat.  Tyler used a chipotle salsa and green pepper instead of the hot chiles but otherwise he didn't see a need to change the recipe and I thought it was wonderful just the way he made it.  The photo doesn't do it justice but I had to snap it quick before I hungrily tucked in! ;-)

The recipe is from Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson.

A few more festive dishes from Christmas 2011

Before we get too far into the new year, I wanted to post a few more of the fun and festive dishes we made over the holidays.

Yule Log Cake

My sister and I wanted to make a traditional British Christmas dessert and had hoped to make Christmas pudding, but we didn't have the proper culinary paraphernalia to steam the pudding.  So, we opted for a Yule Log cake instead.  We used the recipe found here from Veganfamily.co.uk .  The chocolate cake was delicious!!!  I loved the inclusion of the orange juice (very subtle flavor when cooked but still detectable and delectable!) and the frosting was also super yummy and indulgent.  Ours ended up looking nothing like a yule log, but oh well.  It was fun and probably one of my favorite vegan cakes yet! :->

"Egg" Nog

Usually, I love the recipes Isa comes up with on Post Punk Vegan Kitchen (and in her books) and I had high hopes for her egg nog, despite how odd the ingredients sounded to me (coconut milk and avocado!!??!!).  I am not a fan of the store-bought "veg nog" and this recipe got great reviews.  My sister and I tried it hopefully, especially since the avocado made it seem like it had a bit of redeeming value, but we were disappointed.  The taste was just really odd, not bad, exactly, but not at all like egg nog and not really something we wanted to drink much of considering the calorie load.  Oh well, we'll try something else next year!

German Red Cabbage

 This was for my husband.  He remembers his German grandmother making this and he loved it.  My friend Jeannette again came through with a helpful recipe.  Basically, you take a red cabbage head, medium yellow onion, and two apples, shred them and cook them down in a bit of water, butter (in my case, margarine), with sugar, vinegar, salt, pepper, cloves and a bay leaf.  The recipe was a bit vague on how much of the sugar, etc. to add so we just kind of guessed at it.  The result was fairly tasty (I don't know that I'm a huge red cabbage fan, myself) and my husband liked it but said it wasn't quite like his grandma's.   This is probably because we did not use butter (or, gasp!, lard as the recipe said) and the spices, etc. were so variable.  But, it was a good attempt and he quite enjoyed it!

Happy New Year with Hoppin' John (New Year's Peas)

Happy 2012!  I decided to celebrate New Year's Day by cooking up a big pot of Hoppin' John (New Year's Peas).  I'd never cooked with black eyed peas before and am not even sure our store regularly carries them since I only found one selection in a special part of the produce section and I'm suspicious they are seasonal.   I got the recipe from Nava Atlas' Vegan Holiday Kitchen, which the local library got in just in time for my December cooking and baking extravaganza! ;-)  It's a gorgeous book and I found many tempting recipes.  The photographs are wonderful and I love the selection of recipes, from Thanksgiving through 4th of July and including even recipes for Easter, Hanukkah, etc. and some great tips on things that new vegans (or non-vegans who will be including vegans in their holiday festivities) would want to know, such as how to find vegan Easter candy.

Anyway, the Hoppin' John was tasty and surprisingly easy to make.  The picture is rather dreadful, but my lighting wasn't good.  At least you can see the "black eye" of the peas.  The dish is touted as bringing good luck for the New Year. I hope so and that  your New Year is off to a great start and will be full of good health, good food, and much joy.