Brussels Sprouts with Walnuts and Dried Cranberries

I've been enjoying new recipes courtesy of the new Vegetarian Times cookbook Everything Vegan.  I'll post more recipes in the coming weeks but I've been meaning to take a break from the splurge-tastic baked goods of recent posts and thought there was no better way than with today's dish, featuring that ultimate good-for-you (and ultra-polarizing) veggie: the Brussels sprout!  

Now, if I'm being honest, this is still a slightly sweet dish as it has cranberries and agave nectar.  But, pitting 1 TBSP of agave nectar to 1.5 LBS of superhero Brussels sprouts, I think the sprouts and their green-veggie punch make nutrition come out the winner.   (Also, I think I will cut that down to 1/2 TBSP next time; I just didn't want to mess with the recipe the first time out.)

I've never prepared Brussels sprouts before.  The only other time I can remember having them was at a local grocery chain that made some yummy (non-vegan *sigh*) Brussels sprouts dish. I don't think my parents like this veggie as my mom  never fed them to us at home.  So, I was a little nervous how this would turn out.  I must say I was very impressed with the flavor of this dish.  Also, it's very pretty and surprisingly easy to make (and I made it per the recipe but omitted the walnut oil at the end as we don't have any).  Alas, it wasn't enough to tempt my husband, who is an avowed Hater of the Sprouts, but that just means I have some tasty left-overs for work tomorrow.   

ETA:  Here's the link to the recipe online: Brussels Sprouts with Walnuts and Dried Cranberries from Vegetarian Times

Flying Apron's Dark Chocolate Cake

Even though I'm using this for  my entry in this week's Vegaloca Weekly Vegan Cooking Challenge, I really made it as a surprise treat for my gluten-intolerant mom.  She loves chocolate and really misses good cakes and desserts since most of the gluten-free she's found packaged isn't that good and the local gluten-free bakery has gone down in quality and up in price!  So, I really, really had my fingers crossed hoping this Dark Chocolate Cake from Flying Apron's Gluten-Free Vegan Baking would turn out well for her.

And, it did!!!

I really don't have to much say because I didn't make any changes to the recipe and it turned out beautifully!  If you could have seen the look in my mom's eyes when she tasted it...!  Worth a thousand words ;-)   She said it's the best gluten-free cake she's ever had (and this is covering about five years!) so I think that is sufficient praise.  Meanwhile, my sister also loved it and my husband thinks it's better than the regular (flour) chocolate cake I've made.  I also give it a big thumbs up.  And, it's very easy to make!  Hooray, hooray--happy, happy day!

Flying Apron's Gluten-Free Maple Berry "Muffins"

I'm very excited the library has a copy of Flying Apron's Gluten-Free and Vegan Baking by Seattle bakery owner Jennifer Katzinger.  (Flying Apron is the name of the bakery.)   I try to vary my diet and not do wheat every day.  Also, my mom can't do gluten and I like to make her something yummy when I go visit sometimes but have had a challenge finding something to fit her gluten-free needs and my no-dairy, no-eggs now I'm going the vegan route. 

My first attempt/experiment with the book was just for me and my hubby, though, to see how it turns out.  While the book has gorgeous recipes and the success of the bakery speaks volumes for the quality of the food, I was still a little nervous baking with rice flour and garbanzo bean flour!  My only recommendation is that, if you are a spatula-licker, don't get too excited about this stuff.  It has a very funky aftertaste when it's uncooked. 

However, the final product is actually quite tasty and worthy for this week's entry in the Vegaloca Weekly Vegan Cooking Challenge. I made the recipe precisely except that I only used half the maple syrup (there was no way I was going to use one full cup of maple syrup!!!  First, expensive.  Second, wayyyy too much sugar!   I figured if the recipe isn't tasty with half, I just won't make it again; turns out, it's fine with half).  

But, yes, that is a cake you see in the picture and not muffins.  I realized that we didn't get any muffin tins in our wedding gift bake set so I guess that I was thinking of my mom's set when I envisioned the muffins (shows you how much I make muffins, says Mrs. Married-Almost-Three-Years!) so I just made it as a cake and it turned out fine since it's pretty much the same ingredients as the maple cake in the book. 

I'm looking forward to trying another recipe this weekend when I go visit my parents!

Irish Soda Bread

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  

For this week's Vegaloca Weekly Vegan Cooking Challenge, I'm submitting Irish Soda Bread!  I used the recipe from online blog Joy(ously Alive) Goes Vegan and really enjoyed it.  For me, it turned out better than the one in Vegan Planet, but perhaps only because I'm more proficient at it now.  (Be sure to read the "comments" below her recipe as other folks posted about their variations on the recipe.)

I used this exact recipe (with almond milk) minus the raisins (not a big fan) and caraway seeds (didn't have any).  The result was delicious if still a teensy bit underdone inside, even after baking it a little extra.  Again, this is probably my fault and not that of the recipe as I can see just by comparing the pictures that Joy's is much more "done" on top than mine was.  

In any case, it was still delicious and is a delightful bread to whip up when you're in a hurry and don't have time to wait around for yeast to rise. I'll definitely be making it again--maybe this Thursday for St. Patrick's Day! :-)

ETA:  March 17th  --  Made the recipe again, this time with raisins since that seems the traditional Irish way and I didn't want any leprechauns coming into my kitchen making mischief if I didn't honor the recipe ;-p  Okay, seriously, though the recipe turned out much better this time.  I made it with agave instead of sugar and it was very tasty and this time baked up nice and golden on top. 

Black Beans and Rice

For dinner tonight we made a black beans and rice recipe, loosely adapted from one we found on allrecipes.com.

We didn't have white rice and just used some of the brown rice we'd cooked ahead of time in the rice cooker (just used water to cook it with.)  We added the 2 cups of cooked rice to the sauteed onions and garlic.

My husband loves to improvise with spices, so in addition to the cumin and cayenne pepper he added a dash of black pepper and 1/2 tsp. thyme and a bit of salt.

We added to that 15 oz can of black beans.  Also, one 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes which some people suggested over on allrecipes.  (This is our "we didn't get to the grocery store today so are using up the dusty cans in the cupboard dish," haha!)

Simmered all that together for 15 minutes.  My  husband kept saying, "This is just a stripped-down version of jambalaya" (one of his favorite dishes, so I was expecting him to be disappointed in this one.)

The results...

 Not bad.  Not as good as his jambalaya, but still pretty tasty for whipping it together at the last minute.  We both felt like it needed something "more" with the flavors in terms of spices but it was still hearty and warm and spicy-sweet.  Thus, a worthy entry for this week's Vegan Cooking Challenge at Vegaloca.

Mjeddrah (Middle Eastern Lentils and Rice)

For this week's entry in Vegaloca's Weekly Vegan Cooking Challenge, I continued exploring my fabulous Peaceful Palate cookbook.  This time, I went with the Mjeddrah (pronounced "mu-jed-rah"), a Middle Eastern lentil and rice dish.  The foundation is an oh-so-delicious mix of lentils, rice and onions cooked  until creamy.  It's supposed to be topped with a salad consisting of lettuce, tomatos, cucumber, avocado and green onions but, since I realized I did not have lettuce, I improvised with the remaining veggies:

All in all, I really enjoyed this dish and plan to make it again.  I had lots of left-over lentil-and-rice mix so I did try the dish later on with some newly purchased lettuce and it was very nice.  The dressing is an olive oil-and-lemon "vinaigrette" with paprika and dry mustard as the spices; I'm not a huge paprika fan so perhaps that prevented me from being wild about the dressing but it was still tasty.  I do think you need to make a lot more than what the recipe says, as 2 TBSP olive oil and 2 TBSP lemon juice really isn't much to go with the big pot of lentils-and-rice.  

Also, when I'd gone through all my fresh veg I still had some of the lentil-and-rice mix left and took it to work for lunch.  It was very tasty all on its own!  All in all, an easy, delicious and hearty meal with lots of room for versatility.

Terry's Favorite Almond Cookies

Continuing the "sweet" theme for that sweet holiday on the horizon, I'm presenting Terry's Favorite Almond Cookies from Veganomicon (which, coincidentally enough, my own sweetie got me for Christmas--thanks, hon!) for this week's Weekly Vegan Cooking Challenge over at my friend Lee's Vegaloca  blog.

These cookies are definitely not low fat (oil AND almond flour!) but they are so tasty, and at least the almond flour makes me feel I'm getting some good nutrition out of the deal.  I cut the sugar by  half and they were still plenty sweet.  I did not have sliced almonds so left off the "almond coating" but they still had nice almond flavor and I tried icing some with Tofutti "cream cheese" and it was delicious though they are also very nice just plain.  I probably won't make these too often, just because they are fattening and rather addicting, but they are good enough that I'll hanker for them even when I don't actually whip up a batch.

Happy Valentine's Day!