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!

Vegan Pancakes

In the mood for pancake breakfasts, I tried two different recipes over the weekend.

First, an online recipe that I modified slightly.  They actually had a good consistency and a nice flavor, slightly sweet.  If eating them plain, there was a tiny bit of the baking powder flavor but it was fine with toppings/syrup.  Here is the recipe:

Vegan Pancakes
1 cup flour (I used half wheat, half all-purpose)
1/2 TBSP agave nectar
1 TBSP* baking powder 
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup almond milk 
1 TBSP vegetable oil


Mix until batter is smooth and well-blended, pour into small circles on hot pan and cook until golden brown and done all the way through.

*yes, that is a tablespoon; not teaspoon the original recipe called for two tablespoons. Bleh!

All in all, I was impressed with these.  They tasted pretty much like "regular" (non-vegan) pancakes; they were a bit thick, which was perhaps owing to using the almond milk vs. soy milk.

The second recipe is from the new Good Housekeeping Simple Vegan cookbook.  This is the only recipe I actually tried making, despite having the book out from the library for a month, which tells you how (not!) inspired I was by the cookbook.  I think it might be a good option for people who are a bit afraid of going vegan, or think it's all for "hippie" people and are uncomfortable with a title like Vegan with a Vengeance.  It would probably be a great gift for that reluctant mom who is nervous about her grown child embracing a diet with no meat ("but how will you get any protein, my dear!?") as she could see that, oh, yes, the folks at Good Housekeeping tested these recipes and include some helpful little blurbs on vegan nutrition and perhaps her child really will survive and perhaps she might even try one of the recipes herself.  However, I found it just a bit too glossy (as in superficial, not just the photographs) and lacking the depth in both scope and creativity that many other vegan cookbooks (such as those by Isa Chandra Moskowitz) possess.

As for Good Housekeeping "triple-tested" (as they proudly proclaim) pancakes, I was intrigued with the inclusion of quick-cooking oats in the recipe.  I love the oat bread I've been baking but was disappointed with the pancakes.  They simply weren't flavorful enough on their own (perhaps because there is no sugar in the recipe) and they were a bit dense (only 1 tsp of baking soda here and the oats made it heavier, I think).  Still, they were tasty enough when topped with some raspberry jam ;-)

Back at last... and making a very easy lunch

Since my husband and I returned from vacation last week, I admit I haven't been ultra inspired to try out new recipes in the kitchen.  Even though we did make some of our breakfasts and dinners in our little vacation-rental kitchen to save money, I admit it was super nice not having to cook every single meal especially since we found some great vegan restaurants and grocery stores.  I'm finding my culinary interests rallying a bit now, but thought I'd better post something before a month passes without blogging a single thing.

Enter my favorite new quick lunch!  I'm sure the recipe is nothing very unique or creative but since I "made it up" I'll call it

Kathryn's Hummus Wrap

take 1 flour tortilla or lavash wrap*

spread with hummus**

add lettuce

sliced kalamata olives

diced red onion

roll up and chow down ;-)

* love the California lavash brand, which I've found at Whole Foods

**I admit I have not tried making my own hummus yet (tisk-tisk) but it's on my to-do list.  I like the Trader Joe's Eggplant Hummus for this wrap as it tastes a lot like babbaganoush but doesn't cost as much!

Here's a picture of my super fast and easy lunch, before I rolled it up.

Orange-Glazed Tempeh from "Color Me Vegan"

I'm always excited when a new vegan cookbook shows up at the library.  This time it was Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's Color Me Vegan.  I wasn't sure, at first, how well I liked the set-up of the book. It's basically like eight mini-cookbooks in one because each chapter features a color (red, orange, yellow, green, blue/purple, white/tan, black/brown and rainbow) and each chapter features starters, sides, soups, main dishes, desserts, and beverages made of foods with that color.  So, if I was in the mood for a dessert, I'd have to look through each separate color section vs. just one dessert section as in most cookbooks.  However, once I got the hang of it, it wasn't too annoying and I do like the idea of breaking the foods down into colors because it really made me see what colors I tend to eat and which ones I rarely eat.

I had some tempeh languishing in the fridge, so decided to make the Orange-Glazed Tempeh recipe.  The glaze is really yummy, with the orange juice and maple syrup giving it a nice tangy-sweetness and the soy sauce and rice vinegar giving it a bit of Asian flare.  Though I was initially suspicious of serving it over cooked kale, as the recipe suggested, I tried it and it was quite tasty!  I also have to give a shout-out to the Lightlife brand of tempeh as it includes not just the soybeans but also some rice so it's not quite as strong in flavor and also doesn't pack quite as much soy punch in one serving (I try not to eat too much soy).

Here's the result.  Yum! :-)  Happy to share it for the Weekly Vegan Cooking Challenge over at my friend Lee's Vegaloca blog.