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.