All the cool vegans...

are posting Mac n' Yeast lately... *Warning: delicious peer pressure to follow* I served some of the good stuff here with some Italian spiced veggies: eggplant, artichokes and spinach. I usually just mix in some broccoli with the noodles and top it all with cornflakes or breadcrumbs though.

I can't believe it's not even cold out and we're already in comfort food mode. Not that I'm complaining anything ('cept maybe about the impending doom posed by global warming since c'mon, it's almost November)... This was actually one of the first dishes I veganized (before I went vegan) just to make sure I could do it-- between this stuff and the cupcakes I definitely don't miss a (pus-filled) thing. I don't have a recipe for Mac n' Yeast since I just make it up every time. Essentially it's whole wheat macaroni topped with a roux based yeast flavored sauce. (White flour, canola oil, salt, nutritional yeast, soy milk, pepper, paprika, tomato paste, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder, red chile powder, turmeric.)

If you've never used nutritional yeast before you might want to go easy on it at first, it's a different flavoring than what you might be used to-- it seems strange, I know, but you'll grow to love that bulk-sized tub in time; I promise. Just be sure to buy the "vegetarian support formula" since I've actually seen non-vegan varieties, ew. Plus the vegetarian support kind has *tons* of vitamin B-12: the only vitamin us vegans gotta watch out for.

Check out the yummy vegan groupthink here:
*A recipe by the lovely Lolo whom I met this week-- what a cutie! Her cookbook will coming out soon, remember to pre-order from Amazon soon!
*And another one from the truly prolific Susan at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.
*Lindyloo the delightfully profane has a version too of course!
*Here's Jess of Get Sconed fame with a updated New Farm Cookbook recipe
* Plus, Lori of Pleasantly Plump Vegan with a nice lookin' plate
*And I know someone posted a pic with the Mac plated with eggplant and spinach which is where I got the idea for my dinner-- but I forget who it was. Will this yummy vegan blogger please stand up?

Boston Cream Pi-- I mean Cupcakes

See, it's apt since I'm going to be here this weekend. Yay!

From VCTOTW... Sorry it's a crappy pic; there is yummy custard inside the cupcakes but the ganache on top sorta seeped in there too. A bit of extra time is required for these babies, but anything for Beloved Roommate's birthday. We also went Vegetarian Dim Sum House and had one of the best meals in recent memory: cheap, adorable and 100% delicious. Please go there and enjoy red bean, sesame paste, vegetarian char siu bao, taro and assorted other dumplings, spring rolls and such. I don't really know what's involved in the famous "treasure balls" either-- except it's like mashed potatoes but crunchy and oh geez just go there, ok? No really, now!

Vegan Lunchables

A carbtastic dinner tonight + lots of leftovers for lunches this week: roasted delicata squash with spinach, basil and artichoke pesto (with pignoli, olive oil, vegetable broth, oregano, black pepper), roasted sweet potatoes, mashed parsnips and potatoes (with olive oil, rosemary, black pepper and soy milk), brown rice and some store-bought cranberry sauce, inspired by vegan yum yum's latest post. I don't care how hot out it is outside-- I want fall food!


Peanut ginger tofu salad w/ carrot and cucumber sticks and toasted whole wheat pita triangles inspired by an Everyday Dish show with Julie Hasson, but taken in a more Thai direction by yours truly. In the salad: extra firm tofu, peanut butter, sriracha, scallions, grated carrot, cilantro, cucumber, ginger, garlic, tamari, white pepper.

More cookies!

So I went to a vegan baby shower this weekend. It was awesome; I met so many vegans and had a great time. There was a ton of dessert, so I don't know how many people ate these at the party ate cookies when there was a midblowingly cute tower of vegan cupcakes, the gold standard of vegan baked goods: the peanut butter bomb cake from Vegan Treats as well as some sort of yummy homemade chocolate pie with a cookie crust. A plethora of vegan desserts is always a-ok by me though. Anyway, here are almond apricot tea cookies from How it all Vegan, some chocolate chip cookies revamped from a Compassionate Cooks recipe and some raspberry jam thumbprints from a veg web recipe I think I'm going to work on a bit. Oh, and the food was catered by Red Bamboo in Brooklyn (including mango "chicken" salad, yum) and there was much Yeungling for all. Burp.

Congrats vegan parents; that's one very lucky baby, thanks so much for inviting me!

Crunchy Oatmeal Cookies

A recipe so simple you could memorize it... And really-- you should.

Adapted from a Williams Sonoma Recipe

1 c. all purpose flour
1. c. quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c. earth balance margarine
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed lightly
1 ener-g egg replacer, prepared
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbs. soy milk

Preheat oven to 375.
Stir together dry ingredients (up to and including cinnamon) in a medium bowl
With a mixer on medium speed beat wet ingredients (everything else) in a large bowl until combined
Add dry ingredients into wet in two batches until combined
Roll dough into little teaspoon sized balls
bake 9-10 minutes.