Vegan MoFo Survey

Ok, I feel weird posting this... 'cause I don't know if you all really care, but it's part of the Vegan MoFo fun, so here goes!

1. Favourite non-dairy milk?

Vitasoy Organic Unsweetened Original and Blue Diamond Chocolate Almond Breeze.

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?

A fancy millecrepe of yet to be determined filling/s, lasagne, pumpkin chocolate chip bars.

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?

I usually buy the kind with sea salt and olive oil already on it.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?

Forgot baking soda in a batch of sweet potato biscuits. Eek.

5. Favourite pickled item?

Not really a fan of pickles of any kind...

6. How do you organize your recipes?

They're in book, or on scraps of paper in books or cut and pasted into a computer file, or in my brain.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?

Trash.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods…what would they be (don’t worry about how you’ll cook them)?

Avocado, chickpeas, cranberries.

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?

Inventing my own cookies: peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip!

10. Favourite vegan ice cream?

Double Rainbow bran something or other: I had it once and now I can't find it again! Barring that, carrot cake flavored Rice Dream.

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?

Immersion blender, hand down.

12. Spice/herb you would die without?

Red chile flakes.

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?

I think the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook has been around the longest.

14. Favourite flavor of jam/jelly?

Raspberry.

15. Favourite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?

Green tea cupcakes from VCTOTW.

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?

Tofu; it's so versatile!

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?

I love baking in the afternoon, but making a fancy dinner w/ multiple dishes and dessert is the best.

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?

Brown rice pasta, a cookie rack, a huge comntainer of dried dates, dried pears, dried figs, bananas, a lime, a lemon, garlic, onions, a shallot, apples.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.

Bah, just 3? Ok, broccoli florets, taro dumplings, flax seed... I am a freezer queen though-- there is A LOT.

20. What’s on your grocery list?

I just went today but we're always getting organic chickpeas, canned fire roasted tomatoes, vitasoy, sweet potatoes, onions, whole wheat bread, frozen berries, frozen fake chicken, pita chips, organic firm tofu, newman's own ginger o's and whatever fruit is in season.

21. Favourite grocery store?

Gorgeous indie health food store near my apt. or when I lived closer to one, Trader Joe's.

22. Name a recipe you’d love to veganize, but haven’t yet.

Millecrepe. Also those italian tri-color cookies. Nom nom.

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa’s because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?

Urban Vegan, Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, Eat Air.

24. Favourite vegan candy/chocolate?

Terra Nostra Rice Milk Choco. Or anything chocolate + orange or raspberry.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?

Organic raw almond butter. Like $14 I think. Oy. I really wanna make this date-almond butter-banana smootie though you see...

Fried Cauliflower

Not usually a huge fan of cauliflower, but I had some to use up. This would make an awesome appetizer, though I of course ate it for dinner.

Cauliflower w/ rice flour, salt and pepper fried in safflower/peanut oil and served with some leftover marinara. Yum.

Stuff a squash not a turkey!

Mom and Jill take Thanksgiving very, very seriously:




Pomegranate champagne punch with rum and mint.












Artichoke stuffed with breadcrumbs, olive oil and garlic.












Roasted butternut squash, onion and apple soup with pecan cilantro pesto.












Roasted sweet and blue potatoes with fried shallots.











Stuffed sweet dumpling squash with wild and basmati rice, apricot, cranberry, pecan and cardamom from Compassionate Cooks.









Stuffed mushrooms from Veganomicon were a big hit.













Veggie platter with glazed baby carrots, roasted brussels sprouts and cippolinis, steamed broccoli and green beans almondine.












A very full plate with all the aforementioned plus vegan mashed potatoes (no omnivore was the wiser...), some freehanded cornbread and soy sausage stuffing and a rosemary drop biscuit from The Joy of Vegan Baking (easy, delicious). Oh and no, I couldn't finish it all, though I tried my best.












Chocolate pumpkin pie from Dreena Burton's Eat Drink and Be Vegan, and apple strudel from The Joy of Vegan Baking. Both were excellent and will be made again soon.

Weekend Food

A out-of-town guest stays for brunch, and I make snacks for a night in with the girls...




Tofu scramble with baked sweet potato home fries: local tofu, soy sausage, spinach, chickpeas, mushrooms, earth balance, onions, garlic, tahini, tamari, red chile flakes, rosemary, oregano, basil, thyme. Sweet potato, olive oil, sea salt. Obviously, this was all covered in ketchup the second after I took the photo.





Brownies from Joy of Vegan Baking were moist and fluffy-- more of the cake-y variety-- and nearly fat-free. Still looking for the elusive fudge-type brownie veganized...









Sundried Tomato Dip from Veganomicon is simple and delicious if not super photogenic.

Sometimes I don't cook...

So Roommate was inspired to cook by our lovely new kitchen and promises to make it a weekly occurance. I hope so! She made the Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Carmelized Onions and Sage Crumb Topping from Veganomicon which was awesome. It's really mellow and creamy and a crowd-pleaser I'm sure. This would be a great Thanksgiving dish as its not too complicated or time consuming, it's made with familiar ingredients and best of all it can be made in advance and baked later.

Lentil soup and curry plantain patty on bok choy

Lentil soup: red lentils, vegetable stock, spinach, mushrooms, onions, garlic, red chile flakes, oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, black pepper, sea salt.

Plantain patty: boiled, mashed plaintain, brown rice, panko, curry, cinnamon, salt.

Bok choy: with tamari, orange juice and sesame

VeganMoFo

Ahh, I can't believe I missed November is Vegan MoFo! Well, there is still half a month left-- get ready!

VeganNOMNOMNOMicon

Veganomicon is out, and you just know I have a copy... I may have been distracted by the siren song of The Joy of Vegan Baking for a bit, but I suppose at some point I need to eat dinner before dessert. So I started testing some recipes for my very first vegan Thanksgiving and they all went over well with my little veg*n dinner party last night.


Here's the chickpea cutlet with mushroom gravy from Veganomicon served with some mashed potatoes (yukon gold, new potatoes, earth balance, vitasoy, salt, pepper) and some asparagus (with sesame, tamari, earth balance and lemon juice.) The cutlet was fun to make since I am usually too intimidated to make seitan-y fake meat-y stuff myself, and this was pretty easy. The flavorings were thyme and sage but you could always switch them up too. I think I'll make them again and use in sandwiches since they are so way better than any pre-made sliced "meat" stuff. Also, I'm realizing that I eat *a lot* of chickpeas. They're just so cute and versatile. Do all vegans do this? Am I going to turn into a chickpea? Do I sound crazy? Crazy for chickpeas?! Heh. Oh and the gravy? So good. I added a bit of chile to it which is obviously non-traditional but pretty much mandatory around here. I think next time I will add some rosemary too and maybe use earth balance instead of oil. Also, now that I've bought a big bottle of sherry you can expect that to show up more often since I don't plan on drinking that stuff, ew.



Chewy oatmeal cookies from Veganomicon. They say to use raisins, which are literally the only (vegan) food I don't much like, so I made them with chocolate chips instead. These are awesome, but make sure not to overbake them! Also note that this may be the most delicious cookie dough you will ever eat. I have half a mind to not bake the rest of the dough chillin' in the fridge and just eat it with some vanilla Soy Delicious. Yum...

Just for you...

Sorry about being such a lazy blogger lately. Can I make it up to you, please?

Here' s some spiced chickpeas, pumpkin puree, fire-roasted tomatoes and spinach (canola oil, sesame seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, coriander powder, tamari, turmeric, red chile flakes, black pepper, fresh garlic and onions) on brown rice...




And for dessert I have truffles: three kinds! There's espresso, coconut and cinnamon-chile. (semi-sweet chocolate chips, soy milk, maple syrup, chile powder, cinnamon, ground espresso. coconut extract, sweetened coconut shreds.)



We cool now?

The Joy of The Joy of Vegan Baking

Buy this cookbook now-- there are no excuses. Observe:


Pumpkin cheesecake. Perfect for the Thanksgiving, duh! This is a more "cheesy" cheesecake, so add more brown sugar if you want to cut that tartness a bit.
















Strawberry cupcakes really do have a subtle strawberry flavor so please use organic fruit in there. Topped with vanilla buttercream (best vegan buttercream I've had so far.)















Pumpkin bread (canola oil variation with chocolate chips.) I forgot to take a picture of them, but the loaves rise beautifully. This was really popular with everyone, and I'll be making it again soon and probably adding some nuts and dried cranberries to the mix.















Chocolate peanut-butter no-bake pie...tastes like a giant truffle and is insanely easy.















Lemon bars. Perhaps my favorite of all: pretty, not too complicated, no crazy-sounding ingredients.















Cocoa spice muffins. You *must* make these with the cayenne!













I really can't say enough good things about this cookbook, or Colleen. I met her at the Boston Veg Fest and she is so sweet in person. If you haven't already you should totally check out her Vegetarian Food For Thought Podcast (link to your left) and her cooking DVD which is really well done. Everything I've made so far from JOVB has been gorgeous and delicious. You may want to add a little extra sugar to a few of the recipes (I'd say the cheesecake and muffins benefit from just a little extra) but that is subject to taste. Just test the batter before it goes it the oven.