On it like chocolate on strawberries!

All dressed up and everywhere to go! Chocolate-strawberry vegan cheesecake and cupcakes make you the most popular guy or girl at the party. Cupcake recipe is just the faithful old chocolate Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World one, topped with chocolate ganach. The cheesecake recipe is here at Bakingsheet. I just reduced the lemon juice, added some vanilla and baked a double batch in a homemade chocolate cookie crust.

New Farm Macaroni

Mmmacaroni and cheese- vegan style. Recipe is from The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook. I added some peas to the casserole and topped it with sliced fresh tomatoes and lots of paprika. Comfort food to the max.

If you're not familiar, the New Farm cookbook is great stuff. It's the favorite recipes of an intentional community called The Farm in Tennessee circa the '70's(complete with groovy cartoon illustrations and great vintage hippie action pics) . The Farm is still around, and besides pioneering simple down-to-earth vegan home cookery, they also were the first to distribute my beloved nutritional yeast (vegan dietary supplement and "cheesy" flavoring of the gods) and also apparently they also published a lot of work about natural birthing techniques. Anyway, it's cheap as heck used on Amazon, and you won't be disappointed, unless you're like looking for low-fat recipes or something. The brownies and the oatmeal cookies are particularly yummy.

Kitty pic for a good cause!

"Simone here, Jill's adorable rescue kitty here sporting my 'treats nao bish plz' face to remind you to please adopt an animal and to never ever patronize fly-by-night puppy mills and pet shops! 4 million adoptable cats and dogs are put down each year in shelters. I'm one example of an awesome rescued cat. I was found dumped in an abandoned part of the city, and then after I was rescued, I waited a whole year in a crowded cat rescue before I got a real home. Even after I found my home, I hid for weeks from the humans in the house because I was a scaredy-kitty, but now I *love* snuggling with my people, watching wildlife documentaries (OK, sometimes I fantasize about being a cheetah or a lioness!), meeting new visitors and obvs-- TREATS."

It's almost Halloween, when, sadly, many black cats are adopted as props or pranks nationwide and soon after discarded or worse, hurt because they're no longer "needed" for "decorations." Black cats (and black dogs) are already less likely to find a permanent home (seriously!) so give them a second look when you're out looking for a furry friend. Even if you have your heart set on a particular breed, there are lots of purebred animals in shelters and there are also plenty of breed-specific rescue organizations you can contact too. Just because an animal is in a shelter doesn't mean there is anything wrong with them. This campaign from Animal Care & Control of NYC does a good job of illustrating that. All these animals are "guilty" of is wanting some love!

Adopt A Pet, Save a life!
Black dog syndrome/ black cat syndrome

Perogies

Yukon gold potato-dill perogies served on a mound of perfectly caramelized onions. These were far and away the best perogies I've ever had, and I've had a quite a few. This recipe is in Vegan Brunch, my newest favoritest cookbook of all time. Tomas made them for me, so I'm not sure exactly how time-intensive they are, but from his exhausted state when I came home to find these cute little guys, I would assume they're a good bit of work. But the recipe make a LOT and they're all you'll want to eat anyway, so I say they're well worth it!

Bento Box: Curry Noodles, Avocado-Cucumber Roll, Steamed Dumplings

The curry noodles are whole wheat noodles with curry sauce (curry powder, vegetable stock with kombu and dried shitake, earth balance, chile flakes, tamari, cornstarch), sliced shitake and diced sweet potato. The sushi is cucumber avocado, nori and rice seasoned with rice vinegar and mirin with sesame seeds, and the dumplings are steamed from frozen, taro and red bean flavors.

Nacho!

Vegan nachos are really glorious with cold beer. Really. *Pats tummy* Multi-grain tortilla chips layered with vegan cheese sauce (nutritional yeast, raw cashews, cornstarch, tomato paste, lemon juice, oregano, pepper, onion and garlic powders, salt, turmeric), vegan sour cream (silken tofu, raw cashews, salt, lemon juice, umeboshi vinegar), guacamole (avocados, cilantro, lime juice, salt), black beans, chopped bell peppers and scallions.

"OhyespleasemorenaoNOMNOMNOM!" Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Pecan-Cranberry Filling and Orange glaze

So I made a pan of these for Easter brunch, to be enjoyed with some TLT's (homemade tempeh bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and vegenaise on whole wheat), curry roasted brussels sprouts and yukon gold potatoes, various fruit, tea and juice. Despite demolishing the other offerings, over 1/2 the pan of cinnamon rolls was gleefully consumed over the course of the afternoon, by, um, four people... And Tomas I had our way with the rest inside of two days.

Much thanks (and fat pants love!) to Katie from Don't Eat off the Sidewalk. Her original recipe here. My mods = double the filling, add pecans and cranberries to filling, and add orange zest to glaze recipe.

Better than Delivery Pizza

Vegan pizza bianca (white pizza): pizza dough from this, the easiest and fastest dough recipe of all time (generously pointed out to me by the wonderful queen of comfort food at Yummy Vegan dinners ) topped with cashew-tofu ricotta from V-con, and some chopped plum tomatoes, and sprinkled with fresh basil and cracked black pepper after baking. Simple, summery and a big hit with everyone!

101 Tacos, er, posts!

Happy 101st Bitchin' Vegan Kitchen post! Enjoy this celebratory taco! (Filling: soy beef, black beans, sauteed in olive oil with onions, bell peppers, garlic, tomato paste, vegetable broth, cumin, oregano, paprika, chile powder and salt, served in a corn shell with lettuce and tomato and guacamole: avocado, cilantro, salt, and lime juice.)

Note: it is impossible not to like this. True story!

Roasted kabotcha with broccoli and peanut sauce

Roasted kabotcha squash with broccoli, peanut sauce and brown rice. I got the peanut sauce recipe from The Enlightened Kitchen: Fresh Vegetable Dishes from the Temples of Japan. The author, Mari Fujii suggests it with fried kabotcha but I roasted it instead. This book is gorgeous by the way: color photos, diagrams, simple but elegant recipes. No onions and garlic though, as this is all vegetarian (mostly vegan) Buddhist temple-style cooking.

Japanese yam dumplings and sesame lemon asparagus

Behold: your inner dumpling.








In trying to re-create a favorite guilty pleasure from Vegetarian Dim Sum called, ahem, treasure balls, I stumbled across a magical flavor combination: Japanese yam (the purple ones that are white inside), Earth Balance, tamari, fresh minced ginger, garlic and sliced scallions. Difference that the infamous deep-fried golden dim sum orbs, but when stuffed into a little flour wrapper, a glorious, new dumpling is born. Served with some asparagus briefly boiled, tossed with earth balance, lemon juice and sesame seeds.

Chocolate chocolate chip pistachio cayenne cookies!

Recipe is a modified JOVB recipe; remove the peppermint from the chocolate cookies, add pistachios and cayenne. Yum.

Birthday Post '09

I turned 24 a few weeks ago and had a party at my apartment to celebrate. As usual, I went overboard with the food, and was stressing myself out about it, but everything went over well, so I was extra happy. The snack theme started as Latin-Middle Eastern fusion, but ended up being more eclectic than that. Good music, good booze, good food, cute new dress, lots of good friends. Thanks to everyone for coming :)

The Food:







Mini pita breads, with store-bought avjar (eggplant and red pepper spread), homemade chipotle-pumpkin hummus (chickpeas, canned pumpkin, tahini, lime juice, salt, powdered chipotle, paprika, fresh parsley), baby carrots, broccoli and red pepper strips.










Guacamole (avocados, lime juice, cilantro, onions, salt), chips, some chili-lime cashews from Trader Joe's. I make awesome guacamole. It disappears like whoa.













Coconut lime cupcakes (recipe in vctotw) with pomegranate frosting (eb, spectrum shortening, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, coconut extract, and the secret ingredient is pomegranate molasses, my new favorite thing) topped with coconut shreds and pomegranate seeds were a giant hit, and some yummy pistachio-rosewater cookies from veganomicon that my oven burned most of (TWICE!)









"Chicken" tikka masala skewers were some very fun party food (who doesn't like food on a stick?). The "chicken" is TSP (texturized soy protein) chunks rehydrated in veggie stock, tomato paste and liquid smoke, then squeezed out and marinated in plain soy yogurt with a packet of tikka masala flavorings, plus extra garlic, turmeric, paprika, cumin, lemon juice and liquid smoke. The chunks sat in the yogurt mix for a few hours and then we skewered them with pieces of white onion and green bell peppers and roasted them in the oven for a few minutes. Guests said this was very meat like. I also ate some of the unskewered leftover chunks and veggie pieces stir fried over coconut-almond brown basmati and it made an awesome morning-after-the-party brunch with tea, consumed while watching lots of DVD's.

Tempeh-tastic

Homemade tempeh bacon based somewhat on the VWaV recipe: steamed tempeh marinated in maple syrup, tamari, liquid smoke, orange juice, garlic and chile flakes fried in peanut oil. Roasted yukon gold potatoes (just with a little canola and salt,) and some mixed baby greens with maple-mustard dressing (maple syrup, dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt).




If you've never cooked with tempeh before, you should definitely give it a try. Tempeh is a Indonesian-style fermented soy product. It's made with whole soybeans and has more protein an fiber than tofu. You can pick it up at a well-stocked health food store or grocery usually in long cakes. I usually steam it first, to remove some bitterness and to tenderize it. Just a few minutes will do fine. Then throw it in a stir-fry, like this one...




Tempeh stir-fry: Steamed tempeh, steamed kale, broccoli, red bell peppers, sesame oil, peanut oil, scallions, minced fresh garlic, minced fresh ginger, agave, tamari, peanuts, sesame seeds, served over brown rice.

Samosa stuffed baked potato

This might be my favorite recipe from Veganomicon so far. The samosa stuffed baked potatoes are assembled much like traditional twice-baked potatoes, but instead of adding lots of cream, butter and cheese to your mashed potato filling, you add a mix of vegetables and spices traditionally used when making samosas, the Indian appetizer of fried dough with spiced potato and vegetables. The only additions I made were adding a little extra salt and some chile flakes to the mix, and sprinkling the top with paprika for the traditional twice-baked mystique.

Mushroom, onion and red wine tarts

Mom got me cute little tart pans; I thew together these babies to put 'em to use. Ingredients: (filling) mushrooms, onions, garlic, red wine, olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, red chile flakes, rosemary, oregano, thyme, (crust) whole wheat pastry flour, water, canola oil, salt. A little bit of bacon-flavored Cheezly is grated on top.

Peace and justice for people and animals...

I thought this would be a great article to post on MLK day. I didn't know prior to reading this, but Coretta Scott King was a vegan in the last decade of her life, something she learned about from her son Dexter. When you think about it, it makes complete sense than people dedicated to achieving justice for people would also be interested in extending their compassion to animals too. I know some vegans who have been told that their concern for animals is not important when there is still so much human suffering in the world, but the people pointing this out are probably not doing very much to help people or animals, at least not while they are picking on someone trying to do their best. It is entirely possible, and necessary to work on both fronts, simultaneously--and I don't think that this is any more difficult to do since going vegan is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. In fact, when you are consistent in the way you treat others (people and animals), I think it's incredibly fulfilling. So if you're thinking about going vegan, today would be a great day to start. :)

Oh, and who is the handsome guy in the picture? Why it's the very charming Dylan from Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, which I was lucky enough to visit over the summer. Dylan is rescued veal calf, a "byproduct" of the dairy industry all grown up, gorgeous and sweet as pie.

Must-have vegan cornbread recipe

If you have not seen this yet, do yourself a favor and check out this recipe for Dana Sly's Blue Ribbon Vegan Cornbread. I have made this many times, including for Thanksgiving with the family--it is always a hit. The bread is slightly sweet, and for the batch pictured here I added some chopped red bell pepper and scallions to the batter and it was great. I have also added jalapeno peppers in the past, and that was my favorite variation so far. It looks sort of speckled from the surprise ingredient--lots and lots of ground flaxseed. The flax keep the bread moist on the inside while the crust gets just a little crunchy. Flax is also incredibly healthy: lots of omega three fatty aids without the cholesterol, mercury or environmental consequences of eating fish. Keep on swimming fishies!

Vegan philly cheesesteak!

Tomas made the basic seitan from Veganomicon a few weeks ago, and when I put the leftovers into the fridge, right next to the Cheezly vegan cheeses I had given Tomas for x-mas, a cartoon light bulb brightened over my head: vegan philly cheeseteaks! Sorry the photo is a bit wonky from being taken at night/while I was starving and impatiently looking at a really delicious sandwich. We just toasted some regular sub type bread in the oven and sautéed mushrooms, green bell peppers and onions with salt, olive oil and red pepper flakes. The seitan was re-heated in a separate pan so it could get a little crunchy. For the sauce I made a roux of flour and canola oil, then added shredded nacho and white cheddar Cheezly, and added a little bit of garlic and onion powders, dijon, lemon juice and tomato paste. Totally irredeemable junk food—but totally delicious and fun dish to veganize since it seems just so improbable.

A word on Cheezly; this is the best commercial vegan cheese I have tried, but it is tricky to get in the U.S. Everyone seems to be out of it lately, I hope we can get it again soon!

All hail vegan caesar!

This is the vegan caesar salad dressing from Veganomicon with some garlic-y croutons, romaine, radicchio, endive, cannellini beans and sundried tomatoes. The dressing is satisfyingly garlic-y, omnivore approved, very easy to make and much healthier than the original version. Perfect work lunch.

Potato-beet gnocchi with garlic collards and tahini-lemon sauce

So I got a ricer for Christmas (thanks Mom!) and honestly the only time I can think of ricers coming up in conversation is when discussing gnocchi. I had tried to make gnocchi a while back and they had not come out so great, but I think I learned a few things about making this tricky pasta from scratch. For one, make sure to thoroughly mix all your flour and seasonings together thoroughly before adding your riced potatoes. Also, I found that my gnocchi cooked best when the water was at a rolling boil. Cooking them in small batches kept the water temperature up too. Ingredients: gnocchi: baked russet potatoes, white flour, white whole wheat flour, beet powder, salt. Greens: collard greens, minced garlic, olive oil, salt. Sauce: tahini, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, tamari, turmeric, water.

The Vegan's 100

How many of the following have you tried? We're talking vegan versions of all the below.

From Bittersweet:

"Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
5) Pass it on!"

1. Natto
2. Green Smoothie
3. Tofu Scramble
4. Haggis
5. Mangosteen
6. Creme brulee
7. Fondue
8. Marmite/Vegemite
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Nachos
12. Authentic soba noodles
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Taco from a street cart
16. Boba Tea
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza
20. Vanilla ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Ceviche
24. Rice and beans
25. Knish
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Caviar
29. Baklava
30. Pate
31. Wasabi peas
32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Mango lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Mulled cider
37. Scones with buttery spread and jam
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Dahl
44. Homemade Soymilk
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas
48. Vegetable Sushi
49. Glazed doughnut
50. Seaweed
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Tofurkey
54. Sheese
55. Cotton candy
56. Gnocchi
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59. Scrapple
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Soy curls
63. Chickpea cutlets
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Smoked tofu
69.Fried plantain
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Corn on the cob
75. Whipped cream, straight from the can
76. Pomegranate
77. Fauxstess Cupcake
78. Mashed potatoes with gravy
79.Jerky
80. Croissants
81. French onion soup
82. Savory crepes
83. Tings
84. A meal at Candle 79
85. Moussaka
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. Macaroni and “cheese”
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. White chocolate
91. Seitan
92. Kimchi
93. Butterscotch chips
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Chili with chocolate
96. Bagel and Tofutti
97. Potato milk
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Raw cookie dough

Hmm, I think I did pretty well. it's good to be a vegan in NYC with enough disposable income to eat out. Lucky me can get most of these dishes within a few minutes walkign distance of my apartment or my office. A few pressing concerns have been brought to my attention though-- namely, a vegan baklava (been meaning to make this forever), gazpacho (seriosuly, how could I have never eaten this?) and a meal at Candle 79. I've been to pretty much every other NYC vegan restaurant, but somehow I've missed that one. Not on the UES too often I suppose.

Chocolate-strawberry cupcakes!

Baked especially for For my little cousin's sweet sixteen: chocolate cupcakes from vctotw with vanilla buttercream frosting from jovb, filled with strawberry jam and topped with sliced strawberries and mint leaf garnishes. Jealous much?

Voulez-vous des crepes végétaliennes?

Would you like some vegan crepes? Er, maybe I should ask you in Italian since these babies are seasoned for a more Mediterranean palate. In any case, they are le kick-ass. Totally impressive looking but not too complicated. The ratio of fancy lookingness to relative ease of preparation is just right for a dinner party or a night in with your kitties if you have, as I do, very judgemental animal companions. Another plus is that the various components of the dish (crepes, fillings, sauces) can be prepared in advance and assembled and baked the day of. Bon appetit, er mangia, er, NOMZ! to you friends. Special thanks to Roomie for helping out with the prep work.

You need:
*2 batches of somewhat thicker-than average savory vegan crepes. Make this recipe if you don't already have a favorite. Omit the vanilla and double the whole thing if you're wary of you crepe-making abilities and need to practice. I also used some evoo to make them too instead of earth balance and canola.
*2 jars of your favorite marinara sauce or a similar amount of homemade for the more impressive among us
*1 recipe of tofu ricotta from Veganomicon (firm tofu, cashews, garlic, olive oil, lemon, spices)
*1 can plain pureed pumpkin
*1-2 cups sauteed greens of your choice
*Spices! I used red chile flakes, oregano, basil, nutmeg, salt and black pepper.
*9 x 13 inch glass or ceramic baking dish or 2 smaller ones (how much space you need depends on how tightly you roll your crepes)

Make them:
1.) Make your crepes! Refrain from scarfing them all down immediately. I know, it's difficult isn't it?
2.) Whip up some vegan ricotta in your food processor
3.) Spread out a generous layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of your baking dish
4.) In a mixing bowl combine ricotta, whole can of pumpkin, greens and salt and spices to taste
5.) Fill crepes with the pumpkin-ricotta mixture, roll them up and lay them into your tomato sauce filled baing dish
6.) Continue untill dish is filled
7.) Pour another layer of sauce on top of rolled crepes
8.) Cover dish with foil and bake at 375 degrees until bubbly and thoroughly hot, about 25 minutes

Local (vegan) color

Pasta Primavera D'Estate (that's Italiano for summer kids): Whole wheat macaroni with local collards, summer squash, tomatoes and garlic sauteed in earth balance with salt, pepper, red chile flakes, oregano and chopped walnuts.

Summer is coming to an end and I'm really going to miss the fresh local produce even if I havent been as diligent as I should have about getting my butt to all the Greenmarkets New Yorkers have to choose from. Recently I checked out the Red Hook Farmer's Market run by Added Value which is just a 15 minute walk from my apartment in Brooklyn. Added Value is a non-profit focused on sustainable development in Red Hook and youth-powered urgan agriculture helps supply the market with gorgeous fresh produce. When I was there I picked up onions, tomatoes, garlic, collard greens and tiny yellow sugar plums. I only wish I had started checking out the farm sooner; they are doing some amazing things over there. In addition to youth empowerment through urban agriculture (including the market and farm-to-school education programs), they also work on sustainable business development and restaurant partnerships, critical in a community where, according to the Added Value webiste:

"Twice in the past three years Red Hook's only full-service grocery store closed, forcing residents to walk three miles and cross an eight lane road or take a $10 cab if they want to shop there. If you are have limited resources or are physically unable, as much of our population is, the only options are corner stores and delis which stock few fresh fruits and vegetables, carry meat and dairy products of questionable quality and charge inflated prices. With few healthy choices available, our neighbors eat many meals at fast food restaurants; and the preferred diet among teens is chips, honey buns, and a "fruit drink".

Limited access to healthy safe and affordable food and limited understanding of proper dietary practices has contributed to a neighborhood health crisis. Red Hook residents suffer disproportionately from asthma, hypertension, high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes. Child hospitalization rates for diabetes are over twice that of NYC; for adults, the ratio is roughly three to two."

Lucky and priviledged person that I am, I can generally afford to pay for the more expensive organic foods and have the luxury of time, transportation and education to think about these issues both generally for my city and our planet and also specifically as they apply to my dinner table. Unfortunately many New Yorkers do not have access to these resources and as a result poverty is the largest idicator of obesity and many other diet-related illness. Currently I am doing some research at work on how to integrate food security as a social justice concern into my office's best practices. Since all of our clients are all indigent and low-income people in crisis situations, many of them could benefit from our assistance with issues of hunger and nutrition.

Speaking of lucky, lucky me and my fantastic workplace, I came into some organic produce from Norwich Meadows Farm of Norwich, NY, when a foodie enthusiast co-worker generously offered to let me pick up her weekly CSA (community supported agriculture) share at the Stonehouse Olive Oil shop near our office while she was out of town. I was pretty excited to recieve baby salad greens, assorted summer squashes, tomatoes, garlic, red onions in addition to some sizeable red beets which I have previously been too intimidated to cook. That's one thing I love about the seasonable, local food available through CSA's and farmers markets: unfamiliar or uncommon vegetables inspire culinary innovation and bravery in the humble home cooks like myself. Anyway, I'll let you know what I make with the beets and also how much surface area of my kitchen has been stained hopelessly red.

I <3 sleeping late...

Lazy weekend mornings and homemade brunch. Yum.





Homemade whole wheat flatbreads (flour, water) with carob-almond spread (raw almond butter, carob powder, agave) and sliced bananas.









Black bean tofu scramble with cilantro sour cream and baked sweet potato fries: in scramble: tofu, black beans, tofu, tahini, tamari, fire roasted tomatoes, cumin, turmeric, served on a whole grain tortilla. sour cream: raw cashews, silken tofu, cilantro, olive oil, salt. sweet potato fries from bag o'frozen.

Vegan pronto

Two quick Italian dinners:







Basil-almond pesto with kale: basil, almonds, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, brown rice pasta, kale.












Polenta with spring vegetable ragu: cornmeal, artichokes, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, onion, garlic, red chile flakes, oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, salt.

Curried plantains

Curried plantains: green plantains, chickpeas, grated unsweetened coconut, broccoli, tomatoes, garlic, onion, yellow curry powder, red chile flakes, allspice, oil, salt.

T-S-T

I love tomato season! Whole wheat sourdough toast with tempeh bacon, sliced tomatoes, spinach, vegenaise and mustard.

Baking with Agave Nectar

Um, hey guys, I don't know if you've er, noticed or anything, but I kinda eat a fair amount of sugar. What with all the cupcakes and the blogging and saving the animals the children and the world and such and such it all adds up... You know what I mean, right? Anyway, I have been trying to cut down on my sugar consumption but found that this pretty difficult for a hard-core dessert addict such as myself. "If only I could have my cake and eat it too," I thought. Then I realized, of course I could as long as its baked with agave nectar!

Yes, agave nectar, everyone's favorite unrefined low-glycemic vegan liquid sweetener! Agave nectar, or syrup, is harvested from the same cactus that tequila is made from and is imported from Mexico. It comes in both light and dark (raw) grades and kind of tastes like a mellowed out version of maple syrup. Many vegans know it well as a replacement for honey. Besides not being regurgitated by enslaved little bees (who are having a hard time these days after all!) agave is also safe for diabetics as it won't mess with your blood sugar and it actually has a bit of nutritional value as opposed to refined table sugar. Normally I just use a squirt in my tea or drizzle a bit on toast with almond butter and cinnamon (breakfast of cruelty-free champions), but this month I dove deeper.


Baking with Agave Nectar was my initial inspiration. This cookbook is not 100% vegan, but is still totally worth investing in. There are lots of vegan and easily veganizable recipes in here. Also, all recipes use unrefined flours and many recipes are gluten free. Indeed, several and fairly low fat! If you're looking to health-ify your dessert options this is a great place to start. I anticipate making many more recipes from this book, hopefully gettting around to treats like chocolate peanut butter mousse-filled cupcakes, dairy-free blueberry cheesecake, chocolate silk almond pie, tropical rice pudding, and gingerbread cake with lemon creme topping. NOM.






My first attempt at the recipe for blueberry pie with almond crumb topping from BwAN led to more of a berry crumble type dish, but it was the perfect end to a sweltering city night with friends. It was also a nice start to next day too as breakfast cold from the fridge ;)








Attempt number two at pie, with the same recipe as above, this time with fresh cherries and mangoes, was more successful. I added a bit extra starch and that seemed to do the trick. I think I will make an all-mango pie sometime soon as they worked out so well in this!






Speaking of mangoes, here is a mango raspberry smoothie next to a green tea and chocolate smoothie, both made with fruit sweetened Soy Delicious ice cream which I like a lot because they're not overly sugary but still have a nice texture and awesome range of flavors. Oh, and you can polish off a pint for under 500 calories. Yeah. In the mango raspberry: mango raspberry ice cream, frozen raspberries, mango nectar, agave nectar). In the green tea and chocolate: green tea ice cream, fair trade cocoa powder, soymilk, agave nectar, matcha green tea powder.




Vanilla agave cupcakes fwith not-too-sweet blueberry mousse rom the recipes in my beloved Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Indeed the mousse was not too sweet, so I added a bit more agave than was called for. With tofu-based frosting these were the healthiest cupcakes I've ever made. Jackie and Roommate agreed that the bright blue topping (which tasted a bit like yogurt actually) with a little shredded coconut on top made the cakes look very cartoonish-- sort of like Dr. Seuss food. Better than Green Eggs and Ham anyway, blech!






Vanilla snap cookie from a BwAN recipe. I added chopped dried mango and lime zest and served them with dried kiwis (an exciting new find from the magical land of Bulk Food Bins at Sahadi's), mangoes and cranberries.






Banana date bread (I also added cashews) from BwAN toasted and topped with a scoop of almond-pecan fruit-sweetened Soy Delicious and homemade caramel sauce is comfort food in multiple snuggly layers. Boy (who went vegan on our second date!) agreeded that we probably can't ever break up now that I've made this for him. I guess banana bread sundaes are just that heartwarming :)

Curry!

I don't care how hot it is out-- I could just bathe in Thai curry. Easy and yum.




Masamun curry: Tofu, carrot, kale, potatoes, peanuts, garlic, onions, coconut milk, masamun curry paste, tamari.










Green curry noodles: Brown rice noodles, red peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, garlic, onions, bamboo shoots, kale, coconut milk, green curry paste, tamari.

Baking from Veganomicon

Quinoa muffins a la Roommate. These are healthy-type muffins that I would eat for breakfast with my usual pear-berry smoothie. Often on Sundays Roommate will make muffins for the week which is lovely, but she is prone to very bran-y or dense health muffins while I am advocating for blueberry or chocolate or something. These were a nice compromise since they stay light and fluffy. Also, since we had red quinoa on hand they came out looking like "freckle space muffins." Mmm hmm.



I made "Terry's Favorite Almond Cookies" to take with me to a volunteer shift at Bluestockings where they were much appreciated. The cookies come out nice and chewy and perfectly gorgeous but I think if I make them again I will *not* use the peanut oil suggested and opt for canola and also omit the sesame oil and replace it with more almond extract. A few people thought the cookies were peanut butter cookies and while I have nothing at all against those I really do want something distinctly almond flavored.

On a broader note; sorry I haven't been blogging much lately. I've been really busy with work, personal stuff and volunteering. I have been going to a ton of AR and food politics events and even joined a food justice bookclub so I should have plenty to blog about when I get my lazy butt around to it. I also got a free package from Pro-Bar that I will be reviewing and I was accepted to a "Food and Farm Action" advocacy training at Just Food this month. I think it will be really interesting to learn more about food policy and work on some new projects and I also think its important to hold a vegan perspective amongst food justice folks since they seem usually not to be AR type people. I will do my best to represent though really I just want to work on a project that promotes eating more vegetables-- who can argue with that, right?

More cookies for indecisive vegans...

*Open up your copy of Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, which you obviously own, being a reader of this blog and all, to the recipe for chocolate chip cookies
*Prepare batter as usual
*Add 1 cup vegan chocolate chips, 2/3 cup dried cranberries, 1/3 cup flaked coconut and the zest of a small/medium orange.
*Roll 1 1/2 - 2 tbs of dough into balls, smooshed slightly
*Bake about 8 minutes
*Enjoy!

Oh, and try to use unsweetened cranberries and coconut if you can get your hands on them (your heath food store will have 'em) and if you can't, reduce your sugar a bit. Also, I used 1/2 AP flour, and 1/2 "white whole wheat" flour from King Arthur Flour which is magical stuff. It bakes like white flour, but is all whole grain goodness. If you wanted to increase the health factor further, sub 1/3 of the vegan margarine for applesauce. I've done it before with nice results, but alas, I was out of it today.

Spicy ginger peanut sesame noodle salad

Brown rice fettucine slathered in dressing (peanut butter, tahini, water, rice wine vinegar, tamari, sriracha, ginger, sesame oil, agave, lime juice), tossed with raw veggies (shredded carrot, sliced scallions and seedless cucumber), served on a bed of baby spinach and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. Next time I might add some avocado slices on top too since it goes so well with peanut (try an avocado peanut butter sandwich for lunch some time. I promise I will not steer you wrong here). I was also thinking that this would make the perfect summer potluck barbeque (meat-free hopefully) dish. It doesn't need to be re-heated, it's fast and straightforward, you can customize it with whatever you like (add whatever veggies are hanging out in your fridge, maybe some corn, some snap peas or mushrooms, or some tofu or tempeh), and it doesn't scream; "OMG THIS IS VEGAN FOODZ!?!" to omnivore friends. Really, it just says, very politely "hey, I am very delicious, ask for my recipe," and then coughs; "go vegan..." Heh, talking food.

Sweet and Sour Tofu

It's not complicated at all! Just press some tofu, dust it with cornstarch, fry in some canola or peanut oil, toss with pineapple chunks, sweet and sour sauce (I found a bottled one without high fructose corn syrup). Serve with brown rice and steamed or sauteed vegetables with a little fresh garlic. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Ta-da!