Thursday, December 1, 2011

More Fall Favorites...

...Just because fall is awesome like that.

How about a super-colorful and uber-tasty main dish salad? Yes, it's the Autumn Root Salad with Warm Maple-Fig Dressing from Veganomicon. I think anything with a Warm Maple-Fig Dressing would taste good, no? It's steamed sweet potato and red potato, sliced baked beets, baby romaine, and...that dressing. Ahhh, that dressing. It's dried figs, garlic, shallots, white wine, maple syrup, salt, Dijon mustard, and white balsamic vinegar. It's simmered on the stoptop and them whipped into submission. It's ambrosial.

I usually top it off with some chopped pecans, but I was out of pecans, so I subbed some chopped hazelnuts. Some plain ol' steamed cauliflower was served on the side.
I also love to bake up some Cranberry Orange Nut Muffins every Thanksgiving. I've used the recipe from Vegan Brunch the last two years and made little mini muffins. This recipe is the bomb-diggity because these muffins pack a flavor punch. Fresh cranberries, fresh orange juice, orange zest, and pecans  all explode in your mouth and say KA-POW! Yeah, they are seriously awesome.
I made 30 mini muffins, and I think I was responsible for eating at least 18 of them. Hey, to the baker belong the spoils, I always say!