Love for Let Them Eat Vegan!

When I first became vegan nearly 6 years ago, I did so for health reasons. I had high cholesterol, severe acid reflux, and I was at the very end of the healthy-for-your-height weight spectrum. Making the change from omnivore to vegan was actually really easy for me, as I didn't miss cheese or dairy milk the way many other new vegans do. I certainly didn't miss meat at all, since I'd never really been that fond of it anyway. 

The struggle I had was in figuring out what to eat, and more specifically, how to prepare it. I'd never had tofu or tempeh before, let alone quinoa, hemp seeds, kale, plantains, or almond butter. I spent much of my first year of veganhood making some truly awful dishes (ie. unpressed, unmarinated tofu, sliced into slabs and fried....mmmmmm). It wasn't until October of 2007 that the cookbook I really needed was published. That book was Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan, and it changed my life! Dreena Burton's recipes were uncomplicated, unfussy, and super nutritious. Most importantly, though, they were delicious! She gave suggestions on what to pair with certain recipes, and her sections on ingredients and cooking techniques were invaluable to me. I have been a big Dreena fan ever since, so naturally I was thrilled when her follow-up cookbook, Let Them Eat Vegan!, came out earlier this year. It has 200 (!!!) recipes and I plan on trying nearly all of them, just as I did for ED&BV. I've blogged about some dishes I've already made (Kale-Slaw with Curried Almond Dressing; Lemon Dijon Green Beans; Caribbean Fusion Stew; Moroccan Bean Stew with Sweet Potatoes; Tempeh Tickle), but this week I decided to go crazy with Chapter 1, Breakfast Bites and Smoothies. The first thing I made was the Wholesome Oat Snackles!, which Dreena says are like having your oatmeal without the bowl. With oats, oat flour, raisins, hemp seeds, applesauce, and maple syrup, they certainly lived up to the hype! I also included a handful of mini chocolate chips, which is listed as an optional ingredient. I don't say no to optional chocolate.

Here are the snackles before cooking:

...and here they are afterward. They were so good! Oat-y, chocolate-y, chewy, and bite-sized. I'm sold!

The next day, I tackled two recipes for breakfast cookies. Breakfast cookies. 'Nuff said.

Behold, the Monsta! Cookies. This time I was smart and pressed them down into a cookie shape.

These babies are loaded with oat flour, spelt flour, shredded coconut, flax meal, pecans, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, and maple syrup. They are packed with healthful ingredients, and although Dreena says these are not your dessert kind of cookie, I'd have to disagree. To me, they are a breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and late-night snack kind of cookie. I should know, because I had one at each of these occasions. I had to freeze half the batch to keep us from eating them all in one day, which really made for some chewy frozen cookies when we dug them back out of the freezer the next day :)

I also made a batch of the (appropriately named) Breakfast Cookies:

I had to make a few ingredient substitutions, but I stayed pretty true to the recipe. These cookies have oats, cranberries, raisins, chocolate chips, nut butter, ground flax, and maple syrup. My son loved having cookies for breakfast, and so did I!

The next day, I made the Oat 'n' Applesauce Muffins:

I'm not a big muffin person myself, but these sounded too good to pass up. And I'm so glad I made them - they were devoured by myself, my hubby, and my son. My son ate 3 of them for breakfast! With oat flour, oat bran, quick oats, raisins, flax seed, applesauce, and maple syrup, this was something I could feel great about feeding him.

Lastly, I made a savory dish for dinner, the Fragrant Kidney Bean Lentil Dal, served over basmati rice with a side of green beans:

It has red lentils, kidney beans, ginger, orange juice, garlic, and lots of delicious spices. It was perfectly seasoned, and other than omitting the red pepper flakes, I didn't change a thing. It was sooooo good. If you love Indian food, then you should definitely make this!

I can't wait to try more of the recipes in LTEV. I haven't even gotten to the burger, pasta, cookie, cake, or ice cream chapters yet! You'll be seeing more yummy food from this cookbook in the future. Thanks, Dreena!

Just Desserts

One of the truly fabulous things about smoothies is that they are so dessert-like. I feel like I am having a milkshake every morning for breakfast, even though my smoothies are fairly low-sugar and very nutrient-dense. Smoothies do such a great job of satisfying my sweet tooth that I rarely feel compelled to make desserts. But I am always happy to break out the whisk and baking pans for special occasions.

On the anniversary of the day my son came home, we celebrated with a Funky Monkey Pie from Peas and Thank You. Bananas, peanut butter, chocolate, and graham crackers? Sign me up! 

What, pray tell, would an avocado, cacao powder, dates, some collard ribbons (?!?), and a big blob of raspberry jam all be doing in the same food processor at the same time?!

Making Gena's Chocomole, that's what (well, the collard ribbons were my idea....obviously.) It was so creamy and naughty-tasting, and it made a fun little dessert topped with sliced bananas and some Kashi cereal.

Sometimes, I wonder if my photography skills could get any worse...

These are Black Bean Brownies from Peas and Thank You. Trust me, they tasted way more amazing than these pictures would lead you to believe.

This is Grandma's Perfect and Easy Apple Crisp from VegWeb. Easy? Yes. Perfect? Ehhh... Although I think it was my fault for not chopping the apples into smaller pieces. Oh well!

And, finally, I made Our Favorite Chocolate Cake from Vegan Express for Father's Day. I should have taken a picture of what this thing looked like after trying to remove it from the pan....let's just say, about 1/4 of the cake remained glued to the bottom. No problemo. I just scraped it up, mashed it onto a plate, and then plopped the rest of the cake on top and pressed down. My cake looked so terrible that it was actually kind of funny. Somehow that didn't stop us from shoveling this down our pie-holes :)

Birthday Food: Homemade Bread, Muffalettas and Cake!

It was Mr. Bananas for Smoothies's birthday the other day, so I decided to go all-out and make him a birthday feast of his favorite foods.

I haven't made them in a couple of years, but I remember how much my hubby loved the Veggie Tempeh Muffaletta sandwiches from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan. It's a delectable mix of chopped olives, capers, red peppers (raw & roasted), sauteed tempeh, celery, green onions, garlic, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. It's salty, tangy, and uber-delish.

The filling is layered on crusty bread and topped with some avocado, spinach, and sliced tomatoes. Lousy baker that I am, I would normally have bought some bakery bread, but I took a chance and tried to make my own bread - the Sunflower Artisan Loaf from 1,000 Vegan Recipes.

Success! It rose beautifully and was super-easy to make, even for a novice like myself. In fact, the dough rose so much that I ended up splitting it into 2 loaves before baking. I just cut 5 minutes off the baking time and it came out perfectly.

I sliced one of the loaves horizontally, like so:

Then I scooped out much of the middle part in order to make room for the yummy filling:

Next, I added some sliced avocado:

Then I topped it with some sliced tomatoes and baby spinach:

Finally, I put the top back on and pressed down hard to smoosh everything together:

Finally, I used a serrated knife to cut the sandwiches in half. Here's an inside look:

I was tired after all my bread-and-muffaletta-making, so I just threw some sweet potato tots in the oven for a side dish:

My hubby was thrilled to have his beloved muffaletta sandwich again :) And he was very impressed by my attempt (and victory!) at bread baking!!

We made sure to save some room for birthday cake and ice cream. I don't make cakes very often, but I immediately thought of the delicious Apple-Cardamom Cake with Lemon-Maple Frosting from Vive Le Vegan!:

This cake is as healthy as cake can get - it is made with oat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, applesauce, spices, and a minimum of oil and (natural) sugar. The frosting is silken tofu-based and includes maple syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest, and agar powder. The best part is that you can eat an two enormous slice of this cake and not feel gross afterward. Yay for natural sweeteners and whole-grain flours!

The only thing I didn't make was homemade ice cream. Hey, that's what Trader Joe's is for! Cherry Chocolate Chip Soy Creamy....oh yeah!

Happy birthday to my sweetie!

Weekend Yums

Nothing like being Captain Obvious, but I love the weekends.

Weekends mean movie nights, family hikes, longer runs, visiting with friends, and spending time outside. 

It also means enjoying some favorite treats that I don't indulge in during the week.

Such as...homemade pizza. I usually make a quick/non-yeasted crust, but I just tried Mama Pea's Tried and True Whole Wheat Pizza Dough, and it was great. I topped it with some tomato sauce, chopped mushrooms, diced red onion, and Daiya mozzarella. If I ask my son what he wants for dinner, he will say "PIZZA!" every time. He loves it as much as I do!

It was ooey, gooey, melty, and delicious, although I think some kalamata olives would have really kicked it up a notch...next time!

Another Saturday evening, we came home late and wanted to eat pronto. I grabbed a package of sourdough wraps, some hummus, and vegetable errata (arugula, tomato, cucumber, carrot) and made some quick sandwiches while frozen fries were baking in the oven. A frosty glass of Colorado Native beer hit the spot! Beer + french fries + ketchup = awesome.

Sometimes, it's fun to indulge your inner college kid and just have snacky food for dinner. I made some OMG Oven-Baked Onion Rings from Appetite for Reduction and some Avocado Chimichurri Bruschetta and went to town!

After having onion rings and bruschetta for dinner, it just makes sense to follow up with some "Not Guilty" Chocolate Chip Cookies. I mean, really. You've got to hit all your food groups!

As much as I love my big salads and smoothies, I also love to have fun foods on occasion.

What are some of your favorite weekend indulgences?

CCK's Flourless Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Sometimes, a girl's just gotta have a chocolate chip cookie.

Like, now.

I don't want a dozen cookies. I don't even want half a dozen cookies.

Okay, maybe I do want half a dozen cookies.

But really, I just want a cookie. In my mouth. ASAP.

Fortunately, that's why we have Chocolate-Covered Katie.

Her Flourless Chocolate-Chip Cookies take mere minutes (minutes!!) to make - a few minutes to throw everything together, and only 6 minutes to bake. That's it, folks. You want cookies in a jiffy? Go see Katie.

And loooook:

Her recipe makes a half-dozen cookies.

Perfect! Three for three, three for my hubby. My son had already gone to sleep, so no cookies for him...you snooze, you lose, buddy!

I totally would have shared, though. If there had been any left, that is :)

Happy 3rd Birthday to My Little Guy!

I really can't believe it, but my little guy just turned 3 years old!! He has been the greatest blessing to my husband and I, and we just praise the Lord for him. He is the light of our lives and we are just so thankful that God chose us to be his parents!!

To celebrate his birthday, we took a trip to the Mystic Aquarium in nearby Mystic, CT. We've been wanting to take J to the aquarium for a while now, so we thought his birthday would be the perfect occasion. The aquarium ended up being a great choice, because it's just the right size for a family with small children. They have both indoor and outdoor exhibits, which allowed us to get some fresh air as well as duck inside when we needed to warm up.

J is a huge fan of "Finding Nemo," so he was thrilled to get up close and personal with Nemo and Dory.

He especially loved the "black Nemos" they had in one tank!

Later, we enjoyed a special birthday dinner at home with J's grandparents. I made Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting from Peas and Thank You, since a) we love carrot cake and b) J is incredibly smitten with Gigi. All I had to do was tell him that this was Gigi's fifth-birthday cake, and he was sold. Mama Pea, J asks me at least once a week if we can come to Oregon for a playdate with Gigi. Do you think that could be arranged? :)

Anyway, the cake was AMAZING. Like, no joke, the best carrot cake AND best cream cheese frosting I've ever had. Seriously drool-worthy!

J was super-excited to eat his "Gigi-cake"and declared it "yummy in my tummy!" His grandparents also loved it and even had seconds....yay!! All in all, we had a wonderful day with our special little guy. But I don't think we're going to wait another year before eating that cake again! :)

Valentine's Day Food: Quinoa Puttanesca, Salad & Raspberry Blackout Cake

I'll admit it: I'm a sucker for Valentine's Day. I like the idea of cards, chocolate, kisses, snuggles, and telling someone you love them. I enjoy preparing a special meal for my hubby and me, topped off with a delicious and decadent dessert, which MUST include chocolate. This is a requirement!

This year, I decided to cut myself a little slack and not devote hours and hours to preparing a romantic meal. Instead, I baked a cake the night before and then made a simple but elegant dinner. Rather than dining by candlelight alone, we ate off trays in the living room with our son, watching The Sound of Music. It might not have been romantic, but it was fun :)

Our first course was a salad of baby arugula, sliced dried figs, and pistachios with an agave-apple cider vinaigrette. It was inspired by Gena's Fig & Pistachio Salad from Choosing Raw:

We enjoyed our salad with a glass of Cupcake Winery Riesling. I served it in a champagne glass to make it more romantical :)

Our main course was the uber-flavorful Quinoa Puttanesca from Appetite for Reduction. This super-saucy dish is studded with kalamata olives and capers, two of my favorite ingredients. Quinoa is a great alternative to the traditional pasta because it soaks up the sauce and makes every bite really scrumptious.

And, of course, the most important part of any Valentine's Day meal is the dessert. I decided to make something I've been lusting after for ages and ages...the Raspberry Blackout Cake with Ganache-y Frosting from Vegan with a Vengeance. Rather than make the full recipe, I decided to halve it and make half of a two-layer cake. It could not have been easier to do: I halved all the ingredients, baked one 8-inch round cake pan (rather than two), and just cut the finished cake in half. I frosted it as directed and ended up with a beautiful half-moon-shaped cake. The crumb is chocolate and raspberry-flavored, with a raspberry-preserve-and-chocolate-ganache middle layer and frosting. It was.....amaaaaaazing. My picture is totally crappy, but I didn't want to waste any more time taking pictures when this cake wanted to jump into my mouth.

You can't even really see the middle layer, but it's there, trust me. This may have been one of the best cakes I've ever eaten in my life, and there will be much more of this cake in my future. It was the perfect ending to a great Valentine's Day meal!

Christmas Stollen

I may have consumed my fair share of questionable food while living in Germany (currywurst, I'm talking to you), but one thing I absolutely loved - and still love - is Christmas stollen. Stollen is a yeasted, bread-like fruitcake. It's chock full of yummy nummies like rum-soaked raisins, marzipan, almonds, cinnamon, rum-soaked raisins, candied orange peel, vanilla, and rum-soaked raisins. Did I mention rum-soaked raisins? They sell all sorts of varieties of stollen in Germany, including almond (Mandelstollen), marzipanstollen, and nut (nuss-stollen), and I enjoyed them all, especially with a warm cup of gluhwein. 

We bought a stollen pan way back in 2001, and we've been making our own Christmas stollen ever since. It's one of our treasured traditions, and it's the next best thing to enjoying a slice in an open-air Christmas market.

There are a few steps involved, but that's part of the fun...it's definitely not your everyday-kind-of-bread!

First, you scald some soymilk in a small pan.

Blend together the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.

 Add the rum-soaked raisins...

...3 flax-eggs...

...and the scalded milk. Dab some Earth Balance into the dough as it's mixing.

Keep on mixing....

Gather your mix-ins. I like to use sliced almonds and craisins in addition to the rum-soaked raisins. Add to the mixer and continue kneading with the dough hook until well-blended.

 Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let it rise in a warm place for about 3 hours.

After the dough has risen, press it into a greased stollen hood.

Place on a cookie sheet, and bake for 45 minutes.

My picture is fugly, but just trust me - it's really, really good!

Let cool on a rack, then slice and devour.

I love my stollen smeared with Earth Balance, but it's also mighty tasty when it's naked and unadorned, too.

Fröhliche Weihnachten!