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!

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!

Comfort Foods

Some days you just need a hug.

Some days your tummy just needs a hug, too.

Here are some of my recent tummy-huggers :)

Soft Broccoli Polenta from Appetite for Reduction...it's warm, creamy, and oh-so-comforting:

Sometimes I like it along with a bowl of soup, like this Monkey Minestrone from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan:

Other days, comfort comes in the form of a bunch of healthy, raw ingredients I can just toss in the Vita-Mix, like Kristen Suzanne's Raw Moroccan Gazpacho:

Along with the soup, I served a quick Moroccan Raw Carrot Salad from Olive Trees & Honey:

A few days ago, I cooked some Lemon Chickpea Lentil Soup (also from ED&BV), steamed broccoli, and Chickpea Pancake with Rosemary from 1,000 Vegan Recipes.

This "pancake" is actually socca, a savory flatbread made with chickpea flour. The unleavened batter is poured into a preheated cast-iron skillet and baked in a hot oven for about 15 minutes. It has a delightfully crispy-yet-soft texture that satisfies your craving for salty carbs :)

Finally, here's a big steaming bowl of Chickpea Rice Soup with Cabbage from the PPK. It's loaded with super nutritious foods (cabbage, carrots, chickpeas, onions, garlic) and it's a breeze to whip up.

I think I learned some lessons from this post:

Soup comforts me.
Chickpeas comfort me.

I think I'll go hug a chickpea today :)

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!

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!

Fall Favorites

As much as I like trying new recipes, there are certain dishes that I always return to. When the air gets crisp and the days get shorter, I always pick up some chicory and fennel and make the greatest salad known to man, aka the Roasted Fennel and Hazelnut Salad with Shallot Dressing from Veganomicon:

Pictures just do not do this salad justice. It is amazeballs.

Two big heads of fennel (and three big shallots) are roasted with a drizzle of olive oil and S&P.  The fennel is added to a head of chopped chicory, some toasted hazelnuts, and dried cranberries. The roasted shallots are blended with some olive oil, hazelnut oil (I subbed more EVOO), white wine vinegar, maple syrup, tarragon, thyme, nutmeg, and salt. It makes a thick, creamy, savory dressing that is out-of-this-world delicious.

There is only one thing that could possibly make this salad any better, and that is a hunk of freshly baked No-Knead Swedish Cardamom Braid from Vegetarian Times:

This is the best tasting bread I've ever had. Don't just take my word for it - try it yourself. I've made it a bunch of times, and everyone I've served it to has LOVED it.

We washed down our salad and bread with some Southern Tier Pumking beer:

I love pumpkin beers, and this one is in a class of its own. It's fantastic! It was the perfect treat to go with our yummy fall dinner. I highly recommend it!