Party Food

I used to host parties and game nights all the time...but haven't done anything of the sort in months. Really, parties are just a great excuse to bake a lot of food.

I'm having a few friends over tomorrow night and decided to try my hand at making fun gluten-free party foods. First up, Gluten Free Citrus cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (Based on the Gluten Freedom cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)Next is a Mufaletta Mini Cheesecake with a Pecan Crust

I must say, for a totally free-form recipe made up on the spur of the moment, this is pretty frickin' good. I have to tweak it a bit, but then I'll post a recipe.

My latest love

Barbecue popcorn, where have you been all my life?

Popped corn
barbecue sauce and flax oil
salt and nutritional yeast

What else could you ask for?
(Oh, a milkshake? I had that, too)

Today's Menu

Nothing too exciting today, so I'll share what I ate:

Breakfast:
Thanksgiving sandwich (Sesame Oatmeal bread, "turkey" roulade, cranberry sauce, and Veganaise
A really ugly gluten free chocolate chip cookie. More on that another day.

Snack:
Mesquite Lime Primal Strip
Lemon drop candy (to ease the primal strip breath)

Lunch:
ED&BV Caesar Salad
Carrots from the garden
(I got distracted and forgot to heat up the soup I brought.)
Dinner:
Basmati Rice
Cabbage, kale, carrots, scallion, celery, and baked tofu
Almond butter, coconut milk, tamari, ginger and rice vinegar sauce
Apple cider mixed with water (yum! I love watered down juice)

Bedtime Snack/Second dinner:
Satsuma mandarin
Honeycrisp apple
Slices of Sheese
Crackers

Then later a for real bed time snack:
1 piece of Sesame Oatmeal toast with Garlic Red Pepper Miso
1 piece of Sesame Oatmeal toast with almond butter
Glass of almond and rice milk

Perhaps I should start writing down what I eat to make sure I'm getting all the vitamins I need. It's cool how just writing down what you eat will make you eat healthier. Some days I feel like all I eat is grains, protein and fat...no veggies. I'm trying to eat at least 2 pieces of fruit after dinner, though. That keeps me from eating lots of cookies and all that leftover pie in the fridge. And I've been doing much better with remembering to use flax oil and take my evening primrose oil. It's amazing how much better I feel when I'm consistently using these oils.

Raw and Cooked

For dinner tonight I had a wonderful raw caesar salad (using Eat Drink and Be Vegan's Living Caesar dressing) and a slow simmered (very not raw) Rutabega and Butterbean Bisque. First I ate the salad, then I ate the soup, then I ate some more salad. I love the texture of the dressing and the zing of the lemon juice. If only I had some good bread for croutons! This time I added a turnip to the soup and it was really nice. The turnip was so strong that it tastes like I added horseradish to the soup (But I LOVE horseradish, so I thought it was great).

I haven't tried the VCon Caesar dressing yet, but I am so excited to have 2 types of Caesar dressing to try!

Yesterday Mike decided to try a wheat free diet for a while, to see if he feels better on it. I think he should try a gluten-free diet, but wheat free is a good start. I love a challenge! I'm kinda bummed that I won't be making seitan roasts, but excited to try baking without wheat again. So if anyone has any favorite cookie, cake, etc. recipes that are wheat and spelt-free, please let me know! I'm on the lookout...

Thanksgiving

Here's the finished products:Seitan/Tofu Turkey Roulade with "Stuffin' Muffins", Whipped Roasted Garlic Potatoes, and Homestyle Potato Rolls (aka the best rolls ever)
Maple Dijon Glazed Greenie Beanies, Southwestern Corn Pudding, and Jalapeño Cranberry Chutney

My (first) plate of food.

I was really happy with how everything turned out. I don't have a picture, but Mike's mom made an awesome Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie with soy whipped cream. It was rich and creamy- perfect. The dog thought so, too, apparently. She jumped up and shoved her whole snout in the pie.

This morning we ate Thanksgiving sandwiches on those potato rolls. Wow- The kids ate about 3 rolls each last night (in addition to everything else except the corn and cranberries because they were a bit spicy) and then at 2 more this morning (each). Good thing that recipe makes a lot of rolls!

The beginning of my late Thanksgiving

This year I got to have an early Thanksgiving with my family in Virginia and now I'm preparing for my late Thanksgiving with my family in Minnesota. Tomorrow I'm having the parents in law (except not really in law, because there's nothing legal binding me and my sweetie. Just love...awwww!), the kids, and a friend over for the big meal. And I get an extra day to cook since it's late!

It was a little weird today being alone on a day that nearly everyone spends with family. But I snuggled with the animals and read a book, then went to yoga (a full class, despite the holiday), and started cooking. Now my sweetie is home, but exhausted, so I'm kinda alone again.


Here's the carb-tastic menu I'm planning:

Bryanna's Tofu/Seitan "Turkey" Roulade
Pecan & Sage Stuffing (made with spelt bread because it was 1/2 off!)
VCon's Southwestern Corn Pudding
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
VCon's Homestyle Potato Rolls
Kale Gratin
Green Beans
Cranberry-Jalapeño Chutney
And some kind of gravy, depending on what flavors seem good tomorrow.

Perhaps it's too much food for 7 people? I'm sure it is, but I love Thanksgiving leftovers SO MUCH!

Here's the Roulade about to go into the oven: And here's the stuffing smashed into muffin tins, a la Rachel Ray.

I'll follow up tomorrow with the full meal's pictures, after baking.

Sweets

Last night Mike brought home one of the most delightful desserts ever (for a prepackaged treat) {And yes, it is my food snobbiness that made me put in that disclaimer, because fresh is always superior}: an Almond Kringle with Rice Divine vanilla ice cream. I can't remember the brand on the kringle, so I'll have to edit that in later. We warmed up the kringle so that the ice cream melted on it a bit...Yum!Tonight I baked a couple of pies to bring in to work. Tomorrow is our busiest day of the year, so we always have lots of good food in the back to relieve the stress. My co-worker usually makes all the pies, but he uses lard and wanted to have something available for veg folks. So I offered to help.

So this is a Michigan Peach and Minnesota Mulberry pie- The little ones in front are made from the scraps of dough because the kids looked SO sad when I told them the pies weren't for them. They'll have a surprise in their lunch tomorrow!

Survey Says...

I know that this doesn't count as another VeganMoFo post, but I have to say that I'm SO HAPPY that so many people filled out the VeganMoFo Survey that I posted earlier this month. I love reading all the different answers and getting to know everyone!

Food from my trip

My Aunt Clare did a great job of cooking vegan for me and picking up some great treats from Ellwood Thompson's when I was in Richmond.

I'm not usually that impressed with non-co-op natural foods stores. That could be because I'm inherently biased against them (I work at a natural foods co-op and would always rather shop at one), but I really think that the really big natural stores feel so corporate and slick and all about the money. But Ellwood Thompson's did a great job of balancing looking really well put-together with feeling neighborly and comfortable (this is probably because they are a locally owned, single store operation, not a huge behemoth of a natural foods store). They also had really admirable product policies and an amazing deli. Their tofu/seitan "Chicken" nuggets were so realistic it as almost scary. I didn't get a chance to try their "chicken" salad, but it was made with these, so I assume it's stellar.

My dad even passed up barbecued pork to eat curried tofu and samosas at the deli! Amazing!

Here's what I ate:


I had to try the thick slab of vegan mac 'n cheese. How could I not? Although I had to heat it in a microwave and add a dash of salt, I thought it was a damn good mac 'n cheese. The texture was awesome- very creamy and not dried out at all despite being baked.

I also had a great salad with organic spinach, vegan croutons, shredded beets, shredded carrots, and Ranch dressing! I LOVE that the croutons were labeled as vegan so I didn't have to guess. For dessert I had the Pumpkin Cake with Nutmeg Frosting. Holy cow. It was rich and a serious sugar rush. I had to save 1/2 for later (good thing, too, since I had a surprise 3 hour layover in Chicago. It cheered me up).


And here's the latest pic of my Granny Sue and me. I only get to see her every few years, so it's always really special to get to visit with her.

Traveling While Vegan

Tomorrow morning I leave for Richmond, Virginia to visit with my Dad's side of the family (grandma, aunt, uncle, cousins, dad + Ann, brother + Rachel). I'm really excited to see them all because I rarely get to visit with this side of the extended family. But it always makes me nervous to travel.
I've stuffed my suitcase with instant hummus, clif bars, dried fruit and nuts, and satsuma oranges. I've mapped out several natural foods stores and a few veg-friendly restaurants in the city. My aunt even emailed me to get the specifics of what I can and can't eat.

I'm definitely nervous about being able to find plenty of quality foods to eat...but I'm more nervous about being an inconvenience to my family's gathering and making being vegan look like a hassle. Honestly, when I'm home I don't even think about being vegan that much. I'm surrounded by people who work at a co-op, so although I'm one of the few (only?) vegans who works there- It's pretty well accepted. I don't have to defend my diet at all!

But when I travel, I'm outside of my little co-op bubble. All of my experiences outside of the Twin Cities are very un-veg friendly. Perhaps because when I travel it's usually to Texas???? Anyways, I'm sure everything will be fine.

Jeez- reading this post you'd think I just turned veg last year! But my vegetarian anniversary is this week (15 years!) and I've been vegan for about 5 now. I love that my veg-anniversary is the week before Thanksgiving!

I'll be out of town for the next few days and I'm not sure if I'll have internet access. So...I swear I'll post extra when I get home.

Spicy, Sour, and Salty

I called in sick to work today and stayed home watching TV, napping, and eating all the foods I was craving.

I took the kids to school and then stopped by the co-op to get some sicky supplies. Of course, I work at the co-op so that does make it a bit awkward to call in sick and then show up to work to shop (and of course my manager walked in just after me). But the way I see it: Some people go to the doctor...and some people go to the grocery store. I needed the foods my body was craving!

Here's what I wanted (and ate):

Seitan Noodle soup with a lemony-nutritional yeasty broth and mushrooms
Throat Coat tea
Rocky Road ice cream (by Soy Delicious So Decadent)
More Seitan Noodle Soup
General Tao's Tofu with cabbage and carrots
A satsuma mandarin
Popcorn with lime and salt
Maple-lemonade



I thought that the General Tao's tofu would be perfect, especially with tons of extra garlic, ginger, and cayenne. But, honestly, it wasn't that great. The tofu was fried nice and crisp, but got soggy as soon as the sauce went on. And I ended up having to add extra soy sauce and hot sauce. Maybe this is just because I'm sick and can't taste things as well as usual, but I don't think it lives up to the hype. I'll probably try it again another time, with modifications.

As for the popcorn, it had some serious flavor. I love popcorn. I mean REALLY love popcorn.
Like, I eat it every single night LOVE POPCORN.
I feel good about eating popcorn all the time, though, because I count on it for my omega-3 fatty acids. I always drizzle flax oil on the popped corn before adding salt, spices, herbs, etc. The flax oil helps the toppings stick and gives it a great buttery flavor (and great nutrition).

Tonight I mixed equal parts of flax oil and lime juice. I drizzled it over the popcorn and then sprinkled it with salt. YUM! It reminds me of the salty-limeyness of Chipotle's chips, only I didn't feel disgustingly sick to my stomach afterwards.

My other favorite popcorn toppings are (always with flax oil):

Nutritional yeast, salt, and coarse ground black pepper
Lime juice, cayenne, salt, and ginger powder (cook the popcorn in coconut oil for a Thai treat)
Garlic salt and red pepper flakes
Onion powder, garlic powder, dill, parsley, and salt (Ranch!)
Simply Organic Hot & Spicy salt
Chili powder, nutritional yeast, salt (Think chili cheese Fritos)
Onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, nutritional yeast (Hot Cheetos!)
Onion powder, salt, and dill (Reminds me of sour cream and onion flavor chips)

What are your favorite toppings?

Leftover Enchiladas

Well, the kids seem to be over their illness...But now I have it!
Luckily I didn't post about my dinner last night yet, so here it is:
This is certainly not much to look at, but it was really tasty. I wasn't going to take a picture, but after Mike tasted it he said, "This is the best meal ever and you're not even going to take a picture?!" So I figured I should document it.

I shredded my easy seitan "chicken" from last night and mixed it with onions, green pepper, kale, and a nooch cheeze sauce that was leftover. I rolled that inside of expired corn tortillas, topped with a quick tomatillo salsa, and baked it for really easy leftover enchiladas.

I'm trying to do a better job of using up leftovers and taking the free produce from work. I spent over $500 on groceries last month, and that's not counting the food that Mike bought. It's time to reel in the spending! It's hard, though, when I work at a grocery store (co-op). Everytime I leave work I'm tempted to check out the sales or get a quick snack or go on a huge grocery shopping spree. And we eat like fiends, so at any given time I have about 5 things that we absolutely NEED. Like today when I woke up to find we were out of toilet paper and bread...

Seitan & Dumplings

The kids are home sick from school today, and that fits in perfectly with my plan to make seitan and dumplings for dinner. I swear I didn't get them sick on purpose, though! It just so happens that I was craving this awesome meal that reminds me so much of my Meemaw.

I remember the first time I watched Meemaw make these (of course, she was using real chicken and real butter/eggs...) I was so surprised that you could MAKE chicken & dumplings. I had only had the kind from a can, which I thought was so delicious. But that didn't even compare to her homemade dumplings and rich broth!

Last year I called her to get the recipe and it's been a favorite in our house since then.

For seitan, I use my super simple lazy seitan chicken recipe:

Dry Mixture:
1 1/2 cups wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp poultry seasoning
2 tsp "chicken" broth powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Wet Mixture:
1 cup water
2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Mix the dry and the wet. Then grab a chunk and squash it until it's kinda flat. Put it on an oiled or parchment papered baking sheet and bake 20 minutes. Flip over and bake another 15-20 minutes.

And the dumplings:

Mix 1/2 cup of Earth Balance, softened, with 2-3 cups of flour until pea-sized bits form. (Like making pie dough or biscuits). Then stir in 1 tsp salt, 2 egg replacer eggs, and enough water to form a dough. I've never measured this, but just add a little at a time until the dough will hold together. You can also add roasted garlic, herbs, or black pepper to the dumplings and it's awesome!

Just roll out the dough until about 1/4 inch thick. Use a pizza cutter to slice it up into big fat noodles/dumplings. Let the dough rest for about an hour. (I've cheated and only waited 1/2 hour and it didn't ruin anything. But Meemaw says you should wait an hour, so you probably should.)
Bring about 8 cups of water (I didn't measure, but it was a really big pot of water) with veg. bouillon cubes or broth to boil. Throw in some garlic, diced carrots or celery if you'd like. Then add about 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast, 1 tsp poultry seasoning, 3 Tbsp. lemon juice, and tons of salt and pepper to taste. This should make a really rich, "chickeny" broth.

Then drop in the seitan (chopped into big cubes) and the dumplings a couple at a time so they don't stick together. Boil for about 10 minutes.
If it needs more seasoning, adjust salt, pepper, lemon juice, etc. to taste. It comes out different every time!

This is basically the only soup that the boys will eat!

Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh and Italian Shepard's Pie

One of my favorite things in the world is South River Miso Company's Garlic Red Pepper Miso. I was so sad when I couldn't find it on their website a while ago, so when I saw it at the Wedge yesterday I knew I had to get some. It was just in time, too, because I emptied my previous jar this morning when I had toast with Earth Balance and miso. I let Hannah clean out the jar because she's really good at "rinsing" the recyclables. But look how angry she looked when she thought I might take the jar away!

She might love miso as much as she loves peanut butter, broccoli, jalapeños, apples, and cabbage.

For dinner tonight I had to use up the leftover pizza toppings from the other night. I've had these little baby green bell peppers in the fridge for a couple of weeks (because I had to clear out the garden before they were fully grown). So I mixed the onions, artichoke hearts, black olives, and pizza sauce with brown rice and stuffed the little babies. Then I topped them off with leftover cashew ricotta and baked them until the peppers were tender and the ricotta was lightly crispy. This picture really doesn't do them justice.
Because I had way more filling than green peppers, I also made individual ramekins of the pizza/rice stuffing with ricotta piped on top and baked. They reminded me of little shepard's pies, but Italian-style.
The tempeh on the side is the Vcon Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh. Wow! Those were really awesome! I didn't have any wine, so I used Jack Daniels instead. We don't drink, but I find that Jack comes in handy for some sauces and desserts. And I must say that the marinade was good enough to drink by the spoonful! (But I tried to restrain myself).

Butterbean-Root Bisque with Jalapeno-Cranberry Chutney and Crisy Fried Onions

I've been wanting to make this soup for a while and finally had a night where I was cooking for myself and could make it. For some reason, Mike and the kids don't like most soups, so I usually make them just for me (usually to bring for lunches).

This soup includes two ingredients that remind me of my mom: butterbeans and rutabagas. My mom will eat butterbeans heated up, just straight out of a can she loves them so much. We've even been known to eat straight up butterbeans for breakfast! I know that some people say lima beans and butterbeans are the same thing...but I think differently. However, because I can't find butterbeans without crazy preservatives added, I have used lima beans in this recipe. It really does taste just as good as I imagine butterbeans would.

And despite both my mom and I loving rutabagas just as much, we've always eaten them only at Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner. Our usual rutabaga recipe is one of the few family traditional dishes that is easily veganized by an omni family living in Texas shopping at a Wal-Mart. No tofu or nutritional yeast needed. Just rutabagas, salt, pepper, and maybe some margarine. Yum!

You really have to try this soup! Even if it doesn't remind you of my mom, I think you'll like it.



Butterbean-Root Bisque

1 cup dry butterbeans or lima beans
6 cups water
1.5 cups chopped rutabaga, peeled
1 cup chopped parsnip, peeled
4 cloves roasted garlic
1 no salt added vegan vegetable bouillon cube
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp thyme

Simmer the beans in the water until they are tender, about 45 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes (everything should be really soft). Puree with your immersion blender until perfectly smooth. If too thin, simmer longer until it's thick enough for you.

*This soup looks plain, but has a rich, subtle flavor. You really should garnish it. Here's what I used and I would definitely make this one again:

Jalapeño-Cranberry Chutney
1/2 cup chopped cranberries
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 small pickled jalapeno, minced (pickled jalapeños are so good!!!)
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp sugar

Simmer until cranberries are tender. Mash them up with a fork or use a little food processor if you want a syrup to drizzle on the soup. This is good beyond belief.

The Crispy Fried onions are premade ones I found at the co-op today. (Lars Own imported Crispy onions) I would never have considered them, except that I was so shocked they didn't have hydrogenated oils or any preservatives...so I bought them. I'm so glad I did, because they added a great dimension to this soup. The sweet/spicyness of the chutney with the crisp saltiness of the onions was a perfect compliment to the earthy, creamy soup.

Yeasty

Am I crazy for considering buying 25 pounds of nutritional yeast? Bob's Red Mill sent me a catalog and they have 25 pounds of nooch for $150.00 ($6.00 per pound!). It's 8.99 per pound at the co-op ($7.19 with my employee discount), but that variety doesn't have B12 added.

So I could save myself $29.80 and the risk of pernicious anemia on 25 pounds of nooch.

Maybe I'll ask for it for Christmas!!!

A VeganMoFo Survey

I love lists and surveys. Anyone who knows me knows that at any given point I have at least 4 lists going, for work, home, goals, recipes, etc. So here's a list of questions that I will answer and that you should answer, too. At the very least it could count as your VeganMoFo posting and it's way better than the "when's the last time you puked from boozing" quizzes on Myspace.

1. Favorite non-dairy milk?
Rice Dream original enriched mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with Blue Diamond original Almond Breeze. Perfect! Not too thin and ricey, not too almondy.

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
Seitan and dumplings
Tamales
Butterbean and rutabaga soup

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
Flax oil, nutritional yeast, salt, and coarse ground black pepper. (But I'm a big fan of flax oil, red pepper flakes, and garlic salt, too.)

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
I think it was a chai or eggnog cheesecake and I didn't puree the tofu long enough. It was chunky and runny and looked like vomit. Luckily it somehow tasted good enough for Mike and the kids to enjoy.

5. Favorite pickled item?
jalapeños or okra

6. How do you organize your recipes?
I don't. I write them on scraps of paper and shove them in notebooks to deal with someday. I want Mastercook, though. I think it will save me.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
Compost unless the dog is really annoying. Then she eats all my scraps.

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)?
kale, soybeans, brown rice. I'm hoping I'd somehow be able to make miso with some sea salt from the ocean, too.

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
Meemaw making cream of potato soup for me. Mom making guacamole on Sundays.

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
So Delicious Peanut Butter Zigzag. No question.

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
Food processor

12. Spice/herb you would die without?
Cumin or thyme.

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
Laurel's Kitchen.

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
Real homemade concord grape. or jalapeño!

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
vegan cupcakes or cookies will always win them over!

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
Seitan! With tempeh as the next runner up.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
Dinner/late afternoon

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
sourdough culture, kids toys that have been confiscated, and a big aluminum pan that's good for carrying cupcakes.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
kale, popsicles, spud puppies

20. What's on your grocery list?
oatscreme, wheat gluten, basmati rice, masa harina, butterbeans

21. Favorite grocery store?
The co-op! Miss Market, Seward, or Wedge

22. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet.
Mom's Chess Squares. Pretty much every ingredient isn't vegan.

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa's because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3?
FatFreeVegan
VeganYumYum
Vive le Vegan!

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
Green and Black's mint chocolate or Sunspire's chocolate coconut thing that's like a mounds bar.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
I didn't buy it, but I really want a gourmet salt sampler...but it's $114 on amazon. I just can't justify that.




Below is a blank list of the questions for you to copy and paste and answer on your blog. Post a comment so I know to read yours!

1. Favorite non-dairy milk?

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

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?

5. Favorite pickled item?

6. How do you organize your recipes?

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?

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)?

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?

12. Spice/herb you would die without?

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?

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

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?

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

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.

20. What's on your grocery list?

21. Favorite grocery store?

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

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

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?

26. Make up your own question to put here (and answer it).

Stuffed Crust Pizza!!!

There are just too many commercials on TV about stuffed crust pizza. I don't think I've ever had stuffed crust pizza with real cheese, but I imagine it being one of the most indulgently amazing things ever. I mean, there's already cheese on top! Why do you need it in the crust? You don't. But it's so damn good and over the top that you can't resist it.

So here's my version, which is probably less indulgent but still amazing.
First, I made a basic pizza dough with some garlic and Italian herb mix thrown in. Then I made up a batch of Cashew Ricotta (Veganomicon) that the family loved so much. I piped the ricotta all around the edge of the dough and folded the crust over, sealing with a dab of water. Then I pressed the edges together really well, reshaping the crust to be a bit bigger and working the dough so that the seal wouldn't break.

I topped it with tomato sauce, onions, black olives, artichoke hearts, veggie pepperoni, and a cheeze sauce similar to the New Farm Cookbook's recipe for cheeze sauce (only less Earth Balance and oil!) Here's what it looked like before baking:

And after baking, in bad lighting:
Here's an inside shot:
And another:
I think this was a really tasty pizza, but since the ricotta is a dry "cheeze", it didn't have that gooeyness that I associate with a stuffed crust pizza. I might consider mixing the ricotta with tomato sauce just to make it more gooey before stuffing. Or maybe grating in some Follow Your Heart Mozzarella?
Anyhow, the kids thought it was awesome and it's something I'll definitely keep working on.

Easy Food

My last two days have been pretty crazy. Yesterday I got interviewed by Kare 11OnLive about neti pots at work and got to watch myself pouring water through my nose on TV. Then I went straight to yoga and afterwards got a call that my friend Newbie had FREE tickets to the Tori Amos concert that night- So of course I went straight there (yoga pants and all). I didn't get home until 11 that night.

My easy dinner of choice? Chips dipped in a can of refried beans with lime juice, garlic, Bragg's, and cumin mixed in. Sounds pathetic, I know. But surprisingly good! (and to my credit, I did take it out of the can before eating it).

Tonight I was planning on cooking something elaborate to make up for no blogging yesterday. Instead, I got stuck at City Hall until 7pm and am now eating another easy dinner.

Why was I at City Hall you ask?

...To attend a 3 1/2 hour City Council Hearing. Trader Joe's wants to tear down some houses in my neighborhood on the busiest street around and build a store. It's true that this corner is ugly and needs some help. But putting up a Trader Joe's where there is a locally owned grocery, a co-op where I work, a locally owned bakery, and a locally owned liquor store within a mile is just predatory. They needed zoning changes to do this project and despite numerous testimonies from the neighborhood, the motion passed. Well, we survived through Whole Foods opening and I suppose we'll survive this global corporate giant, too. They might be cheap as hell, but they can't get local produce like we can. And we don't wear obnoxious Hawaiian shirts either. So there.

So I was too hungry to wait for an elaborate dinner and instead decided to use some awesome locally made bread with a bean spread. Okay, really I just wanted to use the Tunisian olive mix I just got and these things were merely a vehicle for the olives.

I pureed Great Northern beans, olives, garlic, and pearl onions with some of the spicy olive marinade. Then I spread it on bread. For taking all of 2 minutes to prepare, this was really tasty. I definitely need to go eat some veggies still, but at least my hands aren't shaking anymore from going more than 3 hours without eating.

Easy Food

My last two days have been pretty crazy. Yesterday I got interviewed by Kare 11OnLive about neti pots at work and got to watch myself pouring water through my nose on TV. Then I went straight to yoga and afterwards got a call that my friend Newbie had FREE tickets to the Tori Amos concert that night- So of course I went straight there (yoga pants and all). I didn't get home until 11 that night.

My easy dinner of choice? Chips dipped in a can of refried beans with lime juice, garlic, Bragg's, and cumin mixed in. Sounds pathetic, I know. But surprisingly good! (and to my credit, I did take it out of the can before eating it).

Tonight I was planning on cooking something elaborate to make up for no blogging yesterday. Instead, I got stuck at City Hall until 7pm and am now eating another easy dinner.

Why was I at City Hall you ask?

...To attend a 3 1/2 hour City Council Hearing. Trader Joe's wants to tear down some houses in my neighborhood on the busiest street around and build a store. It's true that this corner is ugly and needs some help. But putting up a Trader Joe's where there is a locally owned grocery, a co-op where I work, a locally owned bakery, and a locally owned liquor store within a mile is just predatory. They needed zoning changes to do this project and despite numerous testimonies from the neighborhood, the motion passed. Well, we survived through Whole Foods opening and I suppose we'll survive this global corporate giant, too. They might be cheap as hell, but they can't get local produce like we can. And we don't wear obnoxious Hawaiian shirts either. So there.

So I was too hungry to wait for an elaborate dinner and instead decided to use some awesome locally made bread with a bean spread. Okay, really I just wanted to use the Tunisian olive mix I just got and these things were merely a vehicle for the olives.

I pureed Great Northern beans, olives, garlic, and pearl onions with some of the spicy olive marinade. Then I spread it on bread. For taking all of 2 minutes to prepare, this was really tasty. I definitely need to go eat some veggies still, but at least my hands aren't shaking anymore from going more than 3 hours without eating.

What I ate today

It's late and I'm tired. But I'm never too tired for a list.

So here's a list of what I ate today:

8am: 2 pieces of WW Flax toast with Earth Balance (really I should say it was Earth Balance with a little bit of toast)

9am: So hungry! Stopped at a bagel shop for a sundried tomato bagel with hummus and veggies

12 pm: Rushing to a meeting- didn't have time for lunch before this 3 hour borefest. Grabbed a mesquite lime Primal Strip and a vegan pumpkin cookie from the co-op.

3:30pm: A real lunch finally! Cream of mushroom and rutabaga soup, a chickpea cutlet, and sauteed kale with onion and mushrooms.

7:30pm: Apple and lots of water after yoga.

9:00 pm: Dinner: Fusilli with pesto, kale, and artichoke hearts.

Here's a picture of the pasta:

It was pretty tasty. The sauce was sauteed onion, kale, and artichoke hearts with nutritional yeast, lemon juice, soy creamer, and pesto. Very fast and satisfying.

When the kids are away...Mushrooms come out to play

Last night I made a really awesome dinner that included mushrooms because the kids were at their mom's (mushrooms are their one hated food). I also needed good food to eat for lunch this week...So here's what I made:

Cream of Mushroom & Rutabaga Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 large red onion, diced
1 1/2 cups rutabaga, peeled and diced
1 large portabello mushroom, sliced
1 1/2 cups cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 can Great Northern beans, drained
4 cups broth (I used some expired un-chicken broth)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp fresh sage, minced
2 Tbsp tamari or Bragg's
1/4 cup soy creamer

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium low heat. Add the onions and cook slowly, allowing them to caramelize. Then add the rutabaga, beans, and broth and increase heat to medium high. Simmer until rutabagas are tender (I have no idea how long, I was busy doing other stuff). Mash or puree using an immersion blender. Then return to the stove and add everything except the soy creamer. When mushrooms have cooked down, add salt or whatever it needs until everything tastes awesome. Then remove from heat and stir in the soy creamer. This should make about 4 servings. We used it as gravy, too! (You know a soup is good when it can be used as gravy).

I also cooked the Herbed Scalloped Potatoes and Chickpea Cutlets (really great northern bean cutlets because I didn't have any chickpeas) from Veganomicon. Then I was inspired by the Lemony Green Beans from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan and made lemony kale and green beans. Everything tasted awesome for dinner and for lunch today. I hope that it will be just as delicious for lunch tomorrow.

Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread

Ever since I saw the ad in the Star Tribune about the holiday cookie contest, I was pumped to enter. I knew I wanted to use a variation of a cookie my mom and I made when she last visited. It's a cranberry shortbread that is absolutely divine. I know I personally ate an entire batch of these. Luckily I had my mom and party guests to eat the other 2 batches we made!

I couldn't decide whether I wanted to add lime zest or pistachios to them to make them more festive (and flavorful) for the holidays...So I baked both versions. Since everyone who tasted them couldn't decide which was better, I decided that the final recipe would have pistachios, cranberries, and lime zest. I set up a plate of them and even garnished them to look all pretty for my entry photograph...

I swear that the deadline said Nov. 5.

But I missed it by a whole week! I can't believe it! They're so damn good that I really thought I might win. I suppose I can still enter these cookies next year. Anyways, I suppose I'll give you all the recipe and console myself by eating too many of them.

Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies

1 1/4 cups Earth Balance (Yep. You read that correctly. These are not low fat.)
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
2 1/4 cups flour (This is an occasion to break out the white flour)
6 oz. dried cranberries, chopped finely
1/2 cup roasted, salted pistachios, chopped finely
2 Tbsp. lime zest, chopped finely

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a baking sheet or two with oil or parchment paper. Using a mixer, cream together the Earth Balance and sugar. Slowly add in the flour until a dough forms. Stir in the cranberries, pistachios, and zest. If the dough is slightly too dry, add a bit of lime juice or water (by the DROP!). Pinch off about a tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball. Press the dough flat with a greased drinking glass or jar or your hand. This will make about 30 cookies, unless you end up making them too big like I do. Bake 11-12 minutes. The tops will look a bit dry when they are ready. Remove from baking sheet, cool and eat!

Can this recipe be saved contest entry

If you read Fat Free Vegan, one of the raddest vegan blogs out there, you might have heard about Susan's Contest to salvage her Thai Pumpkin Croquettes. The pumpkin just didn't work well with the recipe and she is looking for a variation.
The moment I read the recipe, I knew what I wanted to use instead of pumpkin...
Pumpkin Seeds!

Pumpkin seeds are super nutritious, with tons of iron, protein, and minerals. I know that they're not fat free and Susan's recipes usually are very low fat (hence the name of the blog), but pumpkin seeds are just too good for you!

Plus, in this recipe they have a subtle flavor that doesn't overpower the basil, lime, or curry. When the seeds are soaked before going to the food processor, the croquettes end up tender and flaky with a delicious nutty flavor.

I totally loved these little cakes. After only about 5 minutes the smell coming from the oven was nutty, spicy, and distinctively Thai. I've never had Thai fish cakes, but the smell reminded me of how I imagine they probably taste...except not fishy!

I served them with basmati rice seasoned with lime, cilantro, and some chopped toasted peanuts. And then I poured that awesome dipping sauce over everything!
So here's the recipe- Copied from Fat Free Vegan, but adapted to substitute the pumpkin seeds for the pumpkin and add a little bit of cilantro.

Thai Pumpkin Croquettes

12 ounces green beans, trimmed and sliced
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds without shells, soaked overnight and drained
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon red curry paste
4 kaffir lime leaves, minced OR 1 tbsp. grated lime zest
1 teaspoon agave nectar OR brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten*

Place the pumpkin seeds into a food processor and pulse until they are not quite pureed, still a bit chunky. Add the green beans, basil, and cilantro and pulse to chop coarsely (do not puree!) If you have a small processor, you may have to do this in batches. Pour into a bowl and add all remaining ingredients. Stir well for about 3 minutes, to allow gluten to develop. Set aside while you preheat the oven to 425F.

Spray a non-stick baking sheet with oil. Take a heaping tablespoon of the batter and form it into a patty about 1 1/2-inches (4 cm) across and 1/2-inch (1.25 cm) thick. Place it on the baking sheet and repeat with the rest of the batter. It should make about 30 croquettes.

Bake for 20 minutes, and then turn over and bake until browned, about 15-20 minutes. Serve warm with dipping sauce, below.

*You can make a gluten-free batch of these using 2 tablespoons of cornstarch instead of gluten. Skip the stirring for three minutes, and form the batter into croquettes by dropping by tablespoons onto the baking sheet and smoothing into patties with your fingers.

Thai Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar*
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup agave nectar (or sugar)
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon chili sauce (the kind with chopped peppers and seeds, not a smooth sauce like Sriracha) or use fresh chopped red chilies
1 teaspoon minced garlic

If you're using agave nectar, mix all ingredients together well. Keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

If using sugar, heat all ingredients until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool before serving.

*If you use regular rice vinegar, you may want to add additional maple syrup and some salt.

My newfound love for "Ricotta" and longtime love for Ranch

I never cared much for ricotta in my dairy-eating days, but after trying the Cashew Ricotta from Veganomicon: I'm in love. I never thought that adding a little 1/2 cup of cashews to my usual ricotta recipe of food processed tofu, lemon juice, garlic, and basil would transform it into something this amazing. I did vary from the recipe slightly, because I ran out of cashews and had to sub almonds and since the fresh basil has all been made into pesto I used a few frozen cubes of that. I stuffed this "ricotta" into shells and covered it with premade tomato sauce (I admit this shamefully because I have garden tomatoes that need to be used).



On the side we had a raw kale salad with Ranch dressing. I was so excited to see all the baby kale still growing outside. It's been frosty every morning and we've already harvested the bulk of our kale. But at the top of each plant is a few beautiful curly leaves...I gathered them up and added another great find: green garlic!

I know- green garlic is usually just for spring, right?
Somehow we have little garlic babies sprouting up in the garden in November in Minnesota. It's true that I transplanted some green garlic from the community garden to the backyard garden in April. But no matter how careful I am, I can't get it to survive the trauma of being moved and produce a bulb. I guess it survived underground and decided to sprout up again right now. And I am happy to eat it!

I am so impressed that the boys will eat a raw kale salad. It's true that it needs to have a fair amount of ranch dressing on it, but still- I think it's pretty impressive. Most adults wouldn't even try a salad so hearty and deeply green.

I'd eat pretty much anything if it's doused in ranch dressing, though. I don't think I've ever really written the recipe down, but here's an approximation:

1/4 cup veganaise
3/4 cup unsweetened plain soy yogurt (My intestinal flora love Wildwood the best)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1Tbsp dried or fresh parsley
1 tsp dillweed
1.5 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Then just put it in a jar and shake it like a polaroid picture. You can add a little soymilk if it is too thick, but I like it thick for dipping things in.

VeganMoFo

As if I needed another reason to spend all of my time thinking about, cooking, or taking pictures of food...Now I have committed to participation in VeganMoFo, a Vegan Month of Food. (The link will bring you to Isa Chandra Moskowitz's blog, where you can read about it and follow links that I'm too lazy to put up). I will try to do some sort of blog about food every day. It might just be a picture of the ramen noodles I ate and a confession about how sometimes this is all I really want to eat. Or it might be an elaborate dinner, an essay on why I hate canned fruit, or as Katie suggested, a picture of me wearing nothing but a smile and Earth Balance. (Just kidding, Mom and Dad, that's on a different site). I suppose you'll just have to keep reading.