Belated Fat Bombs

This post is so late, I'm tempted to lie and tell you that I made this crazy indulgent appetizer for President's Day.  Because who doesn't celebrate President's Day with spicy, cream cheese stuffed fat bombs?

But the truth is that this was one of my Superbowl snacks.  I'm just belated in sharing it with you by about 2 weeks.  Just think of it this way, I'm 50 weeks early for Superbowl 2012!

I wanted to do this recipe after drooling over our co-op's cheese buyer's recipe for cream cheese stuffed jalapeños wrapped in bacon.  Sounds crazy good, right?!  As you can guess, they weren't vegan.

This version is, though.  Even those these are vegan, they aren't in any way healthy.  I can't in good conscience recommend consuming them more than once a year.  Here's how to make them.

Most of this recipe is just vegan versions of the ingredients  from the original recipe-- nothing too creative. I thought that the Tofutti might be lacking in a bit of flavor (or rather that it has a bit of its own weird flavor), so I added some Veganaise to make it a little more spreadable and flavorful.  I don't recommend doing this.  It made the final product taste TOO fatty and rich.  I did add in a dash of tamari and 3-4 minced green onions.  I think this was fantastic.

One change I'd like to try is to brush the bacon with coconut oil before baking.  I think it'll help it crisp up some since it's baked instead of fried up in a skillet.

Vegan Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapeños Wrapped in Bacon

6-8 jalapeños, halved lengthwise and seeded
1/2 tub Tofutti cream cheeze, room temperature
3-4 green onions, minced
Dash of tamari or soy sauce
1 package LightLife Smart Bacon
16 toothpicks

Preheat oven to 350F.  Make sure all seeds and most of the inner membranes are removed from the jalapeños, unless you like things pretty spicy.  Stir together cream cheeze, onions and tamari.  Using a spoon or knife, stuff jalapeño halves with cream cheeze mixture, just until level with the top, not overflowing too much.  Carefully separate the pieces of bacon from each other.  Wrap bacon around each jalapeño half and secure with a toothpick.  Place jalapeños on a parchment-lined or greased baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes or until bacon is crisped slightly and cheeze is bubbly and hot.

Serve immediately... or enjoy cold the next day, straight out of the tupperware, while standing in front of the fridge.  I think they're best cold.

Veggies!

We've been eating some serious vegetables around here lately.  Maybe it's penance for baking a double batch of brownies and cowboy cookies in the past 2 weeks, but it sure is delicious.  

The local carrots are still rockin' my world and my favorite way to eat them is with ranch dressing.

Last night's dinner was veggie central.  I prepped shredded carrots, thin slices of cucumber, minced cilantro, minced mint, avocado slices and chopped green onions this weekend so dinner took only as long as rolling the spring rolls.  I also included some baked tofu that marinated in OJ and ginger overnight and thin rice noodles doused in the leftover marinade.

I made a whole big pile of them!

We ate every last one of these while watching curling.  I used a dipping sauce made of lime juice, Bragg's aminos, lemongrass-infused oil, and ginger.

Yum!  Next veggie fest will be the cauliflower and broccoli curry that's going in the crockpot in the morning.

Gluten Free Dumplings aka Potstickers

I love a good challenge.  So when my coworker/friend Darci challenged me to make a gluten free vegan version of the Kimchi Dumplings from the new Robin Asbell book, The New Vegetarian, I couldn't say no.  Plus, it's kimchi inside of a dumpling.  Come on-  It's got to be amazing.

I did put it off for a week, though.  I just figured that they're fall apart and be a real pain in the rear.  But then I found this GF vegan dumpling dough recipe from Jill Elise over at Hey, that tastes good!  It works!  And it tastes good!  And it wasn't any more of a pain than making wheat-based dumplings!  Success!

The dough was surprisingly easy to work with- as long as it stays moist and you flour the crap out of your counter top and rolling pin.  Look how pretty these are!

Before steaming

Robin's filling recipe was really awesome- I know cooking the kimchi kills all the good bacteria in it, but it's worth sacrificing some of your fermented cabbage for these little dumplings!  I think I liked them best just steamed, but Mike really liked them best pan-fried.  Either way, we dipped them in a tamari/rice vinegar/sesame oil/chili garlic sauce/ginger concoction and they rocked.

My New Mother

Don't worry, Mom. Or Stepmom.

A coworker and partner in canning from the co-op just gave me some "mother" from her red wine vinegar, so I finally get to give making vinegar a try!

Pretty, huh? And pretty creepy. The "mother" is the cellulose and bacteria that transform wine (or cider or any alcohol) into vinegar. I should have homemade vinegar by Christmas! I'll keep you all posted about the process. Right now it's just organic red wine and the mother, hanging out in a bowl covered in a dishtowel.

This evening I made up a nice little plate for my early dinner (as opposed to the late dinner that I'll eat when Mike gets home from work).

From the top, clockwise: Pickled Beets, fresh basil, Dr. Kracker crackers, olives marinated in chilies, walnuts toasted with alder-smoked salt, and Tofutti cream cheese mixed with dried tomatoes in olive oil, chives, and lemon thyme.

It was pretty much a platter of appetizers that I ate by myself. Yum!

Vegetable Love 2009

Just under the deadline, I present my submission to FatFreeVegan's Vegetable Love 2009 Challenge.  If you like my submission, then vote for my by clicking on the link and using the voting survey there.  But be sure to look at all the other entries, too.  There are some seriously amazing dishes!

No big surprise that I used beets here.  I used them in last year's submission, too!  I just can't help it.  I think beets are the most romantic vegetable out there.  

Don't believe me?  Check out this poem by Robert Samarotto, printed on my most prized set of greeting cards. 

(Cards I will probably never give away because I love them so much.)

Beet

Queen of the garden 
you rise from the poverty of earth, 
you wound me with your ripening 
bringing your sweetness nearer my hunger. 
All night – my little bonfire – you keep me awake, 
all night I burn in flames of jealousy.

I am suspicious of all your vegetable lovers, 
the way they mingle their roots with yours. 
Rain washing over you scalds my soul. 
Your leaves dancing to the wind drive me mad. 
I envy the beetle – the worm – the slug, 
vines that creep in the night.

O heart of hearts 
listen to my vegetable talk. 
Come with me to the cutting board 
let me discover your charms – slice by slice. 
Leave me with the stain of summer on my hands 
- then like Macbeth 
will I prepare for a winter’s madness.

Robert Samarotto

Now that you're all hot and bothered for beets, here's my recipe.  It's a spring roll inspired by the flavors of a banh mi sandwich, right down to the creamy sauce spiked with hot chiles.

Springy Beet Rolls

Makes about 4 spring rolls

4 spring roll wrappers

2 oz. thin rice noodles, prepared according to package

(usually just soaked in hot water for 6-8 minutes)

a big handful of cilantro, chopped

2 Tbsp. thinly sliced mint leaves

2 Tbsp. thinly sliced basil leaves

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 carrot, shredded

1 beet, shredded, about 1 cup

1 1/2 Tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar 

(regular rice vinegar with a pinch of salt and sugar will do)

a pinch of salt

2 Tbsp. Veganaise

2 Tbsp. plain soy yogurt

pinch salt

2 jalapenos, minced

*Thinly sliced beets for garnish

I know these look like a lot of ingredients.  Don't worry- It's easy!

First prepare your rice noodles according to the package directions.  Then rinse in cold water, drain, and set aside.  Prepare the green onions, herbs, and carrots and set out on the area where you will be making the spring rolls. 

In a small bowl, mix together the beets with the vinegar and a pinch of salt.  It will get juicy and more flavorful very quickly.  Place this in your prep area.

In another small bowl, whisk together the Veganaise, yogurt, jalapenos, and salt.  This will be your dipping sauce.  

One by one, soak the spring roll wrappers in warm water until softened.  Place a small amount of beets, carrots, noodles, green onions, and each of the herbs in a line across the middle, horizontally.  Fold in the sides of the wrapper, then start rolling up from the bottom.  Roll snugly, but not so tight as to break the wrapper.  

*If you want the heart shaped beets inside, just use a metal heart cookie cutter to shape the thinly sliced beets.  When making the spring rolls, first lay down the beet hearts, then top with the noodles for a pretty presentation.

Serve with dipping sauce.

If that hasn't convinced you, then look at the leftovers!

Who doesn't love a pink Vietnamese noodle salad made from spring roll leftovers?

Food Jealousy?

Is it wrong that I'm feeling protective and jealous of a food idea? A year and a half ago I posted my first food porn about mini cup-pies. And now someone else has created a beautiful website and contest on just that subject and it rocks.

I know that I can't be the first person to miniaturize a pie in a cupcake pan. And I won't be the last. But I can't help but feel like, "Hey, that was my idea!".

Silly, I know! The beautiful thing about cup-pies is that they are easy and less intimidating than big pie crusts and EVERYONE should make them!

So to channel my weird idea-hogging feelings into something positive, I think I might enter the contest! Here are my past cup-pie endeavors. I might just use one of these ideas...or maybe come up with a new pie altogether.

My first Cup-pie

Mini Tempeh Potpies

Pizza Cup-pies

Wehani Sushi

A Poem about my Dinner

Decided to make sushi tonight
Forgot the short grain rice
Wehani will work, right?
Behold, it turned out nice

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.