Of all the recipes I’ve made from “Veganomicon” (and there are still a ton that I haven’t made), I’ve probably made this French Lentil Soup with Tarragon and Thyme the most. (You can find the recipe here.) The soup comes together really quickly; just chop the onion and carrots and throw it all into a pot to simmer. I like to serve mine with crumbled cornbread on top, making it a hearty and filling meal for a cold winter day.
Enjoy!
Our downstairs neighbors and friends have a Thanksgiving potluck every year, which is always a lot of fun. This year, I decided to bring my family’s Sweet Potato Balls in vegan form, which are practically a dessert. I also decided to bring this Chocolate Hazelnut Truffle Tart from “Vegan Pie In The Sky.” The tart is incredibly easy to make; you just need to allow a few hours to make the crust and then let the whole thing set up in the fridge. The authors, Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, warn in the recipe’s introduction that the tart is extremely rich, and, man, they weren’t joking. Granted I was really full from dinner, but I could not finish my slice even though it was really, really delicious.
Also, on a side note, because of family obligations, we’ve decided to have our vegan Thanksgiving feast on Friday, but I will post pictures from the meal soon after. I hope you all are well!
This is one of my favorite recipes from “Veganomicon” — the picture doesn’t really do it justice. Penne pasta is tossed with a cashew ricotta that is mixed with pumpkin, spices and caramelized onions. Walnuts are toasted with breadcrumbs and sage before being added to the top of the penne mixture. The entire thing is baked in the oven until it’s bubbly and delicious. It’s such a comforting dish.
I was able to find the recipe online here, but the cookbook itself is definitely worth the money.
I hope you all are well!
We’ve been wanting to make these brownies ever since we picked up our copy of “Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar” a few years ago (sorry for the crappy picture). And these bad boys were made by my husband. I provided the taste testing and they were outrageously good. Rich chocolate brownies are topped with a pumpkin-pie-style topping. It’s a great dessert to follow a pot of chili (I’ll have a recipe for that posted soon), which is how we spent our lazy Sunday. That and back-to-back classic horror movies, such as “The Wolf Man” from 1941.
I love this time of year. I hope you all are well!
These cutlets are one of the first recipes I made when I first received “Veganomicon.” They really are wonderful, but I still can’t get the shape right. Mine just kind of look like a big blob. I mashed the chickpeas with a potato masher, but, next time, I’m thinking of giving the chickpeas a whirl in the food processor to break them down so that I can form them into neater patties.
As for the Lemony Roasted Potatoes, this was the first time I’ve made them and they will definitely be in our regular recipe rotation. Wedges of potatoes are cooked down in a wonderful broth of garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and herbs — super easy to throw together for a weeknight meal. Making them reminded me that I really need to dig back into that cookbook more because there are so many recipes that I still haven’t made.
A dollop of Dijon mixed with Vegenaise made for a nice dipping sauce.
I woke up this morning to find that my work laptop has a virus. Not a good way to start the day/week. But knowing that I had these Pumpkin Bran Muffins from “Vegan Brunch” waiting for me this morning definitely made it much better. You can find the recipe here.
Also, today kicks off Vegan MoFo 2012! And I’m honored to be a part of this year’s blog roll. I promise to do my part to post lots and lots of vegan-related pictures, news and recipes for all of October.
A large bag of red lentils was calling me from my pantry. Not sure what to do with them, I picked up “Appetite for Reduction” and came across a Red Lentil and Root Vegetable dish. The dish comes together so quickly that I was sure it wouldn’t have much flavor. Thankfully, I was wrong. Instead of the root vegetables the recipes calls for, I used Yukon Gold potatoes that I had on hand. The red lentils become rich and creamy and the spices pack a flavorful punch. Oven-roasted okra rounded out the meal as a side.
I hope you all are well! I’ll have more posts up soon.
Pies are still unfamiliar territory for me. The crust, the filling — it’s all still intimidating. But this Banana-Toffee Pie (found in “Vegan Pie In The Sky“), with the help of a store-bought crust, was really easy to put together and it was really delicious.
The filling is a dulce de leche-like caramel that surrounds slices of banana. Whipped topping and shaved pieces of semi-sweet vegan chocolate are layered on top.
I had originally planned to make the coconut milk whipped topping for this, but I didn’t realize that you need to refrigerate the can of coconut milk a few hours before. So, for a substitute, I used a can of soy whipped cream, which was just okay. It’s very pricey for what you get and it deflated by the time I was ready to serve the pie, which was disappointing.
I will say, the next time I make the pie, in addition to making the topping from scratch, I’m going to double the filling ingredients because it didn’t seem to make enough. Of course, that also could be because I took some out of the pan to eat with a spoon. Yes, it’s that good.
This dish reminded me that I really need to cook more from “Appetite for Reduction.” The recipes in the book are low-fat, but they certainly don’t lack the flavor. And I love that there is a lot of nutritional value to each recipe.
Both the tofu recipe and the cabbage recipe have very similar ingredients. For the Masala Baked Tofu, slices of tofu marinate in a mixture of soy (I used Bragg’s), vinegar, garlic, ginger and spices. The final result packed so much flavor.
The Curried Cabbage & Peas comes together so quickly. Sliced cabbage and carrots are simmered in a broth with curry, onions, garlic and more. The aromas coming off both dishes were amazing. (My downstairs neighbor even sent me a text from below commenting on how great it smelled.)
I could see serving this with a side of basmati rice if you want to bulk it up a bit, but it works just fine without it.
This is the third recipe I’ve made from “Vegan Pie In The Sky” and, like the others, it did not disappoint. It’s one of those desserts where you can’t help but make a noise each time you take a bite.
The cheesecake filling was thick and creamy and full of banana flavor, and the chocolate swirled into the filling was so decadent — and, yet, not too rich. While I will gladly eat (and enjoy) vegan cheesecakes made with vegan cream cheese, I love that the cheesecake recipes featured in the book are made with a cashew and tofu base. In my opinion, they taste more authentic. As for the crust, I used the classic Graham Cracker Crust, which is also featured in the book.
The recipe comes together really quickly. First you make the crust, bake it in the oven for 10 minutes, and then throw the rest of the ingredients into a food processor. The chocolate is mixed with a bit of the banana filling and then swirled into the rest of the filling with a knife. Bake for 50 minutes and then cool overnight (if you can wait that long). The top did crack a bit, but it still looked good to me. And, I have to say, the kitchen smelled incredible while it was baking. It was hard not to slice a piece right out of the oven.
