Get Well Ringo! cupcakes and Falafel Sandwich.

Sexy lowfat vanilla cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. I used strawberry soy yogurt instead of vanilla and added chopped strawberries to the batter. On top, I used full fat cream cheez frosting that I had leftover in the freezer and fresh cut strawberries.

I heard Ringo was not feeling well and cancelled a show this past week. Hope he feels better today! These cupcakes are so yummy!

Falafel recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance. I modified it a bit. Added spinach, garlic-herb oil that I made the other day with fresh sage, oregano and basil from the garden. I also subbed oatmeal and garbanzo bean flour (besan) for the breadcrumbs. And I baked instead of fried. Perfection!
Stuffed into a pita bread pocket with hummus, lettuce, arugula, cucumber, tomatoes and garlic sauce that I concocted from tahini, vegan mayo, lemon juice, garlic and cilantro. Also a few shakes of Tabasco for heat!

Good Eats in Montreal.

Just got back from a nine day holiday in Montreal. I haven't been back in 8 years and it was so nice to be there again. This is the first time being vegan in Montreal though. I think I did ok. If I had stayed longer, I would have explored more vegan/vegan friendly restaurants. I was staying at my in-laws house, so we did a lot of hanging out and cooking at home which was fine with me!

The day after we arrived, we popped into L'Inter Marche on the corner to get a few staples. Bagels are a must. Montreal bagels are usually not vegan, made with egg and honey but I was able to find some packaged ones without any animal products yay! The hummus is by Fontaine Sante which I think is the best tasting packaged hummus I've ever had! We went through two or three tubs on this trip.

This is what my husband and I were looking forward to eating. He grew up in St. Leonard, which is primarily italian and the italian bakeries make the most delicious tomato pizza/bread. I was afraid it would be non-vegan, but alas, it is!

And it was nice to find soy milk at a little shop.

Another thing we looked forward to eating. Flakies! They are very crap for you but so good. Flaky layers of air and just a bit of "cream" and fruit filling. As far as I know, this is vegan. The ingredient list is dreadful, don't read it.

Found vegan margarine at IGA supermarket. I jumped for joy.

First meal I made was a simple pasta dish with chickpeas, olives and tomato sauce.

Second meal I made at home: pho! The bowl is tiny because they didn't have larger bowls. It worked well. It was delicious.

Home cooked meal #3. Mary McCartney's Courgette and Lemon Spaghetti. I made it without the cheese of course. Super good. Find the recipe online here.

That amazing hummus and Mary McCartney's saucy mushrooms and tomatoes on toast.

My husband's best friend and his wife took us out to Scaroli's Ristorante for great pasta. I got the primavera which was really tasty. Being vegan I run into a lot of "bland tomato sauces" at italian restos and this one was completely opposite. Full of flavor and even had caramelized red onions in the veggie mix.

Every vegan who visits Montreal eats at Aux Vivres. A friend of ours took us there and we had a great meal.

I ordered the seitan souvlaki plate. Really good stuff.

I had to order dessert. They bake their cakes, pies, brownies in house and I had a really hard time choosing. I decided on the "uncheesecake" with blueberry sauce. Amazing!

We had a quick lunch at Amir on St. Denis one day. I had the falafel pita and yummy garlic potatoes.

Paragon restaurant is a great little no-nonsense eatery in St. Leonard that makes really good submarine sndwiches. I ate there twice on this trip.

This pic does not do it justice. They grill mushrooms, onions and green peppers that are sliced thin thin thin and smother them in a toasted roll with shredded lettuce and tomato on top. I asked for no cheese and no sauce which I'm assuming is dairy based.

So after a 6 hr flight where I had to wake up super early in the morning, I arrived in L.A., headed straight to Vons and picked up ingredients to make my version of Paragon's sub. The insides were good but the bread is all wrong. Too hard, too dense. I need to find the perfect airy french roll for this. Keep your eyes on my blog, I will make this again.

Chickpea-Dal Fritters!

Here's another re-vamp idea. Take about a cup of last night's leftover dal, drain it of all the liquid, add it to a bowl of mashed chickpeas (1 can's worth), a handful of chickpea flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 TB regular flour, garlic powder, onion powder, coriander and cumin. Shape into little patties and fry in canola oil. YUM! I usually hate to fry so when I do, I make sure it's going to be worth it. These were worth it! It's like falafel and you know how much I loooooooove falafel!


Delicious in wrap with tahini sauce.

Quick Falafel.

I was craving falafel so hard today (as most days it seems lately...) and I had to have it tonight. I still had greek beans leftover but I promised myself that I would finish those off tomorrow at lunch. I didn't feel like making falafel from scratch with chickpeas and chopped onions etc. I got home from a long day at work and I just didn't want to put that much effort into it. I wished I had one of those falafel mixes where you just add water. I didn't have any but I did have this...


Chickpea flour! All it is is ground up chickpeas. I figured that's what those pre-made falafel mixes are made from anyway. I went online and found a recipe by Bob's Red Mill here. Bingo. Exactly what I was looking for. So with a little chickpea flour, a few shakes of spices and baking soda mixed with some hot water and lemon juice I had falafel batter ready to go!


I cut the recipe in half and fried up 5 golden brown patties in sunflower oil.


While they were cooking, I made a quick tahini sauce with equal parts tahini, water, lemon juice and a dash of salt and garlic powder.


I stuffed them into whole wheat pita with lettuce, onions, pickles and drizzled them with the tahini sauce.


Mid bite. They were pretty good though I must be honest, not as good as homemade from cooked chickpeas. They were nice and crispy but a tad dry in the middle because of the chickpea flour. Not bad though. It worked very well for a craving and I'm glad I tried it!

Cooking out of the pantry: Falafel Sandwich

Found a lonely can of cooked fava beans in my pantry which I don't think I noticed before. Decided to make falafel with them as I did not have any canned chickpeas. It's very easy, I just mashed up the drained beans, added some chopped onions, cilantro, a tsp. each of flour and baking powder, cumin, and bit of salt and pepper, formed them into little patties and fried them up in olive oil. I served them with whole wheat pita along with tomato, lettuce and avocado. The sauce is a garlicky tahini-mayo which I made out of Vegenaise, tahini, lemon juice and garlic powder.

Pantry staples used:
1 can fava beans
flour
baking powder
herbs/spices: cumin, salt, pepper
tahini
whole wheat pita

Other items:
onion
cilantro
Vegenaise
lettuce
tomato
avocado

Ingredients I needed to purchase: none

I Heart Falafel.

Falafel: heaven on a plate for most vegetarians. It's one of my favorite foods to eat, especially at middle eastern restaurants. There I get to indulge in these fried balls of chickpea perfection. At home though, I don't fry and instead bake them until golden brown. I like to serve them inside pita along with fresh tomato, lettuce and creamy garlic cucumber sauce (Vegenaise, lemon juice, garlic, cucumbers, salt, pepper, paprika, cilantro). So delicious and also cheap. I have ton of leftovers for tomorrow and possibly the next day.

Catching Up...

Hey all! Been missing in action the past week and a half because my camera cord broke so I couldn't upload anything. I finally got a new cable so I'm able to show you what I've been eating. Sorry about the bad lighting!


Soba noodles with ginger peanut dressing. Served with sauteed spinach. Recipe here.


Thai red curry with tofu, sweet potato and eggplant on top of somen noodles.


Dinner in bed. Egyptian lentil soup, salad and Fabe's chocolate cake. The cake was good but veeeery health foody tasting.


Falafel night! Baked not fried.


Falafel sandwich with cucumber garlic sauce (cucumbers, cilantro, garlic, vegan mayo, lemon juice)

Lazy Falafel.

Now, when I usually make falafel I make it from scratch but today I was really lazy and wanted to be quick about it. A while ago, I bought one of these packet falafel mixes by Sadaf and it looked pretty easy, you just need to add water. I bought some fresh pita and made a lemon dill garlic sauce to go with it (it's vegenaise, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, dill). I also made a side dish of lemon dill rice with pinenuts. The falafel was alright though not as good as my homemade stuff (isn't homemade everything so much better?). It was a little on the dry side but I had baked them instead of frying so maybe that contributed to the dryness. But all in all, it was a very satisfying meal.


I served the falafel sandwiches with fresh cucumber slices, tomato and onions sprinkled with sumac.

Falafel Night.

We have falafel night often. It's a reliable and tasty regular in our house. I almost always use the recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance. It's easy, delicious and perfect for weeknights. Sometimes I serve the falafel patties with a side of lemon herb rice and a salad or in a pita like tonight. I did something a little different in preparing the chickpeas mixture. Instead of using breadcrumbs to bind the mixture, I used some cooked couscous that I had in the fridge. It worked very well.

The ingredients for this recipe has been posted online here. (Note: Olive oil is for frying. It does not go in the chickpea mixture.) To cook them, you just need to fry lightly them in the olive oil until browned or bake in a 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes flipping halfway.


Baked, not fried!


In a whole wheat pita with lettuce, tomato and lots of garlicky and creamy cucumber sauce!

Cucumber sauce:
3 TB vegan mayo (or more if you like)
1/2 cup finely chopped cucumber
1 clove garlic, minced
1-2 tsp fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Stir to combine all ingredients and chill.


This morning I made a orange, apple, banana and carrot smoothie in my new Breville blender that my dad bought for me! It's only the second or third time I've used it and it's great. I know it's not a Vita-Mix but works very nicely for a less expensive blender.

Chickpea & Fava Bean Burgers with Cucumber Sauce

I am a chickpea fanatic. I get made fun of when I make too many dishes with chickpeas in it. Lentils also. My brother says: "Kim is always eating lentils." And my husband says: "What's for dinner? Chickpeas?" I like that these beans as well as other varieties are a perfect ingredient to make burgers with and can be enjoyed with your favorite sauce. They are a great source of protein and are much more exciting to eat than a bowl of beans. I make falafel (middle eastern chickpea fritters) often. These are similar to falafel but not quite a traditional recipe because I add a bunch of other seasonings to it. I also made a garlicky cucumber sauce which is kind of like tzatziki sauce except I use rich vegan mayo instead of yogurt. These burgers are delicious. They are crispy on the outside and moist and tender on the inside. Note: If you can't find fava beans, you may use all chickpeas and the results will be just as good.

Chickpea & Fava Bean Burgers

1 15 oz. can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
1 15 oz. can foul mudammas (cooked fava beans), drained and rinsed
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
handful cilantro, chopped
1 TB nutritional yeast (totally optional)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp Trader Joe's 21 salute seasoning (or any salt free all purpose seasoning blend)
1/2 tsp salt
freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 cup corn flour (masa harina) or all purpose flour for binding
canola oil for frying

Cucumber sauce:
3 TB vegan mayo (or more if you like)
1/2 cup finely chopped cucumber
1 clove garlic, minced
1-2 tsp fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Stir to combine all ingredients and chill.

Drain and rinse beans. Put them into a large bowl and with a potato masher or fork, mash the beans until there are no whole beans left. Add the remaining ingredients and using your hands, mix the ingredients until they are all combined. If you find the mixture a little wet or sticky, use a little more flour to bind it together. Form into 6 or 7 medium sized patties and place them on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
On the stove, heat a shallow layer of oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Fry the patties about 2 minutes on each side, just until they are browned. Then transfer patties onto the baking sheet and finish cooking them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes. Serve with cucumber sauce as is or as a sandwich inside of a pita pocket with lettuce and tomato.