New Year's Eve Nosh.

I am spending NYE in with some good food, records on the turntable, wine and champagne later when the clock strikes midnight. Happy New Year to all of you and I hope 2011 is a healthy and happy year. I didn't want to be fussy tonight and decided to keep it simple with a few nibbles. I flipped through my "Tables of Lebanon" cookbook and picked out 'Chickpeas in Olive Oil', Yogurt Sauce with mint and 'Potatoes with Cilantro' served with roasted broccoli and pita.


Potates with Cilantro or Batata Bi-Kizbara in arabic. This was a very easy recipe where you saute potato cubes in olive oil and toss with sauteed garlic and cilantro. It smells heavenly and tastes even more so.


Simple roasted broccoli that is so much more delicious than you think. Cauliflower would have been even better.


My plate. The chickpeas were simply dressed with olive oil, garlic, lemon and dried mint. For the sauce, I used Wildwood plain unsweetened soy yogurt that I mixed with a touch of Vegenaise and stirred in garlic, salt and dried mint.

Tofurky Pizza and Buffalo-BBQ Tofu

Finally tried the new Tofurky frozen pizza line. This one is the meatless pepperoni (with Daiya cheese). It's not bad at all! I would prefer a little less "meat" but for a frozen pizza, it was pretty tasty.


This is what happened when I craved hot wings over the weekend. I breaded tofu sticks with panko, baked them in the oven until they were crispy, then tossed them in a warm buffalo-bbq sauce which was a combination of Earth Balance margarine, Red Rooster hot sauce and BBQ sauce with a little sugar. Yummy!

Xmas 2010.

Hey! Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend. I spent xmas eve with my parents, brother and husband. I made a nice xmas dinner and afterwards we opened presents, drank mulled wine and played board games. Had a great time!


This was dinner. Up front and going clockwise: dijon glazed carrots, VegNews mac n cheez, boiled green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing, Bryanna's vegan brown gravy (I added olive oil to make it not fat-free), and roasted green beans.


Lots of carbs but oh so good!


On xmas day, Marc and I went over to our friends Hope and Gary's house for dinner. I brought over my famous spinach artichoke dip.


Hope and I baked! These are unadorned gingerbread and vanilla cupcakes from 'Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World'. All dessert pics were taken by Hope with her giant digital camera. Those are her adorable teapots behind.


Gingerbread with lemony "cream cheez" frosting. These were amazing!


All festive and christmas-y.


What!???!! Cutest cupcake in the world! This is the tiramisu cupcake. Oh heaven...


These were my favorite. I haven't had tiramisu in over four years. This was absolute vegan perfection.


And more pics of cute cupcakes...


And last but not least, espresso oatmeal chip cookies. The espresso flavor in this is wow! Recipe from 'Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar'.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies!

My lovely aunt from Vegas is in town and tonight we got together and made these yummy cookies. These are from "Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar". Great book with so many varieties of vegan cookies!

Vegan Ceviche.

Not long ago, our friend Eddie made us vegan posole. Well this week we were treated to this absolutely delicious vegan ceviche! I topped it with homemade salsa, Tofutti Sour Supreme and hot sauce. This was so freaking good!!! Thank you Eddie!

VegNews Mac.

My second time making this delectable dish. It's one of the best vegan macs out there. Try it, you'll see.

Soup and Dumplings + East Coast Coffee Cake

This is the fricot soup that I make often with the most perfect dumplings. I love this soup so much. It's perfect with or without tofu.


This is the East Coast Coffee Cake from Vegan Brunch cookbook. I made it with the jam swirl in which I used organic Trader Joe's "Superfruits" jam.


I love that crumb topping!

Self Saucing One Pot Pasta

Hey people, it's almost the weekend. Can't wait to have time to make fancier food than this. This is a perfect weeknight meal because it requires one pot and a few ingredients. You can find the basis for the recipe here. I made the pasta puttanesca version and did a few things different. I left out the anchovy of course and added mushrooms and one can 8oz. tomato sauce. This came out so good and was so easy to do. I can see this working with many different pasta shapes and whatever vegetables you have on hand. I highly recommend this for quick weeknight meals.

Veggie Quiche!

Made a veggie quiche with tofu, broccoli, spinach and mushrooms. It's yummy right out of the fridge or warmed up.


I served it with a sauce made of Vegenaise with a touch of ketchup plus a baby lettuce salad with balsamic vinaigrette.

Cake Balls! and Red Lentil Stew

What?!?! Yes sir, I made cake balls! I've seen these things before at the post punk kitchen forum and I knew that they were going to be made one day. When I made Marc's birthday cake a few weekends ago, I had messed up the first cake. It came out overdone on the outside and fell apart when I plopped it out of the cake tin. It was still perfectly good though so I kept the pieces in the freezer for cake balls later.


I felt like a candy maker rolling smooshy cake mixture into little balls and then dipping them in chocolate. I added colorful sprinkles to entice you even more.


These little guys are dense and very rich. I had one so far and I was totally satisfied! I will be sharing them with my co-workers tomorrow. If you want to make these, follow this recipe as a guideline. It says to use a whole can of cake frosting but that was a little scary for me. I used almost half a can which worked just fine.


This was my lunch today. I've been wanting middle eastern food and was flipping through a food memoir I read a while back called "Memories of a Lost Egypt" by Colette Rossant. There is a recipe for Soeur Leila's Red Lentil Stew which sounded real good. Pureed red lentils and vegetables simmered with vermicelli noodles and sauteed onions. I added spinach for some color. I served it with olive oil-fried pieces of pita bread. The stew was thick and velvety and was so good with the fried bread and a squeeze of lemon. This one's a keeper! Recipe here. (Replace the chicken broth for veggie broth or water. Also instead of a can of tomatoes, just use 1 tomato, quartered.)

Vegan Posole.

Lucky me! I got to enjoy this delicious, hearty bowl of veggie posole which was made for us by Eddie, a friend of my husband. This beautiful soup made with hominy and meaty soy chunks was topped with fresh shredded cabbage, chopped onions, jalapenos, fresh homemade salsa and lime juice. We enjoyed this very much. Thanks Eddie!

VeganMoFo: Veggie Lasagna and German Chocolate Cake

I don't make lasagnas often. I usually save them for either a special occasion, holiday or when I'm really craving one. I was really craving one today so I made this lovely thing this morning. It's got cashew ricotta, broccoli, spinach and mushrooms. I also sprinkled almond/miso/nutritional yeast mixture on top. It was perfect.


I had two pieces already!


Today is husband's birthday and he requested german chocolate cake. I've used this recipe before. Comes out moist and delicious every time. I can eat the coconut/pecan topping on it's own it's so good.


Recipe here.

VeganMoFo: Survey! Survey!

Yanked this from Mo's blog.


What is one food you thought you’d miss when you went vegan, but don’t?
Cheese. I used to love it but now I can live without it. There are some good vegan substitutes now. When I feel the need, I get some Daiya or Follow Your Heart vegan cheese for pizzas and lasagnas, etc.

What is a food or dish you wouldn’t touch as a child, but enjoy now?
Eggplant big time. I used to not like it at all. But when I went veggie, I found so many ways to make it interesting. My undying love for middle eastern food has rewarded me with some beautiful eggplant dishes.

What vegan dish or food you feel like you “should” like, but don’t?
Seitan. I've made it a few times and I liked it ok. There are times I hated it. I just can't get over the sometimes rubbery-ness of it. I don't mind eating it at restaurants if they can make it well. Otherwise I don't bother.

What dish are you “famous” for making or bringing to gatherings?
My spinach artichoke dip.

Do you have any self-imposed food rules (like no food touching on the plate or no nuts in sweets)?
No not really.

What’s one food or dish you tend to eat too much of when you have it in your home?
Sweets! I can sit there and think about a cake and then go in the kitchen have it ready in 30 minutes flat whenever I feel like and that is a dangerous thing.

What ingredient or food do you prefer to make yourself despite it being widely available prepackaged?
Cookies and Cakes. I know there are vegan desserts out there but I'd rather make them myself. Also homemade salsa and refried beans are the best.

What ingredient or food is worth spending the extra money to get “the good stuff”?
Vegenaise which is the best vegan mayo out there. It's not that expensive though.

Are you much of a snacker? What are your favorite snacks?
Yeah I like snacks. I splurge on plain potato chips every now and then.

What are your favorite vegan pizza toppings?
Mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, garlic, olives, onions.

What is your favorite vegetable? Fruit?
Potato. Cantaloupe.

What is the best salad dressing?
I like to whip up a quick one of olive oil, dijon mustard, garlic, red wine vinegar/or balsamic, salt and pepper.

What is your favorite thing to put on toasted bread?
Heinz beans! Earth Balance margarine. Fruit jam especially fig or blueberry.

What kind of soup do you most often turn to on a chilly day or when you aren’t feeling your best?
Lately it has been Manestra, a greek orzo and tomato soup. It's so good and easy to make.

What is your favorite cupcake flavor? Frosting flavor?
chocolate with vanilla frosting.

What is your favorite kind of cookie?
Molasses.

What is your most-loved “weeknight meal”?
Some kind of macaroni pasta with roasted vegetables or potatoes on the side.

What is one dish or food you enjoy, but can’t get anyone else in your household to eat?
LENTILS!

How long, in total, do you spend in the kitchen on an average day?
An hour maybe.

VeganMoFo: Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you all are having a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones. Had a wonderful dinner with my husband, parents and brother today. I spent most of the day cooking up some great food. I wish I had taken more pictures but I was so busy!


This is a shot of Susan V's vegan green bean casserole. I absolutely love this. I don't miss the ones I had as a girl, you know the one with canned green beans and cream of mushroom soup! This one uses fresh green beans and a made from scratch creamy mushroom base, without the dairy!


Whoa baby that's a loaded plate of food! Let's start on the left and go clockwise: Tofurky roast slices covered in "giblet" gravy, cranberry and mandarin sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes and orange herb gravy, green bean casserole, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts, dijon glazed carrots. It was all DELICIOUS. I'm happy that as a vegan, I'm not missing any comfort foods that I remember from Thanksgivings past. I've pretty much covered all the bases.


Can't have Thanksgiving dinner without dessert! This is Bryanna's pumpkin pie with a delectable maple sweetened cashew cream. FIVE STARS. I loved this spicy custardy pie. Looking forward to leftovers!

VeganMoFo: Nachos

Quick dinner of homemade nachos with refried beans, jalapenos and fresh salsa. I used the Nacho Cheez recipe from The Ultimate Uncheese cookbook. It's very smooth and creamy with a nice kick from the cayenne and other spices in it.

VeganMoFo: Navajo Stew and Dumplings

I have been so lazy for MoFo it's not even funny! There were a few dishes I opted out of blogging about because they were disgusting (the blandest rice casserole on the planet) and a few that I felt were too ordinary (beans on toast?). So today I was determined to make something new that I have never tried before. I veganized a navajo stew recipe from a southwest indian cookbook and instead of using mutton or whatever it was, I added extra vegetables and black beans. I also gave it a kick with chipotle chili powder. This stew is very rich and flavorful and the cornmeal dumplings were a nice touch. It is also good on top of plain rice.

VeganMoFo: Puff Pastry Calzones and Coconut Cake

This weekend was great. Got to see a good friend from long ago yesterday, went out to a movie with husband today (we saw an excellent documentary called Marwencol) AND I got to make some delicious food.


These calzones were a cinch. I had puff pastry in my freezer that needed to be used as well as 1/2 a tube of Gimme Lean vegan sausage. I cooked it up with onions, garlic, mushrooms, spinach and olives and seasoned with fennel, sage, italian herbs, crushed red pepper and filled puff pastry with the mixture along with Daiya vegan cheese. So freaking good!


Vegans can get excited about vegan cheese again, thanks to Daiya. Melty and gooey. It worked so well in these calzones.


Yesterday I thought to myself "I want coconut cake". I went into the kitchen and 30 minutes later, I had a beautiful snow white frosted cake with delicious coconut flavor! I need to make this more often and maybe do it in layers next time with some kind of lemon filling. Cake recipe here.

VeganMoFo: Double Carb Dinner.

Hello! It's Friday! I'm so happy it's the weekend. We usually go out on Friday nights but tonight we decided to stay in and make dinner. I made the Miso Macaroni from The Veggie Lovers Cookbook. It has this unusual sauce made from miso, broccoli, veggie broth, onions and other stuff. It's very simple and tasty. I also made roasted potatoes wedges for some extra carbs yay!