Saturday, September 28, 2013

Weekend Food: Squash and Onion Quiche, 2 Bean Salad & Apple Cider Pumpkin Upside Down Cake.

I got up super early today and went grocery shopping to get ingredients for today's menu. Saturdays are really the only day I feel motivated to make a lot of food. I would have added a fourth dish of potato salad but I forgot to buy potatoes!


Squash and onion quiche from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. You can't see the squash and onion because they were mixed in with the filling! I took a cue from Isa's book Vegan Brunch buy adding cashews to the filling to make it creamier. After a few hours in the fridge, this will be ready to eat.


My husband was in the mood for bean salad so I whipped this one up based on the technicolor bean salad in Linda McCartney's Kitchen cookbook. I left out the green beans.


And now for the best part. I made this gorgeous cake based off of the recipe I saw at a fabulous blog called Midcentury Menu. Find the recipe here. Instead of making the cake from the cake mix instructions, I just used a can of pumpkin and the cake mix and stirred it all together. Worked great! Only thing is when you plop the batter on top of the apples, you have to be careful to spread it all out with a spatula as the batter is thickish.


This cake is so moist and delicious. The apples are so good with the pumpkin flavor of the cake!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

"Cheesy" Broccoli and Quinoa Casserole.

And here we have yet another casserole this week. I found the recipe here and gave it a go when I got home from work. Only thing different is I also sauteed some celery and carrots with the onions. I also added 1 tsp miso paste and 1 tsp veggie broth powder to the sauce. I cut my salt to 1 tsp because I figured the miso would make up for the other, but I probably should have kept the salt content as the recipe directed.

I would definitely make this again. It's creamy and very satisfying.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Another Casserole! (And A Salad too.)


This casserole making is getting out of hand! But since we are heading towards fall, don't you think comforting foods that bubble and bake away in a hot oven sound appealing? This "Chilaquiles Casserole" is based off of this recipe. I didn't use enchilada sauce, instead I used one can of tomato sauce mixed with one can of El Pato sauce. I also used Daiya pepper jack vegan cheese and added an extra can of beans to the filling. Mmm, mmm good. I love cheesy and saucy food. I'll have seconds, please!


This was my dinner last night. A giant bowl of salad with sauteed tofu and other good stuff. Tossed with sesame oil, lemon and soy sauce.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Not again!


YES! Again! I make this when I want something easy and super satisfying. This quinoa and black bean tortilla casserole dish never disappoints. I make it so much I should really start referring to it as "The Casserole". This time I added Daiya vegan cheese to create a nice melty top.

Quinoa and Black Bean Tortilla Casserole

Filling:
2 TB olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 zucchini, chopped
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1 14oz. can diced tomatoes, drained with juice reserved
1 14oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups water
3/4 cups quinoa
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup Daiya cheese
Sauce: 2 - 8oz. can tomato sauce or you can use 2 cans of EL PATO sauce (yum!)
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder or plain chili powder
pinch of cayenne
1/3 cup Vegenaise
8 flour tortillas (to make it gluten free, use corn tortillas!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat olive oil in a medium sized pot and saute the veggies and garlic until they are soft. Stir in the cumin, taco seasoning and oregano and then add the drained tomatoes, black beans, water and quinoa. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to medium low and cover. Let simmer for 20 minutes or until quinoa is tender. Season with salt and pepper. Prepare sauce: Mix the cans of tomato sauce and the reserved tomato juice in a bowl. Season with 1/2 tsp cumin and 1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder. Add a pinch of cayenne and stir until combined. Prepare drizzle by combining vegenaise and about a TB of the reserved tomato sauce. Cut tortillas into 4 wedges each. Spread a little bit of the red sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Layer some tortillas wedges on bottom of dish. Spread with half the filling. Top with more tortillas. Pour half of sauce and sprinkle half of the Daiya cheese. Layer with more tortillas, spread rest of filling, top with more tortillas. Pour remaining sauce on top and the drizzle with vegenaise mixture. Top with other half of Daiya cheese. Bake covered for 30 minutes.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Amazingly Good Gluten Free, Flourless Chocolate Cake!


Aaaaaah, this is so good! This is my second time making this and I can already see myself making it again and again. It's rich, decadent and will cure your chocolate craving. I am enjoying a slice right now alongside a hot cup of tea. I'm in heaven. It's very dense but in a good way. It's almost silky in texture and very moist, not so much cake-like, more brownie like...a very moist and velvety double chocolate brownie.. Ugh, can't explain it well! Just try it, you'll see what I mean. The glaze is a simple powdered sugar, cocoa powder, margarine, vanilla and soy milk concoction that I boiled on the stove for a few minutes.


Eat this. RECIPE HERE!

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Spicy Stir Fry.


Nothing too fancy today, just a quick stir fry with tofu, cabbage, green beans, zucchini, onions and orange peppers. I flavored it with garlic, ginger, sweet chili sauce, thai red curry paste, soy sauce and a veggie stock cube.