Marinated Beans, Artichoke-Black Olive and Tomato Bruschetta and Eggless Chocolate Cake.

When you have a nice baguette or a box of water crackers or a package of pita bread or lavash, you must have lovely things to eat them with like hummus, vegan cheese (Daiya havarti jalapeno is my choice!) and the following two salads. I made a simple batch of marinated garbanzo and white beans. Two cans of beans get to marinated in lots of olive oil, garlic, a bit of chopped onion, white wine vinegar, parsley and italian herbs.

Next up, I made the Artichoke, black olive and tomato bruschetta from the Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen cookbook. This book is amazing. So many great ideas like this. I must remember to use this book more often.

For dessert, an eggless chocolate cake made with tofu. I don't normally make cakes with tofu in them but I had half a block of tofu hanging out in my fridge that I wanted to use up. I made a quick chocolate glaze/icing on the stove with cocoa powder, margarine, vanilla and powdered sugar. Sprinkles for color.

Gotta have ice cream with your cake! To be honest, I'm not a fan of tofu in vegan cakes. I get that it is trying to substitute for eggs but it really doesn't need tofu at all. The texture is more dense and "eggy" and not light and fluffy like the normal vegan cakes I make.