Burgers and Baklava.

You can't see it because it's covered in dressing, but it's a delicious black bean burger served with homemade thousand island and grilled onions. I also made battered mushrooms and buffalo cauliflower.

For dessert, baklava! This recipe comes from the Tables of Lebanon cookbook. Instead of butter I used Earth Balance.

Layers and layers of flaky filo pastry and ground nuts soaked in sweet sugar syrup flavored with orange blossom water.

Dinner ruined! Plus backup dinner and chocolate pudding freezer pops.

So I got home from work today and spent a good amount of time making the above dinner. I revamped the coconut lentil dahl and made patties and roasted cauliflower. It would have been so good. Unfortunately when I took them out of the oven, I realized a light bulb in the oven had exploded and there was glass on the food. There were shards of glass mixed in with the cauliflower. I was horrified! Had to throw it all out! At least I got some pics. I will recreate this dinner again one day.

Smokehouse chickpeas from Salad Samurai. Easy to make when dinner gets ruined!

Backup dinner was this salad with smokehouse chickpeas with homemade thousand island (vegenaise, ketchup, pickle relish). It was very good.

The other day I made vegan chocolate pudding and decided I wanted them to be freezer pops instead. Super easy to do. Just pour them into plastic cups, stick a popsicle stick or in my case skewers with some foil to cover and freeze overnight.

Super tasty too!

Eggplant Bean Stew Burgers!

I had a brainwave at work while eating leftover stew for lunch (pictured above). It had such great flavors of cumin and fennel that I thought it would taste good mashed up as a burger. As soon as I got home, I got to work.

I had about 3 cups of stew leftover which had gotten nice and thick in the fridge overnight. I put it into a big bowl and mashed it up real well. Then I added about 1/2 cup of ground almonds and sunflower seeds that I whizzed up real quick in the blender. Then about 2 cups of whole wheat bread crumbs, a handful of oats and some spices (chipotle chili powder, mesquite and more cumin, salt, pepper). I shaped them into patties and baked in a 375 F oven for 30 minutes, flipping halfway.

I served them with a topping of harissa mayo (just Vegenaise mixed with harissa, which is a Moroccan chili sauce), grilled onions and mushrooms. YUMMY!

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!

4 days of "Me" time.

I love these four day weekends, don't you? Mine started on Wednesday night after work. Came home and made a "meatloaf" dinnner.

Again I used the Magical Loaf Studio and created a recipe that used black beans, pecans, oats, veggies and a bunch of other seasonings. It came out of the oven beautiful.

It's not a meatloaf dinner without mash and a vegetable. For the mash, I made a creamy miso gravy to pour over. Oh, that's kimchi on the side. I love kimchi but it didn't work flavor-wise on this plate.

Yesterday, my husband and I took the train downtown to see Ringo's exhibit at the Grammy Museum. Love this place. I've seen many a good music exhibits here. As for Beatle-y ones, I've been to John's, George's and now Ringo's. When they do one for Paul, I'll be all over that. He's my favorite.

RINGO! This was all I got a picture of. It was the entrance to the exhibit. They wouldn't let you photograph anything beyond that. The exhibit itself was amazing. Ton of artifacts, Ringo's drum kits, letters, photos, video etc. I was in Beatle heaven.

After the museum, we went to The Yard House for lunch. We usually start off with drinks. The Smithwicks on the left was my husbands. The pear cider on the right is mine.

Drink #2: Moscow Mule! Vodka, lime and ginger beer. So refreshing!

I ordered a Gardein burger with fries. Yum.

To celebrate the 4th and a successful sunshine day, I made this impressive almond-coconut mango "jello".

If you want to make a vegan jello, agar is your friend. Recipe here. Just substitute almond-coconut milk for the juice.

Gardein Beefless Burger

Gardein ("garden" + "protein") makes wonderful meat substitutes which you can find in the freezer section at your local grocery store. I was able to find them at Ralph's, Vons, Whole Foods and even Target! I've had several varieties from their line of vegan proteins and this beefless burger is probably one of the best veggie burgers I've ever had. I cooked mine on a charcoal grill and basted it with bbq sauce. The texture is pretty meaty and hamburger- like with a pretty good flavor. Makes a great cheeseburger with a slice of american Tofutti vegan cheese.
Gardein website.

Tofu Bean Burgers, BBQ Pinto Beans, Raw Slaw, Spicy Chocolate Cupcakes

Stayin' in for "Carmegeddon" weekend and to prepare for it, I made an array of comforting foods to enjoy.


These tofu-bean burgers are the best. I try not to eat too many frozen veggie burgers so homemade is the way to go. Recipe here. I topped them with grilled onions and a homemade thousand island sauce.


This came to be when I noticed way too many cans of plain pinto beans in my pantry. I flipped through my "366 delicious ways to cook rice, beans and grains" book and saw a recipe for Slow Cooked Spicy Barbecue Pinto Beans. I loosely followed the recipe in which I mixed tomato sauce, brown sugar, chili powder, onions and garlic with the beans and let them slow cook in the oven.


Beautiful 'Raw Slaw' from the "Urban Vegan" cookbook. Since all the other dishes are kind of hearty and rich, I wanted a lighter coleslaw with an oil and vinegar based dressing. This one is perfect.


And dessert is always something I like to have on the weekends. This is the Mexican chocolate cake recipe with shop bought chocolate fudge frosting (I think it's Pillsbury).

Hawaiian Veggie Burger

Happy 4th! Today we made veggie burgers and I made mine hawaiian style. I have been craving this for a while now. Before I was veggie, I loved Island's Restaurant Hawaiian burger which had a sweet teriyaki sauce and grilled pineapple. I created my own by using the sauce recipe from here, cooked up a Boca vegan burger and added grilled onions and pineapple. It was so good and satisfied my craving. I also made homemade baked fries on the side.

Split Pea-Chickpea Burgers, Pear Upside Down Cake

Burgers I made out of leftover curried split pea soup and chickpeas. Also has onions, cilantro and cumin.


For lunch I had them in a pita with lettuce, tomato and tahini sauce.


For dinner, I had them as a burger in a whole wheat english muffin with Vegenaise and ketchup. This was yummy.


I made an upside down pear cake for dessert! It was really pretty and good except it didn't cook all the way through in the middle! I swear I did the toothpick test twice and it was fine. But when I cut into the middle, it was all gloppy! Good thing vegan cakes don't have eggs!

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.

Burger Night.

I love to make homemade burgers. Whatever beans I have in hand are what I use along with other things like tofu, garlic, onions, grated carrots, bread crumbs, etc. I do eat frozen veggie burgers now and again but homemade are always better. I've made these 'smoky tofu and bean burgers' before and I don't think the recipe has ever failed me. They bake up wonderful, firm on the outside and tender on the inside. I like to serve them with grilled onions and a homemade thousand island sauce (vegan mayo, ketchup, relish, lemon juice, salt, pepper, hot sauce).

VeganMoFo: Hominy and Bean Burger Wrap

Yes. Another revamp recipe where I take leftovers and turn them into a new dish. I had soo much leftover posole stew that turned really thick overnight in the fridge. I used half of it, drained off the liquid and mashed it with chickpeas that I had in the fridge and added chopped onions, cilantro, masa flour, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. I shaped them into patties, sprinkled a little masa flour over them and baked them in the oven for about a half hour, flipping halfway. I had the idea to make wraps because I had whole wheat flour tortillas and ripe avocados. They were so good! I spiked some vegan mayo with lime juice and hot sauce to complete the wrap, along with fresh lettuce and tomato.

Black Eyed Pea Potato Burgers and Date Loaf Cake

I was in the mood for burgers today. I had some black eyed peas that I wanted to use as well as leftover mashed potato from last night's dinner. I mashed the peas and combined them with the potato, along with chopped onions, garlic, red pepper, zucchini, jalapeno, grated carrots, bread crumbs, smoked paprika, cumin and all purpose seasoning. I baked them for 35-40 minutes in a 400 degree oven, flipping halfway. They came out so nice and flavorful, crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.


Served on a pita with lettuce and garlic-dill aioli.


For dessert, I made a date loaf cake that came out so moist. I used whole wheat flour and sucanat in place of the white flour and regular sugar. I use this recipe all the time and it always comes out perfect.

Curried Chickpea Burgers

This is another "revamp" recipe where I take a dish that I made a day or two before and turn the leftovers into a brand new dish. You remember the chickpea korma I made on Thursday? Well, it made a lot and after a few days I wanted it to be something else already. So after some thought, I decided to make curried chickpea burgers with the leftovers. The curry had a lot of sauce so I drained all that off and mashed up the chickpeas/carrots/cauliflower mixture that was left, added a few handfuls of breadcrumbs, a few tablespoons of whole wheat flour, a sprinkle of cayenne, dried parsley and 1/4 of a chopped onion. I put the mashed mixture in the fridge for a half hour for it to firm up a bit before I shaped them into patties. They were baked for 30 min. (flipped over halfway) in a 400 degree oven.


Oh my god, wow. These were perfect. Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. I served them in a hot pita with lettuce and a garlicky cucumber sauce (cucumber, garlic, vegenaise, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, parsley). It was so freaking delicious! Kind of like falafel with a kick of curry flavors.


Kind of blurry but here is my sandwich mid-bite. So yummy.

Veggie and Mushroom Burger

Today's lunch. I used up the broiled mushrooms and veggies from yesterday and added grilled onions. I usually make my own burger patties from scratch using beans and tofu but I was lazy and heated up a Boca vegan burger instead. They are ok but not as good as homemade burgers. The sauce is just ketchup and vegan mayo with a shot of hot sauce. Very good burger which I enjoyed with a bloody mary cocktail (not pictured).

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.