Pumpkin Cranberry Bread Pudding.

This is a good one for the holidays. I got the recipe from 1,000 Vegan Recipes. I used a day old french loaf that I knew was not going to be eaten so I used it for this. I also had exactly 1 cup of pumpkin puree leftover from Thanksgiving that was hiding out in my freezer. 45 minutes later, we have bread pudding. It was so good, soft and tender with holiday flavors. Yummy.

Indian craving.

Went out with my girlfriends last night and had some delicious vegan indian at Electric Karma in L.A. It really got me in the mood for it again so I made this potato, spinach and chickpea curry today. AND I made homemade roti for the first time. It was dead easy. Recipe here. For condiment, I had some jarred tamarind chutney that I thinned out with lemon juice and added ginger and cilantro. This food was very satisfying.

Once a Year Lasagna.

It seems I only make lasagna once or sometimes twice a year. I could be wrong but that's what it feels like. I don't know why because I LOVE lasagna. Making a vegan one is super easy and just as good as any other. The trick is to have a good creamy "ricotta" that will give you that cheese-like taste and texture. I use the cashew tofu ricotta recipe from Veganomicon. Today's lasagna has spinach, mushrooms, onions, carrots and a nice tomato basil sauce.


Out of the oven.


And plated. View 1.


View 2.

After Thanksgiving Foods.

This morning I was in the mood for a fluffy stack of pancakes so I went with my go-to recipe from Vegan With A Vengeance (also in the Vegan Brunch book). The recipe makes PERFECT pancakes. No eggs or dairy necessary!


When I was little, I used to make scrambled eggs with slices of processed Kraft singles on top which would melt and make the eggs very cheesy. I recreated that today with scrambled tofu and Daiya vegan cheddar. I sort of mixed in small slices of Daiya into the tofu while it cooked in the pan. It got all melty and gooey.


Yesterday's lunch was a very simple congee (rice porridge) made with carrots, celery and leftover Tofurky bits. Sriracha is a must when eating congee.


Fast donuts made out of Pillsbury crescent roll dough. Deep fried and dunked in cinnamon-sugar!

A Vegan Mouse Thankgiving.

My Thanksgiving dinners for the past five years have been pretty much the same old comfort foods that I love. If you look at my past photos, they probably look very similar to this. Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday!


Roasted brussels sprouts are amazing.


Roasted sweet potatoes are even more amazing.


Homemade herb stuffing was very tasty!


Actually, I've only had the Tofurky roast for the first time last year. Isn't it cute? I basted it with an orange juice, olive oil, soy sauce and fresh herbs mixture.


The whole lot. Also pictured: dijon glazed carrots, green bean casserole and lots of mashed potatoes and orange-herb gravy.


Pumpkin pie with maple cashew "cream".

Greek Beans, Lebanese Rice and Egyptian Basbousa.

Last night my husband and I had a romantic night out and for dinner, we had Lebanese food which I'm crazy about. Got me in the mood to cook Mediterranean food this weekend.


I made "Gigantes" which are baked lima beans in a tomato and dill sauce. If you hate lima beans, try them this way. They bake up so tender and creamy with a simple and beautiful flavor combination of dill, tomatoes, onions and olive oil. The recipe is from "The Greek Vegetarian". I also made Lebanese rice pilaf. I love the little vermicelli noodles in it. The recipe is from "Tables of Lebanon".


For dessert, Egyptian basbousa! This is a very sweet semolina cake that has been drenched with sugar/orange flower water syrup. I got the recipe here. I used vegan shortening instead of butter, omitted the eggs and replaced with a little almond milk and 1/2 a tsp of cider vinegar. And I substituted soy yogurt for the yogurt.


This dessert is amazing! It's so tender and incredibly moist from the syrup. I think I need to work on the liquid to dry ingredient ratio. My cake fell apart a little because it was so moist. But that did not stop me from enjoying the hell out of it!

Lentils again! Egyptian Koshari.

Me and lentils are having a love affair this week! Since I've been veggie (over 5 years), I've grown to really love lentils. I think it may be my favorite protein source. Not only are lentils great for protein, they also lower your cholesterol, provide you with B vitamins, iron, fiber and no fat! One of the best things I love about them is that they are easy to cook and can be made into beautiful dishes like indian and nepali dahl, soups, curries and tonight's dinner, Egyptian koshari. Koshari is a quick, cheap vegetarian dish made of rice, lentils, pasta and tomato sauce. It's even quicker if you already have cooked rice in your kitchen like I did. I didn't have macaroni so I used mini penne. Worked great! Here's the link to the recipe. I didn't put fried onions on top because I was lazy but next time, that is happening for sure. Feel free to add spices like cumin, curry powder etc. to flavor the sauce.