Fall Food and New Cookbooks

Summer is over so it's time to get serious in the kitchen again. And I got a new cookbook - Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry. EVERYTHING in this book sounds delicious to me and I love how he pairs each item with a soundtrack. So of course I had to try some things out.

Citrus Collards with Raisins Redux from VSK paired with Cumin-Lime Tofu from the VegNews Recipe Club (cumin swapped out with chipotle chili powder). The collards were divine and I will use this method for cooking collards all the time. The tofu was zesty and delicious and since it was baked in the oven it was really easy. I used chipotle because I'm not a big cumin fan.



BBQ Tempeh with Straightforward Coleslaw. I would recommend using only 1/4 cup tamari and 1/2 cup water vs the 3/4 cup tamari as written as the tempeh was salty for me. I suspected it might be and only used 1/2 cup tamari but after tasting it I would dilute further. Other than that the sauce reduced in the pan while baking and gave the tempeh great BBQ flavour. This is a super recipe for introducing someone to tempeh. I boiled the tempeh cake before covering with the sauce and baking. I made a mistake with the coleslaw - I should have used the food processor for shredding the cabbage instead of a knife. Other than that, the dressing was mild yet tasty. It was a perfect compliment to the spicy BBQ sauce.



I really like how Bryant Terry makes his sauces and dressings in the blender. It makes for short work and quick cleanup.

Butternut Squash-Bartlett Pear Soup with Chilled Citrus Broccoli Salad. The squash soup was so smooth with the addition of coconut milk and a touch of sweetness from the pears. It was a perfect fall soup. The dressing was tangy on the broccoli which led to a large portion on my plate, good for getting my calcium and iron.



After making Alfredo Stroganoff earlier in the week (which was delicious), I used the leftover alfredo sauce with a dollop of tomato paste and made Pasta with Rose Sauce, something that I haven't had since going vegan. This sauce is simply the best vegan white sauce ever and I'm happy to have an old favourite back in my easy meal repertoire.



I'm so excited about the soon-to-be-released-in-Canada Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. In fact, my wonderful sister and family gifted me a copy for my birthday! I made the Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles from the teaser recipe on the PPK website. I've had WAY too many today, they are that good.



I'm going to have to amp up my running mileage so I can test out the rest of the cookies when the book comes.

Veganomicon - Revisited!

Ah, so good to revisit a cookbook that I pull out so often. Since it's starting to get pretty chilly out there, I've been turning to warm soups and comforting entrees.

Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans - Tasty, but some baby spinach or something else green would have added some nice colour I think.



Eggplant Rollatini - OMG. Heavenly! ALOT of work, as indicated in the recipe, but so darn good! I really wonder if this would freeze well, as I'd be up for all the effort to just magically pull it out of the freezer one day and enjoy. I'm going to try the Eggplant Moussaka this week since it seems similar but less work.

Acorn Squash, Pear and Adzuki Soup with Sauteed Shiitakes - Sooooo glad I had Kyle peel that acorn squash. I would have hurled it across the kitchen in frustration for sure! Thanks Isa for the warning! Kyle didn't suspect a thing when I asked him to help out...hee hee. The flavours of this were great and I really liked the mushroom topping alot.

Chickpeas Romesco with Saffron Garlic Rice. I didn't have any white rice on hand, so I used brown and it was really sticky and mushy. I didn't really notice the saffron/garlic at all, oddly enough. But the Chickpeas Romesco part was delicious!

Ashley Fare!

I don't really know why I'm blogging about these two items, but I figured I should give some perspective on the types of stuff Ash eats!

First up, Vegan Brunch's Broccoli Quiche. So darn delicious. I've made and blogged about it before, but I wanted to note how I served it with a side of carrots. I peeled them, then sauteed for about a minute in a little oil. I then squirted a little lemon juice and voila - carrots fully cooked in just a minute!

Then I made an Avocado Dip from Deceptively Delicious. It was another non-hit. Essentially pureed avocado with soy yogurt, a little Nayonnaise, salt and lime juice. Meh. It was actually pretty gross. I'm trying to find some healthy spreads/dips for her since I'm afraid she will forever have stinky garlic breath based on the massive amount of hummus she eats!

Gluten Free for a Week (well, almost...)

This week's menu is courtesy of October's Vegetarian Times. And I guess with it being Celiac Month, many of the recipes are gluten free (GF). Over the past few months I've been trying some GF recipes as an added challenge to just vegan cooking, so it seemed like a fun task to try some of these meals out this week.

I first have to note that I would have modified the order of the recipes presented, but damn blogger is giving me a hard time with copying/pasting and moving pics around...argh...

Pumpkin Parfaits with Oat Crunch - Wow, awesome! The Oat Crunch tastes like Kashi Go Lean Crunch, and with sweetened pumpkin pie filling, this really does satisfy a sweet tooth. I really wish we could eat these at Thanksgiving instead of pumpkin pie. Well, maybe these and a slice of pumpkin pie.

Tasty Tofu Patties - Tasty? Yes. Tofu? Yes. Patties? No - more like crumbles. I have no idea what I did wrong but this stuff just didn't hold together at all. Maybe some chickpea flour would have helped! Ah well. Plus, the recipe said it would make 8 patties - I got to 10 and still had 1/2 the mixture leftover. I'm going to just cook it up like a scramble - way less effort. I served these with my Actually Crispy Sweet Potato Fries...rice flour for these fries this time to stick with the whole GF theme.


Curried Red Lentil Soup - I have about a billion red lentil soup recipes, but something stood out about this one. It was great! And Ashley gobbled it up, so based on that alone, this one is a keeper. I kinda cheated on the whole GF thing, as I served it with multi-grain whole wheat bread.

OK, so this one is the only thing that's not from VT and it's not really GF, but I worry that if I don't blog about it now I'll forget to! Zucchini Spelt Muffins from Vegan Brunch. I don't have much luck with grated carrots or zucchinis in baking, as everything turns out soggy. This was the case with this muffin, sadly. I'm sure it's user error and not the recipe, as Isa is a Recipe Goddess.

Roasted Ratatouille Pizza with Chewy Pizza Dough - OK - the dough. I'm used to 'tough' pizza dough. I thought I'd done something wrong because this gluten-free dough was runnier than my pancake batter. But I followed the instructions to spread the dough with a baggie on my hand and it turned out great. A little soggy, but actually edible. More edible than I thought considering some of the GF stuff I've made has been pretty gross. I don't know if I will make this crust again, but I will definitely roast up the veggies like this for topping future pizzas! I do also have to note that I didn't have that 'heavy' feeling that I normally have after woofing down several slices of pizza. As for the veggies, I would normally cook off some of the liquid on the stovetop, but roasting made the veggies a little chewy and delicious!

Chickpea Croquettes with Greek Salad Topping - I had my doubts about this turning out since the chickpeas were so lumpy compared to the runny batter. But the chickpea flour really did make a crepe-like texture and everything held together perfectly! Great off the griddle and also tasty cold the next day.

Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Popcorn - So tasty! Basically microwave popcorn with melted Earth Balance, Sucanat and cinnamon. Tasted just like the cinnamon toast I made as a kid where I loaded it with margarine, a ton of sugar and cinnamon goodness. So yummy! But very calorie heavy. I ate most of the recipe myself, so I probably had about 10 of the 1/2 cup servings to myself. Honestly, who would be able to eat only a meager 1/2 cup of this stuff?

Autumn Vegetable Tagine (no pic - no idea how I forgot to snap one) - I have a pressure cooker since I use it to save time on a meal, but with having to bring it to high pressure three separate times while making this recipe, I didn't find it to be all that helpful. The flavour of this dish was kinda blah and while it wasn't horrible, it really wasn't worth the effort. I also felt a little deceived since a glance at the photo in the mag showed all ingredients, including the couscous (in my case, quinoa) mixed into the pressure cooker. Of course, this made me think it was a one-pot meal. In reality, the grain is cooked separately, adding a little more effort than I originally thought.

The upcoming week's menus are more simple, as I'm trying a few reliable faves since Ashley got stuck with a nasty stomach bug and needs to eat up! I think there are a few sneaky dips that I might be able to blog about though.

Dinners and Desserts

Now I know why I don't post often - Blogger isn't all that user-friendly when you are in a time crunch!!! I apologize for any typos but I have lots yet to get done with the little one takes her short nap!

Chana Masala from The Vegan Table. OK...

Pad Thai also from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. It was good, but I found the instructions to be a little cryptic. Of the recipes I've made so far, it seems like I would 'add a little oil' and it doesn't specify how high to have the heat on for several dishes. I only borrowed the book from the library so I'm not too disappointed. I didn't find any of the recipes to be all that original. Not trying to be a hater, but I found the same thing with the author's previous cookbook.

OMG - the Pot Roast from Vegan Lunch Box was to die for. I will be making it at both Thanksgiving and Xmas this year. I added cut up new potatoes to the carrots and really didn't think either would be cooked by the time this was done but surprisingly they were! I'll try to eat this up in one sitting since my leftovers seemed to revert to a raw state...it was weird. But with hungry vegans around the festive table I'm sure I won't have any issues with having it all eaten up!

What to do with almost rotting peaches? If you are also feeling lazy like I was, you can make a country torte! I made Bryanna Clark Grogan's Low Fat Pastry, cut up 3 cups of peaches and added 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tbsp flour, nutmeg, 1 tbsp lemon juice and dumped it in the middle of the rolled out pastry. I folded up the sides, topped with sliced almonds and baked at 375 for 35 minutes.

Peach Bundt Cake - I subbed 1/2 pkg silken tofu for the eggs. A little dense, but around here, dessert is dessert and we ate it up!


Grilled Pineapple with my fave Pound Cake from Vcon with soy ice cream. I marinated the pineapple with water, sucanat and cinnamon, then reduced the marinade with a little Earth Balance to make a sauce. So good! I bought another pineapple today to grill up!

Ole!

I love beans, and I like crockpot recipes making dinner ready when I come back from a run. Here is a recipe for frijoles, traditionally cooked with bacon. Let's love the pigs *and* eat our beans too.

Slow Cooked Pinto Beans

1 pound (3 cups) dry pinto beans, sorted, rinsed, and soaked in water overnight
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups vegetable broth
1 tblsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup beer
1 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

**First thing in the morning**
Put the soaked beans and garlic into a crockpot and cover with veggie broth, adding water if necessary to just cover beans. Cook on low for 4+ hours.

**At lunch**
Saute the onions and jalapenos in the olive oil until soft. Add to the crockpot, as well as the crushed tomatoes. Stir and cook for 4+ more hours.

**30 minutes to 1 hour before eating, or before your run**
Add the beer, salt and cilantro. Stir and cook until you are ready for dinner.
Serve in corn tortillas or over brown rice with fresh corn.

Makes many servings, with leftovers to freeze if desired.

Cook's tip: The remainder of the bottle of beer tastes really great when you get back from your run, or enjoy with dinner.

Vegan Brunch!

Wow, this cookbook has been out for what seems like eons now, and I'm just getting around to writing up my first review.

I have to say, the muffin recipes in this book are awesome. I'm a total muffin girl though. I tend to just throw a bunch of ingredients together and toss it in the pan. Muffins are such a tasty little snack that is so portable. I seem to make them every 3 days and freeze my concoctions so they stay nice and moist.

So far I've made Blueberry Ginger Spelt Muffins - I really am developing a taste for candied ginger. I know I took a pic, but with us now using two digital cameras (both with awful macro settings) I can't seem to find where it's been downloaded. Ah well, there is a pic in the book! I've also made the Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. Yum! I made mine with whole wheat flour, hence the slightly brownish tone. I'm surprised I made these, since I'm still scarred from when I was a Loblaws bakery clerk in my teens. I had to walk around the store and distribute samples of poppy seed muffins to customers as they perused the aisles. I would head back to the bakery to refill my cart, then head out again. Since I wasn't paying attention to who I had asked, I would often offer my muffins to those I had just served minutes before. They would smile and let me know that they had already sampled them, but they didn't need to say a word. Wedged between their teeth, there were poppy seeds galore. Here these people were going to go about their day chatting it up with whoever and I was responsible for their potential embarrassment. I was actually more grossed out though. Since then, I have always been leery of poppy seeds, but considering I now often leave the house with clothes covered in spit up or God knows what else, I have no qualms about eating them and don't even check my teeth in the mirror before heading out.

Again, no pic (I'm sure because the muffins don't last long enough to take a shot) - Bakery-Style Berry Muffins. Delish! Just like Mmmuffins - or whatever that chain of food court muffins shops were called. I try not to let a giant frozen strawberry from my fruit mix get into the dough, since it makes for a soggy muffin - or an excuse to eat that one up right away! I tried adding a little oats for added health, but it just dried them out. I'll stick to the recipe! Another yummy one - Cranberry Orange Nut Muffins - super tangy! I used dried cranberries though for extra sweetness - and also because I'm too lazy to find and chop fresh ones.

On a night that I was alone with the little one, I decided to make not one but two new recipes! I loved how quick the Basic Scrambled Tofu and Perfect Pancakes came together. Sadly, the little one wasn't interested in eating them - not because they weren't tasty, but probably because she had like 6 teeth coming in at the same time. More for me!