Chickpea Cashew Surprise Loaf



Chickpea Cashew Surprise Loaf

My friend Lisa and I started a discussion group on Goodreads (a social networking site for readers) called Vegan Cookbooks and Cooking where we discuss many topics related to vegan cooking along with our favourite recipes from the hundreds of vegan cookbooks out there. One of our members recently told us about this fantastic website and program called the Magical Loaf Studio designed by Jennifer McCann author of Vegan Lunchbox and Vegan Lunchbox Around the World. On the website you can plug in a variety of ingredients and SHAZAM! - Out pops a recipe with your chosen ingredients in the correct proportions for an Adventist style loaf.  As soon as I took a look at the website I was dying to give it a try and tonight was the night!  I picked all my favourite ingredients along with the seasonings I thought would complement them and it actually turned out really moist, flavourful and delicious. I encourage everyone to give this a go and kudos to Jennifer for creating such a simple, yet effective way to create a custom veggie loaf.


As an accompaniment to the loaf I made mashed potatoes, sautéed broccoli, all topped with the Silky Chickpea Gravy from Appetite for Reduction. The gravy was hearty and quite strongly flavoured with thyme but we all enjoyed it and there’s a lot leftover for tomorrow. I had to add quite a bit of extra water to thin the gravy because it was quite thick. Here follows the recipe for the loaf I created but there are endless variations if you want to try it for yourself.

Chickpea Cashew Surprise Loaf

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cashews
2 TB olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1 cup mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
2 cups cooked garbanzo beans, partly mashed
1 cup dry whole wheat bread crumbs
1/4 to 1/2 cup vegetable broth, as needed
1 heaping TB flaxseed meal
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
2 TB nutritional yeast flakes
2 TB ketchup
Several dashes vegetarian Worcestershire Sauce
2 TB soy sauce

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray a loaf pan or 8x8 square baking pan with non-stick spray and set aside (an 8x8 pan makes a crisper loaf).

Grind the cashews into a coarse meal using a food processor or spice/coffee grinder. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Sauté any vegetables you've chosen in the olive oil until soft. Add to the large mixing bowl along with all the remaining ingredients. Mix and mash together well, adding only as much liquid as needed to create a soft, moist loaf that holds together and is not runny (you may not need to add any liquid if the grains and protein are very moist). Add more binder/carbohydrate as needed if the loaf seems too wet.

Press mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until cooked through.

Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out onto a plate or platter and slice. Serve with potatoes, vegetables, and vegetarian gravy, if desired.

Cold leftover slices of Chickpea Cashew Surprise Loaf make a great sandwich filling.

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My cooking challenge partner and friend Kathryn continues her exploration of Appetite for Reduction with three yummy recipes including those OMG Onion Rings that I want to stuff my face with!   Check out her post at her blog The Hedgehog in the Kitchen. 

Surprise Cookies and an Underwhelming Lasagna

Veggie "Basagna"

I had a request for "basagna" on the weekend and as much as I enjoy eating lasagna, I haven't yet mastered or found a vegan version that satisfies me.  There is always something missing, a richness or sauciness that I used to love about eating it in my pre-vegan days.   I guess I just haven't found the right recipe or combination of sauces and fillings. 

For my weekly cooking challenge I decided to combine ideas from three or four recipes.  It didn't turn out well enough for me to want to post the recipe but I'll keep working on it and share the improved version later.  I added sauteed scallion, carrots, red peppers and spinach to the tofu ricotta mixture which was quite tasty and I also added a layer of eggplant with the tomato sauce.   It definitely needed extra tomato sauce ladeled over the top when served.

While I was busy cooking components for the lasagna, my daughter was whipping up her own creation in a bowl on the kitchen table.  After taking a look at the mushed up fruit and nuts in the bowl I suggested we add a bit of flour and oats and see if her "dough" would bake up into cookies.   We were very excited to see if the experiment would work.  She insisted on adding a spice so we settled on nutmeg.   Here follows the ingredients with very rough measurements, it made seven cookies that were surprisingly tasty with no added sweetener!  I really enjoyed the peanuts in the cookies and although the name implies crunchiness, they were actually quite moist and soft on the inside. 

Yum-Crunch Delicious Cookies

1 banana mashed
1/4 peach chopped into tiny pieces
1 or 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts
1/4 cup rice crisps
1 tsp lemon Juice
2 tablespoons soy milk
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup oats
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Smush wet ingredients together with a potato masher until well blended and then add dry ingredients and mix well.   Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 18 minutes.   Enjoy! 


Yum-Crunch Delicious Cookies!


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My friends Kika and Kathryn were busy in the kitchen last week.    Kika made a super delicous looking Mung Bean and Carrot Salad with a few variations, check it out at her lovely bilingual blog named Come Compa here. 

It looks like Kathryn baked a successful batch of Irish Soda Bread in honour of St. Patrick's day, here is her post at The Hedgehog in the Kitchen.

Creamy Tomato-Cashew Lentils

Creamy Tomato-Cashew Lentils

I think I have the toughest taste tester in the world, a five year old daughter who would choose to eat pizza five times a week if I let her.  I'm always searching for ways to introduce new and nutritious foods while still appealing to her palate. 

When I tried cooking lentils this way a few weeks ago and she ate them, I felt like I'd hit the jackpot.  Indian recipes and spices often don't go down well even when I omit the cayenne or chilis.  I’ve made this dish three times now and each time she has eaten and enjoyed it in small amounts.  This is an easy and satisfying way to cook lentils and they taste just as great if not better reheated the day after.  It's very mild, made without any chilis or large amounts of strong spices.  The cashew paste adds a really yummy creaminess that balances out the acidity of the tomato.  I've used brown lentils as well as french lentils - both have been great! 

Creamy Tomato-Cashew Lentils

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon grated ginger


½ tsp cumin powder

½ tsp dried coriander

¼ tsp turmeric

1 cup lentils

3 cups vegetable stock or water

2 chopped tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp agave nectar (or other sweetener)

½ cup raw cashews

1/3 cup water

In a medium sized saucepan, heat the oil on medium high.  Add the ginger, cumin, coriander and turmeric. Stir for about 30 seconds.  Add the lentils, stock, tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and sweetener. Bring to a boil and then simmer covered for about 35 to 40 minutes or until the lentils are tender.

While the lentils are cooking, blend the cashews and water together until fairly smooth. When the lentils are tender, stir the creamy cashew liquid into the pot and heat for a few more minutes.  Season to your taste. 

Serve with rice or grain of your choice.

Black Eyed Pea and Cilantro Croquettes

Sometimes when I'm really hungry and scrambling around the kitchen for I don't know what, I have my most creative moments.  Not that I think these are extremely innovative but cooking with beans is a new thing for me.  Tonight I decided to grab a can of black-eyed peas from the cupboard and see what I could do with them.  Patties or croquettes are always popular at our house so I dumped them into the food processor, added a big bunch of cilantro, half an orange pepper going soft in the fridge along with a few other ingredients.  They turned out pretty well.  I would have liked a bit more crispness, they were a bit soft but the flavours were nice, fairly mild with a bit of sweetness from the carrot and pepper.  I'm pleased that I was able to include more veggies on the off chance that my daughter would eat these. 

I made the most delicious cilantro-wasabi flavoured vegannaise sauce to go with them and I was so enamoured of the sauce I practically used the bean cakes to sop it up like they were bread.  Here is my cobbled together recipe for the croquettes:

2 cups cooked black-eyed peas (19 ounce can)
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 sweet bell pepper
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1 medium carrot grated
1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup gluten flour (or any flour you like)
oil for frying. 

Yield: 10 small patties

In a food processor, pulse together the beans, onion, bell pepper and cilantro until well mixed, not completely pureed.  In a medium sized mixing bowl add the bean mixture to the grated carrot, ginger, soy sauce and mix well.  Add in the bread crumbs and flour using your hands to incorporate well.  Shape into small patties approximately 3 inches wide.  Fry on medium heat until browned on both sides. 

Black Eyed Pea and Cilantro Croquettes

Eggplant and Black Bean Chili



Eggplant and Black Bean Chili


I started reading chili recipes today in the hopes of finding one that would use up some TVP I had in the cupboard.  I've never cooked with it before and thought chili would be the perfect vehicle.   As often happens none were quite what I was looking for although I borrowed heavily from Robin Robertson's Very Veggie Chili.  I liked the idea of using eggplant and so used her recipe as a jumping off point but the great thing about this dish is that there are endless variations of ingredients to play with.  Next time I will probably double the amount of black beans.  I served this with macaroni today but I often eat chili with rice or quinoa.

Here is my version which I'm calling Eggplant and Black Bean Chili.

1 onion chopped
1 celery ribbed chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium sized eggplant peeled and chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 clove garlic minced
1 can tomato paste (5.5 ounces)
2 tablespoons molasses
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp soy sauce
6 fresh tomatoes
4 cups water or veggie stock
1 20 ounce can black beans
1 cup TVP (dry) reconstituted with 1 cup boiling water
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, saute the onion and celery in the olive oil until soft.  Add the eggplant, red pepper and garlic and cook with the lid on until the eggplant is soft, about 10 minutes.  Stir frequently so the eggplant doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. 

Stir in the tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, soy sauce, molasses, tomatoes, water, TVP and black beans.   Add salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes until flavors are blended. 

Seaweed Soup



Seaweed Soup


I'm not sure if anyone else will enjoy this seaweed soup but after my husband came home with a sore throat last night and I was inspired to create something healthy and green.  I wasn't sure if spinach would hold up well in a soup so I hit upon the idea of seaweed, tofu and ginger.  I used five strips of wakame which may have been a little much (they expand quite a lot) so next time I will use four.  Kale might work in place of the seaweed, I threw in a few leaves that were floating around in my fridge.  I would also add some chili paste for extra zip but this first go round I wanted to make it potentially palatable to my daughter so I left it out.   This is pretty quick to make from start to finish and a nice way to start the day if you like soup for breakfast.   I certainly do! 

Seaweed Soup

8 ounces tofu cubed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated
1 large clove garlic minced
4 cups vegetable stock
4 strips wakame seaweed
shitake mushrooms sliced (optional)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp chili paste (optional)
toasted sesame seeds

Soak the wakame for a few minutes in a bowl of water.   Remove from the water and slice into strips.

Cube the tofu into bite sized pieces and fry in a little bit of oil until golden.  Set aside.

In a saucepan or soup pot heat one tablespoon of oil and fry the ginger and garlic for about 30 seconds.  Watch that it doesn't burn.  Add the vegetable stock, soy sauce, mushrooms, rice vinegar, sugar, (chili paste if using) and seaweed.  Simmer for about 5 minutes.  Add the tofu and sesame oil, heat for a few more minutes.  Serve with toasted sesame seeds sprinkled on top.   

Cauliflower Poppers

I'm not usually inspired by this particular vegetable and so was searching for something to do with half a large head of cauliflower.  I came across something called Cauliflower poppers that appeared to be simple, fast and tasty.  I've combined a couple of different recipes from the web and am very pleased with the results.  We were out of lemons so instead I substituted 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar with my fingers crossed that it wouldn't affect the flavour too much.  Also, because I added 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast, the mixture was a little thick so I thinned it out with some water. 

My four year old's reaction when she tasted this, "Mmmm, I want it".  She has never eaten cauliflower in her life, need I say more?  For some reason I was expecting the cauliflower to be crispier (the popper in the name perhaps) but the texture was soft like roasted vegetables usually are and the flavour is outstanding!   Definitely my favourite way to eat this unassuming veggie yet. 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon vinegar
2 tablespoons water

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Separate the cauliflower into bite-sized florets.


Whisk together the remaining ingredients and toss with the cauliflower, then bake for 40 minutes, stirring once about halfway through the cooking time.  

Enjoy!


Cauliflower Poppers



Tomato and Caramelized Onion Pizza (Cheese free!)

Once a week, I usually I cook up a fresh batch of vegetable tomato sauce.  It's very useful to have around the kitchen and can be used as a base for many dishes.   To make it, I roughly chop one large onion, one large carrot, one red pepper and about 4 good sized ripe tomatoes.  Saute the veggies for a few minutes, throw in the tomatoes, a bit of salt and some water or vegetable stock.   I let this simmer on the stove for about 1/2 an hour and when it's cooled down I whip out my favourite kitchen tool - an immersion blender and puree the sauce.  This is the only way my daughter will ever get these particular vegetables into her body.  She has the uncanny ability to be able to sense the tiniest piece of onion in any dish, separate it and spit it out.  I happen to adore onions so I thought I would make a cheeseless pizza covered in slightly caramelized onions, tomato, garlic and a few other seasonings.   It turned out to be amazing.  I'm in the process of eating the entire thing as I write and it was so simple to make! 

Tomato and Caramelized Onion Pizza

one red onion
one large tomato
1 large clove garlic
1/2 tsp basil
1/8 tsp thyme
1/3 cup of tomato (vegetable) sauce
olive oil (approximately 3-4 Tbsp)
salt
nutritional yeast (optional)
pizza dough

1.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2.  Chop the tomato and combine in a bowl with the minced garlic, a bit of sea salt and about one tablespoon of olive oil.  Let the flavours combine while you prepare the onions.

3.  Sautee the onions in olive oil along with the thyme until soft and slightly browned and then turn off the heat.

4.  Stretch out your pizza dough and brush with olive oil.   Evenly distribute the onions and the tomato mixture.  I used a teaspoon to distribute the tomato vegetable sauce all over the pizza (basically around all the spaces left by the veggies).  

5.  Sprinkle with nutritional yeast and a tiny bit of sea salt and then pop it into the oven for about 20 minutes or until it's done how you like it. 

6.  Eat!

Tomato and Caramelized Onion Pizza

Vegan Flan - Cooking Challenge

My brother used to date a lovely Brazilian woman named Ana who always brought the most scrumptious flans to family events. I’ve never made flan let alone a vegan flan so I’m really excited for my little experiment this week. In preparation, I read a few recipes on the web and since they were all fairly similar I decided to combine my favourites into the following recipe.

I had a few problems with the caramel. At first, the sugar wouldn’t melt so I turned the heat up to high which resulted in a bunch of hard clumps that wouldn’t dissolve no matter how hard I tried to mash them out ( I think this is my fault for not stirring enough, I got distracted by the computer). I added a few tablespoons of water which may have helped with the consistency but after stirring and stirring I gave up and just strained the syrup into the pan. Instead of using individual ramekins, I poured the caramel and custard into a round cake pan.

I must admit to being disappointed with the flavour and consistency of this dessert.  The flan set well but was too gelatinous and not creamy enough for my taste.  I also didn't enjoy the soy flavour of the custard and will replace the soy milk with coconut milk in my next attempt.  I'm happy I gave this a try even though it was not as fantastic as the flan in my memory.  I'm determined to make it better.

Vegan Flan

For the Caramel:

¾ cup of sugar
3 tablespoons water (approximate)
Melt the sugar and water over medium-low heat until the syrup coats the back of a spoon and it’s a lovely golden brown colour. I think you should stir it fairly constantly but obviously I’m no expert! Pour the caramel into the bottom of the pan or ramekins, whatever you are using.

For the Custard:

2 cups of unsweetened soy milk
1 tablespoon agar-agar flakes
½ cup silken tofu
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Heat the soy milk and agar-agar flakes in a sauce pan until boiling and then reduce the heat to low. Cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes or until the agar-agar has dissolved.

Place the soy milk mixture, tofu, sugar, vanilla and salt in a blender. Blend until smooth.  Pour over top of the syrup and refrigerate until cool. To remove, slide a knife around the perimeter of the cake pan and lightly shake side to side. If the flan doesn't loosen, dip the bottom of the cake pan in hot water for about 15 seconds, then turn over onto a plate.  Eat it up!
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Now turn your attention to Kathryn's creation this week over at the hedgehog in the kitchen.   She was inspired by a picture book to make pumpkin soup.

And joining us for the first time from Mexico City, please welcome Kika who has made an appealing looking corn bread.   Her blog is called come compa and she is posting in both Spanish and English.  

I can't wait to see what everone is cooking up next week! 

Pineapple Pick Me Up!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I've been feeling a little down lately with all the stress of preparing to move and listening to the caveman who lives below us swearing, ranting and raving all night long.  So to cheer myself up, I decided to infuse the space with the sweet fragrance of pineapple upside down cake.  I've always wanted to make one and happily discovered a simple looking recipe on vegweb.  Unfortunately, I was so anxious to taste the cake it came out of the oven without being tested and when we cut into it, the middle was like mush.  The cake is a basic white cake but the pineapple/brown sugar adds sufficient sweetness and moisture to make this an enjoyable, casual dessert.  

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup pineapple juice/water (see below)

1/3 cup oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 20 oz can pineapple chunks in unsweetened pineapple juice

1/4 cup UNPACKED brown sugar

Directions:

 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

Pour juice off can of pineapple into 1 cup measuring cup - it should be about 3/4 cup juice. Add water to make 1 cup.  In a separate bowl, combine oil, vinegar and juice.

Dump pineapple chunks into the bottom of a 12 inch spring form pan (you could use an 8x8 or other sized spring form, just adjust cooking time). Sprinkle with brown sugar.

Quickly mix wet ingredients into dry, stirring quickly to combine ingredients well and get out the big lumps. Pour into pan on top of the pineapple/brown sugar mix.

Bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Baking time will depend on pan size.

Let cool and loosen sides of cake from pan. Remove side ring and place serving plate on top. Flip cake over onto serving plate and remove pan bottom.

 





Rice Noodle and Skinny Carrot Fast Fry

In the middle of making soup for my weekly cooking challenge my tummy started grumbling so I decided to try out the new vegetable and fruit peeler we purchased yesterday at the Toronto Vegetarian Food Fair.  I can't eat chunky carrots so when I saw a pile of super skinny carrots piled on top of the demonstration table, I couldn't resist buying this simple little peeler.  When I tried my hand at making the carrots tonight I wasn't quite as skilled but I managed.  

Into the pan went a bit of oil, half a sliced onion and after a few minutes my gorgeous skinny carrots.   I mixed a little sugar with some soy sauce, sesame oil and about a tablespoon of Thai spice blend I found up in the cupboard.  Next in went the cooked rice noodles in along with the sauce and after a quick toss it was ready!  Have I mentioned that I adore rice noodles?  They take only a few minutes to cook and are delicious.  I meant to add tofu in with the veggies but forgot so I fried some up on the side in a bit of sesame oil and soy sauce and added it at the end.  A very quick and satisfying supper and now back to the kitchen I go to finish off my soup. 

Stir Fried Rice Noodles with Skinny Carrots and Tofu

Korean Greens

This is one of my favourite ways to eat greens.   I've made it with spinach, kale and today I'm trying swiss chard.  I discovered this simple dish while visiting the family home of my friend Patty.   As I wolfed down these vinegary-sesame greens, I quizzed her dad on how to make them.   He was very amused when I pulled out my little notebook to write down his instructions.   This dish is traditionally made with spinach but I use any greens I have on hand.   I find kale tends to hold up well, especially if you want leftovers for the next day and I was also quite pleased with the chard today. 

Roughly chop and steam a bunch of greens, do not overcook.  Drain or squeeze out excess water.  
Mix the following ingredients and then toss with the greens:

3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon (or more to taste) sesame seeds

You can adjust the amount of dressing to fit your greens.    Yummy served with steamed rice!

Stuffed Mutant Flatbread - A Starch Lovers Dream

Stuffed Mutant Flatbread - Yummy!

I'm so proud and impressed with myself that I can barely contain my excitement!   I was looking through some Indian cookbooks this afternoon looking for a flatbread recipe to accompany the mashed eggplant I had planned on making tonight when I came across an appealing sounding stuffed flatbread.  I've never attempted anything like this but after my success with cinnamon rolls last week, making a bread based recipe didn't seem so daunting.  I knew we had a couple of boiled potatoes in the fridge leftover from breakfast and the idea took root then and there.  I didn't have any whole wheat roti flour so I ended up improvising a recipe based on the ones I had skimmed.  The filling started out faithfully following an actual Indian recipe but quickly veered off into a completely different direction when I decided to dump some sauteed shallots, garlic and tomato into the potato mixture which had been destined for another project.  Oooh, I had a very good feeling about this.   The smell coming out of the pan was awesome and I wasn't wrong.  This is the best thing I've made in a very long time. 

The great thing about this type of recipe is you can basically season the potatoes with anything that hits your fancy.  Or even add other veggies, really the sky's the limit.   The only thing you need to be careful about is adding lumpy ingredients because when you roll the dough out with the filling encased you don't want anything bursting through.   I experienced a few tomato bits squeezing out the edges.  

Stuffed Mutant Flatbread

Filling:
2 medium cooked potatoes (I used leftovers)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
2 or 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
pepper to taste

Saute:
1 shallot chopped
1 garlic clove minced
1/2 tomato finely diced
1 tablespoon olive oil

Mash up the potatoes with a fork or your hands and mix in the remaining ingredients including the sauteed veggies.  

Dough:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 to 3 tablespoons ground flax seeds
1 tsp salt
1 cup water

The dough was very simple, just mix the flour, ground flax seed and salt and mix in the water. Knead for a few minutes until the dough is smooth. Cover and leave it until you're ready and then divide it into 8 little balls.

Have some flour handy.  Take each ball, coat it in a little flour, flatten it with your hand and then roll it out into a circle about 3 inches wide.   Add approximately 1/4 cup of the potato mixture, pinch up the dough around the filling and seal it inside the ball.   Gently roll out the ball into a 5 or 6 inch circle.   
 
Heat a cast iron pan on medium heat.   Add enough vegetable oil until it is lightly coated.   Pan fry the bread for about 1 to 2 minutes until there are gorgeous brown spots on the bottom and then flip it over for about the same amount of time.  I brushed on a tiny bit more oil on top before I flipped it because I didn't want the bread to be too dry.  You can pat the bread a little with a spatula as it's cooking so browns evenly.  It will puff up a little as it cooks.  Serve warm or at room temperature and enjoy!  I don't know how well they store because we wolfed them down immediately.  My daughter liked the bread more than the filling because of the bits of shallot.   She has a supernatural tongue that can sense any bit of onion-like material and spit it out no matter how small.  

This is supposed to be a circle - Hah.

In the cast iron pan!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

When the recipe for these cookies popped into my inbox last week courtesy of The Healthy Bitch Daily, I knew I would be baking them up soon.   Never one to resist homemade chocolate chip cookies, I was curious as to how different they would be from the recipe I'd been using for the last 8 months.  Let's just say they turned out so well, I managed to stuff down about 5 or 6 before feeling slightly sick.   They were chewy perfection, I will definitely make these again but next time, will cut the amount of white sugar.     

Kim’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

What to Buy:
4 1/2 teaspoons of Ener-G Egg Replacer
6 tablespoons of warm water
1 cup Earth Balance non-dairy butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup evaporated cane juice sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (or you can use half whole wheat pastry flour and half all purpose flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 (12-ounce) package vegan chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional but delicious)

How to Make It:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a small bowl, combine the Egg replacer and the water and whip until fluffy. In a separate large bowl, add the Earth Balance, cane juice sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Mix with a beater until well combined. Add the Egg replacer mixture and stir well. In a separate medium bowl add the flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined like a soft dough. Add the chocolate chips (and the nuts if you are using them). Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Scoop out small spoonfuls of batter and place on cookie sheet, making four rows of dough. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool. Makes 48 cookies.

What It’s Gonna Cost You:
Serving Size: 1 Cookie (28g) Calories: 130; Fat 7 g; Saturated Fat 2.5 g; Cholesterol 0 mg; Carbohydrates 15 g; Fiber 1 g; Protein 1 g

Amelia Bedelia Cake

Last night at bedtime, I was reading one of those awful Amelia Bedelia books to my daughter and at the back of the book she discovered a recipe.  I knew what was coming next, M was going to request we make it and I was dreading having to say no.  I thought it would be an egg and dairy laden dessert but when I read the ingredients out loud I was shocked to discover it was vegan!  What!  Cool!

So, after my daughter extracted a promise from me that we would make it first thing in the morning, she happily went off to sleep.  I love the rare days at home when I can devote an afternoon to browsing through my cookbooks, baking treats and planning future meals.  Lately, those days seem far and few between but happily today was one of them.  

We quickly assembled the ingredients from the pantry and my only complaint was that it called for everything to be mixed in the baking pan with a fork.  I found it a little tedious getting the wet and dry ingredients mixed properly in the darn corners.  It would have been much easier and faster to use a large mixing bowl.  This is a great recipe to make with kids because they can do it all from start to finish with minimal assistance.  It was moist and not too sweet but I found some inconsistency in the batter because it was mixed in the pan (and shhhh don't tell anyone but we didn't sift the dry ingredients).

Amelia Bedelia's Sheet Cake

3 cups of flour
1 3/4 cups of sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup of cocoa
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups water

Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa directly into an ungreased 9" by 13" pan.  Add oil, vinegar, and vanilla.  Pour water over all ingredients.  Mix with a fork until smooth..

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. 

Okay, so we didn't exactly sift the dry ingredients. 

Mixing with great concentration.

Chocolate sheet cake fresh from the oven.

Eggplant-Potato Moussaka with Pine Nut Cream

I'm so excited!  For the first week of the vegan cooking challenge I decided to make Eggplant-Potato Moussaka with Pine Nut Cream from Veganomicon.  I wanted to attempt something completely new and a little bit fancy in honour of my husband's birthday.  There is quite a bit of prep work involved in this recipe.  Eggplant, zucchini and potatoes were peeled, sliced and roasted on trays.  I seem to have severely underestimated the amount of shrinkage the vegetables would undergo and only prepared one tray for each.   I would recommend doing one and a half or two trays of each to end up with enough for layering.  As the veggies roasted, I prepared the tomato based sauce on the stove and the pine nut cream in the food processor.  Once all of the components were ready, the layering began and then back into the oven it went.   

I was a little disappointed in the flavour of this dish.  I've never had regular moussaka so I had nothing to compare it to but for the same amount of effort I would much rather eat a scrumptious lasagna.   I'm not sure if I did something wrong apart from over-roasting the potatoes and I am quite obssessed with eggplant so I was sure this was going to be a hit.  I'm glad I gave it a go even though it turned out to be not among my favourites from this collection.  

Eggplant-Potato Moussaka with Pine Nut Cream

Joining me in the challenge is my talented friend Jeannette who does not (yet) have her own food blog.  She has submitted the following:  

For my first entry in the Vegan Cooking Challenge, I made a zucchini cake that I found posted on The Post Punk Kitchen.  But, as my husband will attest, I never follow a recipe to the letter. SO, I read the posts following the original recipe post and made a few adjustments of my own. Here is my modified recipe:

Ingredients

3 cups grated, unpeeled, fresh zucchini
2 ripe bananas, mashed well
1/2 cup canola oil
3 cups flour
1 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. Vanilla

I omitted the ground walnuts and the chocolate chips. I also took the cake out of the pan after 5 minutes and ate it warm.

My Results:

I got a sweet, moist and firm zucchini cake. It was not as “tender” as it would have been with the full cup of oil, but it was not dry. I could have used a tablespoon or two of liquid to thin the batter, because it was fairly stiff. I never peel zucchini before grating; I like the green flecks. I mixed the sugar into the flour by mistake. If I had mixed it into the wet ingredients, it might have helped pull some of the liquid out of the zucchini. But, it didn’t matter because this cake is very good, even with my modifications.

I am curious about using soda instead of baking powder. Soda needs an acid to react with. I wonder if baking powder should be used? Is this something vegans do not use?

Jeannette's Zucchini Cake

My first home-made veggie burgers!

Yesterday I was craving a veggie burger but couldn't find a recipe among my small collection of cookbooks that spoke to me.  The garbanzo and wheat gluten combo is inspired by the awesome Chickpea Cutlets recipe in Veganomicon.  My very picky four year old daughter actually liked them so I will be making these again with various additions and tweaking of seasonings but for the first attempt they were pretty tasty.  This recipe makes six medium sized patties or four large patties.

Lee’s Veggie Garbanzo Burgers

½ large onion chopped (about 1 cup)
½ red bell pepper chopped
8 white or cremini mushrooms chopped
1 cup cooked garbanzo beans
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp tahini
½ tsp coriander
½ tsp cumin
1 tbsp ketchup
¼ cup vegetable stock or water
¾ bread crumbs
¾ cup vital wheat gluten

Sauté onions, bell peppers and mushrooms in one tablespoon of olive oil until onions are translucent (about 3 or 4 minutes).

In food processor pulse together sauteed vegetable mixture, garbanzo beans, 2 tablespoons olive oil, soy sauce, tahini, coriander, cumin, and ketchup.
Empty mixture from food processor into a medium sized mixing bowl and add bread crumbs, vital wheat gluten and stock or water. Mix together and then knead with your hands for a few minutes until the gluten begins to form strings.

Divide into six equal parts and form patties. Fry on medium heat in a thin layer of olive oil until brown and then flip and cook another 4 or 5 minutes until done.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Soup

Just about every cookbook I own contains a recipe for black bean soup but again, none were quite what I wanted so I created my own.   This is a quick chop and throw in the pot recipe, fast and easy.   If you don't have an immersion blender (I couldn't live without mine!) you could smash the soup up a bit with a potato masher or put a part of it in the blender and then back in the pot depending on how chunky or smooth you like it. 

Sweet Potato Black Bean Soup Recipe

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion chopped
1 large carrot chopped
1 red pepper chopped
1 large sweet potato peeled and chopped
3 large fresh tomatoes chopped
1 15 ounce can of black beans
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
½ tsp turmeric
Sea salt
Black Pepper

Sauté the onion, carrot, pepper with the cumin and coriander for a few minutes. Add the sweet potatoes, tomatoes, black beans (rinsed) and veggie stock. Simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree to the desired consistency. Some people like it chunky but my daughter won’t eat anything with suspicious vegetable lumps I often err on the less chunky side. Add salt and pepper to taste.