Vegan | V - Part 4

Entries Tagged as 'Vegan'

Glazed Caribbean Tofu with Sweet Rice

2.03.2012

There is some sort of longing for summer (hence the pictures next to this text) that has been evoked because of these past few 60 degree and sunny days in February. My thoughts have started to drift off to roasting marshmallows and picnics on beaches. But since…it is still February (no matter how much I daydream), I am going to have to settle for whipping up summer type dishes in my home (instead of on my grill).

I was super excited about this dish (because I love making bland tofu flavorful!) but after I began cooking it…I realized I have had no experience with Caribbean food what-so-ever (Hey, Bloomington, it’s about time someone opened a Caribbean restaurant! Although…why would someone from the Caribbean ever have the desire to move to the Midwest to open up a specialty dinner spot?). I can tell you right off the bat that I probably did not use ‘traditional’ peas that they would use in the islands but it was delicious regardless. If all Caribbean dishes are like this, count me in!

It was light with a tropical/sweet flavor in the rice (this was most likely due to the coconut milk) and then the tofu had the slightest kick of spice that counteracted the sweet rice perfectly. It turned out better than I could have ever imagined and my favorite part about tofu is it’s even better as leftovers (because the flavors have time to sink in even more). So whip this up for your lover and don’t scarf it all down at once!

PS WHY IS TOFU SO YUMMY BUT SO HARD TO PHOTOGRAPH? Makes my skills look shameful. Sorry guys!

(more…)

Vegan Trail Mix Cookies

1.29.2012

There are several things that sparked the inspiration for these cookies. Where to begin?

First, I’ve been on the hunt for a cookie jar for months now. Goodwill always has loads of them but they are always disgusting or characterless and I had practically given up on the idea of ever falling in love with one…until the other day. While out “window shopping” (which usually immediately leads to purchasing things) I came across a massive sale at [undisclosed store] (I don’t like to admit that I shop at this store because they can be obscenely expensive and the amount of money that I give to this place is undesirable) I found this gem. Not only was this cookie jar exactly what I had been dreaming about but it was also 3 dollars. This immediately ended my “window shopping” and sparked the consumerism in me.

Since then I’ve named him Velvet and he lives on top of our microwave. He’s an awesome addition to the family but I needed to christen him with a batch of fresh cookies so that all my roommates would have to marvel at (or at least interact with) him in order to get to the baked goods. But then I came to the dilemma of what kind of cookies should I make?

There were two factors that came into play when deciding to conquer these trailmixers. First, I’ve been doing this yoga class and it’s totally brainwashed (or inspired?) me into trying to be a healthier and more conscious person, which means I’ve been replacing all my refined sugar with agave nectar as much as possible. So I needed a recipe that used agave. Next, I’ve had this terrible yearning for summer…beaches, picnics, grilling, tans, etc. So as soon as I saw Isa’s version of this cookie it immediately reminded me of taking hikes at Griffy lake and living off of trail mix for 4 days straight at Bonnaroo.

And let me tell you, no cookie has ever tasted so much like summer as this one! These guys are loaded with chunks of chocolate, cranberries, and peanuts, melted together with a gooey chocolate center. I cannot wait to replace all my other picnic fare with these guys. And they are semi-healthy too!

Vegan Trail Mix Cookies

1/4 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
2/3 cups canola oil
3/4 cup agave nectar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3.4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (or m&ms)
1/2 cup roasted peanuts (or any nut you’d like!)
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and prepare two baking sheets with wax paper.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the almond milk, flax seeds, oil, agave nectar, and vanilla. Next slowly add in the flours, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Once everything in well combined, fold in the chocolate chips, peanuts, and cranberries.

Spoon tablespoon size chunks of dough onto the baking sheets (they don’t spread out much so don’t worry about putting them too close together) and bake for 12 to 14 minutes.

Artichoke and Red Lentil Pasta Sauce

1.28.2012

I’ve had half a bag of red lentils sitting around my kitchen for months now and in an attempt to be resourceful (aka too lazy to go to the store) came across this idea of using them to whip up a quick pasta sauce. I was weary at first because of the texture I thought the sauce might create but it ended up being very creamy and flavorful. The lentils are an excellent source of protein so don’t feel bad about skipping meat for this meal (not that I ever feel bad about skipping meat)!

This recipe takes a half an hour (at the most) so don’t hesitate to whip it up any night of the week. I served this with bread and a small salad but feel free to make some soup or cutlet or whatever floats your boat. It made lots of pasta though so expect yummy leftovers!

Artichoke and Red Lentil Pasta Sauce

2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
3/4 cup dried red lentils
1 small onion, diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 pound of [whole wheat] pasta (I used angel hair but feel free to use whatever you’ve got on hand)
1 small jar of artichoke hearts, drained and quartered

In a saucepan (with a lid!), add the mustard seeds over medium heat and let them cook until they begin to pop (make sure there is a lid on it so that they don’t pop all over your kitchen!). Next, add the vegetable broth, lentils, garlic, and onions. Turn the heat down to medium low and let cook, covered, for 20 minutes. Make sure to check and stir it around every couple minutes.

While that is cooking, prepare the pasta according to it’s package directions. Once the pasta has been cooked and drained, mix in the artichoke hearts with it.

Remove the lentil sauce from heat after twenty minutes and use a wooden spool to break the lentils down into a sauce (add more broth if it’s too thick).

Top pasta/artichokes with lentil sauce and season with salt and pepper. Munch down.

Oh and listen to this cute song while making it! (Arg, my girl singer weakness is shining through with this recommendation):

Sandwich Sass

1.20.2012

I’ve been on a sandwich kick this week. It sparked last weekend when we ate lunch at our favorite sandwich spot in Bloomington and had a long talk about how amazing sandwiches are because of their versatility and fresh flavors. This conversation caused an immediate chain reaction to run out to the local co-op for sandwich goodies on the way home (sandwich goodies= fresh veggies, supplies for homemade bread, vegan fakin’ bakin, and sandwich sauce). We then proceeded to make some homemade jalapeno bread (recipe coming soon!) and created sandwich masterpieces for the rest of the week!

Here were my four favorites:

Veggie Stacker (top left): Lettuce, tomato, onion, green pepper, avocado, swiss, salt, pepper, dried basil, dried oregano, crushed garlic, roasted red pepper aoili on homemade jalapeno bread

Rich Girl’s PB&J (top right): Organic honey roasted almond butter, All Natural Strawberry Rhubarb jam on sprout bread

The Elegant Egg (Bottom left): Scrambled egg, pesto, swiss, salt, pepper on a homemade biscuit

Bohemian BLT (Bottom right): Lettuce, tomato, veganaise, Tempeh Bacon on homemade jalapeno bread

Glad to share my sandwich lust with you and hope to have some real recipes back up this weekend!

Samosa Patties

1.14.2012

Here in Bloomington, we have an entire street dedicated to ethnic restaurants. It’s really an amazing experience…it’s like walking into another country and it’s just down the street. They’ve got Thai, Indian, Turkish, Mediterranean, and so much more. I had never even had good Indian food before I moved to this town four years ago but this street has certainly allowed me to make up for lost time. My boyfriend use to work at one of the Indian places so he can make a mean curry and I myself have become pretty addicted to this cuisine.

We’ve gone through phases of making curries every weekend and homemade naan and homemade hummus. However, we’ve never managed to master samosas which is suuuuch a shame because they are so dayuuum good. It’s just such a tedious process that it’s fun for a special occasion but not something you’d wanna whip up every weekend. Anyways, so I came across this recipe in my Vegan Brunch cookbook and this solved all of our samosa problems.

These patties literally taste like the inside of a samosa and are half the hassle of making real ones. These are great to serve as a side with some curry or eat as a main with some sweet sauce. They are chocked full of veggies and spices that will fill you’re palette with amazing Indian aromas.

Samosa Patties

2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
1/8 cup canola oil + 2 Tablespoons
dash of turmeric
dash of salt
1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup carrots, grated
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 inch of fresh ginger, grated
1 teaspoon cumin
dash of red pepper flakes
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/8 cup flour
extra oil for pan frying

First, add the potatoes to a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until you can stick a fork through the cubes and they are soft. Drain and return to pot. Mash well and add the 1/8 cup canola oil, turmeric, and dash of salt.

Preheat a large skillet (with a lid) over medium heat. Add the 2 tablespoons of canola oil and the mustard seeds. Cover with the lid and let the seeds pop for about a minute. Once the popping has settled, add the carrots and onions. Saute for about ten minutes and then add the garlic, ginger, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Cook for another few minutes and add water if it’s dry.

Back to the potatoes, add the onions, peas, and veggie mixture. Lastly, add in the flour and season with salt.

Now for the disappointing part (the waiting game- one of the worst games ever). You’ve gotta let the mixture cool completely or else it will fall apart. So I reccommend sticking it in the freezer for 20 minutes but feel free to pop it in the fridge for hours (if you prepare it in advance).

Once cooled, take chunks of the batter, roll them into golf ball size balls, and then flatten slightly. Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat and saute the patties on each side for three minutes or until they have browned. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

Serve warm and with other yummy Indian dishes.

Oh and these are my roommates trying to tell me what they have in their hands is much more interesting than taking photos of my pancakes.

Veggie and Tofu Pot Pie

1.04.2012

Well, after enjoying 40 and 50 degree weather for all of November and December, the winter is finally here and we are officially in the jittery January months with 20′s and below temperatures. This means the excitment of wearing layers of sweaters and scarves has worn off and my day dreams are wondering to Florida beaches and porch nights. The only thing I am still excited for this winter is cooking winter things…you know, stews, chili, warm biscuits. And the time as finally come for me to stop denying that it is winter and start cooking.

So I started off my acceptance of January by whipping up some tofu pot pies. I made it a personal goal to make pot pies after eating Bloomingfood’s tofu pot pies at the farmers market over the summer. I also waited five months to actually make them because I had hoped to have stolen the Bloomingfood’s recipe by now but it seems that they keep those recipes on lock down and I am too much of a wimp to go snooping. Anyways, I decided it was time to make my own recipe and stop day dreaming about theirs. And it was honestly just as good (if not better- if you ask me!).

Anyways, so about the recipe: feel free to substitute whatever veggies you have on hand (because that is what I obviously did! I mixed canned, fresh, and frozen so do whatever you’re feeling). Also, I made the filling in the morning and stuck it in the fridge (because I’ve been working at the record label in the afternoons) so that when I got home for work all i had to do was whip up the crust and pop them in the oven. Yeah, the point of me telling you this is to let you know that you can make the filling ahead of time. Yup. Oh, and I made 6 mini pies with this recipe and froze 3 of them (but feel free to make pie size pot pies- I’d just recommend cutting the crust down).

Veggie and Tofu Pot Pie

Filling:

1 large onion, diced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 large potato, cubed
1 carrot, cubed
1 can peas
1 can corn
1 small can of mushrooms
1 package tofu, drained and cubed
3 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cup vegetable broth

Crust:

4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/3 cup shorting
1 cup water

For the Filling:

Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and saute until they become translucent (and start to have that amazing aroma smell. you know what I’m talking about!). Next, add the vegetable broth and cubed potato and cook for five minute. Finally, add everything else that is in the filling and cook, covered, for 30 minutes. Make sure to check it after 20 minutes and if it seems dry then add a bit more water. After 30 minutes, remove from heat, take out the bay leaves, and set aside while you prepare the yummy crust!

For the crust:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix the flour, salt, and shortening in a mixing bowl with your hands or a pastry blender (I obviously used my hands because I’m a college student and things like ‘pastry blenders’ don’t exist to me yet). Next, add the water in parts to achieve the right dough consistency.

Divide the dough into six parts (if you’re making miniature pies- otherwise divide it in half). Using a rolling pin, roll the dough ball until they are long enough to fit into your pie pan. Layer the pie dough, filling, and then top with another layer of dough. Press the edges with a fork and cut a few slits in the top dough so that the filling can breath (yes, it needs oxygen too!) while cooking. Repeat with the rest of your dough and filling.

Cook for 20 to 3o minutes or until the tops have browned.

Serve warm while staying cozy and warm under a blanket with your kitty.

Vegan Chocolate Surprise Cookies

1.02.2012

Since yesterday was National Hungover Day (because who doesn’t drink on New Year’s Eve REGARDLESS of what commitments you have made for the following day), Abby (my wonderful, goofy, and hung over roommate) and I decided to spend the whole day baking. We had this vision of creating a cookie buffet (for no particular reason) that ended up consisting of sugar cookies, fruity pebble rice crispy treats, five layer bars, and these little guys. Although we baked dozens of cookies, these were the winners.

We decided to make these because we both have a fear of fillings. The idea of making a filling for a cookie, donuts, or pies just SOUNDS intimidating and after several minutes of discussing visions of turkey basters and jelly injecting, we came to the conclusion that the cookie buffet would not be complete without filling. And luckily, these cookies did not demand either of those things.

The filling was actually really easy to tackle and it did not take much longer than a normal cookie would. The cookies were adapted from Isa Moskowitz’s Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and I want to let you know that we used half sunflower seed butter and half peanut butter for the filling section but feel free to use all peanut butter if that is what you have on hand.

Chocolate Surprise Cookies

For the cookie:

1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons Almond milk (or soy milk)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the filling:

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup sunflower seed butter (or more peanut butter)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 to 3 Tablespoons almond milk (start with 2 and add another if mixture is too dry)
dash of vanilla extract

Mix the oil, sugar, maple syrup, milk, and vanilla extract in large mixing bowl until it forms a smooth, caramel paste. Next, add in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt and mix until it forms a thick, moist dough. Set aside.

In another bowl, use a hand mixer to cream the peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. The dough should be thick enough for you to form but still a little gooey so it has a yummy texture!

Now, preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease two baking sheets (or line them with parchment paper). Prepare the inside filling by forming 20 small balls using the palms of your hands. Place them on a small sheet of wax paper.

Now go back to the outer cookie dough and take heaping tablespoons of it at a time. Form a ball by using the palm of your hand and then flatten. Place the peanut butter filling in the center and fold the chocolate dough around it. Roll in your palm a bit more to reform the ball and place on the cookie sheet. Repeat with the other 19 balls and put them about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet because they will expand.

Cook for 10 to 12 minutes (depending on how big you ended up making them). Let cool for at least five minutes so they will harden up and the cookie will have a crunchy shell with a soft, gooey center.

Munch down and share with all your grateful, hungover friends/roommates/boyfriends/pets (but hopefully your pets are not hung over!)

Vegan Chocolate Stout Beer Cupcakes

12.06.2011

I feel like I haven’t baked since summer. With school and work and homework I always find time to make something for dinner (girl needs that fuel) but it’s not always easy to convince myself I need t0 bake sweets (girl really doesn’t need that sugar…).

Anyhow, I found myself with leftovers one night this weekend and decided it was the perfect opportunity for me to take that dinner prepping time and make some cupcakes! These cupcakes were made with Bell’s Kalamazoo Stout but feel free to use any stout (Pick one you like so you can finish the extra while assembling the cupcakes).

Even though I was surprised at how subtle the stout flavor was, these chocolately cupcakes were still very delicious and had a great moist and soft texture. I’d suggest making them for any beer loving friend in your life or perhaps for a birthday potluck.

Vegan Chocolate Stout Beer Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 oil
1 cup stout beer
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Your favorite vegan icing recipe, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 12 cupcake pan with cupcake tins.

Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa, and baking powder) into a large bowl and mix. Next, combine all remaining ingredients into a medium bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients by pushing them to the side and pour wet ingredients in the center. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet with a spatula until well combined.

Fill cupcake tins 2/3 full with the batter and bake for 18 to 20 minutes.

Top with your favorite vegan frosting and sprinkle cocoa powder on the top.

Munch down. Share with your kitties while enjoying that David Bowie album you’ve ignored for a few months.

Retro Recipe: Spiced Orange Apple Cider

12.04.2011

Woah, where to begin? It’s been over two weeks since my last post but I promise I have good excuses for this. First off, I spent my Thanksgiving vacation in the mountains in Colorado with my Ma’s side of the family. And although living on the side of a mountain in a mansion of a log cabin is perfect for skiing and sledding and getting drunk off of bloody marys…it’s not the type of place where I’d have internet connection….. sooooo no posting for me that week.

But, while we are on the topic, I got some awesome pictures of the long weekend!

We decided to drive which meant that those 36 hours of car time was bound to ignite a roadtrip-esc experience of stopping at every road side attraction possible.

The weekend consisted of hanging out with my brother in Denver, taking snow filled walks, drinking with family, eating, eating, eating, and playing in the mountains.

I didn’t really have the patience or internal heat for skiing (although we did try it one day! But that just ended in us spending 80 percent of the time in the lodge at the bottom getting tipsy). We did go tubing on top of a mountain at Keystone the Sunday we were there (pictured above) and it was so much fun. I promise my brother is not as mean (well…mostly) as he looks in this picture.

So where am I going with this lengthy and wordy post? Well, on our 36 hour car ride endevour, we made it a point to stop at as many Goodwills along the way as possible (we are vintage shopping horders. Serious problem, we know). And while at a small Goodwill in Middle-of-nowhere, Kansas I came across a Betty Crocker Deluxe cookbook set. I mean this thing is legendary, it was published in 1969 and has 4 separate cookbooks that fit perfectly into a boxset with Betty Crocker’s face (or at least what they decided she should look like if she was to really exist) painted across the front (don’t worry- I’ll include a picture of it later!). Anyhow, this boxset got me to thinking that the places I look for recipes are all quite similar and I need to start experimenting with other sources. So I’ve decided that every so often I’m going to do a retro recipe where I adapt one of the original Betty Crocker recipes from this deluxe set into a revamped, modern vegetarian dish! Don’t worry, there are alot of recipes in this book that went out of style for a reason (cactus juice=milk and green food coloring. wwaaaah?) so I’ll try to stick to appetizing oldies.

This recipe I made while we were staying in the cabin. What I did was make it alcohol free for all the kiddies but keep the whiskey close for people who wanted to add it to their serving.

Spiced Orange Apple Cider

(Adapted from Betty Crocker)

2 oranges
30 cloves
1/2 cup sugar
4 cinnamon sticks
1 gallon apple cider
2 teaspoons all spice
4 cups cranberry juice
Whiskey, optional

Stick the cloves into the orange skins like shown.

Then add everything to a big pot and let simmer for an hour! This will mend the flavors all together to create a warm and crisp flavor!

Serve with whiskey or cinnamon sticks. Boom. that’s it.

Biscuits and Mushroom Gravy

11.20.2011

In an attempt to try out some vegetarian gravy recipes BEFORE I feed it to my entire extended family [for Thanksgiving], I MENTIONED making biscuits and gravy to my boyfriend which lead to him bugging me about it everyday for a week. In turn, we had a really delicious and filly breakfast on this rainy Sunday.

This recipe is a lot more basic than many vegetarian gravy recipes I’ve come across (I made biscuits and gravy for a birthday earlier this year and the recipe called for about a billion spices and turned out bland). Here, the simplicity is excellent and the only spice really needed for gravy is pepper anyways!

I’d recommend using this on your tofurkey, biscuits, eggs, or anything. It’s a fantastically simple dressing that is loaded with flavor (without needing turkey dripping!). I’m not even that big of a fan of mushrooms (I know that’s like a sin for vegetarians) but they lose their slimy texture when cooked in this recipe and turn out almost in a caramelized state next to the onions.

Biscuits and Mushroom Gravy

1 prepared packaged of frozen biscuits
8 oz of mushrooms, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
Olive Oil
Lots of pepper to season with [+a little bit of salt if you want it]

Prepare biscuits according to their package.

Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil to a skillet over low heat. Mix in the flour for about a minute or until large clumps form. Then add the vegetable broth, soy sauce, and pepper. Bring the skillet to medium heat and stir often.

In the meantime, start another skillet with a tablespoon or so of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and mushrooms and let cook while the gravy is thickening.

Watch closely and stir both mixtures often until the vegetables are all the way melted and the broth mixture has reduced to a thick gravy (this will take probably around 20 minutes).

Once ready, turn stove off and combine the vegetables with the gravy. Season with more pepper and some salt.

Lather all over warm biscuits and eat your heart out.

Edamame Pesto

11.13.2011

This is a high protein, low calorie recipe. Just what every vegetarian needs in their lives (well.. for the most part. minus when they are going through a break up or just lost their job- then you need lots of vegan chocolate ice cream and deep fried avacado fries!). But anyways, so this is a super healthy and quick recipe that can be made in about ten minutes (yeah! damn!) and can be put on almost anything. I put it on vegetable pasta (you know…the pasta made out of vegetables! So yummy and it’s cute because it’s colored) but you can put it on steamed veggies or fake meat or whatever you’re feeling.

This is a recipe adapted from Isa Moskowitz’s Appetite for Reduction. I know she’s a reoccuring theme in my blog but when you’ve got a favorite chef then you’ve got a favorite chef. I can’t help but collect ALL of her books so I feel like I need to use them, right?

Anyhow, you may want to take the edaname out of the freezer on your lunch break or a couple hours ahead of time so it can thaw. That’s honestly the only ahead of time prep needed (so simple!).

Edamame Pesto

3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup packed basil leaves (this recipe is great for all of you that have managed to keep your basil plants alive this long!)
1 package of frozen shelled edamame, thawed (Pretty sure mine was 16 oz)
2/3 cup of vegetable broth
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast (yum!)
dash of salt/pepper
And whatever you’re serving it on. Cooked pasta, steamed veggies, fake chicken cutlets, etc.

And the directions are oh sooo easy. Just combine the basil and garlic in the food processor and pulse a few times. Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Feel free to add more broth if it’s too thick.

Lather on everything in sight! [oh and marvel at how green it is. coooooool!]

Sweet Potato Pancakes with Whiskey Glazed Pecans

11.08.2011

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve bought into the shop local and cook seasonally fad (mmmm fresh produce!) so if for some odd reason my love for seasonal cooking mated with my favorite meal [breakfast-duh!] then I’m pretty sure the product would be something along the lines of these sweet potato pancakes!

I know the main part of this recipe is the pancakes but damn the pecans are what shine! Yummy glazed nuts with a hint of maple syrup and whiskey means this pancakes are just an excuse for you to make these pecans anyways!

Also, [total side note] BUT if you have an leftover mashed sweet potatoes after Thanksgiving then feel free to skip over the pancake recipe part of this post and fry them up like pancakes with these yummy pecans.

Sweet Potato Pancakes with Whiskey Glazed Pecans

For the pecans:

1 cup pecans
2 tsp. canola oil
dash of salt
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
2 Tablespoons whiskey

For the Sweet Potato:

1 large sweet potato
2 Tablespoons canola oil
3/4 cup almond milk
1/3 cup water
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
dash of nutmeg
dash of cloves
cooking spray

You have three options for when you want to make the mashed sweet potato part. You could either make it the night before so that you can get right down to business when you wake up or assign the task to whomever is the early bird in the house or just do it when you get up (but keep in mind this is gonna add another 45 minutes to your prep time!)

Anyways, so preparing the sweet potato is the first step. What you are going to do is preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place the sweet potato on the middle rack (no wrapping in foil or poking it). Cook for 45 minutes (this is the part where you go back to bed or watch cartoons with your morning coffee while you wait!)

Once done, take out and prepare the pecans while it cools. Place a square of parchment paper on the counter and heat a skillet over medium low. Add pecans and saute constantly for about five minutes. Add oil and dash of salt; stir for another minute. Then add the maple syrup and stir so that the pecans absorb it (about 30 seconds). Finally, add the whiskey and stir for 30 seconds more. Place hot pecans in a single layer on the parchment paper and let cool while you prepare the rest of the pancakes (dont pick at them! They will be yummy!)

Peel the sweet potato and mash in a large mixing bowl. Add the oil, milk, vinegar, sugar and vanilla and stir until well incorporated. Next, add the dry ingredients (Flour, baking powder, salt, and spices) and mix until all the big clumps are gone.

Prepare a large skillet over medium heat. Liberally spray with cooking spray and, when heated, add by the heaping 1/2 cup fulls to the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side and flip.

Eat with pecans on top and gallonss of warm maple syrup (unless you’re on a diet in which case I’d reccomend you scratch this recipe all together and find some yogurt in the fridge or something).

Vegan Strawberries and Cream Tartlets

11.03.2011

These things are really freaking adorable. Miniature pies that you get to hog all to yourself? Genius! And they are vegan and guilt freeee!

I recently received Isa’s new ‘Pie in the Sky’ cookbook (Vegan Pie in the Sky) and immediately, like a little kid with a new toy, wanted to make everything in it. I restrained for many weeks (having 2 jobs and going to school really cuts into my free time and I didn’t want to half ass these recipes) I finally decided last week that I was going to tackle one of them. The fruit I had on hand was strawberries so I settled for the Strawberries and cream because anything with coconut milk in it is a winner in my book. Of course, half assing began when I was suppose to put the coconut milk in the fridge for 8 hours before hand (Hellllooooo freezer!) so feel free to stick yours in the freezer for half an hour or so if you don’t think of it 8 hours in advance (mine turned out fine anyways).

I associate making crusts with making bread and assume it’s super time consuming but that is a ridiculous myth that my mind seems to have made up. This crust was so simple and vegan and oh so yummy. Don’t feel intimidated and go go go for it! Also, this recipe is done in steps (separated by each part of the pie: crust, filling, and cream) so take it step by step and you’ll be fine

And lastly, I didn’t have enough strawberries on hand so I substituted bananas for one of the pies which was delicious. I highly recommend experimenting as well. Bananas n’ cream. Peaches n’ cream. Pears n’ cream! Get creative! Something great about using miniature pies is you can mix and match whatever.

Strawberries and Cream Tartlets

For the Crust:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Earth Balance

Prepare to get messy!

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the Earth Balance in chunks and then use your (clean! hands and mix it all together so it creates a dough.

Divide the dough into five parts and use one for each miniature tartlet tray. Press the dough firmly into the pans and on the side. Use a fork to poke (plenty!) of holes all through the dough so that it doesn’t puff while cooking.

Stick in the freezer for a half an hour or until frozen (this is the part you where you switch to preparing the inside while it freezes- like cutting the strawberries!).

For the Filling:

4 cups of strawberries, sliced thin and evenly (this is where I used less and substituted bananas!)
2 1/2 Tablespoons starch (potato starch, corn starch, etc)
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix together all of the filling ingredients. Let set for a few minutes so a syrup can form. Pull the crust from the freezer and bake for ten minutes.

Once done baking, line the insides of the tartlets with strawberries and then pour the syrup over the top. Bake for 25 minutes.

Prepare the cream while it’s baking for the last ten minutes.

(before cream is put on top)

For the cream:

1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
dash of vanilla extract
Blend together with a mixer until light and fluffy.

Once the pies are done baking, top with cream (pour over the whole thing so they get in the cracks of the strawberries) and let sit for a few minutes and blend.

Munch down. Be selfish and eat it all for yourself. Share the other ones with your friends after you’ve had your fill.

Done. Pie Yumminess.

General Tao Tofu

10.28.2011

As I keep mentioning, I’ve got loads of produce I’m still in the process of consuming so here is another dish that I immediately thought of when I saw the mounds of broccoli in my fridge (I’ve made this recipe half a dozen times before and it always turns out oh so yummy).

Growing up, Chinese food was the what we got as take out and although I wasn’t a meat eater for the most of this time span (veggie fried rice and sweet n sour sauce did the job for me), I still always loved the general tao sauce. I’ve tried to get carry out where they would substitute in tofu but it’s not the same; their sauce is built for chicken and somehow the tofu doesn’t absorb it so it ends up super sweet all over the rice and bland on the tofu.

Anyways, this recipe is a perfect way to prepare this (and ends up 1000 times better than if you order take out!). The way that the corn starch (you can use potato starch to make it organic!) coats the tofu helps it to absorb the maximum amount of flavor possible and then you also know exactly what is going into your food (for much less than the price of take out!)

Okay, so whip this up for an easy comfort food dinner that you can enjoy while being lazy in front of the TV or as a pregame dinner with sake bombs!

General Tao Tofu

1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer

4 Tablespoons water

1 pound of extra firm tofu (drained and cut into 1-inch cubes)

3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon cornstarch

5 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

2/3 cup vegetable stock

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup sugar

Dash of crushed red pepper flakes

1 Tablespoon white vinegar

Steamed Broccoli and cooked rice (For serving)

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg replacer with 3 Tablespoons water. Dip tofu in this mixture until completely coated and then sprinkle 3/4 cup of the cornstarch over the tofu until it’s completely coated.

Next, In a large pan fry the tofu by added them to a medium heated pan with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in it. Flip the tofu after about 2 minutes or until it is browned on all sides. When done, put the tofu on a plate lined with paper towel to drain any excess oil.

Mix remaining water and corn starch in a small bowl and set aside

Next, heat skillet over medium-high heat and add in remaining oil. Add ginger and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add vegetable stock, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper flakes, and vinegar. Add in the corn starch mixture and stir until well incorporated. Add fried tofu and coat evenly.

Serve warm with rice and steamed broccoli.

Mmmmmmmm.

[Pine nut-less] Pesto

10.19.2011

I’ve always had this vendetta against pine nuts. They are just so darn expensive for no reason! There is noooo way that they could possibly be THAT much more expensive to grow than all other forms of nuts. I mean perhaps there is some very logical reasoning for having to spend 30 dollars on a small bag of pinenuts for dinner but I’m not going to search for that answer. I’m just going to continue to boycott and find alternatives.

I will admit, I loooove pinenuts when it’s on someone else’s tab and I especially like pesto so I decided it was time to get over the hurl of pinenuts for pesto and figure something out. I use a loose interpretation of a recipe off of my all time favorrrrite blog (because it mixes fun cute cartoons and easy vegan recipes soooo adorably) www.veganstoner.com.

I probably would have served this with some garlic naan or garlic bread if I had some but instead I just did a small side salad. Oh and with whole wheat pasta, of course! mmmmm

[Pine nut-less] Pesto

2 cups basil
1 cup cashews
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
salt/pepper
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tomato, chopped (for garnish)
whole wheat spaghetti noodles

Cook the noodles according to package. Let the cashews soak in hot water for about ten minutes (save the water after too!)

In a food processor (or blender!) blend the basil, nutritional yeast, and olive oil. Next, add the cashews, garlic, and a 1/4 cup of the cashew water.

Blend until completely combined and season with salt/pepper.

Enjoy on top of a big ol’ pile of whole wheat pasta!

Wheatberry Salad

10.09.2011

Have you ever had wheatberries? If not, you have to try them! They have such a unique texture which is so different from most grains that it’s an experience all in itself. Plus they are loaded with fiber and energy so you can eat this as a main or serve as a side salad with soup or meat substitutes.

I love to make a big batch of this salad on Sundays and eat it for lunch all week long. Here are 5 reasons why you have to make this salad:

so easy to take on the go because it doesn’t have to be refrigerated (though it’s recommended)
super filling
super healthy with loads of fiber and vegetable goodness (plus olive oil to help your body absorb those nutrients!)
relatively cheap to make big batches of
versatile so you can add whatever veggies you have on hand (so feel free to experiment and don’t stick to exact recipe!)

Wheatberry Salad

1 cup wheatberries, cookied
1 small onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped (I had rainbow bell peppers from the farmers market that made it extra colorful)
1/2 cup chopped veggies (I usually use carrots but didnt have any so used cherry tomatoes. Feel free to add scallions, broccoli, spinach, etc)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper

Cook wheatberries as directed on the package (usually along the lines of boiling and simmering them on the stove top for an hour).

While they are cooking, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add onion and let cook for about 5 minutes or until translucent. Turn heat off and add rest of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and add salt/pepper to taste. Let sit for at least a half an hour (longer is recommended which is why I like making it for the week ahead) so that all the flavors absorb together.

Munch down on your porch. or with your kitty. or something.

Vegan Cinnamon Apple Cookies

10.04.2011

And here we go. I really really really hope you like apples because I went apple picking this weekend with some friends. Between me and my three roommates, we brought back pounds of apples so the apple recipes will be pouring out over the next few weeks. I took loads of pictures at the orchard on Saturday but I’ll do another post about that in a few days (because we all know I’ll have made more apple goodness things by then anyways) and I wanna talk about where I got this recipe in this post.

So I don’t know if you have ever been to Bloomington, Indiana but there is this non-profit bookstore called ‘Boxcar Books’ that is the mecca of independent writing (Boxcar Books) and a great place to browse when looking for some inspiration. It’s an old house transformed into rooms of independently published books and magazines and articles and zines and it’s sooooo good.

Anyways, it was 65 and sunny yesterday (woah, I thought it was October?) so we went on a nice walk downtown after dinner and ended up browsing at Boxcar. You may or may not have known this but I am a consumerist at it’s finest; I like to consider myself a vintage expert but most would consider my Goodwill and garage sale splurges as a sign of hoarding. Anyways, I found a few jewels last night and one was this adorable little European zine about Vegan cooking (go figure). This zine is called ‘The Cake Scoffer’ and it’s tag line is ‘Cheap n Easy Vegan cooking’. The thing that really sold me on this was that all the recipes have hand drawn animals making these baked goods which is just too adorable to pass up (I’ll add a picture of the zine later so you can get a better grasp of what I am talking about).

Anyways, as I mentioned this is a EUROPEAN zine soooooo the measurements are in ounces instead of cups! Oh coooool! What a nice small challenge for a super simple recipe! Okay, so I kept the recipe in ounces and I promise it’s not as hard as you’d think (if nothing else then just use liquid measuring cups for everything since they always have ounces on them anywayyys).

Also, these cookies were called scones in the zine but honestly they are too soft for me to bring myself to call them this. Feel free to eat them for breakfast or with your coffee to pretend like they are scones. I made mine triangles (kinda) since I thought they’d be scone like but you can just make them into yummy circle cookies

Cinnamon Apple Cookies

5 oz of all purpose flour
5 oz of whole wheat flour
1 oz of soy milk powder
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 oz of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
4 oz of Earth Balance
1 tart apple, grated (but not peeled! Get rid of the core though. yuck!)
1/4 cup of cold water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (Ronny refers to this as gas mark 7, weirdo European).

Combine the flours, soymilk powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Cut in the Earth Balance (honestly just use your hands because it’ll get the job done so much faster…in fact, get a volunteer that wants to eat the end product to do the dirty work by sticking their hands in it). Next, mix the grated apple and slowly add a splash of water into the mixture until it forms a ball and all sticks together.

Roll into 12 seperate balls and put on a greased baking sheet.

Cook for 15 to 20 minutes.

Sprinkle with sugar.

Share with your hand helper.

Blueberry Grunts

10.02.2011

SOOOO I just want to start out by reminding you that yesterday was World Vegertarian Day and I hope that you stayed clear of the meat for at least that one day! I made a really really scrumptous eggplant and zucchini lasagna that will be making a guest apparence on the blog very very soon. But until then….

I’ve been starting to feel sad as the berry season has come to an end and started to wish I took more advantage of it while it was around. Blueberries were on sale this week for a very not sale price but I caved knowing that the prices will only be growing as the winter approaches.

These blueberry grunts were the perfect closer to my berry cooking for the season. As we’ve talked about previously, I’m a huge fan of dough and dumplings so making a sweet version that floats in sugary blueberry goodness is just heaven for me. The dough helps tone down the sweetness and creates a perfect compliment to the juicy berriness.

And on a final note, anything that turns out bright purple after being cooked is a superstar in my book.

Blueberry Grunts

(Altered from VeganYumYum)

3 cups fresh blueberries
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 cup water
dash of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons Earth Balance
3/4 cup Almond Milk (NOT FLAVORED, PLEASE!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat skillet over medium-high heat and add in blueberries, sugar, water, lime juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Boil berries for 10 minutes or until mixture has thickened.

While heating, make the dough. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Cut in the Earth Balance and then add the milk to form a sticky dough. If dry, add a bit more milk but don’t over combine or the dough will be tough!

Transfer the blueberry mixture to casserole dish (or a few tiny ones if you have them- that’d be really cute!) and drop the dough on top of the mixture as heaping round balls.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Enjoy hot with yummy yummy vegan coconut based ice cream (or real french vanilla ice cream if you aren’t vegan)

Share with your blueberry loving kitty (or just give her the ice cream since you know that’s what she wants anyways)!

Fall Picnic

9.28.2011

It seems that I’ve managed to fall into a repetitive routine with my blog posts. Blurb, picture, recipe. Repeat. Well, dang. I am soooo sorry. When did I become so predictable? Well, I’m going to spice today’s post up by dun dun dun…not posting a recipe!

I skipped making dinner yesterday and let Wyatt cook for me. I know, I know…it was really hard for me to accept that OTHER people can cook too but it’s nice to swap roles. I did, however, have to have SOME control and demanded we go on an evening picnic with the grub he made and get dessert at Chocolate Moose (a ice cream stand that has perfected the concept of vegan ice cream that actually has the texture of creamy ice cream).

He made his specialty: grilled cheese with tomato soup.I know this sounds simple (which for the most part…it is) but it’s the fanciest comfort food you’ll ever eat! It’s got slices of fontina and cheddar cheese with a layer of basil leaves and slices of tomatoes fresh from my garden. Damn, now that is a grilled cheese. And he adds yummy spices of oregano and crushed peppercorn to the tomato soup for a perfect complex flavor to a simple soup.

Wyatt and I live about a block apart and there is a lot of going back and forth between houses. We live in a college neighborhood but for some reason there is a museum in this neighborhood that has a beautiful garden in the back. I’m talking sunflowers taller than me and vines that wrap around a pathway to create a walkway tunnel.

You could probably talk to anyone who lives in our neighborhood and they would have no idea this museum is here. I lived in this neighborhood for three years until finally noticing it ONLY AFTER moving right next to it. This is awesome because that means the museum is closed by 5 and always abandoned so I love to break into the garden after hours and enjoy it’s peacefulness.

Yup. We ate all of it.

And watched the sun set.

DIY Vegan Bagels with Pumpkin Cream Cheese

9.27.2011

There are very very few things I like about the weather getting colder but fall flavors is by far my favorite! All the smells and spice…the pumpkin, cinnamon, apple, cloves, nutmeg. Mmmmmm Sooooo please excuse me if I get carried away with the season baking for the next few months!

I will admit the process of making bagels is a bit tedious and my boyfriend doesn’t understand why you would make anything that involved 3 different methods of cooking to get to the final product (boiling, baking, and toasting) but they are a fun weekend project that are well worth the effort if you have the time. They have a crunchy outer layer with a soft, fresh center that you won’t even need to toast.

Vegan DIY Bagels

(Adapted from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Vegan Brunch)

3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/3 cup lukewarm water
1 ounce active dry yeast
4 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons xanthan gum
2 teaspoons salt
poppy seeds
oil

Lightly coat a bowl and set aside. Dissolve the sugar and yeast in lukewarm water. Combine the flour, xantham gum, salt, and water mixture until a sticky dough forms. Knead the dough by hand for ten minutes (make sure you have some good music going to make the time go byyyy). Put in the greased bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let rise for one hour.

The dough will not have rose too much but that is okay. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and adjust to a simmer. Divide the dough into twelve pieces and roll into circles. Use your thumb to puncture a hole in the center then add to simmering pot. Let boil for one minute and then flip. Take turns putting 2-3 bagels in a batch of water.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place boiled bagels on it. Sprinkle with poppy seeds and bake 18 to 20 minutes. Let stand for an additional 20 minutes to cool off and harden.

Top with pumpkin spice cream cheese or nutella or sunflower seed butter or honey and devour.

AND THE MOST IMPORTANT PART…..

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese

(Adapted from Pinch My Salt)

8 ounces of cream cheese (use tofutti if you’re vegan!), softened
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
5 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons maple sugar (or agave)
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
dash of nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients and use a mixer to blend together.

Spread over everything and munch down.

Vegan Chicken[less] and Dumpling Stew

9.22.2011

Okay Okay Okay. I may be getting ahead of myself with jumping into fall and winter recipes buuuuuuut it’s been rainy and cold for the past week….. so not my fault!

Even if they don’t admit it, every vegetarian misses some sort of comfort food from their childhood that has those gunky chunks of meats. I personally have always loved dumplings (dough in general. Give me cookie dough, bread dough, gnocci and I’m set for the day). So when I think of laying in bed with a big bowl of soup, I dream of thick chunks of celery, dumplings, and I guess…chicken?

Honestly though, I don’t care about the chicken so why not revamp the soup and make it without? Exactly what I was thinking. This soup has so much flavor with plenty of texture from the veggies and dumplings that it doesn’t even need any animal products. This stew is thick so you really don’t even need a side for this guy but we made simple grilled cheese because…well we we’re on the comfort food kick.

Oh and there’s loads of leftovers so you can be eating this stuff for days! (or share with your friends)

(This was me trying to capture the rainy day outside but we can all see how that turned out…)

Vegan Chicken[less] and Dumpling Stew

(Adapted from www.fresh365online.com)

6 servings

4 T Earth Balance
1 large onion, chopped
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons of cooking wine (whichever kind you have on hand)
5 cups vegetable broth + 1 cup water
1/2 c almond milk (NOT FLAVORED. THAT WOULD BE GROSS)
2 teaspoons salt
couple dashes of pepper
2 bay leaves (if you don’t already some some than just buy 2 in your bulk section at your local co-op)
1 teaspoon dried thyme (or basil if you don’t have thyme)
4 cups chopped mushrooms
2 cups chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup frozen peas
3 tablespoons minced fresh chives

Dumplings

2 c all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
1/8 c minced basil
1/8 c minced chives
dash of garlic powder
2 T Earth Balance, melted
3/4 c almond milk (NOT FLAVORED)

In a large skillet, melt the earth balance and saute the onions over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until they start browning. Next, whisk in the flour and cooking wine until it clumps. Then add vegetable broth, water, milk, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and thyme (or basil). Let this come to a boil and then add the mushrooms, celery, carrots, peas, and chives. Reduce heat and let simmer for 30 minutes.

To make the dumplings, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, basil, chives, garlic powder. Melt the earth balance and combine with the dry ingredients and milk to make a thick dough. Be careful not to over mix or the dumplings will become too sticky to deal with.

Make dough into heaping, round teaspoons (the dumplings will expand as they cook) and drop into the stew. Cover and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes (or until the dumplings are all the way cooked through).

Garnish with extra chopped chives. Eat in the freezing cold so you can really get the full affect of the stew (not seriously though). But you should let your kitty lick the bowl clean (seriously!).

Quick Vegan Pancakes with Simple Strawberry Topping

9.17.2011

Vegan baking is different from regular baking in the fact that the end product is denser but much more moist (I know that seems like an odd combination but really the best way for you to get what I’m saying is to just trying some vegan baking!). It’s funny because people just assume vegan baking is so much harder than regular but it’s all just about substituting the right ingredients. (I mean we can make it more challenging by adding expensive chickpea flour, arrowroot starch, and xantham gum but why bother when it turns out just as good with a few of these cheap substitutions?) .

This is my “go to” breakfast recipe when I’m looking for something sweet or needing to feed a big crowd (there’s a reason we have 5 beds and 2 pull out couches in this house- there are always plenty of people sleeping over).

I would suggest just using fresh fruit and maple syrup on this guys. However, if you’re fresh out of syrup or have some sad looking fruit, feel free to cook them with a few tablespoons of sugar on the stove (on low!) for a few minutes to create a simple syrup that will make the fruit extra sweet and create a melt in your mouth texture.

Perfect Vegan Pancakes

(Adapted from Isa Moskowitz’s Vegan Brunch)

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup water
1 cups almond milk
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Spray the skillet with cooking spray (or use a little olive oil) and heat skillet over medium heat while you prepare the batter.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Once mixed, make a hole in the middle of the bowl by pushing all the dry ingredients to the edge. Put oil, milk, syrup, and vanilla in the center and fold dry ingredients in to mix.

Pour batter in the middle of the pan and cook one at a time for about 2 minutes on each side. They are ready to flip when bubbles have formed almost all the way around the edges.

Lather with maple syrup and fruit. Or peanut butter and jam. Or Nutella. Or ice cream and chocolate. Or what[Evs]

Vegan Chai Latte Cupcakes

9.13.2011

Since I haven’t had much time for baking lately (and have been totally neglecting my vegan baking skills) I thought this was much overdue. This is my “go to” cupcake recipe. It has a very complex taste to it with all the spices but isn’t difficult to master. It’s also a perfect fall recipe because I don’t know what the temperature is like where you are but fall has been poking at Bloomington this past week. It has all the spices that many people associate with apple dishes or the tea that we all get addicted to when the cold comes and your roommates refuse to keep the thermostat above 60 (oh wait…or is that just mine?)

Anyhoo, if you are looking for a cupcake that is completely different from anything you’ve ever made than this is the guy. It may seem like a lot of ingredients but anyone who has a spice rack aimed at baking should have these spices. Also, I vary with which frosting I use on these guys. For example, if I know I’m not cooking for a vegan audience then I’ll do cinnamon cream cheese frosting (which is pictured in the photo below) but feel free to just use a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg on the top (or use vegan cream cheese).

Vegan Chai Latte Cupcakes

(adapted from Isa Moskowitz’s Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)

1 cup almond milk
4 black tea bags
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup soy yogurt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of ground pepper

First, preheat the oven to 375 and fill a cupcake tin with 12 adorable cupcake liners.

In a small saucepan, dip the tea bags in the almond milk and bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes (so the tea flavor is absorbed into the milk. mmmm). Ring out the bags to get out as much flavor as possible.

Once you’ve got that done, combine the oil, yogurt, vanilla, sugar, and the almond milk mixture in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Once well combined, mix in the rest of the dry ingredients and fold in until completely combined.

Fill the cupcake tins about 3/4 full and cook for 20-22 minutes.

Top with cinnamon/nutmeg. Or cream cheese frosting. or oreos. or whatever your craving is bitching about.

Yup.

DIY Soy Milk with Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

8.20.2011

Okay so I’m posting two recipes in this one because what’s the point of milk if you don’t have cookies to dip in it?

You would think that making your own milk would be hard but it’s actually a really straight forward process that MAYBE takes an hour at the most AND half of that time is leaving it to simmer which makes the perfect window to whip up some homemade cookies to accompany it. Plus it’s ridiculously cheap if you buy the soybeans in a bulk section at the grocery store (Mine ran me back about 50 cents).

Making this household staple was so simple I wonder why people don’t do it more often (I think I’m gonna tackle homemade ketchup next!).

On a completely different note, I will warn finding good vegan chocolate chips is not always an easy task. I usually stock up on them when I go to whole foods because the 365 brand is super cheap and super delicious so that is what I’d recommend. Also, these cookies turned out super thin [probably because I substituted corn starch from the tapioca flour like the original recipe had] but made for a deliciously crispy texture (hopefully that’s what you’re into. Yes, that is what you’re into).

DIY Soy Milk

1/2 cup dried yellow soybeans
5 1/2 cups water
dash of salt
1/8 cup sugar (more if you like it sweeter)
cheese cloth

Rinse the soybeans and let them soak in cold water overnight.

Drain the soybeans (the next morning, duhhhh) and liquefy them in a blender with 2 1/2 cups of water until they are a milky texture. Add them to a pot with the rest of the water (3 cups) and bring to a boil on high while stirring constantly [foam will start to form on the top so skim it off as this happens]. Once boiling, drop heat to low and let it simmer for 25 while just stirring occasionally.

Take off heat and strain out the leftover beans using a cheesecloth and/or strainer [with very small holes]. Add the salt and sugar to your liking and refrigerate until cold.

That’s it.

Proceed to dip warm cookies in it, make green smoothies, and share with your kitty.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Adapted from Isa Moskowitz’s Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar)

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon of corn starch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 and spray two cookie sheets.

Whisk together the sugar, oil, milk, vanilla and corn starch until it is thick and mixed (this should take a minute or so sooo be patient!). Add the baking soda, salt, and the flour (in parts. 1/2 cup at a time and mix and repeat). Mix in chocolate chips with your hands so they dont get smashed (or a spoon if you are that much of a clean freak).

Use a big spoon to scoop them onto a cookie sheet (size doesnt matter as long as they are all consistent. I made huge ones but that’s just my personal preference). Cook for 7 to 10 minutes.

Enjoy with your DIY milk.