Bok choy, edamame & red pepper in fire roasted tomato peanut sauce.

I found this recipe on pinterest awhile ago and saved it because the idea of fire roasted tomatoes in a peanut sauce seemed nuts (pun intended, thank you). I finally got around to making it tonight. It was simple, fast, made a TON and tasted spicy, smoky and peanutty.

You can find the recipe here: http://peasandthankyou.com/2011/06/27/vegan-values-noodle-salad-with-peanut-mmmm-sauce/

Enjoy.

Split pea soup with tempeh bacon.

I've never had split pea soup until last month. In my pregan days, I was the pickiest eater on the planet and split pea soup did not fit into my diet of chicken strips, macaroni n' cheese. Split pea soup was green and full of vegetables and, therefore, sent from the devil himself as far as I was concerned. Now that I have seen the light and know that vegetables are our friends, I want to eat this all the time.

Olive oil

2 carrots, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1/2 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic

1/2 pkg tempeh bacon

3 bay leaves

1 T soy sauce

1 tsp thyme

1 1/2 C dried split peas

8 C vegetable/chikn broth

1/2 C white wine

Saute veggies in olive oil over medium heat until soft, 10ish minutes. Add garlic and cook for another couple of minutes.

Add broth, seasonings and split peas and bring to boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to medium, cover and simmer for about an hour.

Sometime while it's cooking, fry tempeh bacon in olive oil over medium heat until crisp and set aside. Do not eat it all. Or do and cook more.

After the soup has simmered, you'll have to decide whether you want it hearty and chunky or smooth and velvety. I'm obsessed with my food processor and all things smooth, so I chose the latter. Once it's done simmering, fish out the bay leaves, add wine and season to taste with salt and pepper. If you want it chunky, just add tempeh bacon and dig in. If you're going to blend it, make sure to let it cool before you start and add the tempeh after.

Makes: a ton.
Lasts: forever.

The gentile's guide to falafel.

1 (15 oz) can chickpeas

1/4 C whole wheat bread crumbs

2 T whole wheat flour

1/4 medium sized onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Toss everything in a food processor (no substitute for this!) and pulse until everything is mixed but not pureed mush. Cover and refrigerate for at least half an hour.

Make tahini dressing in the mean time.

When ready to cook, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Shape dough into balls and flatten into patties. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side and drain on paper towels when done.

Tahini dressing:

8 tsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 C sesame tahini

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

Several dashes of fresh black pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 C cold water

Few sprinkles sugar

2 T Tofutti sour cream

Heat garlic in olive oil over low until fragrant. Dump everything in food processor and blend until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for at least half an hour.

I made a wrap with a whole wheat tortilla, 2 falafel patties, avocado, spinach, hot sauce and tahini dressing and it was dreamy.

Senate Bean Soup.

While browsing Tastespotting one day I came across a tasty sounding recipe for a bean soup on this link. The ingredient list was short and sweet and although winter hasn't officially reared her barren head yet, I've been in the mood for creamy goodness. Take that how you will. I feel like soup is something that you just shouldn't ever use a recipe for, but I wanted to try it anyway and made only a few minor changes. Make it. Eat it. Love it.
 

1 (15 oz) can white/cannelini beans

1 1/4 C water

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tbsp Earth Balance (I also added a few rounds of olive oil)

1/2 C chopped onion

1/2 C chopped parsley

1/3 C celery, chopped

2 tsp liquid smoke

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 Tbsp hot sauce

4 garlic cloves or 1 Tbsp garlic powder

1 large bay leaf (I used a handful of small broken ones which were a bitch to fish out at the end)

1 medium white potato, baked (I used two small red potatoes)

I also added about about 1/2 C of white wine because I'm a booze hound.

1/2 C plain soymilk

Saute onions, celery and garlic in oil and butter over medium heat until soft. Add wine, drained beans, water, bay leaf, salt, parsley, onion, celery, liquid smoke, hot sauce, pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer while potato bakes.

 

Bake potato in microwave until tender.

 

Remove bay leaf from pot and set pot aside to cool. Roughly chop potato and set aside to cool.

 

Toss the potatoes and 1-2 cups of the bean mixture into a food processor ONCE COOLED and puree. If you put hot soup in a food processor the lid will pop off and melt your face with molten soup lava. Patience is good here.

 

Add the pureed mix to the bean and broth mix and add in the soymilk to thin. You can puree the whole thing if you want, or leave out the food processor step and enjoy a chunky, hearty soup.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blondies

Jesus said, "Let there be calories" and these blondies descended from the Heavens and straight into my mouth. Chewy, gooey, cookie doughey goodness. Recipe modified from Party Vegan by Robin Robertson.

1/2 C margarine

1 C firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 C soymilk

1 1/2 t vanilla extract

1/4 t almond extract

1 1/2 C plus 2 T all-purpose flour

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1/2 C chocolate chips

1/2 C chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a square 8X8 inch baking pan.

Melt margarine in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add sugar, soymilk, and extracts and stir together. Pour into a mixing bowl to cool to room temp.

In a separate mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add chocolate chips and walnuts. Stir in wet ingredients and mix until just combined. DO NOT OVERMIX OR THE BAKING GODS WILL SMITE YOU.

Pour batter into baking pan and spread evenly. Pop those suckers in the oven for 30-35 minutes (if you use a dark pan, cook for 2 minutes LESS) until outsides are golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean as a whistle.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Feed the ones you love.

Soyrizo & Black Bean Stuffed Red Peppers

 

Peppers were on sale 2 for $1 at Smiths and even though I didn't have a plan for them, I knew I couldn't pass them up. I'd been wanting to try making stuffed peppers for awhile and after a quick inventory of my fridge, this is what I came up with. Official taste tester Esther agrees that it was a delicious success.

3-4 red peppers

1 (15 oz) can black beans

1 C cooked brown rice

1/2 - 1 full pkg Soyrizo (I had a little over half a pkg left, but I think a full pkg would be fine)

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 Thai chilis, minced

1 small can tomato sauce

1 lime, juiced

1 T cumin

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut tops off peppers and scrape out the guts. If the peppers don't sit flat, cut a small piece off the bottom. Coat outsides of peppers with olive oil (I have a handy dandy spray bottle. I suggest you also have one).

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and chilis for 2 minutes until fragrant. Add soyrizo and cook until heated through.

Drain black beans and add to skillet. Add rice, tomato sauce, lime juice and cumin. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I added some hot sauce because I have a demon tongue.

Fill a casserole dish with about an inch of water. Place peppers in water and spoon in filling.

Place in oven and cook about 45 minutes.

That's it! It took about 20 minutes for me to throw this all together and I even did yoga while they were in the oven. There are about a million different variations of this I want to try now. Viva la peppers.

White Bean & Roasted Garlic Asparagus Tart

This is the tart I brought to Candice's bbq on Saturday. Aside from the ends being partially burnt, I think it turned out great and I will definitely make it again with all sorts of variations.

1 sheet puff pastry, defrosted on counter for 40 mins.

1 (15 oz) can white beans

3/4 - 1 pound asparagus

6 cloves roasted garlic, minced

juice of half a lemon

olive oil

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Puree white beans with lemon juice and garlic, drizzle olive oil in as needed.

Unfold pastry and place on sheet of wax paper. Spread white bean mixture over pastry leaving a one inch border around the outsides.

Trim asparagus to fit width of pastry and lay the spears alternately.

Bake in oven until pastry turns golden brown and asparagus is tender. Mine went for about 20 minutes and was on the verge of burning.

Slice into squares and enjoy.

Breakfast of champions.

This smoothie is one of my favorite things to have for breakfast before work. It's easy to make, tastes like dessert and is healthy for you (it's also one of the only ways I'll eat bananas because I hate them). I usually have this around 5:45 AM and won't start to get hungry again until around 9:00 AM, so it's pretty filling. Besides, who wouldn't want to start their day off with chocolate and peanut butter?

1-2 very ripe bananas

1 heaping T ground flax seeds/flax meal

1 level T cocoa powder

1/4 C peanut butter (go for natural! I use Adams and the ingredient label reads: peanuts. The cheaper and more processed the peanut butter = the less healthy your smoothie is)

1 C soymilk

Combine together in a blender (I use Esther's Magic Bullet) and blend until smooth.

Some days I add more flax, more peanut butter, less milk, more bananas, etc; It's also extra rich if you use Silk's dark chocolate almond milk.

Penne with artichoke hearts and tomatoes in white wine sauce.

1 lb whole wheat penne pasta

1/4 C onion, minced

3 small cloves garlic, minced

1 C diced tomatoes

1/3 C white wine (plus more as needed)

8 artichoke hearts, quartered

1 T fresh parsley

salt and pepper to taste

In a large pan, saute onion in olive oil over medium heat until soft. Add garlic and cook another two minutes.

Add tomatoes, artichoke hearts, wine and salt and pepper and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring and adding additional wine as necessary.

Meanwhile, cook penne in pot of boiling water (with a splash of olive oil) until al dente.

Add pasta to tomato and artichoke mix and heat together. Add parsley and serve.

This will make a shit ton of pasta and it will dry out as it sits in the fridge. When heating up the leftovers, just douse them in more wine (If you didn't drink the rest of the bottle, that is. If you did drink the rest of the bottle, this is an excuse to buy another).

Creamy Chikn' and Asparagus Crescent Rolls

1 pkg Kroger crescent rolls

3 handfuls of diced Morning Star Farms chikn strips

1 handful of diced asparagus

Few tablespoons of veganaise, cream cheeze, or sour cream

Few shakes of garlic power, onion powder & Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute asparagus and chikn in olive oil over medium heat.

Place in a mixing bowl and cool to room temperature; then add remaining ingredients.

Unroll crescent rolls and spoon a tablespoon or two of filling on each triangle, then tuck in sides and roll up.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.

The infamous pancakes.

I make these pancakes every Sunday and freeze them individually for a quick, healthy breakfast during the week. I also make them for everyone I know and have had several people ask for the recipe. So ladies and gentlemen, I give you so-good-they-can't-be-healthy-but-really-are-not-that-bad pancakes (modified from Vegan with a Vengeance):

1-1/4 C whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 T ground flax seeds (also called "flax meal")
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 T olive oil
1/3 C water
1 C soymilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
handful of chopped walnuts

Sift dry ingredients together in large bowl. In separate bowl, combine wet ingredients. Add wet to dry and stir until JUST mixed (leave lumps!). Set bowl aside in fridge for at least 10 minutes so the gluten will activate and give you nice fuffy pancakes and not hockey pucks.

Heat a medium size skillet over medium heat (4-5ish on my stove). I use a small chunk of Earth Balance margarine to grease the pan but I've also used a tiny bit of olive or canola oil or just plain old generic nonstick spray. Work with what you got. Pour about 1/3 C of batter in a circle and cook until bubbles spring up all over the top. Then flip and cook for about 1-2 minutes. Eat.

I've made these a zillion ways using different flavored milks (pumpkin spice, nog, chai tea concentrate). I've also used different extracts like rum, almond, black walnut etc and different nuts and seeds. Go wild and make the pancakes of your dreams.

Beer battered onion rings!

4 large Walla Walla or Vidalia sweet onions
1 C flour
1 C beer
Few shakes of salt
Few shakes of pepper
2 T cayenne pepper
1 t garlic powder

Slice onions into large rings. Heat oil until bubbles form when a wooden spoon is dipped in (hows that for exact?). Combine batter ingredients, dip, fry, drain on wire rack over paper towels.

Indulge. Joe and I ate the whole plate.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies to end all your PMS cravings.

1/2 cup chocolate chips (for melting)
1/2 cup soy milk
2/3 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa (I use a combination of black dutch-processed and regular unsweetened)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chocolate chips
Few handfulls of chopped Dandies vegan marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Melt the chocolate chips with 1/3 cup of the soy milk in a microwave at medium power, stirring frequently.

Pour the melted chocolate and soy milk into a BIG ASS bowl, then add the rest of the soy milk, oil, vanilla, sugar, and cornstarch.

Add in the flour (unsifted!), cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Stir until thoroughly mixed, then add the chocolate chips and marshmallows. This dough is thick and sticky, so don't get alarmed if you feel like your arm is going to bust off. Even my heavy duty handheld mixer was cursing me. But it's worth it!

Drop by spoonfulls and use whatever you have handy to flatten them out. Bake for about 10-12 minutes and then place on a rack to cool. I dare you not to eat them all.