Vegan Beer Bread

An excellent recipe to utilize my new KitchenAid Stand Mixer (in pistachio green of course)
*Another shout-out here.  This time to my mama for an incredible Christmas gift - she has really upgraded my kitchen.*

3 cups flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 12oz bottle of beer (we opted for a Fat Tire)

1/8-1/4 cup melted vegan margarine

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.

Add margarine and beer.

Mix well, but not too much.

Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan.

Bake 50 minutes.

Brush top with margarine and bake an additional 3-5 minutes.

Cool 5-10 minutes, remove from pan.

Allow bread to cool another 15 minutes before cutting.

vegan cookies n' cream cupcakes

recipe from: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
*Shout-out to Elizabeth for a great birthday gift*

basic chocolate cupcake recipe:
1 cup soy milk
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup coarsely chopped oreos (yes, an amazingly delicious vegan dessert treat)

Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin pan.
Whisk together soy milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle (we saw no curdling but proceeded anyway)
Add sugar, oil, and vanilla extract to soy milk mixture and beat until foamy.
In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain.
Mix in oreos.
Pour into liners, filling 3/4 of the way.
Bake 18-20 minutes.
Allow to cool before topping with the delicious butter cream frosting.

Delicious butter cream frosting:
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup vegan margarine
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 plain soy milk
1/2 cup finely mashed oreos

Beat shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy.
Add sugar and beat for another 3 minutes.
Add vanilla and soy milk and beat for 5-7 minutes until fluffy.
Stir in oreos.
Frost.

Enjoy vegan deliciousness.

Happy New Year

so the traditional meal on new years eve involves black eyed peas - they supposedly bring good luck in the year to come.  browsing recipes for black eyed peas we discovered the other long-standing tradition of cooking with bacon, beef bones, pork fat and other large hunks of meat.  no thank you.

we opted for something less animalcentric.

 Creole Black Eyed Peas (our adaptation based on a recipe from FatFree Vegan Kitchen):

1 large onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 rib celery, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups dried black-eyed peas, picked over and rinsed

5 cups water

15 ounce can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Southwest Spice blend (to taste)*

*recent gift from my mother who visited the Spice House in Milwaukee.  let me just say that the difference between the store-bought dried spices and the freshly ground spices is phenomenal.  due to our dependence on spices in our meals, we have made the decision to use only freshly ground spices going forward.

Here we go:

Saute onion, pepper, celery, and garlic in olive oil.

Add black eyed peas, tomoatoes, water, and spices.

The liquid in the mixture should cover the black eyed peas by about 1 inch.



a note on the peas: you can used dried but you have to soak them overnight. we used fresh so we were able to throw them right in the pot



Allow this to simmer for roughly 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the peas are tender.

It was still a little watery after 2 hours so we added 3 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons of water and allowed it to simmer for an additional ten minutes.

We served our black eyed peas with brown rice and jalapeno corn bread muffins.

Jalapeno Corn Bread Muffins:

1 1/4 cups unbleached flour

3/4 cups yellow corn meal

1/4 cup natural sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup nondairy milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon corn starch + 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

1 whole jalapeno (minced)

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin pan. Combine and mix dry ingredients.

2. Stir in milk, oil and cornstarch mixture, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in minced jalapeno. 

3. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden brown and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Bean Fritters and Roasted Winter Vegetables

Hello everyone! Yes yes we are horrible bloggers. I know this. I have felt guilt for this but that is over now. For Christmas Laurin got me a beautiful Nikon D3000 camera that will make taking pictures of our food much more enjoyable. Compared to the old point and shoot we were using this camera is amazing. So no longer will frustration at lack of focusing abilities prevent us from sharing delicious vegan recipes :)

Now on to the food -
This Thursday we wanted something light for dinner but not a salad. After the heavy richness of our holiday food; lentil meatloaf, tofu manicotti, calico beans and stuffing, we just wanted straight up veggies with not too much fuss.
So we roasted some veggies. This is simple and easy and delicious. Choose your veggies. We went with onion, carrot, brussel sprouts, turnip, parsnip, rutabaga and sweet potato. Get to chopping. This is the hardest part of the meal and Laurin is quite good at it. So I let her handle it. I used the hour she spent chopping to catch up with my friend in Colorado on the phone. I felt a twinge of guilt. It passed.

So you've got your veggies chopped.
Now spread them out on baking sheets. Drizzle them with olive oil and garlice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix around a little so that the oil covers them. Bake them in the oven at 350 until tender. Depending on the size of the vegetables it could take up to an hour. We like them crispy so bake them a little longer.

For our protein we made Spinach and White Bean Fritters.
Using a recipe we found on veganplanet.blogspot.com
Here it is:

1 (15.5-ounce) can white beans, drained and rinsed

1 (4-ounce) jar spinach baby food (or 1/2 cup cooked chopped spinach, tightly packed)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup ground walnuts
3 tablespoons dried bread crumbs, plus more if needed
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil

1. In a bowl, mash the white beans. Add the remaining ingredients, stirring until well mixed.

2. Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Shape the mixture into small patties (you can dredge in extra bread crumbs, if you like) and cook in the hot skillet, in batches if needed. Flatten with a metal spatula and cook until browned on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Flip the fritters and cook until the other side is golden brown. Serve hot.

The fritters didn't turn out exactly as we had hoped. They were a little, well, blah. The texture was okay but flavorwise they left a little to be desired. So we made a "sauce" to put on them.
"Sauce":
Vegannaise
Grey Poupon
Salt
Garlic
Lemon Juice
Mix to taste.
We topped the fritters with it. It was yummy.

have i mentioned my new food processor?

i may or may not have brought up the fact that i am the proud owner of a 9-cup brushed stainless cuisinart food processor.  i love this appliance.  i also love hummus.  and so the story begins.

i made hummus.  the end.

ingredients:

1 16 oz can of garbanzo beans

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons tahini

juice from half a lemon

garlic to taste

salt to taste

cumin to taste

any combination of spices, oils, peppers, etc. that you deem appropriate

put everything into the food processor and process it until creamy.

these are the flavor combinations we've come up with:

original - nothing fancy

jalapeno - added chunks of jalapeno and additional cumin

spice blend - added a random assortment of spices from my spice rack until i got a taste i enjoyed

beet - added beets and more lemon juice

orange "chicken"

A was checking out vegweb, as she often does, and found an incredible sauce recipe.  seriously incredible.  like lick the plate clean incredible.  like if you ordered orange chicken at a restaurant the sauce on our plate could not even compare to this sauce incredible.  plus, it's pretty easy to make - which definitely boosts the incredible-ness.

ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon orange juice

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

red pepper flakes to taste

2 teaspoons cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water

saute the garlic and green onions in olive oil then add water, orange juice, lemon juice, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes.  bring to boil and reduce heat.

dissolve cornstarch in water and add it to the mixture, stirring constantly.

continue cooking until it reaches a consistency that makes you feel happy.

we've made this dish twice and A has been in charge of the sauce both times (it could be due to the fact that she loves recipes).

to prepare the tofu, i  followed a similar procedure to the one we used for the baja tacos.  i set up four bowls.  one with lemon juice, one with flour, one with a veganaise and soy milk mixture (we had no soy yogurt on hand) and one with tortilla crumbs.  cut the tofu into bite-sized pieces and dip them into each bowl (in the order listed).  then, using a cast iron skillet, fry the tofu until golden brown.

we served the tofu and sauce over a bed of sushi rice alongside steamed broccoli and peapods.

deliciousness.

avocado soup

as previously mentioned, i moved into a new apartment at the end of may.  as a house warming gift my mother bought me a food processor.  it is a thing of beauty:

the presence of this new appliance in my apartment prompted A to investigate recipes that required the use of a food processor.  she found a recipe for avocado soup.  she made said soup while i was at work.  i must admit to feeling a twinge of jealousy regarding the fact that she used my beautiful new kitchen appliance before i did, but this feeling quickly faded since she did, after all, make me dinner.

avocado soup:

3 limes

3 cups water with ice

3 avocados, halved and pitted

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 small jalapeno pepper with seeds, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

fresh cilantro, chopped

flour tortilla, cut into strips for garnish

olive oil (to fry tortilla strips)

basically you throw everything but the tortilla strips and oil in the food processor and process it until smooth.  while this is happening, take the tortilla strips and fry them in oil until crispy.

ladle the soup into bowls and add tortilla strips and chopped cilantro to garnish.  A served the soup alongside a black bean and corn salad.

my opinion of this soup: kinda bland.  A agreed.  the consistancy of the soup was good, if you are a fan of thick soups along the lines of butternut squash puree, etc.  i, however, am not a fan of thick soups - they tend to remind me of baby food or things served in nursing homes to people with no teeth.  and despite the fact that A claims i am an 80-year-old man trapped in a 25-year-old woman's body, i need food with texture.

*side note* there is some truth to her claims of my geriatric nature.  quote from me while driving home around 11pm: "wow.  i'm suprised to see the lawrence bus running so late at night with all the budget cuts lately."

basically, the soup lacked flavor.  in the event that this dish gets repeated, i would add more garlic, possibly cumin, and cilantro to the mix.  my opinion of the black bean and corn salad: delicious, full of flavor, pretty damn good.

black bean and corn salad (A did not give me the recipe and since i don't use recipes anyways, i'll just give you the basic run down):

cook a cup of brown rice and let it cool.

add one can of drained and rinsed black beans.

add one can of drained and rinsed corn kernels or cook some corn and cut the kernels from the cob.

saute chopped green peppers, maybe some onion, minced jalapeno and minced garlic.  add this to the bowl.

add chopped cilantro, cumin, salt, pepper and anything else you think would taste good.

mix.

as i said, the black bean and corn salad was freaking delicious. and A even cooked the rice on her own - i was so proud.

bottom line: disappointing christening of the food processor but delicious black bean salad.