Summer Projects and Such

So I haven't blogged in a while. A long while! I decided to kinda take the summer off of blogging (I think I posted, like, twice!) and just cook stuff and eat stuff and relax and whatnot. Ha. But now summer has turned into fall and I'm ready to start blogging again! I'm excited to get back into the groove of blogging and updating and taking pictures and all that jazz!

A lot of my cooking over the summer was done for cookbook testing, for Carla (of The Vegan Year blog) for her upcoming One Dish Vegan cookbook, and for Bianca (Vegan Crunk blog) for her Cookin' Crunk cookbook.

Here's some pics!

First, from Cookin' Crunk (I only remembered to take pics of one thing! boo!):

PB Oatmeal Cream Pies

Then, from One Dish Vegan:

Banana Spelt WafflesRaspberry Balsamic Glazed Seitan, Cabbage and Pistachio Rice
Peanut Potato Salad, Mango Orange Tempeh with Ginger

Gringa's Tacu Tacu

Fennel and Rosemary Polenta

Tofu with Olives and Basil

Mojito-Inspired Tofu

Roasted Red Pepper and White Bean Hummus

Lemon Sour Cream Dressing, on greensCorn Slaw

Sweet Chipotle Tempeh with Berry Glaze

Ok, cool! Now I'm all ready to go for the awesomeness of fall food blogging! See you on the flipside!

I Love Testing!!

I cannot stress enough how much I looooove being a recipe tester!! With Terry's Vegan Latina/Viva Vegan! finished testing, I am so glad there was Queen V's Vegan Bakesale cookbook testing to take its place! I am also still working on testing recipes for Bianca's (of the awesome Vegan Crunk blog) southern cookbook, Cookin' Crunk. Both are tons of fun, and have been providing me with dinners and desserts to keep me....and my guests....happy!

Last night I made recipes from Cookin' Crunk testing for dinner: BBQ Tempeh and Carrot Sandwich with Poppyseed Coleslaw. It was delicious! To give the "pulled pork" texture, there are carrots mixed in with the bbq sauce and tempeh mixture....genius!! I love slaw on sandwiches, to add that messy, crunchy, cool, tasty element to something warm and spicy. Yum!!! The sauce was the Memphis BBQ Sauce, also from Bianca's test recipes...very sweet and tangy, which is simply awesome!!!!Dessert was a Vegan Bakesale test recipe: Espresso-Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake, drizzled with Chocolate Ganache. Ooooooh my goooosh was this good!!! A great balance of cakey-ness and crumbliness in the cake portion, perfect Coffee Struesel Topping (!!) and double perfect chocolate-y goodness poured all over the top. And it was not too sweet at all, which can sometimes happen in a lesser coffee cake. This was, of course, enjoyed with some fair trade, locally-roasted Broadway Cafe Coffee! Yay for good dessert and good coffee!Another test recipe from Vegan Bakesale I made this week was the Spelt Jam Thumbprint Cookies. The dough has jam baked into it and is made with spelt flour, so it has a very distinct flavor that is almost healthy tasting...and it's good! Then, there's the double whammy of jam (jammy? no, too much.) in the thumbprint. These tasted a bit like the Girl Scout Cookies that had raspberry jelly in them, but better of course! :)

Long Time, No Test....New Tester Treats!!

Not that you were keeping up, but I have been slacking on one of my tester projects, Bianca's (of the Vegan Crunk blog) Cookin' Crunk cookbook! It's all vegan Southern food, all the time! So goooood! With the holidays and some new cookbooks and my supper club, I have not been on the ball with testing out some of the recipes. But, I'm making up for it now with cookies! Yay! Specifically, Chocolate-Chocolate Chip-Praline Cookies! They are chocolate cookies with chocolate chips and pralined pecans (which you make yourself)...a delicious combination of salty and sweet, crunch and chewy, nutty and chocolaty! I'm in!

Can't wait to do some more crunk testing!

And btw, I just became a tester for another cookbook, Vegan Bakesale, by QueenV (of The Vegan Year blog)! I have a lot of cooking to do!!

Things I Thought I'd Never Eat Again Part 1: Pimento Spread!

Every once in a while, I want to start writing about things that I eat that I never thought I would have again, since I'm vegan and all. This will be the first post in the mini-series!

Today's item was Vegan Pimento Cheeze Spread!! The recipe is a tester for Bianca's (of Vegan Crunk) upcoming Cookin' Crunk cookbook. If you aren't familiar with pimento cheese, it's basically a spread made of Velveeta, pimento peppers, and mayonnaise. And it is totally better than it sounds! Very creamy, tangy, kinda sweet. Perfect on nice soft bread for a lunchbox treat or to dip celery and carrots into as an after school snack. I served my spread on locally-made Farm to Market's Grains Galore bread, which is super soft and nutty and tasty! I brought some sammiches to my mom at work and even took along some coleslaw for the side dish, and she provided some Cozy Shack chocolate soy pudding! A perfect little office picnic! So fun!

Tester Times Two and Vegan Brunch Muffins!!

I have been a busy little tester these days! With testing for two cookbooks simultaneously, I have had lots of cooking to do...and I'm loving every minute of it! Here's some recent test recipes:
From Cookin' Crunk testing, which comes from the lovely Bianca of the Vegan Crunk blog: Seitan Hot Wings. Spicy and tangy, just how they are meant to be! Chunks of seitan are battered, baked, and tossed in a buffalo wing sauce. One of my favorite Crunk test recipes so far!! I served the Seitan Hot Wings on homemade Cornbread Buns (thanks to Melisser for the awesome recipe!) for open-faced sandwiches! These were brilliant! Hot wings, my homemade vegan ranch dressing, spinach, and toasted cornbread buns...perfect summery sandwich!

On the side, I sauteed local mustard greens, garlic, and my momma's tomatoes. Fresh and delish.
The next pic comes from Terry Hope Romero's Vegan Latina tester forum: Seitan Chorizo Tacos! While not a test recipe itself, the Seitan Chorizo is a test recipe, as well as the homemade Soft Corn Tortillas. Both are totally drool-worthy on their own.... but paired with baked butternut squash, red onion, green olives, pickled jalapenos, chopped chipotles in adobo sauce, and crispy red leaf lettuce...I think I don't even have to tell you how good these were! Tons of texture and flavor variations make these tacos perfect. When you get Vegan Latina after it comes out, I highly recommend using the Seitan Chorizo just like this!

And lastly, a non-test recipe: Cocoa Raspberry Muffins from Isa's Vegan Brunch! I am trying to work in as much VB I can with all the cookbook testing recipes, but it can get tough sometimes. I am so glad I could squeeze these in my schedule!! Just a little sweet with a little tartness from the raspberries make nice little muffins that are perfect for breakfast or a mid-day snack. With a nice hot cup of tea, of course!

A Crunk Feast

Last night, I had myself a crunk-inspired Southern feast for dinner with all the fixin's...

My jalapeno cornbread (I am still perfecting the recipe, but it's close!): Vegan Crunk Bianca's tester recipe for Fried Squash, for her in-the-works Cookin' Crunk cookbook, made with some tasty local summer squash:

Another Cookin' Crunk tester recipe, Boozy Baked Beans, made with PBR, of course:

And all the feast together....it was so delicious!!! Sweet tea was the only thing missing, I'm pretty sure!