Roasted Beet Sandwiches and Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie....aaaah spring!

This meal was an absolutely perfect way to show off all of the beautiful spring produce that Missouri has to offer right now!

This Roasted Beet and Brazil Nut Goat "Cheeze" Sandwich is something I have been working on and dreaming about for quite a while...I'm so glad I finally got to make it! It consists of roasted beets and the Brazil Nut "Cheese" from the Vegetarian Times magazine, and it is seriously my new favorite sandwich! WOW.Roasted Beet and Brazil Nut "Goat Cheese" Sandwich (serves 6)
12 slices sourdough bread
1 recipe Garlic and Herb Brazil Nut "Cheese" from Vegetarian Times--can be found online here.
1 bunch fresh spinach
1 medium red onion, sliced

1 recipe Pesto Mayo, below

2 medium beets, sliced
2 Tbs olive oil
1/4 cup fresh thyme, minced
2 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
1 Tbs red wine vinegar

To prepare beets: Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan. Add the sliced beets, olive oil, brown sugar, vinegar, thyme, salt, and pepper to the pan and toss to coat. Spread out beets to make an even layer. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 more minutes. Remove from oven and set aside until ready to use.

To assemble the sandwiches: On one slice of bread, spread a generous helping of pesto mayo. Spread Brazil nut cheeze on another slice of bread. Layer the roasted beets, red onion, and spinach on the cheeze. Top with mayo slice of bread. Slice and serve. Repeat to make 6 sandwiches.


Vegan Pesto Mayo (makes about 3 cups)
1 cup vegan mayo
1 box silken tofu
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs red wine vinegar
1/4 cup walnuts or pine nuts
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Tbs dried oregano
1/2 Tbs dried rosemary
1 bunch fresh basil

Combine all ingredients in a blender or bowl if using an immersion blender. Puree together until completely smooth, about 2 minutes. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.

Such an amazing sandwich deserves an even more amazing dessert! The strawberries and rhubarb are so perfectly in season right now...so it's obvious I needed to make a pie!
The pie is the Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumb Topped Pie from the Candle Cafe Cookbook. Crumb topping, folks!!! This is definitely up there as one of my new favorite desserts.
And since pie demands ice cream, I made some Maple Nut Ice Cream. Logical. It is heaven in frozen form!! Your spring will probably not be complete without this dessert, so go make it! Maple Nut Ice Cream (makes 1 qt)
1 box silken tofu--not lite
1 can full fat coconut milk
1 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp maple extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbs canola oil
1 cup chopped pecans

Combine all ingredients, except the pecans, in a blender. Puree until completely smooth. Chill for 1-2 hours in the blender. Pour into ice cream maker (already frozen if necessary to machine) and prepare according to manufacturer's directions. Add in the pecans during the last 5 minutes, to allow to be fully incorporated. Freeze at least 2 hours before serving. Best served with warm pie, of course.

Best Ever Berry Cobbler and Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream!

One of the best things about spring? The berries, of course!!!! I picked up some beautiful strawberries at the farmers' market this weekend, and they went straight into this awesome Best Ever Berry Cobbler. There's nothing better!! And you can't have a beautiful, warm cobbler without some cool Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream. You just can't. This recipe includes canola oil, which helps prevent an overly icy texture and adds a bit of creaminess as well. This may be my new favorite comfort food! Best Ever Berry Cobbler (serves 12-16)
2 qts fresh or frozen organic strawberries, sliced
1 6 oz. bag frozen (or fresh) organic blackberries
2 cups frozen or fresh organic blueberries
1 cup frozen or fresh organic raspberries
**I say to use organic berries here because of the large amount of pesticides used on conventionally-grown berries. Check out the EWG's website for more information.

1 cup sugar
1 Tbs vanilla extract
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
Crust:
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 Tbs sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 Tbs baking powder
1/4 cup cold vegan margarine
1/4 cup cold non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
1/2 cup soy milk (or 1-2 Tbs more as needed)

Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a large pot, combine the berries, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, and sea salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for 15-20 minutes, until reduced about halfway. Stir in the flour and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Cut in the cold margarine and shortening with a pastry cutter or strong fork, until the dough becomes crumbly. Drizzle in the soy milk, adding more or less as needed to form a soft, but solid, dough.

Pour the berry mixture into a 9x13 glass baking dish. Take pieces of dough and flatten; spread out in patches over the berry mixture, covering most of the berries, but also leaving some showing in between crust pieces. Sprinkle with 1 Tbs sugar over the top and place in oven. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool and set for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Serve warm with Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream.

Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream (makes 1 qt)
1 box silken tofu-- not lite
1 can full fat coconut milk
1 cup soy milk or almond milk
1 1/2 Tbs vanilla extract
2 Tbs canola oil
Pinch of sea salt
3/4 cup sugar
Optional: scraping from 1/2 a vanilla bean

In a blender or food processor, combine all ingredients. Puree until completely smooth and chill for an hour in the refrigerator. Pour into ice cream maker and make/freeze according to manufacturer's directions.
Allow to chill in freezer at least 1-2 hours before serving.

You now have everything you need for the perfect springtime dessert!!!

Tis' World Vegan Day! Let's Eat!

Well the Vegan Month of Food is over, but there's another reason to celebrate: today is World Vegan Day! I celebrated with the same way I celebrate every Sunday: with a big vegan dinner at my house! The underground restaurant was hoppin' today, which makes me super happy. There was lots of love going around, and even more delicious, comforting food.

The spread: Vegan Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, and Braised Brussels Sprouts or Greens. It was awesome!! The loaf was a perfect autumnal twist on the classic hippie lentil loaf: Carrot-Lentil Loaf with Pumpkin-Tomato Sauce. This was my entry for this week's Iron Chef Challenge, for which the secret ingredients are carrots and pumpkin. This was really filling and satisfying, and was a great nod to the fall weather upon us!!For dessert, I served Local Apple Crisp a la mode!! I didn't use a recipe, just something I threw together...I need to try and remember what I did, because it was really freakin' good. I'll share it when I do ! :) This is the ultimate fall dessert, in my opinion!! The a la mode was with Nada Moo Maple Pecan Ice Cream! I hadn't tried Nada Moo brand before, and I was soooo impressed. The maple flavor was amazing and it was creamy and not too sweet and very delicious! I want to try more of their flavors now! Nada Moooooooooo!! I love you!

Happy World Vegan Day!! Spread the word and the love!

Vegan MOFO Day 1: Vegan BLT Sandwiches!

Vegan MoFo is here again, everybody! For those of you who don't know, October is Vegan MoFo, or Month of Food. This gives all us vegans...especially the foodies!...a great excuse to talk as much as we can about food, cooking, cookbooks, veganism, health, etc. And you know we love to talk about what we eat, not to mention talking about what everyone else is eating, too! So all in all, Vegan MoFo is like our month-long food porn fest. yeah.

For the first day of Vegan MoFo, I will share about my underground restaurant. It doesn't have a name or anything yet, but I'm working on that! Basically, I serve food restaurant-style out of my apartment once a week on Sundays. I make one meal and dessert, and whoever hears about it and wants to come is MORE than welcome! It's going around by word of mouth right now, and word of blog I suppose, so I hope that it will continue to grow as I keep working at it! This past weekend was the fourth installment of the "supper club" type get-together, complete with all the good stuff....

The main dish: Vegan BLT Sandwiches!! One of my favorite things to make in the summertime to celebrate the abundance of awesome tomatoes. Since I still had plenty to use up at this end of summer period, I figured BLT's were a must. They have tempeh bacon (see a few posts ago for that recipe!) from local tempeh, crisp organic lettuce, my mom's homegrown tomatoes, avocado, and vegan mayo, all on homemade millet bread! What a sandwich!!

On the side, I made Local Potato Salad (made with local potatoes, red onion, garlic, and carrots!)...

The other side was Citrus-Spice Pickled Watermelon Rind from Terry Bryant's Vegan Soul Kitchen cookbook. I loved these!! I saved all my watermelon rinds from my last local watermelon of the season and pickled them with lemons, oranges, and spices. Delicious! A perfect item for that summer to fall transition!!
And NO meal would be complete without dessert!! In keeping with the local produce theme, I decided to make a tester recipe from Terry Hope Romero's upcoming Vegan Latina cookbook: Sweet Corn Ice Cream!!

Corny, creamy, simple, delicious. Even more irresistable when I topped them with Praline Pecans!! I mixed barley malt syrup, Earth Balance, soy creamer, cinnamon, salt, sugar, nutmeg, and pecans together and poured the mixture over the yummy ice cream...
Let's just say I had no complaints!

More MoFo to come!!

Going Baking Crazy!

Since I have been in my new apartment, I have been baking. A lot. Like kind of going crazy with it. But there have been so many occasions to which I feel compelled to bring baked goods...it's like I have no choice!

First, for a friend's birthday this past weekend, I made cupcakes! Who doesn't love cupcakes?! I made Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting!! Best combo ever! I veganized my Grandma Poe's banana cake with peanut butter frosting recipe, then made them into shareable cupcake form! They were DELICIOUS and a huge hit! hooray!
Next, for another friend's birthday a few weeks ago...Vegan Oatmeal Creme Pies!! I really wonder why they call them pies, but whatever. Little Debbie has nothing on these bad boys! I have been working on an oatmeal cookie recipe that would work perfectly in a creme pie, and I think I've done it!

Here they are, toppless. So creamy.Topped with yet another yummy cookie, begging to be savored with a tall glass of soymilk....

Vegan Oatmeal Creme Pies (makes about 12 pies)

Soft Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup vegan margarine, like Earth Balance

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup sugar

Egg Replacer for 2 eggs ( I used Ener-G brand, cuz it's my jam.)

1/4 cup barley malt syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 Tbs baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup rolled oats

splash of soymilk

1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly oil 2 large baking sheets. In a large bowl, cream together the oil, applesauce, and sugar. Add the egg replacer, vanilla, almond, and barley malt and mix well. Sift in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour in the splash of soymilk and raisins, and gently fold until evenly distributed throughout the dough. Roll dough into 2" balls (or about what will give you 24 cookies.) and flatten to about 3 inches across. They will not spread much in baking. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until browned on edges and spring back to the touch. Allow to cool on cooling rack while you make the creme filling.

Vanilla Creme Filling

3/4 cup non-hydrogenated shortening

1/4 cup vegan margarine

2 cups organic powdered sugar

2 Tbs soymilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and margarine with a hand mixer or fork and elbow grease until smooth and well combined. Sift in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, adding 1 Tbs soymilk after each cup. Whip powdered sugar with cream mixture after each cup. Mix until creamy. Stir in vanilla extract until combined and smooth. Refrigerate frosting until ready to use.

To assemble: Flip 12 of the cookies over so the bottoms are the tops. Dollop filling on the center of each cookie, and use all the filling so the cookies will be nice and creamy! Top the filling with another cookie and smush down a little bit to push the filling to the edges. EAT!!!

Then, for my friends' band, Capybara (check them out on myspace!) CD release party, I busted out some of Isa's famous Chocolate Chip Cookies and added Hazelnuts! ZOMG!! Chocolate and hazelnuts were made for each other! Note: Nutella/Chocoreale/these cookies. Drooling and scarfing ensued. The music was just secondary....ok maybe that's a stretch.
Now for some product reviews! I have branched out and tried a few new things lately!

I'll start with the best...Purely Decadent Cherry Nirvana Soy Ice Cream!! It's still summer which means it's still ice cream season. And I couldn't believe I hadn't tried this flavor yet when I saw it on SALE at Wild Oats! Totally reminds me of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream! If you like cherry, and better yet, cherry plus chocolate, Cherry Nirvana is for you! Super duper creamy, with nice texture variations in the crunchy chocolate flakes and chewy whole cherries. I made it into a little sundae and topped it with sliced almonds! mmmm....

Then, for the just ok: So Delicious Coconut Milk, unsweetened. I couldn't resist trying this after seeing it on the shelves for a while! It was pricey, so that has kind of turned me off when I eye it. The flavor really wasn't that great. It didn't taste bad, of course, but it was kind of bland. The coconut flavor came through a little, but it was overall kinda tasteless. I liked it well enough to put on cereal, but not really well enough to drink straight up with my pb& j. I would rather drink soy or almond milk any day...especially for the price! And if I am really looking to splurge, it will be Living Harvest Hemp Milk for me! Maybe I'll try the coconut milk in vanilla next time...

Whew! I am getting a sugar buzz after just writing this post!!

Hazelnut Toffee Ice Cream!

So I am pretty convinced that summer=ice cream. After trying to come up with some cool/new/delicious vegan ice cream creation, I finally figured out a flavor combo that is just ridiculously good: Hazelnut Toffee Ice Cream!! I had some hazelnuts and some butterscotch chips, and it just made sense! If you are wanting to give this a whirl and can't find vegan butterscotch chips, try using extra chocolate chips, another type of nut, or even white chocolate chips...go crazy! I hope you try this and like it as much as I did!
Vegan Hazelnut Toffee Ice Cream (makes about 2 qts)
2 cups soy creamer
1 cup soy milk, or non-dairy milk of your choice
1/2 cup organic sugar
2 Tbs arrowroot powder whisked with 1/4 cup cold water
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups chopped and toasted hazelnuts
1 cup vegan butterscotch chips
1 cup chocolate chips

In a medium sauce pan, whisk together the creamer, soy milk, and sugar. Heat over medium flame until just boiling, then remove immediately from heat. Whisk in the arrowroot slurry and stir until slightly thickened. Stir in the salt, vanilla, and almond extract until well mixed.
Pour into your ice cream maker and make according to manufacturer's directions. During the last 5 minutes of stirring, slowly add in the hazelnuts, butterscotch and chocolate chips. Serve immediately or freeze for later service. Either way, make sure you enjoy it! I'm picturing lots of hot fudge on top.... mmmmm.....


Now, just for a little food porn treat, here's a little delight I had at the Uprise Bakery here in Columbia, which has lots of vegan options and occasionally make a vegan baked good! With all the yummy zucchini in season around here, they made Zucchini Walnut Bread with a Chai Tea Glaze! It is so gooooood! Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee for a late night snack attack or a light breakfast. And it is made in a little mini-loaf pan! Who doesn't love an individual loaf of local zucchini bread?? You would have to be crazy! Or allergic to zucchini....that would be sad.

Tester Hummus and Homemade Ice Cream

Let me just say that I love summer food!! I am not as much in the mood for cooking or baking because of the heat, but I am learning to appreciate the simple and healthy meals that require little preparation on hot summer nights!

A great example of this is hummus! Have it with some pita, on a salad or sandwich, or even as a veggie dip for a no-cook meal. This is Black-Eyed Pea Hummus, and it is a tester recipe for Bianca's Cookin' Crunk cookbook. The black-eyed peas instead of garbs give it such a unique flavor and it is sooooo tasty! Very creamy and thick, too. Here, it is served with some slices of ciabatta bread from the local Uprise Bakery!! mmmm....bread....I also love summer because that means I bust out my ice cream maker!! Pictured below is my S'mores Ice Cream! I made up this recipe using the tips on the A Vegan Ice Cream Paradise blog, and put my own twist on it! It turned out so well! Aren't s'mores the best?? Vegan S'mores Ice Cream (makes about 1 qt)
2 cups soymilk
1 cup soy creamer (I used MimiCreme)
1/2 cup organic sugar
2 Tbs arrowroot powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 cups graham cracker pieces
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup vegan marshmallow fluff

In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of the soymilk with the arrowroot. Set aside.
In a saucepan over medium heat, mix together the rest of the soymilk, soy creamer and sugar. Bring just to a boil, stirring often. Remove from heat immediately. Add in the arrowroot slurry and whisk well until liquid begins to thicken. Stir in the vanilla and sea salt. Allow this mixture to cool to room temperature.
Freeze soymilk mixture according to ice cream maker manufacturer's directions, adding in the graham crackers, chocolate chips, and marshmallow fluff during the last 5 minutes. Freeze or serve immediately!

In other news, Steven just returned from a trip to New York...and he brought me my first vegan doughnuts!! I hadn't had a doughnut in about 4 years, so the two he brought me were Heaven-sent! These were the Nutrilicious brand-- probably not as good as freshly-baked, but they did the trick for sure.

There was a vanilla doughnut with a carob glaze....
And a chocolate doughnut with chocolate-vanilla swirl frosting! These were both divine, but this one was my favorite of the two! It went very well with a big mug of coffee!

Iron Chef Challenge: Ginger Apple Sp-ice Cream

Hooray for Day 7 of Vegan MoFo! Also, Hooray for Iron Chef Challenges! My take on this week's Vegan Iron Chef Challenge, with the key ingredients being Apples and Ginger is: Ginger Apple Sp-ice Cream! Even though it is October, I still get a craving for some creamy ice cream...fresh from my ice cream maker, of course! I still am up to my eyeballs in the apples we picked, so I thought I'd put them to good use in fixing my craving. This is not quite as creamy and dreamy as your store-bought versions, but c'mon! This is suuuuper tasty, way cheaper, and a good way to use up some yummy local apples!

I really like this autumn-inspired ice cream: filled with apple chunks, crystallized ginger, warming spices, toasted walnuts, and comforting vanilla....I also like that I can make a word play out of its name :) This is especially great served with a garnish of some baked apple slices or, as I played it, a few whole-wheat cinnamon graham crackers! Duuuuuuude!

Ginger Apple Sp-ice Cream (makes about 2 qts)

1 qt oat milk

1 can coconut milk

1 box silken tofu

1 Tbs vanilla extract

1 inch ginger, finely minced

1 Tbs cinnamon

1/2 Tbs ginger powder

1/2 Tbs nutmeg powder

1 tsp cloves

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup

2 small apples, diced

1/2 cup crystallized ginger, minced

1 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped

In a blender, blend together the oat milk, tofu, coconut milk, vanilla, spices, and sugar. Pour into your ice cream maker and make according to manufacturer's directions. When ice cream is ready, GRADUALLY pour in the chopped apples, ginger, and walnuts into the mix while the machine is still running, and let it run a few minutes until everything is well incorporated. Freeze for a few hours before serving.

I think this would also be REALLY good with some vegan caramel drizzled on top....next time perhaps.

My First Homemade Apple Pie!

To commemorate the coming of fall and day two of Vegan MoFo...and my surplus of apples that Steve and I picked...today I made my first homemade Apple Pie!! This was also my first homemade crust, so I spent a lot of time on this baby! It was well worth the effort, however because it came out wonderfully! I used the Apple Pie recipe in The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick Goudreau, and I would highly recommend it! The crust came out nice and crisp, but not too dry, and the apples weren't over cooked or mushy--they still had a little bite to them. Next time, I would put more Earth Balance inside with the apples to give it a little more moisture to the apple filling, but otherwise, this was a killer pie! I must admit, we all ate it while watching Biden kick Palin's butt in the v.p. debates. perfect.

Here are the local apples in the pie shell....topless: The pie, unbaked, with the lazy lattice crust:
The pie, freshly baked out of the oven:
And, finally, a big warm slice served with Vanilla So Delicious "ice cream":
To DIE for :)

Also, I made my traditional breakfast for dinner tonight! I really could go on and on about having breakfast foods at dinner time, but I will show restraint. To start to chip away at my apple abundance, I made Apple Cinnamon Waffles, modified from the Ginger Pear Waffles recipe from Isa's Vegan With A Vengeance...I just subbed apple for pear, and subbed walnuts for the crystallized ginger. I also doubled the amount of cinnamon...I must admit, these were wonderful! A perfect use for apples and satisfying to the sweet tooth when blessed with some REAL maple syrup!

To go with these awesome waffles, I also made the Tempeh Bacon from VWAV...mmmmmmm smoky....and some roasted purple potatoes with chipotle seasoning and garlic. A great fall dinner for sure. Yay Vegan MoFo!

Mock Duck! And Foods From the Weekend

Tonight, Steve and I were adventurous and tried a new product that we found at our local Asian market, Chong's...Vegan Mock Duck! I had heard about this before, but was hesitant because I typically don't eat canned foods, and it sounded really bizarre, but I figured I should give it a shot!

The mock duck is made out of wheat gluten and seasonings, and it tastes slightly sweet and salty. It was actually really good! I liked the chewy texture (which freaked me out at first...look at the fake duck skin-looking piece! weeeeird, man!) and it had a lot of protein to keep me satisfied! I roasted it in the juices that were in the can along with it...and I served it with some Natto Chutney I bought at Clover's Natural Market:

To make a whole Asian-themed meal, I served the roasted mock duck with vegetable fried rice (loaded with local veggies and organic brown rice!) and sesame-glazed local green beans. This meal truly hit the spot, with the perfect balance of fresh from the veggies and savory from the sesame and mock duck! yuuuuuuum!!For lunch the other day, I used the Smoked Tofu from Tree of Life to make a TLT sandwich...a perfect way to celebrate local tomatoes while I still can! I of course spread it liberally with Vegenaise to make it a perfect sandwich!
This weekend, Steve and I visited my family in Kansas City. Lucky for us, one of my all-time favorite restaurants...which happens to be vegetarian...is in KC: Eden Alley! This wonderful restaurant is located on the Plaza, and focuses on healthy foods made from as many local and organic ingredients as possible. They also have an awesome selection of raw, soy-free, and gluten-free foods to meet everyones' needs! Eden Alley has really creative and eclectic menu items, and clearly labels which items are vegan or can be made vegan! That always makes me appreciate a restaurant more!! If you are ever in Kansas City, check this place out!!!
My mom had the corn fritters, which were topped with a smoky black bean sauce and a smoky chipotle aioli. Of course, she let me have a bite, and they were great! A southern feel and wonderful flavors made this so tasty...I want to learn how to make some like these!Steve had the sweet potato burrito, one of our favorite menu items! It is a big flour tortilla stuffed with hummus, brown rice, and roasted sweet potatoes, then topped with fruit salsa on a bed of greens. This is crazy good!!
I had the spinach-mushroom loaf with a side of roasted sweet potatoes...it was getting chilly out, so this seriously hit the spot!! For dessert, my mom ordered the vegan creme brulee! I had to try it, of course, and it was really nice...not too sweet or anything! And now I can cross that off my vegan 100 list :)
Steve and I both had the "Pollack cake," which was a coconut vanilla cake with chocolate chips, drizzled with vanilla and chocolate frosting. This was sooooo moist from the coconut and the frosting was so creamy and good! wow.

Sunday was my grandma's 69th birthday, and my family asked me to make the meal for her birthday dinner...I was honored! For the older crowd, I picked comfort food, with a healthy twist! They really liked it all, so I was pleased...

To start off the meal, I served a loaf of the 5 Olive Bread from Whole Foods: And we also had a nice green salad with sunflower seeds as an appetizer: For the main meal, I made garlic mashed potatoes (no gravy, sorry!!), olive oil-roasted green beans, and Chickpea Cutlets from Veganomicon...the ultimate in faux meats, I think! Everything turned out just wonderfully and we were all very satisfied:
But there was still room for dessert, of course! What would a birthday be without cake, I always say!! I wanted something simple, yet rich...with chocolate for my grandma! I made the Decadent Almond Cake from Hanna's My Sweet Vegan. oh lordy. make this cake for your next birthday. or any party really. or Monday. just make it! the almond flavor is soooo wonderful and it so moist and has a great mouth-feel. I made the ganache out of carob instead of chocolate, so I could force my family to be adventurous...and I loooooove carob!
I served the cake with Purely Decadent's Pomegranate Chip ice cream. No one would ever guess that this was not "real" ice cream, I swear! The fruity flavor was perfect and it went so well with the richness of the almond cake! A match made in heaven!The cake and ice cream together, the way it always ought to be!

(Hemp) Milk and Cookies

First off, a brief product review/comparison of one of my favorite "vegan-y" things: Hemp Milk!
No offense to our dear friend soy, but hemp milk and hemp in general, is such an awesome thing to have in a vegan diet! Great protein, fatty acids, calcium, fiber, etc. etc.
There are two kinds of hemp milk that are really popular out there and I will quickly address them both: one is like heaven in an aseptic package, and the other is, I hate to say, almost vile.

First, Living Harvest Hemp Milk (original flavor)....

This is my favorite thing to put on granola, cereal, in smoothies and ice cream, or just have a huge glass of with cookies or a big, fat PB and J sandwich. It is so thick and creamy and not too sweet, and it has a distinctive flavor, but no bad aftertaste or funk. Pure yum. I'm not sure how they milk a hemp, though :)

Then, there's Manitoba Harvest Hemp Milk (also original flavor)...

I was really excited about this product because it is made with whole hemp seeds and is certified organic and the nutrition is wonderful. Unfortunately, I could barely finish a glass. I was nearly gagging because of the taste. I am NOT picky normally and I can find good things about most foods, but I could not drink this. I feel really bad, because I'm sure this is a wonderful company, and, besides the taste it is a good product. But I must be honest and this is honestly undrinkable.

Now for the good stuff!! I was in a baking mood this week and that copy of My Sweet Vegan keeps staring at me in my apartment, so what else was I to do?!

First, I made a batch of scones to have for breakfast this week before going to classes!

I was inspired by Hannah's use of peanut butter as a butter or shortening substitute in the Chocolate-Glazed Peanut Butter Scone recipe in My Sweet Vegan. But I decided to mix it up a bit and swapped almond butter for the peanut butter and nixxed the chocolate glaze...instead, I added a big handful of dried cherries to create these Cherry-Almond Scones!

These were SO wonderful! They were dense and flaky like a good scone should be, but not bran-muffiny or anything. They are a little sweet, but also have a nice savory quality from the nut butter! Perfect for slathering with Earth Balance or some cherry preserves...and definitely delicious with a big 'ol glass of Hemp Milk (Living Harvest, of course)!!

Cherry-Almond Scones (makes 4)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 Tbs turbinado sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 T margarine...Earth Balance, baby!!

1/4 cup almond butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1/2 cup soymilk

1 cup dried cherries

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, or just spray it with non-stick spray like I did. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the margarine into small pieces an use a fork or pastry cutter to cut in the margarine and almond butter into the flour mixture. When the mixture is coarse and crumbly, add in the vanilla. Slowly drizzle in the soymilk, one Tbs at a time until the dough becomes cohesive...but don't overwork it. Work in the dried cherries just a little bit so they are evenly dispersed. Drop the ball of dough onto a floured surface and shape into a circle, about an inch thick or so. Cut into four wedges and space evenly on cookie sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Then, let them cool slightly, and slap on some Earth Balance and jam, then enjoy for a guaranteed great morning! (Adapted from Hannah Kaminsky's My Sweet Vegan)

To celebrate the ending of summer and satisfy my sweet tooth, I also made cookie sundaes! The peanut butter-banana-chocolate trifecta is my favorite combination in the world, so I made peanut butter-banana ice cream from A Vegan Ice Cream Paradise. For the sundaes, I put a big scoop of the ice cream.... (here she is in my ice cream maker, gettin all pretty and creamy)

Then, I baked a batch of Chocolate-Chocolate Chip (sans walnuts) Cookies from Veganomicon. I put two yummy cookies in the bowl with the ice cream... (here they are on the cooling rack, lookin all chocolatey and naughty)

And voila! A yummy ice cream-cookie sundae! Perfect for a summer treat, or anytime you want to be happy :) If I had some in my cupboard, I would have topped these with some vegan whipped cream, chopped nuts, or chocolate sprinkles...but I'm broke. And these were still great!

(They were even better because we enjoyed them while watching Sailor Moon on DVD!!)