Sundays Are For Love.

Yesterday was so awesome!! The Kansas City community really came out and supported local and sustainable foods! The meals hosted by both Dane and myself were very successful....and delicious!! For my lunch, I served up some veganized Italian foods, while Dane's dinner was a potluck this week! Fun fun fun!

Lunch!
I served Roasted Vegetable Lasagna for the main dish, and it was great! Layers of whole wheat lasagna noodles, homemade cashew ricotta, homemade marinara sauce, and roasted local veggies!! The top is Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella. Taaaaasty!I served the lasagna with a Caesar Salad--homemade dressing AND croutons, too! The bread for the croutons came from a wonderful local bakery here in KC, Fervere! Yeah!Dessert was Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti from Veganomicon. This was a huge hit!! Probably because these are some amazing cookies!! Duh!

Dinner!

Now, onto the potluck! Everybody brought amazing dishes, all vegan, too! Here are some highlights:

Dane made an Apple Pie, with local apples, of course

A lovely salad with ALL local, freshly-picked veggies! Also, local bok choy with red chilis!Yes, there was a Tofurkey! Two, to be exact. These things are so surprisingly good! We topped them with some pomegranate seeds! Yum.

I made a Shepherd's Pie! The bottom has homemade seitan and lots of local veggies, the topping is mashed potatoes...made with local potatoes! I loooooove this dish; it's just so wintery!Our friend, Adam, brought some Roasted Potatoes, with onions, garlic, and rosemary!
Vegan Pumpkin Pie!

Awesome siblings, Chelsea and Matt Huff, making some Cranberry Chutney! delish!!
There was even some awesome Rosehip Tea!Everyone sharing in the yums...Our gracious host, Bryce, who makes pretty much anything possible because of his big heart and hospitality! The potluck was at his house! Thanks, Bryce!!

Jim Button is enjoying a tasty Pumpkin Bisque....
The spread...including my Cinnamon-Chestnut Bread Pudding, and Harvest Bread (from Fervere Bakery) with agave whipped Earth Balance! Yes!Adam Brumback, showing his love for the food and the people!
More amazing people around amazing foods...And the lovely Chelsea Ringler! Always a Sustainability Sunday supporter!! Yeah, there was even organic soda. haha!

Neil, digging into the goodness.
Everyone got soooo full and sooooo happy! :)

And everybody helped out, which made it even more amazing!!

Including Emily Lodigensky...

A good...no, great....time was had by all!! Let's hope next Sunday is even better!

Yay food and yay sustainability!!

Latina Tester Salad and Sauce!

Awesome in-season produce was the motivation for tonight's tasty dinner! The local tomatoes are in full swing, so I used the opportunity to put them in a tester recipe for Terry's upcoming Vegan Latina cookbook. I made the Ensalada Chilena recipe, which is actually the national salad of Chile btw, and it is made up of crisp, sweet vidalia onions, ripe tomatoes, and a tangy vinaigrette dressing. This was awesome and the perfect way to show off those local 'maters!

To accompany the salad, I made Pinto Bean Tostadas (just something I threw together, not a test recipe). They had homemade refried pinto beans layered with shredded lettuce, fresh cilantro, chopped jalapenos, green olives, locally-made salsa, and some tester Pickled Red Onions. But they just weren't complete without a special sauce....These just screamed for another Vegan Latina test recipe: the So Good, So Green Dipping Sauce! Truth be told, the tostadas were just an excuse to make this sauce...I have been eying the recipe in the tester forums for months! This dipping sauce is packed with herbs, garlic, and lime, and has the perfect balance of creamy and chunky textures! This sauce is just sooooo flavorful! Went very well with the tostadas, of course!
I could dip about anything into this.....put tostadas, tamales, tacos, empanadas, or just a plain old finger in this sauce and it would still be so rockin!

Vegan Brunch + Local Produce = Amazing Meals!

I am happy to announce that I am a proud owner of Isa's Vegan Brunch!! I received it in the mail on my birthday last week....definitely in the running for best present ever! I was lucky to be able to incorporate some local produce into the brunch meals as well. Yay!
I have read this cookbook cover-to-cover probably ten times already and I keep discovering new and exciting things! It is filled with beautiful pictures, tips, and more to
make anyone an amazing breakfast chef! Here's what I've made so far:

Scones, with the Berry-Lavender VariationThese are very moist and delicious and are perfect any time of day. They did not come out quite as dry and dense as I like my scones, but still wonderful all the same! Isa suggests a Marionberry and Lavender combo for a variation on the basic scone recipe, but I used raspberries, as I couldn't find Marionberries anywhere around here. The flavor combination is great...especially slathered with Earth Balance and organic berry jam!

Basic Scrambled Tofu, with Onions and Local Kale

Banana Flapjacks

Since I am such a breakfast-lover, I made brinner last night for dinner! I made the Banana Flapjacks and served them with the Basic Scrambled Tofu, with onions and local kale scrambled in with it. The flapjacks get nice and browned on the outside from all the banana goodness in the batter, so they get crispy edges while remaining fluffy inside! So good! There was, of course, lots of maple syrup involved with this delightful meal.

Speaking of local veggies, here's a random salad I made for dinner this week, featuring local lettuce and tomatoes (!), as well as homemade seitan, hempseeds, vegan Caesar dressing, and other tasty produce. It was perfect on a hot summer day...thanks, Columbia Farmers' Market!

Easy Weekday Eats

Here's some tasty things I have eaten this week! Quick, easy, healthy, yummy. No complaints here!

PB&Co White Chocolate Peanut Butter...Orange Marmalade...Toasted Almonds...on Local Whole Grain Bread...from the PB&Co. Cookbook! Amazing sandwich!!

Tofu "Parmesean" Open-Faced Sandwiches: Italian-Baked Tofu, Marinara Sauce, Cheezy Mozzarella Sauce, and Basil. yum!!!! with a Raw Beet Salad. perfect.
Big'n'Tasty Salad: Red Leaf Lettuce, Cabbage, Red Onion, Apples, Sweet Potato, Toasted Pecans, Tahini Dressing. Hit the spot after a long run!

Weekend Goodies

For the first weekend after school started, what better way to celebrate and relax than enjoying some yummy food?! Last night, we had a pot luck and bonfire...perfect for commemorating the end of summer! Here are some of the things people brought (and almost everything was vegan! what good friends!):

A green bean and almond salad:

Fresh Watermelon...in lovely ball form:

Vegan Rice Krispie Treats:
And homemade sausages!! These were soooo awesome!!

Here is Sarah making up the brats...she based them on Julie Hasson's recipe, which is apparently super-easy! and tasty! Sarah is an awesome cook!!And here's the Picnic Potato Salad I made, with three different kinds of potatoes-purple, new, and sweet:

Picnic Potato Salad (makes about 4 qts.)

1 lb. new potatoes, diced

1/2 lb. purple Peruvian potatoes, diced

1/2 lb. sweet potatoes, diced

3 carrots, shredded

1 cup peas

1 red onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup celery, diced

1/2 cup chopped parsley

Juice of 1 lemon

1 cup Vegenaise

1/4 cup dijon mustard

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp dill

In a large pot of salted water, boil the potatoes until just tender...but don't overcook! please!

Drain potatoes and run cold water over them to stop the cooking process. Set aside to cool.

Combine all of the vegetables and cooled potatoes in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine the lemon juice, mustard, veganaise, and spices. Pour dressing over potato-veggie mix and gently stir to coat everything evenly. Chill for 30 minutes or so before serving.

For the bonfire, Steve and I bought some Sweet & Sara marshmallows...in toasted coconut flavor! These made AMAZING s'mores!!! I am now obsessed.
For our Sunday morning breakfast tradition, a bunch of us met up at the awesome Cafe Berlin...seriously the best breakfast in town! There are tons of vegan options, they use local veggies, and the staff is wonderful. What's not to love??
I had the Mediterranean Breakfast--a favorite for sure!!
It's a big plate of tofu scrambled with scallions, parsley, and spinach...with a mound of their homemade hummus, homemade (delicious) pita bread, local cherry tomatoes, and kalamata olives. This is worth getting up early for!

Have a good Labor Day! :)

Sheese Please!

After reading about the Sheese cheese alternative a few weeks ago and finding out that they had a blue cheese flavor, I was very intrigued....

So I went on Cosmos Vegan Shoppe online and got some....

And it came a few days ago! I was sooooo excited, but perplexed. I don't buy cheese alternatives very often and, when I do, it is for a burrito/grilled cheese/taco/etc. But blue cheese is different, almost special, so I didn't know what to do with it!

Then it came to me: a big, beautiful salad!!

Lotsa greens, carrots, beets, red onions, apples, walnuts,

dried figs, sprouts, and tahini dressing...
blessed with some tangy blue Sheese crumbles...mmmmmm!!!

And to top it off, I had a Healthy Hemp roll on the side. So much protein and fiber in such a little roll...try them for realz! (if you and gluten are on speaking terms...)

I don't remember exactly what blue cheese tastes like, but this Sheese tasted a lot like what is in my memory. Salty, stinky, creamy, yum. If you liked blue cheese in your pre-vegan days, then I think you will love this Sheese version....except for maybe the 8 dollar price tag. ouch. Indulge every now and again! :)