Vegan S’mores

They aren’t a myth. Vegan S’mores are real, and they are DELICIOUS.

Since it was cold and rainy outside, I couldn’t make these over the grill. So I went to my old friend, the toaster oven! I just layered homemade graham crackers (thank you, Vegan Cookies!) with a delicious Chocolove chocolate bar, and Sweet & Sara marshmallows on top. Five minutes of broiling later, they had the perfect golden roasted color and the chocolate was soooo melty.

I think the graham crackers are what really made these special, since they have a really different taste and texture from the store-bought brands. I would say it was much more like the crust on a cheesecake, but less crumbly and buttery. I had wanted to purchase a dairy-free milk chocolate bar, but our local co-op was out of them, and I didn’t have a chance to stop anywhere else. I tend to like a milkier chocolate with s’mores–what about you?

Three Cookbook Pie

It’s the pie that three separate cookbooks built!

I had a lot of organic apples that were just starting to get mushy, so I thought–oh! There’s a great recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance for roasted applesauce! I’ll make that!

Cut to me, unable to actually make the apple smoosh into sauce. I didn’t have a good food processor at the time, so I just froze my apple concoction with the hopes of someday making it into a pie. That day arrived!

Step two was defrosting, and mixing the apples with a can of drained tart cherries and about 1/4 cup sugar. After they boiled away on the stove for about 10 minutes, some of the liquids had thickened up and made a nice sugary syrup.

I used the pie crust recipe from Veganomicon–it turned out much better than my previous crusty attempts. I don’t even think I did it correctly (my dough was a little on the dry and stiff side), but it still rolled okay, and made a nice flaky crust.

And since I like my pies to have a crumble top, I whipped out Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar and halved the Blueberry Crumb Cookies recipe. It still made a little more crumb than most people like, but I’m a streusel girl, and I loved it!Now I kind of want to make a berry pie, with every berry I can get my hands on. I can’t wait for summer!

For recipes, of course, buy the books! Or at least check your local library.

Banana French Toast

This is the second time I’ve attempted this recipe from Vegan Brunch, the first time was a DISASTER. I used french bread from Target, it turned super mushy in the batter, and then stuck like crazy to my newly purchased cast iron skillet.

Fast forward to three weeks later, when I’m brave enough to try this again. And guess what? It turned out amazing! I went to the specialty grocery and bought high quality crusty Italian bread. I’ve really seasoned my skillet, so there was no sticking. And I had lots of blackberries that I purchased from Costco. Why does Costco have the best produce? It seems weird. But there you go, everything (except some apples I got out of season–bleh) is amazing.

I love the combination of banana, vanilla, cinnamon and cocoa that you get with this french toast. And I like that without the high fat and cholesterol milk and eggs, this recipe isn’t even high in fat. It doesn’t sit like a greasy rock in your stomach, and it isn’t too too sweet, even when you smother it in maple syrup. Yum.

Would it be wrong of me to add a little cayenne pepper?

Six Layer Dip & Pretzel Cookies

We were invited to an Easter party (yay!) so I got the chance to try out some of my newfangled vegan cooking skillz. Also, since it was a BBQ with hot dogs and hamburgers, I needed to make something for myself to eat that would be both a complete meal and not make it seem like I was avoiding their food.

My favorite moment? When a guy with his girlfriend showed up, and they all announced, “Oh, the vegetarian is here!” I ran in the house, pointed out my vegan food, and told him that he rocked.

I’m gonna go step by step on this so you don’t miss out on any delicious layers! First, though, you need to get out a 2.5 quart dish. If you had a classy glass one, it would look even better.

Layer 1–bring on the hummus!

For this layer, I used the recipe from Appetite for Reduction. I made the jalapeno & cilantro hummus following the directions exactly. Smooth onto the bottom of the dish.

Layer 2–beans! Beans! Beans!

This layer features the Unrefried Beans from Appetite for Reduction. So simple! So classy! So gassy.

Layer 3–WTH? More beans?

Yes! Now, we get to my part. MUWAHAHA! For this layer, I followed the spirit of the Unrefried beans, but instead used these ingredients (I changed all the spices, so just use what I have listed here):

• Black beans instead of pinto
• Shallot instead of onion
• Smoked paprika (1/2 tsp)
• Cumin (1/2 tsp)
• Chili Powder (1/2 tsp)
• Garlic Salt (1/2 tsp)
• Dash of Cayenne Pepper
• 1/4 cup of corn

Then just make them the same way you did the previous layer.

Layer 4–the unexpected potato

Yep, potatoes. I know, that seems crazy right? They. Were. Awesome.

First, you want to dice three tiny (think fingerling) yukon gold potatoes really small. Toss them with 1 tsp of olive oil. Then, add the same mix of spices for the black bean layer, though you’ll probably want a tad more salt. Mix until well coated, then bake at 450 degrees for 20 mins, or until they are rather crispy on the outside and totally cooked.

Here they are before going into the oven:

Layer 5–Guacamame!

Did I spell that right? No matter. Just follow the directions in Appetite for Reduction. I leave out the tomato, because whatever I’m making is already so tomato-y that I don’t need it. Same here.

Layer 6–mmmm…salsa

And now I just use the salsa dressing recipe from Appetite for Reduction (I really need to think of a shorter way to write that without sounding like Rachael Ray). I used my food processor this time, because leaving the tomatoes in big chunks isn’t great for dip. It’ll smash your chip! I also took the vinegar down to one teaspoon.

Top it all off with two chopped up green onions, and it’ll look fantastic! Pleased the vegans and nonvegans, too. And the unethical ones.

Special Bonus time!

I also make the Pretzel-Apple-Peanut Cookies from Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar. They were a pretty big hit! Mine came out kinda on the crunchy side, I’m not sure if that’s the way they should be. Lots of work, but great for a party when you want people to be surprised by what you’ve made.

For all the cookbooks mentioned here, just go to powells.com…shhh…I love them.

Chili Verde con Yummmmmm

And here’s another one of our fantastic dinners from Appetite for Reduction–Chili Verde con Papas.

Also, con EXTREMELY LARGE bunch of kale. I think it was triple a normal bunch. We actually had to pick kale out if it to make it less like a super hot salad. Oh well. It was still really tasty! Not all that spicy, plus the white beans really made it awesome. And, oh yeah, the potatoes. I looooove me some potatoes.

A Ticking Thyme Bomb

…or how I stopped reading directions and learned to love two tablespoons of dried thyme. Yep.

And what are those strange meteorite-like purple and green orbs perched on the side of the bowl? Sweet Potato Biscuits! I usually make them with the regular orange variety yam, but our market is currently offering delicious organic purple hawaiian sweet potatoes. How can I walk by those and not pick them up? I wasn’t expecting the green splotches, but I feel like I could bust these out again at Halloween. Stick an olive and a pretzel stick in there, and you’ve got yourself a one-eyed one-horned flying purple sweet potato biscuit.

My favorite part? My daughter looking at them when they popped out of the oven and yelling, “Eww mama! No eat!”

Back to the stew. The stew! Literally the last step of the recipe is to add two tablespoons of fresh thyme. Anyone who knows anything about cooking can tell you that dried herbs=stronger than fresh herbs. Unless your dried herbs are 1,000 years old. In which case they will taste like mummy’s balls.

So, yeah, look at me in a rush–two-year-old running around screaming, husband at a meeting, and I just see thyme on the recipe and toss it in. ARGH! We still ate it, he said it tasted good. But I guess I’ll have to start trusting that gut instinct when a measurement sounds crazy.

Recipes courtesy of Appetite for Reduction.

Homemade Falafel Salad

Oh, baby. I love falafel, especially the super-fried crispy kind I would always get from Daphne’s Greek when I lived in California. Yeah, that was healthy. Now that I can’t eat dairy, I can no longer smother it in feta (or spicy feta…oh my), or tzatziki sauce. Yes, I googled how to spell that. And now that I’m actually trying to eat healthy, I can’t really deep-fry it, either. Wow, that sucks.

But these falafels don’t! Suck, that is. Once again, from Appetite for Reduction, I bring you something delicious. Well, Isa does. I think that I might have made these a little dry, since I used chickpeas I cooked myself, and I went a little overboard. But my husband actually said, “I’ve never looked forward to eating a salad like this…but, that was delicious.” I used the Mediterranean Vinaigrette from Veganomicon to round this out, since I was out of hummus. How can anyone be out of hummus? But there I was.

I served homemade chapatis on the side, which I made obviously totally wrong. They tasted like total crap. As a matter of fact, I have 10 of them in my fridge right now, and I don’t know what to do with them. Bread crumbs?

My First Curry

I made curry for the first time! This is Curry Laksa, from, you guessed it, Appetite for Reduction. I happened to buy coconut milk for my breakfast, since I’m trying to increase the amount of B12 that I get from food, not just from my supplement. Did you know that it isn’t always included in vegan milk? I think that is super weird. Anyway, I know coconut milk probably isn’t the healthiest thing I could ever eat, but it does taste good. And is great for making curry!

This was super easy to make, especially if you press your tofu first. I just pressed mine in a kitchen towel between two plates, with Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and the Veganomicon perched on top. Such a good idea, I’ve been making the worst tofu ever before this.

I used fairly strong veggie broth to make this, but I think it probably still needed that extra dash of curry paste. And I believe we did hot sauce it up, using our favorite Dan’s Prime Texas Dew Drops. If you find this hot sauce, buy it. BUY IT. I had to order five bottles directly from Texas, since they stopped carrying it at our Whole Foods. Even after I practically broke down crying in the store. What’s up with that, WhoFoo?

Sushi Salad a la Appetite for Reduction

Isa, you have done it AGAIN. And I say that pretty much anytime I put food in my mouth. My husband jokes that this blog will become “Julie/Julia” for me, as I work my way through recipes from all of Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s books. Sounds fine with me!

I’ve always loved the veggie bento boxes I would get when we’d go to sushi with friends (I’ve never eaten fish. NEVER.) but I didn’t know what made them so tasty. It’s toasted sesame oil, ya’ll. And this salad takes that, mixes it with onions, sprinkles it with dew, and makes the world taste good.

I added some spicy sprouts, because I am like an old hippie that way, and I didn’t put the nori on top. I was afraid of it being fishy (eww), and it cost $5 for a couple sheets. I don’t like to pay that much for a single mystery ingredient. But yeah, this salad rocks. Make it!

Recipe from Appetite for Reduction. Buy that book.

Hells yes, Vegan Brunch!

I’m starting to believe I may be what’s known as a “Chandrist” vegan, because I basically only own vegan cookbooks by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (and her writing partner, Terry Hope Romero). I have some random vegetarian cookbooks, but I always, always, always come back to their recipes. And oh, how I love Vegan Brunch.

I kinda stumbled onto the recipe for these cinnamon rolls, since they aren’t the ones mentioned in the book. I like to make breakfast sandwiches for my husband to take to work, and I’m too cheap to buy english muffins. $10 shampoo? Yes. English muffins? No.

So I followed the Vegan Brunch recipe, but I rolled them out too thin. I had a ton of leftover dough (and some flat english muffins…he still ate them). So I rolled it out, smothered it in goodness, and *BLAM!* maple blueberry cinnamon rolls were born!

Maple Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls (12 tiny rolls):

•  1/2 recipe for english muffins from Vegan Brunch (let it rise once)
• 1 T Earth Balance spread (or whatever margarine you use), very soft
• 2 T maple syrup
• 1 T agave nectar
• 1/3-1/2 cup blueberries (I use the wild frozen ones, and they are teensy, so I use more)
• 2-4 tsp cinnamon (I like lots of cinnamon, maybe you don’t?)

Roll the dough out as flat as you possibly can on a floured surface. I’m talking paper thin. Then, mix the spread with the syrup and nectar. Smooth the mixture out onto your dough. Sprinkle with blueberries and cinnamon. I really, really like to use lots of cinnamon here, it gives it a lot more flavor. I adore the cinnamon from Costco. It comes in a huge bottle, and tastes magical. It’s $4! Then roll everything up as tight as you can without losing all your berries.

Cut the rolls into 1-inch thick circles, and put in a greased baking pan. I actually use a bread pan for this, it works great. Let the rolls rise in a warm place for 30 mins, don’t worry, they probably won’t quite double in size. If it looks like the pan is filling up with blueberry juice, that’s exactly what you want to see. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 mins, watch closely that they don’t burn, since the tops are so sugary. Serve warm.

Just for fun, I’m including a photo of the Caramelized Onion Quiche I made from Vegan Brunch. So cute! If only I’d used fresh parsley instead of dried to garnish it–so much cuter. But fresh parsley always goes bad in the fridge so fast. Lucky for me, spring is arriving and I’ll have herbs galore in about a month. Hurrah!

Seriously, look how horrible my crust turned out. Crust is my worst enemy. Either it’s too dry and crumbly, or it’s too wet and comes out all crackery. I don’t get it! All I’ve discovered is that shortening seems to work a lot better than margarine for me, but I miss the buttery taste. I gotta get my hands on some (relatively) healthy shortening, stat!