Chorizo Stuffing

This is Happy Herbivore’s Chorizo Stuffing (and a little sweet potato in the background. Hi, you!). I made this from UBER SCRATCH. That means I made both the cornbread and the bread. And of course the chorizo, which I make using TVP, not quinoa. My husband won’t eat quinoa, because he likes to make me sad. What kind of vegan doesn’t eat quinoa? Me. *pouty face*

Like all stuffing, this tastes better the second day, too. It would probably also taste better if I had bothered to cook both of my breads all the way through–so this was a little on the dense-and-doughy side. I will still make it again–and I think it would be great filling for something else. A stuff squash of some sort? A stuffed roasted bell pepper? I think you see where I’m going here. Stuff this stuffing into some stuff.

 

 

Vegan Golden Squaw Bread

It is literally a crime that I can’t find a veganized version of Squaw Bread anywhere on the internet. And none of the non-vegan ones seem to agree about ingredients. Rye flour? Raisins? Honey? Sheesh! But sometimes desperation yields amazing results. Because I now have in my possession an amazing recipe for Golden Squaw Bread that will knock your socks off.

What I like best about this recipe is that it’s so easy. Most squaw breads want you to make a separate blended mixture of raisins and add that it–bah. What I like second best it that it’s super low in fat–most of the recipes I found called for an egg and 1/2 a cup of butter or oil. UGH! Applesauce takes care of the fat and the fruity element that makes squaw bread so awesome.

This is the prettiest dough ball I’ve ever made. Usually my bread dough is sorta dry, or won’t stick together properly, or is too sticky–you get the picture. Just look how cute he is, though! Sweet little dough ball.

Vegan Golden Squaw Bread (makes 1 round loaf):

• 1 package active yeast (or 2 and 1/4 tsp)
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup unmilk (soy, almond, etc)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp blackstrap molasses
• 1/2 cup wheat bran
• 1 T ground flax seed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 T vital wheat gluten
• 2 and 1/2 cups unbleached flour (I use a mix of white and wheat)
• 1/2 cup dark rye flour

First, you’ll want to proof your yeast. Place it in a small bowl with the warm water and a tsp of the maple syrup or brown sugar. Let it rest for 5 minutes, and it’ll be bubbly on the top to show you it’s alive. In the meantime, mix together your flax seed, unmilk, applesauce, syrup, sugar, molasses & wheat bran. Mix in the yeast and water. Add your flours, salt and wheat gluten in small batches, approx. 1/2 cup at a time. It’ll start to get hard to mix at 2 cups of flour, so I kneaded it with my hands after that.

Place your dough on a clean, floured surface and knead for at least five minutes. I had to add flour frequently to the dough so it didn’t become super sticky. When the dough feels nice and elastic, put it in a large oiled bowl, cover with a towel, and let it rise for an hour and a half.

The dough will be much bigger, but not quite doubled by the time you get back. That’s okay! Now, punch it down and form into a ball again. Place on a cookie sheet covered with greased parchment paper. Cover with a towel again and let rest for at least half an hour. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Remove the towel and bake bread in the oven for 30 minutes, lowering the heat to 325 if the top begins to brown too quickly.

Let the bread cool before cutting into it–but it is a dense bread, and it probably won’t deflate too much. You just don’t want to burn your hands!

 

It Isn’t Easy Being Green…Actually, It’s Not Green At All.

The soup you see before you is Smoky Split Pea Soup from Appetite for Reduction. Are you asking the same question I am? Why isn’t it green?

I don’t know. I think it must be the ratio of split-pea-to-broth and the addition of lots of carrots. But it looks just like tomato soup, though there isn’t any tomato in it at all. I really was hoping for more green, but it does taste remarkably delicious, so that’s going to have to be good enough. I wouldn’t say that it’s exactly smoky, but it does have a hint of that bacon-y flavor you’d get in a meat split pea soup.

The garlic bread was really the best part, which is funny because it’s super easy. Just bread, earth balance, garlic salt and cheddar teese. Oh, and my secret ingredient–a little bit of onion powder. Then you toast it until the cheese melts. But my husband and I were both chomping at the bit to eat more of it. More bread! More garlic bread!

 

Spaghetti and Leanballs

I believe the Happy Herbivore‘s original recipe calls this dish “Spaghetti and Meatless Balls” which sounds kinda sad, right? I don’t like to think about meatless balls. Who would? It focuses on what you’re missing, not what you have. So, I suggest from now on this dish is called Spaghetti and Leanballs, since you make it with Gimme Lean.

I love Gimme Lean. First, the adorable name (cause it’s vegan Jimmy Dean!). Plus, it is actually lean. And rather close to meat, if you are into that. The flavor of Ground Beef-style Gimme Lean is like soy sauce mixed with Worcestershire sauce. If you like those two items, you’ll be golden. Since I do, Gimme Lean and I get along great.

I don’t believe the original recipe gives you a marinara sauce, but I always make my own anyway. And this simple combo (with a little earth balance buttered bread) made me incredibly happy. I was literally skipping down the street after eating this dinner. Or maybe I was just excited about my awesome trip to Trader Joe’s that morning. Yes, Kansas has a Trader Joe’s now! And all is right with the world.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I think this recipe must be like those ones invented to fool children. Sure, it looks like brownies, it may smell like brownies, but it’s full of…VEGETABLES. *Muwahahahahaha!* Then your kid either eats it and looks at you like you are crazy, or spits it in your hand.

This recipe, however, does not require a spit-take. I really enjoyed it, much like I love Zucchini Spelt bread. And while this isn’t quite as good, I think it is rather amazing just for the mere fact that it combines chocolate and vegetables so successfully. I made the less-sweet version in the cookbook, I think if I were making this as a dessert, I would include chocolate chips and slightly more sweetness.

It also doesn’t suffer from the dreadful stickiness of fat-free baking, so that’s another plus. And it also doesn’t feel like you are making a fat-free sacrifice for eating it, like, for example, applesauce cookies do. I don’t think I would make this again for myself, but I would definitely make it for a party, or to share.

Recipe from the Happy Herbivore.

 

Banana Bread!

I made some Happy Herbivore Banana Bread, too, while on my quick bread making frenzy. Check it out!

The bread itself has the dense character that seems to come from having no-added-fat. But the taste is very good. Next time I’d like to have it with a little less sugar, and add walnuts. Though a large daub of peanut butter is my favorite way to top anything banana-y.

Lemon Chia Seed Bread

I was so weary of making the same Lemon Poppy Seed Bread over and over again. So when I discovered this Lemon Chia Seed bread on the back of the Bob’s Red Mill bag, I was super excited. I like that chia seeds are full of nutritional benefits (I doubt that poppy seeds are, other than you can’t take a drug test after eating them, which doesn’t exactly count). And whatever seeds you don’t eat you can put on some pottery and grow a friend!

This is the only slice we had left by the time I could take a photo. And, as you might notice, there is a large bite taken out of it. Does that give you some idea about this bread’s amazing deliciousness?

The recipe has the added bonus of not having to zest the lemon. Does that annoy anyone else? I can’t handle finding big weird bits of lemon peel that I forgot to zest small enough hanging out in my baked goods. Plus the work of actually using the zester, and not also zesting my skin. Zest! This is just tons and tons of lemon juice, surprisingly little sugar, and possibly some magic.

I do want to say that I made one change: I didn’t want to use margarine in it (I don’t really keep it in the house, and I don’t like it for baked goods anyway). So I just used the equal amount of canola oil and made sure to mix it really, really well with the sugar. It tasted just great to me, so I think it doesn’t make any real difference in the finished product.

Blackberry Lemon Bread

It’s no secret that I love baked goods. Muffins, cakes, pies, cookies…you name it. But there’s something about a loaf of bread–yeast or quick–that gets me. And this Blackberry Lemon Bread takes the proverbial cake. I just threw it together this morning for breakfast because we had leftover blackberries and leftover lemons from this week’s cooking. So good!

Blackberry Lemon Bread (makes 1 loaf):

• 2 cups flour (I use a blend of white and whole wheat)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 generous cup of blackberries

Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a loaf pan. In a medium bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Then, add the milk, lemon juice, applesauce, oil, zest and vanilla. Gently combine until most of the dry ingredients are incorporated. Then, fold in the berries. Spoon mixture into loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, checking frequently after 30 for doneness (when a toothpick comes out clean).

This recipe was adapted from the Lemon Poppy Seed muffin recipe in Vegan Brunch.

Spelt! Where have you been all my life?

This is my love song to spelt.

“Oh spelty, you came and you gave me some bre-ad,
on my bre-ak-fast plate you were tasty, oh spelty!”

How have I never had spelt before? SPELT! I will bake with you forever. How I love you, oh, how I love you. Also, this zucchini bread was awesome. The original recipe was for muffins, but I just put it in my bread pan and turned down the oven to 350 degrees. I believe it needed at least 10 minutes longer to bake than muffins, but I usually check stuff like this by using a cake tester rather than depending on the timer.

Want to know the best part? It freezes perfectly. Hooray!

Recipe from Vegan Brunch.