APPLE MUFFINS

Yesterday I Made:

APPLE MUFFINS for DESSERT.

Recipe from Natural Health Magazine.

Moist and crunchy muffins.

I've had this recipe for years and I finally got to make them yesterday.

They are made with 100% whole wheat, almond meal, walnuts, and apple sauce.

No cane sugar needed in this recipe.

Perfect for those watching their sugar intake.

They aren't fat free, but they are way healthier than other recipes.

BETTER-THAN-TUNA SALAD SANDWICHES

Yesterday I Made:

BETTER-THAN-TUNA-SALAD SANDWICHES for DINNER.

Another great recipe from The Vegan Table By Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

Garbanzo beans, Vegenaise, carrots, red bell peppers, walnuts, and dijon mustard.

What an incredible recipe.

It really does taste and look just like tuna salad.

I served it in a sandwich with whole wheat bread and baby greens.

But you can serve it with crackers or on top of greens.

BREE'S LENTIL-TOMATO SOUP

Today I Made:

BREE'S LENTIL-TOMATO SOUP for DINNER.

Recipe from Cooking Light Magazine.

This soup is one of our favorites.

So rich, thick and full of flavor.

Full of spices, heat, and protein.

If making this recipe for children, make sure to omit the chili powder and ground red pepper.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Today I Made:

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE for DESSERT.

Recipe from The Vegan Table By Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

A very traditional cake but always a favorite.

What makes this cake special is the leftover syrup at the bottom of the cake pan.

Just make sure, when you invert the cake onto a platter, do it over the sink.

It will leak all over the place.

HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY LEMONADE

Today I Made:

STRAWBERRY LEMONADE.

This recipe jumped right out of my head as I was wondering what I should do with some organic lemons and strawberries that were just sitting in our fridge looking pretty but begging to be used.

It's hot here in Los Angeles, so I came up with this awesome recipe:

HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY LEMONADE

-juice of 3 lemons

-2 cups washed and quartered strawberries

-3 Tbs agave syrup

-6 cups cold water

-ice

Let sit in fridge for a few hours to blend flavors.

Lemonade will turn a deep pink color and will darken the longer it sits in fridge.

I highly recommend trying this recipe.

Great for picnics!

Add more lemons or agave to taste.

NO-QUESO QUESADILLAS AND TORTILLA SOUP

Yesterday I Made:

NO QUESO QUESADILLAS AND TORTILLA SOUP for DINNER.

Who would ever think to put hummus inside a whole wheat flour tortilla and cooking it until golden brown?

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau would!

Another awesome recipe from her latest cookcook:

This is actually the second time I make this recipe, but first time posting it.

It is such a great dish and versatile.

You can eat it as a snack or a meal.

I paired ours with homemade guacamole and green salsa.

The tortilla soup is tomato and chipotle based.

Easy, delicious, but really spicy.

I cooled it down by adding a dollop of Follow Your Heart Sour Cream

and our NEW favorite:

(sorry about the small picture)

PANINI WITH LEMON-BASIL PESTO and SALAD

Yesterday I Made:

PANINI WITH LEMON-BASIL PESTO for DINNER.

Another great recipe from The Vegan Table By Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

Two slices of La Brea Bakery - Whole Grain Loaf slathered with the lemon-basil pesto and stuffed with roasted red pepper, grilled red onions, zucchini, avocado, tomatoes, and drizzled with balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

I don't own a panini maker, so instead I used a grill pan and then placed a heavy iron skillet to press the panini and to create grill marks.

Hard to eat.

It kept falling apart every time we took a bite but it was extremely tasty.

Makes me want to buy a panini maker just to make this sandwich.

The lemon in the pesto added a really great acidity to the panini.

I LOVE IT!!!

Today I Made:

GRILLED VEGETABLE SALAD for LUNCH.

This recipe is my own creation.

I used all the left over vegetables from the paninis, chopped them into small bite-size pieces and placed them over a bed of greens drizzled with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

One of THE best salads I've ever made.

PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY COOKIES

This week I Made:

PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY COOKIES for DESSERT.

Recipe from The Vegan Table By Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

These are cookies are AMAZING.

They are super easy to make and really do taste like a PB & J.

Perfect for cookie swaps, tea parties, or just to satisfy a craving.

I'm not much of a cookie person, but these are out of this world.

I can't wait to make them again.

Unfortunately, my husband is getting his upper wisdom teeth extracted tomorrow afternoon, so I'm going to have to wait until he recovers.

Poor me, I mean, poor him.

OLD FASHIONED LENTIL LOAF, MASHED POTATOES, AND BROCCOLI WITH GARLIC BUTTER AND CASHEWS

Yesterday I Made:

OLD FASHIONED LENTIL LOAF, MASHED POTATOES, AND BROCCOLI WITH GARLIC BUTTER AND CASHEWS for DINNER.

Loaf and broccoli recipes from THE VEGAN TABLE.

The loaf is packed with lentils, onions, bread crumbs, walnuts, spices, seasonings, and topped with ketchup.

We both weren't too crazy about this recipe.

Every bite reminded us of lentil soup.

The broccoli was perfectly crunchy and full of flavor, sweet, tangy, and salty.

I don't think I'll be making this recipe again.

But then again, I'm a little biased since I don't really care for broccoli.

The mashed potatoes were divine.

So easy to make, you don't even need a recipe.

I do recommend using yellow potatoes.

All you do is wash (leave peel on the potatoes) and cube the potatoes.

Place in a pot and cover with water.

Cook over medium-high heat until soft.

Drain and place in bowl for mashing.

Add room temperature soymilk, Earth Balance, salt and pepper.

Use a potato masher and mash until desired consistency.

ZA ZA ZITI

Yesterday I Made:

ZA ZA ZITI for DINNER.

Recipe from VEGNEWS magazine May/June 2009 issue.

Rich tomato sauce, macadamia-nut ricotta, creamy cashew sauce, and whole wheat penne (couldn't find whole wheat ziti).

Baked and eaten just like lasagna and paired with a romaine salad with a "Honey Mustard Salad Dressing from The Vegan Table.

This recipe is really time consuming since there are 4 different steps to it.

From cooking the pasta, to making the tomato sauce, ricotta sauce, and the creamy cashew sauce.

Oh, and you also have to do soak the macadamia nuts for 4 hours prior to making the ricotta.

But it was well worth all the work and all the dirty dishes and appliances.

It's not a dish I would make often because of all the work.

But I will definitely keep it in mind when I'm in the mood for a baked pasta dish.

CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH COFFEE GANACHE

Yesterday I Made:

CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH COFFEE GANACHE for DESSERT.

Recipe from my new FAVORITE vegan cookbook, THE VEGAN TABLE by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

The perfect coffee flavored chocolate cake with a slight tangy apricot preserve glaze underneath the chocolate coffee ganache.

It turned out so moist even though I used all whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour.

This book was just released last week and I just had to have it.

It's not available at any store yet, but you can order it thru Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com.

This is Colleen's second book and I just think that it is THE best ever!

All the recipes sound and look great.

I will definitely be planning next week's menu straight from this book.

CRISPY TOFU AND EAST-WEST MARINATED ASPARAGUS

Today I Made:

CRISPY TOFU AND EAST-WEST MARINATED ASPARAGUS for DINNER.

I've made this tofu recipe many times and we still love it.

Goes perfectly well with brown rice and any green vegetable.

Asparagus recipe is another winning dish from VEGETARIAN TIMES MAY/JUNE 2009 issue.

Split lenghtwise and cooked in hot boiling water, plunged in ice water and then marinated in a sweet, salty, tangy, and spicy sauce.

Refrigerated for 4 hours and eaten cold.

Both recipes are so full of flavor and so memorable.

Crispy tofu always brings a smile to my husband's face.

It's his favorite all time dish.

ZUCCHINI-CORN TACOS, NOPALITOS-STYLE CHAYOTE SALAD AND ARROZ VERDE

Today I Made:

ZUCCHINI-CORN TACOS, NOPALITOS-STLE CHAYOTE SALAD AND ARROZ VERDE for SALAD.

All recipes from VEGETARIAN TIMES May/June 2009.

The zucchini-corn filling turned out to be THE best taco filling we've ever had (not counting the Soy-Chorizo tacos from Hugo's Tacos).

Sauteed zucchini, thinly sliced garlic cloves, corn, pinto beans, and cilantro.

Served with warm tortillas and drizzled with homemade red salsa.

The salad originally called for NOPALITOS, but was substituted with Chayote squash (pear-shaped Mexican squash).

Along with the chayote, the salad included radishes, green onions, spinach, and dressed with a lime-chile dressing.

I loved it, but my husband thought the dressing was way too sour.

Arroz Verde literally means "Green Rice."

I used brown rice instead of long-grain white rice as was called for in the original recipe.

A blend of arugula, poblano chiles, parsley, cilantro onion, garlic mixed with water turns and flavors the rice green.

The rice turned out a little more like risotto, maybe too much liquid?

But the overall flavor was out of this world.

I will be keeping this recipe in my list of favorites.

BAGUETTE WITH ROASTED RED PEPPER SPREAD AND CONFETTI SLAW

SANDWICH FIXINGS

ROASTED RED PEPPER SPREAD

DICED CUCUMBER

ROMAINE LETTUCE AND RED CABBAGE

Yesterday I Made:

BAGUETTE WITH ROASTED RED PEPPER SPREAD AND CONFETTI SLAW for DINNER.

Recipes from the May/June 2009 issue of VEGETARIAN TIMES.

The spread is a vegan version of pimiento cheese.

Made with vegan cream cheese, roasted red pepper, and minced onions.

The sandwich also contains diced cucumber, romaine lettuce, and red cabbage.

I recommend toasting the bread to give it a nice crunch.

It was delicious and very flavorful, but really messy to eat.

Plan to use a lot of napkins to wipe the spread of your face and hands.

The confetti slaw gets its vibrant colors from red cabbage, red bell peppers, carrots, green onions, jalapenos and mixed with an herb salad dressing.

I made it early on in the day to marinate and by dinner time it was ready to eat.

These are my favorite type of slaws/salads because you can make them ahead of time and they don't get soggy.

They become more flavorful and they retain their crunch.

Perfect potluck dish.

BAKED MACARONI AND CHEESE

Last Thursday I Made:

BAKED MACARONI AND CHEESE for DINNER.

Recipe from VEGNEWS MAGAZINE JAN./FEB. 2008 issue.

Thick and creamy mac & cheese without the "cheese."

Never thought this would be possible after becoming vegan, but this recipe proved me wrong.

The sauce is made with potatoes, carrots, raw cashews, shallots, dijon mustard, garlic, spices and topped with homemade breadcrumbs.

I've actually made this recipe several times and even posted about it here.

My husband and I could finish this entire casserole just by ourselves in one night.

It is that good!

But I paired it with a salad to prevent that from happening.

If anyone wants this recipe, I'll be happy to share it.

Just leave a comment with your email address.