GENTLE LENTIL BALL SUB

Today I Made:

GENTLE LENTIL BALL SUB for DINNER.

Recipe from Meatout Mondays.

Balls are made with brown rice, lentils, onion,tons of spices, red bell pepper, green onion, and smothered with a spicy marinated sauce on a whole wheat hot dog bun.

I've made this recipe once before and loved them.

They remind me of the old school meatball subs from our prevegan days.

Of course these are much healthier, since they are baked and contain zero cholesterol.

I toasted the buns, but not necessary.

And I made sure not to use too much sauce or else the sub will become soggy and too messy to eat.

BLACK BEAN TACOS

Yesterday I Made:

BLACK BEAN TACOS for DINNER.

This is a very simple recipe to have on a night when you don't have much time to cook or just don't feel like it cooking.

You will need:

-small corn tortillas

-canned organic black beans

-finely diced onion

-chopped cilantro

-Casa Sanchez Fresh Roasted Salsa (our favorite brand, available at Whole Foods in California) or salsa of your choice.

Rinse and drain black beans.

Transfer to a bowl and mash with a fork.

Warm in microwave until warm but not hot.

Warm tortillas in microwave for 30 seconds or until pliable (make sure not to overheat or else they will fall apart).

Now you are ready to assemble.

Place a small amount of beans onto each tortilla.

Add salsa and then sprinkle with onion and cilantro.

Now, you are ready to eat!

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS WITH CRUMB TOPPING

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS WITH CRUMB TOPPING for DESSERT.

Recipe from VEGWEB.COM.

I used all whole wheat flour instead of AP flour.

This is a simple recipe with great results.

They are super moist, yet crunchy from the crumb topping.

The only thing I noticed, was that the crumb topping disappeared overnight.

My husband is not a muffin or cupcake fan and he loved these.

So, I will be keeping this recipe.

COCONUT & LEMON WAFFLES WITH BASIL CHIFFONADE

Today I Made:

COCONUT & LEMON WAFFLES WITH BASIL CHIFFONADE for BREAKFAST.

Recipe from ***The GirlieGirl Army***.

Whole wheat pastry flour, coconut milk, lemon zest, and the basil, make these waffles stand out in a crowd.

They taste very tropical.

You almost feel like you are laying on a sandy beach in Hawaii.

They are easy to make, since most of us have the ingredients readily available in our pantries.

I recommended topping them with chopped almonds and maple syrup.

SPRING ROLLS WITH RAW MANGO SAUCE

Yesterday I Made:

SPRING ROLLS WITH RAW MANGO SAUCE for DINNER.

Recipe from The Real Food Daily Cookbook by Ann Gentry.

Rice paper rolls filled with raw vegetables:

-napa cabbage

-green onions

-carrots

-red bell pepper

-almonds

-cilantro leaves

The dipping sauce is made with dates, mango, onion, lemon juice, orange juice, shoyu, garlic, ginger, and jalapeno.

The sauce was the star of the show.

Spicy, tangy and sweet.

My husband didn't care for the rolls at all.

He can't stand the texture of the rice paper.

Maybe next time, I'll use lettuce leaves instead.

BREAKFAST AND DESSERT

Today I Made:

HOME FRIES and LEFTOVER 'FRONCH TOAST' WITH AVOCADO SLICES for BREAKFAST.

Twice cooked yellow potatoes, red bell peppers, and onions.

Recipe from Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

I saved a little bit of the leftover "FRONCH TOAST" batter from yesterday and a few slices of La Brea Wheat bread for today's breakfast.

I love pairing together sweet and savory, especially with breakfast.

Ketchup from the potatoes and maple syrup from the fronch toast.

And it's even better when you add a few slices of avocado.

Yesterday I Made:

CHOCOLATE-GLAZED PEANUT BUTTER SCONES for DESSERT.

Recipe from My Sweet Vegan by Hannah Kaminsky.

I've made a huge mistake.

I over-cooked them.

They turned out way too dry and hard.

The only thing that saved them, was the chocolate glaze.

I have to give them a second try and make them again.

SPICY VEGETABLE SOUP WITH LIME

Yesterday I Made:

SPICY VEGETABLE SOUP WITH LIME and AVOCADO TOAST for DINNER.

Recipe from Karina's Kitchen: Gluten-Free Recipes.

This is an amazing soup filled with zucchini, carrots, cabbage, fire-roasted tomatoes, roasted green chiles, and lime juice.

It's really one of my all time favorite soups.

If you like spicy soups, YOU HAVE TO MAKE THIS SOUP NOW!.

You can throw all the ingredients in a slow cooker or stove top.

Either way turns out a great soup.

For the toast, I bought a loaf of organic wheat toast from La Brea Bakery.

Lightly toasted with simple avocado slices.

BLUEBERRY CAKE

Yesterday I Made:

BLUEBERRY CAKE for DESSERT.

Recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking Cookbook by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

This is basically a blueberry coffee cake.

There are three components to this dessert:

1. The cake (I used whole wheat flour instead of AP flour).

2. The blueberries (plain).

3.The Streusel topping (sugar, earth balance, flour, and cinnamon).

The recipe itself is pretty easy to make and also to make substitutions with the berries.

It bakes for 50 minutes and then you can either let it cool or serve warm.

"FRONCH TOAST"

Today I Made:

"FRONCH TOAST" for BREAKFAST.

Recipe from VEGAN WITH A VENGEANCE by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

I've made these a few times and we still can't get over how similar they are to the real thing.

And all the recipe calls for is soy milk, corn starch, and garbanzo bean flour.

Amazing texture and taste.

Make sure you use 3 day old bread for added crispiness!

They go great with plain maple syrup and sweet organic strawberries ( and coffee of course!).

KABOCHA SOUP WITH SPICED PEPITAS

I made this delicious KABOCHA SOUP WITH SPICED PEPITAS for DINNER last week.

Recipe from VEGETARIAN TIMES January 2009 issue.

I love to order squash soups at restaurants, but whenever I try to make it at home, they always turn out too thick and not so tasty.

THIS recipe has changed it all.

It has THE perfect consistency and it's full of flavor.

It also calls for a few simple ingredients:

-Kabocha (Japanese pumpkin, but you can use any other type of winter squash.)

-Onion

-Garlic

-Smoked Paprika

-Bay Leaf

-Vegetable Broth

The recipe also calls for Dry Sherry, but my husband doesn't care for ANY alcohol in any recipe, so I omitted it.

And it really doesn't need it.

The spiced pepitas are pumpkin shells roasted with olive oil, agave nectar, salt, and cilantro.

I paired the soup with leftover Toasted Quinoa with Raisins and Slivered Almonds from the previous day and Spicy Spinach with Minced garlic.

SAMOSA MASHED POTATO PANCAKES, TOASTED QUINOA WITH RAISINS AND SLIVERED ALMONDS AND GOOD OLD FASHIONED PEAS

Yesterday I Made:

SAMOSA MASHED POTATO PANCAKES, TOASTED QUINOA WITH RAISINS AND SLIVERED ALMONDS AND GOOD OLD FASHIONED PEAS for DINNER.

Samosa recipe from VEGAN BRUNCH.

Toasted quinoa recipe from THE VEGAN TABLE.

Samosas filling without the dough, formed into cakes and lightly panfried.

The filling is basically mashed potatoes with onions, carrots, garlic, peas.

Spiced with mustard seeds, turmeric, cumin, red chili pepper flakes, and fresh ginger.

You make the dough, refrigerate for a few hours and form into patties, then panfry.

I didn't make a sauce or chutney to go with the samosas, as suggested in the book.

Instead I used chipotle sauce and drizzled it over the pancakes.

The toasted quinoa turned out to be the perfect side dish.

Seasoned with fresh ginger, cardomom, coriander, cumin, and cayenne.

And for added crunch and sweetness, raisins and slivered almonds were added to the mix.

As far as the peas, all I did was steam frozen peas with 1/4 cup water for 3 minutes.

Drained and added Earth Balance, salt and pepper.

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE TART **UPDATED**

As I mentioned in my original post, this tart was a little bit bitter and not really sweet at all.

So, I thought and thought about how to sweetened it up and then it finally clicked: RASPBERRY SAUCE.

Sometimes I make a simple blueberry sauce for our morning pancakes.

A simple sauce made up of frozen blueberries, water, and cornstarch to thicken it up a little.

As I was searching the web for a raspberry sauce, I realized that I could use the same technique as the blueberry sauce with just a few changes.

So here goes my nonrecipe recipe:

RASPBERRY SAUCE

-1 bag frozen organic raspberries

-1/4 cup filtered water

-2 teaspoons sugar

-2 teaspoons cornstarch

-1/4 cup filtered water

In a small heavy bottomed saucepan on medium heat, add the frozen raspberries and 1/4 cup water.

Cook until raspberries have broken down and are heated thru, stirring often.

Remove from heat and strain using a fine sieve.

(I save the seeds and use them in smoothies.)

Add the liquid back to the saucepan.

Add sugar, stir and cook on low-medium heat.

In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and water with a small whisk until mixed.

Add to raspberries and stir until completely mixed.

Let cook until the sauce thickens slightly, stirring often.

Remove from heat.

Adjust sweetness to taste.

*Since I needed it to be sweet, I had to add another teaspoon of sugar.*

Let cool completely before adding it to chocolate tart.

HOMEMADE HUMMUS, QUINOA TABBOULEH WITH WHOLE WHEAT PITA

Today I Made:

HOMEMADE HUMMUS, QUINOA TABBOULEH with WHOLE WHEAT PITA for DINNER.

Hummus and quinoa tabbouleh recipes from The Vegan Table By Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

Simple hummus made with garbanzo beans, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, and olive oil.

The quinoa tabbouleh is not traditional, but it turned out delicious.

Traditional tabbouleh is made with bulgur wheat and parsley.

I'm not much of a parsley fan, so I substituted with cilantro.

I also did not add mint as called for in the recipe.

Light, simple, and tasty dinner!

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE TART

Yesterday I Made:

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE TART for DESSERT.

Recipe from The Vegan Table By Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

This tart is super chocolaty and nutty.

Topped with organic blueberries and raspberries.

The crust is made with a blend of pecans and walnuts and the filling with Scharffen Berger 99% Cacao Unsweetened baking chocolate.

If you are a chocolate lover, you have to give this tart a try.

Not overly sweet, almost a little bitter.

If you like your chocolate a little sweeter, you can use semi-sweet chocolate.

Just make sure it is VEGAN!

BANANA RABANADA

Today I Made:

BANANA RABANADA for BREAKFAST.

Recipe from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

Thick sliced baguette soaked in banana custard, panfried, then dusted with cocoa powder and powdered sugar.

I used La Brea Bakery - French Baguette, unfortunately it's only available in the Los Angeles and San Francisco area.

According to Isa, this Brazilian french toast is served during Christmas time.

All I can say is WOW!!!

I highly recommend making this dish ASAP!

It was a cinch to make and oh so delicious.

It tastes like banana bread dipped in melted chocolate.

It does take a little bit of planning, since you have to soak the bread in the custard for 20 minutes.

And to save even more time, I recommend slicing the baguette the night before.

Also, make sure to use 3 day old bread.

If you use fresh bread it will turn mushy and will be more like bread pudding instead of crispy french toast (unless you like it like that).

CHOCOLATE CHILI

Today I Made:

CHOCOLATE CHILI for DINNER.

Black beans, garbanzo beans, navy beans, tomatoes, carrots, onions, chipotle chili, dark chocolate and topped with green onion , finely diced jalapeno, FYH sour cream, and avocado.

I found this recipe online, but I don't remember the source.

The thing I liked about this chili, was how rich and thick it turned out.

Not watery at all!

It almost tastes like it was slow cooked for hours and hours.

I'll email this recipe to anyone who wants it.

SCOTCH BROTH AND THE WORLD'S BEST CORNBREAD

Yesterday I Made:

SCOTCH BROTH AND THE WORLD'S BEST CORNBREAD for DINNER.

The SCOTCH BROTH recipe comes from none other than The Vegan Table By Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

According to Colleen's description, this is a traditional Scottish soup served during the winter time.

Made with lentils, green split peas, barley, potatoes, carrots, leeks and onions.

It turned out to be more of a split pea soup.

Thick, hearty and perfect for a rainy day!

THE WORLD'S BEST CORNBREAD recipe came from the web.

But for the life of me, I can't remember from where.

I used whole wheat flour, earth balance, corn meal, green onions, minced jalapenoes, and garlic.

It turned out moist, spicy, and just plain mouthwatering!

PASTA PRIMAVERA WITH FRESH VEGGIES AND HERBS

Yesterday I Made:

PASTA PRIMAVERA WITH FRESH VEGGIES AND HERBS for DINNER.

Whole wheat penne with red and yellow bell peppers, carrots, zucchini, asparagus, tomatoes, green onions, basil, pine nuts, and red pepper flakes.

Once again, another great recipe from The Vegan Table By Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

This recipe uses all the great fresh vegetables to season the pasta.

Lots of prep work, but when you take your first bite, you know it was all worth it.

SPICY BLACK BEAN BURGERS

Yesterday I Made:

SPICY BLACK BEAN BURGERS for DINNER.

Recipe from The Vegan Table By Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

Black beans, corn, red bell peppers, jalapenos, and onions formed into a patty and smothered with red salsa along with sliced avocado, red onion, romaine lettuce on a toasted whole wheat bun.

Instead of french fries, I made the famous KALE CHIPS with ketchup.

This is one of the BEST patties I've ever made!

Perfectly spicy and texture.