Cookies!

Everyone loves cookies no matter who the hell you are. These are a great rendition that incorporates all the ingredients of an almond joy candy bar into a vegan, chewy, crisp, and soft cookie that puts your average old double chocolate chip cookie to shame. Grab some of these for a snack, or breakfast (or lunch, or dinner, or dessert). 

Almond Joy Cookies

1/2 cup earth balance
1 cup agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp water 
4 tbsp potato starch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup whole almonds

Mix together the earth balance and agave nectar until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla, water and potato starch until its perfectly mixed together. Sift all the dry ingredients into the wet and stir to combine. Add the chocolate chips, coconut, and almonds. Scoop golf ball sized mounds of dough onto a prepared baking sheet (covered with parchment paper). Bake at 350F for about 18 minutes.

 

vegan pot roast with homemade tagliatelle

I made a seitan pot roast tonight with some roasted vegetables because the best part of a pot roast has always been the caramelized vegetables that soak up all the basting broth and juices from the roast. For this meal I kind of went the traditional route by using potatoes, carrots, and onions to go along side the roast. The seitan was based on a simple recipe I made which uses white beans and spices as the base, then it is steamed, then roasted. A similar recipe can be found here.

The pasta was homemade with white whole wheat flour. Here is the recipe.

Homemade Tagliatelle
 
3 cups white whole wheat flour
1 cup warm water
4 tbsp flaxseed meal
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsps salt

Mix everything together to form a ball. Knead dough for a bit then cut it into 2 equal pieces. Add a bit more flour to the board and roll out the dough until its about 1 cm thick. Add some more flour then fold the pasta in half then half again. Cut into 2-3 cm thick noodles. Cook pasta in boiling salted water while you get your sauce ready.


2 cloves garlic
5-6 scallions, sliced lengthwise
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp Earth Balance 
salt and pepper
fresh parsley
vegan parmesan

Get your pan on over medium heat and splash the oil in there. Add your sliced garlic and scallions. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add your butter to get it melted, then add your pasta and about 1 cup of pasta water. Cook for about 5 minutes. Season with black pepper, parsley and Parmesan. Serve immediately.

Green Salad with Green Goddess Dressing and Blackened Tofu

This was a really great dinner. The green goddess dressing is tangy and creamy and works perfectly with the mix of crisp and tender lettuces, sliced cucumbers, and shredded snap peas. I topped the salad with diced avocado, toasted almonds and blackened tofu. A nice piece of crusty bread topped with sauteed mushrooms made for the perfect compliment.

Green Goddess Dressing

1/2 an avocado
juice of 1 lemon
4 green onions
1/2 cup soft tofu or vegan mayo
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1/2 cup fresh dill
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
splash water to thin if needed

Puree everything in the blender or food processor.  Let flavor meld for a bit before tossing in your salad. You could leave this dressing thick and serve it as a dip as well.

For the salad. Toss your lettuces, cucumbers, snap peas and other goodies with the dressing. Top with diced avocado and blackened tofu.

Creamy Zucchini Soup topped with Sauteed Creminis

This soup accompanied a bagel with cream cheese last night. It is quite thick and creamy so make sure you loosen your belt buckle for this one. Enjoy warm or cold like a vichyssoise.

 Creamy Zucchini Soup with Sauteed Shrooms


2 medium zucchini, chopped
1 med onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
olive oil
salt 
pepper
fresh herbs(parsley), chopped
.5 cup raw cashews
1 cup water

handful of chopped mushrooms
olive oil
3 cloves garlic
salt 
pepper
splash white wine
fresh herbs (parsley and dill) chopped
lemon, ready for juicing


For the cashew cream puree the raw cashew with the water until you get a creamy smooth consistency.


For the soup, sweat the onions and garlic over medium heat to bring out the sweetness of the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. After about 5 minutes add your chopped zucchinis and cook until soft. Season again with salt and pepper and some fresh parsley. Add the cashew cream and cook for another 5 minutes until warmed through. Puree the soup with an immersion blender or scoop into a regular blender and puree that way. Serve topped with the sauteed creminis or other mushrooms (just not god awful white buttons, the absolute worst of all mushrooms. It's honestly a disgrace to all edible fungi. I think they should kick it out of the family).

For the mushrooms, get some oil in a hot pan. Add the mushrooms and let cook for about 3 minutes, getting browned. Add the garlic, season with salt and pepper. Let get slightly brown and then splash with white wine. Cook until wine reduces and then sprinkle with fresh herbs and drizzle with lemon juice. Serve immediately.

Sesame and poppyseed bagels with scallion cream cheese

I really had a craving for some good chewy bagels and wanted to try my hand at making my own. It was actually a fairly easy and quick (compared to many bread recipes) method and the results were great. I put this whole thing together in just a couple of hours.

Seeded Bagels

4 cups WWW flour
2 tsps salt
2 tbsp gluten flour
2 tsp active dry yeast
1.5 cups warm water
2 tbsp agave nectar
2 tbsp canola oil 
pot of boiling water with a bit of sugar added
seeds for coating


The first thing you want to do is make the dough by mixing the dry ingredients together and the wet ingredients together, except oil, then combine them to get your dough started. Knead the dough together until you get an elastic and soft ball, about 10 minutes. the dough should be pretty wet but not too sticky. Coat the dough ball with oil and let rise, covered, in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled in size. Punch down the dough, cut into 12 equal size pieces. Shape into thin logs, then make a ring (a bagel shape, duh) and press the two ends together until they stick. Now get your oven preheated to 450 degrees, prepare a cookie sheet with oil and dust with cornmeal, and then get your water for the bagel bath on the stove. Keep your bagels covered until you are ready to put them in the boiling water and sugar bath. Boil your bagels for 30 seconds on each side, then roll in seeds, then transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 18 minutes. Enjoy with vegan cream cheese mixed with fresh scallions and garlic.

Please note that this recipe is approximate due to the effects of humidity, flours used, etc.