the cupcake revolution

Super Easy Southwest Quinoa

2008-07-23T19:15:00.003-05:00

This is one of my favorite dishes, party because it's so easy to make. It also has very few ingredients, and can be easily adapted to whatever you have on hand. I found the recipe in Vegetarian Times a year or two ago.

1-1/4 c. quinoa, rinsed
1 15-oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 c. frozen corn
1/2 cup salsa
1 t. chili powder
1/4 c. cilantro, chopped (optional)
2 T. olive oil

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in quinoa, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add beans, corn, salsa and chili powder, and cook a few more minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in cilantro and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Top with hot sauce, if desired.

* This is a delicious sauce we picked up at the supermercado at Midtown Global Market.

Carrot Cake

2008-07-23T19:00:00.004-05:00

All I have to say about this one is YUM! I'm pretty picky about carrot cake--I don't like raisins or nuts or big hunks of carrot in it, so I didn't include them. Of course, they can certainly be added for those of you who like that stuff.

Carrot Cake
1 c. flour
1/3 c. rice flour
1 c. sugar
1-1/2 t. baking soda
1-1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. cloves
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. salt
3 T. flaxseeds, ground, mixed with 9 T. water
2/3 c. vegetable oil
1-1/2 c. finely shredded carrots

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients and set aside. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine flax mixture and vegetable oil. Add to flour mixture and stir until combined. Add carrots. Spread batter into two greased and floured 9-inch round pans or on 9x13 pan. Bake 35-45 minutes. Let cool, then frost.

Cream "Cheese" Frosting
8 oz. vegan cream cheese
5 T. Earth Balance buttery sticks, softened
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. almond extract
a few drops of coconut extract (optional)
4 c. powdered sugar

Combine all ingredients except powdered sugar, and mix until well blended. Beat powdered sugar in one cup at a time, until frosting reaches desired consistency.

Veggie Pigs in a Pretzel

2008-06-04T21:47:00.004-05:00

I got the idea for these little guys from Vegan Dad. They were easy, tasty, and I can't wait to make them for my next party!

Vegan Pull-Apart Caramel Rolls

2008-06-04T21:44:00.004-05:00

Preheat oven to 350. Pour half of caramel sauce into an 8x8 baking dish. Cut dough into small-ish pieces and toss into the pan, then cover with remaining caramel. Bake about 30 minutes. Alternately, you can roll out the dough, sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar, then roll up and cut into rolls (proceed as with pull-aparts).

Dough
1/4 c. warm water
2 1/4 t. yeast
2-1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. soy milk
2 T flaxseeds, ground, mixed with 6 T. water
1 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
6 T. margarine, soft

Combine water and yeast in a large bowl and let stand about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the flour, and the sugar, soy milk, flax mixture, vanilla and salt. Mix well. Gradually add remaining flour and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Add margarine and knead until dough is nice and smooth again (it will feel gross and wrong for a while before it's ready). Cover bowl and let rise until doubled, about an hour and a half.

Caramel Sauce
1/2 c. margarine (Earth Balance buttery sticks work well)
2 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. soy milk
2 T. arrowroot powder

Combine 1/4 cup of the soy milk with the arrowroot and set aside. Melt margarine and brown sugar in a sauce pan, then add remaining soy milk. Boil 4 minutes, then remove from heat and stir in soy milk mixture.

Gyros

2008-06-04T21:40:00.005-05:00

I've always loved the idea of gyros, but even when I did eat meat lamb wasn't really my thing. In Europe I ate my fair share of veg gyros (or kebabs, as they're known as over there), but I wanted something with a little more substance, and I'm not a huge fan of falafel so I decided to create a gyro with mock lamb made from seitan. It's easy and delicious, so go ahead and give it a try!

Gyros
1 recipe seitan (below), chopped into smallish bits and pieces
1 small white onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced finely
3 T. olive oil
4 t. cumin
2 t. rosemary
4 t. marjoram
salt and pepper to taste
1 c. water
Cucumber-mint sauce (recipe below)
Flatbread
Lettuce, chopped
Tomatoes, diced
>>> Heat olive oil over med-high heat, then add onion and garlic and sautee until soft. Add remaining spices and continue to sautee for a minute or two, then add seitan. Cook, stirring often, until seitan begins to brown. Lower heat and add water, and cook for about 10 minutes or until most of the water is absorbed. Brush flatbread with olive oil and broil for about 30 seconds (or just stick the bread--no oil--in the microwave to get it all soft and chewy). To assemble: top flatbread with seitan, lettuce, tomato, and a drizzle of cucumber sauce. Fold, eat, enjoy!

Seitan
2 c. Vital Wheat Gluten flour
1 1/4 c. water
3 T. soy sauce or Bragg
>>> Add liquid to flour and knead for a minute or two, then divide into about six or eight equal parts and knead each one in your hand for a bit then flatten into a disc shape. Bring a pot of water to a boil then add seitan, and simmer for about 45 minute (or you can cover with water in a casserole dish and bake at 350 for about an hour). [note: you can totally skip this step by buying seitan from the grocery store, but just be aware that this recipe makes about three times that of your typical store-bought stuff, so you'll need to adjust the spices accordingly.]

Cucumber sauce
1 small cucumber, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/2 c. vegan mayo
1 t. red wine vinegar
5-6 mint leaves, chopped
pinch of salt
>>> Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor, and blend until just a few small bits of cucumber remain.

Vegan Veggie Pizza

2008-05-07T21:53:00.006-05:00

There's no better time for a pizza party than the weekend, so that's what we decided to do on Saturday night. It took me like three hours, from start to finish, to make this baby, but it was pretty yummy and slightly inventive, if I might say so. I got the idea from a pretty decent Amy's frozen pizza that I sometimes buy. But eight bucks for a pretty small frozen pizza just doesn't sit well with me, so I figured I could make it bigger and better, for less. I made a whole wheat crust, rolled it really thin, and baked it for a bit before adding the toppings. Instead of the typical tomato-based sauce, I made a caramelized onion base by slowly sauteeing a few thinly-sliced onions with about a 1/4 cup of brown sugar until they are completely gooey and broken down. Then I pureed the mixture and added a bit of red wine and balsamic vinegar. Yum. I love anything that involves caramelized onions! I topped the pizza with diced roasted red peppers, artichokes (I actually used a whole artichoke, rather than the jarred version, for the first time ever! It was quite a process, but definitely a worthwhile experience.), sliced crimini mushrooms sauteed with some garlic, and of course my personal favorite, sliced green olives. Baked it for about 20 minutes, and ended up with a giant pizza, two full tummies, and lots of leftovers.

Oh, here's the pizza that
I was trying to replicate:

Why yes, that IS homemade gnocchi

2008-05-07T21:23:00.004-05:00

I know I've found a hit recipe when my boyfriend downs two platefuls in under five minutes. We wanted to make something fun and new for dinner tonight, so I settled on the Gnocchi and Asparagus in Basil Mint Pesto from Isa over on the PPK (I'm beginning to think her vegan culinary skills are not quite of this world). It's a pretty simple dish that combines sauteed onions and asparagus with gnocchi in a lovely, lovely pesto sauce, all topped of with diced tomatoes. The thing that made this meal so exciting to me, besides its deliciousness factor, was that everything was made from scratch. Even the gnocchi. I'm so freakin' proud of myself. Yeah, I'm a dork. I've never attempted to make gnocchi before since it seemed to me on par with making my own pasta, or like, building a computer from scratch--you know, something I possess neither the necessary equipment nor the patience and skill to create. I didn't have a recipe for gnocchi, of course, so I just Google searched for a vegan recipe. I found what appeared to be a really simple recipe on a blog called Spoof (which I definitely have to start reading). Surprisingly, it was probably one of the simplest things I've made: the ingredient list consists of potatoes, flour, and salt. I've had lots of bad gnocchi, especially the kind that can be found in the grocery store. I wasn't expecting much from this, being that it was my first attempt, but the dumplings turned out perfectly chewy and just all around pleasing. Well, I guess I still need to work on the shape/appearance, but I still have lots of dough (or whatever you'd call it) leftover to practice on. Hooray for new favorites!

Banana fana fo fana ...

2008-05-06T17:51:00.003-05:00

The reason I didn't get a picture of these bars until the pan was almost empty is that, well, I pretty much just couldn't stop eating them long enough to grab my camera. Earlier this week I wanted to make something sweet and yummy and different, and I also happened to have five over-ripe bananas chilling out in my freezer. I found the recipe on the Post Punk Kitchen, made a few modifications, and ended up with a lovely, cakey, chocolate chip-y version of banana bread. Click the PPK link above for the original recipe; my slightly modified version is posted below.

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
A dash of cinnamon
5 very ripe bananas, pureed
1/2 cup canola oil
6 oz container vanilla soy yogurt
1/2 cup soy milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
12-ounce bag mini chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350. Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl mix all wet ingredients. Slowly add the wet mixture to the dry mixture until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake in a greased 9x13 pan until well-set and nicely browned on top, 45 minutes or so. *My oven tends to burn things on top while leaving the middle mushy, so I covered the pan with foil and ended up baking it for a little over an hour. After 35 minutes in the oven I checked the underside of the pan every ten minutes until I was sure the center was completely cooked.

Vegan Scones

2008-05-06T17:33:00.004-05:00

I just came across this photo on my camera (the picture is of some not-so-memorable scones I made a few weeks ago) and it got me thinking about vegan scones. Fantasizing, actually, but not about any scones I've ever made. The most heavenly vegan scones in the world, in my opinion, are made at May Day Cafe in South Minneapolis. I haven't actually been to the bakery yet, for fear of eating them out of house and scone (heh), but the Linden Hills Co-op used to get daily shipments. The scones are moist and chewy, and come in mouthwatering flavors like cherry poppyseed, apricot date, apple cinnamon, and fresh blueberry. I desperately long to recreate these delights in my own kitchen. Nothing I've tried has come close, but I won't give up until I have my own recipe for the world's most perfect vegan scones.

Miso Soup

2008-04-08T10:20:00.004-05:00

There are lots of meals that I love when I go out to eat, but never actually make at home because I don't realize how insanely easy they are. Miso soup is a perfect example. I order it pretty much every time I go out for sushi, so why haven't I ever thought to make it myself? Well, last night I actually did. Well, a version of it at least. I got a recipe from my mom for this fabulous tofu-spinach soup she makes, and with a few simple changes it turned into a miso soup of sorts. Here's my super simple recipe:

Easy Miso Soup
3-4 tablespoons miso paste (I used the brown kind, but I'm sure any will do)
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
1 package extra-firm tofu, cut into small cubes or strips
5-ounce bag of spinach (or more!), chopped

Fill a pot with about 6 cups of water. Add miso and heat to a simmer until it's all dissolved. Add ginger and tofu, and bring it to a light boil for a few minutes. Add spinach and simmer for another minute or two. Season with salt and white pepper (if you have it--mine wasn't ground yet, so that would have been way too much work for me). Serve and enjoy.

The Wonders of Tempeh

2008-03-28T12:46:00.004-05:00

One of Chris' (and mine, too) favorite dishes from Veganomicon is the Spicy Tempeh and Broccoli Rabe Pasta. I've probably made it a half a dozen times, but the version I made the other night was by far the best. In the past I've used regular broccoli instead of the rabe since the coop in my neighborhood doesn't carry that. But last weekend I randomly decided to do my grocery shopping at Minneapolis' newly remodeled Whole Foods--and of course they have pretty much anything you could ever want or need. Except pumpernickel bread, wtf? I've been quietly boycotting Whole Foods since I read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (if you've read the book, you get it). I may have felt a twinge of guilt as I entered the store, but after filling my cart with a bouquet of tulips, cans of 99-cent store brand chickpeas, and loads of super fresh produce, I have to admit I might become more of a regular again. Okay, that was quit a tangent--back to the main story. While at Whole Foods I noticed they had broccoli rabe, and I grabbed a small bunch figuring I could use it somewhere. The other night Chris was feeling down, so I figured that called for a fabulous dinner (yes, I use food to fix things). I had most of the ingredients for the spicy tempeh dish, so that's what I made. The one thing I usually do differently is really mash up the tempeh instead of leaving some small cubes. I've found that this makes it more flavorful (sort of like ground sausage) and you can't even tell it's tempeh. Well, the recipe calls for two tablespoons of tomato paste, which is something I always have on hand. I pulled the jar out of the fridge and realized that was once tomato paste was now raspberry preserves (no, it didn't morph--I reuse jars). I had a can of tomato sauce in the cupboard though, so I figured that would be a fine substitute. But after measuring out my two tablespoons of sauce, I realized that the rest of the can would probably end up getting lost in the back of the fridge and going to waste, so I just dumped the remainder in with the tempeh. It made the dish a little saucier but not at all runny, and I figure it added some extra nutrients from the additional tomato. As you can see from the photo, it's not a pretty dish (at least when I make it!), but the taste more than makes up for its appearance. Oh, and we'd already devoured our portions by the time I decided to take a picture, so that's another reason it looks so yucky.

My new favorite pastime ...

2008-03-26T22:44:00.003-05:00

Visit www.taaz.com and you will not be disappointed. It's a new website where you can upload your photo (or a photo of your significant other, celebs, etc.) and give yourself a pretty realistic makeover. I have already wasted waaaay too many hours on this one! Chris thinks he looks like a young Ted Koppel (and not in a good way, I guess). I just think I look cute and now I totally want blue contact lenses.

Oh, baby!

2008-03-09T12:28:00.003-05:00

Too cute not to post! The other day Tasha and I headed to Eau Claire to meet week-old (we share a birthday, yay) Jaron Robert, Mel and John's new bebe. He is so cute with his spiky black hair and big pouty lips--and he makes the funniest little faces. We had way too much fun hanging out with him, and seeing Mel (who looks fabulous already, btw). I can't wait for them to move back to Minneapolis later this spring!

Birthday Cupcakes!!!

2008-03-09T12:04:00.005-05:00

Since it was my birthday I decided that just one variety of cupcake would never do, so I made three: vanilla with (purple) vanilla frosting, mocha with Bailey's frosting, and choco-banana with peanut butter frosting. My initial grand idea was to make three completely different frostings for the cupcakes, but after an hour-long failed attempt at my childhood favorite--fluffy white frosting--I was out of time and energy. I ended up just whipping up a big batch of my vegan vanilla icing and dividing it into three bowls before the addition of the soy milk. In the first I added the soy milk and some blue and red food coloring to use for the vanilla cupcakes. Chris finished off the other two, adding peanut butter and soy milk to one, and a bit of Bailey's Irish Cream (we cheated--I'm pretty sure that's not vegan) to the other. It was fabulous because we ended up with three distinct frostings from a single recipe/batch.

Government Spending Explained with Cookies

2008-02-27T14:24:00.001-06:00

Baby Shower Cupcakes

2008-02-18T22:08:00.005-06:00

These cupcakes are my new favorite. I made them for Mel's baby shower this weekend, and everyone seemed to like them. I've only made them twice so far, but I'm hoping to try some fun variations eventually.

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups soy milk
2 1/8 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/8 cups sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract (yeah, sounds odd, but it gives it a nice buttery flavor)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine vinegar and soy milk, set aside to curdle. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds in). Whisk with a fork (or you can use a sifter, if that's they way you roll). In another, smaller bowl, mix the oil, extracts, and soy milk mixture. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and beat with a handheld mixer until nice and smooth. Fill greased or lined muffin cups about 2/3 full of batter, and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the tops start to brown a bit. Let cool, then douse with frosting.

Can't believe it's Vegan Frosting
1/2 cup (one stick) Earth Balance shortening
1/2 cup (one stick) Earth Balance buttery sticks
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup soy milk

(I recommend using a large bowl for this, as the frosting tends to splatter whenever I make it.) Beat shortening and margarine until fluffy, then add the sugar and beat for a few minutes. Add the vanilla and soy milk, and beat for a few minutes longer (five or so if you can make it that long) until the frosting is smooth and fluffy. Add a little food coloring, and spread or pipe onto cupcakes.

Cas-ou-let is fun to say

2008-02-18T21:45:00.003-06:00

It doesn't look like much, but this cassoulet was a pretty tasty, hearty winter dish. And it was super easy to make. All you do is sautée some veggies, add a roux, throw in a can of white beans, and let it simmer until nice and thick. Then make a simple batch of baking powder biscuits, throw little pieces of the dough on top of the whole mess, and stick it in the oven for 15 minutes or so. I added a little bit of brown sugar and sage to the biscuits, which made them extra yummy. Here's the recipe:

1 pound of potatoes (yukon gold), diced
3 cups veggie broth
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 cup frozen peas
1 can white beans

Boil potatoes until tender, about ten minutes, then drain and set aside. Make a roux by whisking broth and cornstarch, set aside. Sautee leeks, onions and carrots in a bit of olive oil until all are nice and tender--but watch the leeks so they don't burn. Stir in the garlic and thyme, and salt and pepper. Add the potatoes, peas and roux, and season as needed. Let simmer until thick, then top with biscuit dough (recipe below), and stick it in the oven at 400 for about 20 minutes, or until the biscuits are nice and fluffy and just starting to brown. Let sit for a few minutes, then enjoy!

Biscuit Topping

3/4 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup (half stick) Earth Balance shortening
a few dashes of salt
1-2 teaspoons sage
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Combine soy milk and vinegar, and set aside to curdle. Then mix dry ingredients, and cut in shortening. Slowly add the soy milk mixture, then knead the dough with a bit of extra flour until it's all nice and smooth.

When did vegan become synonymous with terrorist?

2008-02-13T15:14:00.002-06:00

As I was whiling away my morning at work with a bit of snarky celeb gossip via Jezebel.com I happened upon a post discussing this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/dining/13incompatible.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
I especially like the Anthony Bourdain book quote: “vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans ... are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit.” WHAT?!?!
The topic of the post immediately piqued my interest--er, after I read all about some celebutard's new clothing line--and I wanted to see what the commenters were thinking. Bad idea. When did vegetarians become the enemy? I had no idea we had such a bad rap, but from the comments it's pretty evident that lots of people are insensitive, ill-informed, and just plain mean. I guess I've just never really cared enough about other people's dietary choices to even say something. I'm not going to make fun of someone who's kosher--I'll probably ask a zillion questions and google it so I know more about it. I may have a huge personal problem with diets that consist solely of Doritos and Mountain Dew, but I'm not going to berate those who choose to eat that way. And though I might make tease my friends who find black pepper to be "too spicy," they know it's all in fun. I think my point is, that it surprised me, and sort of hurt my feelings, to learn that people have such harsh thoughts on vegetarianism. That's all.

Spanish Wine

2008-02-05T20:06:00.001-06:00

Our neighborhood liquor store is being remodeled, or expanded, or something, and Chris couldn't find any of our usuals, so he came back with a haul of Spanish wines ... this is our new fave.

Phyllo Delight

2008-02-05T19:54:00.000-06:00

Another Veganomicon attempt: Kasha Phyllo Pie. Basically, it's a crust of phyllo dough, with a filling of mushrooms, onions, and "roasted buckwheat groats" (which my co-op doesn't carry, so I had to go with something that's meant to be a buckwheat-based hot cereal--it worked fine, I think), and topped with another layer of phyllo dough. I really love phyllo, and though it wasn't quite as tasty as my homemade baklava, it was still pretty darn tasty.

Yet another reason not to eat meat, or work in a slaughterhouse

2008-02-05T15:42:00.000-06:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/health/05pork.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&sq=minnesota&st=nyt&scp=2&adxnnlx=1202247284-XjX2REThEN4Q/kDwDKSHQQ

Dorkiness to the Extreme

2008-01-31T10:16:00.000-06:00

So, remember that episode of The Office where Jim pops Dwight's exercise ball? Well, I am Dwight. I'm such a sloucher, and I hate my office chair, so when my cool friend Jill told me she sits on an exercise ball at work, I decided to follow suit (yes, I know, I'm such a follower!). I figured Jill's a cool chica, if she can do it and not think of Dwight, so can I. So last weekend I picked up a cheap ball at Target, and have been using it in leiu of my desk chair all week. And I love it. It makes me sit up straighter, and something about the bouncing/balancing keeps me way more focused. Also, I hope it gives me abs of steel. And just about everyone in my office has stopped in to "check out my cool ball." Yeah, I'm a trend setter. Or I'm a Dwight. Oy!

Amore Avocado Ice Cream

2008-01-29T14:41:00.000-06:00

I am a huge fan of ice cream, but don't get to enjoy it very often due to Mr. Chris' lactose intolerance (I'm still in denial about my own dairy sensitivity), and I don't really dig that soy-based stuff for some reason (except for Temptation, which is fabulously delicious). So a few weeks ago Chris comes home raving about this avocado concoction that someone's brother had in Morocco or something. I love avocados, and guacamole is one of my faves, but I couldn't imagine a mixture of avocado, soy milk, sugar and ice tasting anything like ice cream. So Chris whipped up a batch and proved me wrong. So simple, yet so exotic and delicious. All you do is blend those four ingredients (we used our 'magic bullet'), and the result is an uber-creamy, lightly sweet frozen dessert.

Ask not what your cake can do for you ...

2008-01-22T14:48:00.000-06:00

So, this past weekend the fam gathered at my parent's house for a low-key early birthday celebration for my mom. Like usual, I offered to make the cake, and my mom requested the rich vegan chocolate cake that I've made many times before. When I made it for my dad's birthday in October I layered the cake with a rich chocolate frosting and topped it with peaks of (definitely not vegan) fluffy white icing and dark chocolate shavings. It was beautiful and delicious--a winning combination, if I do say so myself. So I was planning basically the same thing for my mom. Easy, right? Nope. I think my kitchen may have been cursed over the weekend, because nothing went right. I divided the batter between two round pans and baked them until they were perfectly done. I let them cool for a bit (too long, I'm afraid) and when I went to remove them from the pans, they both completely fell apart. Each cake was broken and crumbled in bits. "Oh, well," I thought. "I still have time to whip up another cake, some filling and the frosting. No big deal." So I bagged up the ruined cake scraps and stuck them in the freezer for snacking on (they still tasted delicious), and went to work on my second cake. This one would be a simple 8-inch square, no layers, with a basic vegan frosting. But this time since it was only one cake, it must have been to thick for my crappy oven to properly bake. The top burnt and the bottom was still all gooey when I finally took it out of the oven. That one did not taste so good, and into the garbage it went. In the mean time, I was trying to boil the icing in a makeshift double-boiler. After an hour of so of the frosting not thickening up like it was supposed to I just gave up and decided we would buy my mom a pretty vegan cake from The Wedge. But alas, they had no vegan cakes that looked good, so we ended up with a pretty little white layer cake with butter cream frosting (for twenty bucks!). I did not enjoy it and I think the rest of the family enjoyed it only slightly more than I, except for Chris, who couldn't even try it because of the dairy in it. I learned an important lesson that night: Next time, just throw all the crumbs in a bowl and cover them with frosting--as long as it tastes good, my family couldn't care less what it looks like! As a side note, since my parents hadn't bothered to take down the Christmas tree, we were able to take our annual "aly and kev in front of the tree" photo, which somehow eluded us over the holidays.

Diva David: Full-fledged Fashionista

2008-01-22T14:35:00.000-06:00

Ah, Diva David, how I love to dress you in fanciful frocks like this lovely violin accented ruffly pink number by Commes de Carcons (Yes, this is an actual runway design that I cut out of an Italian fashion magazines--I don't know the designer for sure, but by the look of the outfit I took a wild guess ...).

Seitan is Not Evil

2008-01-22T14:17:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure if yellow was the best color for plating this meal, but I can assure you it tasted better than it looked. Last week I tried out yet a few more new recipes from my ever faithful Veganomicon cookbook. This meal took me two-and-a-half hours to make. No, your eyes are not deceiving you, it is what it looks like: a simple sandwich and greens (Vietnamese seitan baguette and sesame baby bok choy to be a bit more specific). What made it so excruciatingly long, was that I made the seitan. Until recently I didn't know there was any other way of obtaining this meaty delight other than tearing open a plastic pouch from the grocery store, or ordering up a nice mock duck dish at my favorite Thai restaurant (King & I Thai, in case you were wondering). In fact, it was relatively simple to make. Just mix up some vital wheat gluten with a few other simple ingredients that I can't remember, then simmer it in a broth mixture for about an hour. It made quite a bit of seitan--probably about 3-4 times as much as you get in those wimpy little store packets--and only cost me a few bucks to make. Hooray! I sliced and pan-fried the finished seitan, and stuffed it into warm baguettes along with a bit of vegan mayo, and thinly sliced cucumber and red onion. I made a spicy ginger-garlic broth (sort of like an au jus) to dip the sandwiches in. Did I mention they were delicious? The bok choy on the side was yummy and easy, and a nice departure from our usual kale or Brussels sprouts. Here's a great photo of Chris enjoying the meal:

Happy New Year (better late than never)

2008-01-11T12:07:00.001-06:00

Here are my top new year's resolutions, in no particular order. I figure if I get them out into the public domain, I'll have to feel somewhat more accountable to them.

Eliminate (as much as possible) overly-processed foods from my diet. I'm pretty good about it as it is--I've stopped buying veggie corn dogs and frozen lunches, and I've always steered clear of packaged cookies, but this year I'll do my best to say no to that occasional Oreo (or five).

Keep blogging. It's been fun so far, and a good way to share my experiences.

Recycle more. Did you know you can recycle almost all plastic bags? I've started saving produce bags, cereal bags, plastic shrink-wrap packaging and more. When the box under my kitchen sink gets full, I'll bring them all down to the plastic bag recycling bin at the co-op.

Have more adventure--or at least be open to it. Move to Morocco? Why not!

Learn Spanish. For real. I need to learn another language.

Create my own happiness in the world. Be more Zen.

Lose 15 pounds (hey, it wouldn't be a new year without that one)

Almost-Famous Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-01-11T11:48:00.000-06:00

These are probably the best chocolate cookies ever, and the great thing is they're vegan and even slightly healthier than regular chocolate chip cookies. I usually stick to my standard recipe, but the other day I improvised a bit and they turned out quite well, so I'll post that variation below.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar (I use evaporated cane sugar rather than that overly-processed white crap)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 sticks (one cup) earth balance spread (it doesn't have any hydrogenated oils and it's totally vegan so I love it, but I suppose you could use regular margarine or even butter)
1 banana (the browner the better), mashed really well or even pureed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (or more) chocolate chips
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350. Mix sugars and earth balance spread in a large bowl until nice and creamy; add banana and vanilla and mix until well blended. Mix flour, soda and salt in another bowl, then add gradually to the sugar mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and help yourself to a healthy spoonful of delicious dough! Drop spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, or until they've barely started to brown. Let cool for a few minutes and try not to eat all of them in one sitting.

Tips and Variations:

Last time I made these cookies I replaced half the flour with whole wheat flour, reduced the earth balance by half (to 1/2 cup or one stick) and added an extra banana. They turned out really good and are even healthier with the addition of whole wheat flour and less oil.
Big or small, these cookies turn out really well. When I want to get more out of a batch, I just make the dough balls a bit tinier.
Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper--cookies don't stick and it makes clean-up super easy.

Bad, Aly!

2008-01-10T15:10:00.000-06:00

I can't believe we're ten days into the new year and I haven't posted since before Christmas. I am so lazy! Christmas was wonderful and busy and crazy and fun. Then I took most of the holiday week off, so that was nice and relaxing. We got a new camera from Chris' parents, so now I have no excuse not to post pictures. But of course I'm at work, and my camera is at home, so pictures will be posted later (tonight, I hope)!.

The cutest thing ever

2007-12-21T12:07:00.000-06:00

This is video from my camera of the seals at La Jolla. So cute!!! (and if you have your sound on you can hear me being a dork and giggling like an insane child in the background)

Like a clown car, only smaller

2007-12-21T11:59:00.001-06:00

Well, I'm happy to say the first annual Aly and Chris holiday party was a rousing success. We were surprised--and thrilled--that everyone who rvsp'd to our e-vite (and then some) showed up. There were 20 of us crammed into our tiny shoebox of an apartment. We had friends from like five different "groups" so not everyone knew each other, but by the end of the night we were all so cozy that everone was bffs--er, sort of. I totally forgot to take pictures when everyone was there--probably because I could barely move. My food was a hit, and our supply of Christmas cookies was greatly reduced. For apps I made butternut squash and pumpkin seed spring rolls (vegan), panko-stuffed mushrooms (also vegan), artichoke dip (vegan, again!), and olive cheese puffs (not vegan, and the only ones that weren't gone by the end of the night--funny how that works). Yay for parties and friends and holiday cheer!!!

A Cup of Christmas Cheer

2007-12-19T12:11:00.000-06:00

I wouldn't mind being paid to bake cookies all day (or simply eat them!). On Sunday I went over my parents and spent roughly eight hours slaving over batches of the following Christmas cookies:

sugar cookies (dairy-free for Chris!)
peanut butter balls (my fav--we made almost 100 and I don't think it's enough)
chocolate crinkles (my other fav)
pizzelles
pecan cookies, topped with caramel and drizzed in chocolate (I'm afraid to even try it)
candy cane and chocolate covered cookie sticks

It was exhausting, but tons of fun. Monday I rolled out and baked gingerbread for a gingerbread house and a few gingerbread punks. And last night I prepped and assembled as much as I could deal with for our Christmas party tonight. The appetizers I'm making are all new recipes, and I'm a little nervous about that since you're never supposed to test new recipes on guests. Oh, well, at least we'll have tons of alchohol to wash it all down!

Viva San Diego

2007-12-10T19:29:00.000-06:00

Just got back from four days in sunny (to be honest it was pretty cloudy and a bit rainy during my stay) San Diego. I went out there to visit my good friend from college, Katie. We had lots of fun just hanging out, and it was really nice to get away from work and all the crap I have to think about in everyday life--not to mention the brutal weather here. We didn't really do anything exciting: went to a few parties and hung out with Katie's boyfriend JB; ate at some of their favorite local spots, like the restaurant Katie works at (I had fish tacos--my fave!); experienced the bar scene; and I helped Katie through a minor drunken breakdown after said bar scene. Katie lives in Cardiff by the Sea, which is in North County, so that area is where we spent most of our time (Del Mar, Encinitas, Carlsbad, and lots of other little towns that are all grouped together along the coast). On Saturday we headed into the city and checked out Balboa Park, which was really beautiful. I wish we would have been able to visit some of the many museums in the park, but that will have to wait until my next visit. Saturday night we bartended for Katie's dad's company's Christmas party, which was at her parents' house in Carlsbad. It was a really neat party--they had a chef come in and cook up a bunch of fun appetizers. Most of them were pretty meat-centric, but the ones I could try were really good. Anywhoo, I'll put some pics from the trip up soon. Meanwhile, I'll be freezing my butt off and dreaming of faraway lands ...

Cooking up a blizzard, maybe.

2007-11-28T13:34:00.000-06:00

As a pre-Thanksgiving gift Chris surprised me with Veganomicon, the cookbook we've both been coveting. I've had it for less than a week and I've already tried out a bunch of recipes--all of them were major successes! For dinner on Friday I made a pasta with spicy tempeh and broccoli, and it was amazing. You mash up the tempeh after it's cooked, with all the spices (fennel seeds included!) it totally tastes like sauces (but without the gross meaty texture). It was so good I not only had it for dinner on Friday, but lunch AND dinner on Saturday. I think Chris may have pilfered some of it for his midnight snack on Friday, too. On Monday I made chickpea cutlets. They were so much easier than I thought they would be since this was my very first experience cooking with vital wheat gluten. They kind of mimic those Boca chick patties, but a) are cheaper b) have way less processing c) are better because they're homemade! To go along with that we roasted some little red potatoes, carrots and parsnips (I'd never tried parsnips before, but they're really good). Last night I made spicy cornmeal-crusted tofu po' boys complete with homemade slaw and a spicy aoli I sort of threw together myself. They were delicious, and really spicy. But mostly delicious. I also made scallion flat bread, which was lovely. I really need to start taking pictures of these creations.

Vegan Enchiladas Rock

2007-11-19T15:30:00.001-06:00

Last night I discovered The Post Punk Kitchen--Chris heard them on NPR a while back. It's this vegan public access cooking show out of NYC, and it's awesome. The founders, Isa Moskowitz and Terry Romero, just came out with a new vegan cookbook called Veganomicon, and I definitely plan to get it. They have some recipes from the book posted on the website, and last night I made the Potato Kale Enchiladas with Roasted Chili Sauce. They were amazing. I think Chris had about six of them! Kale and potatoes seem like such a crazy filling for enchiladas, but it was so good we didn't even miss the meat or cheese. And I love that all the ingredients are totally normal and natural--no processed meat or cheese substitutes at all. The recipe looks a little daunting, but it turned out to be super easy--even the made-from-scratch sauce was a breeze. I used fire-roasted tomatoes from a can, which were really good, and for the peppers I just broiled them for a few minutes until the were black and bubbly, then removed the skin and seeds. Oh, and the photo above is from the website, my creation wasn't as pretty to look at, but it was sure tasty!

Almost Famous?

2007-11-19T14:54:00.000-06:00

So, Friday night a few girls and I went to see a show at The Varsity with Ari Herstand, White Light Riot, The Alarmists & This World's Fair all performing in random order (they drew out of a hat before each set). It was a really good show, and despite a little trouble getting in (it was already sold out at 9:30 p.m.!!!) we all had fun. The girls left during the last set, so I went downstairs to hang out with the bands in their "backstage" area (Chris is The Alarmists' manager). The room was like two levels below the stage and totally cavelike with stone walls and creepy doors leading to what I imagine are ancient passageways. You enter the room and are immediately enveloped in a haze of cigarette smoke. A mishmash of vintage-y chairs circle the perimeter, and wine and beer bottles litter just about every stable surface. The room is full of band members and friends, and just about everyone is drunk, or on their way to being so. The acoustic guitars come out, and suddenly everyone is singing "Hey Jude," then "Come Together" followed by a dozen other songs that everyone knows the words to (but none that I can recall right now). There was something so surreal about that experience--the music, the people the atmosphere--it felt just like a scene from a movie, and it was really cool. It's the little moments like that that make me realize just how amazing life can be and how lucky I am to live in such a cool city with such awesome people.

Hot Fudge Sundae Cake

2007-11-16T10:35:00.000-06:00

Yum! This is the perfect ooey, gooey treat to whip up when you're in desperate need of a chocolate fix.

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix in a 8"x8" square pan:

1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Add:

1/2 cup milk (I use soy milk)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix until smooth, then sprinkle batter with:

1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa

Next, pour 1 3/4 cups hot tap water over the entire thing (don't stir), and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes. Once it's all bubbly and gooey, take it out and serve (with vanilla ice cream, if possible!)

Vegan Mac & Cheese

2007-11-15T12:30:00.000-06:00

So last night during a short break in my painting fiasco (more on that later), I decided to whip up a comforting batch of my fabulous vegan macaroni and cheese. I pretty much change the recipe slightly each time I make it to accomodate what I have or don't have on hand at the time--luckily this is a very forgiving recipe and nothing needs to be too precise. I wouldn't say it tastes much like the Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese I grew up with, but it's totally hits the spot. I even tested it out on my teenage cousins and they had no idea it was a cheeseless dish--now that's success!

Ingredients

1 package elbow macaroni, shells or any other type of pasta you'd like, cooked (should make about six cups when cooked)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes (available in the bulk bins at most coops)
1/3 cup flour
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup water
4-6 teaspoons dried herbs/seasoning (I use whatever I have on hand. Last night it was basil, oregano, marjoram and a pinch of chili powder.)
Salt and pepper to your liking
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce or Bragg

Preheat oven to 350. Mix yeast flakes and flour in a small saucepan over med-low heat until they start to smell nice and toasty (but don't let them burn!). Then slowly whisk in the vegetable broth and water to form a smooth sauce. Add the seasonings, tomato sauce and soy sauce, and mix until blended. Put cooked pasta in a 9"x13" pan/casserole dish, and add sauce. Stir until all the past is coated with the sauce, then stick it in the oven for about 30 minutes. Usually I just forget about it until the timer goes off and the top is a little crusty and chewy (fine by me!), but if you like all your noodles to be tender and coated in sauce, be sure to stir it a few times while it's baking. Let cool for a few minutes, season to taste and serve. Yum!

Welcome to the Cupcake Revolution

2007-11-12T16:02:00.000-06:00

This is my place to dish on baking, bitch about work, and share my musings on life, style, and anything else that's on my mind. Let the revolution begin ...