Vegan MoFo Day 30: Last Day!

It's the last day of Vegan Mofo!! Yea! It has been really fun. It seems like the month just flew by. Congrats to everyone who participated! Even if you didn't do a post every day, every post counts. I haven't been able to keep up with the google feed. I apologize for not visiting everyone's blog often, but I'll make my way through the old posts slowly. Be prepared for random comments on everything four months from now.

For today, I made a couple of recipes from Appetite For Reduction and I am in love. I can tell you right now, these are going to be regular meals in my house. They are very low in points and so satisfying. The korma is a great way to use tons of veggies in your dinner. You can toss most veggies in there without a problem. It's great. And curried chickpeas with greens has been a favorite dish of mine at Indian restaurants for years. Every time I tried previously, the spices or texture was off. I'm so glad I now have a recipe to make it right!

Curried Chickpeas and Greens 

2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma 

Vegan MoFo Day 29: My Favorite Cookbooks

I want to give a shout out today to some of my favorite cookbooks that I use regularly. I've mentioned some of them here and there, but some of the ones I neglected this month need their own shout out, since I didn't get to share one of their recipes (I should have planned this MoFo better). Any (or all) of these would AMAZING gifts for this gift-giving season.

1) Vegan With A Vengeance: This book totally changed my cooking. Before this, my vegan cooking mainly took the form of omni recipes with mock meats in place of the meat. Not very tasty. VWAV taught me how to cook. The Scrambled Tofu, Pancakes, Basil-Tofu Ricotta, Matzoh Ball Soup, and Brooklyn Pad Thai have become indispensable regulars on my kitchen table because they're quick, easy, or the very best thing I've ever eaten.

2) Yellow Rose Recipes: I make the Tamale Pie from this book often. It's tastes fantastic and it's so easy to throw together. Actually, that's an accurate description for all the recipes in this book. So quick and easy and delicious. It's out of print now, so if you're lucky enough to have snagged one, keep it close to your heart. If you don't have it, try to snag one of the few used copies available out there.

3) The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur: I just got this book and I'm already in love with it. Just browsing the recipes takes all day because there are SO many. I've only made the Soft Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies so far because that's all I had on hand, but everything looks so good. Some of the creative recipes in here include Piña Colada Cookies, Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, Thin Mint-type cookies, Chocolate Peppermint Cream Bars, S'mores Bars, classics like snickerdoodles and chocolate chip, and an entire section of no-bake cookies for those summer days when turning the oven on is out of the question. I can't wait to get in there and start making everything.

4) Anything at all by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and/or Terry Hope Romero: I am convinced that these two wonderful women are literally unable to make a recipe that isn't delicious. Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World is the reason I'm known as the cupcake girl wherever I go. The Magical Coconut Bars from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar are truly magical, as they seem to disappear from the pan within moments of making them. Viva Vegan puts canned refried beans to shame and makes me hate Taco Bell. Veganomicon made me star of many potlucks. And Vegan Brunch has replaced the question "What should I make for breakfast?" with "What ELSE should I make for breakfast?!" Don't get caught up in the assumption that this is only for breakfast, though. The quiche, crab cakes, and sausages are just a few of the recipes that are wonderful for lunch or dinner as well.

5) Appetite for Reduction: This one's not out yet, but I already have it on pre-order. It's another one of Isa's--filled with healthy, wholesome recipes. If you head over to Amazon, you can use the "Look Inside" function to check out the table of contents. I dare you to read it and not pre-order the book. It's impossible

Vegan MoFo Day 27: Broccoli-Potato Soup with Fresh Herbs

This recipe is from the amazing cookbook, Veganomicon. If you don't have this book, I feel very sorry for you, because your life is incomplete. Seriously though, get it. The recipe calls for dill and mint, but you can substitute any fresh herbs or leave them out altogether.  

Broccoli-Potato Soup with Fresh Herbs

2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion, Medium - Cooked
3 Garlic Clove
1/2 tsp Tarragon, Dried
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt
6 cups Organic Vegetable Broth
2 lb Potato, Fresh Raw
4 cups Broccoli
1/4 cup Dill Weed, Fresh
1/4 cup Fresh Mint

Heat a soup pot over medium heat. Satué the onion in the olive oil for 5 to 7 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic, tarragon, black pepper, and salt, and cook for 1 more minute. Pour in the vegetable stock and add the potatoes. Cover and bring to a boil. Once the soup is boiling, lower the heat and let simmer for 15 more minutes. Add the broccoli and cook for 15 more minutes.

Use an immersion blender to blend about one-third of the soup; we like to keep it chunky with lots of whole potato chunks. If you don't have an immersion blender (get one!), transfer about one third of the soup to a blender of food processor and purée, then add it back to the rest of the soup.

Add the fresh dill and mint, then let the soup sit for about 10 minutes to let the flavors meld. Serve!

Vegan MoFo Day 26: Potatoes

 
I love oven roasted potatoes. I could eat a million. The best part is that it's so simple to make. I usually put the cut up potatoes, and maybe some onions, in a big bowl (leave the skin on) and sprinkle seasonings over the top. I change the herbs I use based on what else I'm making for dinner, but I find that a simple blend of salt, pepper, and a little Italian seasoning mix go with most dishes. Then you just have to toss the potatoes around to get them evenly coated and put them in a baking dish that has been sprayed with olive oil. Cover with foil. Bake at 425 degrees for 40 minutes or until tender. Check on them often while they bake and stir them around so they don't stick.

Vegan MoFo Day 25: Happy Thanksgiving!

My favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner is the stuffing. I used to make Stove Top every year. Every flavor has chicken broth or milk or something, so when I went vegan, I switched to Pepperidge Farm. But I felt it was time for my stuffing to grow up. Most of what I eat doesn't come from a box/package. Why should stuffing be any different? I wanted a "plain" stuffing without sausage or nuts or whatever. A thread on the PPK forums led me to this recipe. Perfect! Everyone in my family loved it.

Because it was such a hit, I took it a step further. I had seen this recipe for stuffing wrapped in puff pastry and it was on my mind, so now that I had a really good stuffing recipe, I went for it. I used store-bought puff pastry, but you can make your own if you're up for it. And I used Gimme Lean Sausage in place of the sausage. It was amazing. One modification for next year: a layer of thick gravy in the center, Stuffin style (seriously, check out those stuffins; they're amazing).

Along with that, I also had Tofurkey (of course). I roasted it with potatoes, onions, and carrots.  Super yum.