Chick'n Caesar Salad. MoFo Day 19.

I love garlic! One of my favorite ways to eat it is straight up, roasted with some margarine. Sooo good. My second favorite is in caesar salad. I like my dressing so garlicy that I have to tame it down if I'm going to share with anyone so unless you are a garlic fiend like myself I suggested starting out with half the garlic I use in the recipe. When I think of caesar salad I think of chick'n, be it nuggets, fillets, burgers or other form; they go hand in hand in my mind. The best chick'n substitute out there is Scheinder's Meatless Chick'n products.
Way better than Yves. This is a super easy side for dinner or small meal, very quick to make and very satisfying. I am always trying to find lower fat versions of my favorite comfort foods so for the dressing I use an almond base. Also very simple and a good support for the rest of the flavours. I find using plain soy yogurt, you can really taste the soy and even though it is plain, it has a subtle sweetness to it that I don't think belongs in a caesar salad.

Caesar Salad Dressing:

1 cup almonds, soaked and peeled (you can leave the skins on for a more textured dressing)

water

2-3 large cloves garlic

1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

garlic salt

mustard powder

pepper

Soak almonds in water overnight. The next day the skins should pop off quite easily, just squeeze between your fingers. You can save the skins and dehydtrate them to make almond flour. Put the almonds in a food processor or high speed blender. Blend until smooth, this can sometimes take a while. Slowly add water to get the right consistency. It all depends on how thick or thin you like your dressing, I usually use anywhere from 1/2 cup to just over 1/3. While the almonds are blending, finely dice up the cloves of garlic, if you don't like your dressing too spicy I would suggest starting with just one clove. Add to the almonds along with the lemon juice and a couple shakes each of garlic salt (or powder), mustard powder and pepper. If using garlic salt, start with just a dash, you can always add more but too much salt will leave a bad taste in your mouth. Keep running processor or blender (I use a magic bullet) until super smooth. Now it's time to taste your dressing and see if there is anything you would like to add. Nutrional yeast is always a nice addition, as well as avocado!

I hope you enjoy this as  much as I do.

Soup n Burgers. I'm no food critic...MoFo Day 18!

I'm no food critic but I know what I like! Being vegan can be challenging at times when it comes to pre-made and fast foods. There are a lot of "misses", luckily I have come across a few "hits". I have been on a search for a flavourful, moist veggie burger. I still don`t know why so many companies market the burgers with egg or milk or cheese in them. They would be reaching a much larger demographic by not including any animal products but I guess that just makes the vegan finds even more special.

Today I putting the Sol Veggie Burger and Amy's Lentil Soup under the microscope.

Let's start with the burgers. What I like about these most is the fact that there aren't a whole bunch of ingredients I can't pronounce. A nice simple, clean burger that has a nice flavour, not eerily tasting of beef and not your traditional, rice or mushroom based burger. I ate the burger on a peice of sourdough with a but of kethcup, while not very exciting, I felt the burger held it's own, not needing the typical burger dressings to make it edible. However, with all the fixings I think this could please veggie's and omni's alike.

Next up is Amy's Lentil Soup. I have always been a fan of their products, while some are still not vegan friendly it is the one brand widely carried in my city that has more options than the latter. I feel like this soup is a good start but could use a little something. Salt comes to mind, as does garlic and maybe some more vegetables. It is much better than a lot of soups out there but I still think my favorite is the Black Bean Soup, perfect with diced avocados on top.

Like I said before I am no food critic, I think that's apparent but I do know good food. I give the Sol Veggie Burgers a 7.5/10 and the Amy's Lentil Soup a 6/10. Not bad for a quick lunch when you don't really feel like putting any effort into it. I'll be back tomorrow with a chick'n caesar salad and possibly some sweet treats!

Happy Birthday Kelly! Let's celebrate with cookies&cream cupcakes! Mofo 17!

Good afternoon! On this fine day, 35 years ago, my dear friend and roommate was born! In honor of this momentous occasion I decided to whip up some cupcakes. What better recipe to use than one from VCTOTW! Oreo's were on sale for 1.49 so I went with the basic chocolate cupcake with cookies  cream frosting. I even got all fancy and piped the frosting using the age old "cut hole in corner of ziploc baggie" technique. I know right! Pretty intense.

These are the first vegan cupcakes I have ever made and I must say I am very pleased. I was a little worried at first because the battery was quite thin and I thought maybe I had forgotten an ingredient. After double checking I knew I hadn't left a thing out and trusted in Isa's recipe knwoing it would be nothing short of amazing. Then I had a momentary frosting meltdown but thanks to the PPk that got sorted out real quick. I hope you will join me again tomorrow. I will be doing some product reviews. Amy's Soups & Sol Veggie Burgers. Thanks for stopping by!

Mofo 16. Cajun Chickpea Cakes from VeganDad

I love chickpeas and am always looking for new ways to use them. Besides hummus (let's admit it, it's everyone's fave) this is the ultimate use of chickpeas. This recipe is from http://www.vegandad.blogspot.com/


* I omitted the parsley, used 1/3 each of green pepper & onion, 19oz can of chickpeas and add 1/2 tsp of garlic salt and you definately need more cornstarch than listed, I used approx. 3 tbsps.

To easily form patties, use a small square of saran wrap of wax paper inside a small shallow bowl, put in mix, fold over wrap and press firmly until your cake forms, remove and plop in pan!


 

Ingredients


- 1/4 cup diced onion
- 1/4 cup diced green pepper
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 1 28oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp paprika
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp hot sauce


- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- salt and peppper to taste
- oil for frying

The Finished Product

1. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute onion, green pepper, and celery for 5-7 mins, until softened. Remove from heat.

2. Place chickpeas in a food processor along with the onion mixture. Pulse until chickpeas are no longer whole, but dont process them too much. Place chickpeas in a bowl and add spices, hot sauce, and parsley. Mix well. Add flour and cornstarch and mix well. Place in the fridge for 30 mins.

3. Heat oil in a frying pan over med/med-hi heat (around 350 degrees). Shape chickpea mixture into 12 patties and fry in batches, about 2-3 mins per side, or until crispy and browned. Flip a few times if they are browning too quickly. If you have trouble forming the patties, add some more cornstarch to hold it all together.

YUM!!!!

.

Savory Squash Soup! MoFo 15

I love making soups. I spent the day boiling veggie scraps to make vegetable broth. This was my first time doing it and I honestly don't know why I have never done this before. It's genius! Not only do you save money by not having to buy broth, but you cut down on waste by using veggie scraps that would otherwise be thrown out and you don't have to worry about recycling tetra packs. Win, Win, Win! Making your own broth is super easy. All you do is save all the scraps you would usually compost or throw out in your freezer. I'm talking EVERYTHING! Onion skins/nubs, carrot peels/ends, garlic ends, pepper seeds, caulfiflower stalks, celery greens/ends...you name it. The only things you don't really want to use in your broth is brocolli, cabbage and any other veggies that might overwhlem the flavour of the other vegetables. Cook on low heat, skimming the foam off the top as needed. This makes for a nice clear broth. The longer you cook it the more flavour you will get.

While my broth was simmering away I realized I had 1/2 of a squash and a lone carrot in the fridge that needed to be used up so I decided to make a nice creamy soup. First I  preheated the oven to 375. Then I peeled the squash & carrot and cut into 1 inch cubes. I then cut a medium onion into quarters and split the layers up. Next I tossed them in olive oil, garlic salt, sage & thyme. I layed them all out evenly on a baking sheet, popped them into the oven and set the timer to 30 mins. Then I had the pleasure of watching episode 3 of The Walking Dead. Holy fork, I don't ever want this show to end...EVER! It is so good, if you haven't tuned in do yourself a favor and dedicated a few hours to watching it, you will not regret it. Ok, back to soup. Once the veggies were done roasting, I let them sit out to cool and finished watching my show. Once it was over I headed back into the kitchen, put the veggies into the food processor with a bit of water and added some salt. That was it. Soup's on!

Ingredients:

1/2 squash of your choice, cubed into 1 inch peices
1 medium onion*, quarted, break apart layers
1 carrot, peeled and cubed into 1 inch peices
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp crushed sage
1/2 tsp crushed thyme leaves

2-3 cups water or vegetable broth
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Toss squash, onions & carrots in olive oil and spices. Roast in oven for 30 mins. Once veggies are cool enough to handle, put in food processor with 1 cup of water or broth. Blend on high until smooth and gradually add more liquid until it is as thick or thin as you like. Add salt & pepper to taste.

*You could use just 1/2 an onion as it does have a strong flavor in the soup. (I love onion!)

Maharagwe My Way! Mofo 14

In my second MoFo post I introduced you to my friends The Vegan Police, now let me introduce you to my favorite recipe posted on their forums. MAHARAGWE!!! This is such a super cheap, quick, easy meal that honestly makes so much and last for days :) I vamped it up a bit and added some more spices but this here is the original recipe it is based off of.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
1 19oz chickpeas
2 cans diced tomatoes (reserve the juice for a sauce or stew, I put mine in the freezer to be used later)
1 can coconut milk
2 tsps turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

Heat the oil in a deep pan and cook the chopped onion until it is soft and golden. Mash the beans with a fork(not too much, you want to leave som whole) and then throw them in with the onion. Add the chopped tomatoes as well. Now put in the spices. After that pour in the coconut milk and stir the ingredients*. Cover the pan and leave to simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with quinoa & garlic naan.

*Another great addition to this dish which makes it really awesome is a few handfuls of spinach & cubed tofu.

Bakemania! Vegan Mofo 13 in which I use too many !!!

I intended on getting up nice and early this morning but a bad dream kept me in it's trance for too long :( I finally dragged my butt out of bed around 9:30, the boyfriend and I hopped in the truck and headed to our friend's place! While the men worked on their trucks, us ladyfolk had a funfilled day of baking! It's been a long time since I did any baking since I am on this whole no sugar dealy, but I figured one day of fun with sweet treats in the kitchen wouldn't kill me. On the agenda, rice krispie Treats[plain & chocolate covered], snickerdoodles, chocolate peanut butter pillows and carrot muffins. We wanted to do oatmeal chocolate chip cookies as well but we ran out of time. First up are the rice krispie treats, originally the plan was to do a nice chocolate drizzle on one batch but we kind of failed at the drizzle aspect and ended up making a thin layer on top instead.

These are always a crowd pleaser and a no brainer since the recipe is right on the box! The only substitutions you need to make them vegan are dandies (or any other vegan mallow) and vegan margarine. With only 4 ingredients total and minimal time needed these are a nice quick treat! and here are the choco treats!

Next up are snickerdoodles, my favorite cookie of  them all! I first discovered these when I was 13, my Dad's wife used to make them all the time! These too are super easy to veganize, we used this recipe.
Here they are all ready to go into the oven! I like to leave out the fork smush, I find they are fluffier that way.

All puffy and ready to eat!

Next up are the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pillows which I have made a number of times! We used Isa's recipe, pretty sure it is the only one (that matters anyway).

We also ended up making a chocolate peanut butter sushi type roll with the leftovers, it cracked and broke a little but still tasted great. Unfortunately the photo does it no justice so I shall leave that to your imagination :)

Last but not least our carrot muffins that turned into carrot, apple, pecan, raisin muffins topped with coconut! We used this recipe (omitting the oil, using 2 cups of applesauce, 6 rounded tsps flax powder for the egg replacer, 1/2 cup pecan peices, 1/2 cup golden raisins, 3 cups carrot, 1 large granny smith apple). They turned out beautifully!

Of course what baking date is complete without a picture of your fabulous bakers!!! That's me on the left and Kayla on the right :) Sweet dreams >.<

vegan and so forth: Vegan MoFo: Vegan Essentials Giveaway!

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MELOMEALS: $3.33 A DAY: $65 CSN Store Giveaway!!! Enter here to win!! and ...

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Who wants macaroons? (contest)

I have a serious sweet tooth so this contest really spoke to me :) Head on over to Bitt of Raw for your chance to win some Emmy's Organics raw macaroons. OMG I am literally drooling just thinking about these delightful little balls of yummy coconut!!!