Beeting Hearts and Half-Eaten Chocolates

Yes, I know February is over... all the Valentine's Day flowers have shriveled and died, the last few half eaten truffles have been forgotten in the heart-shaped box, and all the card companies have moved on to the next commercialized holiday (I guess that would be Easter?). But I still thought I would blog about an amazing dinner and everyone's favorite on Valentine's, boxes of chocolates.

For dinner, I made seitan piccata and stuffed mushrooms, both from the Candle Cafe cookbook along with roasted beets sprinkled with celtic gray sea salt and a dribble of balsamic glace. I had to use my heart cookie cutters on the beets, because honestly, when else can you use them if not on Valentine's day?
After seeing a post on the always fabulous Girlie Girl Army about the delicious treats from Allison's Gourmet, I decided to splurge and buy myself a box of truffles (thinking there was no way that John would figure out a way to get vegan chocolates). The box included three types of truffles (hazelnut, mocha, and almond) and three types of caramels (pecan, peanut, and chocolate) Next year I will be ordering a box full of the caramels (pecan was my favorite)! Not that I didn't like the truffles as well, but I had plenty of those to choose from....
Because to my surprise, John did a little online searching on his own and ordered me a box of truffles from Rose City Chocolatier. I was seriously impressed with his effort. This one had all kinds of flavors (hazelnut, vanilla, mandarin, coconut, pistachio, strawberry to name a few). Quality-wise they weren't quite up to the standard of Allison's truffles, but it was kind of fun to eat a box of chocolate the way I used to... take a bite and if it was a less than stellar flavor (the mandarin), I just put the uneaten half back in the box!
And as if I didn't have enough chocolate... I made chocolate covered strawberries drizzled with the last of my white chocolate chip stash. What the strawberries lacked in ripeness, the chocolate more than made up for in sweetness. The strawberries, chocolates, a bottle of champagne, and the Lush sex bomb bath bomb made for quite a relaxing evening.

Virtual Trip to PDX via Everyday Dish TV

It's been over a year since my last trip to Portland, and with the Try Vegan Week and Let Live Conference going on in the month of June; I've found myself wishing for a free plane ticket to this vegan friendly city! Instead, I think I found the next best thing.... a gastronomical tour of Portland's cuisine from right here in Houston, courtesy of Everyday Dish TV.

I started my virtual trip with a simple, yet fancy-sounding dish served at the vegan restaurant Nutshell (where there has been some recent controversy), sauteed chard with cherry ginger gastrique. This is a great way to eat more greens! The sweet yet sour sauce really helps mask the bitterness of the chard. I served this over sauteed polenta, with a side of grilled tempeh.
This next dish I was super-psyched to see, since it is the exact dish I got for dinner at the Farm Cafe.... herb crusted tofu with mushroom marsala. Although it took a bit of time to put together, this was a perfect Friday night meal to celebrate the end of the week. I think this is a tofu dish that would really impress for dinner parties, it's so crisp and flavorful! Plus you can have fun with the presentation. (and oops! I forgot to cut my tofu into pretty triangles!)
Next I tackled a recipe that has made the rounds already on pretty much every blog I've seen (and for good reason!), Julie's spicy Italian sausages. Where have these been all my life? I made a few sausages as well as some cutlets. The cutlets I sauteed in the leftover breading from the herb crusted tofu and served over pasta.... parmigiana-style. Soooo good. And I thought it was so cute to see Julie's dog roam into the kitchen during the demonstration! And to complete my tour, I had to make dessert! Chocolate mocha cake seemed like the natural choice. This is a rich, deep chocolatey cake that gets a kick from fresh-brewed coffee and a splash of alcohol (I used Kahlua versus the suggested rum). Finished with a chocolate ganache... what could be better?
I was sad to miss the vegan prom in Portland last weekend, so I took a trip down memory lane instead and dug out my high school prom pictures! Don't you just love the cheesy backdrop? Even though I did have the sparkly dress on, at least I didn't have big Texas hair! Isn't my date cute :-) Too bad he only exists in photoshop.
Thanks so much to Julie for bringing us such wonderful vegan cooking shows on Everyday Dish TV. Now hurry and go take a virtual trip of your own! Plane tickets aren't getting any cheaper....

And on another note, tune into Go Vegan Texas this coming Monday at 10am CST. I'll be cohosting with Kristen and Stacey for the show themed "Walking the Walk" where we interview Mark Hawthorne, author of Striking at the Roots. You can listen online or download the show from the archives. Should be a good show!

Let's Roast!

Veggies that is! I have been roasting vegetables like crazy the last few days. The oven has been keeping our house warm through this Texas winter cold snap! Wednesday night I was starving when I got home and so I fixed the tamari roasted chickpeas from ED&BV. Where have these been all my life? I ate close to the whole can of beans and still wanted more. I managed to save a couple to add to my dinner plate.

Amazing that I still had an appetite after all those legumes! The roasted items for dinner were: portobello mushroom (marinated in red wine, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, etc), brussels sprouts, and red bell pepper. And on the side some steamed swiss chard and quinoa. I discovered just how much I love balsamic glace swirled on my plate (makes it so fancy!) and sopped up with roasted veggies. This stuff is worth searching out and buying!

And alongside a salad last night, we had perfectly roasted cauliflower, tossed with just a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and finished with lemon juice and fresh parsley.
A healthy start to the new year, if I do say so myself! Oh, and I took another step towards fulfilling my resolutions and signed up for an 8-hour cake decorating course here in Houston (spread out over four weekends). And thankfully, we get to bring our own icing and cake, so I can ensure that they are vegan :-) Can't wait to report on my learnings... Enjoy the first weekend of 2008!

Overcoming Fear of Fillo

Okay, so it's not the scariest thing in the world, but I was pretty nervous working with phyllo (aka fillo or filo) dough for the first time. My mission was to recreate the wild mushroom phyllo tart we had at our wedding. So I sauteed up some cremini, shitake, and woods ear mushrooms along with some shallot (which was way too strong, should have trusted my onion instinct, less is more!), added some dry vermouth, and thickened it up with a mixture of cornstarch and soy milk. Finally I added some chopped parsley. Now we're ready for the dough....

I followed all of the tips I found on the web. Defrosted for 24 hours in fridge, let it come to room temperature before opening, lay out dough on wax paper and cover with damp cloth, and work as fast as you can!! I had never seen phyllo dough before, so I was surprised at how dry and paper thin it was. Pretty much all of the "pages" had tears in them on the sides, but this didn't seem to matter. Here are the steps I took.... (like I'm some kind of expert, ha!)

1. Remove the damp cloth from the phyllo sheets.
2. Lay out a single sheet of phyllo on a dry surface, I covered mine with wax paper.
3. After spraying with olive oil, then layering a second sheet on top, add the filling on top of the phyllo sheet.
4. Roll it up, I just kind of winged this part and did what seemed easy. Maybe next time I'll try little triangles or something fancy.

5. Place the phyllo rolls in the oven. Mine cooked for about 20 minutes.
6. While you're waiting for them to cook, enjoy a glass of homemade cider (John is the brewer).
7. Enjoy your dinner with some broccoli on the side!


The verdict? Working with phyllo was actually relatively easy. You just have to be careful with the sheets to not rip them more than they already are. I wasn't totally crazy about the filling. Maybe too much shallot, maybe the wood's ear mushrooms were too strong. But I am not giving up (John begged me not to). Plus I think I'm now comfortable enough to make some of those Moroccan phyllo rolls from ED&BV to go along with our Thanksgiving dinner!

This was not the only first of the evening. Carob chips have made their debut in my mouth. I bought a bag out of curiosity... if Veggie Girl likes them so much, why shouldn't I? I made the mistake of trying one straight out of the bag (which I later learned is a mistake us non-carob lovers should not make). After consulting the Carob Queen, she directed me to her own S'mores muffins. I had to give them a shot...



Do you like my ode to carob via cookies (shhhh, they're chocolate!)? My only changes were using cocoa powder (had no carob) and instead of graham cracker I used these cookies. The result was a not-too-sweet muffin with yummy bits of melted marshmallow... and carob! I actually didn't mind it baked! I'm not saying I'm in love or anything, but I liked it enough to keep trying it. I think my taste buds just need to adjust. Thanks Liz for the motivation to try it!

Okay, I need to go back to my comfort zone for a few days now....

**Update** Had two of the s'mores muffins for breakfast this morning and they got even better overnight!

His Choice

When I first started cooking (maybe two years ago, before that, I relied on restaurant food and cereal), I made lots of simple salads. After all, they are easy and versatile and good for you! Since developing my fondness for cooking, I must say that I tend to want to try more complicated things in the kitchen. John always begs for salads, so to appease him, last night we had the Roasted Portabello Salad with spicy mustard dressing from Veganomicon.

The salad did not disappoint. The roasted mushroom was tender and juicy, and the aroma of garlic and red wine filled the house to our delight. While I usually add a bit of mustard to vinaigrette's that I make, this recipe called for a large amount of spicy mustard. What a difference! The mushroom, dressing, salad greens (with fresh herbs, I love cilantro in my salads), avocado, and chickpeas all came together beautifully in this salad. It was one of those salads where I plan my final bite to include a bit of everything, so the flavors can all join forces in my mouth. Am I the only person who does this?

Haunted Halloween Treats

Saturday night John and I went to a Halloween bash.... yes! An excuse to make cute Halloween cupcakes and other vegan munchies. And, since I have now become addicted to scrapbooking (working on one for my wedding and the other will be a few pages for every month of our first year of marriage....I know, dorky), I even made cute little Halloween-themed signs. I had been so excited about my idea to use those little spider rings you got as a kid for cupcake decorations. I call them my Creepy Crawler Cupcakes.

Recipe for the chocolate cupcake and vegan buttercream frosting (dyed orange) from VCTOTW. And, I discovered the secret for making cupcakes disappear at parties ... make them mini! I think full size cupcakes are too much of a commitment for parties, people want bite-sized items. So I just shortened the baking time to about 14 minutes. And what better way to display my mini-cupcakes than in my new mini-cupcake tower! These were gone before the end of the evening.
I was also in the mood for hummus, and lots of it, hence my Tricky Trio of Hummus. Clockwise from the bottom right: sesame peanut hummus (from Everyday Dish DVD), sun-dried tomato and caper hummus (modified from Everyday Dish DVD), and regular hummus (from Vive Le Vegan). I love Dreena's hummus recipes, and I love how quick and easy it is to make them! For dippers, we had pita chips, baby carrots, sugar snap peas, and rice crackers.
And finally I made another favorite appetizer of mine, Spooky Stuffed Shrooms from VWAV. I substituted panko for regular breadcrumbs, I just love the crunchiness. Party goers popped these like candy, I should have doubled the recipe! But I did save some of the stuffing for our dinner last night, just put it in portobellos instead. I think I even got a conditional invite to another party from someone I barely knew, as long as I brought some of these!
I love baking with a theme! I think I will need to do some more Halloween-themed baking before Wednesday. Of course, you are all probably wondering if we went in costume. Well, yes, sort of. Neither John nor I get very excited about dressing up, so we went for something that wouldn't involve any effort, and something we thought was appropriate for us. So we went as an office couple "caught in the act". You know.... my shirt on inside out, his tie loosened, our hair disheveled, lipstick smeared on both of our faces. It was subtle but cute, especially since we met in the office! It was the best costume scare we dared to bare.

Stacked Shroom

Yes, I promise, there's a mushroom somewhere in there!!


Last night I made a variation on a simple dinner from the Vegetarian Times Cookbook. The roasted portabella mushroom is stacked with steamed spinach on the bottom, orzo tossed with sauteed zucchini, red bell pepper, the mushroom gills, toasted pumpkin seeds, and parsley, and topped off with roasted grape tomatoes! A light and healthy dinner, plus there was plenty of extra filling leftover for a cold salad. If you haven't made those roasted tomatoes, do it now! I was meaning to save some for a tempeh sandwich, but they were irresistable, so I will have to make some more tonight!!

More later today on a bit of a change up in my food eating routine....

Family Breakfast

This weekend my grandparents and aunt visited Houston, so this morning John and I drove out west to join them at my parent's home for breakfast. It was one of those breakfasts that leaves you pleasantly full, plus you feel like you've put something healthy in your body. Here is my yummy plate....

My mom gets credit for the amazingly yummy waffles and fruit salad. The waffle recipe is from VWAV, the Oatmeal-Banana-Raisin Waffles, minus the raisins. We topped them with fresh bananas, blueberries, pecans, and maple syrup. Mmmmm, so good, I'd been craving waffles for awhile now.

My contribution was mini crustless tofu quiches from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. I got up early this morning to try this recipe out, and I thought they turned out well, nice and light and a perfect compliment to the waffles. In addition to mushrooms and red peppers, I also added some bakin bits. Here they are garnished with some fresh chives:

My only mistake I think was leaving them in the muffin pan while I went to take a shower. When I came back there was a lot of moisture built up in the pan (it's been insanely humid here the past few days), making it difficult to remove the quiches. But they were still tasty, everyone tried them and gobbled them up. Next time I think I will try different veggie combinations and maybe making a big quiche in a pie crust, the possibilities are endless!

Another quick breakfast this week, my favorite smoothie. Half a banana, frozen strawberries and mangos, ground flax seeds, a spoonful of peanut butter, and plenty of vanilla soymilk. Couldn't help but show it off in my VeganDish mug....

And finally, a yummy dinner from this past week that we tried for the first time, Quinoa Hummus Casserole from Vive Le Vegan. The roasted vegetables (zucchini, red pepper, fennel)were perfectly cooked and the creamy hummus paired with the quinoa made for a protein-packed meal. Another recipe that has lots of variations, different kinds of grains, different kinds of hummus, and an endless number of vegetables to top it off with.

Boston Part One: The Food

Well, we made it back! I have missed reading everyone's blog and I'm hoping to make lots of visits in the next few days! Like others have done with their recent vacations, I'm splitting my posts on Boston over the next few days. I'm going to make everyone wait to hear about the wedding cake, but don't worry, it's coming soon! First, here's some of the yummy vegan cuisine from Boston and surrounding areas...


My favorite dish of the trip by far was actually not from Boston or even Massachusetts! John and I drove up to the White Mountains of New Hampshire to escape wedding planning during the week. Thanks to our B&B's recommendation (The Bartlett Inn) we tried the White Mountain Cider Company Restaurant. The chef created a unique and delicious dish especially for me. There was a zucchini stuffed with corn, asparagus, and chanterelle mushrooms. Underneath was a mouth-watering tomato-based sauce surrounding by more of the filling and purple potatoes. I thought the presentation was phenomenal. I highly recommend a meal here if you're ever in the area!






We had high hopes of climbing Mt. Washington, but alas, the weather was not cooperating. It all turned out well though, as we spent a relaxing day in our cottage and driving around the White Mountains. We stopped at Pinkham Notch to check out the trailhead we would have taken and got some lunch there.... veggie chili! It was just cool enough outside to eat this surprisingly spicy chili. Lots of zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, black and kidney beans with some whole grain bread. Made me want to snuggle up with John next to a fire and take a long nap.

Back in Boston, sort of. Thursday we had two tastings to attend (trying to decide between wedding caterers). Between the two we were trying to escape the rain in Beverly, MA and I remembered the Organic Garden Cafe. So we stopped there and I had a raw chocolate brownie with some fresh cashew milk. I was surprised that I liked the brownie so much, raw desserts tend to taste more like dates than chocolate, but I was pleasantly surprised. The cashew cream on the brownie was especially yummy.

The next day we returned for lunch. I started with a cup of their cold zucchini lemon bisque. It was delicious and refreshing.

Then I had a hummus wrap with veggies. Sorry for the blurry photo. I enjoyed lunch, my soup was definitely the favorite. Can't wait to return and try some of their other menu options when we're back in September!

And finally, while spending a beautiful Saturday in downtown Boston, we detoured slightly and stopped for lunch at T.J. Scallywaggles for vegan pizza!! I asked for the most popular pizza, and the swift response was the Chikhin BBQ. I was in heaven being able to order a pizza and not ask about the veganess of the dough, ask to hold the cheese, check and see if there's dairy in the tomato sauce, etc. Another cool thing that I've never seen at a restaurant before was a book with all their ingredients they use and the labels with nutritional information.

More tomorrow on our cake tasting trip as well as other wedding planning excitement!

Comfort Food

This week has been all about comfort food. That and easy food. Monday night I got semi-creative and just threw together a dish, something I rarely do since I like the control of using a recipe (must work on that). So I took some tempeh and broccoli that were sitting in the fridge and probably would have gone bad otherwise. I steamed them together then topped it with leftover coconut curry sauce from the manicotti dish (last post). The result was actually a pretty yummy dish, certainly easy to make. Plus it was a good tempeh comeback. We haven't really given tempeh a fair shot, so I'm go to try and mix it in more often.


After a few nights of eating out on the run, I needed something refreshing and filling. So I went with a slightly odd combination, but that's what I felt like. First off is one of my favorite salads, summer fruit with spinach. The fruit includes strawberries, blueberries, and mango (I used a champagne mango, fancy sounding, huh?). Along with the spinach I toss in plenty of toasted almonds and pistachios. The dressing I use is about equal parts oilve oil and flax oil, along with some white wine vinegar and agave nectar with a healthy dose of poppy seeds. The result is a refreshingly sweet salad with a nutty crunch that you will love! I made my own version of this after tasting something similar at a local restaurant here in Houston, Ruggles. Of course, their version comes with bacon. Please explain to me why you would ruin such a lovely salad with bacon?!?



On the side I had one of my favorites, mashed sweet potatoes with cashew butter, maple syrup and cinnamon. I'm sure I've posted these before, but they are like heaven to me....


Last night after meeting some friends out for drinks, we came pretty buzzed (okay, that was mostly just me), always a fun time cooking dinner in that state of mind. The day before at the grocery store, there must have been a mistake, because I got fresh morel mushrooms for $5.99/pound. How crazy is that! So we sauteed them in some Smart Balance. Along with the mushrooms we had Quinoa with Tofu and Asparagus from the recipes at Whole Foods website. This dish has so many wonderful flavors that blend together; lemon, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic. Plus the asparagus was perfectly cooked and tofu and quinoa added the perfect texture.



And finally for the ultimate comfort food, chocolate pudding. Triple chocolate pudding to be exact thanks to Julie Hasson from the Everyday Dish DVD. This was by far the richest, smoothest homemade pudding I've ever had. I topped it with some golden raspberries I saw at the grocery store, which I've never seen before. They are apparently a naturally occurring variant of red raspberries, but their yellow color is inherited through a single recessive gene. They were delicious, very similar to a red raspberry. Try some if you can find them because they have a short season and limited availability! But certainly try the pudding....

The British Vegan Conspiracy

I couldn't help but laugh at some of the latest vegan-related media coming out of the UK. First up is a piece from meatinfo.co.uk, which straight away explains their bias. Here is a link to their article entitled, "Is There A Secret Vegan Plan?". It reveals that the British government has a secret plan to turn the nation vegan, largely in part due the climate impact of factory farming. They also report that the National Farmers' Union president stated that there may actually be benefits for the environment with more intensive farming of livestock. Huh? Not surprising given who he represents. He has also made calls to the British consumers to purchase more lamb and support increased meat prices. This week is 11th National Barbeque Week in Britain, which I think should be renamed "Mad Cow on the Barbi"....

Also, this week Heather Mills announced that she was vegan (thought she was already?), and she was slammed (for slamming factory farming) in this article. The reporter seems to have a bit of a sore spot for Heather....

Back on the homefront, last night I tried out a new recipe and an awesome sauce. John's love of mushrooms led me to Truffled Wild Mushroom on Whipped White Beans from the April 2007 issue of Vegetarian Times. I used portobello, shitake, and oyster mushrooms and subbed dried thyme for fresh (much less than the recipe called for). This dish led me to purchase truffle oil for the first time (have only tried it once before at a restaurant), which has a very distinctive, rich flavor. The whipped white beans were delicious and could have easily passed for a healthier version of mashed potatoes.

On the side we had some steamed kale with cashew cream sauce from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen. The sauce was excellent, a perfect balance to the bitter kale. And luckily it made plenty of leftover sauce! I used the option of adding nutritional yeast. The ingredients sounded kind of funny to me, but trust me, you'll love it.

We also tried some ripe apriums, according to wikipedia a complex cross hybrid of plum(25%) and apricot (75%). You really can taste both plum and apricot! Finally, I had some yaya's coconut kream pie (raw and organic) that I purchased at the farmer's market. It was such a refreshing dessert on a warm evening. Plus I think their ingredients list is so cute!