The Brunch Crawl

Every Sunday afternoon, my neighborhood is overtaken by drunken yuppy hipster brunchers literally crawling from one brunch hangout to another. Unfortunately, just about the only vegan item on the menu is a mimosa or a bloody mary (which I'm happy to partake in, but it leaves a girl needing some food!). So now join me on my own mini brunch crawl, courtesy of the fabulous new Vegan Brunch cookbook, as I take you from the savory all the way to the sweet.

First up are the Chesapeake tempeh cakes with a tangy remoulade sauce. Holy moly these things are tasty. For those of you that are tempeh-haters, give this recipe a try and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Really, you can't go wrong with capers and panko. If you don't have Vegan Brunch yet, you are in luck because this recipe is online.
After a few failed previous attempts at making vegan omelets, this recipe made it so easy! I filled my omelet with roasted plum tomatoes, grilled asparagus, melted teese, and fresh basil. I could have eaten ten of these things they were that good. On the side are baked hashbrowns, a nice variation to the typical fried version.
Oh, the bagels. Now I know making bagels sounds a bit daunting to some but you must try it (plus people will be impressed). I literally ate three bagels 20 minutes after they came out of the oven, I couldn't stop myself. The toppings were a bit finicky with them coming off in the boiling water, but it was all worth it. I made an assortment of cinnamon-sugar, poppy seed, and sesame seed bagels. They were perfect plain but my favorite way to eat them was toasted and slathered with some tofutti.
And now moving on to a few sweeter items.... these are the bakery style berry muffins. I used a mixture of frozen raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and a few frozen strawberries. These muffins had a delicate crumb... so delicate that a few of the berries exploded out (result of no muffin liner, but hey, that's bakery style!), but they were eaten regardless.
And the sweetest of all, really a dessert, the East Coast coffee cake. I followed Isa's suggested variation of adding both frozen raspberries and chocolate chips. This is a sure way to win over your friends and family when hosting vegan brunch.
So don't crawl, don't walk, run and get a copy of Vegan Brunch. You will have people lining up at your door for good food and good times on a Sunday afternoon! Oh, and don't forget the mimosas.

Dust Off the Shelf - Uncheese, Kitch, & Maximus

I mentioned a few posts back that I have been struggling somewhat to find cooking inspiration. Reviewing many of my recent posts, it may appear to my readers that all I eat are cupcakes and treats! While I do tend to indulge in something sweet once a day, the bulk of my daily food intake is actually quite healthy. All I had to do to find a little inspiration (in addition to your suggestions... thanks!), was dust off my cookbook shelf and rediscover all the recipes I already have at my fingertips! So, I'm going to be doing a series of "Dusting Off the Shelf" where every few weeks I'll make a recipe from 3-4 predetermined cookbooks, with particular attention being given to those I use less or that have been a new addition to my ever-growing and hopefully now less dusty shelf.

First up: The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook, Skinny Bitch in the Kitch, and Gastronomus Maximus.
The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook is one of those books on my shelf that I have yet to make a single thing from.. embarassing I know! I chose to try the Broccoli and Rice Casserole since it's a dish that I recall fondly from my childhood. This version was super simple to prepare and required minimal ingredients. If you are a fan of noochy rice, this one is for you.
I was one of the lucky recipients of Amey's holiday zine, full of wonderful recipes and adorable drawings. This recipe for Quinoa with Brussel Sprouts and Tempeh is originally from Fresh Food Fast. I used a mixture of red and regular quinoa to add some color to this healthful dish. (and shhhh... I also made a cookie recipe she put in the zine as well ;-)
The arrival of my Skinny Bitch Total Body Workout video reminded me to revisit Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. I am a big fan of their "Down Home Cookin" section (e.g. the meatloaf), so I took a chance on the Sloppy Joe recipe. My mom calls these "yummies" but I always called them "yuckies". Maybe I just needed to try the vegan version, because now I agree with my mom. Oh, and I made my own buns using Vegan Dad's recipe.... not sure if I have the patience to wait 5 hours for buns ever again, but they sure were good.
To accompany the Sloppy Joes, I also made potato salad, yet another Southern dish that I've been avoiding all of my life. And once again proving that vegan versions are far superior... I couldn't get enough of this stuff. The veganaise, the sweet pickle relish, the dill, mmm mmm! Bring on summer picnicing season (not so far off here in Houston) because I'm ready with my potluck dish to share!
And even though it wasn't included in last week's assigned cookbooks, here's a bonus dessert from My Sweet Vegan, the triple threat chocolate cheesecake. It pleased a table full of omnivores with it's rich, chocolatey, creamy layers.

VeganMoFo: The Best Thing About Jury Duty

Sleeping in and making a big breakfast! This is my first time being summoned for jury duty, so please excuse my excitement. In order to serve my country to the best of my abilities, I want to arrive focused and ready to objectively analyze the facts (or just sit and knit till I am released to go). And what better way to prepare myself than eating biscuits with tempeh sausage gravy ala VWAV and coconut milk soy yogurt on the side? I'll let you be the judge of that.

I'm off to the courthouse!

Invasion of my Wok

It was just like any other ordinary evening. After prepping the veggies I got out my wok to start stir frying. I casually grabbed the bottle of olive oil and drizzled a bit in the pan, turned my back to grab a spatula for only a moment, then returned to my wok to find this weird little guy looking back up at me.
You know how sometimes you see produce that is just so beautiful that you put it in your basket and forget to check the price until you see it flash on the computer screen at check-out? This happened to me with some gorgeous graffiti eggplants (not sure why I didn't photograph it), now forever known as the $7 eggplant. I kept it simple and served the eggplant napoletana style with artichokes, tomatoes, and capers from VWAV. Being a somewhat picky eggplant eater, I thought the graffiti eggplant had a milder flavor, but probably not quite worth the high price!

I recently picked up a copy of Vegan Express and have been meaning to try out a recipe from it. Wow, do I love how fast this meal got cranked out... grilled polenta with spinach, black beans, and sun-dried tomatoes (I also added a few chipotles in adobe sauce). This meal also reminded me how much I love my grill pan!
And after dining at the real Candle Cafe in NYC back in July, I dusted off my Candle Cafe Cookbook to make the tempeh scallopini. You honestly can't go wrong with a mushroom sauce made with wine. This sauce theme was continued later in the week when I made purple hull pea and quinoa croquettes with mushroom sauce from VWAV (but the picture turned out kind yucky).
I am so ready for the weekend! We have our first Houston Vegan Knitters meeting on Sunday at Field of Greens, and I think I'm going to attempt veganyumyum's knit cupcakes for the occasion! Oh yeah, and I turn 29 on Monday....

PPK: The Texas Gathering

That's right, a room full of vegans with lots of homemade vegan food, two adorable chihuahuas named Charlie and Betsy, the game Apples to Apples, and all in Texas! This past weekend I made the drive up to Austin to attend a ppk potluck, done up Texas style. I made cupcake toppers especially for the event (oh, and cupcakes too... lemon macadamia with lemon buttercream and chocolate with peanut butter filling and chocolate ganash), because every Texas event has to include our lone-star studded flag (and here is a fun factoid for yall, we are the only state allowed to fly the Texas flag at the same height as the US flag because we entered the nation by a treaty rather than annexation).

Look at all the food!! For more food porn, visit here.

Here is my plate, I think I sampled pretty much every dish that was there. Let's see if I can remember them all (from the top moving clockwise): lasagna, macaroni salad, tempeh salad (which I also made), fruit, pasta salad with tofu, enchiladas, and in the center some carrots with ranch dip. I ate my dessert plate so fast I didn't take a picture, but I had a toffee bar, a chocolate chip cookie, and a cupcake.
And since someone asked for the recipe on the ppk boards, I figured I would list it here too. All ingredient amounts are approximate since I usually just toss them in and taste test until it's right. There were a few tempeh virgins at the potluck, and I didn't hear any complaints!
Southern Tempeh Salad
Ingredients:
1 8 oz. package of tempeh
1/2 cup vegan mayo
1 T vegan sour cream (optional)
2 T chopped fresh dill
1 T fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup red graped, halved
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

1. Cut the tempeh into cubes and steam for approximately 10 to 12 minutes. Place tempeh in a bowl. Mash the tempeh with a fork so that no whole cubes remain.
2. Once the tempeh has cooled a bit, add mayo, sour cream , dill and lemon juice. Adjust amounts as necessary.
3. Add chopped celery, grapes, and walnuts and combine. Season with salt and pepper. 4. Chill and serve.

Here's the Texas Gathering crew! I had fun getting to know other ppkers/Texas vegans. Of course, we all kept forgetting everyone's actual names and called them instead by the ppk name. I almost made cupcake toppers with everyone's avatar... next time I guess. Hopefully at our next gathering, I won't be the only Houstonian!

And a trip to Austin in the spring wouldn't be complete without gratuitous bluebonnet pictures. I thought about posing one of my little cuppies with them (as pretty much every parent does with their child), but was afraid the sun might melt the buttercream. Can you spot the ladybug that instead posed for me in the picture?

A special thanks to the ppkers who organized and hosted this monumental event!

See? I Have Been Cooking...

Looking back on my posts from the last few weeks, there has been very little vegan noodle-made food! That comes along with being out of town and just being generally busy (like everyone else isn't and you're still cooking fabulous dishes, puts me to shame...) and not cooking anything too spectacular. But I thought some of these were definitely blog-worthy. Let's see if you agree.

Here is the spinach tarragon "quiche" from V-con. It was different from other vegan quiches that I've tried because it's not made with tofu, but navy beans and walnuts and asparagus. I subbed dill for all of the tarragon, just because I needed to use it up. We both really enjoyed this dish, plus I thought it was kind of pretty. Oh, and I was really proud that I made the crust on my own, usually I just cheat and use the frozen ones.


A side and up-close shot of a slice. I served this with a simple spinach salad topped with pine nuts and grape tomatoes (and I think avocado, but I don't see it in the pic and I've since forgotten). I think next time I would top it with some balsamic glace to finish it.

The Sunday before last, my family came over for brunch since my brother was in town for a bachelor party (impressive that he made it to our place on time!). My mom was awesome enough to make cinnamon rolls from JOVB. Yum yum yum. This is the one I saved for the next morning when I was up in Calgary.

My contribution was another V-con recipe, the blue flannel hash, fitting since my latest obsession has been with blue/purple potatoes (I have a bag in the pantry, any suggestions on what I use them for next?). And of course you can never get enough tempeh.

And finally, for dessert, the lower fat deep chocolate bundt cake from V-con. It really was some seriously deep chocolate, thanks to the coffee I'm thinking. My first bundt cake ever too. I was so glad to have a piece of this on the plane ride (and shhhh, for breakfast)


I was recently tagged by LizzyQ to tell all you readers five things about myself. So, here you go...
1. I have never owned a pet (excluding inheriting my best friend's two hamsters when she moved to Singapore). But I would like to someday if we live in a place with an actual yard. I'm thinking I'm a dog person, mainly because I'm allergic to cats.
2. I am eligible to run for president in 2016. I figured this out when I was about twelve.
3. I have never eaten a fast food hamburger. As a kid I thought they were disgusting.
4. I have been married 169 days / 4063 hours / 243803 minutes / 14628214 no 15 no 16 seconds
5. Okay, what a spinoff.... I was going to write here that this year is my ten year high school reunion and instead of going to my own, I'm gonna crash (with her permission) my friend's in Las Vegas (she's the one who went to Singapore, so they're meeting back in the US). BUT out of curiosity I google my high school, and what do you know, they are actually getting together. Now I'm wondering, should I go??

Alright, I'm supposed to tag five people but I'm sleepy, so consider yourself tagged if you are reading this!

Learning Lessons

On Friday night, one of my best friends from high school and her boyfriend joined us for dinner at our home. We hadn't seen each other in almost five years, there was so much to catch up on!! Such an occasion called for a fancy dessert (and dinner, but I've already blogged about what I made in previous posts), the Caramel Machiatto Cheesecake from My Sweet Vegan.

Now you'll notice that there really isn't anything that looks like caramel on this cheesecake.... well, that's because I had a small disaster with the caramel sauce. Not sure if my arrowroot powder was bad, or it boiled too long, or if it was using light brown sugar instead of dark, my the sauce hardened like a rock in seconds. Boo hoo. So, in a pinch I used chocolate sauce from the fridge, so this is actually a chocolate machiatto cheesecake. I also learned a valuable lesson in the difference between regular and instant coffee (forgive me, I'm not a coffee-drinker), luckily just in time. This cheesecake was so creamy and smooth with a moderate coffee flavor. The chocolate cookie crust and the vanilla cream top layer complimented the cheesecake well. Oh, and another lesson ... although I painstakingly took the time to drizzle the chocolate on in an elaborate, fancy design, after putting it back in the fride, it ran all over the place! Next time I'll wait until just before serving to put on the finishing touches.

Needing to use some leftover tempeh (from tempeh nori rolls for appetizers) and celery (yikes! I never use celery, but it's in the chickpea tart I made for dinner), I decided to imitate a chicken salad I used to get from Whole Foods back in pre-vegan days.
The recipe is simple... I just steamed the tempeh for about 13 minutes, added nayonaise, fresh chopped dill, white pepper, chopped celery, red grapes, and walnuts (all in whatever amounts I deemed necessary). This was yummy by itself (as I had it for lunch today), but would probably be good in nestled between toasted whole wheat bread as well.

In other news... we had quite the warm weather here in Houston this weekend. I was tempted last night to turn on the AC. John and I went for a long walk along the bayou and I actually got a bit sunburned on my shoulders (since I had to dig out a tanktop to wear). Guess I should extend my resolution of sunscreen on the face daily to any exposed body part... lesson learned.

Nom Night

I have officially broken in my copy of Veganomicon. It even has a small stain on it from the marinade for the Smoky Tempeh. I was so excited to use my next grill pan for the first time! I still need to work on perfecting the grill marks, but I was happy just the same. I have really started to like tempeh just recently, and this recipe was no exception. The tempeh accompanied another newbie, pineapple-cashew quinoa. After re-learning my lesson about touching hot chiles (ouch in the nose, trust me), this dish came together quite easily after some serious chopping, but it was well worth it. I think the highlight of the dish was the mint and basil, so if you make this don't skip the fresh herbs!

Even though we still have gingerbread cookies, and we're leaving town for Austin tomorrow morning (to attend a Vegan Chile Festival!), I still wanted to try a cookie recipe. Since I have been craving chocolate, I went for the chocolate-chocolate chip walnut cookies. The only thing I did differently was use chocolate hemp milk to sub for the soy milk. I think the result was an even chocolatier flavor. These were yummy right out of the oven, I actually needed a glass of water to wash them down (sometimes soy milk just won't do that for me). John even ate a whole cookie on his own (which he rarely does, he usually has a bite of mine), attesting to the true power of these cookies.

My love affair with this book has only just begun....

Carb Cravings

When eating on my own, I tend to make lots of pasta... I love my carbs! So this week, although it may seem a bit redundant, I had whole wheat pasta shells two ways. The first, a recipe I've been wanting to try for ages, was Jess's Get Sconed version of the New Farm Mac and Cheez.

I think I have found a new addiction. This stuff is crazy good and way better than what I remember of Kraft Mac and Cheese or the Shells and Cheese. This made 4-6 servings and I ate half in one night!! I made a few tiny additions, I added grated FYH mozzerella on top then added panko instead of breadcrumbs. I can't wait to make this again. Here it is coming out of the oven all bubbly and hot....

For dinner last night, DGMGV's Oven Roasted Herbed Tempeh with Zucchini and Sun Dried Tomato Creme Sauce over Linguine caught my eye. I have recently discovered a great likeness for tempeh which I had previously not possessed. And sun-dried tomatoes make everything better. My only changes were as follows: I tossed the tempeh in 2 T nutritional yeast, 1 T corn flour, 2 tsp Herbes de Provence, 1 tsp garlic and parsley flavored salt, and olive oil. For the sauce, I added a generous helping of frozen peas along with the zucchini. It was a delicious and simple meal. When John got home last night, he gave his seal of approval for the tempeh as well! Can't wait for the leftovers today for lunch...

Too Many Things in the Oven!

Last night was my first serious cooking since returning to Houston on Monday. Here's a peak at our crowded plate:



After seeing a sneak peak of some recipes for the upcoming Veganomicon on the ppk, I knew I had to try one out. And luckily, I had some tempeh in the fridge, so I made the Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh. I used chipotle hot sauce, since I love that smoky flavor. And in my rush of trying to keep track of all the other things going on, I forgot to add lemon juice to the marinade, but it all turned out fine. Since I don't have a grill pan, I went with the broiling option. Alongside the tempeh (and the other things that took up space in my oven) was roasted brussels sprouts, roasted sweet potatoes and red pepper (seasoned with cumin, coriander, and garlic), and pan-fried polenta topped with roasted grape tomatoes. A delicious meal that even our omnivorous friend devoured!

While I was busy with the oven, we had pita chips and store-bought hummus to munch on (I know, very lazy of me). But I had to take a photo of my new chip and dip platter, a wedding gift from my grandparents!



For dessert we had leftover wedding cake (marble cake with the best chocolate frosting ever). I froze about half of it and the rest we're (meaning mostly me, John likes to be healthy but I can't resist) trying to eat. Maybe I'll freeze a little more.

Still working on getting wedding photos together. I'll post those sometime over the weekend.

Hen Night

Wow, first off I want to thank everyone for their helpful comments about the makeup situation, I'll be sure to let you know what I come up with! Also, thanks for all the birthday wishes, yesterday was the actual day and I'll be sure to post what we had for dinner, but first I need to play some catch up!

Friday night, several of my girlfriends were kind enough to have a "hen" night aka bachelorette party for me (my mom refers to it as my hen night, since they just returned from living in the UK, plus I think it sounds more unique than bachelorette). My only request was that it be tame, just an evening of cooking dinner, having a few drinks, and maybe some dancing. Luckily my request was honored :-) We started off the evening by fixing a vegan meal together, how sweet of them! We enjoyed bruschetta as an appetizer, then moved on to the main course of mango-tofu springs rolls, tempeh with curry peanut sauce, and a simple green salad with plenty of veggies. Everything was delicious, thanks so much to my girlfriends for a great meal!

For dessert, we had chocolate fondue (dark chocolate mixed with chocolate soymilk), with long-stem strawberries and coconut covered vegan marshmallows as dippers. My friends were blown away by the vegan marshmallows!

And I couldn't help posting a photo of me opening some of the "fun" gifts that my friends got me, censored of course for the public eye :-)

My days as a bachelorette are numbered, in fact, two weeks from now exactly, I will be standing in my wedding dress and reciting my vows!!

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....