All posts tagged veganmofo 2009

Shiitake and Date Stuffed Baby Eggplants

By On October 30, 2009 In Dinner, Sauces With 8 Comments Permanent Link to Shiitake and Date Stuffed Baby EggplantsPermalink

stuffed eggplants

Today is the last day I will be posting for VeganMofo… so in honor of all the wonderful people who did so much work this past month, I decided to make something fancy-like.  But, don’t be fooled.  Keeping  with my lazy-ish style, they weren’t difficult at all.  This is actually a perfect way to use up all those baby eggplants you have lying around.  Ok, that is a really lame joke… but it sure gives you a good excuse to pick some up next time you’re out.  These are a lot of fun to make because they turn out so pretty and are quite easy to put together.  I used a pomegranate/orange juice reduction sauce on these….which incidentally, was the most involved step.  Feel free to sub out ingredients, garnish how you like, or just make the filling- it’s yummy all by itself.

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Jeweled Basmati Rice

By On October 28, 2009 In Dinner, Rice dishes, Side dishes With 6 Comments Permanent Link to Jeweled Basmati RicePermalink

jeweled basmati rice

This is a simple and elegant dish that will work in just about any circumstance, whether it be a main dish, side dish, or holiday take along.  I was inspired by looking at some beautiful photographs of foods from Iran.  I love the color combination of the pistachios and cranberries, along with the lovely orange-y hue of the rice.  The good thing about this dish is that you can prepare all of the mix-ins while your rice cooks… so I would definitely classify this as a quick meal.  It took me about 35 minutes (using a rice cooker) to make it all come together, and my kitchen smelled absolutely wonderful.  This was the first time I tried anything remotely close to this, and it was so easy, I will be making this over and over again.

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Platskis (Polish for Latkes)

By On October 26, 2009 In Breakfast, Dinner, Side dishes, Veggies With 6 Comments Permanent Link to Platskis (Polish for Latkes)Permalink

platskis

I have got a lot of Polish in me- in lineage as well as culinary preferences.  My mother has blessed me with so many good Polish recipes over the years and had created very fond food memories for me in my childhood.  And what she had taught me had been handed down for generations.  I think one of the great talents many of our family members posses is the ability to make countless dishes with a bag of potatoes.  These little potato patties are called platskis, and this weekend I went to work in the kitchen with my mother to re-create our family recipe to be animal friendly.  They turned out deliciously.

I hope you enjoy these simple potato cakes as much as my whole entire extended family does.  And, let me assure you, there are a LOT of us.

Ziemniaki!

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Hummus Pizza with Roasted Peppers

By On October 19, 2009 In Baked Goods, Dinner With 19 Comments Permanent Link to Hummus Pizza with Roasted PeppersPermalink

hummus pizza

If you love hummus and have never had the pleasure of using it as a base for your pizza, I highly recommend trying it out.  It works especially well with roasted peppers and an abundance of ingredients.  I decided to roast my own peppers and make my own crust, so I opted for the deli-bought hummus -high in cumin content.  The more flavorful the hummus the yummier the pizza.  The crust recipe below compliments the hummus quite nicely.  But feel free to save lots of time by purchasing crust, hummus, and roasted peppers in lieu of making your own.  I am happy to say that this pizza was a sensation last night for dinner.

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Date Pudding

By On October 16, 2009 In Desserts, Pudding/Mousse, Sauces With 5 Comments Permanent Link to Date PuddingPermalink

Date Pudding Vegan

This date pudding is a very rich treat that is fabulous as breakfast, a snack, or dessert.  Unlike some date puddings I have encountered, it does not rise much.  But it certainly has boatloads of taste, density, and stickiness- especially if you stack them like pancakes.  Even though it seems like a lot of steps to arrive at this pudding, it is not a difficult recipe.  I made it for breakfast, before having my usual pot of coffee… and it still turned out miraculously well.  A great start to a chilly day.

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VeganMofo Continued- Vegan’s 100

By On October 15, 2009 In Uncategorized With 4 Comments Permanent Link to VeganMofo Continued- Vegan’s 100Permalink

Thank you Peace By Pastries for saving my mo’foing butt today.  Here is my version of the “Vegan’s 100″.

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Chocolate Cayenne Cupcakes

By On October 14, 2009 In Baked Goods, Cakes, Chocolate, Cupcakes, Desserts With 9 Comments Permanent Link to Chocolate Cayenne CupcakesPermalink

cayenne chocolate cake

Okay, so you can’t  see the cayenne..but it’s there.  It’s a fiery little undertone that sneaks up on you after the chocolate flavor seduces your taste buds into taking one more bite. I picked up the framework of this recipe from an old cookbook a while back.  It was touted as an “egg-less, milk-less, butter-less, cake”.  Originally, it called for oil and salt, but I nixed the salt and instead of oil used melted Earth Balance.  Then I added cocoa powder, and cayenne pepper for a kick, and topped them with glorious cinnamon laced frosting.  And yes, that is freshly ground black pepper on top.  My new favorite sprinkle.

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Mushroom and Spinach Strudel

By On October 13, 2009 In Baked Goods, Breakfast, Dinner With 5 Comments Permanent Link to Mushroom and Spinach StrudelPermalink

vegan mushroom spinach strudel

This strudel is totally savory and uses prepackaged puff pastry to make your life way easier.  The Pepperidge Farms puff pastry just happens to be vegan, but obviously that means it is full of unpronounceables (less than I imagined)… but, hey, I’m compromising for time.  I don’t think I would serve this to my family on a regular basis, (maybe annually?) but I had some puff pastry in the freezer and, of course, mushrooms in the fridge.  I did spare some of the fat by sauteeing the veggies in broth, but the puff pastry trumps any good deeds done.

I did try, though, and I think that’s what counts.

Enjoy!

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Cinnamon Peanut Brittle

By On October 9, 2009 In Candy With 6 Comments Permanent Link to Cinnamon Peanut BrittlePermalink

Vegan Cinnamon Peanut Brittle

Today I had an overwhelming craving for something cinnamony. I also had some freshly purchased raw Spanish peanuts sitting on my kitchen counter. Even though I have made peanut brittle many, many times, I had never thought to change the recipe even the teensiest bit.  So, I went all out and added cinnamon.

I know. I am terribly creative.

I realize that vegan peanut brittle isn’t exactly hard to come by, nor am I the slightest bit unique in thinking of adding such a common spice to such a common candy.  But, if you have never tried it before, do so.  It is really, really good.

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Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

By On October 5, 2009 In Dinner, Sauces, Veggies With 3 Comments Permanent Link to Quinoa Stuffed PeppersPermalink

20091004-img_2543

The other day we were lucky enough to receive a beautiful basket of bell peppers from my sister-in-law’s garden. They were tiny and very colorful: red, green, orange and purple!  Once I saw them, I had to stuff them. I used quinoa, because it is the new rice, and added mushrooms, onions and currants.  The peppers I used were much smaller than the gargantuan variety found at the grocery store, so we each ate two, rather than one.  I like the simplicity of this recipe.  Yet, it does take a little time to prepare.  And then the baking time is a little long too.  But this stuff is killer good over some homemade mashed potatoes.

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