A Ton of Stuff!

I just realized I haven’t posted anything for days even though I have been cooking. I’ve been crazy busy with the new pup, some nice distractions,  and we had some pipe problems in my building which have resulted in scores of repairmen! So on to the food! First up I made some Rosemary Focaccia Rolls using the recipe from Veganomicon:

Rosemary Focaccia Rolls

I just love the way these turned out. My kitchen smelled wonderful as they were baking!

Rolls!

I used them for black bean burgers:

Black Bean Burger on Rosemary Focaccia

I finally was able to try a vegan donut from Dee’s Bakery, all I can say is YUM!

Vegan Donuts!

If you live in Los Angeles get your @ss up early and head over to Intelligentsia or the other various places that carry these donuts, they are definitely worth the effort!   UPDATE: DON’T PATRONIZE! PLEASE SEE THIS!

I also made a Mexican Chocolate Cake that has cayenne pepper in it. I’ve decided that I have a bottle of the world’s hottest cayenne pepper because I just put in a teeny tiny pinch and this cake is on fire! I used the recipe from here.

Mexican Chocolate Cake

It looks all nice and sweet but its on fire! I tell you! It’s actually really tasty with some vanilla vegan ice cream and berries.

Fire in your mouth!

I have also been trying out more tester recipes for Terry’s Vegan Latina book but I think I’ll save those shots for another post – til then…

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A Swell Kind of Weekend

First, I want to publicly announce my love for A-K from Swell Vegan! I’ll tell you why: I received my much anticipated copy of Swell Vegan’s  zine over the weekend and I quickly got to work on her Sweet Potato Cranberry Scones. If you’ve seen her pictures and you are a fan of scones, then you’ll understand why I was so excited. All I can say is that they definitely don’t disappoint – they are fabulous!

Sweet Potato Cranberry Scones

They are made with spelt and brown rice flours so they are good for you too. The texture is fantastic and they are a perfect balance of savory and sweet.

Scones!

I also scored some fresh green beans at the farmer’s market this weekend so I made her green beans replacing the mandarin oranges with a regular orange:

Orange Sesame Green Beans

A perfect summer snack when chilled.

 I also made her mole sauce to roast brussel sprouts with. These should be called Mole Bombs! because man, were they hot! I like heat but I think I didn’t have enough brussel sprouts for the amount of sauce I used – definitely will make again but with more veggies.

Mole Bombs!

Last but not least I made my black bean burgers  for dinner to have with the green beans:

Black Bean Burgers

All in all it was a great tasty weekend! I hope these pictures inspire you to head on over to the Swell Vegan  and order your zine today, it’s worth its price in scones!

SPC Scones

 

 

 

 

Happy Vegan Day!

Today, February 1, 2009 is my official turning vegan day. I have been a vegetarian for many years and I recently decided that I needed to finally take the plunge and go vegan. The obstacle for me has always been cheese – give up meat and dairy, no problem. Cheese, wait…that’s dairy??? That was always my issue. Well I’ve made the commitment to not let cheese take over my life so as of today – no more cheese!  

I’ve been reading many vegan blogs and vegan cookbooks in the last couple of weeks and trying new recipes and have realized that I don’t really miss the cheese. In the process I have become completely addicted to vegan blogs. Most provide a wealth of information – tips, recipes, and endorsements of products by real people. So far, no one has led me astray and all of the stuff I’ve tried has been great! I’m like a wide-eyed kid in the kitchen – completely amazed that ” I made that” and it tastes better than the “regular” version. I think I’ve been driving my partner crazy by obsessively grilling her “did you like that?” and she’ll respond and then 5 minutes later I’ll reword the same question 🙂 She’s been vegan for a while so it is not that magical for her as it is to me.

So here are some of the things I made this weekend – first off I baked these cookies. I got the recipe from Joni’s blog . I only had crunchy peanut butter so I used that instead of the creamy kind, they still had a great texture.

For dinner tonight I made Black Bean Burgers. I kind of just made up the recipe myself  from the inspiration that is Joni’s Blog (see below the pic). I served them with baked sweet potato fries!

Black Bean Burgers

 

Yields aprox. 6 burgers

 

15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 med. onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced

½ cup red bell pepper, diced

1 tbs. olive oil

2 cups mushrooms, diced

½ tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. cumin

½ tsp. chili powder

3 tbs. ketchup

3 tbs. hot sauce

1 cup breadcrumbs

 

Directions:

Heat a medium skillet or frying pan over medium heat and add oil. When oil is hot add onions, garlic, jalapeno, and bell pepper and sauté for a few minutes. When the onions are translucent add mushrooms. Continue to cook for about 5 minutes until all vegetables are browned. Set aside and let cool.

 

In a food processor add rinsed and drained beans, the sautéed vegetables, all of the spices, the ketchup, and hot sauce. Process for a few seconds and scrape down the sides. When it is well incorporated start to add breadcrumbs a little at a time. Process for a few more seconds and check the consistency. You may need to add more or less breadcrumbs until the mixture is neither too wet nor too dry. The mixture should be a good consistency for forming patties. Taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning to your taste.

 

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and put in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place a silicon mat, parchment paper, or lightly grease a cookie sheet. Form the dough into balls and press into patties of the desired size.  Bake for 15 minutes and then flip the burgers and cook for an additional 15 minutes.

 

Well, I guess that’s it for today. Not bad for a first post from a blog newbie!