More Terry Hope Romero Love: Creamy Corn Empanadas!

Creamy Corn Empanadas

Everyone that knows me knows I love corn – heck, I think it should be its own food group – its that good and versatile! When I saw this recipe on the tester site for Terry Hope Romero’s upcoming Vegan Latina  book (yeah, yeah, I’m talking about this again!) I knew I had to make it. Creamy corn with garlic scapes in an empanada – need I say more!!

Soup & Empanada

To go with these lovely empanadas I made pumpkin soup. I roasted the pumpkin @ 400 degrees for 45 minutes, let it cool, and scooped out the flesh. In a stockpot I added 1 tbs. of olive oil, 2 cloves garlic and 1 medium onion chopped. Then I added the pumpkin, 2 cups of vegetable broth, 1/4 tsp.of cinnamon & chili powder, 1 tbs. of agave, and 1/2 cup of soy creamer. I let that simmer for about 20 minutes and then put in the handy dandy emersion blender and simmered for about another 15 minutes. All I can say is pumpkin soup and corn empanadas are like hand in glove – perfect!

Pumpkin Soup

Soup is garnished with a few cilantro leaves and homemade roasted pumpkin seeds ( you don’t throw those away do you?!)

All in all a fantastic meal! For those of you keeping track from my Farmer’s Market post that is all of the corn and one pumpkin gone…

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Oyster Mushroom Arepas!

So I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never had oyster mushrooms.  I typically stick to white, crimini, shiitake, and portabellas. Part of the reason I enjoy testing so much is because it gives me the opportunity to try new things. I’ve been wanting to try oyster mushrooms so when I saw a recipe using them from Terry Hope Romero, I jumped on it and am so glad I did. I picked up these beauties at the farmer’s market this weekend:

Oyster Mushrooms

And after using the super secret tester recipe I got this:

Oyster Mushroom Arepas

Arepas are the Venezuelan equivalent of  little fat tortillas or sopes, if you’ve had those. The filling is so tasty – oyster mushrooms are my new favorite!

Arepas

So be on the lookout for Terry’s upcoming book and go ahead, be adventurous and try something new – like me, you might discover that you actually love something that you haven’t tried before!

Now, what to do with all the squash…

Happy VeganMoFo!

Snickerdoodles

Today marks the beginning of VeganMoFo 2009! The challenge is to blog about all things vegan food related daily for the whole month of October and I can’t think of a better way to start than vegan snickerdoodles! The recipe is from Vegetarian Times and can be found here. These are super easy and taste oh so yummy!

For more info about VeganMoFo head over to Kittee’s blog  for all of the details.

I had been neglecting the blog a bit because it was just too darn hot here in Los Angeles and I was feeling uninspired. Now that the weather is starting to cooperate I am totally excited for VeganMoFo and for the beginning of fall foods! While going through my photos today I found this pancake shot from a while back that I never posted. Pancakes with whole berry sauce from Vegan Brunch!

Pancakes!

 

I am still testing for Terry Hope Romero’s Vegan Latina cookbook and the latest recipe I tried was Sweet & Salty Seitan and Potato Empanadas. These empanadas are so damn good – the dough is to die for and the filling is the perfect balance between sweet and spicy.

 

Empanadas

These are some of the best empanadas I have had! If I haven’t said it enough, this book is gonna rock the vegan world by storm! Here is a close-up of the inside:

Empanada Close-Up

The pictures don’t even do these justice because they are that good!

Well I guess that will do it for the 1st installment of VeganMoFo for me. Stay tuned for many more to come…heck, by the end of the month you might even be sick of me…

Back in the saddle again…

I think most bloggers will agree with me – have you ever had a post that attracted a lot of buzz, the most hits, the most comments, yada, yada, yada… So you decide to leave it up for a while. Then as the days pass you wonder, I am ever gonna be able to replicate that? All of  a sudden nothing seems “blogworthy” and well, you all probably know the rest of the story. So I decided that today is the day I finally post something, anything, and as it might not be as exciting as Daiya cheese here is what I’ve been up to in the kitchen lately…

Testing, testing, testing and then some more testing. I have to admit, I love testing recipes for upcoming cookbooks! Here are some pictures for Julie Hasson’s  upcoming Vegan Diner book:

Dark Chocolate Cherry Cake

Slice o Cake!

Chocolate, cherries, and rum = yum!

Chocolate chip cookies, also from Julie:

Cookies!

Next up is Vegan Latina food porn, Terry Hope Romero’s  upcoming book. Check out these seitan and potato tacos – one of my favorite taco recipes:

Seitan & Potato Tacos

Roasted Corn

Roasted corn like the kind you get from street vendors with cashew cream and ancho chili powder. I could eat this everyday! Oh and look at this lovely horchata:

Horchata!

I almost died when I had this – VEGAN CUBAN SANDWICH – that’s right! Terry is a genious:

Cuban Sandwich!

And finally some bread pudding with mango and guava – delicious!

Mango Guava Bread Pudding

So I guess that’s it for now. Leave a comment and say Hi! if you want, my feelings won’t get hurt if you don’t…

Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Ever!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Seriously these are the best oatmeal raisin cookies I have ever had – crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and just the right amount of sweetness. They are another tester recipe for Jae Steele’s  upcoming book, Ripe From Around Here.  Here’s a close-up:

Cookie Close Up

I’ve also been testing more recipes for Terry Hope Romero’s  upcoming book, Vegan Latina. First up I made some vegan posole – man o man was this good!

Posole!

I also made some homemade corn tortillas to go with the posole:

Corn Tortillas

Next up is tempeh asado tacos and savory orange rice. The rice is outta this word tasty. If you are into latin food this book is gonna rock your kitchen. I can’t wait for it to come out and I have access to the recipes!

Tempeh Asado Tacos

Here’s a close-up of the orange rice – yum!

Savory Orange Rice

Til next time…

Vegan Latina Teaser and Violet!

I haven’t been cooking much this week because I’ve been a little occupied with:

Violet's 1st Bath!

Meet Violet! She’s an English Bulldog, 3 months old, and a handfull! But look at that face!!!

This is a food blog so here are some Vegan Latina tester recipe pics for your enjoyment.

Black Eyed Butternut Squash Tostadas

These tostadas are a great alternative to your standard pinto bean kind.

Tostadas!

Have a great weekend!

 

Vegan Latina Tester Recipes Tease!

So I am a recipe tester for Terry Hope Romero’s  upcoming Vegan Latina cookbook. This is my first time being a tester and I feel very fortunate to try out new recipes and especially because they are Latin recipes. I am Cuban and am accustomed to eating lots of Latin food so veganized old favorites is just well, fantastic. So far everything I have tried has been great – I can’t wait for the book to come out! Here are some teaser photos, enjoy!

Pupusas

Yeah, that’s right, homemade pupusas! Aren’t they pretty and oh sooo tasty!

Yellow Rice with Garlic

This yellow rice gets its color from annatto infused oil.

Arroz con Gandules

Arroz con Gandules is a traditional Puerto Rican dish and this veganized version rivals any I’ve ever had.

Pickled Red Onions

Very addictive condiment that has a beautiful color.

Pine Nut Crema

I can’t stop eating this stuff – its like a Latin hummous when served cold and sets up up like cheese when baked! 

Chile Relleno with Pine Nut Crema

Hopefully the pics speak for themselves! Stay tuned for more yummy Latin food!