VeganMoFo: Quickie Weeknight Dinner

Weeknight Dinner

 Cold, windy nights equal comfort food for me. Here is a quick and easy bow tie pasta with Daiya cheese, sprinkled with bread crumbs and baked. Next to that you see Field Roast’s  Smoked Tomato loaf which is fabulous and all you have to do is heat it up! I typically put it in a baking dish, pour a bit of veggie broth over it, and bake it for about 15-20 minutes – yum! Here’s a close-up of the baked mac n cheese:

Mac N Cheese

 And last but not least are some corn fritters:

Corn Fritters

 These have garlic scapes in them and this added a really nice flavor!

Sorry for the short weeknight post but I plan to have lots of Halloween goodies in the final days of VeganMoFo!

Til next time…

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VeganMofo: Corn Salad!

Corn Bean Salad

So I am starting to get a bit paranoid that my supply of fresh sweet corn is about to come to an end. I love eating seasonal, local produce because it just tastes better but I typically get sad when certain things “go away”, especially corn! I can’t complain though, I have eaten a ton of corn this season and plan to buy one last batch and freeze it so I can still get my fix.

Corn Salad

This corn salad is 3 ears of fresh raw corn, 1 can of cannellini beans, and a handful of halved cherry tomatoes. The dressing is 3 tbs of olive oil, 2 tbs of apple cider vinegar, the juice of a lemon, 1 tbs of agave, about 2 tbs of fresh dill, and salt & pepper. Give that a wisk and toss all together. This is a great salad to have on hand for lunches, in pitas, or on top of lettuce for a complete meal. Fresh raw corn is so sweet and crunchy, I can’t get enough of it.

Corn Salad Close-Up

So run to you local farmer’s market and pick up some fresh corn before its all gone!

Til next time…

 

VeganMoFo: Vegan Brunch and More!

Waffles with Pears

I can’t think of a better way to start the weekend than to prepare a delicious brunch! This one is brought to you by the fantastic Vegan Brunch  cookbook. Seriously, if you don’t have it yet, what are you waiting for! Tempeh bacon, peanut butter waffles, and pears simmered in brown sugar, Earth Balance, cinnamon, and allspice! I must say that peanut butter and pears go great together.

And to continue with the fall theme and my current obsession with apples, I made a batch of apple muffins from VWAV:

Apple Muffins

The brown sugar topping on these is sooo good!

Muffin Close Up

These muffins are chock full of apples and are great with a strong cup of coffee!

So in attempt to be a better mofo’er this week, that will be it for it now but stay tuned for more…

I’m a Bad Mofo’er…

Tempeh Bacon Pita

So I’m not quite sure if I’d like to believe that you have noticed I haven’t posted this week or that you haven’t… I’ve been super busy and have not cooked or had the time to blog. Please accept my “bad mofo” apologies and I promise to make it up by staying in the kitchen all weekend!

For now, feast your eyes on the yummy tempeh bacon pita and stay tuned…

VeganMoFo: Baked Apples!

Baked Apples!

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the beginning of cool weather than with baked apples!

Apples

These babies were baked @ 400 degrees for an hour, The syrup is 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon and allspice, 2 tbs. of melted EB margarine, and 2 tbs. of rum. Give that a whirl, pour it on top of the apples in a baking dish and pop in the oven! Your house will smell wonderful and they are simply delicious.

Yum!

So happy VeganMoFo Friday and stay tuned for more!

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…

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…

Fall is Here at the Farmer’s Market!

Pumpkin!

So it is finally starting to cool off here in Los Angeles and fall produce is starting to make its grand entrance at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market! I went gourd crazy and got 2 pumpkins, a butternut squash, and an acorn squash! I had to show restraint because I still wanted more. I also picked up some pears, apples, asian pears, and I think the final watermelon, tomatoes, and some corn. 

Tomatoes & Corn

Adjusting to seasonal eating was a bit of a challenge at first but now I truly enjoy it. Everything tastes fresher and I highly anticipate the “coming” of certain favorites! Just look at these beautiful apples and squash!

Apples

 Since I’ve been going to the Farmer’s Market every Sunday for almost a year now I eat better, spend less money on groceries, and truly believe that I get some of the freshest LOCAL produce around! And I’ve learned so many tips from the growers and have tried new things that I might not have without the recommendations from certain vendors.

FM Haul!

Any trip to the FM would not be complete without stopping by the C’est La V booth! Check out these lovely mini cranberry orange scones:

Cranberry Orange Mini Scones

With it being VeganMoFo and all I’m sure by seeing everything I got you can start to guess the things I might be preparing this week. Somehow I think there is going to be some serious squash items abound!

Til tomorrow…

Saturday Sandwich

BLTC

Just a quickie Saturday VeganMoFo post with a picture of a very delicious tempeh bacon (from Vegan Brunch), lettuce, tomato, and cucumber sandwich. Served with some yummy plantain chips. 

Stay tuned tomorrow as I plan to post with my weekly Farmer’s Market haul!

Can You Say Sugar Rush???

Miniature Jelly Doughnuts

I was never  a big doughnut enthusiast back when I wasn’t vegan. I love bread and I like sweets but it was just never my thing. Somehow when I went vegan I all of a sudden longed for things that I never really ate. I’ve had some of those pre-packaged vegan donut holes that you can pick up at the store but they are just alright. I know that vegan doughnuts are very popular in other parts of the country but here in Los Angeles there just isn’t a credible source for truly vegan donuts. So when I received a copy of the September Vegetarian Times with recipes for vegan doughnuts I was excited because now I could try my hand at making my own. And OH MY GOD, am I glad I did! A fresh, warm, miniature jelly filled donut is like, well… let’s just say that I had enough to get a really nice sugar rush!

Doughnuts!

These little jems are truly addictive! They taste the best right after assembly while still warm but they are delicious the next day too! The whole process takes a few hours but it is sooo totally worth it!

Jelly Close Up

It was relatively easy to fill them with rasberry jam once I got the hang of it and some really ballooned up once I realized that I could really squeeze it in there! I used a 2″ biscuit cutter and they ended up looking almost like doughnut holes – so fun. I think that might be the problem – they are so small and cute and delicious that I just keep popping them in my mouth until I realize that I have a ton of “energy” – ha!

Oh I almost forgot, would you like the recipe? You can find it here!

Now go make some vegan doughnuts!