Tasty (Tempeh) Chili~pg. 163

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

No tempeh here! I love it but it doesn't love me. I think the way the tofu is fermented bothers my allergies. I substituted 1 C. of Boca Vegan Crumbles instead. Excellent chili; I always have the ingredients on hand. I topped it with Daiya shredded cheddar and Roasted Pepper Salsa (see previous post). Of course I had to serve it with Wolffie's "Buttermilk" Cornbread (pg. 268 LDV) slathered with Earth Balance margarine and agave nectar. Eating cornbread always reminds me of my grandpa. He would take a big glass of buttermilk and crumble cornbread in it and eat it! It was just fascinating to watch-what was he thinking!? He called it his "okie" milkshake. Hee! Hee!

Wolffie's "Buttermilk" Cornbread~pg. 268

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

My favorite cornbread recipe ever! I've made this many, many times. It is permanently marked in my cookbook. What can I say? I love it! No eggs, no cowmilk-the best.

Roasted Pepper Salsa

roasted mini peppers

I had a huge bag of red, yellow and orange mini peppers I needed to use up and I found this recipe on the back of the bag. I had never roasted peppers before so I thought I would give it a try. Using mini peppers it takes awhile to remove the skins after they've roasted! A good time for pondering things :) It was worth the effort; the salsa is delicious.

1 (2 lb) bag sweet mini peppers (or 2 lb of regular size red, yellow & orange peppers)

4 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. black pepper

4 C. sliced green olives (I only used about 2 C. green olives)

1 C. capers (I used about 1/2 C. capers)

4 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Rinse and dry peppers and lightly toss with a Tbsp. olive oil. Roast peppers on pan under broiler. I turned the peppers about every 4 minutes so every side was roasted. Remove skin, slice off tips and remove any seeds. Cut peppers length-wise into strips. Mix 4 Tbsp olive oil and rest of ingredients with the peppers.

Portobello Cannelloni with Sun-Dried Tomato White Sauce~pg. 130

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

This is awesomely delicious but messy to make; I even used a plastic bag to fill the shells and it was still messy. The sauce recipe for this is excellent; I'm going to make it again and just serve it over plain pasta.

My Favorite Chickpea Salad

This salad reminds me of tuna or chicken salad in my pre-vegan days. The recipe is from Robin Robertson's cookbook 1,000 Vegan Recipes, "Chickpea-Tomato Wraps". I add 1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast and 1 Tbsp. lemon juice and use Dijon mustard instead of spicy brown mustard. I could eat the whole bowl by myself.

I ate my chickpea salad in an Oroweat Italian Herb Pocket Thin with spinach and sliced orange mini pepper. Filling, nutritious and delicious!

Roasted Pears in Maple Garam Masala Sauce~pg. 228

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

This one was a little 'eh' for me. The combination of sesame seeds and garam masala seemed a little weird.

I served it with some vanilla Rice Dream and spooned the extra sauce over the top. It tasted alright but I knew I shouldn't be eating so many sesame seeds. They make me itch and then I had to take a benadryl-ugh! The next morning I have a benadryl hangover. I won't be making this again. I would rather have just eaten a plain, juicy pear!

Malloreigh's Mushroom Gravy~pg. 181

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

So easy to make and tastes delish! I added about 1/4 Cup of water to thin it out a little.

I served the mushroom gravy over mashed red potatoes with garlic and Dijon Mustard Brussels Sprouts (LDV pg. 185). Even my hubby who claims he doesn't like mushrooms, liked this. I found the recipe for the mashed potatoes at http://allrecipes.com/recipe/garlic-mashed-red-potatoes/ . Instead of butter I used Earth Balance margarine and for the milk I used soymilk; I also omitted the parmesan cheese.

Brown Rice Flour Banana Bread~pg. 279

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I don't usually have brown rice flour on hand but I had bought some for a previous recipe we had made for the challenge. I just had enough (1 cup) flour to make this bread. It has a great banana nut bread flavor but it didn't rise very much. The recipe said to put it in a 9" loaf pan; I'm glad I used an 8" pan or it would have been as flat as a pancake! I think I'll stick to using wheat flour since I don't have to eat gluten-free. I also wanted to take another picture after I removed it from the pan and sliced it but -oops! - the camera is broken.

Stephanie's White Diamond Cookies~pg. 223

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Mmmm! Peanut butter and chocolate-nothing better! I made my cookies smaller because they're so rich. The dough is rather sticky and gooey so I baked these for the full 10 minutes; they have a brownie like texture. I would have taken a better picture but I dropped my camera and it broke so I guess I'm going camera shopping now.

July La Dolce Vegan Challenge Recipes

Thought I would go ahead and post the remainder of the challenge recipes. I don't cook these in order and some I'm not cooking at all. It's just nice to look at a list and have an idea of what to make for the day. I'll have to think of something else when these run out! I want to try and cook at least one recipe from each of my 50 plus vegan cookbooks I have. I think that will be my next goal! The originator of this challenge is "in the wind" so to speak so this is just a personal challenge now.


Sun. 07/01: Catch-up Weekend
Mon. 07/02: White Chocolate Almond Bark-204
Tues. 07/03: Wendy's Lentil & Brown Rice Casserole-140
Wed. 07/04: Cousin Natasha's Everything But the Kitchen Sink Vegetable Curry-143
Thu. 07/05: Chocolate Cranberry Mounds-208
Fri. 07/06: Vegetable Biryani-150
Sat. 07/07: Adam's Yellow Split Pea Chowder-118
Sun. 07/08: Yella Cake-247; 'Buttercream' Frosting-261
Mon. 07/09: Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage-187
Tues. 07/10: Banana Date Smoothie-53
Wed. 07/11: Wolffie's Quick Peach Cobbler-231
Thu. 07/12: Quick Vegetable Rice-190
Fri. 07/13: Spiced Potatoes-191
Sat. 07/14: Sarah's Chili con Bulgur-163
Sun. 07/15: Teresa's Carob Almond Truffles-201
Mon. 07/16: Kissing Cousin's Oat Bread-266
Tues. 07/17: Mushroom 'Sausage' Pizza-167; Cheryl's Faux Cheese-292;Faux Sausage-285; Pizza Crust-301; Fast & Fresh Tomato Sauce-178
Wed. 07/18: Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Cake-245
Thu. 07/19: Scrumptious Banana-Nut Bread-281

Black Beans on Toast (Hash Browns)~pg. 42

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I needed a big, hearty breakfast this morning. The doctor cancelled on me yesterday so I still don't know what's going on with my back. Ooh, and then I found out that my wedding video which I was transferring to DVD had been recorded over (???) At least I still have my wedding pictures and most importantly my wonderful, loving Hubby! So, to keep my mind busy I'm cooking. I wanted some nice, crispy hash browns and they are great served with the Black Beans on Toast recipe; just skip the toast. I ate that on the side! I also had some mushrooms that needed to be used so I sauteed them in some Earth Balance margarine and added those on top of the black beans along with some Daiya shredded cheddar. I then topped all of that with some Tabasco sauce and ketchup. Can you tell I'm an emotional eater?! :)

Blessed Broccoli & Tofu Stir-Fry~pg. 146

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

It seems like the days just slip by without a food post. I'm finally going to the spinal doctor today to see if I can get some answers after messing around for the past ten years. When I'm in pain the last thing I want to do is cook. But, if I don't cook I'll eat something that I'll regret later. Just sitting here at the computer is almost intolerable. Okay, enough of the self-pity; let me just say this recipe is a quick, easy to make meal! I didn't even have to cook the rice. I had a package of pre-cooked brown rice I just had to warm up in the microwave. Hubby and I ate the whole thing; no left-overs to deal with. So here's to a great, blessed day! :)

Mashed Parsnips & Potatoes~pg. 191

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

The parsnip gives extra flavor to plain mashed potatoes. Served with spinach salad topped with "Quick Maple Ginger Dressing"-pg. 96 and Morning Star Hickory BBQ Riblets which satisfies the 'meat & potatoes' craving and makes for a quick, easy to put together dinner; especially when you don't feel like cooking.

Quick Maple Ginger Dressing~pg. 96

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Oooh! Another dressing! I'm not big into the salad dressing making. Too easy to open a bottle which will last longer. But now I can say I tried it and it tastes pretty good.

Steve & Zipporah's Green Bean Zasmashka~pg. 186

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

As you can see I used mixed veggies instead of just the green beans. Didn't quite understand the point of putting buttered breadcrumbs in this. Just a 'meh' recipe for me.

Served the Green Beans with the Punjabi Peppers & Tofu over quinoa. Everything was a little blah for my taste until I mixed it all up and added Braggs & fresh chili paste (Sambal Oelek) Hot & Spicy!! Now it's a great tasting dish!

Inder & Vandna's Punjabi Peppers & Tofu~pg. 144

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I wasn't a big fan of this one. Needed more spice. Also made the green bean recipe on pg. 186.

Baked Aporridgy~pg. 49

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

While this was baking it gave me time to pay the bills!

I love the flavor and texture of this baked oatmeal compared to plain old stovetop oatmeal. I added some plain soymilk to make it extra creamy and delicious.

The Joint's "Cheese Burger" Pizza~pg. 171

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I didn't think I was going to like this one-pickles and mustard on a pizza?!  But it was pretty darn tasty. Instead of making a crust I found a ready-made vegan pizza crust the other day-Freschetta Artisan Thin Crust. I was so excited I bought two and put one in the freezer for later. I also used pizza sauce instead of just plain tomato sauce for the base. This is another recipe from Sarah's book where I usually have everything on hand. Love it!