Tuesday, June 26, 2012

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.


Sunday, June 24, 2012

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.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

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.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

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.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

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?! :)

Friday, June 15, 2012

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! :)

Monday, June 11, 2012

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.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

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.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

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.

Friday, June 1, 2012

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!