Almond Bulgur w/Black Beans, Tomatoes, & Kale

Hmm ~ I've had this cookbook for quite awhile now and this is the first recipe I have made out of it. Could I possibly have too many cookbooks?! Never! I have a list of recipes to try now out of this one. Have I mentioned I love one dish meals?!  The only ingredient I needed to buy was some almond butter. I try to keep peanut butter out of my pantry; too tempting with some jam and bread. 

The sauteing onion and spices smell heavenly ~ smoked paprika, black pepper, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, and nutmeg. I love all those "c" spices! 

Black beans, kale, green onions, tomatoes, and bulgur soaked in vegetable broth. 

A mixture of almond butter and lemon juice is stirred in after cooking. 

Don't forget the toasted almonds on top. The dish needs their crunchiness. Yum!

White Chocolate Almond Bark & Pimiento Cheese Sandwiches

I've been revisiting some of my favorite recipes from  La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer; one of the cookbooks I use the most. I made my hubby's favorite Veggie Pot Pie and Cranberry Apple Crisp. I have used dried and fresh cranberries when making this crisp, and both are delicious. One of the few recipes I hadn't tried yet is White Chocolate Almond Bark. It's so easy to make with just three ingredients-vegan white chocolate chips, toasted almonds and raisins. A yummy sweet treat. 

White Chocolate Almond Bark

La Dolce Vegan

I have only tried one other recipe so far from Cookin' Crunk. The Vegan Ranch Dressing wasn't a success.  I had the Pimiento Cheese Sandwich recipe tagged for awhile so I thought I would give it a go. I have always loved pimiento cheese with tortilla chips. Yeah, I could eat the whole tub of it in one sitting! So I thought, great! now I can have a vegan version. 

Ingredients for the pimiento cheese. 

The consistency is rather like hummus. 

I ate my Pimiento Cheese on a sandwich like she suggested. It kind of squished out the sides. My verdict is that this tastes nothing like pimiento cheese! It is just a roasted red pepper hummus. Why did she have to tease me so?! Now I want to go out and get a tub of real pimiento cheese and some tortilla chips. hehe! I've been eating it like hummus using some naan bread, cucumbers and sweet peppers. *sigh*

Rocky Road Cookies

Oh, my! My new favorite cookie! Rocky Roads from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. 

I used 2 Tbsp. of black cocoa powder along with the Dutch cocoa powder. It gives the cookies a darker color and a more richer, bittersweet flavor. 

Of course, my excuse for making these is to use up my vegan white chocolate chips. I ordered them online and I still have about three bags to use. 

Roasted almonds, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips. 

Ooey, gooey chocolatey, nutty goodness!

Gimme Chimis~pg 128; Cinnamon Lime Quinoa w/Apricots & Almonds~pg 156

VegCookbookClub July recipes from eat, drink & be vegan by Dreena Burton:

Gimme Chimi mixture-lots of great spices in here; never thought of using cinnamon and cloves along with chili powder, oregano and cumin! The recipe calls for tempeh, but I'm allergic to the fermented tofu so I used Morning Star Farms Chik'n Strips cut into pieces. I didn't feel like frying AND baking my chimichanga so I just rolled the mixture up into warmed flour tortillas and called it a burrito. I topped each burrito with cilantro and Daiya cheddar shreds. Love the flavors in this and it's easy to make. 

 Cinnamon Lime Quinoa- I probably would have never made this recipe but Dreena suggested it as a side along with the Gimme Chimis. I used rainbow quinoa; it seems to have a little more texture than just plain white quinoa. A very interesting combination of lime, tamari (Bragg's), cinnamon, nutmeg, dried apricots and almonds! It complemented the spicy burritos with a sweet, salty, citrusy flavor. 

Cinnamon Lime Quinoa with Gimme Chimis (Burritos)

Cherry Almond Cookies

Cleaning out the fridge again and found some dried cherries and slivered almonds. Oops, I had just the recipe to use them up. Cherry Almond Cookies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero. Love the recipes in this little book!

These taste just like cherry cobbler in a cookie!

Cranberry Almond Pecan Granola~pg. 48

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Out of all the granolas we've made so far this one is my favorite. The recipe called for pecans and slivered almonds but didn't specify chopping them. I chopped mine because I didn't want big chunks of nuts in my mixture. I also chose to use apple juice instead of cranberry juice. Homemade granola tastes sooo much better than store bought and so easy to make! I like eating it with soymilk or mixing it with some soy yogurt or just eating it straight as a snack.