Cooking This Week!

I made a few old favorite recipes this week along with a couple of new ones.

I made this yummy bread for my daughter's family; the grandsons love this. I just bought some more zucchini to make two more loaves.


~ Zucchini Apple Bread ~
Betty Goes Vegan

I had a pound of fresh organic green beans and this recipe I found here. These remind me of my favorite green beans I order at P. F. Chang's. Yum! They could use a little more heat for my taste; a sprinkle of red pepper flakes would be good. 

~ Dry-Sauteed Green Beans ~ 

I served the green beans with another long green veggie-some roasted asparagus; a loaded baked potato and Morning Star Farms BBQ Riblets. 

I've had this cookbook Peas and Thank You for about a year now and I have to admit this is the first recipe I have made out of it. Hmm~I wonder if I have too many cookbooks! It looks like there are lots of delicious recipes; so I'll be trying a few of them soon. 

This smoothie recipe sounded so tasty I had to try it.

Ingredients for smoothie ~ blackberries, lime, basil, ginger and soymilk with stevia to sweeten. It took alot of stevia to sweeten this to my taste. Kind of tart and tangy! 

~ Blackberry Basil Smash Smoothie ~ 

This made enough for two servings so I poured the rest into some popsicle molds for the grandkids. 

Another favorite recipe I like to make is the "Mock Beef & Rice Noodle Toss" from La Dolce Vegan. I have made so many variations of this using whatever veggies I have on hand. The Teriyaki Marinade really brings it all together. I usually end up using all of the marinade and thickening it with a little cornstarch for the sauce. This time I used Gardein Beefless Tips, broccoli and snow peas over quinoa. 

~ Mock Beef & (Rice Noodle) Toss ~

La Dolce Vegan

The lasagna recipe from Chloe's Kitchen is the best! This is the second time I have made this. It's so easy using no-boil lasagna noodles. My brother and his family came to visit the day after I made this. He ate the leftovers and wanted the recipe! I couldn't believe he wanted to make a vegan recipe; I was so thrilled and he wanted to make it for company!

before baking

~ Ooh-La-La Lasagna ~

Chloe's Kitchen

I was so excited to see Beyond Meat chicken at my local Sprouts. They have all the different flavors of chicken but no other products yet. I knew just what I wanted to try it in. Give Them Something Better's cookbook has so many homey, comforting, familiar recipes. I wanted to try the Chicken Stew and Easy Biscuits. 

Easy Biscuits hot from the oven.

 You use whole wheat pastry flour and make them in a muffin pan. They were flavorful but I still like light, airy cut biscuits better. The Chicken Stew tastes just like my grandma's (well, almost!) I should have put the chicken pieces in at the end of cooking because they did get a little spongy but it didn't affect the flavor at all. This makes a big pot of stew; I need to remember to start halving these recipes. 

~ Chicken Stew & Easy Biscuits ~
Give Them Something Better

Now, what to cook for this week?!!

"Crab" Cakes, Mashed Potatoes & Green Beans

Vegcookbookclub January 2014

~ Everyday Happy Herbivore: "Crab" Cakes; Remoulade 

Love these 'crab' cakes! A delicious combination of pressed shredded tofu, chopped oyster mushrooms and lots of seasonings; these definitely take the place of fishy crab cakes. Her recipes use no oil but instead of using the vegan mayo recipe she suggests, I used Vegenaise so my 'crab' cakes do have some oil. Maybe that's why they tasted so good! I also made the Remoulade sauce to smear on top of these. Again, I used Vegenaise along with the ketchup, dill pickle, mustard, Old Bay seasoning, lemon juice and Tabasco to make a tasty, spicy topping.

 ~ The Happy Herbivore: Dirty Mashed Potatoes; Dijon-Herb Green Beans

Mashing the Dirty Potatoes

These are called dirty because you leave the skins on the potatoes. This recipe called for 2 Tbsp. of garlic powder; I cut that down to 1 Tbsp. Of course no "butter" is called for so I added some Earth Balance margarine when I ate mine! 

Mixing the green beans in the Dijon-Herb sauce. 

Instead of all the herbs and spices this calls for I used 2 1/2 tsp. of my Italian seasoning blend. 

I thought the flavor of the sauce was great but the hubby wasn't particularly fond of it. Maybe the combination of Dijon mustard, lemon juice and the herbs was too much for him. He likes things "plain jane". I should have just cooked some plain ol' green beans for him! 

"Crab" Cakes, Remoulade, Dirty Mashed Potatoes and Dijon-Herb Green Beans

November Parties!

I thought I would wrap up the end of the month with a rundown of get-togethers and parties that filled November! Now that my anxiety, OCD and bipolar symptoms are on the wane (for now) it's time to get back to some cooking. 

Nov. 9th ~ Guy Fawke's Bonfire at my sweet English friend's home. The actual day they celebrate is Nov. 5th but that was a Tuesday so it was moved to Saturday. Such fun! Lots of food and an awesome bonfire burning of the Guy Fawke's effigy. I always try to bring a casserole or other substantial dish so I know I have at least one thing to eat. I made Black Bean & Sweet Potato Tortilla Casserole from Vegan Holiday Kitchen and Cowgirl Cookies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. 

This is an alternative to the Cowboy Cookies using cranberries and vegan white chocolate chips.

The Black Bean-Sweet Potato Casserole is always a hit. I even had one lady come up to me and tell me that her husband loved this dish! The pan was empty at the end of the night.

Nov. 15th ~ Rehearsal dinner at Macayo's Mexican restaurant for my son and his fiance'. They make a California Burro that I always order. I have them substitute the refried beans for black beans. And yes, I do include the cheese and sour cream. 

Nov. 16th ~ Wedding! A beautiful ceremony and reception at the Golf Club of Estrella for my baby boy (25 in February) and his beloved. Lots of great food; appetizers of hummus, pita bread, veggies, cheese, crackers, green salads, roasted veggies, scalloped potatoes, rolls and meat. And the wedding cake was delicious along with the champagne! Not too worried about watching what I ate that night. Celebrate!!!

Nov. 24th ~ Potluck Birthday/Bon Voyage Party at another dear friend's home. There is always a ton of food at these potlucks. Again, I made a casserole dish; Baked Chili with Cornbread Biscuit Topping from La Dolce Vegan. 

A wonderfully, sweet and spicy chili. This time I used Butler's Soy Curls instead of the frozen veggie crumbles (which bother my stomach.) Loved the addition of the soy curls; they gave it that meaty, hearty texture this dish needed. And it fooled all the meat-eaters! Again, another empty casserole dish. 

I love using these because they are just dried soybeans; nothing else. 

They are very kind to my stomach! 

Nov. 28th ~ Thanksgiving Day. My mom likes to cook a huge meal for everyone. I always bring the Tofurky with roasted carrots, potatoes and onions along with some Tofurky gravy. I also made Green Bean Casserole Redux from 1000 Vegan Recipes and Cranberry-Carrot Cake with Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting from Vegan Holiday Kitchen. It's a nice, easy trip to Mom and Dad's; they live right across the street! 

This year I basted the Tofurky and veggies with a mixture of my Poultry Seasoning, Bragg's and Roasted Garlic Infused Oil. My New York friend sells Tastefully Simple products and this Garlic Oil is delicious. It added a subtle sweet garlic taste to the veggies and Tofurky. I want to try it the next time I roast asparagus or green beans. Confession time~this is the last year I am making a Tofurky. Well, I'm the only one who eats it and also, it really gives me intestinal distress! Next year, I'm going to try making some stuffed squash but I like the roasted veggies so I'll keep making those.

Basting marinade. 

Fresh, organic green beans for the Green Bean Casserole. Instead of the usual cream of mushroom soup (which isn't vegan) you make a yummy sauce using chopped fresh mushrooms, seasonings and unsweetened soymilk. Of course you have to use a can of fried onion rings!

This tastes just like I remember a good old fashioned green bean casserole should!

The Cranberry-Carrot Cake hot from the oven. She suggested using a springform pan to make a prettier presentation. I mixed up the Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting according to the directions but it just tasted and had the consistency of the soymilk. Maybe a typo? I added about 3/4 cup powdered sugar and it turned out alot better. After drizzling on the cake I added toasted, chopped walnuts. 

Loved the flavors; the fresh cranberries were a nice, tangy contrast to the sweet frosting. Hubby especially liked it! 

Nov. 30th ~  Last but not least! As I was typing up my post, my son texted me and said "drinkin beer and eatin turkey tonight at my house". Heeheehee. I texted back and said "is that an invitation?" So I better bring something to eat for myself because who knows what else there will be to eat?! I'm going to whip up Wolffie's Fiesta Macaroni Bean Salad from La Dolce Vegan for tonight. 

Wow! What a month! I'm sure December will be just as wild and crazy. I'm getting all of my fall decorations gathered up today while I've got the hubby out in the garage bringing in all of the winter holiday decorations. I think tomorrow will be busy! 

Lemon-Broiled Green Beans~pg. 160

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

Fantastic! I usually roast my veggies instead but they are so much quicker under the broiler. The recipe only called for 1/4 lb. of green beans but I quadrupled everything and did up a whole pound. I'm glad I did. These are yummy; my hubby thought he was eating roasted asparagus! The lemon juice really brightens up the flavor of the green beans. This is the only way I'll cook fresh green beans from now on.

A quick supper~ Lemon-Broiled Green Beans; Yukon Gold potatoes with Daiya cheddar and Gardein Turk'y cutlets.

Agave and Mustard-Glazed Green Beans

VegCookbookClub December recipes from Nava Atlas-Vegan Holiday Kitchen:

 

The recipe for this dish says you can use fresh brussels sprouts or green beans. I had some organic frozen green beans that I needed to use and they tasted delicious with the agave/mustard glaze and toasted pine nuts. Can't wait to try this with brussels sprouts.

 

I served my green beans with Gardein Chick'n Tenders and Roasted Holiday Vegetables from La Dolce Vegan. The roasted veggies have carrot, potato, onion and sweet baby yams. Yum!

Southern-Style Green Beans

Finishing up the month of September with a few more from The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester. October's cookbook is Chloe's Kitchen. Can't wait to try out some of her recipes! Join in the fun here at the VegCookBook Club.  My local Sprouts market is getting more and more organic vegetables and they had these lovely green beans.

I like my green beans either roasted or cooked really well. I don't like crunchy beans. These need to cook at least 2 hours to get rid of that bitter green crunchiness.  Anyway, this recipe has liquid smoke and cajun seasoning in it. Mmm mmm~ they tasted just like my grandma used to make (of course she used bacon in hers). Who needs the bacon? The liquid smoke and cajun spice makes these pig free and delicious! My hubby really liked them. He was eating them with his fingers out of the slow cooker. Now I have two ways to cook green beans-roast and slow cook!

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!

Cold Coconut Curried Noodle Salad~pg. 80

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I love rice noodles; such a nice change from regular wheat noodles. I must have not made enough noodles because I had way too much sauce so I just used half of my sauce. Oh well, I guess I'll have to cook some more rice noodles! The recipe calls for a can of coconut milk. I buy the lite coconut milk. It has 60% less fat and calories than the regular coconut milk but it still tastes good.

I must be craving some greens because I also made Green Bean & Fennel Toss from "The Garden of Vegan"-pg. 115 and my favorite kale salad. I'll post the kale salad recipe separately. The Green Bean & Fennel Toss has fresh ginger sautee'd in dark sesame oil then stir-fried with snow peas, green beans, fennel and bok choy. Then it is cooked for another minute with Braggs, white wine vinegar and gomashio seasoning. It's green and delicious!

My dinner for tonight~I cleaned my plate!

Perfect Pesto Potato Salad~pg 88

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:



I LOVE basil! I could have eaten this salad warm but I'll wait and chill it awhile. I used cherry tomatoes instead of the sundried tomatoes and thawed frozen green beans. I'm going to serve this with some of the Kalamata & Sun-Dried Tomato Soda Bread (pg 265) we had made earlier. I sliced it and put it in the freezer so I can just take out a few slices at a time.