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*

"Tuna" Salad & Greens

Vegcookbookclub January 2014

The Happy Herbivore: "Tuna" Salad ~

I've made chickpea salads before that I love but this one really has the consistency, taste and texture of tuna "tuna" salad.  I used a pastry blender to mash up the chickpeas; it works really well. Instead of chopping the celery you shred it and then combine sweet pickle relish, kelp powder and a few other seasonings. I served it over a bed of arugula and spinach with chopped red onion, cherry tomatoes and yellow sliced mini peppers. I ate the leftovers in warmed corn tortillas with shredded spinach. 

Everyday Happy Herbivore:  Rainbow Greens ~

The recipe calls for rainbow chard but this time I used red chard. So easy, yet a delicious way to eat your greens. I saute' the chard stems with the garlic to soften them up a little. The combination of the  apple cider vinegar and the raisins helps to balance the bitterness of the greens. 

Quick Breakfast Quinoa~pg. 50

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I love quinoa so I knew this would be good. The raisins cooked with the quinoa made it sweet enough without adding any sugar. I'm glad this turned out because it kept boiling over on me while I was cooking it. Here is my stovetop that I had just cleaned:

Isn't that lovely!

Wolffie's Cow Pies~pg. 205

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I love chocolate-covered raisins but these were a little too rich and chocolatey for me. I'm sure my husband will enjoy them! I chose to use the vegetable shortening instead of margarine when making them because I knew it would help firm them up better. They turned out perfect.

Apple Pie Pancakes~pg. 38

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I have made these pancakes before and I forgot how good they were! I used spelt flour as Sarah suggested; an awesome nutrition packed substitute for plain white wheat flour. They were especially delicious with Earth Balance margarine and maple syrup. I'll try to remember to make these more often.

Nutty Oatmeal Raisin Cookies~pg 221

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I doubled this recipe and it made 3 1/2 dozen cookies. I love a full cookie jar! I used almond butter for the nut butter and Ener-G egg replacer ( I think I measured it wrong when I doubled it but the cookies still turned out yummy!) I used a mixture of dark raisins and golden raisins; I chose not to add chocolate chips this time. The cookies are just fine without them.

Ahhh! The joy of a full cookie jar!

Day 8 Baby Spinach & Apple Salad with Sweet Red Wine Vinaigrette ~pg 77

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I have made this before and added chopped red onion and sprinkled with gomashio seasoning. I like the extra little zing it gives to the salad. To make the dressing, I used agave nectar for the sweetener and flax oil for the other 2 Tbsp. of oil.