Olive & Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus~pg. 50

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

I love any kind of hummus and this recipe calls for my usual pantry staples. So easy to whip up in the food processor and so yummy. 

I served the Olive & Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus at our 'family karaoke night'! It was a hit as were the 5-Spice Almond Cookies. I used the leftovers as a sandwich spread with tomatoes, red onions and cucumbers. 

Roasted Squashes and Peppers

VegCookbookClub December recipes from Nava Atlas-Vegan Holiday Kitchen:

Mmm-roasted peppers and squash!

 

Love the smell of roasting veggies. Now that the holiday season is almost over it's time to focus on some good, clean eating. Too many sweets-ugh! Next month the Veg Cookbook Club is cooking out of Kris Carr's new cookbook "Crazy Sexy Kitchen." Of course that is one of the few vegan cookbooks I don't have yet and being the cookbook junkie that I am, I immediately ordered it. She is such a powerful example of what clean, healthy eating can do for you. I'm trying, I'm trying! I can't quite get into the green juicing (yet!) I need to add a juicer and maybe a Vitamix to my wish list. :)

 

I served my roasted veggies with Swiss Chard with White Beans & Barley.

Here's to a new year of eating healthy and getting back in the gym!

Fish-Friendly Tapenade~pg. 63

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I had made this before and spread it on toasted bread; which was delicious. The challenge suggested using it on pasta. Didn't know how that was gonna turn out. After blending all the ingredients in the food processor I tasted it and whoo was it salty! Well, it did have Kalamata olives, capers and 1/4 tsp salt; next time I'll leave the salt out. I went ahead and boiled my pasta, stirred in the tapenade and added one cup of Daiya mozzarella shreds to lighten up the taste of the tapenade. It did wonders! It tasted even better when I chopped up my roasted asparagus and ate that mixed in with it. So, in the end, I will probably make this again with my additions and less salt!

Jen's Creamy Basil & Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta~pg. 133

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I love fresh basil so this creamy tofu sauce was a hit. I cooked my broccoli separately and then tossed it with the sauce and pasta.

I served the pasta with a fresh salad topped with the Vegan Ranch Dressing I made earlier today and Simple Sassy Soda Bread (pg. 269) broiled with Earth Balance margarine, garlic powder and Faux Parmesan.

Peacefrog's Artichoke Heart Pasta~pg. 133

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I know we are all busy with the holiday season but it's so nice to know what I'm making for dinner.  If I didn't have this plan I would be tempted to eat something very, very bad for me!!

I have made this pasta several times; I love the fresh taste of the basil, tomato and parsley. I used Italian parsley this time which I like alot better than curly parsley.

Time to eat!

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.

Kalamata & Sun-Dried Tomato Soda Bread~pg 265

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I love kalamata olives and sun-dried tomatoes; now I love them in bread, too! I toasted a couple pieces and spread them with Earth Balance margarine. Then I tried spreading on a little Caesar Dressing I had left over-delicious! I ate this with my favorite kale salad from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's book, "Vegan's Daily Companion." It is called "Massaged Kale Salad" because you massage an avocado into the kale salad and it acts as the oil in the dressing. Wow! I can't believe we've almost made it through a month of recipes. This challenge has really helped me to eat alot healthier; even with the desserts we've made I've lost a couple of pounds!