vegancookiemonster

MIA

2006-12-03T17:38:00.000-08:00

swiss chard and sweet potato gnocchi, rolled and ready to be cooked

gnocchi with tofu garlic sauce, summer squash on the side

veggie stack with lentils in red wine sauce

summer veggie salad with edamame

Mung Bean Patties

2006-08-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

This recipe does not have exact measurements because I just throw it together on autopilot when I make it. I used to hate it when my mom gave me vague recipes without exact measurements, but now I understand why she did it! Adjust these approximate amounts as you see fit! Just taste as you go!

1) Soak 1 cup of yellow mung beans for a few hours. Use plenty of water because they are extremely absorbant!

2) Blend the mung beans with the water level about a centimeter above the level of the beans in a blender. Blend until smooth, adding water if it's too thick. It should be similar to cake batter.

3) Add chopped or shredded veggies. They should be small enough to cook through in a short time. Suggestions: green onions, shredded carrots, nappa cabbage, variety of onions, very thinly sliced bell pepper, shiitake mushrooms...

4) Season with salt, pepper, 1 tbps. sesame oil, cayenne pepper or asian hot pepper, 2 tbsp soy sauce.

5) Fry the patties in a lightly oiled skillet.

Enjoy!

Asian influence

2006-08-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted. I've been stressed with work and somewhat uninspired. However, I made my second batch of bread pudding within this month, and it disappeared rather quickly.

We had dinner guests tonight, and I decided to go with a quick Asian theme. I was too tired to go to the grocery store after work, so I tried to work with just what I already had at the house. I started by making brown rice maki rolls.

Then I made a Korean BBQ seitan with mushrooms over a nest of fried crispy noodles. I love the sound of the noodles when they hit the hot oil!

Finally, I made a medley of vegetables with some sweet and sour seasonings. All in all, a pretty satisfying meal.

I'm glad to be cooking again. I promise I will post the mung bean pancake recipe soon.

The only sports I like...

2006-08-06T19:13:00.000-07:00

are the ones represented in cake. This was my project for Friday: a 3 layer chocolate dome cake with coconut frosting and a coating of unsweetened shredded coconut. This volleyball cake was requested by a friend of mine.

Summer is the time of year when I can't get enough of tropical flavors. When my little sister and some friends came to visit recently, I whipped up a batch of chocolate coconut cupcakes filled with coconut-lime pastry cream and topped with chocolate-coconut-lime frosting and toasted unsweetened coconut. These were sweetened mostly with brown rice syrup, and they were, of course, 100% whole grain.

Here are the spring rolls I mentioned wanting to make last week. We had these with mung bean patties.

I recently made cornmeal encrusted seitan steaks with a white wine, tomato, and caper reduction for dinner. I forgot to take a picture of them, but I used some of the leftovers for lunch on Friday. I was too lazy to get the cornmeal out, so I just sliced up some seitan and fried it in the cast iron skillet. I used the leftover sauce and fried up some zucchini on the side.

My mom owns a small diner, and she always finds herself with excessove amounts of bread ends that she's not quite sure what to do with. I'm looking forward to making some bread pudding! I am anticipating a stressful work week, so I'm definitely going to make use the BIG pan. Check back for the results!

100+ degrees....

2006-08-01T14:12:00.000-07:00

Breakfast for the husband: banana and wheat germ waffles topped with fresh berries and a walnut syrup made with brown rice syrup and some other goodies

It is definitely too hot to cook ANYthing. I had to go to work for a few hours today, but before I left I threw a banana in the freezer. When I got home, I made banana "ice cream."

Then, it was just SO hot that I threw another banana in the freezer, and a couple of hours later threw together more "ice cream," this time with strawberries and flecks of grain sweetened chocolate chips. I got lazy about trying to put it in a nice glass. Instead, I ate it right out of my mini food processor.

I think tonight is a good night for Vietnamese spring rolls...

heat wave

2006-07-31T16:14:00.000-07:00

It is very hot and muggy, and my lack of both air conditioning and dishwasher make it difficult to do too much cooking. Washing the dishes is like a workout, and I usually feel like I need a shower afterwards. I've mostly been putting together quick meals utilizing leftovers.

My poor photography skills have led to a bizarre picture of this sandwich. This is barbecued seitan with perfectly ripened avocado slathered on rye bread.

Last night's dinner: tofu fried in a cast iron skillet with Korean barbecue sauce; mung bean noodles with purple cabbage, onions, and red bell pepper with a soy and sesame sauce (not pictured: sugar snap peas)

Today's lunch: vegan cheesesteak (thinly sliced seitan, onions, homemade "cheddar cheese" all on a whole wheat roll with a side of sugar snap peas sprinkled with a generous amount of salt)

Ahh.... There's nothing like sitting the sweltering summer heat with a full stomach drinking warm seltzer water while listening to Black Heart Procession and watching the whir of the ceiling fan....

hippie-love

2006-07-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

4 layer chocolate cake with a vanilla ricemilk custard between layers

This was a cake I made for a friend's band before they left on a 2.5 week tour. They are awesome. Adam Arcuragi (and friends). They are not actually hippies.

menagerie

2006-07-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

Shortbread cookies with chocolate and vanilla icing; These were made for a bakesale at Exhumed (http://www.exhumedfilms.com.)

and let them eat cake...

2006-07-26T06:29:00.000-07:00

This is a groom's cake that I did for a friend's wedding. It was a vanilla wholegrain cake with a tofu lemon cream filling with fresh strawberries and a marzipan cover. The groom was a Redskins fan whose last name starts with H, hence the logo.

school's out

2006-06-25T11:51:00.000-07:00

School's out for summer...
I'm a teacher, and for the last day of school I baked my kids shelves of vegan book cakes to inspire them to read for the summer. I used a whole grain chocolate cake. I had made frosting from scratch, but given my fatigue it was an ill fated venture from the start. I had to scrap the icing, and my husband (ever the level-headed lifesaver) went to the store for (unfortunately) way too sugary frosting. As it's been a long time since I've used store-bought frosting, the "books" turned out sloppy and not aesthetically pleasing to my obsessive compulsive side, but the kids loved them anyways.
I meant to start this blog at the beginning of the summer and just got caught up in other things. And so it begins...