Quinoa "meat" balls

In an effort to have better/higher protein/more filling breakfasts, I decided to cook a bunch of quinoa on Sunday afternoon and then have it with fruit and almond or coconut milk throughout the week.  Since I was already cooking the quinoa, it seemed a good idea to make dinner with it at the same time! Sarah decided sometime in the last year or two that she didn't like quinoa, so I knew I couldn't just serve it with veggies.  I remembered making quinoa balls in the past, but when I looked at the recipe they seemed awfully complicated, so I improvised with the ingredients we had sitting around.  They turned out pretty good! Though they could have used an extra crisp. If I do it again I might do a quick fry at the end of baking.  

Quinoa "Meat" Balls

Ingredients:

1.5 - 2 c. Cooked quinoa (this is about .5 c dry cooked with 1 c water)

1 tbsp Flax meal

3 tbsp Warm water

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1.5 tsp minced garlic (about 3 cloves)

.5 - 1 c vegan mozzarella (we use Daiya)

Olive oil for cooking

Marinara sauce for serving

1. In a small bowl or cup, mix flax meal with warm water until gooey. 

2. In a larger bowl mix the quinoa with the flax meal mixture. Then add the basil, oregano and garlic.  

3. After those ingredients are mixed, add the mozzarella fold in until well distributed.  

4. Put oil on a baking pan. Roll the quinoa mixture into 1-1.5 inch balls and place on the pan.  Should make about 12 balls.  Put a small amount of olive oil on the top of each ball. 

5. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes then bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  

6. Heat marinara sauce and pour on top for serving. 

These balls would also be good with onions or perhaps with some other herbs and spices.  

Spiralizer - Beets with walnut pesto

With two kids creative cooking has been put on the back burner.  But also with two very young children, we have had a lot more time awake at night.  The other night during a several hour awake period, I got to thinking about vegetable noodles.  You know, noodles made exclusively out of vegetables.  In an effort to get myself back to sleep, I wrote down all the recipes I would make if I had a machine that made vegetables out of noodles.  

The next day this still seemed like a good idea, so I went ahead and bought a spiralizer! A few days later my 2 year old and I were having a blast cooking with our noodley veggies! Here is our first recipe attempt:

Beet Noodles with Walnut Pesto

This recipe is incredibly delicious and fairly simple, though getting the pesto fine enough was a challenge.  My food processor is no good, so I was using a high powered blender, but I suspect it would have been much easier with a good food processor.  

Ingredients: 

4-6 Beets, washed and peeled (save the greens if they look good*)

1.5 c loosely packed fresh basil

.5 c walnuts

.25-.5 c olive oil

1. Spiralize the beets into noodles. I used a medium/small blade to make spaghetti sized noodles.  Be sure to wash your spiralizer immediately after making the noodles, as the red can stain.  

2. Steam beet noodles until tender but not squishy, about 15 minutes. (I suspect you can also bake or boil your beets, but I steamed them)

3. While the beets are cooking, chop the basil and walnuts in your food processor or blender.  Slowly add the olive oil and continue to process until the desired level of smoothness is achieved.  

4. Mix cooked beet noodles with pesto and serve!

*5. If your beet greens look good, wash and trim them then sauté with a bit of olive oil and garlic and serve on the side.  

Serves about 4. 

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun

I feel as though I missed an opportunity to do a bunch of great blog foodie posting. Over the last five months I have been unemployed, which you would have thought would give me lots of time to cook (I really just trolled the Internet and applied to jobs). I did however make some delicious new foods!

Perhaps my favorite one is vegan biscuits! Deliciousness!

There are lots of recipes out there but by far the best one out there is appropriately named the best damn vegan biscuits, created by the minimalist baker

find link here: http://minimalistbaker.com/the-best-damn-vegan-biscuits/

I have used this recipe to make biscuits with apple inside and another great recipe, a vegan breakfast casserole by Namely Mary!

find link here: http://www.namelymarly.com/vegan-breakfast-biscuit-casserole/

I am also going to say that her tofu scramble recipe is the closest thing to an egg scramble I have yet found, and makes the above casserole taste like a fastfood breakfast sandwich! YUM!


Other news! My girlfriend is no longer my girlfriend, but my wife! We were married June 28, 2014! Oh happiness! We used a great caterer in NJ who was able to make the best vegan food ever. Not to mention that she even used my carrot cake recipe for the wedding cake! If you ever need an event catered, vegan or not use Bex Eatery. http://www.bexkitchen.com/home.html

Five Course Meal

This winter, Hannah and I had the opportunity to put on a full five course meal for 8 people as a fund raiser for the First Congregational Church in Riverside CA. Because it was such a big meal, it took us some time to figure out all the recipes and how it would work out.

In the end I think that the whole thing came out spectacularly! So you to can put on a vegan 5 course meal, here is what we served.

Home Made Humus Dip and Vegetables:

One 15-ounce can  chickpeas, also called garbanzo beans

1/4 cup  fresh lemon juice, about 1 large lemon

1/4 cup  tahini 

Half of a large garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving

1/2 to 1 teaspoon kosher salt, depending on taste

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 to 3 tablespoons water

Dash of ground paprika for serving

In a food processor, add all ingredients except water. As humus is processing, add water for desired smoothness. Serve immediately or store in refrigerator fro up to a week. Sprinkle some paprika on top for a more pretty version. 


BlackEye Pea and Kale Winter Soup:

1 Tbsp. coconut oil
2 cups diced white onions (about 1 medium onion)
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano leaves
1/2 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/4 tsp. chipotle powder
1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
3 cups vegetable broth
3 cups water
2 Tbsp. wakame flakes, ground or crushed into fine pieces
3 cups cooked black-eyed peas
1 head kale, stems discarded and leaves chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

• In a large pot, melt the coconut oil over medium heat.
• Add the onions and garlic and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the celery and bell pepper and cook for a few minutes longer.
• Stir in the oregano, thyme, chipotle, and paprika and cook for about 30 seconds.
• Add the vegetable broth, water, wakame flakes, and black-eyed peas.* Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes, adding more water if needed.
• After the soup is cooked through, stir in the kale* and keep over the heat for a minute longer—just long enough to wilt the kale.
• Add the lemon juice and turn off the heat. Top with parsley and serve.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Quinoa Pizza Balls:

2/3 cup  quinoa, dry

2 cups  vegetable broth or stock

2 cups  cooked white or red kidney beans

10-15  fresh basil leaves, chopped

1/2 tsp  dried oregano

1/2 cup  fresh parsley, chopped

2/3 cup  tomato paste

3-5 drops plain stevia liquid, to your taste

garlic salt, to your taste

If your quinoa is not pre-rinsed, rinse well and drain.  Bring the broth to a boil in a medium pot over high heat. Add quinoa, lower heat to simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Check the quinoa; if the liquid is not yet absorbed, cover and cook for 5-10 minutes longer, until the liquid is absorbed and quinoa is softened. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350F (180C).  Line two cookie sheets with parchment, or spray with nonstick spray.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mash the beans with a potato masher or large fork until almost smooth (but leave a little texture).  Add remaining ingredients,  including quinoa, and, with clean hands, knead the “dough” to combine well.

Using a small ice cream scoop or tablespoon, scoop the mixture and roll into balls.  Place on cookie sheets and bake in preheated oven 25-35 minutes, rotating the pans about halfway through, until the balls are dry and well browned on the outside.  Serve immediately, or store in a covered container in the refrigerator up to 5 days. Makes about two dozen. May be frozen.

Vegan Quiche:

1 vegan pie crust (I used Hannah's secret family recipe, sorry can't share)
1 package of firm tofu (squeezed to get all the liquid out)
1 medium onion chopped
2 cups of spinach (or more, the more veggie the merrier)
1 medium broccoli chopped
4-8 quartered artichoke hearts (dried of with a paper towel)
1 sliced pepper (red, green, or yellow, your choice)
1-2 shopped cloves of garlic
1/3 cups almond milk
2 Tbs tahini
2 tsp curry powder
2 Tbs olive oil
cayenne pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven 375
In a blender combine the tofu, almond milk, tahini, curry, cayenne until a paste. if too thick add more almond milk, or if you want a different flavor add some soy sauce.
In a frying pan saute the onions until translucent. add rest of veggies and cover until spinach is wilted.
In a medium bowl combine tofu mixture and vegetables
In a pie pan lay out pie crust. poke holes in the bottom with fork.
add mixture to pie pan
bake for 18-20 min
Once hard looking and a little brownish take out and enjoy with a little bit of ketchup.

And

Vegan Carrot Cake:

2 1/3 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp salt

6 tbsp flax seed meal
3/4 c warm water
1½ c sugar
1 c oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 c shredded carrots
1 c raisins

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz vegan cream cheese
¼ c crisco
1 tsp vanilla
2 c powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350º. Line two 8×8″ pans or one 9x11 with parchment paper. In a small bowl, sift together dry ingredients (flour through salt). In a large bowl, whisk together flax seed meal and water. Beat in sugar and oil. Add vanilla and carrots and mix until combined. Add dry mix and stir until moistened. Fold in raisins. Pour equal parts into pans. Bake for 18-20 min, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pans 10 minutes.

For the frosting, beat together cream cheese and margarine. Add vanilla and powdered sugar; whip until smooth. (Don’t overbeat; in my experience, store-bought vegan cream cheese has a tendency to get runny.)

Sloppy joes

We're back online! We've been super lazy about posting recipes. Not that we haven't been cooking... Just not posting... So here we are with a sloppy joes recipe. We decided to try gardein, which is essentially fancy textured vegetable protein. I've heard great things about it and found it on sale at fresh and easy!

I got a packet in "ground beef" form and Sarah decided sloppy joes should be the first recipe. Warning as we begin: careful with the cayenne! We put one full teaspoon of red pepper in and paid the price for it later. Also when we added the soy sauce the cayenne evaporated with it caused coughing fits for both of us… so, moral is, be careful.

Vegan Sloppy Joes
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 or 1 medium zucchini, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/3 c gardein meatless ground
1/2 tsp cayenne or less (remember be careful!)
Oil to sauté the onion
1/2 c ketchup
Nutritional yeast as desired

Sauté onion until translucent, add zucchini and garlic for an extra minute or two. Add cayenne and stir until well covered. Stir in gardein, soy sauce and ketchup. Simmer for several minutes and add yeast as desired. You may need to add some water if it gets too dry while simmering.

Other than the extreme spiciness of our dish it was rely delicious. We served it with a half cup of brown rice pasta. Yum!

Too many dates

So as I moved to Cali, I found out that Hannah has been shopping at Cosco for some of her food. Its a great place to shop, don't get me wrong, but one of the downsize of shopping at Cosco is that sometimes you just get ways too much food. Sometimes this is a good thing, like when it comes to artichoke hearts, a food I could eat until I got sick, but then there are dates. She got a giant tub of them. She wanted to make vegan date ice cream and tried at first but then gave up... and then was stuck with the giant tub of dates.

Enter me into the picture. About two weeks ago I moved out here and was staying with Hannah until I found my own place. And like any good temporary housewife, I made lots of good foods. I like to try and use what is already in the house and what I had was dates. Now in my experience dates are really good for baked goods. Unfortunetly both Hannah and I are watching our figures and are not so interested in baked goods at this time. So I had to get a little more creative when I came to using the thousands of dates in Hannah's fridge. So I spent a good amount of time on the internet and epicurious looking for some other good delicious way to use dates. And low and behold my great googleing skills paid off. according to google there are many salads and sweet things to make with dates and then there is Date and Chickpea Tagine. Never heard of it. Neither had I until just a week ago.

The funny thing about my google results from this recipe is that many of the hits were also from other blogs. there was one legit recipe from Vegetarian Times and the rest were recipes slightly altered from that first one on a bunch of other food blogs. Blogs are such a funny thing. But anyways this recipe as follows is my give on this already passed around recipe.

Date and Chickpea Tagine

1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Chopped Onion
4 Cloves of chopped Garlic
1 tps Cumin
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 15 oz can of Diced Tomatoes
1 15 oz can of Chickpeas
1 c Pitted and diced Dates
1/4 c Lemon Juice
1/2 c Coos Coos
1/2 c Water or vegetable broth

Add oil to a saucepan over medium heat. cook onions until caramelized, about 10 min. add garlic, cumin, cinnamon, tomatoes and chickpeas. Simmer for ten minutes. If more liquid is needed add 1/4 c water.
While that is simmering boil 1/2 c of water. When water has come to a boil add coos coos, stir and take off heat.
Once chickpea mixture has simmer for 10 min add dates and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste (we did not add anything else)
Serve Tagine over coos coos and enjoy!

This meal is very sweet, but somehow all the other flavors seem to still be able to pop out and be tasted. its funny, you can totally taste every single ingredient in it.

Vegan Quiche

So I just moved to California and am bumming at Hannah's place until I find a place of my own and a job. For this reason there might be a bunch of recipes up over the next couple of weeks while I look for a job. I would also like to apologize for the lack of pictures over the next couple of posts. While I was in Nicaragua I lost my camera. I have been taking pictures but they are using Hannah's I-pod and i can't get them onto my computer thanks to not having the software downloaded on my comp. But pictures will be posted in a little bit.

The other day Hannah and I had some quests over to hang out and eat some good foods. The week earlier when I was visiting at my parents house my family had made normal quiche and since coming to Cali I had brought the idea up a few times to Hannah that we should try a vegan quiche. She was skeptical but willing to try it out.
Super excited about the idea I instantly started searching the web for vegan quiche ideas. Luckily there are about a million vegan quiche recipes out there and I was able to pick a nugget or two from a couple different ones. Although I got to say that the whole foods recipe looked the best in its complete form than any of the other ones. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2114

Vegan Quiche

1 vegan pie crust (I used Hannah's secret family recipe, sorry can't share)
1 package of firm tofu (squeezed to get all the liquid out)
1 medium onion chopped
2 cups of spinach (or more, the more veggie the merrier)
1 medium broccoli chopped
4-8 quartered artichoke hearts (dried of with a paper towel)
1 sliced pepper (red, green, or yellow, your choice)
1-2 shopped cloves of garlic
1/3 cups almond milk
2 Tbs tahini
2 tsp curry powder
2 Tbs olive oil
cayenne pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven 375
In a blender combine the tofu, almond milk, tahini, curry, cayenne until a paste. if too thick add more almond milk, or if you want a different flavor add some soy sauce.
In a frying pan saute the onions until translucent. add rest of veggies and cover until spinach is wilted.
In a medium bowl combine tofu mixture and vegetables
In a pie pan lay out pie crust. poke holes in the bottom with fork.
add mixture to pie pan
bake for 18-20 min
Once hard looking and a little brownish take out and enjoy with a little bit of ketchup.

We served this to our friends coming over, a risky business with new recipes, but the whole thing worked out great and our guests ate nearly the entire pie! Proof that is was delicious!
And not only is it delicious but it is crazy healthy. If you know anything about the weight watchers point system, something Hannah and I are a little addicted to, than you might be interested to know that this entire pie is only 18 points!  Just another excuse to eat the whole thing and not feel bad about it. :)

Quick and easy: "Greek" sandwich

Sarah is back from Nicaragua! Luckily the typical stomach issues that she fell victim to down there were not lasting as mine were. Our vegan cooking has returned in full force and several recipes will follow but for now a quick and easy.

Sarah is obsessed with artichoke hearts. You know, the oily, marinated kind. It is unusual and a little disconcerting as she sometimes makes herself sick from eating too many. I finally tried one the other day and actually found it surprisingly enjoyable. My approval of them resulted in them being included in every meal for a week. The tastiest result was what I am calling a "Greek" sandwich (thou I doubt the Greeks would actually claim it. hence the quotes).

"Greek" sandwich:

Cut pita in half. Line the inside with hummus. Put a bit of romaine lettuce inside. Add 2 or 3 artichoke hearts in that sucker and enjoy!

Chard's Second Chance

After my last disappointing recipe using chard (see posting "green eggs and ham"), I was wary of buying more chard. However, I was at the local farmers market on Saturday morning when I saw some beautiful organic rainbow chard. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to allow chard to redeem itself.

I had lots of leftover green things that I needed to use up as well so I threw together this extremely healthy and exceptionally tasty dish:

Greeny Delight
1 zucchini, cut to 1/4 inch slices
1/2 lb brussels sprouts (abt 2 -3 cups), ends trimmed and quartered
1 stalk celery, cut into 1/4 inch slices
3 cups rainbow chard
2 Tbsp soy sauce
water

Cook brussels sprouts in a thin layer of water on medium heat until slightly tender (about 5 minutes). Add the remaining vegetables and soy sauce. A small amount of water may be needed, but do not flood it. Cover and let cook until the chard has wilted (about an additional 10 minutes).

This meal was surprisingly delicious and unbelievably simple. I ate it with a small amount of rice. Chard has made a come-back!

My New Friend

I invited my first California friend over for dinner and took the opportunity to make a new recipe! (I have found its easier to make two servings than one when following a recipe)

One of the benefits of being a minister is that certain congregations have amazingly generous spirits and help furnish your apartment to make you feel more at home. One wonderful woman in my congregation gave me her copy of the Moosewood cookbook, which has turned out to be a great resource. Many of the recipes are vegan and others are easily alterable.

So, from that cookbook I pulled a recipe for Brazilian Black Bean Soup. I completed the menu with a personal favorite (and staple of my diet), Root Vegetable Chips.

Brazilian Black Bean Soup
(This is the recipe as printed in Moosewood. I halved the recipe and made some slight alterations. My alterations other than halving are in parentheses.)



2 cups dry black beans, soaked (I used one can for the half recipe, rinsed)
6 cups water (with the can, this was unnecessary. I added a bit of water but not much)
1 Tbs olive oil
10 medium cloves garlic, crushed
3 cups chopped onion
2 tsp cumin
2 to 2.5 tsp salt (because of the canned beans, I did not add any salt)
1 medium carrot, diced
1 medium bell pepper, diced
1.5 cups orange juice (living in citrus country, I just juiced 2 oranges for the half recipe)
black pepper, to taste
cayenne, to taste (I added spicy salsa as a topping, so I left the cayenne out)
2 medium tomatoes, diced (the recipe indicates this is optional but I thought it really added something. I would recommend the tomato)

Optional toppings: sour cream, cilantro, and salsa (I only used salsa)

1) Place the soaked beans in a kettle or Dutch oven with 4 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer until tender. About 1.25 hours. (skip this step if using canned beans, obv)

2) Heat olive oil in a medium-sized skillet (I just put this in a large pot and then added all ingredients on top). Add onion, half the garlic, cumin, salt, and carrot. Saute over medium heat until the carrot is just tender. Add remaining garlic and the bell pepper. Saute until everything is very tender, about an additional 10-15 minutes. Add the sauteed mixture to the beans, scraping every last morsel. (or add the beans to everything else, as the case may be)

3) Stir in orange juice, black pepper, cayenne, and optional (not really optional) tomatoes. Puree all or some of the soup in a blender or food processor (I did half and it was a good choice), and return to kettle (pot). Simmer over very low heat 10 to 15 minutes more. Serve topped with an artful arrangement of sour cream, cilantro, and salsa.

Serves 6-8 (or 2-3 if halved. I don't know how that works but that's what happened)

Root Vegetable Chips
Any root vegetable will work here, but basically a sweet potato or yam is a must. As you will see below, this recipe is extremely precise (sarcasm).



Root vegetables (including but not limited to sweet potatoes, beets, potatoes, yams, taro, etc.)
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste AND/OR cayenne pepper and cumin for an extra zing

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut vegetables into thin chips as pictured above or into strips (like fries) pictured here:



Toss vegetables in a bowl with olive oil until all chips are thinly covered. Put chips onto a pan and shake spices on top. Bake for 10-15 minutes on each side (20-30 minutes total).


This final image is the foil that I put on the pan for roasting the root vegetables. It turned out beautiful thanks to the beets!

Green Eggs and Ham

Sometimes experiments don't work out the way you've planned.  I found a recipe for "White Beans and Greens with Eggs" in a magazine from a local health food store.  I've recently introduced kale into my diet and have been inspired to try more greens.  I deleted the eggs from this recipe and ended up with a somewhat bland but assuredly healthy meal.  I'm including the recipe in case anyone else can think of a way to make it better. I just added left over tomato sauce and it became satisfactory.

White Beans and Greens
1 can cannellini  beans
1 bunch chard (washed, stemmed, and chopped)
1/2 T apple cider vinegar
2 T water
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 T olive oil

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the garlic and saute for about 1 minute.  Add the remaining ingredients and cover until greens are wilted (about 7 minutes).

New Beginnings and Pitzza

So, Sarah has gone off to Nicaragua for a couple of months, and I have decided to take this blog into my own hands. Incidentally, I have also moved across the country for a new job. Thus, with no friends, I have a lot of time to try new recipes. 

My first adventure is a simple one: Pita Pizza (or Pitzza for the clever ones out there).

This dish is great for veggie lovers.  I will list the veggies I used (mostly just what was in my fridge), but feel free to load it up with whatever catches your attention.  This recipe is super flexible.  You can even add soy cheese if that suits your fancy! (or real cheese for you non-vegans).

Pitzza (serves 2)
2 whole wheat pitas
Your favorite tomato sauce
1 small zucchini
1 medium sweet potato
1/2 onion
1 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven (I used a toaster oven) to 400. Cut onion in half and then into into 4ths or 8ths depending on size.  Cut the remaining vegetables into slices or chunks no larger than 1/2 inch.  Toss all cut items in a large bowl with olive oil.  Bake for 10-20 minutes.  The zucchini will take much less time than the sweet potato and onion.  They do not really burn easily, but they do dry out. 

Once the sweet potato is soft and the onions have a slightly sweet smell (you should be able to eat one easily without cringing from terrible taste) put your pitas on a pan and cover with tomato sauce.  Put the vegetables on top and bake for an additional 10 minutes at 375. 

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pancakes and Fried Bananas

Yet another back dated blog post. I really need to get more up to date on my and Hannah's food creations! This creation is accredited to Hannah. For quite some time this last fall i was feeling the need to eat something with pumpkin. Because as we all know, eating pumpkin is the only way we realize it is really fall. But being a regular lazy person, instead of getting a real pumpkin i opted out for the canned version. I was planning on being really creative and making Hannah something delicious for when she was to come over during the weekend, but weekend after weekend i would continue to be uninspired and so not make anything. One weekend I mentioned to Hannah that I had some pumpkin that needed to be used. I had to work an overnight shift that night and so I suggested to Hannah that she should make me something with it for when i got home in the morning. She took me up on the challenge and when i got home in the morning I had pumpkin pancakes waiting for me.

Pumpkin Pancakes
2 1/2 Cups Flour
2 1/2 Cups Water
1/2 Cups Almond Milk
1 - 1 1/2 tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Pumpkin (canned)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

In a bowl combine almond milk and apple cider vinegar, let sit for 5 minutes. this makes a buttermilk like substance. combine the rest of the ingredients together until no longer lumpy. Let rise for 5 minutes then stir again and let rise for 5 minutes one more time. Makes 20, 4 in pancakes.

Drawn and slightly altered from http://vegenista.com/post/1277880293/vegan-pumpkin-spice-pancakes

Hannah went the extra mile by adding this delicious topping.  She found a banana and fried it up with some maple syrup.  Perfect addition!

Fried Bananas
(Serves Two)
1 banana sliced
1 Tsp Earth Balance Buttery Spread
Maple Syrup

Melt butter in frying pan on stove top. Fry bananas on both sides, make sure not to fry to long otherwise they will become mushy. Add a healthy amount of maple syrup and heat until warm.

We love our Apples

At some point this last fall I was cleaning out my pantry and trying to use some ingredients I had had in my cupboard for some time. The ingredients I had left over were oats and almonds. I was having Hannah, her brother, and brother's girlfriend over and was told that i should make something yummy and Hannah friendly. What i came up with, after searching the internet for some time looking for inspiration was a apple, almond, and oatmeal cookies.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup vegan butter (you can also use 1/4 c butter with 1/4 c applesauce to make it a little more health conscious)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 egg equivalent (Ener-g is ideal, but flax works well too.  It just tastes more... earthy)
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup diced apple
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar. Beat in the "eggs" until well blended. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture until well blended. Fold in the walnuts, oats and apples. Drop dough by spoonfuls about 2 inches onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Let cool on wire racks.

Blueberry Crumble!

This post is a little late in coming. Only a couple of months... Who's really keeping track. The hold up can be blamed on not writing down the recipe I created while making the crumble. But after no further ado, my post!

While Hannah and I were on vacation this last July I made it a point that we went blueberry picking. As a kid my family and our friends would often go to this island in the middle of lake Pawtuckaway in NH. We called this island blueberry island. I kid you not, we could spend an hour on this island and we would have over two pounds of blueberries. The bushes are covered in blueberries and it must be a well kept secret because every time we went out there it always had blueberries.
I also have fond memories of my family on my grandfather's boat. I loved zooming around on the boat spending lazy afternoons with my family devouring my grandmother's blueberry cake. Now this cake was in no way vegan. It had mountains of butter and eggs, the trick to any good British snack. I loved this recipe soo much that I just had to share it with Hannah after we got back from out trip to blueberry island with out two pints of wild blueberries. Unfortunately I could not find my grandmother's recipe and had to improvise, but my improvisation turned into a crumble. Not quite my grandmother's cake, but good enough to make you want to come back for more.

Blueberry Crumble!


4 Cups of washed blueberries
1 Tbs Lemon juice
3/4 Cup Brown sugar
1/2 Cup Flour
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
5 Tbs Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Spread
3/4 Cup Rolled Oats

Set oven to 375 degrees. In a greased 1 1/2 quart dish spread blueberries. Sprinkle lemon juice over blueberries in dish.
In a separate bowl combing the rest of the ingredients until crumbly. Evenly spread over blueberries in dish. Place dish in oven and bake for 30 minutes until crumble is golden brown and blueberries are bubbling.

Serve with your favorite vegan vanilla ice cream or just eat as is!

Apples Apples Everywhere!

Yesterday was Hannah's and my one year dating anniversary. Super exciting, and super crazy that it has already been a whole year since we officially became a couple. As Hannah has mentioned before, we feel like we know each other so well, but at the same time we still continue to surprise each other every day with new discoveries about each other.
For our one year anniversary we decided to go apple picking! We got some really good pictures and some really great apples! So many apples that we had to bunker down and cook as soon as we got home. We made two delicious dishes both so amazingly easy. Apple Sauce and Apple pie. And of course, like many of the dishes that have been on here lately, they are created by Hannah.

Apple Sauce

Four Apples, peeled and cut into quarters
1 Tbs of Brown sugar (can also use white sugar)
1 tps Cinnamon
1 cup water

Put all ingredients in a pot on the stove at medium high. Let boil so that the apples are soft. Turn down heat to medium an stir sauce and mash apples with spoon until at a desired consistency. If you want a finer consistency you can take mixture after cooked and mash with a potato masher or put through a food processor.
Super easy! And super tasty!



As for the apple pie, I will have to ask Hannah if I can post her pie crust recipe. According to her it is a family secret.

Quinoa Salad

Hannah has taken over on the experimental cooking front. I am now just around to document what she does, and of course enjoy the amazing food she is creating!
This last week Hannah spent all day cooking Friday for the weekend of our first year anniversary of dating! One thing she created was a quinoa salad that was just plain amazing, not to mention easy to make. So Here it is, Hannah's quinoa salad.

Quinoa Salad

1 medium onion
1 medium zucchini
1 can of garbanzo beans
4 cloves of garlic
1-2 stalks green onion
1 1/2 cup Quinoa
1 Tbs olive oil
a shake of dried basil
lemon juice to taste


Dice onion, garlic, green onion and Zucchini.
In a pot saute the onions in the olive oil, when the onion starts to give off the aroma of sauteed onion add the garlic and green onion, When the onion starts to clear add the zucchini.When zucchini is fully cooked add the rinsed garbanzo beans. In a separate pot cook quinoa in water 2 - 1 until water is fully absorbed. Add the cooked quinoa to the veggies. Add basil and lemon juice to taste. Also delicious with green olives and for non vegans would go well with feta cheese. Serve hot or cold. Enjoy!



Afterward:
When asking Hannah how she made this dish, the way she described her portions were as follows:
An onion
Garbanzo beans
Zucchini
Couple of pieces of garlic
Some green onion
Olive oil
Basil
A squirt of lemon juice 

It took some explanations and her to sit next to me making sure it was right to finally get this recipe to come out the way she cooked it. But here, it is in it's full glory, enjoy!

Odd and Easy part two

As you may recall a few months ago i posted an easy go to food for vegans, Asparagus Tofu. Well I come to you again with another easy vegan, go to food.
Rice and beans? Yes, that question mark is supposed to be there. This meal it just a little strange. Hannah came up with this one while she was moving from one place to another this summer, trying to use up some of the food on her shelves. What she had left was four items, rice pasta, pinto beans, ketchup and cumin. And so rice and beans? was born.
As a person who enjoys cooking or enjoys eating things that other people have cooked for you, you have run across the ratatouilles of the kitchen. This is one of them, a combination of items that are not normally found together finding harmony in a pot. I have to say, i was very suspicions of this when Hannah first brought it up to me. In fact I did not eat it until this last month when Hurricane Irene forced me out of my home and on the road with Hannah and having no other food to eat. I must say this combination of food really is a ratatouille. Delicious and filling.
So without further ado, Hannah's Rice and Beans?


Rice and Beans?
2 cups Tinkyada Rice pasta,
one can of pinto beans,
1 tbs cumin and
a couple squirts of ketchup (to your liking), sauteed onions are a valid addition to this dish.

Cook pasta as directed on packaging. Drain and rinse beans. Heat beans in a skillet on the stove. Drain pasta when finished cooking. Return drained pasta to original pan and combine all ingredients. Serve. Enjoy!

Black Bean Burgers

Hannah is a black bean burger fanatic.
I didn't know she was a fanatic until we were having a cookout in her backyard and were trying to figure out what she could eat. Soy meats were out of the question, they are just plain weird, and we really didn't want to go to the store and pick up boca burgers so we decided to make our our burgers. Now, I am not a vegan, as I have said before, so I was just thinking of the nice juicy burger I was going to eat. But being the great girlfriend I am, I was enthusiastic about helping Hannah find a burger recipe. I was all over the place looking at burgers with potato and flour, and so many other strange ingredients trying to make something fancy, but Hannah on the other hand already had the burger she wanted to make in mind.
I have to give all the credit to her for this recipe as she is the one who found it and made it her own. These burgers are delicious, and unlike many vegan burgers you make on your own are meaty, textured, stay together and do not come out like mush. Recipe altered from non-vegan black bean burgers found on allrecipes.com.


Vegan Black Bean Burgers

• 1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 bell pepper (any color, mix it up for really colorful burgers), cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1/2 onion, cut into wedges
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 Tbs flax seed meal
• 3 Tbs water 
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 cup of rice flour or regular flour

1. If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty. Do not over mush it. Leave a few chunks.
3. In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. (If you don't have a food processor, a blender will work fine) Then stir into mashed beans. 
4. In a sauce pan combine the flax seed meal and the water, heat on high while continuously stirring  until the mixture is sticky and egg like
5. In a small bowl, stir together flax mix, chili powder, and cumin.
6. Stir the flax mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in flour until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four patties.
7. If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.  

Enjoy these burgers at a nice sunny BBQ or any day at home, but don't forget the corn free ketchup :)

Asparagus!

So over the last nine months Hannah and I have been cooking together, introducing new things, and creating absolutely delicious meals that both of us enjoy. One of our favorite meals to make and eat is perhaps one of the easiest meals to make: asparagus, tofu, pasta sauce, and nutritional yeast, (not sure exactly what to call it).
Whenever I thought about eating vegan or even vegetarian I always wondered what type of food could be made real quick and without much hassle. I could never think of anything, one of the many reasons I never much considered vegetarianism or veganism, that and that fact that I was brought up eating some sort of meat with every meal. Even now as an adult, when I am not with Hannah the food I make that it is easy and quick includes tuna.
I'm not sure when I learned about this dish. I was at Hannah's and we were at a loss for what to eat for dinner like we usually are, and Hannah suggested that we try one of her go to dishes, tofu asparagus and sauce. I like asparagus so was all for trying out this new dish. Not going to lie though, I was a little bit nervous about trying this out, it just looked different. for some reason I'm always a little nervous trying out Hannah's food ideas (love you Hannah). But I am glad I did. Not only is this dish delicious, but it is packed full of great nutritious needed for any vegan or vegetarian.
And so a go to, quick dish was discovered.

Tofu, Asparagus, and Sauce

One cluster of asparagus
Half a jar of corn free Tomato Sauce
One half package of firm Tofu drained
1/4 c nutritional yeast
1 Tbs Olive Oil

In a frying pan warm olive oil and cook asparagus. When asparagus is cooked add tomato sauce, tofu and nutritional yeast. When tofu is warm all the way through, serve. Add more nutritional yeast on top to taste. And grad a piece of bread to sop up the remaining tomato sauce when you are done with the asparagus and tofu.

Enjoy!