Éireann go Brách

Pasta with White Beans, Zucchini, Broccoli and Tomatoes

Homemade Gnoochi Topped with Homemade Tomato and Garlic Sauce

Potato Gnocchi

• 1 ½ lbs russet potatoes, scrubbed
• 1 cup (or more) all purpose flour
• the equivalent of 1 egg (I used Ener-G egg replacer)
  
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• Large pinch of fresh grated nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Special Equipment: Food Mill or Potato Ricer

Preheat oven to 400F. Pierce potatoes in several places and bake until soft, about 1 hour. Cool slightly. Cut potatoes in half. Working in batches, scoop hot flesh into potato ricer or food mill. Rice potatoes onto rimmed baking sheet; spread out and cool to room temp. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer potatoes to large bowl. Add 1 cup of floor; toss to coat. Form well in center of potato mixture. Add egg replacer, coarse salt, and nutmeg; stir with fork until mixture is evenly moistened (mixture will look shaggy). Turn mixture out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until dough comes together, sprinkling dough with flour very lightly only if dough is very sticky. Form dough into ball; divide into 4 pieces. Roll each piece between hand and work surface into 3/4 inch thick rope. Cut each rope in 3/4 inch pieces. Place gnocchi on prepared baking surface. Working in batches, cook gnocchi in large pot of boiling salted water until gnocchi rise to surface of water. Continue to simmer gnocchi until cooked through and tender, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Using slotted spoon, carefully transfer gnocchi to bowl. Drizzle gnocchi with olive oil and toss to coat or top with your favorite sauce. Gnocchi can be made up to 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Tuesday nights are board game nights and after one or two games, I'm typically ready for some fuel. To counter my board game burnout, I made a loaf of chocolate chip banana bread to keep me going tonight. I brought this bread to a prior game night and it was a big hit. I hope everyone enjoys it this time too (partially because I don't want to end up eating it all!) I love combing bananas and chocolate.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup melted Earth Balance
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a loaf pan and set it aside.
2. In a food processor, combine bananas, Earth Balance, almond milk, sugar, and vanilla. Process until smooth. Add flour, baking soda, and a dash of salt. Mix well.
3. Fold chocolate chips into the mixture.
4. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan.
5. Bake on the center oven rack until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, approximately 35-45 minutes.
6. Allow the bread to cool in the pan, on a wire rack before removing and slicing it.
   

Julienned Vegetables and Soba Noodles in a Spicy, Peanut Sauce

This dinner was quick, easy and perfect for a rainy Sunday night. It was inspired by a recipe in the cookbook, The Vegan Gourmet.

I thinly sliced carrots, snow peas, mushrooms, and seitan. I made a simple sauce by whisking together creamy peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, red pepper flakes, and fresh ginger. After I steamed the veggies I put them in my wok, added the sauce and cooked soba noodles, and then tossed everything together. It was so delicious!

Vegetable and Apple Sage Sausage Pot Pie

Drew had a difficult week last week so I wanted to make one of his favorite, "comfort" dinners. He loves potpie, and up until a few months ago I had never eaten one let alone made one, but after Vegetarian Times featured some potpie recipes a few issues ago, I decided to give them a try. Another impetus was receiving some cute little oven-safe pots for Christmas.



I typically make this recipe with diced seitan, but wanted to try a batch with some Field Roast Grain Meat apple sage sausages (another one of Drew's favorite foods). I also do not usually have the patience to make my own pie crust, so I buy a frozen, whole wheat one which I simply thaw and cut in half to cover each pot.



To make the filling, I first brown about 3 cloves of garlic in a wok. I then add all of the hard vegetables: 1 peeled, diced yam, 1 peeled, diced potato, and about two carrots, chopped (I like adding color by using purple or yellow carrots). After those cook for about 4-5 minutes, I add 1 cup of vegetable broth and bring it all to a boil. At this point I add about two tablespoons of soymilk and a sprinkle of flour to thicken the sauce. I then add all of the other vegetables: 1 red bell pepper, approximately 6-8 diced baby bella mushrooms, approximately 1 cup of chopped broccoli, 1/2 cup chopped celery, and 8 oz. of sliced seitan (or 2 Field Roast Grain Meat sausages). This recipe is great for substitutions. Sometimes I'll use butternut squash instead of potatoes or I'll add some chopped kale. It is a great recipe to clean out your vegetable drawer.

Sun-dried Tomato Lasagna with Roasted Asparagus

Although I did not have the opportunity to attempt homemade ravioli this week, I did make some vegan ricotta for lasagna roll-ups. The recipe I use is based on Robin Robertson's recipe in her cookbook, Vegan Planet. If I could only have one cookbook, that would be it for certain. I have absolutely loved every recipe I have tried and, since it was my first vegan cookbook, I've tried a lot of them.


I made more lasagna than I typically do. Drew and I had it for dinner two nights in a row, and he has been taking leftovers to school for lunch. It's nice having something to reheat on weeknights since I have been working later. Additionally, lasagna goes well with quick side dishes like salads and roasted vegetables. Despite being a little early in the season, I started buying fresh asparagus again and it has been quite delicious!















Sun-dried Tomato Vegan Ricotta

• 1 package firm tofu (I use sprouted if possible), crumbled
• 1 jar of sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
• 1-2 handful of fresh basil leaves
• 3 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• dash of salt

Place all of the ingredients into a food processor and chop until the mixture is an even, sticky consistency. Refrigerate it until you are ready to use it.

Chef's note: You can use dry sun-dried tomatoes that have been softened in hot water, but if you do you will want to add a little olive oil in order to prevent the ricotta from being too sticky.

Spinach Salad with Orzo and Gardein Chick'n

After a relaxed weekend that involved taking a break from the gym and going out to dinner on Sunday night, I wanted to have something relatively light and healthy for dinner Monday night. There is an Italian greens and orzo salad recipe in this month's issue of Vegetarian Times that inspired me and I also really like the Florentine salad at the Macaroni Grill (sans chicken and cheese). In this recipe I used a 5 oz package of fresh, organic baby spinach leaves, 6 locally grown campari tomatoes, about two tablespoons of capers, about one cup of cooked orzo, 2 Gardein Scallopini Chick'n breasts that I grilled, Annie's Lite Italian Dressing and a few sprinkles of vegan Parmesan. I also put few kalamata olives in my salad (Drew hates olives).

Drew was a little apprehensive about just having salad for dinner, but about two bites in he said, "Is there more? I can't wait to have more!" Luckily, there was more and I think he enjoyed it. I definitely did and will be making this salad again soon.

We paired this salad with a wonderful Nebbiolo that we picked up at our new favorite wine store, The Wine Depot.

Spice of Life Donut: Coming Soon to your local Dunkin' Donuts!

My donut design is now in the vegan donut gallery on the Dunkin'
Cruelty website! Check it out!

Sadly, they misspelled Tucson. I'm glad I don't live in Tuccon.

Go Nuts

I don't have much of a sweet tooth, really. I'm much more inclined to reach for salty or savory foods when I'm craving a treat. That being said, I occasionally do want for something really decadent and my standard indulgence of vegan chocolate chips and walnuts doesn't cut it. Donuts are one such food. It is probably the least healthy food that I'll ever admit to liking and even before I went vegan they were not something I would eat very often. On rare occasions in college I would eat a few donut holes and that was only when my college roommate and I were just hungover enough to warrant eating greasy food, but not hungover enough to prevent us from walking up the street to Dunkin' Donuts. I wouldn't be caught dead going to a Dunkin' Donuts today because everything on the menu contains torture-stained eggs and milk. They also don't even offer soy milk for their tea or coffee.

There are vegan donut shops all over the country and I had the opportunity to go to one called Ronald's Donuts in Las Vegas about a year ago. The donuts were quite good and tasted just like the ones that I would get as a child after dance class. It was also great being able to just walk into what looked like any other donut shop and order pretty much anything I wanted without having to put the clerk through the third degree. It was proof that vegan donuts could taste great and be sold just like any other donut. This brings me to my motivation for this entry: Dunkin' Donuts' 60th Birthday Contest. Now through March 8th you can create a virtual donut of your own and submit it for a chance to win $12,000 and the opportunity to have your recipe made to be sold in stores. The animal rights group, Compassion Over Killing, which is currently running a Dunkin' Cruelty campaign against Dunkin' Donuts, is encouraging people to utilize this contest to request vegan donuts. I made my own donut which I dubbed Spice of Life. It's a pumpkin donut with vanilla chai creme filling, maple frosting, and it's covered in walnuts and almonds. Best of all, it's completely vegan! I think almond milk would be a great replacement for cow's milk and flax seeds could be used to replace eggs (and boost the healthy fatty acids!).

I submitted my design to Compassion Over Killing along with my donut "inspiration." I'll be sure to post the picture of my donut here if it makes it into the gallery.

Vegan Blogging Take Two

Greetings.


Since my last blog fell by the wayside so long ago, I felt compelled to start a whole new blog rather than simply resurrecting the old one. Additionally, this blog is going to have a slightly different focus than my last blog. I really like reading cooking/recipe blogs and would like to try to maintain my own. I rarely follow exact recipes and tend to concoct dinners utilizing ideas I picked up from several different places. I also really like making vegan versions of omnivorous recipes, so I'm going to post about those sorts of methods here.


I'm also hoping this blog motivates me to be more daring in my cooking. For instance, I've really wanted to try to make my own ravioli for a while now. I've finally developed a great recipe for vegan ricotta, but I've never attempted pasta dough ... or rolling it out ... or stuffing it. My goal is to make it this week and post the results here.