Dinners and Desserts

Now I know why I don't post often - Blogger isn't all that user-friendly when you are in a time crunch!!! I apologize for any typos but I have lots yet to get done with the little one takes her short nap!

Chana Masala from The Vegan Table. OK...

Pad Thai also from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. It was good, but I found the instructions to be a little cryptic. Of the recipes I've made so far, it seems like I would 'add a little oil' and it doesn't specify how high to have the heat on for several dishes. I only borrowed the book from the library so I'm not too disappointed. I didn't find any of the recipes to be all that original. Not trying to be a hater, but I found the same thing with the author's previous cookbook.

OMG - the Pot Roast from Vegan Lunch Box was to die for. I will be making it at both Thanksgiving and Xmas this year. I added cut up new potatoes to the carrots and really didn't think either would be cooked by the time this was done but surprisingly they were! I'll try to eat this up in one sitting since my leftovers seemed to revert to a raw state...it was weird. But with hungry vegans around the festive table I'm sure I won't have any issues with having it all eaten up!

What to do with almost rotting peaches? If you are also feeling lazy like I was, you can make a country torte! I made Bryanna Clark Grogan's Low Fat Pastry, cut up 3 cups of peaches and added 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tbsp flour, nutmeg, 1 tbsp lemon juice and dumped it in the middle of the rolled out pastry. I folded up the sides, topped with sliced almonds and baked at 375 for 35 minutes.

Peach Bundt Cake - I subbed 1/2 pkg silken tofu for the eggs. A little dense, but around here, dessert is dessert and we ate it up!


Grilled Pineapple with my fave Pound Cake from Vcon with soy ice cream. I marinated the pineapple with water, sucanat and cinnamon, then reduced the marinade with a little Earth Balance to make a sauce. So good! I bought another pineapple today to grill up!

Peachy Keen

OK, I've noticed that most of my posts lately have featured numerous items with a focus on a particular ingredient - strawberries, then tomatoes, and now peaches. I am forcing myself not to go overboard with one particular ingredient in particular, as I fear that's one way of making me hate something since I've over-made it.


But I digress - I had to buy a basket of peaches since every blogger has been making the Fat Free Vegan's Peach Upside-Down Cake. I know that the original, VeganYumYum's and Vegan Eats & Treats' versions look way better than mine, but mine doesn't look so bad considering I had to make it with a 10" springform pan rather than a cast-iron skillet (I don't have one...I'll have to add that to my Xmas list). My pan didn't give the cake a golden hue, and made a drippy mess (thank god I put it on a foil-lined cookie sheet!).

I absolutely cannot believe how there was no added fat in this recipe, and it tastes so darn good. I really hope that Susan V publishes a cookbook, as that too would be added to my Xmas list! Even though she's added no fat to her recipe, I added a little with a serving of Purely Decadent soy ice cream.

To ensure no other insect infestations, I wanted to use up my peaches before the fruit flies came along. I pulled out my waffle iron and hoped to avoid another waffle disaster by making a tried-and-true recipe from the Peaceful Palate by Jennifer Raymond - Oatmeal Waffles. Basically, you put oats, water, a banana, and some vanilla extract in a blender and voilà - waffle batter. I put it in my waffle maker carefully, and avoided filling it with too much batter like I always do (I end up cleaning up stuck-on waffle goo every time from the sides), but this time I put in too little and they didn't make a full square pattern. I think they look like I tried to make Belgian Waffles...yeah, that's what I was trying to do...