Gluten Free for a Week (well, almost...)

This week's menu is courtesy of October's Vegetarian Times. And I guess with it being Celiac Month, many of the recipes are gluten free (GF). Over the past few months I've been trying some GF recipes as an added challenge to just vegan cooking, so it seemed like a fun task to try some of these meals out this week.

I first have to note that I would have modified the order of the recipes presented, but damn blogger is giving me a hard time with copying/pasting and moving pics around...argh...

Pumpkin Parfaits with Oat Crunch - Wow, awesome! The Oat Crunch tastes like Kashi Go Lean Crunch, and with sweetened pumpkin pie filling, this really does satisfy a sweet tooth. I really wish we could eat these at Thanksgiving instead of pumpkin pie. Well, maybe these and a slice of pumpkin pie.

Tasty Tofu Patties - Tasty? Yes. Tofu? Yes. Patties? No - more like crumbles. I have no idea what I did wrong but this stuff just didn't hold together at all. Maybe some chickpea flour would have helped! Ah well. Plus, the recipe said it would make 8 patties - I got to 10 and still had 1/2 the mixture leftover. I'm going to just cook it up like a scramble - way less effort. I served these with my Actually Crispy Sweet Potato Fries...rice flour for these fries this time to stick with the whole GF theme.


Curried Red Lentil Soup - I have about a billion red lentil soup recipes, but something stood out about this one. It was great! And Ashley gobbled it up, so based on that alone, this one is a keeper. I kinda cheated on the whole GF thing, as I served it with multi-grain whole wheat bread.

OK, so this one is the only thing that's not from VT and it's not really GF, but I worry that if I don't blog about it now I'll forget to! Zucchini Spelt Muffins from Vegan Brunch. I don't have much luck with grated carrots or zucchinis in baking, as everything turns out soggy. This was the case with this muffin, sadly. I'm sure it's user error and not the recipe, as Isa is a Recipe Goddess.

Roasted Ratatouille Pizza with Chewy Pizza Dough - OK - the dough. I'm used to 'tough' pizza dough. I thought I'd done something wrong because this gluten-free dough was runnier than my pancake batter. But I followed the instructions to spread the dough with a baggie on my hand and it turned out great. A little soggy, but actually edible. More edible than I thought considering some of the GF stuff I've made has been pretty gross. I don't know if I will make this crust again, but I will definitely roast up the veggies like this for topping future pizzas! I do also have to note that I didn't have that 'heavy' feeling that I normally have after woofing down several slices of pizza. As for the veggies, I would normally cook off some of the liquid on the stovetop, but roasting made the veggies a little chewy and delicious!

Chickpea Croquettes with Greek Salad Topping - I had my doubts about this turning out since the chickpeas were so lumpy compared to the runny batter. But the chickpea flour really did make a crepe-like texture and everything held together perfectly! Great off the griddle and also tasty cold the next day.

Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Popcorn - So tasty! Basically microwave popcorn with melted Earth Balance, Sucanat and cinnamon. Tasted just like the cinnamon toast I made as a kid where I loaded it with margarine, a ton of sugar and cinnamon goodness. So yummy! But very calorie heavy. I ate most of the recipe myself, so I probably had about 10 of the 1/2 cup servings to myself. Honestly, who would be able to eat only a meager 1/2 cup of this stuff?

Autumn Vegetable Tagine (no pic - no idea how I forgot to snap one) - I have a pressure cooker since I use it to save time on a meal, but with having to bring it to high pressure three separate times while making this recipe, I didn't find it to be all that helpful. The flavour of this dish was kinda blah and while it wasn't horrible, it really wasn't worth the effort. I also felt a little deceived since a glance at the photo in the mag showed all ingredients, including the couscous (in my case, quinoa) mixed into the pressure cooker. Of course, this made me think it was a one-pot meal. In reality, the grain is cooked separately, adding a little more effort than I originally thought.

The upcoming week's menus are more simple, as I'm trying a few reliable faves since Ashley got stuck with a nasty stomach bug and needs to eat up! I think there are a few sneaky dips that I might be able to blog about though.

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!

Ole!

I love beans, and I like crockpot recipes making dinner ready when I come back from a run. Here is a recipe for frijoles, traditionally cooked with bacon. Let's love the pigs *and* eat our beans too.

Slow Cooked Pinto Beans

1 pound (3 cups) dry pinto beans, sorted, rinsed, and soaked in water overnight
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups vegetable broth
1 tblsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup beer
1 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

**First thing in the morning**
Put the soaked beans and garlic into a crockpot and cover with veggie broth, adding water if necessary to just cover beans. Cook on low for 4+ hours.

**At lunch**
Saute the onions and jalapenos in the olive oil until soft. Add to the crockpot, as well as the crushed tomatoes. Stir and cook for 4+ more hours.

**30 minutes to 1 hour before eating, or before your run**
Add the beer, salt and cilantro. Stir and cook until you are ready for dinner.
Serve in corn tortillas or over brown rice with fresh corn.

Makes many servings, with leftovers to freeze if desired.

Cook's tip: The remainder of the bottle of beer tastes really great when you get back from your run, or enjoy with dinner.

Vegan Brunch!

Wow, this cookbook has been out for what seems like eons now, and I'm just getting around to writing up my first review.

I have to say, the muffin recipes in this book are awesome. I'm a total muffin girl though. I tend to just throw a bunch of ingredients together and toss it in the pan. Muffins are such a tasty little snack that is so portable. I seem to make them every 3 days and freeze my concoctions so they stay nice and moist.

So far I've made Blueberry Ginger Spelt Muffins - I really am developing a taste for candied ginger. I know I took a pic, but with us now using two digital cameras (both with awful macro settings) I can't seem to find where it's been downloaded. Ah well, there is a pic in the book! I've also made the Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. Yum! I made mine with whole wheat flour, hence the slightly brownish tone. I'm surprised I made these, since I'm still scarred from when I was a Loblaws bakery clerk in my teens. I had to walk around the store and distribute samples of poppy seed muffins to customers as they perused the aisles. I would head back to the bakery to refill my cart, then head out again. Since I wasn't paying attention to who I had asked, I would often offer my muffins to those I had just served minutes before. They would smile and let me know that they had already sampled them, but they didn't need to say a word. Wedged between their teeth, there were poppy seeds galore. Here these people were going to go about their day chatting it up with whoever and I was responsible for their potential embarrassment. I was actually more grossed out though. Since then, I have always been leery of poppy seeds, but considering I now often leave the house with clothes covered in spit up or God knows what else, I have no qualms about eating them and don't even check my teeth in the mirror before heading out.

Again, no pic (I'm sure because the muffins don't last long enough to take a shot) - Bakery-Style Berry Muffins. Delish! Just like Mmmuffins - or whatever that chain of food court muffins shops were called. I try not to let a giant frozen strawberry from my fruit mix get into the dough, since it makes for a soggy muffin - or an excuse to eat that one up right away! I tried adding a little oats for added health, but it just dried them out. I'll stick to the recipe! Another yummy one - Cranberry Orange Nut Muffins - super tangy! I used dried cranberries though for extra sweetness - and also because I'm too lazy to find and chop fresh ones.

On a night that I was alone with the little one, I decided to make not one but two new recipes! I loved how quick the Basic Scrambled Tofu and Perfect Pancakes came together. Sadly, the little one wasn't interested in eating them - not because they weren't tasty, but probably because she had like 6 teeth coming in at the same time. More for me!

Sweet Potato Fries

Wow, horrifically long time since I posted. I'll blame it on the fact that I take pics with two different cameras, and can't be bothered to load each of them up! My mid-year resolution will be to be more frequent with posting...

But I have a great recipe to share! Tired of eating soggy sweet potato fries, I perfected the crisping process on the first try!

Actually Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced in 1/2 inch width fries
3-4 tbsp canola oil
3 tablespoons flour
salt

1. Place fries in bowl of cold water and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or up to 8 hours.
2. Preheat convection oven to 400 degrees (I think the convection part is important). Place a rimmed cookie sheet in the oven to warm up.
3. Once oven is preheated, take out sheet and add canola oil. Place tray back in oven.
4. Working quickly, drain fries and place in a ziploc bag with flour. Shake to coat.
5. Place fries on hot sheet (remember it's hot and oil can splatter!) and spread out into a single layer. Give a light spray of canola oil cooking spray and return sheet to oven. Roast for about 30 minutes, or until crispy and golden.
6. Remove from oven, add a sprinkling of salt and serve immediately to enjoy maximum crispiness!

Also, Kyle, Ash and I visited Green Earth here in Ottawa on Preston St (see Tracy's post)...OMG - heaven on earth! I can't wait to go again, since the buffet was all vegan (hooray!) and the service was awesome.

Assorted Recipes

Wow, I think I've been storing up some pics again. I shouldn't do that since I forget what I made (I caught myself staring closely at some of the pics, wracking my brain trying to remember what it was - especially when some of the ingredients are nearly indecipherable!). My brain hurts from all of this thinking that I can't even think of an exciting title for this post.

But first, I have to report on Veg Fest. It was great! I honestly couldn't believe how many people were there! It was insane! Crazy that there are that many vegetarians/vegans/interested folks in Ottawa. I only wish the attendance would have encouraged Whole Foods to open here! We didn't stay too long, since the little one was a little crusty with all of the people around. I had hoped to order from one table with a bunch of different things, but as soon as it was my turn in line most of the options were already gone and it would be another 10 minutes (an eternity with a screaming child!) for their replacements to show up. My plans for a cupcake were nixed too. Ah well. There's always next year! If any of the organizers are reading, I hope that the circle of tables in the middle makes rows next year so that some of the space can be used better...especially when I'm sure more people will make it out!

Now back to the food...in my attempt to make faster meals to get dinner on the table at our most harried time of the day, I turned again to Nava Atlas' Vegan Express. Sweet and White Potato Salad with Mixed Greens. Not bad, but weird having cooked potatoes in it!

From Vegan Express yet again, White Pizza with Sweet Potato and Carmelized Onions. World's ugliest pizza, but tasted good. I had a hard time getting the sweet potatoes cooked well enough. It was a little too much work for me.

A winner from VT - Warm Potato Sald Primavera (May/June 2009). So yummy and a little unique! I love how the pesto was so thick.

From VT again, Thai Red Curry with Green Beans and Eggplant (April 2009). Omigod. I'm not a Thai food fan, but I loved how quick it was and how this tasted! Even without the curry sauce! I added Pete's Szechuan Tofu to this, which added lots of heat! I have to make this again, and it also encouraged me to try more recipes with a coconut milk base - such an easy and yummy way to make a creamy and filling texture!

From Vegan a Go-Go, some brown rice-lentil casserole (I forget the name, and I already returned the book to the library). I thought Ash would like it, but nope. I made it into patties the next night with some added breadcrumbs.

Some kind of stroganoff? I don't even remember making this! Must have been the day after a rough night or something. I'll guess that it's from the same cookbook as the last recipe.

From Skinny B*tch in the Kitch, Penne with Butternut Squash, Sage Pesto and Almonds. Delicious! Yet another winner from this little cookbook.

I'm loving my weekly recipe from Veg News. I'd been saving a tube of polenta just for this! Polenta Fries - very quick, different and yummy!

ps - Blogger is being irritating with the spacing and we got a new camera where I couldn't find the macro button :)

Ottawa Veg Fest '09!

We're hoping to make it out to this on Sunday from 10-5 - the first ever Veg Fest!!! I'm dying to try some vegan cuppies and other treats!

Six Degrees of Dessert...

So Kyle and I said we weren't going to eat dessert anymore...that didn't last long. Although I had fun using inspiration from one recipe to make the next dessert! Kevin Bacon, eat your heart out!

Lemon Cheesecake Bars from Martha Stewart were veganized to make the most delicious and easiest recipe. I think I used 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs, sugar and Earth Balance for the crust, then vegan soy cream cheese, 2 teaspoons egg replacer powder, 3/4 cup sugar and juice/rind of one lemon. My mom also tried making a lime version. Both are to die for. They would be really cute topped with a tiny lemon wedge or fancy rind, but I was too lazy for that.

On the lemon theme, I made the Coconut Lemon Bundt Cake from Vcon for mamma's day. I've made it before, but this time I topped it with a lemon glaze. One of my fave recipes.

From Vcon again, I made the Vanilla Yogurt Pound Cake. Omigod. So spongy! The best vegan angel food cake-like recipe I've found! Yum!

Eager to make the pound cake again, I did but switched it up to be a trifle using cubes of pound cake, vanilla custard, strawberries tossed with maple syrup, and Soyatoo whipped topping. Even my grandma gave me positive comments! I think she is on the vegan bandwagon...finally! She's come a long way from trying to persuade me to eat a porkchop because it's 'really tender' and to eat a salad that has chicken because 'it's just chicken'.

To use up extra maple syrupy strawberries, I made a Coconut Ice Cream from a recent VT issue. It was a little icy.

Eager to use up the ice cream, we picked some fresh rhubarb to make Fresh Rhubarb Parfaits from a recent VT (maybe the same issue as the ice cream? Can't remember!). The combo of orange and ginger was amazing. I threw in a few strawberries for extra sweetness, although it really didn't need it.

The Deceitful Vegan

In a continued effort to make healthy meals for the fam, I borrowed The Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious from the library. If you didn't already know, the 'trick' behind these two books is to puree healthy fruits and veggies and add them into regular-looking meals so no one notices that they are eating 'healthy'. Now the only part of this that I think is a little silly is that often only one tablespoon of puree is in one serving but whatever...it's something I guess! Of course I had to veganize the recipes to make them truly veg-friendly.

My fave has been the Unbelieveable Chocolate Chip Cookies (link is slightly different than the recipe I used). Chock full of wheat germ, whole wheat flour and pureed white beans, these are awesome! I definitely didn't feel so bad eating them. The author noted that she couldn't make these any healthier, but by omitting the eggs and replacing with ground flaxseed, I did it!

Magic Meatballs - I used the Green Puree, tomato paste and a package of Yves Original Ground Round. Easy and simple! I followed her suggestion and added some White Puree and Orange Puree to a jar of store-bought spaghetti sauce.

Covert Quesadillas - Comprised of White Bean Puree and soy cheese. I guess if you liked the taste of cheese you would like this, but this again confirmed that I don't like the taste of cheese. Even though I said it before, I won't try soy cheese again.

Breakfast Ice Cream - banana, avocado, cocoa, agave nectar and probably something else I'm forgetting. Who cares - frozen, it was delicious and tasted like Jello Pudding Pops that I remember from being a kid.

Stuffed Potatoes - Vegan soy sour cream, white puree and veggie bacon made these pretty darn good.

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies - I thought it was weird to have crushed cereal flakes, and I was right. Although when they came out of the oven they tasted normal, when they cooled the texture of the cereal was really odd. Maybe I didn't crush them enough? Folks were amazed to find out there was sweet potato and carrots in these.

And now for the really not so great stuff. Brainy Brownies with spinach and blueberries would have been great if I had added some baking powder when omitting the eggs. They had nothing in them to help rise!

I can't remember the exact name, but I'll guess Roasted Chickpeas. I guess they are supposed to taste like cinnamon sugar treats, they weren't great. For comparison, I made the same thing from the Vegan Lunch Box with nooch. I actually liked the quicker version of these, and just sprinkling some nooch on chickpeas right out of the can rather than roasting them. A great sub for popcorn!

The only thing I made from Deceptively Delicious was the Chocolate Pudding with avocado. Made with icing sugar, it turned out like frosting. It was supposed to serve like 6 people, but it barely made enough for Kyle and I. Unless we are complete pigs.

Boring Post Alert - Soups and Muffins

Wow, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with a post...I made two pressure cooker soups from the Complete Vegetarian Kitchen by Lorna Sass. I wanted to use up some of the dried beans Kyle bought as part of our 'emergency' food stash. Honest to God, we have enough emergency food for the whole neighbourhood should some major catastrophe happen. Anyways, the first was White Bean with Escarole Soup. I subbed baby spinach since I don't think Loblaws carries escarole, but I never even tried looking for it. It was OK, but seemed a little bland.


Again, trying another bean soup, Adzuki Bean Soup with Corn (this is not the title, but I'm too lazy to dig out the book to check what it is). Meh - again, not alot of flavour. I was surprised at how the colour from the adzuki beans leached into the soup...interesting.



Continuing with the theme of boring, some simple Banana Blueberry Muffins. I basically mix 2 cups flour, 1 cup oats, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1 tbsp ground flax with 3 mashed bananas, a little oil and soymilk to make a moist batter. I then add some frozen wild blueberries. Nothing exciting, but I changed it up making regular-sized and mini-muffins so Ash and I each had our own sized snack.

Skinny B*tch Rocks!

So I got a few new cookbooks from the library. I know it's not new or anything, but I got Skinny B*tch in the Kitch, as I never realized it is a vegan cookbook. I guess you have to be familiar with the preceding book or something, as nowhere on the cover does it suggest anything about vegan cooking! Anyways, despite it's lack of inspiring photos plus the fact that some recipes tell me I'm being a pig, I decided to give some recipes a try.

First up - Pecan-crusted French Toast. Eerily similar to Fronch Toast (which I love!), the addition of pecans is genius. And they actually stick! I'll definitely be making this one again.


I've been craving some tabouleh lately, and I found an easy recipe in here! I've never made it before, so maybe this recipe isn't so ground-breaking, but I never knew you just had to add boiling water to bulgur! I do have to say that I would have liked for the bulgur to have been more tender.

And Kyle and I have been meaning to eat more salads. The Edamame Three-Bean Salad was so easy and tasty. It only would have been more colourful had I had enough red pepper and red kidney beans (I subbed black beans). I'll be making this one again during the summer for sure!

And while it's in the appetizer section, I served up Crabby Crabcakes on top of the suggested spinach with the lemony dressing from Vcon. Now I've never had crab before, but the shredded parsnips in this tasted so darn good! I loved these! And since I made so many, I had lots of shaped cakes ready to be fried for the next night, making for a very easy dinner prep. As for the sauce, I didn't have the time nor all of the ingredients for the remoulade recipe, so I just mixed up some Nayonaise with ketchup and a dash of onion powder instead.

Still on the appetizer route, I had to make the onion rings. I can't tell you the last time I ate these, since we've never made them at home and I would worry that most restaurants would fry them up in oil used for fish, etc. These were great! I'll just be sure to use a finer grind of cornmeal (it wasn't specified in the recipe) and I'll be sure to buy a white onion next time.

Ah...dessert. We're supposed to be on a dessert strike, but I couldn't resist. And besides, this next recipe is so healthy - it's not even in the dessert section! When I saw the recipe for Homemade Granola Parfait I thought, 'meh, another boring granola recipe'. But I kept an open mind and made it anyways. This recipe is brilliant - I've never put brown rice syrup in my granola and boy, have I been missing something! It makes it so crunchy and adds a touch of sweetness - nothing like the maple syrup alone that I've been using for so many years! It was delicious with vanilla soy yogurt and yummy strawberries.

Well, since I made and served dessert one night, I had to do it again! I was also craving rice pudding, so I had to make that too. Now since there's only Kyle and I eating this, I didn't want to store the leftovers in a casserole dish so that next time we went to get a serving, we'd carve out a thickened hunk to put in a bowl. So I decided to throw the finished rice pudding in a pre-made vegan shortbread pie crust. After chilling in the fridge, it firmed up nicely enough to serve - and subsequent servings were still pretty and tasty! While it was a good healthy recipe with brown rice, I found it to be not quite 'saucy' enough, so I'll stick with my other recipe that is more creamy with soy yogurt. But I'll stick with this way of serving it from now on since it is also a 'thick' recipe versus the runnier rice pudding I had as a kid.



Finally, Dream Bars. I had scanned this recipe several times since it had so much stuff in it, and such a weird topping of coconut milk that I had a hard time envisioning how it would look and taste. While this pic doesn't do it justice, as I was supposed to let it cool a little more, it was heavenly. It made a whole 9x13 pan, so if you make this, make sure you do it when you will have lots of people around to help you out. You won't be a skinny b*tch if you eat this all by yourself, like the book suggests. Plus, you may want to mini-barf, as Kyle did when he set out to eat about 1/4 of the pan in one sitting.

All in all, a great little book! I'll definitely be buying my own copy of this one since it had so many standard and neat little recipes!