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The ratatouille from Gluten-Free Vegan is sooooo delicious and filling, yet I just can't get enough! My mom loves it as well, so I've been making as much of it as I can to freeze for later, but it never lasts too long. It's full of eggplant, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, onions, chickpeas, zucchinis, and fresh basil from my herb garden! I just made some simple soft polenta with salt, pepper, and nooch to go with the ratatouille and it was really good. However, I think I'll made some pan-fried polenta next time I serve it because I think the contrast in textures will be better.
Any of you remember my family's new holiday I mentioned a year ago? Well, "Spring Day" actually happened the first Sunday of this Spring (March 22) this year! I didn't get any pictures of the food but you aren't missing much- the food wasn't that exciting to look at, but it was good! I made the Chopped Salad from Sublime's cookbook again, and my family had burgers and quesadillas while I had a veggie burger and filled my quesadilla with refried beans. For dessert, I ran to the store and got some soy ice cream for my mom and me, dairy ice cream for my family, and a bunch of sundae toppings for a sundae bar! Also, my mom was so sweet and surprised us all that morning with a "Spring Day basket" (instead of an Easter basket) filled with candy, including some vegan candy from Trader Joe's! Even though I have no pictures, I just thought I'd let you all know that we officially do have a new holiday to celebrate in our family :)
Speaking of my herb garden, here's a picture of it all grown-up:
I know that I haven't been the world's best blogger lately, but I hope you guys understand- there just aren't enough hours in a day! I may not have been blogging regularly, but I have been cooking quite a bit, so I thought I'd share some of the highlights of my meals from the past few weeks.
Using this recipe for the seemingly famous General Tao's Tofu, I was able to recreate the taste of the Chinese take-out food that I used to love so much. I used reduced sodium wheat-free tamari for the soy sauce, reduced the sugar by a tad, and added some steamed broccoli and red bell peppers and served it all over brown rice, so I know that this dish was much healthier than any Chinese take-out I could ever find. While the sauce in this dish was amazing, my favorite part was the super crispy tofu because, despite being fried in oil, it was still so light and not the least bit greasy! I'm definitely planning on making this tofu for my family sometime- I know they'll go crazy for it.
What started out as some accidentally overcooked tofu one night turned into one of my new favorite sandwiches. I had marinaded some thinly sliced, pressed tofu in a mixture of tamari, maple syrup, ketchup, liquid smoke, onion powder, and water and baked it for a long time (about 30-40 min) at a low temperature, flipping every 15 minutes or so. The tofu wasn't becoming as crispy as I wanted, so I broiled it for about 10 min on each side, but then forgot about it for a few minutes! When I came back, I saw that the tofu was very well-done, but I decided to try it anyways. It turned out to be DELICIOUS! My brother loved it as well, so I ended up splitting it with him. I then realized that the tofu had a great texture for sandwiches and tasted a tiny bit like bacon, so my newest version of a "BLT" was created! The smokey tofu was really nice with the cool lettuce, tomato, and Veganaise. It would have been better with an avocado, but whatever- there's no way I'm gonna complain about this sandwich! Lately, I've had a big batch of baked tofu slices on hand every week so I can have a sandwich anytime I want. 
As you know, I couldn't wait to try a recipe from my Sublime cookbook when I returned from Florida, so when I felt like planning some lighter meals this week I turned to the "salads" chapter of the book. The Sublime Chopped Salad seemed simple and light and I definitely made the right choice with this recipe! The salad and dressing are both simple and took no more than 10 minutes to put together. All I had to do was toss together some chickpeas, chopped tomato, bell pepper, cucumber, scallions, red onion, and kalamata olives in a dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh oregano, salt and pepper and viola! Lay it all on top of some romaine lettuce and I had a perfect light dinner. My mom fell in LOVE with this salad and I think you'll see a return of it very soon....
This is from last month, but I just had to finally share it- a slice of Lemon Blackberry Raw Cheesecake that I brought home from the Chicago Diner one day after lunch with my brother. I've had their raw cheesecake several times, but this slice blew my mind and it's totally my favorite flavor. The filling and crust together tasted kinda like a Lemon Larabar, only better! And, of course, the fact that it was gluten-free only made it that much better :)
Alright- now I need help from some of you guys! If anyone knows of any sources online from which I could buy come vegan butterscotch chips, or maybe has access to some in their area and would be interested in a mini-swap, I would appreciate it very much if you could let me know. My mom has also been diagnosed with a few food allergies/intolerance, with the major ones being dairy, eggs, and gluten. She's been taking it a little rougher than I did and I just want to help her out a bit. Her biggest weakness is cookies and she hasn't been able to find any gluten-free, dairy-free, and egg-free cookies yet that she's really thrilled with, so that's where I'm stepping in. She told me that her favorite cookies are oatmeal scotchies so I'm taking on the mission of making us some gluten-free, vegan oatmeal scotchies, but the chips are pretty darn hard to find (as I expected). Any help at all would be greatly appreciated!
Less than 2 weeks until Spring Break! I'll have an entire week to cook and bake some great food to share with all of you.
In case you haven't heard yet, Katie of Chocolate-Covered Katie (she switched to Wordpress- how exciting!) is having a SUPER awesome giveaway with the prize being an entire case of Jocalat Bars! Go here to learn more and good luck to all who enter :)
I didn't take many pictures during my vacation last weekend because it was just so relaxing that I didn't bother with it a whole lot. Overall, this trip to Ft. Lauderdale much more enjoyable than last year- my cousins and aunt came along with us and they're always fun, the weather was wonderful, and I got to try a new completely vegan restaurant: Sublime!! Our first night in Florida, my mom and I decided to go to Sublime for dinner while everyone else went to a seafood restaurant that my mom doesn't like very much. The pictures you see above is of the van parked next to us which I thought was so cool because the ARFF (Animal Rights Foundation of Florida) is the owner's animal rights organization and 100% of Sublime's profits go towards it, which I think is freaking unbelievable. I had brought my camera to take pictures of our meal, but the lighting was just too dark so I didn't bother. But one thing I can promise you is that our meal was AMAZING. Honestly, my experience and meal at Sublime was probably the best I've ever had. For an appetizer, we started out with the Eggplant Rollatini and it blew my mind! The ricotta filling was so creamy and I thought it tasted very "cheesy." For our entrees, my mom ordered the Enchiladas and I had the Sublime Loaf (which was even gluten-free and made with water chesnuts, lentils, and rice), which came with mashed potatoes and asparagus. My dish was great- the slices of the loaf were crispy on the outside and had the occassional crunch from the pieces of water chesnuts. Th gravy that was served with it totally made the dish and I couldn't have imagined it being any better. My mom loved her enchiladas and we both quickly cleaned out plates. I was totally ready for dessert and, while my mom would have loved to order dessert as well, she stuck with just come coffee since she's been trying to reduce her sugar intake. After a difficult decision, I chose the Key Lime Cheesecake (also gluten-free!) and I definitely made the right choice. While it didn't have much of a key lime flavor, the cheesecake itself was sooooooooooo unbelievably creamy yet light and airy. The nut crust added a nice almost caramelly flavor and I can say with all certainty that it was better than any cheesecake I've ever had (yes- even better that the Chicago Diner *gasp*)! I left stuffed, but was so happy I finally got to eat at this restaurant!
Sunday night was our last night in Florida, so my dad told me that I could order something to go from Sublime for dinner to try it one last time before having to wait a whole year before coming back. My aunt had tried the leftovers I rought home from our first visit to Sublime, so she wanted to order something as well (though I was unable to get pictures of her meal). She ordered the dish I had the first time, the Sublime Loaf, and was super impressed by it as well. I tried the Tuscan Quiche which was filled with the same type of ricotta filling as the eggplant appetizer from my first visit so it was, of course, delicious. While the quiche was great, I think I preferred the loaf because it was just so amazing. I had asked for the Key Lime Cheesecake one again, but the hostess informed me that they only had some of their strawberry cheesecake from the Valentine's Day dinner the night before, but I was happy to try it! The strawberry version was just as delicious as the original key lime cheesecake and it was great to try both.
When my dad came home from picking up my carry out order from Sublime, he surprised me with something that my mom and I did not see while we were at the restaurant- Sublime's cookbook! I've been having fun looking through it this week and marking all the recipes I want to try and, let's just say that you'll be seeing quite a few of these dishes soon!
I'm already looking forward to next February when we'll get a chance to go back to Ft. Lauderdale, meaning that I'll be able to return to Sublime :)
As I mentioned in my last post, my family and I took a quick trip to Florida for President's Day weekend and I will post all about my trip later. For now, I wanted to share an awesome surprise I got in the mail last week- a Peppermint Ritter Sport Bar from Ricki of Diets, Dessert, and Dogs! She had held a contest a few weeks ago and I was one of the lucky winners of this bar. This package unfortunately arrived minutes before we had to leave for the airport, but it was on my mind the entire trip and I was sure to enjoy it the night we got back. I am sure gonna be sad when this chocolare bar is gone since the company changed the formula so they will no longer be vegan because it is sooooo delicious! It tastes just like a peppermint patty, only the chocolate is less waxy and much creamier. Yummy! Thank you so much Ricki and I'm definitely enjoying my prize. I'll be back later with a post all about Ft. Lauderdale :)
My mom was so sweet and mad this delicious vegetable chili for dinner on Xmas Eve and I've been able to keep enjoying it since then because I froze the leftovers. This chili is so full of black-eyed peas, black beans, chickpeas, zucchini, squash, carrots, and other veggies that I get soooo full after eating a bowl of it, but I just can't stop myself from finishing the whole thing! And, as you know, no bowl of chili is complete without...
...Super moist and sweet cornbread! I used my ol' standby recipe, which is the Skillet Cornbread from Vcon, but made it gluten-free and baked it in muffin tins. I made a double batch to freeze these as well so I always will have some cornbread for my chili. I've been restocking my stash of frozen meals and veggie burgers lately since those have been getting me by throughout the week, so I'll try to feature those in a future post. Speaking of that, I may not be able to post for a few week because next weekend, my family and I are going to Ft. Lauderdale once again to visit my grandparents. I'll probably be living off a bunch of rice cakes and Larabars, but I'll hopefully have a few culinary adventures to share when I return!
Last week, I was a mad woman due to stress from my first semester finals. I'm still pretty anxious since our grades have not been sent home yet, but I can relax a little but more thanks to a nice three day weekend :) My last test, as well as my mother's birthday, was Friday and instead of coming home and sleeping, I got to do something much more stimulating. I went and got my mom some flowers and cards from the rest of the family and then the real work began- her birthday cake! I let my mom pick the type of cake she wanted (she immediately responded with the same answer as last year- carrot cake!) and also sketched a few ideas for the design of the cake and she chose the following:
The cake itself was a recipe I sort of made up as I went along, combining the recipes from both VCTOTW and VWAV, and it is filled with and covered in the cream cheese frosting from VCTOTW. The borders and basket weave pattern on the side are piped with a cream cheese buttercream recipe that I just threw together because I needed more frosting, but I didn't have enough vegan cream cheese left. The cream cheese buttercream worked out really well because it had the tangy taste from a little bit of cream cheese, but the added Earth Balance and shortening made it fluffier and stiffer- perfect for decorating a cake! I decided to make the carrots out of marzipan since I've been curious about working with it for a while and it was great. Since I used small amounts of marzipan for each color needed for the carrots, it didn't take too much work to work in the color and I love how versatile it is! You will definitely be seeing more marzipan decorations coming from my kitchen. I thought the cake came out pretty well, but the real test was what my mom thought. After dinner, my mom announced that she was ready for cake so I brought it up into the kitchen and, let me just tell you, her reaction was priceless! My mom thought the cake was gorgeous and exclaimed "You have to open a bakery, honey! Hurry, I want a picture of it!" Haha- I guess she liked it then! Everyone in my family loved how the cake tasted as well, which is the most impoartant thing. I did not make this cake gluten-free because I wanted to be absolutely sure my mom would love it, so I want to tinker around with my recipe a bit more to make it gluten-free before sharing it. And, of course, I could not forget the beloved inside shot:
As I mentioned in an earlier post, when diagnosed with my food sensitivities, my doctor recommended gluten-free bread from Rose's Wheat-Free Bakery in Evanston. Rose's is such a great little bakery- they have cookies, cakes, and other treats, some of which are vegan. The day I went, they had some vegan banana bread which I almost snatched up, but I decided to just stick with some sandwich bread for this visit (but there's always next time!) They offer many different types of bread and one vegan variety which I stocked up on- the Seeded Sandwich Bread. My mom and I took home four loaves and only had them pre-slice one since we were planning on freezing the others (though slicing before freezing actually might be a better idea now that I think about it...). I must admit, when I first tried this bread, I was a little put off. It had a slight beany aftertaste which I was not expecting and the texture was like a cross between a quick bread and sandwich bread, though I suppose that's what's expected without gluten.
However, the more I ate this bread, the more I grew to like it and found the texture actually very enjoyable. Also, I found that toasting the slices before using them virtually eliminated any beany taste, which made my PB&J (or SB&J- sunflowerseed butter and jelly) sandwiched much more enjoyable. The sandwich you see above uses bread from my second loaf of bread which I sliced myself into thinner slices than they did at Rose's. I think the thinner slices work a lot better in sandwiches since I can taste the filling more than the bread that way, but the bread did get really crumbly and some slices' corners fell off. Until I can get myself a bread slicer (my mom said we used to have one! But she gave it away...), I think I'll probably let Rose's slice my loaves of bread, but who knows? What I do know is that I am very happy with this bread and am so greatful that I have such a great gluten-free, vegan-friendly bakery in my area.
And here's my little pride and joy! My herb garden from Xmas has been growing like crazy and I think I'm only a few weeks away from awesome fresh herbs. As you can see, the basil is really floursihing, but I expected this after seeing how much my little brother's basil plant grew suring the summer. The dill has been causing me problems, though. It didn't sprout after almost three weeks (they should all sproufn in two weeks or less), so I put in the new dill plant from the second set of herb containers that I got. Hopefully this plant will eventually sprout because I really like dill. I guess you'll just have to stayed tuned to find out!
I can't even begin to explain how flavorful this meal was! The Black Beans with Chipotle Sauce and Southwestern Corn Pudding are both from Vcon and were delicious. The chipotle sauce certainly had a kick, but I love my spicy food! The corn pudding was a really refreshing but hearty accompaniment. The only change I would make would be to replace half of the coconut milk with another nondairy milk because I think the floral flavor of the coconut was a little distracting for me. Also, I will wait to make this again until the summer when I can use fresh sweet corn because I think it will just make it pop even more. Despite these dishes being so wonderful, my favorite part of the meal was my nutritional yeast-roasted broccoli. This has been my favorite was of making broccoli for awhile now and it's fabulous! I just coat some chopped broccoli with olive oil, sea salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, and red pepper flakes and roast it for about 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees (F), stirring every 10 minutes. The broccoli tops get crispy and the nutritional yeast gets toasted and tastes beyond amazing. This meal was definitely a winner in my opinion :)
I haven't had a lot of time to cook much, but I made time this week to make some black bean and vegetable enchiladas for my family. Not in any way photogenic (what enchiladas ever are?), these make up for their appearance in their taste. I used the enchilada sauce from the Potato and Kale Enchiladas from Vcon but made up the filling myself. I figured that my family would probably like this meal, but I was shocked my how much they loved it! My dad's been trying to eat lighter and healthier lately, and he said he was really glad with how delicious and filling the enchiladas were- he's even mentioned several times this week how much he liked them. In his own words: "Add this one to the list!" (I actually do keep a list of meals my family enjoys- haha). Using corn tortillas made this meal a simple one to make gluten-free. Oh, a quick side note before I post this recipe- my parents noticed how stressed I was having to avoid so many foods or take 4-5 pills a day, so after talking with my doctor, I am going to focus just on avoiding gluten. I will also avoid the other foods I am sensitive to as much as possible at home, but if I choose to have some tofu or peanut butter, no big deal. I've found it really easy to eat gluten-free at home, but I still will treat myself if I go out to eat to some vegan cake or maybe a dish with seitan in it and just take a digestive enzyme pill then. Whew- sorry for such a long "quick note." Now, onto the recipe!Black Bean and Vegetable Enchiladas:
1 T oil.
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 small zucchini, diced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 c. fresh or frozen and thawed corn
2 small red potatoes, chopped and boiled until tender
2 (15 oz.) cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 t. cumin
1 T. lime juice
1 1/2 t. salt
your favorite enchilada sauce
18 small corn tortillas
Nacho FYH cheese (I used this and it was actually very good!) or cheddar Teese, shredded (optional)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (F) and grease a 9x13 pan (I also had to use an additional 9x9 pan to fit all of the enchiladas). Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute the onion, zucchini, and bell pepper until soft. Add corn, potatoes, and black beans and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients until heated through and let cool slightly before filling your enchiladas. Microwave the tortillas until softened. Pour about 1/3 of the sauce in the bottom of the greased pan and place a tortilla in the pan. Coat on both sides with the sauce and spoon in some filling. Roll up the tortillas and place in pan seam side down. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and top with the remaining sauce and shredded vegan cheese, if using. Bake covered for 25 minutes then uncover and bake for another 15 minutes. You may want to broil the enchiladas for a few minutes at the end to melt the vegan cheese. Serves 6-8.
The ratatouille from Gluten-Free Vegan is sooooo delicious and filling, yet I just can't get enough! My mom loves it as well, so I've been making as much of it as I can to freeze for later, but it never lasts too long. It's full of eggplant, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, onions, chickpeas, zucchinis, and fresh basil from my herb garden! I just made some simple soft polenta with salt, pepper, and nooch to go with the ratatouille and it was really good. However, I think I'll made some pan-fried polenta next time I serve it because I think the contrast in textures will be better.
