Calling a truce with Setian- Sort of.

Last night I finally made a dinner that was super tasty- it's been a few weeks, I have either had no time to cook, or cooked things that were just kinda blah. Why I have not tried the Chickpea Cutlets from Veganomicon until yesterday, I will never know. Mashed chickpeas are combined with vital wheat gluten (my former enemy) veggie broth, bread crumbs, and a few other things and then baked until crispy perfection. They needed just a little umph, so I made a quick white wine/shallot/picada like sauce for the cutlets- PERFECT. YUM!!!!! I made herb scalloped potatoes (also from Veganomicon) and Phil's new favorite thing, kale chips, as well. I only wish I had the energy to make the same meal tonight- I'm hungry!

Vegan MoFo!!! What the heck?!!!

OK, I don't know what I have gotten myself into, but I signed our humble little blog here up to participate in Vegan MoFo, meaning Vegan Month of Food, meaning during October hundreds of vegan blogs have pledged to write about awesome vegan food every day... or something like that.

Read all about it here and here.

So, like I said, it looks like hundreds of blogs have signed up already, so there is some pretty stiff competition, and I'm not sure if anyone will make it over here anyways, but it should be an interesting challenge. Maybe not the smartest challenge to take on considering I just started work again (first day of school is tomorrow!), but you only live once.

So, stayed tuned (hi Mom and Omi!!!) for a lot of posts on October. Hopefully....

I've got my game face on...

Oh, and happy new year! Go eat some apples and honey (er, agave nectar).

Martha!!!!!

This list is pretty heavy on the meat options (ick!), but has some good ideas for yummy vegan lunches to pack as well. She's done it again!!!

Martha's Ideas for Brown Bag Lunches

Back to School Granola

Because something has to get me out of bed at 6 a.m. tomorrow.... HOLY cow. Inspired by my lovely friend, Prysm.


* Granola*

• 4 1/2 cups organic rolled oats
• 1 cup raw pecans
• 1/2 cup raw walnuts
• 1/2 cup flax meal
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup unrefined sesame oil
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2-3 dashes of cinnamon
• 1 generous cup chopped dates
• 1/2 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven until 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, pecans, walnuts, salt and flax meal. In a smaller bowl, whisk together sesame oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla extract and cinnamon until well combined. Pour wet ingredients into dry, and mix with a rubber spatula until all of the oat/nut mixture is completely coated, this will take awhile but it will happen, I promise.

Once everything is well combined, pour onto a lightly greased cookie sheet, spreading the granola into an even layer, about an inch thick. Bake in the oven, checking granola every 6-8 minutes and moving it around on the cookie sheet with a spatula. After about 25 mins or so the oats should be golden brown, which means its time to take the granola out of the oven.

After the granola has cooled a bit, mix it together with the dates and raisins. Store in an airtight container.

Many granola recipes have you toast the oats before mixing them with the other ingredients and baking everything together. I found that it was fine without pre-toasting, and it makes the whole process quicker.

Vegan Zwetschgenkuchen- Take 2

Soul-ish Food

It's SUCH a good time to go to the farmer's market! I am trying to live it up, I know soon there will only be apples and potatoes for months... I built tonight's dinner around some collard greens I scored at the market this morning, and they were yummmmmmy.

I made some black eyed peas from scratch and added some onion, green pepper, and soy chorizo.

The cornbread recipe is here (I subbed agave nectar for the sugar).

The citrus collards with raisin redux recipe is here. I checked cookbook this is from, Vegan Soul Kitchen, out from the library a few months ago, I think I need to purchase it.

Roasted and Toasted Pesto

I make pesto pretty frequently. It's easy to throw together, pretty cheap, and makes whatever you put it on taste better. I do, however, get a little bored with the same old formula from time to time. Today I decided to try to "turn up the volume," as our friend Ina Garten would say (I know! Yet another Barefoot Contessa reference... sorry!!!) on my basic pesto. Adding roasted cloves of garlic and toasting the pine nuts really upped the flavor, and was worth the extra effort.

Here's the recipe for the new and improved pesto:

• 1 head of roasted garlic
• 3 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1-2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• 3-5 tbs. olive oil
• salt and pepper (to taste)

First, roast the garlic. Turn your oven up to 350 degrees. Peel the paper off the whole head of garlic as much as you can. Cut of the top part of the garlic, so a little bit of each clove is exposed. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, wrap in foil, and roast in the oven for about an hour, or until the head feels squishy when squeezed with an oven mitt. Remove from the oven and let cool for 25 minutes or so before proceeding with the pesto.

Preheat a dry frying pan on your stove for a few minutes. Throw the pine nuts in the pan and move them around every 30 seconds or so until they are nicely toasted. Watch them closely, they can go from perfect to burned in seconds! While you let the pine nuts cool, carefully squeeze out each clove from the head of garlic. You can use a fork to help the process along, being careful to remove all bits of the papery skin. Put cloves in the food processor with basil leaves, salt and pepper and lemon juice. Process until it becomes a thick paste. Add pine nuts and process again.

Once everything is combined, keep the processor going while you drizzle in the olive oil, one tsp. or so at a time until it is the thickness you desire. Taste and re-season as needed with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Enjoy on your favorite whole wheat pasta, as a base for pizza, on a sandwich, etc...