Well a lot has happened since the last time I have posted....something I really not ready to chat about yet - BUT.....I do want to chat about a couple of recipes I've tried out on Goods....and both worthy of a post!

Oven baked vegan, of course, ONION RINGS! from Post Punk Kitchen

The recipe calls for store bought whole wheat bread crumbs...and for the life of me, I just couldn't find them in ANY store in Michigan. In fact I couldn't find breadcrumbs without dairy and egg in the - WTF???? oh...so I made my own...and they turned out dandy! They were light and crispy....and actually not hard to make at all!! We ate them with cocktail sauce and tarter sauce.

Our garden is over flowing with cucumbers. We've given them to neighbors and friends, I eat at least a cuke a day and I used them to make this....from a vegetarian time email I received....

White Gazpacho (Recipe here)

This was totally awesome perfect for a hot summer day - cukes, toasted almonds, GRAPES, and arugula - to name just a few ingredients. But one problems...I still have cucumbers coming out the kazoo.

And to end with a funny....I took this photo through our kitchen door......

Get your pretty little heads out of the gutter....the gray "baby" squirrel was grooming the other one - just like monkeys do.

Today Goods and I are celebrating our 1st Wedding Anniversary today - and look we've lasted...because the first 13 years of being together didn't count. We are going great restaurant tonight Mon Jin Lau. They have tons of vegan options- and they make pretty garsh darn good cocktails too.

I'll be back real soon....I have one more week of classes and then starting Thursday - I'll be off for THREE WHOLE WEEKS!!! except for my prereading I'll be doing for my fall classes - because I'm a geek that way.

Have a lovely weekend! Stay cool!

Vegan Creamy Potato Soup - plus another one...

Here is a pot of Potato Soup I whipped up for Goods.... Not that I don't like potato soup...I do, but this was a chance that I could make a soup for myself that I knew Goods wouldn't be gaga over....Spinach / Quinoa soup....

The recipe was adapted from a volume of Vegetarian Times - I wasn't gaga over it...so I'm not sharing my version of it. I love spinach, I love love quinoa but I thought it all got lost in the soupiness. Since quinoa, to me, is a delicate grain...it kind of got lost. Next time I will just make a dish of quinoa & spinach and leave out the broth.

BUTTT the good news is...I will share the Vegan Creamy Potato Soup with you all!

Sauteed in a little olive oil the following:

5 gloves of minced garlic

1 sliced leek

1 stalk chopped celery

1 finely chopped carrot

1 finely chopped jalapeno (w/out seeds)

1/4 c. chopped red pepper

1/4 c. chopped green pepper

After sauteing the above until tender - add

3 c. of veggie broth

2 c. water

1/4 c. chopped parsley

6 cups of potatoes - cubed

Over medium to medium low heat, cook until potatoes to desired tenderness.

Right before serving - Add 1/2 c. of soymilk and heat thoroughly.

Enjoy with your favorite bread (or for me gluten free bread)

Vegan White "Chicken" Chili

I guess with the fall weather setting in, my cooking mod has switched to a batch of weekly soup...but this week it was getting even more chilly out and so of course I made CHILI!

White "Chicken" Chili that is....

A closer lookie...

Goods and I embarked on this creation together...and it was souper (tee-hee) yummy! This is what we did....

6 cloves of minced garlic

6 cups of veggie broth (I always have Bryanna's premade on hand)

1 Tbs. of Olive Oil

2 Tbs. fresh chopped parsley (fresh because it's still growing in my garden)

Simmer all that together, in a large stock pot for 15-20 minutes

(you can adjust the garlic accordingly but with halloween right around the corner- we need the extra protection from the vampires)

Then add to the

1 can of green chilies (4 oz approx)
(I think next time I will add 2 cans)

2 tsp cumin

3 tsp chili pepper

1 tsp dried cilantro

1/2 tsp pepper

1 large carrot diced

1 medium onion diced

1-2 stocks of celery diced

1/2 c of red pepper diced

1/2 c green pepper diced

1 can of can cannellini beans (drained)

Now, after those ingredients were added - I took my emulsion blender and zapped the soup a few times to make the mixture a little thicker. The chili will cook down, so this step is totally up to you.

Now after the zapping we added more beans:

1 more can of cannellini beans (drained)

1 can of great northern beans

(Note: bean cans were approx 16 oz each)

So we let that simmer for about 1- 1 1/2 hours

Then we added...(well by this point I was solo-chef) 2 packages of vegan chicken (chopped) - like Morning Star or as I used, Trader Joe brand.

Let simmer for about an another hour.

Then right before serving add - 1/3 c. of vegan sour cream (Toffuti for me)

We very much enjoyed this- we took it to a gathering we were invited to and all enjoyed it...even though it was a meat eating group.

Enjoy!

Creamy Vegan Broccoli Soup

Yeap, it's getting flippin cold here in Michigan, and what do you do when it gets cold....make some soup. I saw this beautiful bunch of broccoli at the farmers market that I just had to have, even though I was going out of town in a few days and I had to use it before I left....so Broccoli Soup it was!This is what I did....

Saute the below items, until tender, in 2 Tbs of Earth Balance:

3 garlic cloves minced

1/2 c. heaping cup of chopped onion

1 carrot - diced

1 stalk celery - chopped

1/3 c. red pepper - chopped

1/3 c. green pepper - chopped

Add to the above when done:

1.5 c. veggie broth

4 c. chopped broccoli

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp dried basil (I used Thai basil)

1/2 tsp salt (1 used 1 tsp and found it to be too much)

1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

Pepper to taste

Let the whole kit and kab-boodle simmer for about 20 mins. until broccoli is tender/soft.

Now add - 1/2 c. of vegan sour cream

1 c. of soy milk

I then took my emulsion blender and blended the soup a little. We like ours chunky, so I just zipped it a tad. Heat the soup thoroughly - and then enjoy!

Goods suggested maybe some potatoes in it next time.....I might just be wild enough to do it too! Stay tuned for some Halloween fun and until then.....Stay warm!!

Potato, Patato Zoup

I have a mission, a goal, a challenge- I'm going to use my crockpot (one of my three) at least once a week until Spring. This week I accomplished my goal by making the incredibly delicious Potato Soup. The secret ingredient that pulled it all together - TOFUTTI SOUR CREAM!



This is what I did-
The ingredients:

• 5 russet potatoes peeled and cubed
• 1/2 c. chopped onion
• 5 cloves of minced garlic (adjust to your taste of course)
• 1 carrot chopped
• 1/4 c. red pepper chopped (next time I'm upping the quantity)
• 1 stalk celery chopped
• 1/4 c. fresh parsley (or dry)
• approx 1/2 tsp of Italian seasoning (or oregano)
• 3 cups veggie broth (I used 3 cups of water & 3 Tbs. of Bryanna's homemade stuff)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Then I cooked the hell out of it, on low, for 8 ish hours.

Side Note: If you have never made BRYANNA'S HOMEMADE VEGAN "CHICKEN-STYLE" BROTH POWDER do yourself a favor and do it. I'm totally in love with the stuff, I will never use store bought again.

I then scooped out about 2 cups of the soup and put in a medium size mixing bowl. Using my emulsion blender, I blended it pretty smooth, and then put it back into the crock.

Then I measured out 1 1/2 cups of rice milk and whisked 2 Tbs. of arrowroot with it. Poured that mixture into the crock. Cooked for another 1/2 hour.

Next I put a blop of sour cream in a bowl (estimating at 1/2-3/4 cup) and mixed in 1 Tbs. of arrowroot, and mixed that into the crock. Cook for another 15-20 minutes.

Serve and eat.....

The red stuff sprinkled in my bowl is dried hot peppers. I totally forgot to cook and serve the Vegan Bacon that I made a special trip to the store for.

I also made bread in my bread machine (I kitchen gadgets) - seriously, this is recipe for Light Oat Bread is the best. Since I found this recipe, I haven't made any other bread - it's light, the crust is crispy- perfection in a loaf.
I'll copy it here, from Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons margarine
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Add ingredients to bread machine pan in order recommended by your manufacturer.
Use regular light setting.

I know that one might say - OY, another potato soup recipe- but really, the sour cream in it turned an okay tasting soup into a WOW soup.

Orange Soup

Well I didn't know what else to call the soup because I used carrots, butternut squash and sweet potatoes....oh, and orange juice.

THE RECIPE......

Prepared:
4 C. Diced Carrots
2 C. Cubed Butternut Squash (which I had left over from Veganomicon - Butternut Squash Rice
Paper Rolls - I love these things...I've made them twice so far! no pics though)
2 C. Cubed Sweet Potatoes

In large pot, combine above veggies with:
3 C. Water
1 C. Orange Juice
1 small Veggie Bullion Cube (optional, I didn’t add salt)

Cook until veggies are tender.

In the mean time- Saute:
4 tsp. vegan butter
1 C. Chopped Onion
3 Cloves of chopped garlic
1 tsp. of chopped hot pepper—I used Serranos (optional)

After the above has sautéed for a few minutes add:
1 tsp Curry Powder Seasoning (this had ginger, cinnamon, cloves etc. in it too)
1 Tbs. Fresh Grated Ginger (think 1.5 tsp would be good next time)
1 Tbs. of Dried Parsley
Fresh Ground Pepper to taste.

When the sautéing is complete, add 1/2 C. of Ground Cashews (measured before grinding) – Here, I used raw cashews, I think toasted cashews would be good too, or you can just leave the nuts out altogether….I’m easy like that.

Now add the sautéed mixture to the cooked veggies (no not drain).
Add 1 C. of Soymilk

With my emulsion blender, I love love this thing, I blended it smooth.
Tasted it, humm, Goods tasted it- I made the following additions:
1 C. of Orange juice
1 more Sweet Potato (I had one in the freezer just waiting to become sweet potato biscuits)

By adding the extra items, it tamed down the ginger that was a tad strong, and it you now could taste a hint of Orange in it, which I was striving for.

Then I heated again for 15 minutes. I served with a sprinkle of toasted pumpkin seeds and some croutons.

I give this a 4 out of 5 forks. I need to play with the seasonings some. I would make this again, but it won't be for a while, I made a TON.

I'll end with a photo of Guido playing with her imaginary carrot--really, she plays with a lot of imaginary things.

Okay- I'm almost ending with Guido.

If you are from the Detroit area, there is a restaurant in Grosse Pointe that we went to Saturday night that Goods and I both very much enjoyed. The name of the joint is "City Kitchen" I've included a link. The atmosphere was great, we sat at the bar- THE NON-SMOKING BAR! The whole restaurant is NON-SMOKING. The food was great, they went out of their way to make my meal vegan (even checking their pasta lables!) - I had a pasta with veggies in a wine sauce - sorry no pics THIS TIME. Oh, and I had a super spinach salad with jalapeno mango dressing. The people were extremely friendly, both the people that work there and the patrons.

Okay, NOW I'm ending.