All cupcakes were eaten! They were well-received by the allergic crowd and I was super happy with them. Someone actually stole the groom cupcake! I asked him at the end of the night if he ate his cupcake and he said no, someone had taken it already! The nerve!


Oh yeah, and we had fun too. I danced so hard. I was sore for days. Worth it. <333

Since it's vegan mofo, and more people than my mom are reading my blog, I thought I should post a tip on how to prevent bad things from happening to your prized possessions in your fridge. We all must be suffering from this. The health food store is too full of exciting new and huge jars of coveted vegan happiness that we buy them, and we buy many. They get opened, used once, and they sit in our fridges for a long time until we need them, many weeks later, and find sad discolored growths and crusts and all sorts of un-fun organisms on the surface of our once-prized jars of vegan love. Those jars are expensive, and it's just sad to see that happen. So I want to share a tip to show everyone how I help prevent this from happening to large jars or containers of easily-attacked condiments or products left in my fridge just a little too long.


This method works well with things easily prone to bacteria, like organic applesauce, brown rice syrup and soy yogurt. Start by removing the lid from the jar or cup and wiping with a paper towel or clean cloth the inside of the lid, and the space above your applesauce and your lid. The bigger space, the more air and bacteria can affect your applesauce. If the space is too large, transfer the applesauce to a smaller container.


Tear a sheet of plastic wrap about 12" long. Lay it over the opening of your jar so that it's centered. Carefully push the plastic wrap to the surface of the applesauce so that the plastic wrap touches it and no air is accessible to the applesauce. Push the plastic wrap against the sides of the jar and allow the sides to overhang.

Corn is really tricky to leave out, since the frosting usually has powdered sugar. I tried making my own without and it was... unsuccessful, to say the least. I tried making a pumpkin mousse with tofu and bananas. It didn't really hold up to piping, and they discolored within an hour. So I went out in search of corn-free powdered sugar and actually struck gold at a corner market by my place where I found some organic powdered sugar using tapioca flour as the anti-caking agent. Hopefully it's not clumpy, as I have had issues with organic powdered sugar in the past. Clumps! Always clumps. Wish me luck on creating a beautifully eye-catching and delicious gluten-free-vegan-maple-pumpkin-spice cupcake that will have the entire wedding party checking out PETA's website, or mine, within seconds. It'll happen. Just give me time!

 When my boyfriend and I first became vegetarian, we could count on one hand how many dishes were in our repertoire. It included, chili, stir-fries, spaghetti, pesto, and tomato soup. Now a days, I do pretty much all the cooking, and have expanded my horizons to include all the things on this blog and beyond. He, on the other hand.. can't even make spaghetti anymore.
Tomato soup was our old standby. A great dish to make for 2 or a crowd, we would make this at least every 2 weeks. Obviously now, since my culinary horizons have expanded, I make a lot of other things instead of the same 5 things over and over. But I found myself making tomato soup tonight for the first time in years.


I mean, I can't just make plain old tomato soup, the way I used to. I've got to mix things up when I'm re-doing them. I was heavily influenced by the weather, which, right now can't decide what season it's going to be. It's very warm when the sun comes out, but the sun isn't really coming out that much. So it's actually still pretty goddamn cold. I craved a little smokiness, the type of cooking warm weather tends to bring with it. I also craved soup. I crave soup when it is freezing. Most people do that, right?

Rice and beans sounds really boring, but really, it's so good! You can season it to taste and make it as flavorful as you want it to be. So what I'm saying is, if you don't like your rice and beans, it's your own fault! So just add some salt or something. Ooo or avocado. That'll fix it up.

Rice and Beans and everything else in the fridge:

1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cups baby spinach
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 jalapeño pepper, diced
1 cup brown rice, rinsed
2 cups water
1 tablespoon annatto powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

1 avocado, diced (optional)

Bring rice and water to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Simmer about 40 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Don't stir. Just turn the heat off and keep covered.
Meanwhile, saute onion in olive oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and saute about 2 minutes. Add carrots, jalapeño and baby spinach. Stir until spinach is wilted and add beans. Stir in salt, pepper and spices (except annatto powder) and let cook about 10 minutes, stirring every few, until carrots are tender.
Add annatto powder to rice and stir. Add to veggies and beans and stir to combine. Top each bowl with some chopped avocado and serve!

The enchilada is filled with a red chile pesto and chopped avocado with sauteed poblano peppers and red onions. The rice is brown basmati with annatto powder and the beans are black eyed peas with chipotle chiles in adobo. It totally did the trick.

Avocado and Red Chile Pesto Enchilada

4 large whole wheat or corn tortillas
1-2 avocados, diced
1 red onion, sliced
2 poblanos, sliced into strips

red chile pesto:
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3 red jalapeño or fresno peppers
1 dried ancho chile
2 dried chile de arbols
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons nooch
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon chile powder

Place dried peppers in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Let stand for about 20 minutes and remove them from the bowl. Pull out their stems. Remove stems from fresno peppers and add to a food processor with the reconstituted dried chiles, garlic and pine nuts. Puree until smooth. Pour in the oil, add the salt, pepper, chile powder, and nooch. Puree and taste for heat and seasonings.
In a large skillet, sautee poblanos and red onion in a little olive oil, if desired, until soft. Toss with 1-2 tablespoons of the pesto. Turn off heat.
Heat the largest skillet you've got over med-high heat, and spray with some canola oil. Lay a tortilla out and place some onions and peppers down the middle of the tortilla and add some chopped avocado on top of that. Drizzle another tablespoon of the pesto over that and fold edged over the filling.
Place the enchilada seam-side down on the hot pan. Sear for about 3 minutes, the flip over and sear 2nd side. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Serve with Rice and beans!

I'm sure everyone has heard about mashing cauliflower into your mashed potatoes. Has everybody tried it? I am all over that. What's killer is that cauliflower has the same cooking time as potatoes, so they can be boiled together, in the same pot. My ratio of potato to cauliflower has shifted from 3:1, to more like 1:1 now. Half potatoes and half cauliflower. I'm telling you, this is where it's at. You gotta believe me.
Some salt, pepper, a little olive oil, perhaps a tablespoon or 2 of unsweetened almond milk is all they'll ever need.

Unremixed Mashed Potatoes:

It looks a little murky to be green, but green is the color of mostly all of the ingredients! This is chock full of good stuff for you, and hey, if you wanted to eat this 4 times a week, you could do much much worse. The broth is super spicy, because spicy chili is the bees knees. Or.. something.

Tempeh Green Chili

2 8oz packages of tempeh
1 head of green kale
4 cups baby spinach
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 1lb tomatillos
2 jalapeño chiles
2 poblano peppers
3 leeks
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 onion, Diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb mushrooms, quartered
5 cups homemade vegetable broth
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon corriander
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
1 can canellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 can navy beans, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup chopped parsely
1 avocado, diced, optional but warranted

Cut leeks lengthwise and chop off the tough dark green ends. Discard tough ends and slice the leeks into half moons. Separate chopped layers of leeks and place in a bowl. Fill bowl with water and slosh the leeks around so that the dirt and grit falls to the bottom of the bowl.
Heat olive oil in a large soup pot and add leeks, onion, mushrooms, carrots, and garlic and sauté. Rip the kale off the tough veins and rinse. Tear into bite-sized pieces and add to pot. Wilt kale for 2 minutes and add spinach. Wilt for about 5 minutes.
Peel tomatillos and rinse under water. Preheat the broiler. Place tomatillos, jalapeños and poblanos in a cast-iron skillet and broil for 8-9 minutes or until all tomatillos and chiles have split or blistered. Remove and let cool. Peel away the burnt skin and puree in a food processor. Pour mix into soup.
Tear tempeh into bite-sized chunks and place in a large skillet. Cover tempeh pieces with water and simmer about 10 minutes. Drain away excess water and heat tempeh over medium high heat. pour tamari over tempeh and stir. Cook 1 minute and turn off heat.
Now add corriander, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, and paprika to soup and stir. Add broth and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and add beans. Cook 15 minutes, covered. Add tempeh and stir. Cook for 3 minutes and turn off heat. Ladle into bowls and top with chopped parsley and diced avocado.

Now I know not everyone gets amped about making 7 layers for just a dip. It's not like my mom is going to see this and go whip this up on a school night. This can be reserved for special occasions, with special friends. Or if you're like me, you could do a couple steps tonight and a couple steps tomorrow and have this on your table right quick. The choice is yours.

I don't know why, but I think of tacos as the ultimate family food. Don't you? Also, on a side note, I was thinking about that episode of LOST where Kate tells her husband she's a fugitive and yells through tears, "I Don't do Taco Night!!" Then I somehow caught that exact episode on TV last night, then produced a taco dip. This series of events led me to tacos, my ultimate purpose or calling in life. See? Life is sequential and purposeful.

Long Time, No Blog. I'm sorry, friends. I've been out and about this summer, visiting friends, family, some vegan restaurants and seeing some kickass shows all over this side of the country. I've also been keeping busy doing a bunch of recipe writing and testing and eating, of course. I also just heard John Stewart mispronounce "vegan." He said "VAY-gun." Can we put our faith in no one?
So let's cut to the chase. This dip. 
Sometimes, when you find yourself living in central New Jersey, you find yourself at Chilis. Not my proudest moment, but I do often find inspiration in hum-drum, run-of-the-mill, drown-my-sorrows-after-a-shitty-day-at-work, 1/2 price-appetizers-at-happy-hour kind of chain establishment. Well, I find inspiration at these kinds of places, or vicariously through an episode of Diners, Drive-In's and Dives.
Every single place like the kind I'm describing has a Spinach and Artichoke dip. My aunt Maureen used to make one like this for family get-togethers and I think hers is the only one I've ever actually tasted, though they all look and sound delicious. It's an obvious crowd-pleaser, and that's probably why it's on so many menus and on so many tables during family gatherings. Us vay-guns have passed on this dip and scooped up yet another hunk of walmart hummus with our pita chip instead time and time again, because this dip is mostly comprised of cream and cheese, you know, the two things that aren't even part of the title.
Well I can make you that dip, friends. I can, and I will. Oh wait, I did. That was unsuspenseful.
Have I told you I'm writing a cookbook called, "Life after Cashews" ? It's a working title but it had a better ring to it than "Divine Secrets of The Cashew Sisterhood."

Spinach-Artichoke dip

8-9 artichoke hearts, sliced
1 large white onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, sliced
5 large handfuls baby spinach
2 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 cup cashews
1/2 cup plain soy yogurt
1/4 cup nooch
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt
pepper
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

Put cashews in a blender with nooch, herbs, garlic powder, yogurt, salt and pepper and blend. Add almond milk slowly until a creamy paste is achieved. Blend about 2 minutes, maybe more if you have a tag-sale blender.
Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute for about 4 minutes, until relatively caramelized. Add artichokes and cook another 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 more minute. Then add the spinach in handfuls, adding more as it wilts down. Toss the spinach with everything else using tongs, aiding the wilting process. When all spinach is wilted, pour in cashew cream. Stir everything together and taste for salt and pepper. Preheat the broiler.
Find a cute little baking dish that seems sized appropriately for a dip of this sort. Pile all of the mixture into the dish and broil for about 5 minutes, until bubbly and browned in spots. Let cool about 10 minutes before serving.

I have this fun proposition for all of you: Oh She Glows (great vegan blogger) has issued a June Salad Challenge to me, and I have gracefully accepted. Basically all you have to do is eat a salad every day of the month of June. Today is only June 3rd, so you can just eat like 2 salads a day to make up for it if you start late. It's not too late! I'm not really the world's biggest salad fan, either. I don't especially love spring mix, bitter greens, you already know how I feel about kale, raw peppers or raw button mushrooms. I feel like I've been doomed to eating a plate full of these boring mediocre pawns of veggie chess with no queen or king jewel veg or protein flavor player too many times when I'm out with a group of friends who insist on jumbo pizza slices or being dragged to a "family outing" that is dinner at a fried seafood shack. Oh, what we do for our friends and loved ones and the mediocre salads we eat and the pizza and fried scallops we resist while we watch you scarf them down while we eat a bowl-full of rabbit food... Listen all, I'm not a raw food vegan. I tried that once. It lasted 72 hours before I passed out at work and decided falafel was worth dumping the raw idea for. I eat fire. Don't you banish me.
A good salad: An amazing selection of fresh, colorful in-season veggies, a bed of dark greens, like baby spinach, a flavorful warm protein, and a dressing that knocks you on your ass (because it's so good) and makes you fly through a garage door but still land so that you are somehow unharmed and you slowly lift yourself up exclaiming, "Damn, that's some good salad."
The perfect kickoff salad for the June salad challenge, to which I and in turn Alex have accepted, naturally includes falafel. I decided that falafel is the best salad protein of all time. Try it, and tell me you don't agree with me. No, really. I dare you. I can get my friend Chad to beat you up.
My salad, pictured, has baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, diced green apple, sliced red grapes, and diced avocado with tahini dressing. The tahini dressing I usually make is a garlic/tahini/soy yogurt blend-up, but what with my fridge acting as a second freezer lately, and freezing my yogurt, I had to MacGyver up a new yogurt sub. Cashews to the rescue again. On a side note I have joined a cashew cult. The best kind of cult. Is that weird to say?
Anyhow I have been working out a lot this month and trying and sometimes failing at counting calories, something I never really used to do. I drink an awful lot of beer. The last two years I've hit it pretty hard, and it's showing. So since there is no way in Gehenna I am going to quit drinking beer, I figured I should start running. The more I run, the more beer I can drink. My obligation to be a fabulous-figured lady who is glamorous and sassy is strong, because everyone will think they will look equally amazing if they become vegan too (we won't tell them I'm naturally fabulous). So the salad-a-day challenge is timely, and I'm also more inclinded to replace meals with big salads this way. So basically it's a win for veganism because people eat more veggies instead of something else, and a win for fabulousness in turn.
Much new love to follow. Stay fabulous, everybody.

Falafel Salad with Tahini dressing

Falafel:
2 cups chickpeas
1/2 large onion or 1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon chili flakes
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped parsely
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/3 cup chickpea flour or fava bean flour

Tahini dressing:
1/3 cup sesame tahini
juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon spicy brown mustard
1/4 cup cashews
1 teaspoon dried dill or herb of your choosing
1/4-1/3 unsweetened almond milk
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 400ºF
1. Roughly chop garlic and pulse in a food processor. Add fresh herbs and whiz until finely chopped. Roughly chop onion and add to food processor a little bit at a time, until a relatively smooth mixture is achieved. Rinse and drain chickpeas and add to food processor. Pulse until mixture is well-combined.
2. In a large bowl empty the chickpea mixture. Add remaining ingredients an fold together with a spatula. Add a little more fava bean flour if the mixture is too wet to form into falafel-sized balls.
3. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment and begin rolling out 1 1/2" sized balls and spacing them out just a little on the baking sheets. Bake for about 20 minutes or until slightly browned, then flip and bake another 10 minutes until nicely golden brown.

dressing-
blend all that stuff together and taste for seasonings. Hard, huh?

 








Chowder, for me, is a summer thing. If it's a creamy luxurious white chowder with soda crackers, it's still a summer thing somehow, but this version is especially so. It is chock full of fresh veggies, so if you're buried in CSA produce, or simply couldn't resist all the pretty new colors in the produce isle of your run-of-the-mill supermarket, then this is in your ballpark. This soup is incredible healthy, and this recipe made 16 servings, at about a cup and a half each. Less than 200 calories, with lots and lots  of good stuff for you too. That's why you shouldn't feel bad about chopping up half an avocado and tossing it onto the top of your bowl as a "garnish."


Corn Chowder take 1
2 teaspoons olive oil
6 ears corn, stripped off the cob, save cobs
6 yukon gold potatoes,roughly chopped
2 bell peppers, 1 red 1 orange, diced
1 sweet chile, diced
2 jalapeño chiles, diced
2 poblano chiles, diced
5 carrots, diced
1 lb cremini mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1 chipotle in adobo
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper


1 large carrot
1 large onion
1 large parsnip
1 small turnip
1 sprig rosemary, dill, thyme, whathaveyou
6 corn cobs

1 avocado diced, 1 tomato diced, 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped, all optional

1. Strip the corn off the cobs ans set aside. In a large stock pot, put the 6 cobs, 1 large onion, roughly chopped with skin on, parsnip, turnip, 1 carrot, all roughly chopped, and herbs. Fill pot up with water and bring to a slow boil. Reduce to simmer, and let it rip for 45 minutes or so.  You can prep your veggies while this corn-stock action takes place. When done, strain the liquid into a bowl and discard boiled veggies and herbs.
2.Preheat your fav soup pot w/lid over med-high heat. Heat the olive oil, and once hot, add onion. Cook until some water has been released and onion is slightly translucent, about 5 minutes. Add carrots, bell peppers, chiles, and mushrooms, garlic and salt. Cover and let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3.Once the veggies are softened and slightly browned, add wine, chipotle, corn and potatoes. Stir everything together and add the garlic powder, paprika and black pepper. Stir again and let cook for one minute. Add the reserved corn stock and cover. Bring to boil and then reduce to simmer for about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
4.Using an immersion blender, carefully puree the soup, but only partially. You still want some texture, a whole potato chunk or corn kernal will be nice. Taste chowder for seasonings. Spoon into bowls and top with diced avocado, chopped tomatoes and a sprinkly of cilantro. You're done!

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