Raspberry Pie

I am trying hard to institute a new tradition around here of a collaborative fancy dessert every Friday night.  Ben is not quite on board, but I have railroaded him into it the last two weekends and he seems pleased with the results, anyway.

Last night when I got home I made pie dough and stuck it in the fridge to chill, and then when he got home from work he rolled it out and made the Pucker Up Raspberry Pie from Vegan Pie in the Sky.  He is so much more of a patient baker than I am; I would have just slapped the crusts together willy-nilly and not bothered with the pretty lattice. The filling has 2 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar in it, which was really obvious before it was baked but afterward sort of seemed to disappear into the raspberries, just adding a little extra tartness, I guess.

It was REALLY good.  Like every berry pie I have ever made, it was really soupy even after cooling for a good hour, but firmed up overnight in the fridge.

Millet-Sunflower Croquettes with Smoky Black Bean Sauce

Our library has a pretty slim selection of vegan cookbooks, but it does have The Voluptuous Vegan, which I checked out a few weeks ago.  The recipes in the book are arranged into menus of three to five recipes each, which makes it sort of a special occasion cookbook in my eyes.  I guess you could always just make one dish from each menu if you felt like it, but I like doing what the author tells me to do.  She probably wouldn't have been thrilled, however, with the fact that I went through and made photocopies of a few of the menus before I took it back to the library.  I wanted to try some things before committing to purchase, though, and our library has a draconian two week lending policy.

Anyway!  The first thing I decided to make were millet-sunflower croquettes with smoky black bean sauce, ginger sour "cream" (tofu-based), and a salad of romaine with radishes, jicama, carrots, and avocado dressing.  She also said to roast some asparagus but I was getting pretty tired so I skipped it.

I thought I had already uploaded the photos for this dinner but, alas, I had not, and for some reason deleted them all but one.  You can kind of see the salad over there in the back.

This meal was the best thing I have made in ages.  Each of the elements is pretty good on its own, but together they work absolutely perfectly.  I was a little concerned with the saltiness of the black beans by themselves but the croquettes have a really mild, nutty flavor so they balanced each other out perfectly, and the ginger sour cream was fantastic on top.

I'm pretty excited to try the other things from this cookbook, but it may be a few weeks before I feel like making six separate things for a single meal.  We'll see!

Eggplant Torta Sandwich

I  made another delicious sandwich!  This one is from Viva Vegan and is layers of marinated baked eggplant, tomato, avocado, and refried beans. 

It was hard to eat!  I probably should have only had one layer of eggplant & tomato.  But then it wouldn't have been as fun.

BBQ Tempeh Sandwich

I made a delicious sandwich!

It is from Vegan Soul Kitchen, and is supposed to be open-faced but I never know what to do with an open faced sandwich so I made it a regular one.  The tempeh was baked in a BBQ sauce concoction for an hour and then seared just a little bit to give it a crust.  It was GOOD.  I made citrus collards on the side (also from Vegan Soul Kitchen, and also great).  I'm a pretty big fan of that cookbook so far.

Maple Cupcakes

Last week Ben decided he wanted to stop eating dessert every night after dinner, so I didn't buy any ice cream or cookies at the grocery store when I went on Sunday.  By Tuesday, he had gotten all the vegan dessert cookbooks out and was going through picking things he wanted to make first.   Anti-dessert Experiment: Failure.

The first thing we made were the maple cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  I made the sugared walnuts and the frosting, and Benjamin did the cake part and frosted them.  

The recipe called for frosting made mostly of soy milk powder and maple syrup, but I couldn't find soy milk powder even at Whole Foods, so I did a basic vegan buttercream and added maple extract.  It was perfect.  

Yay!  Cupcakes!

Pineapple Noodle Stirfry

I made this recipe last night from World Vegan Feast.  The instructions say it takes less than 30 minutes, which is a lie unless you already have all the ingredients chopped up and ready to go.  I had to chop up a whole pineapple and a bunch of chard and mushrooms and garlic and grate some ginger and rehydrate soy curls.... all of that before the cooking even began.  I mean, this is not abnormal for our average dinner, but it irritates me when something is billed as quick and easy and it's not.  That's one reason I really like Isa Moskowitz's books best, because her time estimates are always right on the money.

Anyway!  I did not mean to go off on a semi-angry tangent there.  Especially because the dish was great and made a ton of food.

The pineapple was sauteed in a couple tablespoons of molasses before being mixed in with everything else and it added a nice caramelized flavor.  I thought it seemed like overkill to use an entire pineapple but it ended up being just the right amount, and the slight spiciness of the sauce cut the sweetness, too.  Win!

Toasted Coconut Mango Muffins

Over the weekend I scoured my cookbooks for a muffin recipe for which I had all the ingredients in the house, and this, from Vegan Brunch, was the only one.  It's kind of weird that I had unsweetened coconut and fresh mango around but no, say, blueberries or chocolate chips, but I guess it was fate.  These were good!  They seem like a grownup muffin compared to my usual sugar-based preferences.

I also harvested the basil plant again and made two big batches of pesto for the freezer.  I'm hoping to get another few crops before the cold weather sets in!  

Coconut Sweet Potato Puree

I have been a terrible cook lately.  I was out of town last weekend and whenever that happens it seems like the week before and the week after are both filled with lots of takeout and quick standbys.  But!  I am back in top form starting tonight.  Even though this is an ugly picture.

I made my standard smoky tempeh and collards, but the side is new - it's a Coconut Sweet Potato Puree from Vegan Soul Kitchen and it is amazing.  When we were finished eating Ben said, "Can you make that again tomorrow?"  You peel and cube sweet potatoes, toss them in a picture of agave, coconut oil, and a little bit (1/8th tsp per pound) of salt, then roast for 40 minutes.  When they're done, puree in a food processor with enough coconut milk to make creamy and voila! You have deliciousness.

We also got a cat fountain today. Correction:  BEN got the cat fountain.  It was an impulse buy.  He's such a sucker.  Anyway, they are so confused and interested in it and, naturally, we have been staring at them staring at the fountain all day.  Cutest and funniest cats in the land.

You might notice the TV tray sitting in front of the window behind Papaya.  That's so they can have a place to sit and see outside, naturally.  We are classy decorators.  There's one in the kitchen, too.