Roasted Carrots

Yum.

recipe

Bananas Foster

I really need to stop forgetting that I have a blog. I'll start with the most exciting recipe that I've been meaning to post. I could pretend that I made this vegan, but there were witnesses who know that it wasn't even close. The vanilla frozen yogurt could easily be replaced with soy ice cream and I'm thinking it might be possible to stick soy creamer in the whipped cream maker (I don't think normal people own these, just ex-Starbucks employees) and make that vegan too, although I've never liked whipped cream so I doubt vegan whipped cream would be any better.

The exciting part was the flambeing. The last time I tried to flambe, I barely got a flame, but this time I'm pretty sure the flames reached the ceiling and looked a lot more like an explosion than this picture shows

Fortunately there was no damage to the ceiling (not mine) or the hand you see inside the banana fire (not mine either).

I think I used this recipe but without the banana liqueur.

Tofu Loaf

I know tofu loaf is one of the things that makes normal people hate vegetarians but this loaf isn't squishy and it doesn't taste like tofu. I wasn't planning on liking this so much, but it really deserves a better name than "tofu loaf" and if you somehow end up with leftovers, it's even better fried the next day.

12 oz firm tofu, pressed
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped carrots
1/3 cup ketchup
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
garlic powder, oregano, salt

Preheat the oven to 350. Saute the onions and carrots in a little bit of olive oil until they're soft. Mash the tofu in a large bowl and mix in the rest of the ingredients. Spoon the mixture into an oiled loaf pan and spread a thin layer of ketchup over the top. Bake for an hour.

I thought this would be good with my leftover barbecue sauce but I actually liked it better with plain old ketchup.

original

Vegan Peanut Butter Squares

These don't need much adapting from the original to be made vegan. The chocolate topping is VCTOTW's chocolate ganache.

1/2 cup earth balance
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups crumbled graham crackers
1 cup peanut butter
1/2-1 cup chocolate chips
1/4-1/2 cup soymilk
2 tbsp maple syrup

Line a small baking dish with foil. Melt butter in a small saucepan and add the sugar, cracker crumbs, and peanut butter and mix well. Spread it into the dish. Bring soymilk to a boil in the saucepan. Turn off heat and stir in the chocolate chips and syrup until it's smooth. Spread it over the graham cracker mixture. Refrigerate for about an hour. Cut into squares.

Fresh Pea Soup

My sister got me some fresh peas so I boiled and blended them and it looked like that ^

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 sweet onion, diced
2 small potatoes, diced
2 cups broth
1 cup water
1 cup shelled peas
S&P, to taste
sliced green onions, for garnish

Heat the oil and add the onion. Let them cook until they're soft. Add the potatoes, broth, and water. Let simmer until the potatoes can be pierced with a fork. Add the peas and cook for about 8 minutes, until soft. Turn off the heat and blend with an immersion blender. Season with s&p.

BBQ Seitan and Veggies

This is the best barbecue sauce recipe I've found (with a few small changes). It's spicy and smoky (chipotle instead of liquid smoke) and won't be mistaken for cocktail sauce. I made half the recipe and it was just about the right amount for the seitan and veggies.

16 oz seitan, (add some adobo sauce if you make your own)
2 zucchini, cut into big chunks
2 medium red potatoes, cut into big chunks and parboiled
5-6 large mushrooms, quartered
1 sweet onion, cut into big chunks
about 2 cups of barbecue sauce

Spread the seitan and veggies out in 2 large baking dishes and cover with the sauce. Cook for about 45 minutes at 450.

Mushroom Pierogies

I've somehow managed to forget what real pierogies taste like, even though I spent a week eating pierogies and not much else (except ketchup pizza from Pizza Hit) because it's pretty much the only vegetarian Polish food, unless you count Zywiec. Or at least if they weren't vegetarian, I couldn't tell--except for the ones topped with bacon. Those weren't vegetarian.

I used this recipe but I was lazy and went with wonton skins instead of making my own dough.