Cooking Catch Up and Merry Christmas

Hey everyone! I have a good nine days off and I have been meaning to post but you know, things happen. I revamped two previous mistake recipes. Falafel burgers and potato leek soup. The first time I tried falafel burgers their recipe was from my mom’s Cooking Light and we made them together and they ended up being way too wet. The potato leek soup was originally made by my mom but it was left with chunks of potatoes and leeks. In this recipe, I decided to blend it to make it creamy.

One of our Christmas traditions is to have coffee cake while opening presents. This year my mom and I made a vegan coffee cake that came out, in my opinion, better than the original because it was a lot less sweet. I would like to wish everyone happy holidays and hope everyone is enjoying being with family and friends at this time of year.


Potato Leek Soup


Falafel Vegan With a Vengence (pg 98-99)
I put it on whole wheat pita bread with tomato, avocado, and spinach.

Coffee Cake recipe from theppk.com

I took a picture of all my food related presents. I got a measureing cup, mini cake pans, a box grater, vegan carob chip cookies, chocolate covered coffee beans and almonds, dark chocolate worlds, and Vive le Vegan (by Dreena Burton), and Student's Go Vegan Cookbook (by Crole Raymond). I can not wait to start using my new books!

Cupcakes At Last!!!

When I try an ingredient for the first time, I usually go on a cooking binge and attempt to incorporate it in as many dishes as possible until I am well acquainted with that food. I have been playing with tempeh lately and I can safely say that it is becoming a must have staple in my refrigerator.

Now, the moment you (or at least I) have been waiting for...
I finally made cupcakes!!! I have been oh so busy and just never had the chance to use my new book. Yesterday my friend Lauren came over for an unofficial "birthday party" for me, and well, what is a birthday party with out cupcakes? They were so amazing and moist and perfect. Enjoy the pictures.




Tempeh over salad


I used three grain tempeh and sautéd it in a cast iron pan with a little bit of soy sauce. I put the chunks of tempeh over a green salad with lettuce, spinach, carrots and tomatoes with oil and vinegar.











Sexy low-fat vanilla cupcakes with chocolate mousse topping


From Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Cupcakes page 41 and chocoalte mousse pg. 155.

Tempeh Time

I finally had time to cook over the weekend! I have never tried tempeh before and now I think it could become one of my favorite foods. The weather is getting colder (19 degrees on Friday morning) which means it is time to make some chili. The chile was just the thing to bring me into the could winter months.

Chili

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1/2 medium yellow or white onion, diced

1 carrot, diced

1or 2 cans of beans (I prefer kidneys, but any will do)

3/4 Cup prepped textured soy protein (TVP)- will explain below

2 tablespoons Cumin powder

2 tablespoons Chili powder

1 serrano or jalapeno pepper, diced (more or less, whatever you prefer)

1 28 oz. can stewed tomatoes, crushed with juice and all

olive oil

Prep the TVP: simply add the 3/4 cup of textured soy protein to 1/4 cup very hot water, and stir. When the textured soy protein fluffs up and absorbs the water, you're ready.

Heat large stock pot over medium heat, and pour in a few tablespoons of oil. Add the first four ingredients, and saute for about 5-7 minutes (the more you saute here, the less time it will take to simmer later).

Add the tomatoes, beans, spices, hot pepper, and textured soy protein. Stir all the ingredients, and add water if it gets too thick. Let this simmer for an hour, at least, and more if you have time. The longer it simmers, the better it tastes! You can adjust the spices as you wish, I usually just eyeball the quantities so these are best estimates.

Tempeh

I used seasame tempeh and sautéd it in a cast iron pan with a little bit of soy sauce. I ate it on whole wheat bread spread with sesame tahini.