Recipe Testing for Dynise Balcavage "The Urban Vegan" newest cookbook - part 3

Shamefully Simple Chickpea Chili

Chocolate Popcorn w/cashews

Chocolate Popcorn w/cashews & Abi

Sesame Seed Cookies

Baked Apples

Pimped Mashed Potatoes - Polish Mash

Mostly Green

I updated my FB status with, "Vicki asks What to do with all this broccoli?" Getting responses like a YouTube of Dana Carvey's "Chopping Broccoli", or the "Love Food Hate Waste" link with recipes to use it up. Or, a PPK recipe Theresa suggested "Classic Broccoli Quiche" which you see. It was OK. I think it'd be righteous sandwich spread, or burrito filling - being complimented by other ingredients. If nothing else, go learn potluck faux pas & eves drop on the fall-out of one potluck party gone bad.


This is the pie shell I used for the quiche. It was delicious and convenient. No wonder Wholly Wholesome was named "Best Pie Crust" in the November 2008 issue of Real Simple Magazine.

Green because they are organic, animal-free pie shells. They are available in Traditional, Whole Wheat & Spelt, as well as Graham & Chocolate Pie. No kneed to roll the dough.



My Costco broccoli bag continued...
VICKI'S BROCCOLI POTATO SOUP
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
3 lb yukon gold potatoes, chopped
6 cups boiling water
2 tbsp "Better Than Bouillon" vegetable base
4-5 cups fresh broccoli, cooked & drained
sea salt, fresh ground pepper & nutritional yeast



1. In a soup pot saute onion & garlic in oil. Add potatoes, water and veg base. Cover, bring to boil and then reduce heat to medium and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Clean & remove broccoli stems and steam. Once cooked add to soup.
3. In a food processor puree the soup and return to stock pot. Season with salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast.
If you're lucky, you'll have Sweet & Saras on hand for dessert! Seriously.

Have you heard of Cono Sur?
You can feel even nicer drinking this wine because it's green. They are the first winery in the world to obtain CarbonNeutral delivery status, which means that CO2 emissions from the shipping has been measured and balanced to net zero through Greenhouse Gas Emissions reductions projects. They also grow organic grapes, and ride bicycles. Bet they recycle & compost too. And the wine doesn't suck either!

*recipe testing* The Urban Vegan: 250 Street-Smart, Animal-Free Recipes (26-31)

CHOCOLATE-CHIPOTLE CHILI













CREAMY CILANTRO-LIME SAUCE















SWEET FRENCH TERRINE













MOROCCAN MILLET TIMBALES
















LEMON-SCENTED CARROTS WITH CAPERS AND CORIANDER










VIETNAMESE-INSPIRED TAPIOCA PUDDING

*recipe testing* The Urban Vegan: 250 Street-Smart, Animal-Free Recipes (6-14)

PUMPKIN SPICE BABY BUNDTS











COCO-MANDA MUFFINS











BERRY TART (with Clementine Oranges)













PEPPERY PARTY CRACKERS











SANDWICH MOUSSE














CRAN-APPLE OATMEAL












ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLE













REAL HOT CHOCOLATE













CARAMEL SAUCE

*recipe testing* The Urban Vegan: 250 Street-Smart, Animal-Free Recipes (1-5)

GREEN GODDESS SOUP













10-MINUTE CORN CONSOMME












SMOKY SPLIT PEA SOUP











SUPER-SONIC SUNFLOWER SQUARES














JOHN'S TOMATO BRUSCHETTA TOPPING

More Recent Eats (hits & misses)

'Corn Muffins' with blueberries from The Joy of Vegan Baking. I used flaxseed instead of Ener-G egg replacer and vanilla flavored soy milk. The recipe doesn't specify, but I think I shouldn't have drained the can of corn, as the mixture was quite thick making the muffins dense. I liked them well enough, but the girls didn't.
Does anyone else listen to Colleen's podcast, Compassionate Cooks? They are super informative & interesting.



That chocolate craving hit us, so I endorsed a batch of 'Bitchtastic Brownies' because the recipe was printed in VegNews (#60) and also because "Skinny Bitch" is in my purse for reading on the go. This picture depicts the best part of our brownies -- scraping down the bowl and licking the spatula. Did I make a mistake? Was that a recipe misprint? The batter seemed runny with 3/4 cup silken tofu plus oil, and only a 1/3 cup flour. Whatever the reason, our brownies resembled gooey fudge, which Liv enjoyed with a spoon until I said "No more."

I love cooking with my crock-pot, so naturally, I was most excited to come across this page of recipes from VegCooking. I followed this recipe exactly for the 'Crock-Pot Chili' adding the optional veggie burger crumbles (Morning Star).
Verdict? Let's just say that If I were going to a chili cook-off tomorrow, this is what I'd making tonight! With a couple minor adjustments like more red pepper flakes, and Art requested sauteed seitan on top next time.



Here's the finishing touches for another recipe from this month's VegNews (#60) 'Irish Soda Bread' by Robin Robertson. This was a quick bread to make from scratch and delicious, too.

Perfect for soaking up chili.







The bread was served warm with a slather of Earth Balance, alongside the chili, topped with a dollop of vegan sour cream, parsley from my AeroGarden, and a ring of steamed kale.

We enjoyed this meal very much! The girls wouldn't touch this meal with a ten-foot pole, but I have high hopes!





Scanning the freezer reminded me that we still had lots of fresh-frozen cherries from last summer. I spotted a blueberry cobbler recipe in The Joy of Vegan Baking, subbed in my cherries, and before you know it, we were eating 'Cherry Cobbler' like it was July.







Taking the skin off garlic is one of Liv's favorite ways to help in the kitchen. This one gave us an extra lesson on how things grow... For example, did you know dinosaurs are the same color as garlic shoots?!








Finally, I couldn't resist making 'White Bean and Kale Soup' which won "Best Soup" in Vegetarian Times', March '08 issue. It was flavorful with yams, great Northern beans, kale, & curry powder -- though it called for smoked paprika, which I can not find anywhere in town. Suppose smoked paprika has penetrated the Idaho state border? Questionable. I should probably just take Julie's advice and visit Penzey's.

couple kinds of soup for my (wonderful) in-laws

As Martha might say, "soup is a good thing to have on hand with guests." It fills the house with an inviting aroma, and it's easy to warm-up upon desire. My in-laws were in town to help celebrate a certain someone turning 5 years old! Hard to believe.

This is 'Split Pea and Parsnip Soup' from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker.




Here are the ingredients for the soup ready to go minus some chopping. This was my favorite of the two soups for a couple reasons. Foremost, I enjoyed the flavors, though I think the parsnips may have turned some off. Parsnips have a strong, earthy flavor that may be unfamiliar. For me, however, after carefully choosing, peeling, and cutting them into half moons, I was already fond of them.



Secondly, I enjoy the ease of my Crock Pot. Simply prepare the ingredients, and press a button. Fresh From The Vegetarian Slow Cooker is a wonderful cookbook, and may as well have the word "vegan" in the title, as I've never run across a recipe using dairy.

And, if possible, this recipe is even easier if you have a helper to pick over and rinse the split peas.



Here is the making for my in-law's favorite soup, 'Roasted Butternut Squash Soup' from Vegan with a Vengeance. I make it for them each time they come to town, and they keep on coming!

The hardest part of this soup is peeling the 5 pounds worth of squash. Maybe I'm a wimp, but my arm was sore afterwards!





Here it is after the fun part - pureeing everything in the food processor. The kids gather around, and I always have an audience for that part!

Each bowl served had a drizzle of maple syrup on top, which put the flavor factor over the top.

Soup. It's a good thing.

Some new favorites

These are 'Jam-Filled Oat Bran Muffins' from The Joy of Vegan Baking (turn to page 46 for a photo of what they should really look like!) Much lovelier indeed, but I'll tell you, these were so delicious, like a yummy bowl of oatmeal on the go - lightly sweetened with your favorite jam. I ate the entire batch by myself over a 3 day period (I tried to share), and the last one was as delicious as the first. I'll be making these again very soon! Hmmm, what jam to use next... I love this cookbook even more!


While scanning Nava Atlas' "The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet" thinking to myself what a cool cookbook concept, I got the idea to try it myself. Use only 5 ingredients, and try to make it taste good!

My 5-Ingredients: black beans, coconut milk, elephant garlic, carrots, & serrano pepper.

What would your 5-Ingredients be???



Clean, chop, and saute 2 carrots, 1 clove garlic, and the pepper, then cover to steam with 2 tablespoons water (water doesn't count as an ingredient... right?). Drain & rinse the beans, place in a soup pot, add the coconut milk, and the carrot mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer until you can easily fork a carrot. Let it cool, then whiz it in your food processor with 1/2 cup water to desired consistency. Garnish with shredded carrot. I didn't even add salt (that would be another ingredient... right?) to the soup, and it was yummy, but what can I say, I love coconut!

Perhaps I'm the last blogger to have tried Dreena's 'Tamari-Roasted Chickpeas' from eat, drink & be vegan, though I don't know why. I knew I'd love this recipe, I just didn't know how much. Chickpeas are my thing, and usually I just eat them out of the can, so I'm excited about this new way of eating them, and of course, I opted for the coconut oil here.

Speaking of... Did ya hear? Dreena's next VegNews article will be in the March/April issue - a hemp feature! I'm hemp to that!

Vicki's Stew & French Rolls

I like to have a meal ready for Art when he has a late flight. This was for him.

Layered in the Crock Pot --
1. Red Potatoes, chopped in large pieces
2. Carrots, scrubbed & wheeled
3. Saute in canola oil: 2 cloves elephant garlic, 1 large sweet onion, 3 serrano peppers, 2 tsp. chili powder, 2 tsp. sage, & 2 tsp. thyme





4. Cover the veggies with water and add 2 Tbsp. Better than Bouillon vegetable base, and 1 bay leaf, and plenty of fresh ground black pepper.
5. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours.
6. Whisk together 4 Tbsp. arrowroot powder + warm both to thicken. Throw in a handful of fresh Green Beans or frozen peas. (I forgot peas!)
7. Cover & cook another 20 minutes.



The next day, we dressed it up a bit with Veat's Bites & French Rolls. Art sauteed the Bites with Earth Balance and some of the stew broth, braggs, & kitchen bouquet.

I used Kramer's 'Easy French Bread' recipe from La Dolce Vegan! I adore this recipe as you can tell here & here. This time, I used 1 1/4 cup each of spelt, all-purpose unbleached white, and whole wheat pastry flour. Divided and shaped the dough into 6 and placed in my jumbo muffin tin, slashed the dough diagonally, and topped with poppy seeds. Art really enjoyed and appreciated this meal, especially that the veggies were large and I didn't use any weird spices! I love the ease and results of my Crock Pot! Do you have any favorite slow cooker recipes??