*recipe testing* The Urban Vegan: 250 Street-Smart, Animal-Free Recipes (21-25)

CHERRY-CHOCOLATE CHUNK SCONES













WHEAT-FREE SOFT PRETZELS













DOUBLE APPLE CAKE
















CHOCOHOLIC PANCAKES













POTATOES WITH 40 CLOVES OF GARLIC

Pesto, Pancakes, Pineapple, & Peanut Butter

Look under "P" in Webster's and you'll find it all. This is 'Classic Pesto' from VwaV, pg. 132. This recipe had two strikes against it before I began: 1. Art isn't a huge pesto fan. 2. I don't like walnuts. I made it anyway. We had an abundance of the ingredients and I wanted something different for the soba noodles. The pesto was a big hit & rated super delicious. I skipped the nutritional yeast, but plan to add it next time.






The basil and tomatoes for the pesto dish came from our organic garden! Look how grown in it is compared to when we first planted it. It is such a joy to cook what you grow.








And, the walnuts for the pesto came from our walnut tree! Here you see Jolie really making the squirrels work to get the walnuts. The squirrels rule the tree-top & down below the walnut shells are furiously flying. We have walnut trees sprouting up all over the yard from them forgetting their stash. Even after the squirrels and crows have had their fill of walnuts, we still have a bunch left over.




Because I don't care for the taste of walnuts, I usually end up doing something silly them. We had a dinner party and guests each received walnut-mouse wine charms. Art's is blue & mine is brown, and everybody else took their unique colored mice home with them.
When Liv's birthday party theme was "ducks", I made walnut-duck party favors. People's names were written in sharpie on the back. Or, I'll just glitter pen people's names on walnuts as a place marker. But now, I look at the walnuts & I visualize P*E*S*T*O!



These are 'Banana Bliss Pancakes' from Vive le Vegan! pg. 19. I followed the recipe exactly and we just put a little Earth Balance on top. They are quite satisfying and next time I'll plan ahead and make the blueberry maple syrup on the next page for some added sweetness.








Last night, I made 'Pineapple Lemon Bars' from Vive pg. 135. We were out of lemon, so these are technically 'Pineapple Lime Bars' and there's some coconut in the recipe too. Instead of arrowroot powder, I used corn starch; and I opted for the wheat free version and used spelt flour. We ate them warm from the oven and they were good. This morning, I ate one for breakfast and it was amazing. To us, these are best chilled. This is my kind of breakfast bar.




Back up one page, and you get 'Peanut "Better" Cookies'. Again, I followed the recipe exactly -- utilizing the spelt flour option. I really like the quantity that this recipe yields. 12 cookies - one pan - not too much - just enough. The title fits. These are better peanut butter cookies. And it's a wholesome cookie that I can feel really good about giving the girls, who by the way, LOVED them.

Banana Pancakes & Quinoa Summer Salad

We have some bananas that are too brown for any of us to enjoy. I like mine when they've barely turned yellow, and so does Liv - Abi is less picky, but even these were beyond her. I didn't want to waste them, so I turned to my cookbooks and found a recipe for banana pancakes on pg. 40 in La Dolce Vegan! Though the King of Pancakes still reigns in our family, these were quick & easy to make and thoroughly enjoyed.






Completely inspired by Dreena's Quinoa Spring Salad on pg. 71 of Vive le Vegan!, I came up with my own version using ingredients I had on hand. Starting at 12:00, you see quinoa, tomatoes, shredded carrots, red onion, sesame seeds, sugar snap peas (from our garden!), and corn (cut off the cobb), and my dressing.






My dressing recipe - "Cilantro Vinaigrette"


1/4 C. Wine Vinegar
2 cloves garlic
1 Tsp. Dijon Mustard
1/8 C. Cilantro
1/3 C. Olive Oil
1.5 Tblsp. Agave Nectar
Sea Salt
Pepper