Ice Castles & Croquettes

To cool off the kids this summer, make 'Ice Castles'.

The night before just put water in several different sized containers, and freeze.

The next day, pop out the ice, and begin stacking and arranging to build an ice kingdom.

A pair of gloves will come in handy!




"For me? A giant ice sculpure water dish! Rrufff"

So yeah, ice castles even help keep a good dog like Jolie cool.









Once the ice starts melting a bit, it'll fuse together -- so it'd be possible to make The leaning Tower of Pisa.

A friend of mine suggested we try putting food coloring in our next batch. Cool idea. :o)








I couldn't resist making another recipe from the April '07 Vegetarian Times. 'Spinach-Basil Spread' is Julie Hasson's recipe and it's perfect for outdoor munching. It's a snap to whip up with only 6 ingredients (& would have been even easier with a food processor!), and nice to have in the fridge for anytime nibbling.





'Almond-Crusted Quinoa and Celery Root Croquettes' is from Vegan Planet (pg. 226) The original recipe calls for walnuts and millet, but this combination worked out well for me. I'm not into frying food, but really enjoyed these little nuggets. The quinoa gave it a nutty flavor, and I adore the subtle taste of celery root.





I might have to freeze the rest of my birthday cake, we just can't finish it. Is it possible for cake to be too rich?

We leave for California in a few hours, and will be there a couple weeks. (I'm seriously procrastinating all that needs to be done right now!) I anticipate lots of adventure, seeing family & friends, eating at fabulous restaurants, and shopping -- including for a new food processor. I'm sure there'll be times when I can post and visit you along the way & I look forward to that! XOXO

Veggie Ribs & Quinoa Pasta

Our dinner came from 2 boxes:

1. Veggie Ribs

2. Quinoa "Garden Pagodas" Pasta









We've eaten these veggie ribs countless times before, and Art is the only one who has ever cooked them in our family. He says that you have to follow the directions on the box precisely or they're no good. We used to eat them quite a bit several years ago, and we were disappointed that they disappeared from the face of the earth around 2000. Back then, we were kinda paranoid that the ribs would disappear because stores were slow to restock the shelves and then it would only be with 7 boxes or so. Then, the ribs would be gone from one store but still be at another. So we all started hoarding the veggie ribs and buying the shelves empty when we'd come across them. It got a little competitive.


I think Mike stock piled the most, and recently we saw him again and he gave Art 6 boxes of the ribs - partly because he knew we'd appreciate having them, and partly for old times sake. When Art worked for the Dust Brothers in 1999, the guys at the studio in Silverlake would ask Art to take a break from composing music for such things as "Fight Club" or "Santana's Supernatural" to make ribs.







I tossed the quinoa pasta with sun-dried tomato pesto, then added fresh tomatoes, green onion, and cauliflower. We both really liked the flavor of the quinoa pasta. Art even said this was the best pasta he's had, and he doesn't usually like the curly type pasta. It's made with a nice blend of corn and quinoa.






This batch of ribs was actually better than the ones back in the day because Art used tahini instead of peanut butter. And, I'm happy to report that anybody can try these ribs. I see on our rib box a website where you can buy this and many other great vegan & vegetarian products (the link is at the top). I'm looking forward to making some fake meats from scratch like I've seen on other blogs and can't wait to compare the taste to these - our current high water mark. What is your favorite homemade fake meat?




So, here it is, dinner from 2 boxes ~ veggie ribs, quinoa pasta, and marinated cucumbers.

Southwest Quinoa Salad & Marinated Cucumbers

I cooked way too much quinoa. Partly because there were other recipes using the grain that I wanted to try - one was the "As-You-Please Grain and Bean salad" on pg. 70 of the New Vegan cookbook. It's a mix-and-match recipe which is a super handy format for using ingredients on hand. With fresh cilantro in the fridge, I went the SW route using: Quinoa, Black Beans, Baby Corn, Sunflower Seeds, Red Onion, Cilantro, Sesame Oil, Wine Vinegar, Sea Salt, & Tamari. Lorna's "menu" consists of 6 categories: The Basics (3 C. cooked grains & 1 C. cooked beans, For Crunch, For an Herbal Accent, For a Pop of Intense Flavor, For Color Contrast, Oil, Acid, Seasoning. You choose items from each category to create your own unique salad. I love this concept.



When I blogged about getting the cookbook, Gourmet Vegetarian Feasts by Martha Rose Shulman, KleoPatra commented that she had the cookbook and wanted to make the marinated cucumbers on pg. 130. This got me thinking about the cucumbers my mom used to make when I was young. I have tried unsuccessfully to make them several times, so I was happy to have a recipe to follow. I cut the cucumbers differently though; my mom would cut them in circles leaving the seeds, and mine are spears with the seeds removed. It's a nice summer side dish to have in the fridge because it tastes better the longer it marinates.

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

Bags of Gold & Berry Oat Squares

I've been wanting to make these for a while, and Dori gave me the extra inspiration that I needed. In California, we used to buy something like this frozen from Ralph's called bags of gold. They were a big treat for us back then because it was a very rare thing to find pre-packaged vegetarian items at the grocery store. Garden burger was about all there was 10 years ago. Anyhow, I wanted a quick & yummy snack -- and this was both!




Lightly spray the muffin pan with veg. oil, place a wrap in each compartment, and begin filling them with pre-cooked items. Pinch them closed at the top with a little water. Cook @ 350 for about 20 minutes, and toward the end keep a watch on them so they don't burn. I covered mine with tin foil toward the last 5 minutes. These are filled with Smart BBQ and left over quinoa - two things that I just happened to have in the fridge at the time. I think this would be a nice Friday item to use up left-overs from the week. For kids, set up a buffet so they can fill their own.


The Berry Oat Squares recipe is from La Dolce Vegan! by Sarah Kramer. With this one, I'm thinking that I messed around with the recipe too much. Abi didn't even like it -- possibly because of my modifications, or maybe because our family is too spoiled on more sugary treats to appreciate it? For whatever reason, this one didn't fly.






Recipe (My modifications):

3/4 C. Vegan Margarine (Earth Balance Shortening)
1 1/2 C. Rolled Oats
1 1/4 C. Flour (1 C. WW Flour, 1/4 C. Flax Meal)
1/2 C. Sugar
1 C. Blueberries (Frozen, not thawed)
1/2 C. Jam (Blackberry)
1 Tsp. Flour (WW Flour)

Quinoa Spring Salad & Molasses Baked Beans

This is the second recipe I made from Dreena Burton's cookbook, Vive Le Vegan! Here I am all set up just like on the cooking channel ready to toss the Quinoa Spring Salad together. Starting at 1 o'clock, you see: cucumber, Simple Cider Vinaigrette, pistachios, green onion, peas, quinoa, and in the center red bell peppers. I didn't have hemp seed nuts or the spices on hand this time around. Hubby would have liked for the spices to be added. For me, I thought the vinaigrette was a perfect amount of flavor to enhance the ingredients.



Ta DAH! Here is the finished salad. I had to eat a spoonful right away to sample it and make sure that it wasn't poison (a little family joke) and then another & another - I couldn't stop sampling it. Such a scrumptious salad! This is the first time I've cooked with or eaten quinoa, and I'm already hooked. I love the nutty flavor, and can't wait to try other recipes using this grain.




Here is the first recipe I made from Vive. I was planning on making this all week and had all the ingredients on hand...or so I thought. I was surprised that we were out of ketchup - so I substituted a 6 oz. can of tomato paste. Here it is just before putting in the oven. This is my largest casserole dish with a lid and just look how close to the top it is! So I placed an old cookie sheet beneath it to catch any spills, and I'm glad I did! Blackstrap molasses can make for a stubborn clean-up.




Here are the baked beans all cooked and transferred to a clean dish. These baked beans are more than delicious, they are aromatheraputic. My house smells absolutely delicious. I can tell that I'm going to really love this cookbook and just today, Everyday Vegan arrived in the mail.

Listening to: Drum Breaks by Sandy Nelson