oh, and freaking delish sweet potato fries. word!


When I decided I was going to post this recipe this week, I realized I haven't told you guys about my new vegan goddess! outrageous! If you're an avid Food Network viewer like I am, you might even know who I'm talking about. She was a winner on Cupcake Wars. If you haven't seen this show, let me recap it for you. It's a cupcake competition where 4 cupcake makers compete for 3 cupcake eating judges, and they give the cupcake competitors little cupcake challenges to compete to see who has the best cupcake. They all say "cupcake" about a bajillion times. I love watching this show, but you pretty much want to banish the word from your vocabulary by the end of the hour. When they do the contestant interviews, and he/she is saying what they are going to make, they always say it with the word "cupcake" like, in case we didn't know. For example: "I'm going to be making a red velvet cupcake with a cream cheese frosting, a lemon cupcake with buttercream icing, and a chocolate cupcake with strawberry icing." I know you're making a cupcake!! sheesh. Now, whenever cupcakes come up in conversation with Joe and I, I go on a tangent coming up with as many cupcake flavors as I can, listing them off like I'm a contestant. He loves it. (not really.)

ANYWAYS. You should watch the show. It's fun. So my new vegan goddess won on her episode, and she's just the cutest little thing ever! Her name is Chloe Coscarelli. Check out her site! She has great recipes on there, and um, well... she's adorable. This burger and fries recipe is actually on her site, and it's freaking delicious. I couldn't believe how closely it resembled a regular burger, but it is even better because it has guacamole (sweet, sweet guacamole), and this unique sun-dried tomato and mango sauce. It's without a doubt one of my favorite dishes I've made, and really good for you! yay!

Black Bean Burgers
1/4 cup olive oil
1 yellow onion, small dice
1 14-ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small carrot, finely diced or shredded
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 tsp. sea salt
1/4 bunch cilantro
1/4 cup water
1 T. chili powder (to taste to your spicy level)

In a large skillet, saute onions in 2 T of the olive oil over medium heat until tender and slightly carmelized, about 20 minutes.

In a large bowl, use a large spoon to mash together beans, carrots, cornmeal, breadcrumbs, chili powder, salt, cilantro, water, and the carmelized onions. If mixture is too dry to hold together, add more water 1 T at a time.

Using your hands, form your burgers to the size of your buns (regular or mini).

In a large non-stick skillet, heat 2 T of olive oil over med-high heat and fry patties. Let each patty get browned and slightly crisp on each side (about 3 minutes on each side).

Mango Sauce
1 mango, peeled and cut
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, whole or sliced
1 garlic clove
1 T. vinegar (apple cider, but any kind will do)
1/8 tsp. sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. ta-da!

Guacamole
3 ripe Haas avocados, halved, pitted, and peeled
1/2 lime, juiced
1/4 cup salsa fresca
sea salt and black pepper to taste

In a large bowl, mash together the avocado and lime juice, then fold in the salsa fresca. Season with S&P.

Enjoy!

You heard that right. Vegan peanut butter cups. You might as well just get a shopping list together now, because trust me, you want to make these.

This was actually one of the first recipes I made, and have made them a few times since. While they are vegan, they still have sugar and butter in them, but y'know, it's a sweet treat, so it's cool. Plus, they're very rich, so you feel satisfied after 1. I think I tried to eat a second one once and had to find a happy place afterwards. Let me tell you though.. if you're trying out this vegan thing, these will get you through a crisis moment when you're trying to eat your feelings and freaking lentils just won't do it. They've saved me a couple times, and reminded me that not eating animals does not equal not eating delicious sweetness.

This recipe comes from the lovely Alicia (or Ci-ci, if you will, and I will.) and her The Kind Diet book.

Peanut Butter Cups

1/2 cup Earth Balance butter
3/4 cup crunchy (or smooth) peanut butter (preferably unsweetened and unsalted)
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (look for a naturally sweetened kind and low in sugar)
1/4 cup sugar (I use raw sugar, and this works well)
1 cup non-dairy chocolate chips or carob chips (the non-dairy variety taste more milk chocolatey, and the carob is more of a dark chocolate taste)
1/4 cup soy, rice, or nut milk (I like to use almond milk)


Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in PB, graham cracker crumbs, and sugar, and mix well. Remove from heat, and evenly distribute to your 12 cups - about 2 T./cup.

Combine chocolate and milk in a saucepan over low heat or in a pyrex (my preferred method) and melt that up in the microwave. Evenly distribute this delicious choclately mixture over your cups.

Chill in the fridge for at least an hour or until set. If you can't wait that long, then they'll just be a bit gooey in your hands, but hey, who cares?

Enjoy!

On more than one occasion, I've had a head shaken at me when I divulge my culinary adventures. Usually it's the homemade dish that elicits this reaction - homemade donuts (pumpkin to be exact. they are so. good. I'll put that recipe up in a month or so), pretzels, peanut butter cups (don't worry, I plan on these being my next post. they are even better than the donuts). Basically, anytime I make a junk food at home. I never really ate fast food, and now that I'm vegan, it's ridiculously hard to eat out period. You just never know.. is there egg in this? milk? unicorn tears? you get the picture. Plus, I always liked what Michael Pollan said about junk food: “Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.” It's a lovely rule of thumb.. and tastier too.



In a separate, large mixing bowl, mix together the all the other ingredients, including the remaining 2 T. of sugar. Add the yeast mixture and knead for a good 10 minutes. The dough should be neither dry nor wet but nicely tacky (kinda like that sweet sweater you wore at Christmas).

Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap. Let sit for an hour or so. It won't rise much but it should be nicely springy.

Reduce your boiling water to a gentle simmer, and add a couple bagels. Simmer for one minute, flip, and simmer another minute. Remove the bagels with a slotted spoon, and place them on a baking sheet covered in parchment. Now is the time to add any topping to them that you'd like - sesame or poppy seeds, cinnamon-sugar, etc.

Bake the bagels for 18-20 minutes , until nice and amber brown. Remove and let sit for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

yep. It's as tasty as it sounds.

One thing I could never really enjoy when I was a non-vegan was a good sammy. I was never a real meat eater, and I'm admittedly picky, so I just couldn't get down with the lusciously stacked sandwiches I would admire. I found this recipe in Real Food Daily, and I was pumped to try it. I was pumped even though I shy away from a "pesto," and to be honest, I shy away from "sun-dried tomatoes." Look, I don't have a reason for these things, okay?!


If I have any one bad thing to say about this dish, it's the texture, but that is kind of a given since it's tofu. I'm a weirdo when it comes to texture, so the softness of the tofu was a little cringe-worthy for me, but the crusty ciabatta bread combated that. I def recommend serving this on a nice bread that you like - ciabatta is my fave.

You'll need to marinate the tofu for at least 4 hours so plan ahead - this lack of reading has burned me on more than one occasion. Oh, reading. such a hassle!

this is the original recipe - Joe and I cut ours in half.
Grilled Herb Tofu
2 (12 oz.) containers water-packed extra-firm tofu
1/2 cup evoo
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup mirin
1/4 cup tamari
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup minced garlic
2 T chopped fresh dill
1 T fresh ground pepper

Drain the tofu and save the containers. Halve each piece horizontally, and pat dry with the paper towels. Cover a large baking sheet with more dry paper towels. Place the tofu in a single layer on the baking sheet and let drain for 2 hours, changing the towels after 1 hour.

Whisk up your marinade, and pour some into your saved tofu containers. Place 1 tofu slice, top with marinade, layer another slice, etc. with the remaining tofu and marinade. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.

Prepare a medium-hot grill or pan or skillet if need be. Grill the tofu, brushing with the marinade from your containers, for 4 minutes on each side, or until the tofu is heated through. OR, you can bake your tofu at 400 degrees for 10 minutes on each side.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
2 cups water
1 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil)
3/4 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
3/4 cup nuts (okay, it calls for pine nuts, but I'm pretty sure we used almonds)
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/3 cup

Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan and add the tomatoes, cover, and set aside for 30 minutes. Drain the tomatoes, reserving the soaking liquid. Combine the tomatoes, basil, nuts, garlic, salt, and pepper in a food processor (or blender) and blend until the tomatoes and basil are minced. With the machine still running, slowly add your oil. Blend in about 3 T of the reserved soaking liquid to form a thick and creamy spread.

Add the toppings you'd like - sauteed red onions and greens are what the book suggests. Serve warm :)

When I was a kid... I would have been about 11 or 12... my family and I vacationed at the Outer Banks in North Carolina. It was also around this time that I fancied myself as being from about 7 different countries/regions of the world. I was a New Yorker, a Puerto Rican, a southerner, a Brit, and my personal favorite, an Australian. (I once convinced a man doing work on our home that I was, indeed, from Melbourne. It's still a source of pride and accomplishment.) So one night on vacation we all go out to dinner to this seafood buffet place. Now, remember when I said I hated mushrooms? Seafood takes this dislike to another level. Just the thought of it activates my gag reflex. That texture.. it's enough to put me in a cold sweat, and I wasn't not alone in my dislike for seafood. My mom and my sister weren't too keen on the googly-eyed entrees either.

This past weekend the hubs and I headed up to Morris Run, PA to visit my lovely older sister and her family. If you're wondering, "Where is Morris Run?" you're not alone. It's about an hour and a half south of Ithaca, NY. y'know, like all those "Ithaca is gorges" bumper stickers? Oh, and I think there's some Ivy League school there.. pish posh! What you should actually be associating Ithaca, NY with is the swoon-worthy establishment loved by Veggies everywhere - Moosewood Restaurant! woo woo!


I felt like I was at some celebrity restaurant! I told people about it before the trip looking to incite jealousy and envy. I fussed about what to wear.... will there be a red carpet? paparazzi? Gaga? Ok, so I didn't really think those things, but I was super stoked, and I love my sissy dearly for taking me there.

Dear Mango,

Let's be together forever. And not just in the spring and summer, but like, all year round. Let's throw macrobiotics to the wind and spend all the seasons in tasty bliss!

Love,
Ann

Oh, mango. I heart you so. I love you even more when I can pair you with rice noodles and dip you in sauce.. wait, did that just get weird?

Summer roll time! I've been holding on to this recipe for a while now, but with all the obnoxious "I'm not even moving but my boobs are sweating" heat, something is telling me summer is in full swing, and it's time to share. This is a super easy recipe, and there's no cooking required, and it tastes best chilled, and it has rice noodles and fruit and cilantro and... are you convinced yet?

Fresh Mango Summer Rolls
from Isa Chandra Moskowitz

1 mango, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
1 cup bean sprouts or seedless cucumber, sliced into matchsticks
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
4 oz very thin rice noodles
1/4 cup roasted peanuts, finely chopped
20 rice paper wrappers

Cook up your noodles: Boil a medium-sized pot of water. Turn off the heat and add the noodles. Let them soak for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain the noodles and run under cold water.

Have a pie pan or large wide bowl filled with hot water (like tap water) and a clean counter space or cutting board. Place the rice paper wrappers, 2 at a time, into the water until they are flexible (about 30 seconds). Carefully remove from the water and lay flat on your clean surface. In the lower two-thirds of the roll, place a tablespoon of noodles and sprinkle on some nuts. On top of that place 5 or 6 mango strips, then add your bean sprouts (6 or 7), and finally 3 or 4 cilantro leaves. Fold the left and right sides of your wrapper over the filling, then take the bottom of the wrapper and begin rolling. Keep these wrapped and chilled until serving.

Thai Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 garlic clove, minced
3 T. roasted peanuts, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. sugar


Enjoy!

Why "kinda" do you ask? Well, technically a succotash is a mixture of lima beans and corn, and I didn't have lima beans, so I used edamame instead. I bought a package of frozen ones, and they come in individually packaged servings, which is awwesome because you don't have to worry about your little beans getting frostbit while they await your next dish!

This recipe is actually a combination of 2 recipes put together. That's right. 2! 2! 2 recipes in 1! You can thank me later. This dish was simple, really tasty, and oh-so-fresh. So perfect for summer, and it's pretty too! I think it'd be perfect for a get together. We ate it warm, but I don't see why you couldn't eat it cold. I think it'd still be tasty.

The bed of orzo is the first recipe. It actually called for Arborio rice, which I thought was in the pantry, but it wasn't, so we improvised. I would have preferred to have the rice for the grain factor, but it's not like orzo is giant rotini or something. I'll post the original below though.

Oh! and these are both from the lovely Alicia.

Hot Rice with Cold Lemon, Basil, and Tomato
1 cup Arborio rice
2 T. evoo
3 T. lemon juice
3 pinches fine sea salt
2 pinches fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup (or however much your little heart desires) fresh chopped tomato
2 T. chopped fresh basil

Cook up your rice (or orzo. hey, *I'm* not judging you!) and place it in a mixing bowl. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix well, add the tomatoes, and sprinkle with basil. Toss to combine.

Yeah, it's that simple.

Summertime Succotash
1 T. Earth Balance butter
1 tsp. olive oil
1 cup diced red onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (10-oz) package baby lima beans (or edamame) - thawed, if frozen
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 T. chopped fresh parsley
2 T. chopped fresh basil
1 T. white or red balsamic (I used red.)

Heat the butter and oil together in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add the onion and saute until the onion begins to brown - about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook a minute longer.

Stir in the beans, and saute 5 minutes. Add the corn and tomatoes, and saute 1 minute longer or until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in your herbs and balsamic.

Place over the rice and enjoy!