Archive for the ‘ Recipe Recommendations ’ Category

Vegan Lasagna

Apr 26, 2010 in Cookbook Recipes, Recipe Recommendations

Mmmm, Vegan Lasagna

I'm a fan of the vegan brownies and vegan banana nut chip muffin recipes in The Joy of Vegan Baking, by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.  So when we found out that she had a new cookbook out,  The Vegan Table, I rushed right out to get a copy.  (Okay, I ran to the computer and ordered it... but isn't that the same thing?)

The first recipe we tried was the less than successful Matzoh Ball Soup recipe I wrote about in my last post.  But I know this author has some excellent recipes in her repertoire... so I begged Jane to make the Vegan Lasagna.  She's got a few other things earmarked to try.  But since she likes to "surprise" me, I couldn't tell you what she's got planned.

Back to the lasagna.  YUM!!!!  We've already had it twice, and we haven't had the cookbook for a month!  We get three dinners out of this.  We wound up using  a slightly smaller pyrex dish, so Jane used a tad less pasta, but didn't cut down on the sauce and filling.  We've found the first serving is a little wet.  The second meal has the perfect level of moisture, and we tend to need a bit more sauce for our third dinner.

Having grown up in New York, on Sicilian-style Italian cooking... lasagna, ravioli, baked ziti, we tend to shy away from the veganized versions of these foods.  Cheese is just something that doesn't usually work.  But I can heartily recommend this recipe for even a cheese-loving omnivore.

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Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes

Nov 17, 2008 in Holidays, Recipe Recommendations

First, we'd like to thank everyone who shared their recipes with us.  There are some really wonderful sounding dishes here.  We hope you find this compilation of Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes of value when you're planning your Thanksgiving Feast!

Main Dishes

Side Dishes

Desserts

Beverages

Enjoy!

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Hearty Quinoa Recipe for Breakfast

May 26, 2008 in Recipe Recommendations, Recipes Online

Unfortunately for our guests, it's been "winter" here. By that I mean, the weather is not cooperating, and it's been rainy and unseasonably cold here. The high yesterday was only 64°F. That's actually cold for Los Angeles! And while we welcome the respite from the hot summer weather we know is imminent, our company would prefer something a bit more balmy.

Since it's been so wintry, we made a hearty breakfast this morning. We tried a new version of a quinoa porridge we've been making on and off since we've been vegan... Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa, which we found at 101 Cookbooks (my picture isn't nearly as attractive as Heidi's, but I'm sure it tasted just as good!).

Actually the recipe is in John La Puma, MD,s new cookbook -- ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine. It's not a vegan cookbook, but it does provide a wealth of healthy eating information, including what foods to eat for specific medical conditions, and what to stock in your pantry. With only 60 of nearly 300 pages devoted to recipes, cookbook is probably a misnomer; the nutritional information is the real reason to pick it up. Again, La Puma writes for omnivores, but there is a lot of good information here for anyone.

But back to our breakfast... We've made a few different versions of Quinoa "porridge" for breakfast, and while they've been good, we've still been hoping for something a little more remarkable. This was it. We used the organic quinoa found at Trader Joe's, and of course, we subbed the cup of milk for a cup of almond milk. It was delicious. For sweeteners, we tried agave nectar, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, and honey*. The honey and brown rice syrup were the winners in this particular dish. We all thought the maple syrup a little too over-powering and the agave nectar just wasn't right.

Jane's thinking of making this again and refrigerating it overnight. It might make a good cold breakfast too, or a nutritious dessert.

* Honey is one of those things that divides the vegan community, this post touches on our philosophy on the subject of honey and sugar.

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Top 10 Vegan Recipes

Apr 17, 2008 in Cookbook Recipes, Recipe Recommendations

At the beginning of the month Vegan.com put together a list of of his favorite vegan cookbook recipes for the year. I must have been sleeping, somehow I missed it. But I also read the Vegan Planet blog, and Robin posted about it today.

Having reviewed the recipes with Jane earlier, we feel compelled to share this with our readers who might not visit these sites. Some of these recipes look very interesting. And since they rate as "top 10" they're probably very worthy of a test drive.

The recipes that make the cut are:

  1. Plantain Omelet - From Mark Reinfeld and Bo Rinaldi’s Vegan Fusion World Cuisine
  2. Thai Coconut Corn Soup - From Nava Atlas’ Vegan Express
  3. Indonesian Coconut Rice - From Robin Robertson’s Vegan Fire & Spice
  4. Baked Ziti - From Beverly Lynn Bennett’s Vegan Bites
  5. Moroccan Phyllo Rolls - From Dreena Burton’s Eat, Drink & Be Vegan
  6. Italian Stuffed Crepes - From Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Nonna's Italian Kitchen
  7. Chickpea Curry - From Hema Parekh’s The Asian Vegan Kitchen
  8. Banana Chocolate Bread Pudding - From Isa Chandra Moskowtiz and Terry Hope Romano’s Veganomicon
  9. Root Beer Float Cupcakes - From Hannah Kaminsky’s My Sweet Vegan
  10. Fresh Mango Cobler - From Ani Phyo’s Ani's Raw Food Kitchen

Make sure to visit Vegan.com for the actual recipes, if you don't already own these cookbooks. We'll let you know what we think after we've tried them, but Jane wants me to put a caveat here: We have amassed a ton of "must try" recipes. So it isn't likely that we'll get through this list in the immediate future. Be sure to let us know what you think!

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