Vegan Banana Muffins

Ingredients:

• 3 very ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup oil or vegan margarine, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup nut milk (I use almond milk)

Method:

Preheat oven to 375F. Mash bananas with a fork in a large bowl until mushy and just a little lumpy. Stir sugar and oil into bananas. Mix all other dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add to banana mixture. Add nut milk and stir just to combine. Fill 12 muffin cups with batter and bake for 20 mins. Enjoy!

Makes 12 small muffins. 

Approximate nutritional info (per muffin): 204 calories, 5g fat, 40g carbs, 2.5g protein, 21g sugars.

Vegan Thanksgiving: Cranberry Sauce, Stuffing, Gravy

Homemade Cranberry Sauce Two Ways

One way ... Traditional Cranberry Orange Relish (serves 4)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 bag fresh cranberries
1 medium orange

Zest the orange and juice it. Set aside zest and juice.

Mix sugar and water in medium saucepan; stir to dissolve sugar. Bring to boil. Add cranberries. Return to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes while stirring occasionally. Stir in orange zest and juice. Cook 2-3 more minutes.

Another way ... Cranberry Horseradish Cream
Add 3/4 cup vegan sour cream and at least 1 tablespoon (or more to taste) into recipe above.

---

Vegan Stuffing with Chestnuts, Dried Plums (aka prunes), Sage, Thyme, and Rosemary
(Serves at least 8 hungry people)
(this might be one of my fave dishes I've ever made!)

12 cups bread cubes, toasted
1 large onion, diced
about 4 stalks celery, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
about 1 to 1 1/2 cups chestnuts, quartered
about 1 - 1 1/2 cups prunes, quartered
4 cups vegetable stock
about 1 cup mixed chopped herbs (fresh thyme, sage, and rosemary)
olive oil

Preheat oven to 350F. Coat a 9" x 13" baking pan with cooking spray. Heat olive oil in a large, high-sided skillet. Add onions and celery and cook until onion is translucent and celery is softened. Add garlic, chestnuts, prunes, and herbs and cook about 2 more minutes, stirring frequently. Mix onion celery mixture with bread cubes in a large bowl until well-combined and pour into 9" x 13" baking pan. Drizzle vegetable stock over mixture in pan evenly. Cover with foil and bake 30-35 minutes. Remove foil and cook an additional 20 minutes (until top is browned). Let stand 10 - 15 minutes before serving.

---

Insanely Delicious Vegan Gravy (makes a lot)
(recipe from Vegetarian Times Magazine Dec 2012 issue, p.36)

2 x 8oz russet potatoes
12 button mushrooms
3 carrots, cut into chunks
3 celery stalks, cut into chunks
2 small onions, cut into eighths
3 cloves garlic, smashed
olive oil
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh sage
2 bay leaves
12 peppercorns

Preheat oven to 425F. Quarter 1 russet potato and place in a large Dutch oven with mushrooms, carrots, celery, onions, and garlic. Toss with olive oil. Roast 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or until vegetables are deep brown on edges.
Transfer Dutch oven to stove top and stir in wine, tomato paste, and 8 cups water. Add fresh herbs and peppercorns and bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.
Strain liquid and discard solids (though I kept mine and ate them, yum!). Peel and chop remaining potato into small cubes. Return broth to pot with potato and season with salt and pepper (to taste). Simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes or until liquid is reduced to about 2 1/2 cups. (Mine never made it to 2 1/2 cups ... mine was more like 4 cups, but it was just fine. I added a bit of cornstarch at the end to thicken it.) Blend liquid and potato in blender or using an immersion blender. Reheat before serving, if necessary.

I made this a day ahead and reheated it on the stove before the meal. It was wonderful! :)

Lillet Rose Cocktail

This might be the best cocktail ... ever.

Lillet Rose Cocktail
(recipe based on one from Martha Stewart Living magazine April 2012)

2 parts Lillet Rose aperitif
2 parts Ruby Red grapefruit juice
1 part gin

Shake in a cocktail shaker with some ice and serve up (picture above)
... or ...
Muddle some fresh basil leaves in a rocks glass, add ice, shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker with some ice and pour over ice and basil (picture below) (optional: add some seltzer on top)

Vegan Summer Rolls

I finally made summer rolls! They were far easier than I thought they'd be! I thought I'd be wrestling with broken rice paper wrappers and unable to actually make a neat roll. Not shabby for my first attempt ...

The lovely filling stuffs ... some avocado, sprouts, basil, julienned orange pepper, sliced cucumber ... I also put some shredded carrots and cellophane noodles in these rolls.


To make cellophane noodles: The package should have the instructions, but all you do is drop them in boiling water, turn off the heat, let them sit for about 10 minutes, and drain.
To make summer rolls: Just dip rice paper wrapper quickly in room temperature water until it becomes pliable. Lay on a cutting board and put in some of the ingredients you've chosen to stuff them with. Roll wrapper over ingredients, tuck ends in (like a burrito), and finish rolling up.
Voila! So healthy ... so delicious! 

I like to dip these in peanut sauce or sweet and sour sauce (both of which you can buy over the counter).

Summer Tomato Salad (thanks to my local CSA)

Summer Tomato Salad

My CSA delivered some delish local organic tomatoes this week, so I made this simple salad that was out of this world. It's just fresh sliced tomatoes, roasted red pepper, pitted kalamata olives (capers would also be nice here), and some homemade pesto dotted on top. Yum!

---

Cauliflower Curry and Cucumber Raita

My Favorite Cauliflower and Pea Curry ...

Ingredients:

Cayenne Pepper
Flour
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets and steamed
About 10oz frozen peas, defrosted
Canola oil
curry powder (I like Madras style)
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
about 3 tablespoons tomato paste
cilantro leaves for garnish

Method:

Steam cauliflower florets. Mix a small amount of flour and a generous amount of cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you like things - I make my flour light pink!) in a gallon-size zip lock baggie. Add steamed florets to baggie a little at a time and shake to coat the florets with the flour/cayenne mixture. Heat oil in a 12" skillet with sides and saute the onion until soft. Throw in the garlic and saute for about 1 minute to release garlic flavor. Put cauliflower florets into skillet and coat with curry powder so that each piece has a bit of curry on it. Add broth, peas, and tomato paste. Stir to break up the tomato paste and dissolve it into the broth. Mix the whole mixture well so that all the cauliflower is coating with the tomato paste/broth mixture. Simmer for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened. Serve over basmati rice with cilantro leaves as a garnish. Yum!

---

Cucumber Raita ...

I serve this as a side dish for any spicy Indian curry, but sometimes I also eat it for breakfast! It's so yummy!
Ingredients:
8oz plain yogurt (vegan or otherwise)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 of an English seedless cucumber, grated

Method:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and chill. Garnish with cilantro leaves. Yum!

---

Quick Black-Eyed Pea Slaw and Polenta Fries (vegan)

Quick Black-Eyed Pea Slaw

Ingredients:

1 (15oz) can black-eyed peas
1 to 1 1/2 cups fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
3/4 of a 10oz bag thinly sliced red cabbage
1/3 cup prepared salsa verde (I like La Costena brand.)
2 tablespoons vegan sour cream
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon gomasio or 1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

Method:

Whisk together the sour cream, salsa verde, vinegar, and olive oil in a large bowl. Throw in the black-eyed peas, cabbage, parsley, and grated carrot and mix well. Season with gomasio (or salt) and pepper. Yum! (My husband really liked this slaw! It's going to become a regular.)

Easy and Inexpensive Grilled Polenta Fries



Ingredients:

About 3 cups prepared polenta, cooled so that it's firm. (I used some leftover polenta from the other night's dinner.)
Olive oil
Garlic powder
Old Bay seasoning

Cut cooled polenta into rectangular sticks. Sprinkle with garlic powder and Old Bay Seasoning. Heat some olive oil on a grill pan. Grill polenta on two sides until warmed. Delish!

My recipe how to make polenta is here: http://sundaegirl108.blogspot.com/2010/05/polenta-with-roasted-tomatoes-vegan.html