Quick Vegan Tartar Sauce

Chewie, my yorkie, likes to play up the cuteness.

 

Vegan Tartar Sauce!

I just threw this together and it was delicious. Measurements are approximate as I didn't measure when I made it.

About 1 cup - Reduced Fat Vegenaise (vegan mayo)

About 2-3 tablespoons - Apple Cider Vinegar

3 Crunchy Kosher Dill Pickles, the mini ones about 3 inches long each (I used B&G brand, but I suppose any favorite pickle will work.)

About 2 tablespoons grated Horseradish

Put all ingredients in a mini food processor and pulse until combined. Voila!

 

Slowcooker / Crockpot Apple Butter!



 

Apple Butter is surprisingly easy to make! I was looking for something to do with all my CSA apples and came across this simple recipe for apple butter in a cookbook I found on a neighbor's stoop. heh. The cookbook is called Endangered Recipes: Too Good To Be Forgotten by Lari Robling and it features some classic American recipes.

 

Apple Butter Recipe:

5 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into 1 inch pieces (about 12 cups)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 - 2 teaspoons cardamom

1/2 cup apple cider

 

Put everything in crockpot for 4 hours on high, then scrape sides down and cook on low for about 10 hours more. Puree in crockpot with immersion blender. If it still needs to thicken cook an additional hour or two with lid ajar. Puree in blender afterward if you don't have an immersion blender. Voila!

More on Vegan Bagel Spreads ...

Ok. So, I tried the Cashew Cream Cheese recipe in Crazy Sexy Kitchen and it's a pretty damn good raw vegan soy free alternative to cream cheese. It beats the smashed avocado. I also made the Tofu Ricotta from Veganomicon which is a good one too. I'm thinking the Cashew Ricotta from Veganomicon will probably be the winner. I'll try that next week. ;)

Here are some pictures of delicious wraps I've had over the past week or so. The first one is a veggie wrap from Strokos in Washington Heights (St. Nicholas Ave at 166th St.) and the second is the Smoky Avocado wrap from Blossom du Jour (three locations in Manhattan). Blossom du Jour is a 100% vegan takeaway. They also deliver and cater events. It was so yummy that it'll be my new Friday afternoon lunch after my yoga class. ;)

Crazy Sexy Food ...

As a gift to myself for having moved toward better eating once again, I got Kris Carr's cookbook, Crazy Sexy Kitchen. I love it! I had already read Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Diet book and this was a nice addition. I already made the Save the Tuna Salad (raw vegan salad made with soaked raw sunflower seeds and almonds) and the Curried Nada Egg tofu salad. Both of these salads were delicious! I'm sure I'll make them regularly. yum.

White Bean Aioli with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Curried Carrot Spread

It looked like this, but I'm no good at taking pictures, so I got these thanks to google image search. haha



The white bean aioli is a combo of the white bean aioli in Veganomicon and one I found here on recipezaar.com.

I used two cans of great northern beans, some chopped rosemary, re-hydrated sun-dried tomatoes, and the rest of the ingredients over at the recipezaar recipe.
I added more garlic and oil though (more like Veganomicon's recipe) ... 3 cloves of garlic.
Then I processed everything in my food processor. It is friggin' delicious! I used some pita to dip... Mmmm.

I also made the curried carrot spread on p.62 of Veganomicon. It is REALLY good. Go buy this book; you will thank me.
I think next time, I'm going to throw a can of cannellini beans into the carrot spread to give it a smoother texture. Mmm mmm good.