Chocolate & Donuts

I've been cooking and baking up a storm, working on all sorts of recipes for both the new book and Everyday Dish. The recipe above is for Chocolate Creamboats, and the gorgeous photo was taken by my very talented friend Kim. Couldn't you just reach into the picture? This recipe is going to be in the new book.

Yesterday I found myself working on donut recipes for the book, which is turning out to be a lot trickier than I expected. This may be why I don't often see yeasted vegan donuts. I'm determined to come up with a light and tender version though, and won't give up until I do. Did I mention that my whole house smells like a donut shop?

Getting Organized

With all of the projects that I'm currently working on I thought that it was time to get myself organized, starting with the kitchen. Now I'm not an organized person by nature, so this is something that I really have to work at. But for the first time ever, it's actually become fun. This is no doubt due to my new label maker, an impulse buy from Costco.com last month (at a rock bottom price of $9.00 shipped). That was probably the best $9.00 I've spent in a long time, and I'm sure that my husband will agree. I single-handedly labeled dozens of jars and crocks of different flours, sugars, spices and grains. I was in labeling heaven!

It feels so good to work in the kitchen now, with everything in it's place and easy to find. This makes it so much easier to move from project to project, which is exactly what I needed. I know that I still have some other cabinets left to tackle, but if the kitchen is any indication of what is to come, I look forward to the challenge.

Next up: replacing most of my plastic storage containers with glass.

Breakfast

Can you believe that it's Veganmofo (vegan month of food) time again? I'm going into it with the best of intentions. I mean really, how hard can it be to post everyday, right? Well, I'm always up for a good challenge, and I sure enjoyed reading all of those fabulous Veganmofo posts last year. So I will give it my all, and try and post as often as I can.

Now, onto the food...

Lately, I've been trying to incorporate as many whole grains into my cooking (and diet) as I can. I've found that a really easy place to start is breakfast. Nothing beats starting the day with a bowl of homemade granola, and it couldn't be simpler to make. You can find my recipe here, along with a video. Feel free to customize the recipe to your liking, with more nuts and fruit, or hemp seeds, or other spice combinations. You really can't go wrong. And, if you're not a cereal and milk person, it's great sprinkled on top of yogurt or fresh fruit. If you want to make a gluten-free version, make sure to buy gluten free oats and omit the wheat germ. Easy peasy.

On another note, if you live in the Portland, Oregon area and are interested in taking the Cancer Project classes, let me know. I have a series of classes starting next Wednesday, and there's room for a few people if you're interested. The Cancer Project is an incredible organization, and you can read more about them here. I am a Cancer Project instructor, and teach the classes in the Portland area. Send me an email if you're interested at blog@everydaydish.tv. And, just in case you're wondering, the food in the Cancer Project classes is all plant-based and vegan. Not to mention delicious too!

Chocolate Panini

A few people have asked me about my cooking segments on the morning show "Better", so I thought that I would explain further. I do the cooking segments once or twice a month, and get to cook a variety of easy and delicious recipes. As of last month I am now officially the "Entertaining Editor", which means that I get a nifty title on the screen when I do the segments.

This chocolate panini is what I made yesterday, although the segment aired this morning. The video can be seen here. Let me know if for some reason the link doesn't work.

So for those of you that want to make these chocolaty babies at home, it couldn't be simpler. I like to spread some organic nut butter (almond or peanut butter) on a nice rustic bread. Then I pile on chocolate, whether semisweet or dark, broken bars or chocolate chips. For the segment I used Maranatha nut butters , organic chocolate (vegan, of course) and Sunspire chocolate chips. Oh yeah, and a little Earth Balance too. Oh, and banana if you like.

If you don't like nut butter or you are allergic, no problem. Just omit it and you will have a super-duper melty chocolate panini!

Lightly spread the outside of the sandwich with a touch of Earth Balance and cook on a panini grill or in a heavy skillet. Cook the panini until the chocolate is melted and the bread is nicely toasted. Serve the panini warm, preferably with a glass of hazelnut milk.

Filled with chocolate and nut butter

Ready to grill

Now I just have to decide what I'm going to make for next month's segment. Hmmm, any suggestions?

Oh, and before I forget, we have a couple of new segments on everyday dish. Whole grain blueberry orange pancakes and chocolate chip orange biscotti. Both recipes are yum!

I'm Back

Well, we have finished most of the living room (except for one wall to go). Actually, I should say Jay has finished it, because I can't really take much credit for it. He's the talent with the home remodeling.

So here's some pics of the new space. I didn't get a "before" shot, because he started so quickly I missed the shot. But you will notice that there's a mid-way shot. I'm so happy the messy part is done and we are left with a truly "grown-up" living room. I feel like such an adult now.

"Before Cabinets"

"After Cabinets"

Backing up a week and a half or so, we celebrated our daughter's 17th birthday. Her one request was a chocolate birthday cake. Unfortunately, as I was taking it out of the pan, it broke into pieces. I had to think quick on my feet, because I only had 30 minutes or so to finish off her birthday dessert. Trifle came to mind. I whipped out a large glass dish (shaped like a giant martini glass), figuring that would be a nice presentation. I had already made a batch of chocolate mousse and had some beautiful fresh strawberries. In a couple of minutes I layered cake cubes, mousse and strawberries, and had a "birthday-worthy" dessert. It was a huge hit.

(My daughter and her boyfriend. Pour thing didn't feel good that night. It sure sucks to be sick on your birthday)

Then, this past weekend, we had a guest chef come in to film 3 segments for Everyday Dish. He is the Maui Vegetarian, aka Chef Brian Igarta. He has some awesome recipes, which I am so excited to share . His first segment for Tropical Haupia is up on the Everyday Dish website. Haupia is a traditional Hawaiian pudding, made with coconut milk. He made both a coconut and a mango version, which are so incredibly delicious! Brian's haupia has my brain working in overdrive now, as I'm thinking of all kinds of new haupia flavor combinations.


Brian also made a fabulous hot artichoke dip (vegan, of course), that is out-of-this-world, along with a delicious Puerto Rican Soup (flavored with anatto seed). Needless to say The Maui Vegetarian knows how to cook some great vegan food, which I'm glad I got a chance to taste.



Edited to add: The Haupia recipe and video are up at everyday dish. Go check it out and let me know what you think.

Happy cooking!

Spicy

I don't know about everyone else, but I'd have to say that I'm pretty spice obsessed. My cabinets are stuffed full of jars and canisters, filled to the rim with beautifully colored powders, exotic seeds and tiny leaves. Although they are beautiful to look at, it's the smells and flavors that I love. Spices enable you to travel to exotic destinations and faraway places.

One of my favorite places for spice hunting is Penzey's Spices. I first discovered them online, where I became impressed and obsessed with the fresh, vibrant flavors. These are not your mother's spices.

Yesterday I found myself stopping by Penzey's, to quickly replenish my dwindling supply of cumin and dill (yes, we now have a store in Portland). Of course once I got there, I realized that it would be a good idea to pick up a few other herbs and spices, just because. Then there was the urgent phone call from my daughter "mom, don't forget the sumac, I've had a craving for it and you always forget to get it when you're there" (no, I really didn't make up that part about my daughter. She loves sumac sprinkled on her salad, with a little lemon juice and olive oil). So needless to say, I have a lot of spices in my kitchen.

After my "quick" run yesterday, it made me think about herbs and spices, and how much flavor they add to cooking, especially vegan and vegetarian cooking. They add so much depth and color to a dish, layering and enhancing flavors to take it from ordinary to extraordinary.

It would be hard to pick one or two favorites, so I thought I would make a list of the spices and herbs that I reach for most. Here you go:

Rosemary
Poultry seasoning
Cinnamon
Allspice
Black pepper
Smoked paprika
Dill
Tarragon
Sage
Fennel
Allepo pepper
Cumin
Oregano and thyme.

There are many others too, but these are the ones that I find myself reaching for, time and time again.

Here's a picture of one of my cabinets, filled to the rim with spices and tea (I'll leave the tea to another post).

So that's my little ramble on spices. I'd love to hear what your favorite spices are and what dishes you like to use them in.

Sausages!!

We finally did it. The vegan sausage recipe is up on everyday dish (click here for the recipe & video). Oh yeah! I hope that everyone gives it a try.

What I love about this recipe is that you can make so many variations of it. By changing the flavors around, I made a nice spicy chorizo, mild Italian and apple sage sausages. I also found that if you don't want to roll the sausages, you can shape them into small little breakfast patties and steam them that way (they look like Morningstar patties). I even made little tiny sausage links. They are just too much fun!

A quick tip for you too. Although the sausages are good right after steaming, they are so much better after being refrigerated overnight. They also freeze well too.

Now, just to mix things up a bit, we're proposing a challenge for you. We'd love to hear what flavor combos you come up with using our basic sausage recipe. You can email me pictures, recipes, videos, whatever you like. You might even find your sausage recipe, video or pics up on our site. Come on, you know you like a good challenge!!

My one suggestion would be for you try our recipe as written the first time and then go to town. That way you'll get a good idea of what our sausages are all about.

Here's a few pics of the process. They are so easy to make!

All of the spices (and yes, there are lots!), along with the vital wheat gluten and other dry ingredients.

The mixed dough (no kneading necessary!)

Steaming the sausages (that's right, no boiling or baking!). It really helps to do it in a large steamer, so you have a nice flat surface. This is one that I bought inexpensively at a little Asian market near our house. It also came with another steamer layer which can fit on top.

Now what are you waiting for? Get cooking!

Vegan Camping

What could be sweeter than a week of camping? Once our kids were safely off at camp, my husband and I decided that a camping trip was in order (and long overdue!). So we packed up our car with an obscene amount of food, 1 tent, 2 sleeping bags, 1 air mattress, 1 camp stove, a lantern and our dog Bruno and headed off for a week of adventure.

Our first stop was in Eugene for lunch at Cafe Yumm. My veggie burger was indeed yummy, served with their special yumm sauce. I wish we had more time to try some of the other veg restaurants in Eugene.
Then we were off to Crater Lake (with a few of quick stops at hot springs along the way).

Bruno loves posing for pictures.
Now onto the food. Like I said, we brought an obscene amount of food. Here's a shot of our stuffed food bin.

We brought all of the essentials: coffee, tea, whole grain bread, instant oatmeal, gnocchi, pasta, tomato sauce, nuts and dried fruit, tofu, veggie hot dogs, veggie chili, lentil soup, lots of fruit and veggies, hummus, nut butter, cherry jam, hazelnut milk, smoked Tofurkey slices, Vegenaise, mustard, Braggs... Basically, the essentials ; )

Here's Jay making his Firecracker Tofu. It was really good!


Here's another Jay dish. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was one of my favorite dinners -Gnocchi with a tomato basil mushroom sauce. I think he also put some veggie meatballs in there too. It was delish!


Two things we learned on this trip:

1. If you plan on enjoying wine with your dinner, don't buy your bottle openers at the dollar store.
2. Don't forget to pack mosquito repellent. No matter how much you might hate spraying yourself with poison, it sure beats a thousand mosquito bites.