Asian Entertaining

Delicious

Thai Fresh Rolls
Rice paper wrappers
cucumber seeded and in matchsticks
red pepper
shredded carrot
sliced jicama
mint leaves
optional or other additions
cilantro
alfalfa or bean sprouts
pea shoots
avocado
tofu

Fill a low dish or pan that a rice paper wrap will fit in with hot tap water. Place wrapper in hot water for 20 seconds until soft. Place on a clean dish towel to soak up water and fill with a little of each veggie. Wrap and place in fridge until ready to serve. I topped mine with wasabi flavored sesame seeds.
This is really more of a technique than a recipe. Thai rolls often have shrimp and lots of veggies in them and are dipped in peanut or sweet chile sauce. Use your imagination and creat lots of different kinds!
Sesame Noodles
1 red pepper sliced into matchsticks
1/2 cup sliced jicama
1 cup shredded cabbage or cole slaw mix
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1-2 scallions sliced
1 TBS fresh ginger
1/4 cup peanut sauce
2 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS rice vinegar
1 TBS toasted sesame oil
8 oz noodles (I used Thai rice noodles but whole wheat spaghetti or a vegan asian noodle would work. The rice noodles actually got a little hard the next day so I think I will use a different noodle next time)

Combine all liquids and oils in a bowl, add ginger and stir. Add vegetables and toss to coat while you cook noodles. Drain noodles and toss with veggies. Let marinate for an hour and eat cold. This recipe was adapted from cook yourself thin a tv show on lifetime. You can make the dressing with peanut butter but I had some peanut sauce already in the fridge. Here is the original recipe.
Mooshoo Vegetable Rolls
Traditional mooshoo vegetables have eggs and shredded cabbages in them but these have the addition of shitake mushrooms and no egg. Rather than making wraps with traditional pancakes I wrapped them in wonton wrappers so they are easier to eat at a party.
1-2 cups shredded cabbage white and red
1 cup shredded carrots
10-15 shitake mushrooms sliced
1 Teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 scallions sliced
1 TBS low sodium soy sauce
clove crushed garlic
1 Teaspoon fresh ginger
1 teaspoon hoisen sauce
6-8 wonton wrappers

Pre-heat oven to 350. Saute mushrooms in oil, add ginger and garlic and cook for a minute. Add soy sauce, and hoisen sauce as well as cabbage and carrots. Cook until slightly wilted about 5 minutes. Add scallion and let mixture cool for 10-15 minutes. Wrap 2-3 TBS of mixture in wrappers and place on a spraed cookie sheet. Line up rolls and spray the tops with cooking spray so they crisp up but aren't greasy. Serve with extra hoisin sauce for dipping
Pomegranate Mojito
Muddle 4-5 mint leaves at the bottom of a tall glass. Squueze and drop in half a lime. Add one shot clear rum. Fill glass rest of the way with Trader Joe's sparkling pomegranate juice or use a combination of sparkling water and juice.

Becky's Carrot Cake Cupcakes!

Delicious

When I tell you this is the best carrot cake, you need to believe me. They have won over non vegans and even carrot cake haters alike. They hold a special place in my heart because my friend Becky took the time to make up the recipe so I would have a yummy snack at a morning meeting one day! She adapted it from Joy of Cooking and with the addition of bananas it is the moistest most delicious cake I've had since becoming vegan. I added "Cream Cheese" frosting when I made these for Becky's Birthday which was yummy!
Carrot Cake
2 ripe medium bananas
2/3 cup vegetable oil (you can do apple sauce in stead or 1/2 and 1/2)
1 cup sugar
1-1/3 cup all purpose flour (I used whole wheat for the 1/3 cup)
1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp each ground cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and salt (I didn't have cloves)
1 and 1/2- 2 cups shredded carrots

preheat to 350 line muffins tins with baking cups and lightly spray. Combine bananas and oil in bowl or stand mixer with whisk attachment. Add sugar. Sift in dry ingredients and combine. Fold in carrots. Fill muffin 2/3 full and bake 20-25 min (mine were 20) Let cool before frosting. Mine were fine over night.
Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz vegan cream cheese
3/4 confectioners sugar
2 TBS smart balance or other vegan butter
2 TBS soy milk

Combine on stand mixer. Yum! This made enough frosting or twice the cupcakes so I would cut it in half next time.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Delicious

Can't tell if these are muffins or cupcakes but I had 3 ripe banana I needed to use! I used THIS recipe and copied what I did below.

3 Ripe Bananas
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
1 teaspoon Salt
Replacer equal to one egg (I used Ener-G Egg Replacer)

1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 1/2 Cup Soft Whole Wheat Flour (I used 1 cup white 1/2 whole wheat)

1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Pieces

Preheat the oven to 350º.
In a large mixer, cream the bananas with the oil, sugar and vanilla.
Prepare the egg replacer as to the package directions and add it and the salt to the banana mixture.
Once well combined, add the baking powder and soda, followed by the flour, adding it in two batches, followed by the chocolate

Oil and dust a 12 muffins and bake 18 min

Check bounce at the center of the cake or insert and remove a toothpick. The cake is moist but it should come out fairly clean.

There are additional directions on making a cake or loaf if you click on the link. These were delicious and about 190 calories per muffin. You could replace the oil in the recipe with apple sauce which would make each 150 calories and low fat.

Mexican Torta

Delicious

A Mexican torta is a traditional sandwich with meat and cheese and yummy Mexican accompaniments. Well I love sandwiches and I love Mexican food so I decided to give myself a version I could eat!!! While I love the traditional sandwich roll I thought veggies might do better in a open face sandwich and decided to use the technique I used to make naan to make a fake version of Mexican fry bread but healthier. See this post to see how the bread is made. Then I just layered on this filling:

3 portabello mushroom caps sliced and sauteed until tender and giving off their juices (add a bit of salt to encourage mushrooms to give up their liquid). Add 1 thinly sliced zucchini to mushrooms and mushroom juice and turn heat up to medium high. Liquid will cook off and you can saute mixture until zucchini is cooked through. Add 1 chipotle and adobo pepper sliced and tsp cumin then add 1/4-1/2 cup frozen corn and some chopped cilantro and cook until heated. This would also be a great burrito or taco filling and is quite yummy on it's own.

To layer torta:
Mexican fry bread (or you could use a tortilla or tostada)
2-4 TBS Amy's re-fried black beans (soooo good-use leftover as bean dip for veggies or chips!)
Veggie mixture
Any or all of the following: salsa, guacamole, chopped tomatoes, cilantro, black olives, chopped avocado, scallions or sliced red onion

Use all leftovers to make some kick-ass nachos the next day! Update: Picture of nachos below with re-fried black beans, veggies, pickled jalapeno, black olives, cilantro, tomatoes, and oh yes I sprinkled bacos on it! SO GOOD! Serve with salsa and guacamole if you want.

Indian Night

Delicious

So I love Indian food but have never cooked it. Sarah got me a great albeit huge Indian cookbook for my wedding and I was a little daunted at first but decided to try some things out. The first thing I made was curried potatoes with tomatoes. It was good but I wanted to do something more creative, so having a better understanding of the flavors, I made the curried cauliflower and okra with tomatoes below and made a potato and spinach curry from Vegetarian Times also listed below.
Curried Okra and Cauliflower
1/2 head cauliflower
3 or 4 cups okra rinsed with ends trimmed and cut into 1/2 in pieces
1 large or 3-4 small compari tomatoes
1 jalapeno or serrano chile deseeded and finely diced
1TBS vegetable or olive oil
salt to taste
1 TBS coriander
1/2 teaspoon each cumin turmeric paprika
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Saute okra in non stick skillet with out oil until lightly brown. Meanwhile steam or boil cauliflower until tender. Drain cauliflower and add to skillet. Lightly toast cauliflower until it gets a little color. Then add oil, chopped tomatoes, diced chile and cook together for 1-2 min. Add spices and coat veggies. I added a little water because I needed to cook the veggies until softer. when water evaporates add cilantro and serve.

Potato and Baby Spinach Masala from Vegetarian Times April 2009
1 lb potatoes boiled or microwaved until tender cut into cubes/chunks
1-2 TBS canola oil (I used EVOO b/c I always do)
1 yellow onion sliced (I diced a sweet onion)
2-3 cloves garlic
1-2 TBS grated fresh ginger
1 jalepeno diced
1tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 can light coconut milk (I didn't use the whole can)
1 bag baby spinach
1 1/2 tsp garam masala (I can't find this in a regular grocery and I'm too lazy to go to the Indian market-I used some grocery chile powder eek!)

Heat oil on medium. Add onion and cook until golden. Add garlic, ginger, jalepeno and cook for an additional minute. Stir in spices and add potatoes to coat for a minute. Add coconut milk and 1/4 cup water. Season with salt and cook sauce down. Stir in spinach 2-3 minutes before you serve. You can add lime juice and cilantro but I didn't.

The last part of the meal was the best part, because I LOVE naan but was bummed to learn it's made with yogurt so I haven't had it in a LONG time. I saw this technique on the internet but I can not remember where. I used Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough which I thought was great. You can splurge and make it with regular dough but I like the heartyness of whole wheat.
Skillet Naan
Pizza or bread dough
Cast iron skillet or griddle that is well seasoned/or you can use a little pam
Vegan butter (I like Smart Balance)
Garlic and chopped cilantro optional but highly recommended

Take a small amount of dough maybe 2/3 cup and stretch into a circle. Place in pre-heated skillet on medium. Cook until side is brown and grilled looking. Flip and cook on the other side. Spread butter and crushed garlic on bread and sprinkle with cilantro. Use to sop up yummy juices.

So overall this was a successful experiment and we especially like the naan. I want to get some more spices and try some more adventurous stuff in the book, but this was a yummy meal and I can't wait to see what other things I can make!

Breakfast Bars

Delicious

These are great for breakfast or a not too sweet dessert or snack.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
2 Cups instant oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup agave syrup
6 TBS smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup-2/3 cups jam any kind- I LOVE raspberry
juice of 1/2 lemon

Pre-heat oven to 425. Coat a 8x11 pan with non-stick spray. Combine first 3 ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add peanut butter and combine into crumbs with fingers. Add agave to coat mixture and combine. Put 2/3rds of mixture in bottom of the pan and press down. Should be about 1/4 in thick (add more if you need it). Mix jam and lemon juice together and spread on top of oat mixture. Sprinkle remaining dry ingredients on top and bake for 18min. Let cool for about an hour and cut into squares. If you cut this into 10 squares each one is 200 calories.
Apple Walnut Bars
2 Cups instant oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup agave syrup + 1TBS
6 TBS almond butter
1 apple shredded
1/2 cup apple sauce
juice of 1/2 lemon
chopped walnuts optional

Make crust the same way as above. Make apple filling by combining apple, lemon, apple sauce and TBS agave. Spread over crust, sprinkle with remaining crumbs and walnuts if using. Bake in the same way as above.
Strawberry Rhubarb Tart
2 cups instant oats
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup agave
8 TBS raw almond butter

Mix together above ingradients and press into 9x9 pan. Bake @ 400 for 15 minutes. Spread with strawberry rhbarb jam and top with 1-2 cups sliced strawberries when cool. This is a great summer dessert with or without soy ice cream.