It’s almost spring! (1 month and 1 day) I, for one, cannot wait to emerge from hibernation.
Okay, so first off I want to thank the awesome people at Larabar for sending me a free package of goodies! And all because I professed my love for these delicious bars.
I absolutely LOVE Larabars so I was thrilled to receive this huge box of assorted flavours, as well as a Larabar t-shirt that I've been sporting all over town.
So far I’ve tried about half the flavours and I haven’t found one I don’t like.
Now, onto the food. I’ve been sampling a lot of recipes from the Happy Herbivore lately.
I made a batch of her Fat-Free Vegan Alfredo Sauce:
I really liked this recipe, but Omnivore Boyfriend was not a fan. I've never had real alfredo but I think it's really gross in principle (550 cals/serving? yuck), so I'm glad the vegan version is waaay healthier and packs a mighty protein punch too.
Fat-Free Vegan Alfredo Sauce from the HH
Ingredients (makes approx 2 cups):
12.3 oz pkg mori-nu lite silken firm tofu, drained
1 cup fat free soy milk
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion flakes
black pepper to taste
1/2 tsp nutmeg
small pinch red chili pepper flakes
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
Directions:
1. combine all ingredients in a blender
2. whiz until smooth
3. heat over low until warmed
I also made the HH’s Creamy Pesto Sauce:
(I can't rotate this picture!) All the ingredients in the blender.
Voila! This pesto was scrumptious, a judgement verified by a O.B. and a few other friends who tried it.
Creamy Pesto (makes 1 cup) from the HH
1/2 pckg silken tofu, drained
1/2 cup (packed tight) fresh basil, stems removed
2 tbsp (packed tight) fresh parsley, stems removed
1 garlic clove
1 tsp lemon juice
1-2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp vegan parm
2 tbsp fat free soy milk
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts – optional
2-4 sun-dried tomatoes – optional (for a flavorful spin on traditional pesto)
3 cups cooked whole wheat pasta
Directions:
Blend all ingredients until smooth, then heat over low until just warm. Toss with whole wheat pasta.
Again from the HH, baked yam falafels!!!!
The HH put these in a wrap with "yogurt' spread, but I opted to dip them in sweet thai chili sauce. I loved these little nuggets, they were so tasty and textured and unique. A+!!!
Baked Yam Falafels from the HH
Ingredients (makes about 24 falafel balls)
1/2 cup bulgar wheat
3/4 cup water
1 large yam (makes approx 1 cup “mashed yam”) or sweet potatoes
2 tbsp fat free soy milk or other non-dairy
“Falafel Mix”
1 garlic clove
3 tbsp fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
2 tbsp whole wheat or chickpea flour
3 tbsp whole wheat bread crumbs
pinch of salt
Directions:
1. combine water and bulgar in a pot (no heat) and set aside
2. cook yam until tender
3. blend with soy milk, it should be a thick “mashed potatoes” consistency
4. set yam mixture aside
5. return to bulgar, some of the water should have absorbed
6. bring bulgar to a boil and immediately reduce to low
7. allow to cook on low, uncovered, until water cooks off
8. towards the end, stir frequently to avoid burning
9. while bulger is cooking, make falafel mix (I threw all of it into my processor)
10. combine falafel mix with bulger
11. add yam mixture and combine
12. drop tbsp portions worth on a greased cookie sheet
13. lightly spray with oil
14. lightly cover with foil
15. bake 20 minutes, flip, re-spray and bake another 20-25 minutes until crispy
—————
I borrowed my friend Taras’ fruit juicer so I could increase my fruit and vegetable consumption, boost my immune system, and try out some new flavour combinations. You can basically put anything into a juicer and it will extract all the water, vitamins, and nutrients out of the material and retain all the fibrous product.
My breakfast juice consisted of two apples, three carrots, 3-5 peeled clementines, and a few slivers of ginger.
And my lunch juice involved a whole cornucopia of produce: 1/2 a cucumber, 2 stalks of celery, a few slices of beets, 3 carrots, parsely, an apple, a tangerine, and a few slices of ginger.
This tasted, um, interesting! Not so palatable, BUT really nutritious and filling. To be honest, I love fruits and vegetables so much that I don’t see the point in removing all the fibrous components… I could probably eat all those veggies whole in one sitting anyway, and it seems kind of a waste to throw it all out at the end. Perhaps I’ll juice certain cake-worthy ingredients first (apple, carrot, zucchini), scoop out the detritus, and add it to a cake recipe.
Onto the junk food! Pumpkin-date oats:
These are just microwave oats, nothing special, but I wanted to share the awesome combination of pumpkin (1/3 cup) and dates (4-5 chopped). I felt like I was eating a giant pumpkiny date square. WIN!
Vegan Sugar Cookies:
Valentine's Day Vegan Sugar Cookies
Obviously, I made these for Valentine’s Day. Per serving, I added about 1.5 cups of smashed cinnamon hearts, cinnamon flavouring, and Vegan Sweets’ White Chocolate Chips. I made 2 huge batches and gave them to friends around town, and to the staff at the campus newspaper I used to work at. I wanted to add icing to them but the job was just so epic and I was tired, so I hope the non-iced cookies were good enough. I thought they were delicious, although I’ve never met cookie I didn’t like, but everyone else seemed quite happy to eat through the entire 2 batches so I think it was a successful experiment.
Vegan Sugar Cookies from here
Ingredients:
1 cup margarine
1 cup white sugar
2 whole egg replacements (Ener-G)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup tofu cream cheese (Tofutti)
1.5 cups smashed cinnamon hearts
1/2 cup Vegan Sweets’ White Choc Chips
1 tsp cinnamon flavouring
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar. Stir in the egg replacements and vanilla. Gradually add the flour, baking powder, cinn hearts, chocolate chips, cinnamon flavour, and tofu cream cheese. You may have to use your hands at this point to finish the mixing. Form the dough into a long loaf and wrap in cellophane. Refrigerate for a couple hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease the cookie sheets or use a non-stick foil.
3. On a lightly floured surface (we taped down a sheet of non-stick foil to our countertop instead), roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place about 1 inch apart cookie on sheets.
4. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, until bottoms and edges just start to get light brown. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container.
Due to excess pumpkin I made a few batches of the Post-Punk Kitchen’s Super Moist Pumpkin Bread for the freezer:
This was just the best thing ever. Go make it now!
Super Moist Pumpkin Bread from the PPK:
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped walnuts
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
2/3 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup coconut milk
2/3 cup flaked coconut
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8″ x 4″ loaf pans.
2. Spread walnuts in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet. Toast in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Add the pumpkin puree, oil, and coconut milk, and mix until all of the flour is absorbed. Fold in the flaked coconut and toasted walnuts. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
4. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven, and cover loaves tightly with foil. Allow to steam for 10 minutes. Remove foil, and turn out onto a cooling rack. Tent loosely with the foil, and allow to cool completely.
—————
Happy Friday!
-Maureen
Mad About Udon 
VeggieGirl said,
February 20, 2009 @ 9:10 am
LARABARS!! FALAFEL!! EVERYTHING IN THIS POST!! Delish :-D
Ricki said,
February 20, 2009 @ 9:32 am
Oh my goodness! What a smorgasbord of DELICIOUSNESS (gotta try those falafels and the pesto sauce!). And how lucky are YOU for getting those Larabars?? :)
chocolatecoveredvegan said,
February 20, 2009 @ 9:35 am
I’ve had that alfredo recipe bookmarked FOREVER! I really need to geta round to making it!
Betsy said,
February 20, 2009 @ 10:01 am
I’m really intrigued by those falafels, might have to try that! Also, those sugar cookies look so great.
Josie said,
February 20, 2009 @ 10:16 am
I just discovered your blog and love it! :D
mm that pesto sauce looks super yummy!
Aimee said,
February 20, 2009 @ 10:38 am
Your food always looks so amazing! I really need to try some of it :)
Love larabars!!
Bianca- Vegan Crunk said,
February 20, 2009 @ 12:46 pm
Ooh, those HH recipes for alfredo and pesto sound awesome! I’ll have to give them a try. I used to LOVE alfredo and all its nasty calories!
Also, I love juicing. I don’t really care for fruit, so I make fruit juice with my breakfast every morning. I don’t drinking fruit, just don’t always like eating it…except for strawberries and the occasional apple.
lisa (show me vegan) said,
February 20, 2009 @ 1:11 pm
so much amazing food! And the cookies look very pretty.
Shelby said,
February 20, 2009 @ 1:53 pm
LARABARS! I need to stock up!
Ooo and I’ve been dying to try those falafel, they look delish!!!
Cute cookies.
Everything looks so good!!!
Carrie said,
February 20, 2009 @ 2:06 pm
It all looks so amazing. I’ve been thinking of making HH’s alfredo for awhile now…I should get around to doing that. And I’m jealous of all of your larabars. :)
shellyfish said,
February 20, 2009 @ 6:27 pm
I am so officially jealous of your Lara Bar score! But totally happy for you. I’ve resorted to making my own since I can’t get them here.
I am also drooling all over myself for those falafels! That looks amazing!
Wheat free and Vegan chocolate cake | Allergy blog said,
February 20, 2009 @ 6:28 pm
[…] Vividly vegan « Mad About Udon Share and Enjoy: […]
peony said,
February 21, 2009 @ 3:38 am
your cookies look amazing <3 xox
peony
Zlamushka said,
February 21, 2009 @ 7:40 am
You guys really cook like crazy :-) I never stop wonder how much time you must spend in the kitchen, I love it… keep them comming.
My favortie from today is the Alfredo sauce, looks like the real crap :-)
Lara said,
February 21, 2009 @ 1:17 pm
You make vegan eating look so approachable! I think I could fall in love with that alfredo sauce, and the pumpkin bread looks divine. YAY for free Larabars!!!
Elizabeth (thelongweigh) said,
February 21, 2009 @ 8:11 pm
Wow, everything you eat looks so good! I am drooling over that pesto sauce! And thats awesoem you got free Larabars!
Sharon said,
February 21, 2009 @ 8:17 pm
Oh my gosh, amazing! I want to try them all.
And horray for LARABARS!!!
mihl said,
February 22, 2009 @ 10:07 am
Wow, so many amazing recipes! Thank you…and can I have a cookie?
Andrea said,
February 22, 2009 @ 3:08 pm
Maureen,
Your dishes always look so enticing! I wish I had the pesto right now. And the felafels. And I can’t believe you got all those Larabars – I love them too.
River (Wing-it Vegan) said,
February 22, 2009 @ 7:55 pm
Look at all your Larabar goodies! That’s awesome!
I love HH’s recipes too! The yam falafels look so yummy! Too bad bulgur upsets my tummy :(
Your little heart cookies are so adorable and the pumpkin bread is killing me!!
Theresa said,
February 22, 2009 @ 11:20 pm
Wow, so much yumminess! Fruit pulp freezes well and is good to add to cakes and stuff, like you said. Veggie pulp is a great filler for veggie burgers, cutlets, etc. as well. I always feel a *little* wasteful making juice, but since all the fibrous stuff just becomes compost anyways, I don’t feel so bad anymore.
Those heart cookies are so cute!
veganf said,
March 5, 2009 @ 11:17 am
Wow, sooo many good recipes to try! Most excellent.
the “i’m a beginner” post. « La petite chinoise said,
May 7, 2009 @ 6:12 am
[…] at the health food store, I was stocking up on some Larabars, which were recommended to me by a blog-amie and I found a box of gluten-free, wheat-free and dairy-free cookies. They should have also written: […]
Appetizer Recipes said,
January 4, 2010 @ 11:30 am
Your pictures are making me hungry and totally convinced that pasta and cheese is the best tandem.