This took way too long to make. Not that I’d wish to live in Libya or anything… but the flag would have been a lot freakin’ easier. Happy Canada Day everyone!! I’m going to celebrate by getting injured and going to get free health care. Fuck yeah, I love Canada!
(The pic above is banana bread, recipe listed here; icing recipe found here)
-Maureen
This recipe comes from The Vegan Next Door. The vegan blogosphere has exploded with zucchini-related posts in the last week, to my great confusion, since zucchinis don’t seem to be that proliferous at the markets here in Ottawa.
I hope The Vegan Next Door doesn’t mind me re-posting her recipe (with my adaptations), since I can’t seem to link to the posting.
INGREDIENTS
Batter
· 3 “flax eggs” (or 3 egg equivalents like En-R-G egg replacement)
· 1 cup vegetable oil
· 2 cups granulated sugar
· 2 cups grated zucchini
· 2 tsps vanilla extract
· 3 cups whole wheat flour
· 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
· 1 tsp baking soda
· ¼ tsp baking powder
· 1 tsp salt
· ½ cup chopped walnuts
Crust
· 1 cup brown sugar
· 1 cup whole wheat flour
· 2 tbsp 100% vegetable oil margarine, softened
· 2 tsp cinnamon
· ½ cup chopped walnuts
DIRECTIONS
I took this cake to a little get-together and everyone said they liked it. I think there’s too much oil in the recipe so if I made it again I’d replace half of it with applesauce.
Thanks again to The Vegan Next Door for the idea!
-Maureen
There are plenty of unorthodox things I’ve been known to do to pumpkins, but more than anything I fancy baking ‘em.
Veganomicon is heralded as the trendy book-du-jour for vegans, and I had yet to try any recipes because I’m lazy, poor, and the recipes seem overly complicated. But this week I popped my Veganomicon cherry with a recipe for Pumpkin Cake with Pecan Streusel topping. I brought it to a potluck and it was a hit! Since then I’ve made it twice more for various occasions and have only gotten outrageously complimentary feedback.
I used the wrong size cake pan so it was moist and kinda like pie in the middle, which I actually found awesome. (There’s an American Pie joke in there somewhere)
I also made one of my fave recipes, which I already posted but I think this is a nice picture. Thai Noodle Salad with Peanut Dressing:
Recipe posted here.
I think my potluck contributions were well-received by all. Which is good because I have another damn potluck next week.
Finally I just want to shout a big WHOO HOO because Mad About Udon just passed its 5000th visitor after having opened its doors just a couple months ago. Thanks for visiting!
- Maureen
Good news–I got my degree on the mail (having skipped convocation). So I officially have my Bachelor of Science in Biopharmaceutical Sciences (concentration Medicinal Chemistry). Whoo whoo!!
*crushes beer can on head*
Okay, so onto the food, I have so much to post. I’ve been re-making a couple recipes just for convenience. The other day I made falafels again from The Garden of Vegan. Let me tell you, that book is on fire! No seriously, it’s on fire, I turned the wrong element on (like I do every time!!) and it caught fire. Now my book is charred but my favourite recipes are intact so it’s all good.
Other foodz:
Banana Bread. I’ve made this before but with vanilla icing. Chocolate is equally good.
Grilled melons and pineapple with So Good soy vanilla ice cream
Not-yet-barbecued kebabs. I used PC Blue Menu Marinated Tofu and red and yellow peppers drizzed with oil and sprinkled with various herbs. Loblaws has been out of zucchini for like, a week (!!), and so peppers were the only vegetable I could come up with. Unfortunately, the BBQ was out of propane so I just baked these instead (didn’t get a picture, oops)… we’ll try again with the BBQ next week I think.
Another batch of Thai red curry, this time with little grilled tofu squares and served over brown rice vermicelli (upper left).
My friend “T” and I were wandering around the city last weekend, on a sweltering summer’s day, looking for a place to eat. We ended up at Sushi Go, right in the Byward Market. The prices were decent (also since I make sushi at home, no price for take-out sushi is every really satisfactory) and the sushi was excellent. We were, however, a little disturbed at the “Doors-Wide-Open-and-Air-Conditioner-Blaring” policy that Sushi Go and every other restaurant/cafe/business in the Market seemed to operate. Is it even remotely ethical or responsible—in this current age of environmental concern and reform—to engage in such a business practice?
TGIF!
-Maureen
This post has been brought to you by Jake, my catsitting charge last week, seen here crunching data and compressing files.
Despite 23 years of real-world (and kitchen) experience, I admit that I just recently looked up what Crisco actually is. I’ve long suspected that it was something I couldn’t eat, made from animal souls or something of that nature. But apparently this is not only a vegan but also a kosher product. Quelle suprise!
These pictures come from Tasmia out at McGill in Montreal, who baked a vegan pie for her household (incl a vegan roomate) back on March 14 (3.14)—Pi day! And what better type of pie to make than a Pi Pie.
Truly artistic and imaginative… far beyond anything I could ever put together (although I long to jump on the VCTOTW bandwagon and paint pretty cupcakes). The recipes come from Crisco itself and can be found here (crust) and here (filling). Thanks Tasmia for the pics, and for uniting math and food!
-Maureen
I’ve tried a number of vegan brownies and I do think that my favourite is from The Garden of Vegan. I didn’t actually make these; O.B. (Omnivore Boyfriend) did and I was very impressed.
Decadent Brownies:
1.5 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup white sugar
1.5 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 cups soy milk
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large bowl sift flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add oil, soy milk, nuts. Stir gently until just mixed. Pour into 8X8 inch pan and cook for 30-35 minutes. (Check by inserting a toothpick).
Chocolate Icing:
1/4 cup veg shortening
1/4 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2.5 cups sifted sugar
3 tbsp soy milk
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
Mix margarine and shortening. Add cocoa powder and milk. Add sugar in 1/2 cups portions with soy milk; mix well. Add vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.
I took some of these brownies on a hike in Gatineau, Quebec today, and my friend Taras and I chowed down at a beautiful lookout. I’m sure I consumed all the calories I’d just burned!
-Maureen
I smothered chopped red and yellow peppers in herbs and canola oil and roasted the pieces for about 15 minutes. I added the roasted peppers, and some chopped cherry tomatoes, to Vegetable Giardino pasta sauce from La Bottega Nicastro, and simmered the mix for 15 minutes. I poured it over fresh gniocchi, which is so easy to cook that I won’t describe it. Served with another batch of bruschetta (which didn’t turn out so well because I couldn’t find any f*cking basil in this whole city and so subbed with oregano).
Because it was a special dinner I also picked up some vegan cakes from Perfection Satisfaction Promise, right on the outskirts of the University of Ottawa campus.
Clockwise from carrot: carrot cake, lemon poppyseed cake, chocolate cake, peanutbutter-chocolate cheeseake. Very pri$ey but well worth the investment! We ended up nibbling on these over a couple days.
-Maureen
La Bottega Nicastro’s is a local Italian gourmet food mart in Ottawa. I’m not Italian nor do I “love” Italian food–but hot damn: you make a good sauce, Mr Nicastro!
Each of these jars was $2.99. This stuff is downright drinkable. I made a pasta dish using a jar of Wood Oven Roasted Garlic pasta sauce, and a package of Organic “Fantasia” brown rice pasta. The “Fantasia” aspect probably refers to the whimsical shapes which were totally fun to play with (yes, I’m 23…):
Of course, I threw in fresh cilantro because it’s like… crack to me. And I put it in everything. I served this gluten-free dish with Art-Is-In dill & potato bread (obvs not GF) from the Natural Food Pantry.
-Maureen
MMMmmm, I loved a good cookie. In chemistry we have “group meetings” to which I usually bring a container of vegan cookies–they are always a hit!
Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies:
1 c Earth Balance margarine
1.5 c brown sugar
1 c white sugar
1 banana
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp water
1.75 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
2.5 c rolled oats
2.5 c vegan choc chips
Beat margarine and sugars. Add bananas and mix. Add vanilla and water, and mix. Add the rest, and mix. Cook for 9-10 mins at 350 C.
Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla icing:
The recipe is from the very popular Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World cookbook.
To be honest, I think the icing is kinda gross. This is the first time I made the cupcakes + icing… I had an earlier batch that O.B. had made for my birthday so I assumed that the icing was just icing sugar and creamy, delicious water, or something. In reality, the icing is about 40% vegetable shortening and 40% margarine… yuck! So I wouldn’t cook these for myself, but def for other people, whose arteries I care substantially less about.
-Maureen
O.B. goes bananas over this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 cup soy milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp each of baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon
1/2 cup Earth Balance (margarine), softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
5 mashed ripe bananas
Heat oven to 350 C. Grease a 9X5 inch pan. Whisk soy milk + lemon juice, and set aside. In a bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light. Beat in vanilla and bananas. Stir in flour mixture alternatively with soy milk mixture. Mix and pour into pan. Bake for 40-60 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.
-Maureen
Aly
Maureen