Roasted Veggie Fried Rice

I’ve been in a major blog rut these days, hence the lack of posts. I wish I could say that I’ve just been too busy to blog, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Since I last posted I graduated from college (yay!), and since then I’ve been sitting at home, looking for a job. Other than that, there hasn’t been anything terribly exciting happening. I’ve still been going to Petsmart to take care of the kitties, we’ve been figuring out stuff for the wedding,  and I’ve been cooking/baking, as usual. I’ve also read a copious amount of books these past few weeks and have been working on some of my own stories.

To keep myself from going insane, due to boredom, I’m trying to get back in the swing of posting on my blog again. So, without further adieu, here’s a new recipe that I came up with.

Roasted Veggie Fried Rice

3.5 – 4 cups chopped vegetables (I used broccoli, zucchini, and carrots)
1 cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained
canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 cups corn kernels
4 cups cooked rice, chilled
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp dried ginger (or use fresh, if you have it)
salt & pepper

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place chopped vegetables on a baking sheet and drizzle with a little bit of canola oil. Roast in oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, stir the veggies around and add the chickpeas. Roast for another 10-15 minutes, until the veggies are cooked.
• Heat 1 TBSP canola oil in a wide saute pan. Add the onion and garlic; cook until soft and translucent (about 7-10 minutes). Add the corn and cook for another minute.
• Add the cold rice to the pan and stir to combine with onion mixture. Whisk the soy sauce, sesame oil, and dried ginger together in a small bowl. Drizzle half over the rice; stir to combine.
• Add the roasted veggies and the remaining half of the liquid. Cook until heated through.
• Season with salt & pepper, to taste.

Wedding Plans

I tried not to get sucked in to all of the media coverage of the royal wedding, but, I confess, I couldn’t help it. All this talk about weddings has made me even more excited about my own. Our wedding isn’t until October, but the plans are well under way. We have a place for the ceremony/reception booked, most of our menu set, a photographer, DJ, officiant, and invitations all picked out. And, best of all, I have my dress! A couple of months ago I went back to NJ to go dress shopping with my bridal party. Both myself and the girls were able to find dresses in the first store we visited. I am totally in love with my dress, perhaps a little more than the groom (just kidding). I’d love to show you guys a picture of it, but I am afraid that will have to wait. Andrew reads my blog and I don’t want him to see my dress before the wedding! I can show you what the bridesmaids’ will be wearing though. We ended up picking out a dark purple one-shoulder dress. This isn’t the exact dress, but this is the closest picture I could find:

Like I said, it’s not the exact same dress, but it’s similar in style and color. My niece, who will be a junior bridesmaid, has a similar dress. It’s the same color, but the style is slightly different since the one-shoulder look is a little too mature for an 11 year old.

Another exciting decision we’ve made for the wedding recently has to do with our cake. Originally, the caterers at the venue where we are having the wedding were going to make vegan cupcakes for us. Apparently, they aren’t able to make a full vegan wedding cake, but that didn’t bother us. We’ve decided now that we are just going to make the cupcakes ourselves. Andrew and I would really like to contribute something to the wedding. We’d like to do something ourselves rather than hire someone else to do it. So, we’ve decided that we are going to make fancy vegan cupcakes for the wedding. We’re inviting around 60 people to the wedding, so it shouldn’t be too much trouble. I’ve been looking online for ideas on how to decorate our cupcakes and have found some  beautiful pictures. I love getting to make fancy cakes and use the decorating skills I learned in culinary school. We’re both really excited about this. I think it will be a great way to add a personal touch to the wedding and make it even more special.

Creamy Asparagus Pasta

I was determined to make something good for this month’s SOS Kitchen Challenge after last month’s failure. Luckily, this month’s ingredient was something I am more familiar with: asparagus. The “SOS” in the title of the challenge stands for “sweet or savory.” Usually I am pretty adventurous and have no problem trying a savory ingredient in a sweet recipe. After last month’s attempt at adzuki bean ice cream, though, I decided to be a little less adventurous. I am anxiously waiting to see if anyone else is brave enough to make a sweet recipe with asparagus.

Creamy Asparagus Pasta

1 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 small yellow squash, sliced
olive oil
*10 – 12 oz uncooked pasta
1/2 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine (something you would drink)
3/4 cup vegetable broth
3/4 cup water
8 oz tofu, crumbled
1 tsp dried thyme
2 TBSP nutritional yeast
1.5 TBSP lemon juice
salt & pepper

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the asparagus and squash on a baking sheet and coat with a little bit of olive oil (I probably used about 2 tsp). Roast the vegetables until tender, about 20-25 minutes (Flip about halfway through cooking time). Remove from oven and set aside.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook your pasta in the boiling water while you prepare the sauce. (Use the time indicated on the box)
• Heat a few TBSP olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add the onion and garlic; cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the wine and cook for a few minutes to reduce.
• Add the vegetable broth, water, crumbled tofu, and thyme. Bring to a simmer.
• Using either an immersion blender or a regular blender, puree the mixture until completely smooth.
• Season with salt & pepper (to taste) and return to a simmer. Cover the  pot and let simmer for about 20 minutes, until the sauce thickens a little.
• Stir in the nutritional yeast and lemon juice. Taste to adjust salt & pepper, if necessary.
• Combine the sauce, cooked veggies, and cooked pasta in a large bowl. Mix well to coat.

*Use whatever type of pasta you prefer. I used campanelle this time.

Scandal-Free Muffins

Have you heard about the VegNews scandal yet? If not, allow me to bring you up to speed. Apparently, VegNews, the so-called vegan magazine, has been tricking everyone by using non-vegan photographs of food to accompany their featured recipes. Some of their images have been taken from websites of stock photography and have been photo-shopped to make readers believe they are vegan. (Check out more of the details here and here)

Personally, I think it’s quite dishonorable of VegNews to do something like that. The people who read their magazine are people who deeply care about veganism and animal rights, so to dupe them into thinking that their photos are vegan is completely f***ed up. In the statement that was released yesterday, VegNews admitted using non-vegan photos, but only after “exhausting all options.” I don’t care if they’ve run out of other options, if they can’t take a picture of the actual recipe featured, then they shouldn’t bother to put a picture at all. I’d rather have a photo-less recipe than find out that those vegan ribs they’re advertising are actually real ribs from a slaughtered animal. Needless to say, VegNews has lost tons of subscriptions over this news. Serves them right.

The original intent of this post was to share a new, yummy muffin recipe with you. Please, excuse me for getting side tracked. I promise that the muffins in these pictures are 100% vegan, completely free of scandal and all animal products.

Triple Berry Spelt Muffins

1 cup spelt flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup non-dairy milk
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups frozen mixed berries*

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with paper or silicon liners.
• In a large bowl, sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
• In a smaller bowl, mix the milk, maple syrup, oil, and vanilla together.
• Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until completely moistened. Stir in the frozen berries.
• Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

*Note: I used a mixture of frozen blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Feel free to use whatever berry combination you wish, though.

Cajun Quinoa Burgers

We’ve been on a sandwich kick lately. Over the past few weeks we’ve made 3-4 different sandwich/burger recipes for dinner. All of them were delicious, but I was particularly pleased with these Cajun quinoa burgers. I often have trouble keeping vegan burgers from falling apart during the cooking process, but I had no problems with these. They’re full of all sorts of healthy ingredients: onions, peppers, mushrooms, black beans, and quinoa. They have a spicy kick from the Cajun seasonings, but it’s not too intense. I’m sure most of you can handle a little heat! For those of you who like super spicy, though, you may want to bump up the cayenne a little bit.

Cajun Quinoa Burgers

1/3 cup uncooked quinoa
1-2 TBSP olive oil
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 large onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper (any color), diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cooked black beans
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt (to taste)
1/2 – 2/3 cup Panko breadcrumbs

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Bring 2/3 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the quinoa, lower the heat, and simmer (covered) for about 20 minutes, until all of the water is absorbed.
• Heat the olive oil in a saute pan. Add the mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook until softened, about 10 minutes.
• Transfer the cooked vegetables to a blender or food processor. Add the black beans and spices. Blend the mixture until mostly smooth (don’t puree it), but still a little chunky. Transfer the mixture to a bowl.
• Stir in the quinoa and breadcrumbs. Start with 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, then increase as needed. You may need more or less than 2/3 cup, depending on how wet your mixture is.
• Form 6 patties with the mixture and place on your prepared baking sheet (I just used a 1/3-cup measuring cup to scoop mine out of the bowl). Bake for 15 minutes, until the bottoms are set. Flip and cook an additional 7-10 minutes, until completely cooked through.

Happy Endings

In the previous week the rescue organization I volunteer with has had some big situations to deal with. Last weekend we had to quickly come up with $500 to save a poor dog from being euthanized by animal control. The woman who is in charge of our cat adoptions (I will refer to her as Crazy Cat Lady) has been helping a homeless man care for his dog for some time now. She has helped keep the dog up to date on shots and receive veterinary care that he needs. Apparently, last week the homeless man and his dog were both physically attacked by someone. In defense of himself and his owner, the dog bit the attacker. Animal control put the dog in quarantine afterwards since he had bitten someone. When the man tried to get his dog released from animal control they would not let him leave and threatened to euthanize the dog if $500 wasn’t paid. The money was to cover the costs from quarantine/impoundment and some old fees that the man could never afford to pay. Crazy Cat Lady called everyone she knew to get donations for the dog. She called me last Sunday evening, the day before our deadline. We were still a few hundred dollars short on money. Thinking of that poor dog being euthanized simply because he was trying to protect himself made me sick, so of course, I was desperate to help. Andrew did us a favor and sent out e-mails to all the people involved with the organization he volunteers for and overnight we had several responses. By Monday, we were able to come up with enough money to bail the dog out. I believe we actually raised more than enough money because some generous people still wanted to donate, even after we had raised the $500. I wasn’t there when the dog was reunited with his owner, but apparently he was the happiest dog alive that day. I can’t even begin to tell you how happy we were that day, also.

Two days later I was at Petsmart, taking care of the kitties, and a man came in looking for help. The man had found 2 very small kittens in the middle of the highway and was looking for someone to take them. Based on where the kittens where, we believe that someone must have purposely put those poor kittens out there because they didn’t want them. The kittens were so lucky that this kind man saved them. (Sadly, there was a 3rd kitten that wasn’t so lucky) Well, you guys know me, I can never avoid helping an animal in need. I called Crazy Cat Lady and she agreed to bring them home and care for them. I was so relieved that she agreed to find room for the cats in her home (did I mention that she has about 10 cats in her house?). If she had been unable to do it, especially in such short notice, I was going to bring home the kittens and care for them myself. Once you see these little faces, you will understand why…

Too much PB for one post?

Yesterday was Andrew’s birthday. We celebrated by going out to a local Thai restaurant for dinner, followed by dessert at home. Every year I make Andrew a birthday dessert of his choice. This year he decided that we should re-create the insane brownie trifle I concocted a few years ago. That particular trifle (not vegan) contained peanut butter swirl brownies, chocolate mousse, and peanut butter cups. Sticking with the peanut butter and chocolate flavor combination, I created something similar for him yesterday. We had layers of brownies with walnuts, chocolate tofu mousse, crumbled Oreo cookies, and peanut butter topping. It was epic. While it was being assembled the two of us kept saying “I can’t believe we’re making this. I can’t believe we’re going to eat this thing.” I’ll admit, it’s definitely not one of my healthiest creations. It reminded me of one of those restaurant desserts that they warn you not to eat because it has a billion calories. But hey, that was what the birthday boy requested, so I was happy to oblige. It ended up being worth all the extra sugar, fat, and calories. It was chocolatey, peanut buttery, delicious and sickeningly sweet, all at the same time. After finishing my portion last night, I declared that I never wanted to eat sugar again. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Tired of hearing about peanut butter treats on my blog yet? Well, allow me to switch to something savory for a moment. A few weeks ago I was searching around Andrea’s blog and came across her recipe for Spicy Peanut Stew. Peanut butter, beans, vegetables, and spicy all in one meal? Sign me up! My version was essentially the same as Andrea’s version, although I used cauliflower instead of broccoli and crushed red pepper instead of fresh jalapenos. The flavor of this stew was incredible and I loved the fact that it was so thick and creamy. Being the peanut butter fanatics that we are, the stew barely lasted 2 days in our refrigerator. Thank you, Andrea, for the amazing recipe. I can assure you that it will be in regular rotation.

One more thing before I go…please check out Katie’s post about the “Help Japan” Blogger Bake Sale. Lots of generous bloggers have already donated baked goods (Check out the list here). Perhaps you would like to donate something, too, or take part in the bidding on April 5th.

SOS Kitchen Challenge Failure

(image source)

This month I was actually able to come up with something for Ricki’s SOS Kitchen Challenge. I swear, every month I plan on participating, then I end up forgetting or running out of time. This month’s ingredient happens to be adzuki beans, which was indeed a “challenge” for me. For whatever reason I have a hard time finding adzuki beans in stores around here and I almost decided not to forgo the challenge because of that. Well, the bean gods must have been rooting for me last week, because a can of adzuki beans happened to show up at my grocery store. (Or maybe they were always there and I’ve just failed to notice? Entirely plausible.) Once I brought home that can of beans I thought “Now what?” I had been more preoccupied with actually finding the things somewhere than actually thinking of a recipe to use them in. Like I said, I don’t find them in stores much, so I have only cooked with them a few times.

After searching around on the internet I decided to use those little suckers in a sweet recipe. Adzuki beans are commonly used in Asian sweets. I was aware of that before, but was never brave enough to try putting beans in my dessert. Several places online gave recipes for Red Bean Ice Cream, which is apparently a Japanese specialty. I’ll admit, it still sounded “weird” to me, but I gave it a try anyway for the challenge. It was fairly simple. All I did was made a sweetened adzuki bean paste and stirred it into my go-to vanilla ice cream recipe. I swapped some of the milk in the original recipe with almond milk and added some almond butter to the paste. Voila! I made Almond Adzuki Ice Cream. (Or, Mean Bean Protein-Packed-Ice Cream, as I thought about calling it.)

So, curious to know how it turned out?

It sucked. I don’t know whether I used too much bean paste or whether I am just not a fan of bean-based desserts, but either way I was disappointed. The ice cream was a little too “beany” for my taste. Maybe some people wouldn’t mind that, but I did. If I’m going to eat dessert I don’t want it to taste like what I ate for dinner. The texture wasn’t quite right either. It was more grainy than creamy. Yuck. (I guess those bean gods weren’t rooting for me after all.) Hopefully I’ll come up with something better next month.

Trifecta Cookies

Peanut butter, oatmeal, and chocolate chip. Three classic cookies that everyone loves. But, what do you do when you can’t decide which one you want? Well, that’s an easy answer: you combine all  three!

Trifecta Cookies

1.5 cups uncooked oats
1/2 cup spelt flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch salt
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
*1 vegan egg substitute
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper.
• Mix the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.
• In a larger bowl, beat the peanut butter, oil, and sugars together until smooth. Add the prepared egg replacer and the vanilla; beat until well incorporated.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until completely moistened. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Drop spoonfuls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets. The dough may seem a little crumbly, but that’s okay. Just press the dough together on the baking sheet.
• Bake for approximately 10 minutes. Let cool on baking pans before removing.

*I used Ener-G egg replacer

St. Patty’s Day Food

With all of the posts about green and Irish food yesterday, it would have been pretty hard to forget about St. Patrick’s Day. In honor of the holiday Andrew whipped up a loaf of homemade Irish soda bread. Green Irish soda bread, as a matter of fact. Then he chased it down with a shot of green vodka for good measure. I’ve only had Irish soda bread a handful of times in my life and every recollection I have of it is not favorable. I remember it being extremely dry, bland, and just unexciting. Andrew’s bread came out more moist than the ones I’ve tried in the past, but as much as I hate to say it, I’m still not a big fan. I guess it’s a good thing I’m not actually Irish.

Even though I didn’t like the soda bread much I did, however, enjoy dinner. Andrew made us Chipotle Lentil Burgers (or is it Lentil Chipotle Burgers? I forget) from Appetite for Reduction. Both of us loved the burger patties, which were made with lentils and zucchini-onion puree. They had a really nice smoky flavor from the chipotle, which made these burgers stand out from a lot of other vegan burger recipes we’ve tried. They had a soft texture, but they were delicious nonetheless. Definitely a “make again” recipe. We’ve tried at least 10 recipes from Appetite for Reduction so far and I think I marked every one of them as a “make again.”