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.

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

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.

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

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.

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…

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.

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

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

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.”