Broccoli Almond Sweet and Sour Tofu

This is another test recipe for lolo at VeganYumYum, but this time it's a recipe that she already had up on her blog, so I can link you to it (here and here). I forgot to garnish it with sesame seeds, but it was good as is. I liked the sauce much better than the last time I made it (she updated the recipe at some point in between).

Jambalaya and Cookies

This is the Jammin' Vegetable Jambalaya from Robin Robertson's The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook. Yes, I know that's kind of a goofy name for a recipe. I suppose that when you come up with as many recipes as Robin Robertson does, coming up with creative names can be a challenge. This jambalaya was good. I've never had non-vegan jambalaya, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I liked the flavor in this. I used Tofurky Chipotle Franks as the "sausage" in this. The recipe wound up not being very spicy at all. It was good that way, but I would like to try it again substituting some chipotle pepper for the hot sauce. The recipe says to serve this over long grain rice. I thought I had enough rice, but when I looked in the pantry, I discovered I was wrong. I did have a bag of barley, though. I took this as an opportunity to try out Alton Brown's recipe for baked barley (substituting Earth Balance Whipped for the butter). It was so easy. I will definitely use it more often in the future (and his recipe for baked brown rice, too).


These are the Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies from The Post Punk Kitchen. By no means are these cookies remotely healthy, but my do they taste good.

More Tester Recipes

I know that I just posted the tempeh wingz and the jalapeno poppers, but tonight I served the leftovers with a biscuit recipe that I tested for mrsbadmouth. I still prefer the biscuit recipe that my boyfriend's momma gave me (because they're fluffier), but these were a little easier since I didn't have to roll them out.


These are apple zucchini muffins that I also tested for mrsbadmouth. Historically I have not been a fan of zucchini (or squash), but I remembered having zucchini bread years ago and liking it, so I was willing to give these a try. I'm so glad I did. These are really good. Despite having whole wheat flour in them, they're pretty light, and they have a good flavor.

Pasta Gremolata with Sundried Tomatoes and Garlic Breadcrumbs

This is another test recipe for lolo at veganyumyum. The title of the recipe tells you pretty much all that I can share about it. This is fantastic (assuming that you like parsley...and I do).

I felt like including a photo of the dish I had this in just because I love it. This is an antique serving bowl that belonged to my great aunt. I really have no idea just how old it is.

Bar Food for Dinner

I know these pictures aren't the best. Sorry about that, but we were hungry! I have made the tempeh wingz before. They are a test recipe for mrsbadmouth. We really liked them the first time we had them, so ouila, here they are again. I was going to try upping the spiciness a bit this time, but then I ran out of hot sauce, so I didn't.
The jalapeno poppers are a test recipe for lolo over at veganyumyum. Sorry I didn't get a picture of the filling, but you can see it over at lolo's blog. These were very good, but sadly my jalapeno was too hot for me and I couldn't eat more than one. I am convinced that I picked one up that was hotter than the others, as my boyfriend ate three of them and said he hardly detected any spiciness at all. Meanwhile my lips were tingling. D'oh. I have leftover filling and I'll be using it as a dip today for some whole wheat crackers.
The other part of the meal was just a can of hominy. Mmmm. We love the stuff and can quickly finish off a can just between the two of us.

Calcutta Curried Potatoes and Cinnamon Rolls

This is Calcutta Curried Potatoes (served over yellow rice) from Olive Trees and Honey by Gil Marks. The subtitle of the recipe says that it would be called Aloo Bhaji. I added peas to the recipe (along with cutting the recipe in half....we still had enough for two nights, so four servings in all), which I know would change the name of the recipe, but I can't remember the word for green peas. This was a good recipe that I would make again. It had a lot of flavor without being overly spicy. I don't know that it would be considered a very authentic Indian recipe, based on the spices called for, but then again the cookbook is referred to as "a treasury of vegetarian recipes from Jewish communities around the world," and I know nothing about Jewish communities in India. Olive Trees and Honey is a huge cookbook. Many of the recipes are not vegan in the least (for instance, the recipe for Sephardic potato croquettes calls for 6 eggs, plus an additional egg for the coating!), but I look forward to trying more of the vegan or easily veganizable recipes.

For the cinnamon rolls, I used this recipe, substituting plain soymilk for the milk, Earth Balance Whipped for the butter, and Ener-G egg replacer for the egg. Although I have a bread machine, I decided to make these by hand because I was worried that 6 cups of flour was too much for my machine. I didn't use the frosting recipe included in that link. Instead, I beat an 8 ounce tub of Tofutti non-hydrogenated cream cheese with 2 tablespoons of EB Whipped and 1 3/4 cups of powdered sugar. These turned out really well. They are much softer than the previous ones I made. Don't ask me why I didn't cut the recipe in half, though. Twenty-four cinnamon rolls is a lot for two people! Our refrigerator is now busting at the seams with cinnamon rolls. Not that we're complaining or anything....

Blackened Tempeh

Blackened Tempeh (Real Food Daily), Maple-Mashed Sweet Potatoes (The Vegetarian Meat & Potatoes Cookbook) and steamed broccoli (no recipe for that, of course).
The blackened tempeh was really good and just spicy enough. It probably would have been better suited on top of a salad, as it was kind of dry just on its own. I didn't have any lettuce, though, so no salad.
The mashed sweet potatoes were the first recipe I tried from The Vegetarian Meat & Potatoes Cookbook, which I just got today. I had $15 in Borders' Holiday Rewards to use up (they're redoing their rewards program, so people could cash them in early). With a 20% off coupon, I wound up paying less than $2 for this book. Woohoo! Anyway, as far as the recipe goes....maple plus sweet potatoes is a very good combination. Adding apple juice into the mix is, well, not quite as good. Don't get me wrong; it wasn't bad, just not something I would be likely to do again. Next time, I will stick with soymilk or coconut milk. It doesn't need much extra liquid anyhow.

Despite My Absence, I Have Been Cooking

Sem Aur Khumbi, from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian. The English name of this dish is decidedly less exotic-sounding: Green Beans with Mushrooms. This was the first dish I made from the book, which I currently have checked out of the library. I added some of the Morningstar Farms chick'n strips to it. They really weren't necessary, but we had some hanging out in the freezer and my boyfriend really liked them when he tried them recently. This dish was really good and I would definitely make it again, although I'd probably cut back on the cayenne next time. The recipe calls for a whole teaspoon of it and I found it quite spicy (and I don't even have the spicier cayenne....the health food store had two different heat-levels in the bulk spice section and I bought the less spicy one--boy am I glad I did!). I served this over organic whole-wheat couscous. I was excited to discover that Fantastic Foods started making a whole wheat version.

Vegan with a Vengeance samosas (potato and green pea) with homemade mango chutney. These took forever to make, but they were really good. I was going to take the easy way out on the chutney and just buy some already made (either mango or tamarind), but all of the ones I found had either high fructose corn syrup or refined sugar, so I bought a mango and figured I would wing it on making my own. It worked out quite well.

Tempeh hot wings. I am testing some recipes for mrsbadmouth over at the Post Punk Kitchen, and this was one of the first ones I tried. I'd never had regular wings before, but I was told that this was a milder sauce. It was really good and I definitely plan on making this again.

Lovin' Spoonful O' Cornbread. This is another test recipe for mrsbadmouth. It is a sweet, moist spoon bread and we loved it. I was sad that we didn't finish it before Passover started. The recipe calls for creamed corn, but I didn't go with my boyfriend to the grocery store and he came home reporting that all of the creamed corn at Kroger's had refined sugar in it. As such, he bought me a regular can of corn and figured that I would be able to make my own creamed corn. I must say, homemade creamed corn is much tastier than the awful canned stuff that my daddy tried to make me eat when I was growing up.


Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, another test recipe for mrsbadmouth. The filling was much better than the store-bought crust. It's possible that I just don't like graham cracker crusts, but until I do some more experimenting, I am choosing to blame the Arrowhead Mills crust. My boyfriend didn't seem to mind the crust, though. I ate the filling out of my piece and he finished the crust. I like having a boyfriend that can eat more than I can. It means I waste less food.