This salad isn’t exactly… healthy. What it is, exactly, is delicious. And it has a surprise. There’s no lettuce. The greens are baby spinach, and raw kale.

Stay with me, here!

Yes, I said raw kale. I know you are thinking that I have finally gone off the vegan deep end. But I swear, the water is nice!

You can eat raw kale, too, if you pay attention to these three things: the kind, the cut, and the preparation. Follow these three steps and I swear you’ll be eating your kale raw and loving it.

Kind
The first step is finding the right kind of kale. Lacinato kale is perfectly suited to eating raw. I find that it’s thinner and more tender than the other varieties, but sadly, it’s not nearly as common. Look for long, thin, flat leaves that are slightly dimpled.

Cut
It’s not always obvious what the best cut is for a certain dish. Small, thin strips of kale is integral for this salad, or any meal where the kale is served raw or lightly cooked. When the kale is cut this way, the dressing has a much easier time tenderizing the kale without having to cook it. Larger pieces of kale would be much harder to eat.

Preparation
With regular lettuce, you wait to add the dressing until just before serving. Otherwise the salt and acid in the dressing starts to break down the fresh, crisp greens, leaving you with a soggy mess. With a kale salad, this is to your advantage! Dress the salad ahead of time and refrigerate it for a bit. The dressing will soften up the kale just the right amount. Plus, the addition of a creamy dressing compliments kale’s flavors nicely.

There are many fake bacon products out there. My favorite is what I’ve used in this recipe, Lightlife’s Smoky Tempeh Strips. While the package says “Fakin’ Bacon” I find that it’s not at all like what I remember of the real thing, but I still like it. It’s smoky and salty and tangy, and it’s AWESOME in this salad (or on sandwiches). But as awesome as it is, bacon it is not. If you’re looking for something that more closely approximates the texture and flavor of bacon, there are probably other brands out there, but I haven’t found one that I like.

One last note: due to the sturdy nature of kale, this is the perfect picnic and pot luck salad. You can throw it together ahead of time and it’ll be perky and crisp when you get around to serving it. If you’re looking for a side dish that can stand up to summer entertaining, this recipe is a good bet.

BLT Salad
4-6 Side Salads

1 Head Lacinato Kale (aka Tuscan or Dinosaur Kale)*
1 Package Lightelife Organic Smoky Tempeh Strips**
2 Tbs Peanut Oil, divided
1 to 1 1/2 Cups Baby Spinach, Packed
1 to 1 1/2 Cups Sweet Cherry Tomatoes (about 25)

Dressing
1/4 Cup Vegenaise Mayo
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Lemon Juice
2 tsp Agave Nectar
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

*You can also use regular lettuce if you like, just make sure not to add the dressing until just before serving.

**Sub baked tofu, another mock bacon, or my Smoky Miso Tofu.

Wash and dry kale. Using kitchen shears (or a knife, or your fingers), remove and discard the center stem from each leaf. I find scissors makes the job quick and easy:

Stack the kale leaves on top of each other and slice into thin strips with a sharp knife:

Place the cut kale into a large bowl. Whisk the dressing together and toss with the kale until evenly coated. If you are using regular lettuce, keep the dressing separate until just before serving. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, longer is no problem.

Meanwhile, prepare the “bacon.” Slice the tempeh strips into thin, small pieces, and pan-fry in 1 Tbs peanut oil for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp on the edges. Drain on a paper towel and set aside:

Next, add another tablespoon of peanut oil to the same pan you cooked the bacon in (don’t wash it out!). Cook the tomatoes with 1/4 tsp salt for 3 minutes over high heat, or until beginning to soften and the juices are starting to come out. Remove to a bowl, with juices, and set aside.

Assembling the salad

Once you are ready to serve the salad, chop up the baby spinach and toss it with the kale, making sure everything is now covered in dressing. If you are using regular lettuce, mix in the dressing now. Add 3/4 of the bacon and the tomatoes and toss again. Plate, topping the salad with the rest of the bacon and some freshly cracked black pepper. Serve.

My husband and I have been watching The Sopranos recently (yes, I’m apparently 10 years behind the curve here), and I can only listen to the characters talk about manicotti and baked ziti so many times before I get a serious craving for some Italian food. It got me thinking to a public television cooking show I saw a while ago, Lidia’s Italy. I remember she made a lasagna that used bread instead of noodles, and it struck me as brilliant.

I know making pasta isn’t hard, but there’s something about boiling lasagna noodles that is a huge pain in the ass. They’re huge, you must not over cook them, you have to prevent them from sticking to each other after draining… I don’t know, maybe I’m just lazy, but the idea of using bread really caught my attention. Of course, I couldn’t find Lydia’s recipe to go from, so this version is totally made up by me. But not only do I want to credit her for general inspiration, she also has an Italian cooking show, so she gives my crazy bread lasagna some legitimacy. Maybe. Shhh.

The easiest thing to use is a loaf of pre-sliced, crusty sourdough. I know I recommend sourdough for everything, but really, it’s awesome in this dish. You want the favor, of course, but you also want a sturdy “artisan” type bread that won’t fall apart in the oven. This isn’t a job for sliced sandwich bread. It’s best with bread that is even perhaps a little stale. Look for a quality sliced loaf in the day old section of your grocer and save a buck or two.

You can put absolutely anything in this lasagna. I picked eggplants because I had three of them. I think they are lovely in this, so I recommend them, but really, stuff this with whatever you like or whatever is handy.

Rustic Bread & Eggplant Lasagna
Serves 9-12

3 Tbs Olive Oil
4-6 Cloves Garlic, minced (optional)
2 28 oz Cans Organic Tomatoes, blended
2 tsp Salt
4 tsp Dried Italian Herbs
Olive Oil, for drizzling
2-3 Medium Eggplants, peeled
8-10 Large Slices of Sourdough Bread
1 Cup Breadcrumbs (or 2 more pieces of bread for toasting and food processing)
1-2 Large, Ripe Tomatoes, fresh, for garnish
Basil, for garnish

In a very large skillet with high sides, or a sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Sweat the garlic for 1-2 minutes, then add tomatoes, salt, and herbs. Cook for 30 minutes (bubbling), stirring occasionally. Invert a mesh strainer over the top of the pan to prevent splatter, if desired.

Preheat oven to 400º F.

Meanwhile, prep two baking sheets with parchment paper. Peel the eggplants by slicing off the top and bottom and using the cut edge to start your vegetable peeler. Holding the eggplant vertically, cut the eggplants into 1/2 inch slices. Arrange in one layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle liberally with olive oil.

Bake eggplant for 30-40 minutes at 400º, turning once, until very, very soft and browned in some places.

Spray both sides of each slice of bread with spray oil and “grill” in a hot skillet until browned on both sides. You can also simply toast the bread, but I think you get more flavor with grilling.

In a large baking dish (a lasagna dish), spread 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce. Line the bottom of the dish with bread, filling as many as the gaps as possible without overlapping.

Place half of the eggplant on top of the bread, followed by another 1 to 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce.

Add a second layer of bread.

Add the second half of the eggplant, and all of the remaining sauce. Make sure that the bread is completely covered by sauce. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top.

Place fresh tomato slices on the top of the lasagna, sprinkled with salt and pepper.

Bake for 40 minutes at 400º F. Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes before cutting.

Top with basil leaves and drizzle sweet and thick balsamic vinegar (or balsamic syrup) on the plate if desired. Enjoy!

I never was a potato salad person. I’m not sure why. I think it’s partly because when someone else makes potato salad, you’re not exactly sure what’s in it, and it’s just this mass of white lumpy stuff. Plus, people tend to add raw onions to potato salad, which ruins it for me instantaneously.

I went to Whole Foods to look at all the pretty produce to get inspired and they had these teeny tiny new potatoes that were begging me to buy them. They were about the size of walnuts, red and yellow, and completely adorable. Yes, I totally buy food based on how adorable it is sometimes. Don’t tell anyone.

All of a sudden I knew I had to make potato salad, even though I’d never made it myself. So I asked my contacts on twitter how they liked their potato salad. I think I got 40 to 50 replies, and no consensus at all. Some people like creamy, other prefer a vinaigrette. Onions and celery ruin it for a good number of people, others can’t eat it without. The only generalization I could come up with is that people are only guaranteed to like the potato salad they make themselves, and that even one offensive ingredient can ruin the whole thing.

That’s comforting for party planning, isn’t it?

I decided to make two very simple potato salads (simple but totally tasty), one with a creamy dressing and one with a vinaigrette. That way you can each take the base recipe you prefer and then add all the pickles/celery/hot sauce/red pepper/tomatoes/onions/sweet potatoes/celery seed/relish you want!

Right next to the potatoes was a huge pile of (not so adorable) fava beans. I knew they’d make a great addition to one of the salads. They’re wonderfully green and nutty, but also fleeting! Grab them fast, because they’ll be gone before you know it. If you can’t find them, use shelled fresh edamame or shelled peas.

Fava beans do require a bit of prep work, so be forewarned. You need to shuck them, then blanch them, then remove them from their seed casings. It’s not hard work, but it does require you to set some time aside.

Potato Salad with Fava Beans
Serves 2-4

1 1/2 to 2 lbs New potatoes, halved
1 1/2 Lbs Fresh Fava Beans, or 3/4 cup Edamame or Peas

Dressing:
1/2 Cup Vegenaise Mayonnaise*
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
2 Tbs Fresh Herbs (I used parsley and marjoram)
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Fresh Black Pepper

*This brand is highly recommended. It’s the closest to non-vegan mayo I’ve found, by far.

Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing. Refrigerate it until ready to use.

Shuck the fava beans by “unzipping” them and breaking open the pods. Blanch the whitish-green beans in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes. Remove and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking. Use your nail to break open the seed cases and squeeze out the bright green bean. Set aside.

Boil the potatoes in well-salted water until tender but not falling apart. You can also cook them in a pressure cooker on the second ring for 4 minutes, using the natural-release method.

Let the potatoes cool, but not all the way. When the potatoes are still hot/warm, but cool enough to handle, mix them with the dressing and fava beans. Let sit for several minutes before serving to allow the flavors to blend, or refrigerate until ready to serve. I think it tastes the best at room temperature or slightly warm, so serving them shortly after preparing is best.

Potato Salad with Herbed Dijon Vinaigrette
Serves 2-4

1 1/2 to 2 lbs New potatoes, halved

Dressing:
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp White Wine Vinegar
1/2 tsp Fresh Black Pepper
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1/4 Packed Cup Parsley, chopped
1/8 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/4 tsp Sugar

Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing. A small blender like the magic bullet works well to help emulsify the dressing, but you can easily whisk it by hand. Set aside the dressing until ready to use.

Boil the potatoes in well-salted water until tender but not falling apart. You can also cook them in a pressure cooker on the second ring for 4 minutes, using the natural-release method.

Let the potatoes cool, but not all the way. When the potatoes are still hot/warm, but cool enough to handle, mix them with the dressing. Let sit for several minutes before serving to allow the flavors to blend, or refrigerate until ready to serve. I think it tastes best at room temperature or slightly warm, so serving them shortly after preparing is best.

For a little twist, you can reheat leftover vinaigrette potatoes under the broiler until crispy and heated through.

I first encountered daifuku at one of my favorite restaurants in Western Massachusetts, Fresh Side. In their deli case were these cute little white and green pillow-looking desserts, sitting behind a hand-written card that said: Mochi (vegan).

I ordered one and when I bit into it, it was such a surprise. First, the texture! It’s like a dense marshmallow, chewy and soft. Sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. Next, the filling. Beans. Beans? Beans. This particular mochi was fillied with a sweetened red bean paste, also called anko, and I think it was the first time I had ever had sweet beans. And it was really good!

Now, if I understand correctly, mochi is a catch-all term for a sweet dessert made with glutenous rice flour dough. It can be baked, wrapped around ice cream, eaten plain, or filled. Filled mochi, like the ones I’m blogging about today, are called daifuku.

Anko is one of the most common fillings, but many people also use berries. Strawberry filled ones are very popular in the spring, and they’re called ichigo daifuku. Whole raspberries also work, and sometimes people include a white sweetened bean paste (as opposed to red) known as shiroan.

Now what if I told you that I made these in the microwave?

I know!

Really.

I was skeptical, too. The microwave in my house is pretty much reserved for reheating leftovers. When I decided to make these, I was sort of shocked that all the recipes online called for nuking the dough. What’s more, they were pretty unclear about how to tell when you’re dough is ready. Microwaves seem to vary so much in power, 3 minutes in one microwave is very different than 3 minutes in another. But I decided to give it a go, and not only did it work, but it was really, really easy. If you are able to find pre-made red bean paste, you can make this whole recipe with only a microwave and just a few minutes.

So not only do you not need a kitchen for these (hello dorm-living vegans!), they’re also gluten free (hi celiacs!), soy free (hi soy…allergic lovelies!), fast (hi lazy people!), customizable (hi picky people!), and did I mention CUTE? Traditional colors are white, green, and pink, but food coloring isn’t required if it grosses you out. Matcha (green tea powder) is a natural and delicious flavoring that makes the mochi green.

Now the one thing you absolutely need, no substitutions, is mochiko. It’s glutenous rice flour, and no other flour will work for this. You can find it easily at any asian market.

Also make sure you have some cornstarch or potato starch handy, the dough is very sticky!

Daifuku
Makes 10-12 Filled Cakes

1 Cup Mochiko
1/4 Cup Sugar
2/3 Cup Water
2-3 Drops red or green food coloring, optional
Cornstarch or Potato Starch, for dusting

Filling Ideas
Anko (store bought or recipe below)
Strawberries
Raspberries

Anko
Makes enough for 3-4 batches of daifuku

1 14 oz Can Adzuki Beans
1/2 Cup Water
1 Cup Sugar
1 Tbs Vegetable Oil
1-2 Pinches Salt

Heat water and sugar separately until boiling and sugar is dissolved, turn off heat. Drain and rinse beans.

Add to a pan and mash. Add 1/3 cup of the simple syrup you just made, along with salt and vegetable oil, and mash over medium heat. Beans will thicken and become slightly glossy. Add more syrup if desired. Turn out into a bowl and let cool.

Making the Mochi

Add the mochiko, sugar, water, and food coloring (if using) to a microwave safe bowl. Stir well, making sure there are no lumps. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as best you can with a rubber spatula, otherwise they’ll get all gross when the dough is microwaved.

Cover lightly with plastic wrap and mircowave for 2 minutes. Remove bowl from the microwave and stir VERY well. Dough will be much thicker, but there should still be some raw parts underneath. I like to use a sturdy silicone spatula to mix the dough at this point. Place the dough back in the microwave for 1 more minute.

Open the door and peek–did the dough start sinking as soon as the door opened? If so, the dough was inflating while cooking, which means it’s ready. If not, microwave for 1 more minute and check again. You shouldn’t have to microwave for more than 4 minutes total (2 minutes initial cooking, 2 more additional minutes after mixing).

One the dough deflates when you open the door, remove the dough from the microwave and scrape it out onto a cornstarch-coated cutting board.

Pat the hot dough (be careful! It’s hot!) with cornstarch and flatten it out a little. Cut into 10-12 even pieces. Add 1 tsp of filling to each piece and gently press the edges together to seal.

Here’s the whole process in a little HD video for you to watch! No sound, so don’t worry about turning down the volume if you’re at work. The video starts right after I took the dough out of the mircowave and dumped it onto the cutting board.

Making Daifuku on Vimeo.

The best way to keep these fresh is to individually wrap them in plastic wrap and then refrigerate. If you leave them out, unwrapped, they’ll get dry and tough. Enjoy!

For those of you that want to try out the candied clementines but maybe don’t want to eat them whole (yes, you can eat the peel!), I offer you this lovely clementine bundt cake. It’s a more traditional dessert for sure, but I think more broadly appealing than the candied clementines.

I blended up the candied clementines I had leftover from the last post, and it became this gorgeous, thick, marmalade-like spread. I thought it would be absolutely perfect to flavor a bundt cake with, and I was right. I think I prefer the cake to the clementines alone!

This cake was so perfectly moist and fluffy, I nearly teared up when I had the first bite. It’s a wonderful combination of sweet, citrusy, and slightly bitter (in a good way) from the peel. The clementine flavored poured fondant is really the ideal topping. But don’t get scared off at the mention of poured fondant. It’s super easy. And it’s bakery quality icing. You have to try it!

You see, I like icing glazes, but it can be tricky to get the thickness right when you’re mixing powdered sugar with liquid. Too thin and it just soaks into the cake a disappears, too thick and it doesn’t pour at all. And there’s always that vague grainy mouth feel it leaves behind, thanks to the cornstarch in the powdered sugar. I thought if I cooked it a little bit the powdered sugar would dissolve and help thicken the sugar (same idea for your basic stir-fry sauce thickened with cornstarch!). But then I also remembered poured fondant.

I discovered poured fondant when I made petits fours. It’s a sugar-based icing that is heated until the “soft ball” stage, or 235-240º F. If you have a candy thermometer handy, use it, but it’s NOT necessary. Since we’re only making a small amount of icing, I can pretty much guarantee you that boiling the icing for 10-20 seconds will bring you to the soft ball stage. Easy.

The cool part about fondant? It sets, hard and glossy, when it cools. So once you’ve heated it enough, you whisk it off the heat until it starts to thicken and pour it over your cake. And like magic, it’ll harden and you’ll have totally perfect, totally professional-looking icing on your cake. The icing in the photos? Completely dry and set, even though it looks like it was just poured. And if it cools too much before you’re ready to ice, just re-heat it to thin.

Plus, it tastes amazing because I use fresh clementine juice for the liquid as opposed to water. Give it a try, I’m sure you’ll love it.

Candied Clementine Cake
Makes One Bundt Cake

1 1/2 Cup Candied Clementine Puree, around 5-8 clementines
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 1/4 Cup Soymilk, or other non-dairy milk
1/4 Cup Sugar
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
2 Fresh Clementines, for garnish

Clementine Poured Fondant
1 1/4 Cup Confectioner’s Sugar
3 Tbs Fresh Clementine Juice, or other citrus (about 3 clementines)

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Puree the clementines in a food processor until fairly smooth, but small bits of peel are desirable in my opinion!

Combine the clementine puree with the oil, soymilk, and sugar. Whisk until smooth.

Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in another bowl.

Grease a bundt pan with spray oil, vegan margarine like Earth Balance, or vegetable shortening. Scoop a few spoonfuls of the dry mixture into the greased bundt pan and turn the pan to coat the sides and center spike. Rap the pan against the counter to loosen any extra flour and pour it back into the dry mixture.

Fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture until combined. Pour the batter into prepared bundt pan. It’s okay if it’s a little thick.

Bake at 350º F for 45-50 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool upside-down on a large plate. After a few minutes the cake should drop out of the pan onto the plate in one piece, assuming you didn’t miss any spots when greasing and dusting with flour. Let cake cool completely before icing.

Clementine Poured Fondant

Whisk powdered sugar with 3 Tbs of clementine juice. Add to a small sauce pan and bring to a rolling boil for 10-20 seconds, or until it reaches the soft-ball stage (235-240º F).

Remove from heat and whisk constantly until it starts to thicken. At first, the icing will be a glossy yellow (similar to egg yolks), and it will gradually thicken and become lighter as it cools. You want to pour it over the cake when it’s very clearly thickened, but not too cool (i.e. thick) to pour. If the icing becomes too thick, simply reheat and start again.

Dust the cake with powdered sugar to finish, and garnish with fresh clementine segments.

This is a super cute dessert idea for winter-themed parties, and it isn’t much harder than making and frosting cupcakes. If you have a sharp knife, some toothpicks, a piping bag and a star tip, you’re good to go. It’s even more fun to make than it is to look at, or eat!

All I did was bake some cupcakes, cut them into cone shapes, stack them (secured with toothpicks) and then frosted them in such a way so that they looked like pine trees. Powdered sugar adds a little snow. At first I was bummed that my powdered sugar had so many HUGE lumps in it, until I realized they looked like little snow boulders. Score! You could get really creative and make little marzipan pine cones, or birds, or squirrels… you get the idea. Why not make a sweet little forest for your friends and family to devour?

Oh man, I just realized I could have built an igloo out of sugar cubes. Next time, I guess!

I used gel food coloring, both green and blue mixed together to get the shade right. Using only green was too light and minty for what I was going for – so make sure you have some blue on hand to darken it up. But there’s no reason your trees need to be green. White trees would be stunning on a darker plate, or other non-standard colors like pink or brown to play up their cutesy, cartoony look.

Basic Sponge Cake
Makes 15 cupcakes (a few extra for practicing)

1 1/3 Cups Soymilk mixed with 1 tsp Apple Cider vinegar
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 Tbs Cornstarch
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Almond Extract

Preheat oven to 375º F.

Mix soymilk and vinegar. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch and salt and mix well. Add oil and extracts to soymilk mixture and whisk. Add wet to dry and fold until just combined. Fill each lined, sprayed cupcake mold with 1/4 cup batter. Bake cupcakes at 375º F for 20 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool completely.

Frosting
Enough for 5-7 trees

1/2 Cup Earth Balance Margarine
1/2 Cup Non-hydrogenated Shortening
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
About 3 Cups Powered Sugar, sifted, more if needed
Food Coloring (green and blue for standard trees)

In a stand mixer, whip margarine and shortening until light and fluffy. Whip in extract. Slowly whip in powdered sugar until icing is fairly stiff. Add coloring bit-by-bit until desired color is reached. Transfer icing to a piping bag fitted it a small/standard sized star tip

Creating the Trees

Bake the cupcakes!

Unwrap the cupcakes and turn them upside-down. With a knife, carve the cupcake into a cone. If needed, flatten the base so the cupcake cone sits without wobbling.

Stack the cupcakes to make basic tree shapes. Three high for tall trees, two high for short trees. Secure with toothpicks. You may want t make the base of your trees squatty so that they help the tree stand.

Create your forest!

Begin icing your trees. If you don’t have a revolving cake platter to ice on, use a small cutting board that you can easily turn as you work. Start from the bottom and ice around and around up towards the top. Use long-ish strokes that end in an upward sweep to create branches. You can go back and fill in holes or weird spots later.

Finish off with shorter, horizontal or upward pointing branches, and then one directly on top pointing straight up. Take a look at your tree and add branches where needed.

Use a spatula to gently and carefully transfer the trees to your serving plate. Add lumps of powdered sugar if you have them, and anything else to finish up the forest scene. Sprinkle with powdered sugar to add snow to the trees.

Happy winter!

I love snickerdoodles. Plain sugar cookies just don’t do it for me, but roll them in a little cinnamon-sugar and I’m sold. (Roll nearly anything in cinnamon sugar and I’m sold.)

This is a cookie that preforms beautifully when veganized. If you have a family recipe you use, I can almost guarantee you that all you need to do is sub Earth Balance Margarine for butter and Ener-g G Egg Replacer for eggs and you’ll be set. Here is a recipe I made after checking out several different snickerdoodle recipes. It’s fast, easy, and pretty near failproof. In fact, stick some ribbon on them and you have an instant holiday gift!

One thing you should know, that I just found out today. The temperature of the cookie dough as it goes in the oven determines the shape and overall look of the cookies. If you want cookies that are pillowy and show a lot of cracks and texture, the dough needs to be pretty cold as it goes into the oven. If you like thinner, more even-looking cookies, let the dough warm up a little before baking.

If the dough is cold, the cookies don’t have much time to warm up and flatten out before the outside of the cookie bakes and prevents further expansion. If it’s already a little warm, the cookies will expand and spread (and flatten) in the first few minutes of cooking. The pictures above are cookies baked when the dough was cold. The photo to the left was made with warmer-dough.

These cookies are a snap if you make them in a stand-mixer, but only take slightly more elbow grease if you’re doing them by hand. And they ship beautifully.

Snickerdoodles
Makes about 18 Cookies

1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Earth Balance
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Prepared Ener-g Egg-Replacer Egg
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
1/4 tsp Baking Soda

Cinnamon Sugar, for rolling

Cream sugar, Earth Balance, and vanilla extract together. Prepare the Ener-G Egg by following the package instructions (1 1/2 tsp powder whisked with 2 Tbs hot water until foamy), and add it to the Earth Balance and sugar mixture. Whip (or whisk) it all up until it’s light a fluffy, like so:

Whisk the dry ingredients together. Add 2/3 of the dry ingredients to the whipped mixture and whip until combined. Add in the remaining flour and mix by hand. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375º F.

When the dough is chilled, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a #40 ice cream scoop, make balls of dough (each ball will be made with 2 Tbs of dough, if you don’t have a #40 scoop). Roll each ball in cinnamon sugar.

Now time to squish them! Using a fork (or whatever you want), squish the dough out into cookie shapes.

Bake at 375º F for 10 minutes for chewy cookies, 12 minutes for crunchy. Remove from oven and let sit for 30 seconds. They’ll be very soft when they come out of the oven, but that’s just fine! Gently remove cookies from the baking sheet and let cool for a few minutes on a wire rack before serving.

These are especially good with soy nog. Just saying.

Like a lot of people, I usually travel for Thanksgiving instead of hosting myself. This year, however, I’m able to create a full Thanksgiving dinner. I decided to do it a few days early in case any of you are still looking for some ideas for your own holiday meals.

I was really inspired by Vegan Menu’s Seitan Roulade and decided to take my own stab at it. It seemed like the perfect centerpiece. My recipe is very different than his, but if you’re looking for another filling idea, definitely check out his post!

The seitan in this recipe is easily made from vital wheat gluten. It’s wraped around a delicious, homemade herbed chestnut stuffing and then baked. I served it with fresh tangerine cranberry sauce, broiled green beans with slow roasted tomatoes, and fluffy mashed potatoes. Not pictured is a lovely mushroom gravy made with fresh vegetable broth.

You did all make your own vegetable broth, right?

The majority of this meal can be prepared in advance, so if you have the day before Thanksgiving to start cooking, your meal will be well under control by the time you wake up on Thanksgiving morning. Less time in the kitchen means more time celebrating with your loved ones! I’ve included a game-plan at the end of this post so you have an idea of exactly what you can do in advance.

To save even more time, stop by Trader Joes and pick up a box of their already prepared steamed and shelled chestnuts, packed in an airtight bag–not canned! This will save a ton of prep work and roasting time. I haven’t seen these available in any other store, but if you have any tips, do let me know in the comments. Prepping them from scratch works, too.

Alright, there are a lot of recipes to get to, so let’s get started!

Edit Dec. 2008: The seitan part of the roulade apparently sucks! It worked fine for me, but lots of readers are having trouble with it. Until I revise the recipe, beware! Make it at your own risk! :)

A YumYum Thanksgiving
Serves 8

Seitan Roulade with Chestnut Stuffing

Seitan
2 Cups Vital Wheat Gluten, (1 box of Arrowhead Mills brand)
1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast
1/2 tsp Salt
2 1/3 Cups Warm Vegetable Broth

Mix gluten, yeast, and salt in a large bowl until well combined. Add the vegetable stock and gently mix with your hands until all of the dry mixture is moistened. You should have a soft, squishy, wet dough. Knead a few times, and agitate the dough by squeezing and pressing it.

Dump the dough out onto a large cutting board and use your fingers to press it out to a 12×18″ rectangle. If the dough is too springy, let rest for 15 minutes before rolling it out. Cut the dough into quarters:

Heat a large, non-stick skillet over high heat with some olive oil. Briefly pan-fry the seitan pieces until just barely golden brown on both sides. This gives color, flavor, and kick-starts the cooking process so your pieces will be easier to handle.

Set aside until you’re ready to roll up the roulades. Make the stuffing.

Chestnut Stuffing

2 Tbs Olive Oil
2-3 Shallots, chopped finely
10 Cremini Mushrooms, chopped (1 cup after chopping)
2 Ribs Celery, chopped
1 Box Trader Joes Prepared Chestnuts (about 1 1/4 cups, chopped)
7 Fresh Sage Leaves, chopped
2 Thyme Sprigs, leaves only
1 Tbs Fresh Chopped Marjoram
5 Cups Cubed Bread, (for homemade, see note)
1/2 to 1 Cup Warm Vegetable Broth
Salt
Pepper

Note: If making your own bread, take 1/2 of a 1 pound loaf of sourdough and slice into cubes. I leave the crust on! Spread out the bread on a baking sheet and bake at 300º F for 30 minutes, tossing half-way through.

In a large, deep skillet, heat oil and saute shallots until beginning to color. Add mushrooms and carrots and cook until softened. Add herbs and chestnuts. Add bread and toss. Add broth 1/2 cup at a time until stuffing is softened but not overly soggy. Season with salt and pepper. If not using for roulades, place stuffing in an oiled casserole dish and bake at 350º for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown on top. If using for roulades, set aside to cool.

Place stuffing on top of a piece of seitan, covering the whole surface. Roll up the seitan, stretching it to make as tight a roll as possible. Let the roll rest on the seam.

With kitchen twine or any cotton string you have, tie up the roulade so that it doesn’t unroll:

Repeat for the three other sheets of seitan. Place the tied roulades on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Lightly brush with olive oil. Bake at 350º for 30-40 minutes, turning half-way through, until golden brown.

Let rest 5-10 minutes before slicing. Remove strings before serving!

Broiled Haricots Verts with Slow Roasted Tomatoes

Slow Roasted Tomatoes
2-3 Pints Grape Tomatoes
Oil
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 350º F. Coat tomatoes in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Bake for 40-60 minutes until very soft and beginning to color. Can be made a day in advance.

Broiled Green Beans
16 oz Haricots Verts (or regular green beans)
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
1 Pinch Sugar

Coat green beans in oil, and season with salt, pepper, and sugar. Place them on a baking sheet covered in foil.

Broil beans (just a few inches from the heating element of your oven) for 4-6 minutes or until softened and slightly browned. Toss with warm slow-roasted tomatoes and serve.

Mushroom Gravy

2 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Cup Chopped Cremini Mushrooms (measured after chopping)
1 Pinch Salt
2 Fresh Sage Leaves, chopped
1 Stem Fresh Thyme, leaves only
1 tsp White Wine Vinegar
Black Pepper
3 Tbs Earth Balance Margarine
3 Tbs Flour
1 Cup Vegetable Broth
Soymilk, for thinning

Heat oil in a large skillet and add mushrooms, salt, and herbs. Cook for 4-5 minutes until softened and add vinegar. Stir well. Add a few grinds fresh black pepper and remove mushrooms from pan. Don’t clean out the pan! Turn the head down to low. Add margarine and flour and whisk until a paste (or roux) forms. Slowly add vegetable broth, whisking all the time, until mixture is smooth. Turn the heat back up and whisk until the mixture thickens into a gravy. Add soymilk in small splashes if gravy becomes too thick. Season with salt and more pepper to taste.

Tangerine Cranberry Sauce

1 16 oz Bag Fresh or Frozen Cranberries
1 Cup Water
1 Cup Sugar
Juice from 1 Tangerine (about 1/3 cup)
Zest from 1 Tangerine

Heat all the above ingredients over medium high heat in a sauce pan. Stir occasionally.

The cranberries will pop, and after 10-15 minutes of cooking the sauce will thicken and no longer be watery. Refrigerate and serve when needed. Garnish with fresh slices of tangerine if desired.

I also served fluffy mashed potatoes, but I figured you probably don’t need a recipe for that. However, I can say that making mashed potatoes in a pressure cooker is my favorite way to prepare them. Since the potatoes are not submersed in water, they are extra light and fluffy. And they cook so fast, too! If you have a pressure cooker, dig it out to make your potatoes this year. You won’t be sorry.

Here’s how you can save time by preparing parts of this meal ahead of time:

Anytime before:
-Make vegetable stock, refrigerate for 1 week or freeze

One or Two Days Before:
-Make bread cubes for stuffing
-Make seitan, roll it out, pan fry it
-Make the stuffing
-Roll up the roulades, cover in plastic wrap, refrigerate
-Make the cranberry sauce
-Slow roast the tomatoes

The Day Of:
-Bake the roulades (40 Minutes)
-Broil the green beans (4-6 minutes)
-Make the gravy (10-15 minutes)
-Make the mashed potatoes (15-20 Minutes)

So yeah! That’s what I’m having for Thanksgiving this year. What are you having?

It is absolutely that time of year again.

I can’t say I’ve ever really been a huge fan of green bean casseroles. I think canned beans has a lot to do with that, along with the whole, you know, not vegan thing. I got some beautiful organic green beans in my veggie box yesterday, and I figured I’d do an updated, fresh, vegan green bean casserole.

But it’s been done. And done right. By the ever-brilliant Susan of FatFree Vegan Kitchen. Check it out! Fresh beans and a homemade gravy; there’s nothing canned about it.

So Susan had scooped me by about two years. What was I going to make? Well, I realized that since I didn’t really like green bean casseroles all that much to begin with, why make a casserole at all? And why not make the fried onions from scratch? And leave the gorgeous beans whole and beautiful?

If you like green bean casseroles, by all means, go over to Susan’s blog and make that one! It’s the one I would make, and it’d probably be the first green bean casserole I’d like. If you’re up for it, use the homemade fried onions from here to top it off. I know people love French’s, but homemade ones don’t have hydrogenated oil, TBHQ, or propylene glycol in them. And you can make them ahead of time, too!

If you don’t like casseroles all that much, but do like fresh beans, fried onions, and mushroom gravy, then give this a shot. It makes a beautiful starter or side dish.

Deconstructed Green Bean Casserole
Serves 8

Fried Onions
2 Medium Onions, sliced thinly
2+ Cups Soymik (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
All-Purpose Flour (or your fav. gluten-free blend!)
Oil for frying
Salt

Mushroom Celery Gravy
1 Tbs Olive Oil
2 Cups Sliced Mushrooms
2 Ribs Celery, diced
1 pinch Salt
4 Tbs Earth Balance Margarine
4 Tbs Flour
1 to 1 1/2 Cups Soymilk*
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Thyme
Black Pepper

1lb Fresh Green Beans
Scallions, for tying
Pepper, for garnish

*I thought it would be really smart to use the soymilk I soaked the onions in to make the gravy. It wasn’t. It gave the gravy an overwhelmingly raw-onion taste, and ruined it for me. Unless you really, really like onions, I suggest using fresh soymilk for the gravy.

Fried Onions
Begin by making the fried onions. Cut the ends off the onions, peel them, and slice them in half lengthwise. Slice them thinly into half-moons. Try to keep your slices all the same width so that the onions cook evenly.

Soak the onions in 2+ cups soymilk for at least 10 minutes. Heat oil over medium heat in a wok or other pot to a depth of 1-2 inches. I’ve found that I can use less oil to fry in a wok; since the sides are curved the oil pools in the middle.

Grab a handful of onions from the soymilk, shake them off a little, and place them in a bowl. Coat with flour completely, tossing with two forks to keep your hands clean. Use enough flour so that they’re not soggy.

Test the oil by putting one onion in, if it bubbles up, it’s ready. Guard against the oil being too hot – it should take 7-9 minutes before the onions start to turn golden brown!

Fry for 7-9 minutes a batch, turning occasionally, until the onions are very crispy and caramelized. The onions themselves should be a very rich golden brown, beautifully caramelized, and the breading a light golden brown. Drain on a paper towel or cloth, and sprinkle with salt to season.

If making ahead, store in an airtight container until ready for use.

Green Beans
Next, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Blanch the green beans for 1-2 minutes, or until tender crisp but still bright green. Shock in an ice bath to stop the cooking, drain and set aside.

Gravy
In a skillet, saute sliced mushrooms and celery in 1 Tbs of oilve oil until tender and fragrant. Season with a pinch of salt. Remove to a bowl and add earth balance margarine to the same pan over low heat (don’t bother to clean it out!). Once melted, add flour and whisk well to create a roux. Slowly add in the soymilk while whisking, turn the heat up, and whisk while it thickens to form a smooth sauce. Add thyme and salt to taste, adjusting the thickness by adding more soymilk if needed. Stir the mushrooms and celery in.

Serving
Slice the chives in half, lengthwise, and use them to tie up little bundles of green beans. You can reheat the green beans before serving by placing in a low oven or quickly steaming.

To serve, place a few spoonfuls of gravy on a dish, and place the bean bundle on top. Sprinkle with fried onions and grind fresh pepper over everything. Enjoy!

My idea for a Halloween post just wasn’t working out. Good thing I have another holiday to cook for.

Happy Diwali!

Diwali is a major Indian holiday, a festival of light. There are lots of tasty dishes people make for Diwali, usually always vegetarian. And like all holidays, there are all sorts of appropriate sweets and desserts you can make. Here’s a really easy one, and you probably have all the ingredients you need already.

I got the idea for this from Saffron Hut, so the base recipe comes from there. I added a pinch of salt to balance the sweet, as well as some cardamom because it’s not only delicious, but traditional.

Kaju Katli (cashew diamonds) is sort of a cross between marzipan and brittle. It has the sweet, chewy-ness of marzipan with the rich, creamy taste of brittle. A lot of times it’s decorated with some edible silver leaf, but I didn’t have any (nor do I have the faintest idea where to get some!). Instead I used cardamom pods, some pretty colored sugar, and a nice anise star.

It’s simple, quick, and delicious. A perfect way to celebrate Diwali, or just try out a new sweet treat!

Kaju Katli
Makes 20-30 Diamonds

1 Cup Cashews, raw and unsalted
4 Cardamom pods, seeds removed and crushed (optional)
1 Pinch Salt
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Water

Grind the cashews into as fine a powder as you can. You can try your coffee grinder; shake it or rap it against the counter to keep the cashews from gumming up the blade. You can also try a blender, a food processor, or a mortar and pestle.

Mix cardamom powder, salt, and cashews together. Heat water and sugar in a pot until boiling. Add cashews and stir well with a rubber spatula. Cook for abut 5 minutes until the mixture thickens. You can tell it’s ready when it a dribble of it on a cool plate forms a soft ball.

Pour out the mixture onto lightly oiled aluminum foil. A lot of directions I read say you should let the mixture cool and then knead until glassy. The rill out to 1/4″ thick and slice into diamonds. I cooked mine a little too long, so it set up firmer than it should have. I just cut it after it cooled (instead of kneading it and rolling it out) and that worked fine, but I think the textured suffered a little.

Store in an airtight container in layers separated by parchment paper.

Have a great Diwali!

And pssst! I’ve won the 2008 VegNews Veggie Award for best blog of 2008! Thank you to everyone who voted for me. You can find me in the November edition of VegNews Magazine. Yippee!