Posts tagged ‘fall’

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November 6th, 2011

Chocolate Almond Butter Dip or Sauce

Well it looks like I needed a bit of a blogging break after Vegan MoFo since I haven’t posted in a week! It was a busy week and I really didn’t cook much. But I’m back with a marvelously fast and easy recipe!

We stalked up on Honey Crisp apples at the last farmer’s market of the season and, despite eating them like mad over the past week, we still have a crisper full of them. One of my favorite snacks is a sliced up apple with almond butter. The problem is that I can eat close to a ¼ cup of almond butter with an apple. And, although almond butter is healthy, ¼ cup is way too much for a snack! I remembered seeing a recipe for an almond butter dip that was thinned down with almond milk over at Oh She Glows which inspired me to make a chocolate version. The result is super rich and creamy, I think I actually like the texture of this more than almond butter on its own.

Chocolate Almond Butter Dip or Sauce

1 tbs + 1 tsp cocoa powder ( I used raw cocoa powder)
1 tbs maple syrup
½ cup almond milk
½ cup almond butter

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, maple syrup and almond milk until combined – this may take a minute or two. Add the almond butter and whisk until combined.

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October 25th, 2011

Vegan MoFo: Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

I attempted to work from home today but I ended up doing what I always do when I work from home. Baking. Hence, here is a recipe for some Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins based on the Cranberry Walnut Pumpkin Muffins that I made a few weeks ago. I love these muffins because they’re whole grain, low in sugar and fat but still super moist and delicious!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins (Whole grain and low fat)

2 cups spelt flour

½ tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp allspice

pinch salt

1 tbs ground flax

1 cup almond milk

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1/3 cup maple syrup

2 tbs oil

1 tsp vanilla

½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

½ to ¾ cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl (except the flax). In another bowl, mix together the soy milk and the ground flax seed. Let the soy milk/flax mixture sit for 5 minutes then add the pumpkin, maple syrup, oil and vanilla. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips. Spoon into a muffin pan that has either been greased or lined. Bake at 350 F for 26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

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October 23rd, 2011

Vegan MoFo: Fall Inspired Vegan Brunch

I had some good friends over for brunch this afternoon. Even though I’ve been dying to try making banana coconut french toast, I decided to do a fall themed brunch showcasing some amazing local and organic produce. It’s shortly after 5pm as I write this and I’m still stuffed, so I think I may have over done it! It was impossible not to, all the food was so good! Here’s what I served.

Pumpkin French Toast from the PPK – I made this recipe a few weeks ago and it turned out so good that I decided to make it again! I just keep them warm in the oven until they were all cooked.

Maple Cranberry Topping for the french toast – I combined 1 cup french cranberries with ½ cup maple syrup and ½ cup water along with 2 cinnamon sticks and boiled over medium low heat for 15-20 minutes. This went really well with the pumpkin french toast!

Smokey Maple Breakfast Sausages – I made this recipe from the PPK and made 12 small sausages instead of four large ones. Then I fried them in a tablespoon of Earth Balance just before serving. I think these were the best vegan sausages I’ve made yet. Even the omnivores liked them!

Scrambled Tofu with Peppers and Spinach – I always use this recipe from Bittersweet Vegan and use bell peppers instead of the mushrooms and zucchini.

Baked Home Fries – Simply chopped potatoes tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika then baked at 400 F for 50 minutes.

Lemon Cranberry Scones – I used the basic scone recipe in The Complete Vegan Kitchen and added ⅓ cup dried cranberries and 1 tsp zested lemon. The trick to great scones is to cut the Earth Balance into cubes and chill it in the freezer for 20 minutes.

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October 21st, 2011

Vegan MoFo: Pumpkin Black Bean Enchiladas (and Pumpkin Coffee Cake!)

So I had another random squash hanging out that needed to be used up. I got this one in my CSA even before the giant Candy Roaster squash. I had noticed last week that it was starting to get a bad spot so the clock was ticking. Apparently this one was a Potimarron squash. According to my CSA this is “a famous winter squash from France. The name is derived from potiron (pumpkin) and marron (chestnut) – very aromatic and chestnut-like in taste.”

This is a Potimarron Squash. Picture from: http://chezpim.com/cook/soupe_de_potima

It was also a good friend’s birthday yesterday and I wanted to invite her over for dinner. I had been planning on making the pumpkin black bean casserole from fat free vegan but since I was going to have company I wanted to make something a bit fancier. She’s a big fan of Mexican food so I decided on pumpkin black bean enchiladas. There are a lot of recipes out there for sweet potato black bean enchiladas, I used this one and this one for inspiration. I just used salsa since I had some on hand but you could definitely use canned or home made enchilada sauce instead.

We all really enjoyed these and I’m happy to have found another main dish recipe for winter squash!

Pumpkin Black Bean Enchiladas

It's really hard to get a good picture of the inside of an enchilada...

And since I had 1 cup of left over pumpkin, and no birthday dinner is complete without dessert, I also made this Pumpkin Coffee Cake from Peas and Thank You. I didn’t bother with the icing since I don’t keep vegan cream cheese on hand and it was still great.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake - recipe from Peas and Thank You

Pumpkin Black Bean Enchiladas


1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs chilli powder
1 tsp cumin
2 cups cooked black beans
2 cups cooked roasted pumpkin or other winter squash
½ cup water or vegetable broth
juice of ½ a lime
salt and pepper
2 cups salsa
6-8 large flour tortillas
½ cup cheddar Daiya
Vegan sour cream for serving

Preheat oven to 350 F. Heat 1 tbs of oil or water in a sauce pan and saute the onion, garlic, bell pepper and jalapeno until soft, approximately 7-10 minutes. Stir in the spices, beans and pumpkin. Add water or broth until it reaches a thick creamy consistency that you can stir easily. Add the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. If you want a little more spices, add some cayenne pepper. Spread 1 cup of salsa in the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch glass pan. On a flat surface, lay out one tortilla, fill with filling, roll up and place in the glass pan with the fold facing down. Repeat with remaining tortillas until you run out of filling or you run out of room. I made mine quite large so I only used 6 tortillas. Top the tortillas with the remaining cup of salsa and Daiya cheese. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes until cheese is melted and salsa is bubbling.

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October 20th, 2011

Vegan MoFo: White Bean Potato Leek Soup

Potato leek soup is one of my all time favorites. And, incidentally, one of my biggest cooking disasters. The first time I tried to make it, I was very new to cooking and had never used leeks before. I assumed they were like green onions – you use the green parts and discard the white part. I ended up with this incredibly thick and fibrous inedible mush. It wasn’t until years later that I realized you only use the white part of leeks!

Anyways, back to the soup. I like my soup to be the main event, not a mere side dish. So it needs to be hearty and filling and have some protein. The problem with traditional potato leek soup is that it’s not very filling and basically just carbs. Enter white beans. I decided to try adding white beans to the soup to make it a complete meal. I wasn’t sure it would work. The beans could have overwhelmed the delicate potato leek flavor. Dave was certainly not happy when he found out I had stuck beans in his favorite soup. But we were both pleasantly surprised. The result was super rich and creamy and the beans didn’t compromise the potato leek flavor at all. This will be our new go-to potato leek soup recipe.

Potato Leek Soup

1 tbs olive oil (or water)
1 bunch leeks (3 large leeks) – white parts only!!
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 lbs potatoes, diced
5 cups water
½ tsp dried thyme
2 cups cooked cannellini beans
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
salt and fresh pepper

Slice the white part of the leeks and rinse them very well in a strainer. Heat the oil or water in a soup pot, add the leeks and saute until soft (5-7 minutes). Add the minced garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Add the diced potato, water and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the potato can be easily pierced with a fork. Add the beans and puree with a hand blender until smooth (I like to leave some texture). Add almond milk until you reach your desired consistency. I added 2 cups and it was still quite thick. Add salt and pepper liberally to taste.

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October 14th, 2011

Vegan MoFo: Generic Roasted Root Vegetable Soup

Sorry for not posting yesterday. I came down with a bad flu on Wednesday evening and I barely got off the couch yesterday. Thankfully, I’m feeling much better today!

I’ve had some turnips and parsnips from my CSA hiding in the back of my fridge for weeks now. I’m not a huge fan of either so they always end up languishing in my fridge because I don’t know what to do with them. Thankfully, they stay good for a long time. I finally decided to use them in a simple roasted root vegetable soup hoping that roasting them would take the edge off their bitterness. I also added some potatoes and carrots to balance out the stronger flavour of the turnips, and some shallots and garlic for extra yumminess. This is more of a method than a recipe. You can use any type and quantity of root vegetables.

Generic Roasted Root Vegetable Soup

1. Cut up your vegetables into consistent size chunks – about half an inch. Place them on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Toss with 1-2 tbs olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper or Herbamare. (I used 5 turnips, 2 parsnips, 1 lb potatoes and 3 carrots).

2. Bake in a 400 F oven for 40-50 minutes or until the vegetables can be pierced with a fork.

3. Heat up some vegetable broth in a pot – as much as you think is necessary to cover the vegetables, I used 5 cups. Add the roasted vegetables to the broth and puree with a hand blender until mostly smooth (I like to leave some texture). Taste and season with additional salt and pepper.

This soup was surprisingly delicious, even though we didn’t like most of the vegetables that were in it! Unfortunately I didn’t take a pic of the final product.

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October 12th, 2011

Vegan MoFo: Baked Pumpkin Ziti


I still had some ‘pumpkin’ to use up from my giant candy roaster squash as well as some left over stale bread from making French toast, so I made the Baked Pumpkin Ziti from Vegannomicon. I mostly followed the recipe but I reduced the amount of oil and margarine substantially. The original recipe has 9 tablespoons of added oil and margarine (in addition to the naturally occurring fat in the cashews and walnuts). I reduced this to 2 tablespoons and the result was still incredibly delicious! I used 1 tbs of oil for the caramelized onions, didn’t add any oil to the ricotta and used 1 tbs of Earth Balance for the Sage Breadcrumb topping. This is definitely a dish that is fancy enough to make for company. And it makes a ton!

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October 11th, 2011

Vegan MoFo: Perfect Pumpkin Muffins with Cranberries and Walnuts

I’ve been looking for a great pumpkin muffin recipe for a while now. Most of the recipes out there are loaded with sugar and white flour, but I like my muffin recipes to be fairly healthy – whole grains, low in sugar and oil. I decided to try and make a recipe using Dreena Burton’s Pumpkin Raisin Loaf as a starting point. I love how healthy her baking recipes are! I decided to add fresh cranberries and walnuts to make these muffins extra delicious.

This is also my recipe featuring cranberries for the Sweet or Savory Kitchen Challenge over at Diet Dessert and Dogs and Affairs of Living.


Cranberry Walnut Pumpkin Muffins (Whole grain and low fat)
2 cups whole spelt flour
¼ cup unrefined sugar
½ tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
pinch salt
1 tbs ground flax seeds
1 cup almond milk
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tbs oil
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup chopped walnuts
1 cup fresh cranberries

Topping – 2 tbs unrefined sugar mixed with ½ tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl (except the flax). In another bowl, mix together the soy milk and the ground flax seed. Let the soy milk/flax mixture sit for 5 minutes then add the pumpkin, maple syrup, oil and vanilla. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the walnuts and cranberries. Spoon into a muffin pan that has either been greased or lined. Combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle over muffins. Bake at 350 F for 26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

You can use sweetened dried cranberries instead of fresh but omit the sugar topping or they will be too sweet.

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October 9th, 2011

Vegan MoFo: Pumpkin Pie Brownies

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to everyone in Canada!

I received a giant squash in my CSA basket last week.


It’s called a Candy Roaster squash and apparently it is supposed to make a better pumpkin pie than pumpkin. I roasted it and got over 8 cups of puree out of it! I’m not even a huge pumpkin fan but this squash was delicous! It was hard to stop eating it by the spoonful. The first thing I decided to make with this bounty was the Pumpkin Pie Brownies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I baked them in an 8 inch square pan. I baked them for an extra 10 minutes and the pumpkin layer was still not firm in the centre. I took them out since I didn’t want to over cook the brownie layer. They firmed up a little in the fridge but still not as much as I was expecting. They were still delicious though. The brownie layer is amazing and incredibly dense and fudgy. Where the pumpkin layer didn’t firm all the way it just tasted like pumpkin frosting which still works!

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August 30th, 2011

Cooking in Bulk and (one of) My All Time Fav Recipes


Sweet Potato Lentil Chili!

This is truly one of my favorite recipes. It’s by Dreena Burton (my fav vegan cook book author) and I haven’t felt the need to alter the recipe one bit. I actually just finished making about 5 ½ litres of this stuff. I’m going to a baby shower this weekend and the momma-to-be wanted some freezable food for when the baby arrives. This is exactly the occasion I turn to this tried and true recipe. I’ve made this recipe for many omnivores and it is always a hit. This is my go to recipe when making dinner for a crowd or when I’m making meals to deliver for a friend. This would be a great starter recipe for someone who is just starting to make plant based meals. Lucky for you guys, Dreena has shared this recipe with VegNews and it’s available online. Here are some reasons why I LOVE this recipe:

  • it’s super easy to make
  • you can make it ahead
  • it freezes well
  • you can double it
  • with sweet potatoes, lentils and beans, it is very hardy and healthy
  • it’s always a crowd pleaser, even when serving omnivores

Things are getting pretty busy around my house. My partner Dave is running in the Ontario provincial election for the Green Party and the election period officially starts in 8 days (ahh!). Generally during times of super busyness and stress we end up eating out a lot more and eating way less healthy. But, I’m determined to not let that happen this time! So expect a lot of tips on eating healthy during busy times over the coming weeks. The first tip is – never make a single batch of anything!! It only takes a tiny bit more time double a recipe and you end up with twice as much healthy food. This is how I ended up with 5 ½ litres of this chili. I’ll probably give 2 litres to the momma-to-be which means I still have around 6 meals worth of chili left for us. I know this recipe freezes well so I’ll pop them in the freezer for when we need a healthy meal and have no time to cook.

I’m working on a long post all about how to make the switch to natural and cruelty free bath products so look out for that next week!

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