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Mixed Berry Protein Breakfast Cakes

January 9, 2012 by Erin

Alright everyone, I love you but let us keep this short and sweet. I’m exactly half way through Catching Fire, book 2 in the Hunger Games trilogy, and every second I take writing this is time I could be using to read about Katniss and the oh-so-perfect Peeta. (even though I already know what happens!!)

One of the things I have really strived for since going vegan and revamping my diet is getting rid of cereal. I was majorly addicted to the convenience of cereal and would often have it for breakfast and occasionally dinner. yeah…sort of missing out on a few food groups when you do that!

So I’ve had to find new breakfast foods, which I find a lot harder then new lunches or dinners. Second only to the green monstah (which I’m still uber addicted to!), I think this has been my favorite new breakfast. It’s one of those unfortunate recipes that has a lot of really odd ingredients but it comes together pretty easily once you have everything.

Though, all I can think of as I post this is, I had a lot of people scoff at the Green Monstah smoothie (Major kudos to Aubrey for giving it a shot and letting me know she enjoyed it!! ), I can’t even imagine how people are going to react to hemp protein powder…

Mixed Berry Protein Breakfast Cake Parfaits
adapted from Healthful Pursuit
serving: 1 cake

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup Egg Replacer egg whites
  • 2 tbsp hemp protein powder
  • 1 tbsp coconut flour
  • 1 tsp melted coconut oil (you can also use 1 TBSP of coconut butter but I couldn’t find it anywhere)
  • 1 tbsp apple sauce
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 5-10 drops liquid  stevia – I used 10
  • 1/4 cup frozen berries (you can also use fresh but I used frozen in the cake and fresh on the side)
  • 1/2 container of vanilla non-dairy yogurt (I used So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk yogurt. super yummy)
  • handful of fresh mixed berries

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375F.
  2. Combine all ingredients but berries in a small bowl and mix until fully incorporated.
  3. Stir in berries.
  4. Put mixture into one cup of a muffin tin.
  5. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 25-28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  6. Serve with the yogurt and fresh berries (I like to crumble up the cake and mix it in with the yogurt and the berries to form a mushy bowl of deliciousness)
So, this recipe doesn’t originally suggest serving it with yogurt and berries but I found the cake really hard to eat alone. It just has a very unusual flavor with the hemp protein powder and the stevia that I wasn’t used to. It also wasn’t terribly filling on its own. When I mixed it with the yogurt though it became a sweet, hearty breakfast that would last me all morning. When I make this, I will make 5 cakes at once so I have breakfast for the week.
I’ll admit, the first time I made this, I felt like a huge crunchy-granola hippie. Hemp protein powder?? Come on! Who actually uses that?! BUT the results were yummy. hmm…Maybe those hippies are onto something. Who knows…maybe I’ll start rocking some major bellbottoms and fringed vests. Right on, man…
NOW BACK TO HUNGER GAMES!!


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BBQ Tofu Pitas

January 5, 2012 by Erin

These are a few of my favorite things…right now:

1. Green Monstah smoothies- Seriously, I’ve had one for breakfast everyday this week and have gone through more almond milk in the last week then I ever did regular milk. Good thing these things are healthly.

2. C.O. Bigelow Coconut Lip butter- so yummy. so rich. so totally addicted.

3. The Hunger Games Series– This is especially pathetic because I’ve already read the stupid things! I know how it ends!! That didn’t stop me from reading it every spare minute I had today. Please tell me you have read it…

4. Making these. You think I would do something productive with my evenings now that I’m not working every single day. I did try…Monday I tried to hang up all my new curtains and when I got home Tuesday, every single one of them had fallen down, thus wasting an entire evening. Serious? Fine! I’ll just make these bracelets and continue to read Hunger Games, thankyouverymuch

5. Going back to Siena. This is due 100% to the fact that before Hunger Games, I read Juliet. Now all I can think about is getting the hell out of dodge and relocating to Siena, where I will obviously live in a swanky loft  in the best contra around and do something non-cubical related like write a book. hmm…maybe I should add that to my new years resolutions…

6. Gotye- Somebody That I Used to Know. GAH! I’ve listened to it like 800 times. I need to have the internet taken away from me. Also, I’m on another A Day to Remember kick. They need to come to Boston, right now.

7. and last but not least…these sandwiches:

BBQ Tofu Pita Sandwiches
inspired by Clover Food Truck in Boston and BBQ Seitan on Thekindlife.com
serves 3-4

1 block of extra firm tofu
1 yellow onion
1TBSP olive oil
12.5 oz (about one bottle) of you favorite BBQ sauce. I used Annie’s Organic Original
2 whole pitas, cut in half
romaine lettuce
tomato
daiya cheddar cheese
lots of napkins
Press the tofu overnight if possible. (I’ve taken to putting mine in my tofu press and then forgetting about it for a day or two. It comes out  super solid and doesnt have the wierd jiggly texture).

Heat your olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the onions until soft, about 3-5 minutes. While the onions are softening, cut the tofu in bite size pieces. Add them to your skillet once the onions are done. Let cook for about 15 minutes until the tofu has began to get brown. Add the BBQ sauce and reduce heat so that the BBQ sauce is simmering. Let simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally and making sure to scrap the bottom well so nothing sticks and burns.

Mix in about a handful or two of cheese, as much as you like. Stir and let the cheese melt. Assemble the rest of your sandwich while you wait, lining the pita halves with lettuce and thinly sliced tomatoes. When the cheese is melted, add the BBQ tofu. Shove unceremoniously in your face and watch the BBQ sauce get everywhere!

Though I’ve been eating this all week and I adore it, I think next time I would used a whole wheat wrap. The pita pocket has been falling apart on me , though its possible its just the brand I bought. Either way, my lunches have been an extreme mess and I even got BBQ sauce on my copy of Hunger Games. Not. Cool. So DEFINITELY make this, but maybe when you are in the privacy of your home or when well stocked with napkins!

PS. See that bottle of J.K. Scrumpys hard cider in the background. Best. Hard Cider. Ever. Add that as number 8 on my obsessions list. I could drink that stuff all day…while eating this sandwich…and listening to Goyte…

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Bringing in the New Year with a Green Monstah!

January 3, 2012 by Erin

Happy 2012, everyone! I hope you had a safe and happy New Years. I kept things chill. I had dinner with a friend and then we dragged our butts to The Common. We attempted to watch the fireworks but had a meh view. But it was a good evening. I knew I didn’t want to start 2012 with a hang over- I wanted to be productive and start the year on a positive note- so we kept the drinks to a minimum. It was a perfect mix of celebratory and low key.

Now that the new year is here, I’m sure we are all sick of seeing chocolates and sweets everywhere. I know that I am! My body started to revolt against all the junk food the week before Christmas. I just couldn’t take it anymore! Everywhere I went there was sugary confections and big bowls of comfort food. I need something green and healthy, which is why this Green Monster Smoothie (or Green Monstah Smoothie, as we Bostonians call it!) is perfect for your post-holiday, new years-resolution diets.

Green Monstah Smoothies

from Oh She Glows

1 cup  almond milk
1 TBSP ground flax seed
1 TBSP nut butter (I used peanut butter)
2 handfuls of baby spinach
1 banana, frozen
3-4 ice cubes

Add all ingredients to a blender in that order and blend until smooth. Consume and feel awesome!

I’m not even exaggerating when I say that this smoothly will make you feel great and full of energy. The week of Christmas, when I was working at my retail job after a full 8+ hours at my regular job, I had about 15 minutes to myself from when I arrived home to when I had to leave for my second job. I would make this and drink it in the car. It gave me so much energy that it was actually a problem one night when I was working behind the cash register and didn’t have any customers. I was dancing around my co-worker, John, because I couldn’t stand still. He kept giving me weird looks.  “It’s this awesome Green Monstah smoothie I made!!!” I said . “Did it have crack in it”, he asked. In fact, it does not! But it will help you shed that sluggish, junk food haze and help give you energy for all those New Years Resolutions. Yeah!

Speaking of resolutions, here are mine. I decided to put them on the back of my door so I can check in and see how I’m doing every once in a while.

Do you like number 5? That one comes courtesy of my friend, Haley. We have a $10 bet riding on that one so I definitely have to keep it! lol!

I’m pumped for 2012. I think its going to be great! What are some of your resolutions? You know, besides eat more vegan meals 😉

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Remember when I regularly posted recipes?

December 27, 2011 by Erin

Happy holidays, Wicked Vegan readers!

 

I just wanted to take a moment and say I haven’t gone anywhere…but my computer charger has. Its hanging with my folks in CT. As soon as I get it back and have more then T minus 2 minutes of battery life left, I will resume posting.

 

Until then, I hope you have a happy and safe holidays!

 

Love,

Erin

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An Open Letter to Santa Claus (and the cookies I’m feeding him)

December 22, 2011 by Erin

Dear Mr. Claus,

I don’t have a ton of things to request from you this year. I gave my parents an 8 page amazon wish list that just about covered everything so I’m all set in that department. What I could use from you is a little Christmas magic! A local radio station, WFNX, is giving away tickets to The Black Keys in Nashville for February and I would really like to win them. Really, Really like to win them.

See, I was planning a vaca for February, anyways, and Nashville is on my places to see list. Might as well kill two birds with one stone, right?

Also, I would really like a nail polish that I can apply myself and will last a week without chipping. Preferably in black. I’ll take dark red though if you feel black isn’t in the holiday spirit.

Oh yeah, and world peace.

Kthanks!

Xoxo,

Erin

PS. I made you these chewy ginger cookies. They are vegan but insanely delicious. I think they are easily one of my top 5 favorite cookies. I know they seem pretty simple but my guess is that you are going to be bombarded with fancy-schmancy cookies, covered in sprinkles and frosting and weird things like bacon. These shine in their simplicity and I thought you might like a bit of a change during your big night. Hit me up with those tickets and I’ll  make a big batch for you and the Mrs.  I’ll even throw in some treats for the deer. ;)What? I’m not bribing you!

Holiday Ginger Cookies
adapted from Land O Lakes
makes approximately 2 dozen (I actually halved the recipe since I just needed a vegan cookie fix)

1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup Earth Balance Butter (2 sticks)
1 Ener-G egg replacer “egg”
3 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine sugar, butter, “egg”, molasses and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add all remaining cookie ingredients. Beat until well mixed. Divide dough in half; wrap in plastic food wrap. Refrigerate until firm (1 to 2 hours).

Heat oven to 375°F. Roll out cookies into balls. Place cookies, 1 inch apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 6 to 9 minutes or until set. Let stand 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire cooling rack. Cool completely.

O, what’s that? I should have been taking pictures and not eating my 800th cookie? Yeah, I know. But at least now you know why the only pictures I have for this post are two that are almost exactly the same and a third of a half eaten cookie. Sorry about that!

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My December Addictions- Therapy and Mint Chocolate

December 21, 2011 by Erin

 

As you may have noticed, I bit off a little more than I could chew this holiday season. In September, when my regular job was slow, I thought it would be a brilliant idea to get a second job and use all that money to boost my pathetic savings account. So, in October, I optimistically entered the retail world! All was going well until about mid-november when the shit hit the fan- the intensity level of both my jobs got cranked to 11 (spinal tap reference anyone? Anyone? Bueller?)

Anyways, as a way to cope with this over-worked craziness that I got myself into, I began to turn to therapy…retail therapy that is. I would distract myself by buying pretty sparkly lights for my christmas tree or an awesomely grouchy mug. It makes me happy! The fact that I work in a book store definitely fuels this therapy. So far, I have used the following items to distract me from work:

– Gray Toms (I’ve worn them almost every day. So comfy)
– A fake tree with purple lights (I already posted a pic of this, which I’m sure you are still marveling at)
– My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler (I haven’t read it yet so don’t even ask me what I think of it. As if I have time to read!)
– The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins ( I already read it but I didn’t actually own it. You’ve read it right? It’s awesome! Buy it tonight if you haven’t!!)
– A new large teddy bear (Best. Purchase. Ever. He’s so cuddly and warm!)
– A black mug that says ‘Bah Humbug!’ (so appropriate)
– More lip products then I will probably use in my life (Tokyomilk- Let Them Eat Cake lip balm, which the seller sent me the wrong product for; CO Bigelow’s Rose Salve- obsessed; CO Bigelow’s Mentha Lip Shine- love; CO Bigelow Coconut lip butter- also love; CO Bigelow Sparkling Apple Cider- so gross…can you tell Bath and Body Works was having a sale? Plus I got 20% off everything! PLUS I got the apple cider one for free…so you know, I saved A LOT of money!)
-A moleskin journal for my food journaling.

oh yeah…and then I bought some presents for people, you know, those family people =)

You will notice that there is no food on there. Yeah… I haven’t had a huge appetite the past week or so. I think my body is boycotting my craziness and is holding out for more sleep. I’ve eaten a lot of brothy soup, kale and, weirdly enough, anything with mint and chocolate, which just happens to be my second addiction. I’m obsessed! I don’t know why. Until two weeks ago, I would have chosen almost anything over mint chocolate, especially peanut butter and chocolate. Now, I can’t be bothered with anything that doesn’t have some chocolate mint combo. I blame this on Melinda and her mint chocolate bailey hot chocolate that she simply forces down my throat each night (that’s a lie). It started me on my addiction. Which is what prompted this recipe. I thought, how could I possibly make mint chocolate baileys and hot chocolate any better? Umm…how about making it into an ice cream shake…obviously.

Now, before you start griping about how Bailey’s isn’t vegan, let me just say this: I know. Melinda bought it, I think, as a sort of ‘thank you for letting me crash at your pad’ offering. So this has been my one shot of dairy I have all day. You can replace this with Silk Chocolate mint soy milk and a little bit of whiskey, which is apparently the ‘spirit’ in Bailey’s.

Chocolate Mint Ice cream Shakes
servings: 2-4

2 cups (1 container) So Delicious Dairy-Free Chocolate Obsession Ice cream
2 shots of Mint chocolate Bailey’s (or 1.5 shots of Silk Mint Chocolate and .5 shot of whiskey/ vegan irish cream)
Whipped ‘Cream’ (I used Soyatoo Rice Whip, review below)

Add Ice cream and liquid of choice to blender. Blend until smooth. Top with whip cream.

This is the world’s most pathetic blog, ever. So to redeem myself, I’m going to include a review of Rice Whip:

I know that you can make homemade whip cream from Soy creamer but I found this Soyatoo Rice Whip on a quick trip to Whole Foods last week. I had shown up approximately 5 minutes before they closed (I was one of those people) and I was determined not to be one of those selfish people who hang around after a store is closed because they feel like they are entitled to shop for as long as they feel like it. So I grabbed the chocolate ice cream and raced to the dairy section to see if I could find a whip cream substitute. When I saw the rice whip, I thought I’d give it a try.

I should have saved my money. It’s so weird! It has the exact same texture as whipped cream except it tastes exactly like white rice. It’s the most bizarre sensation! The general consensus between Melinda and I was that it would have been significantly better if it was a bit sweeter. There didn’t seem to be any sweeteners or flavors, like vanilla extract, or anything. It was just foamed white rice. So weird! I didn’t love it. I think I would have preferred to just make whipped cream from scratch. BUT I got to review a new vegan product for you so, yeah!

 

 

I’m going to try to make those chocolate mint cookies vegan for you. Tune in on Friday!

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Scrambled Veggies and Tofu

December 19, 2011 by Erin

I have the day off today!! I’m soooo excited. I work two jobs and I can’t remember the last time I had a whole 24 hours to myself.

But, I’m definitely not just hanging out doing nothing. I took the day off so I can focus my efforts on the single most important day of the year…Cookie Baking Day, obviously! Each year, my mom and I usually set aside one day around Christmas to bake our Christmas cookies, which we then give away at parties and as gifts. Of course, I’m flying solo this year because there wasn’t a weekend that I was free so Mom and I could both bake. It’s a bummer but so far, so good. I’m jamming to It’s a Punk Rock Christmas and A Day to Remember and singing really loudly and obnoxiously.

I started my day off with this yummy breakfast. A girl needs fuel for an all day baking/rocking out marathon!

Scrambled Tofu and Veggies
from Post Punk Kitchen
serves approximately 2-3

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium chopped white onion (about a cup)
2 cups cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon thyme, crushed with your fingers
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/4 cup water
1 lb. extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
1 teaspoon salt
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
juice of 1/2 a lime

Directions
Heat oil in skillet over medium-high. Saute onions 3 minutes, until softened. Add mushrooms, saute 5 minutes more. Add garlic, saute 2 minutes more. Add spice blend and mix it up for 15 seconds or so. Add 1/4 cup water and deglaze the pan,  scraping the bottom to get all the garlic and spices.

Crumble in tofu and mix well. Don’t crush the tofu, just kind of lift it and mix it around. You want it to remain chunky. Let cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding splashes of water if necessary to keep it from sticking too much. Lower the heat a bit if you find that it is sticking. Add lime juice. Add nutritional yeast and mix it up. If it seems too dry add splashes of water. The moistness really depends on how much water the tofu was retaining before you added it.

PPK suggests serving this with salsa and guacamole. I didn’t have any guac but I mixed salsa in with it and it was SO good.

I’m officially done one batch of cookies, have a bunch more chilling and am working on my laundry. I also took the dog for a drive. I would be such a kick ass house wife. I will now be accepting applicants for husbands. Tattoos preferred but not necessary.

 

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Peanut Butter Cups… and an absurd amount of Holiday Pictures

December 12, 2011 by Erin

When I was growing up, Reeses were my favorite candy. I was obsessed. At Halloween, I always traded out other candy to get Reeses, Reeses pieces or Reeses Nutrageouses. Then, to eat them, I would push the peanut butter middle out, roll it into a ball, eat the chocolate outside then eat the rolled peanut butter. It was disgusting.

At Friendlys, the only sundae I ever order is the Reeses peanut butter cup sundae, no hot fudge, extra peanut butter. Since I was like…10 or something. Even my mom’s friends know this is my order.

Guess what? Much like my favorite beer, Shipyard, Reeses aren’t vegan. Obviously. So when I need a fix of my favorite treat, I turn to this recipe. It’s delicious! I like to make a batch and then keep them in the freezer so if I have an urge for a vegan friendly reeses sundae (So Delicious Vanilla Icecream, melted Earth Balance Peanut butter with a little earth balance butter in it, topped with one of these…mmmm…..), I have  stash ready available. Or, if I want to use them for baking, like chocolate cookies with crushed up peanut butter cups, I don’t have to make these first and wait until they’re chilled.

Or, you can just make a whole batch, sit in front of the TV with them watching The Notebook and switch between blowing your nose from your uncontrollable sobbing and absently shoveling one of these in your mouth.

Whatever floats your boat, I won’t judge. But you should definitely make these!

I know this looks like an ad for Earth Balance but, unfortunately, they didn’t pay me to give them props.

Peanut Butter Cups
from Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone (It’s also on the back of every carton of Earth Balance Soy Milk)
Makes 12 in a regular cupcake tin, or 24 mini cupcakes. (I like the mini cupcakes because I feel less guilty when I walk past the freezer 8 times and steal one…8 times…)

INGREDIENTS
1⁄2 cup Earth Balance butter
3⁄4 cup crunchy peanut butter
(preferably unsweetened and unsalted)
3⁄4 cup graham cracker crumbs or 10 graham cracker squares
1⁄4 cup maple sugar or other granulated sweetener*
1 cup grain-sweetened, nondairy chocolate or carob chips
1⁄4 cup soy, rice, or nut milk
1⁄4 cup chopped pecans, almonds, or peanuts

*you will see in the picture above Maple Syrup instead of Maple Sugar. yeah…I read that wrong the first time and made it with maple syrup. It was actually declicious, just a little softer. You would definitely have to keep them in the fridge or freezer if you want to go that route.

Line a 12-cup muffin tin (or a mini muffin time) with paper liners.*Set aside.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Stir in the peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, and maple sugar and mix well. Remove the mixture from the heat.
Evenly divide the mixture, approximately 2 tablespoons per cup (a little less then 1 TBS when going the mini muffin tin route. I felt 1 TBS didn’t allow enough room for the chocolate), among the muffin cups.
Combine the chocolate and milk in another pan.
Stir over medium heat until the chocolate has melted.
Spoon the chocolate evenly over the peanut butter mixture.
Top with chopped nuts.
Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours before serving.

*I would recommend the aluminum foil liners as opposed to paper. You are dealing with melted butter, melted peanut butter and melted chocolate. They hold up better!

These would be great as christmas gifts. You could make them in the mini muffin pan with cute paper and then package them nicely in themed boxes from Michaels. No one would even know they’re vegan.

So now that you hate me for filling your head with the idea of a Friendlys Reeses Sundae on a Monday when  you are stuck at work, I’ll help distract you.

LOOK AT MY CHRISTMAS TREE!!!

I know, you are all like ‘You showed us a christmas tree last week’. That was my apartments christmas tree, which has appropiate christmas lights and ornaments. This is my christmas tree, which has purple lights, a purple sparkly star on top, a teal tree skirt and teal star garland, and ornaments like Jack Skellington and Rainbow Brite! I took 4 hours out of my Saturday evening to clean my room and set this up. My weekend was awful so I needed the distraction. Isn’t it super awesome?!

We’re going to pretend this tree isn’t completely flat on one side because I set it up at 1 am and I didn’t care that the branches were perfect…thank you…

Jack, Cupcakes and Rainbow Brite! I have the coolest ornaments. My Grandma gets me one every year and I thinks its the best tradition ever!

I also have purple lights for my bed and around my closet. I’m so weird…

My adorable new friend. Isn’t he cute??

Ok…I’m done wasting your time. Weds we’ll resume our regularly scheduled programming and I won’t bombard you with my holiday pictures. Happy Monday!

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Minestrone Pot Pie with Vegan Biscuits

December 9, 2011 by Erin

Last night, I made Maple Bacon Chocolate chip cookies for a friend’s birthday. You should have seen me trying to make bacon. I think I over cooked it but I was so scared to under cook it and then have him die of some sort of pig carried disease that I made sure it was extra crispy. Unfortunately, the cookies were a hot mess and spread out like pancakes on the pan. When I pulled out one of the cookie sheets, all of the cookies had spread out and mushed together to form one ginormous cookie. I had to cut it with a knife. My baking cheat sheet I found on pinterest says it’s because I had too little flour. I actually added 1/2 c extra flour per tips from online. Worse, I don’t even know if they are good because they have bacon AND butter AND eggs in it. I’m leaving it up to my friends at work to tell me if they are good enough to gift. I’m thinking he’ll end up getting a gift certificate instead…

On the plus side, I had this lovely recipe for dinner and it helped ease the pain of my baking flop. Actually, the two large glasses of Chocolate Peppermint Soy milk with chocolate mint baileys were probably more helpful in easing the pain but I’m still totally obsessed with this recipe. It’s insanely good.

Minestrone Pot Pie with Vegan Biscuits

soup
adapted from How Sweet Eats
makes one 9×13 dish, serves 4-6

drizzle of olive oil

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

1 cleaned and trimmed leek, thinly sliced

1/2 cup coarsely chopped baby bella mushrooms

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups cubed butternut squash

3 cups raw spinach leaves

3 cups torn kale leaves

1 can (15 oz) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (15 oz) peeled whole tomatoes

1 Bay leaf

1 TBSP Thyme

1TBSP parsley

3 cups vegetable broth

Coat the bottom of a large soup pan with olive oil and heat. Add onions and leeks to the pan with a sprinkle of salt, cooking for 5 minutes. Add in mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes more. Stir in garlic, thyme and parsley and cook for 30 seconds. Add spinach, kale, squash, tomatoes, beans, bay leaf and broth. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook f0r 20 minutes, covered. While soup is cooking, make biscuits below and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

After 20 minutes, transfer to the baking dish. Top with biscuits, then brush each biscuit with melted earth balance. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the biscuits are done. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Biscuit
from Holy Cow! vegan

Mix and set aside to curdle:

1 cup very cold soymilk or almond milk

1 tsp vinegar

Mix together:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Add to this:

5 tbsp transfat-free vegetable shortening (like Crisco) or very cold vegan “butter” like Earth Balance, chopped into small cubes.

With a fork or a pastry-cutter, mix the fat into the flour until you have a coarse mixture with no large pieces of fat. If using “butter,” work quickly because you don’t want the fat to melt.

Now add the curdled soymilk-vinegar mixture and mix quickly until the dough comes together.

Make a ball of the dough, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes.

Use a round cookie cutter (I used a round drinking glass) and continue with the steps above.

Melinda and I actually used our team work powers to make this meal. She’s crashing at my place for a while. So I bought all the ingredients, Melinda made the soup and biscuit dough, I came home from work and put the soup in the pan and cut out the biscuits and baked it. In fairness, she had the tough part so she gets 2/3 credit for this recipe. It turned out amazing so she totally deserves it.

She’s also responsible for getting me addicted to chocolate mint baileys, which she keeps adding to the hot chocolate she offers me when I get home from work. I’m not complaining though!  In fact, when I bring boys around I hope she hints to them that like the people on Mad Men, I like to come home with a tumbler of booze waiting for me…except instead of scotch, I expect hot chocolate with mint baileys.

But I digress, this soups amazing so go make it.

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Fall Harvest Couscous

December 7, 2011 by Erin

 

I swear, I am no longer pretending its fall. I mean…not really. Technically, there are still pumpkins in my house, caution tape from my Halloween party strung across my porch and a Jack-O-Lantern rotting on my porch but technically, I have embraced christmas…well…as much as someone with a heart three sizes too small can. The fact that I’ve had Fall Harvest Couscous everyday this week for lunch, and probably will continue to have for lunch each day this week, is a mere coincidence. I just really love roasted pecans and butternut squash!

Fall Harvest Couscous

Ingredients

1 (2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (you can buy it peeled and cut, that’s what I did)
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced 
1/2 -1 c. sliced baby bellas (the original recipe didn’t call for this but I had some leftover from a different recipe so I threw them in. They tasted great)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 
1/2 teaspoon sea salt 
1/2 teaspoon pepper 
1 1/2 cups couscous 
1 1/3 cups vegetable broth 
1 tablespoon Earth Balance
1/3 cup dried cranberries 
1/2 cup pecans, toasted 
Method

Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine butternut squash, onion, mushroom, olive oil, nutmeg, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until squash and onion brown slightly, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool. At this point, butternut squash and onion mixture can be frozen. Defrost in refrigerator for several hours or in the microwave. 

Combine defrosted squash and onion mixture, veggy broth, Earth Balance and cranberries in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add couscous and cover. Take from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Stir in pecans and season to taste with salt and pepper. Fluff with a fork and serve.

Nutrition

Per serving: 410 calories (150 from fat), 17g total fat, 3g saturated fat, 9g protein, 59g total carbohydrate (8g dietary fiber)

 

See, look! I used a poinsettia as a prop in my picture! That counts as christmas spirit right??

Also, Dan, Melinda and I decorated our apartment’s christmas tree last night! There was old school jams playing, hot chocolate spiked with mint chocolate baileys, off-key singing going on…it was a much-needed destresser from the craziness that has been the last few weeks. Plus, now our dining room looks so pretty!

See, I’m so over fall! Just…ignore those pumpkins under the tree, ok? Thanks.

 

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