Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie

Followed one of those Tasty recipe videos going around Facebook. Video is here: http://youtu.be/aoJfD6HE1Hc

Instead of cinnamon roll ready made dough, I used crescent roll dough which is vegan and I just flattened it out, joined the seams, sprinkled cinnamon and sugar, then rolled up again and cut into pieces like in the video. I also sprinkled more cinnamon as I rolled out the round pieces for the pie. Easy!

Before baking.

Cooled and drizzled with powdered sugar glaze.

Heavenly! Very cinnamon-rolly. Haven't had them since going vegan. Make this pie!

Fresh Spring Rolls and Apple Pear Gallette

Fresh rolls with sauteed tofu, carrot, scallions, red bell pepper, cilantro and bean thread noodles. Served with thai style peanut sauce.

Apple Pear gallette. Recipe from Deborah Madison's Local Flavors cookbook.

Moroccan Lentil Stew & Bisquick Apple Cake

I love lentils, especially in a warm and comforting stew like this Moroccan lentil stew with eggplant and a variety of vegetables flavored with spices: cumin, curry powder, ras el hanout and cayenne.

I got this recipe from sexy Vegan Mama.

Mary McCartney's Corn Fritters.

I've been loving Mary's book "Food: Vegetarian Home Cooking" and as I've said before, her recipes are non-fussy and very relaxed which is how I also like to describe my cooking style. You can find the recipe for these beautiful corn fritters here. I veganized them by omitting the eggs and using almond milk and adding a little more almond milk to make the batter smooth. I also used Vegenaise instead of the yogurt for the sauce. I would have used Wildwood plain unsweetened soy yogurt but didn't have any on hand. The recipe comes together easy and I was able to make 12 delicious fritters.

After eating my fair share of fritters, I decided to relax with a tall frosty glass of cider. Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Grilled veggie sandwich, Lunch plate, Garlic Sauce and Cake.

My second attempt at making a Paragon-style vegetarian sub sandwich. (See the previous post about Montreal.) I finally did it right and made it with a soft and tender french roll that worked perfectly. The grilled onions, mushrooms and green peppers were so good!

Yum.

Saturday lunch plate. Fresh bread, whole grain crackers served with hummus, garlic sauce, bruschetta and olive salad. All homemade by me.

This garlic sauce was really simple to make but I made way too much! I used instant mash potatoes since that is what I had, lemon juice, 10,000 cloves of garlic (no, not really - maybe 10), olive oil and salt. I whizzed it all in the blender and made about 2 cups.

And to celebrate the weekend, I made a cake. This is a pumpkin apple cider upside down cake. I got the idea from the Midcentury Menu blog. I liked this recipe so much I tracked down a copy of the vintage book it came from called "The Apple Kitchen Cookbook"(1967) and bought it. Watch this space for apple centric recipes!

Giving Thanks.

Over the years on Thanksgiving, my whole family gets together at an aunt's house to celebrate together and eat together. It's usually a gigantic Thai-American potluck and boy, can our family eat! Our family parties last all day and into the night with non-stop eating. It's quite amazing and makes me laugh when I think about it. I won't be partaking this year at the family party because my mom has to work all day today. We decided to have a small dinner tonight for the 5 of us here at home (me, husband, brother, mom and dad). I'll miss seeing my many many cousins but I know that christmas is just around the corner and I will most likely see them at the holiday shindig in December. I'm so grateful to have such a large family who all enjoy being in each other's company and always want the best for each other. I can't imagine not having them in my life. I am thankful for so many things in my life, number one being my family.

So as this is a food bog, on to the food!


I made this Tofu Dinner Loaf last year as well. It's wonderful and bakes up firm and sliceable. I love it with orange herb gravy. Recipe here.


My plate: tofu loaf with orange herb gravy, stuffing (I used the vegetarian stuff in a box, not homemade sorry!), green bean casserole, glazed dijon carrots and mashed potatoes and cranberry/mandarin sauce. All very simple recipes that took no time at all!


The best part of the meal is dessert I think! Here is my favorite vegan pumpkin pie with a spelt crust.


A slice served with maple sweetened cashew cream!!!!! Recipe is here. This cream is unbelievable! I used rice milk instead of the water in the recipe and a little more maple syrup than usual. So freaking creamy and delicious!!!


I also made a VERY EASY AND QUICK puff pastry apple tart. Seriously, all you need to do is slice a few apples and toss them in sugar and lay 'em out on a piece of frozen puff pastry and bake! This was yummy as well.


Here's a bonus pic of my baby. He had a "Thanksgiving Day" flavored dog food today to celebrate.