Daring Bakers Challenge: Lavash

This month's Daring Bakers Challenge marks a momentous occasion... I didn't have to make a single substitution to make the recipe vegan! That's because this month's lovely hosts are members of the Alternative Daring Bakers, representing both vegan and gluten free... Shel of Musings from the Fish Bowl and Natalie from Gluten a Go Go. The challenge? Make vegan, and optionally gluten-free, lavash (an Armenian cracker bread) topped with a spice mixture of your choice and a vegan dip! It was nice to have so much freedom to play around with the flavors. And luckily, my post-Ike power situation was resolved this week (after 12 days without power), so I was able to bake with my own oven!


Even though we made Armenian-style lavash crackers, I chose an Egyptian spice mixture as a topping. Dukkah is a blend of dry nuts, seeds, and spices. The dukkah I made has slivered almonds, sesame seeds, cumin seeds, fenungreek, dried thyme, black peppercorns, and sea salt all toasted lightly, then ground into a coarse meal (photo below is just after toasting).
I was a bit pressed for time last night when I made these crackers. We were having a dinner party and I was making three other dishes at the same time, so I chose a simple dip for the lavash that would let the dukkah spice mixture shine through. This is a traditional hummus recipe from Veganomicon, finished with a light dusting of paprika and a drizzle of olive oil.
As for the lavash, they are crispy and full of flavor. In fact, I am eating them for breakfast with leftover hummus as I type this post. Best of all, they were very easy to make and my dinner guests were impressed with homemade crackers!
I hope all of the Daring Bakers had fun with this challenge and saw how easy it is to bake with vegan ingredients! There has not been a challenge yet that I couldn't complete, baking vegan allows you to experiment and be creative. I would encourage anyone to join us as an alternative baker any month to see how much fun it can be. Thanks again Natalie and Shel for a challenge that will go down in daring bakers history!

Haunted Halloween Treats

Saturday night John and I went to a Halloween bash.... yes! An excuse to make cute Halloween cupcakes and other vegan munchies. And, since I have now become addicted to scrapbooking (working on one for my wedding and the other will be a few pages for every month of our first year of marriage....I know, dorky), I even made cute little Halloween-themed signs. I had been so excited about my idea to use those little spider rings you got as a kid for cupcake decorations. I call them my Creepy Crawler Cupcakes.

Recipe for the chocolate cupcake and vegan buttercream frosting (dyed orange) from VCTOTW. And, I discovered the secret for making cupcakes disappear at parties ... make them mini! I think full size cupcakes are too much of a commitment for parties, people want bite-sized items. So I just shortened the baking time to about 14 minutes. And what better way to display my mini-cupcakes than in my new mini-cupcake tower! These were gone before the end of the evening.
I was also in the mood for hummus, and lots of it, hence my Tricky Trio of Hummus. Clockwise from the bottom right: sesame peanut hummus (from Everyday Dish DVD), sun-dried tomato and caper hummus (modified from Everyday Dish DVD), and regular hummus (from Vive Le Vegan). I love Dreena's hummus recipes, and I love how quick and easy it is to make them! For dippers, we had pita chips, baby carrots, sugar snap peas, and rice crackers.
And finally I made another favorite appetizer of mine, Spooky Stuffed Shrooms from VWAV. I substituted panko for regular breadcrumbs, I just love the crunchiness. Party goers popped these like candy, I should have doubled the recipe! But I did save some of the stuffing for our dinner last night, just put it in portobellos instead. I think I even got a conditional invite to another party from someone I barely knew, as long as I brought some of these!
I love baking with a theme! I think I will need to do some more Halloween-themed baking before Wednesday. Of course, you are all probably wondering if we went in costume. Well, yes, sort of. Neither John nor I get very excited about dressing up, so we went for something that wouldn't involve any effort, and something we thought was appropriate for us. So we went as an office couple "caught in the act". You know.... my shirt on inside out, his tie loosened, our hair disheveled, lipstick smeared on both of our faces. It was subtle but cute, especially since we met in the office! It was the best costume scare we dared to bare.

Too Many Things in the Oven!

Last night was my first serious cooking since returning to Houston on Monday. Here's a peak at our crowded plate:



After seeing a sneak peak of some recipes for the upcoming Veganomicon on the ppk, I knew I had to try one out. And luckily, I had some tempeh in the fridge, so I made the Hot Sauce Glazed Tempeh. I used chipotle hot sauce, since I love that smoky flavor. And in my rush of trying to keep track of all the other things going on, I forgot to add lemon juice to the marinade, but it all turned out fine. Since I don't have a grill pan, I went with the broiling option. Alongside the tempeh (and the other things that took up space in my oven) was roasted brussels sprouts, roasted sweet potatoes and red pepper (seasoned with cumin, coriander, and garlic), and pan-fried polenta topped with roasted grape tomatoes. A delicious meal that even our omnivorous friend devoured!

While I was busy with the oven, we had pita chips and store-bought hummus to munch on (I know, very lazy of me). But I had to take a photo of my new chip and dip platter, a wedding gift from my grandparents!



For dessert we had leftover wedding cake (marble cake with the best chocolate frosting ever). I froze about half of it and the rest we're (meaning mostly me, John likes to be healthy but I can't resist) trying to eat. Maybe I'll freeze a little more.

Still working on getting wedding photos together. I'll post those sometime over the weekend.

Family Breakfast

This weekend my grandparents and aunt visited Houston, so this morning John and I drove out west to join them at my parent's home for breakfast. It was one of those breakfasts that leaves you pleasantly full, plus you feel like you've put something healthy in your body. Here is my yummy plate....

My mom gets credit for the amazingly yummy waffles and fruit salad. The waffle recipe is from VWAV, the Oatmeal-Banana-Raisin Waffles, minus the raisins. We topped them with fresh bananas, blueberries, pecans, and maple syrup. Mmmmm, so good, I'd been craving waffles for awhile now.

My contribution was mini crustless tofu quiches from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. I got up early this morning to try this recipe out, and I thought they turned out well, nice and light and a perfect compliment to the waffles. In addition to mushrooms and red peppers, I also added some bakin bits. Here they are garnished with some fresh chives:

My only mistake I think was leaving them in the muffin pan while I went to take a shower. When I came back there was a lot of moisture built up in the pan (it's been insanely humid here the past few days), making it difficult to remove the quiches. But they were still tasty, everyone tried them and gobbled them up. Next time I think I will try different veggie combinations and maybe making a big quiche in a pie crust, the possibilities are endless!

Another quick breakfast this week, my favorite smoothie. Half a banana, frozen strawberries and mangos, ground flax seeds, a spoonful of peanut butter, and plenty of vanilla soymilk. Couldn't help but show it off in my VeganDish mug....

And finally, a yummy dinner from this past week that we tried for the first time, Quinoa Hummus Casserole from Vive Le Vegan. The roasted vegetables (zucchini, red pepper, fennel)were perfectly cooked and the creamy hummus paired with the quinoa made for a protein-packed meal. Another recipe that has lots of variations, different kinds of grains, different kinds of hummus, and an endless number of vegetables to top it off with.

Boston Part One: The Food

Well, we made it back! I have missed reading everyone's blog and I'm hoping to make lots of visits in the next few days! Like others have done with their recent vacations, I'm splitting my posts on Boston over the next few days. I'm going to make everyone wait to hear about the wedding cake, but don't worry, it's coming soon! First, here's some of the yummy vegan cuisine from Boston and surrounding areas...


My favorite dish of the trip by far was actually not from Boston or even Massachusetts! John and I drove up to the White Mountains of New Hampshire to escape wedding planning during the week. Thanks to our B&B's recommendation (The Bartlett Inn) we tried the White Mountain Cider Company Restaurant. The chef created a unique and delicious dish especially for me. There was a zucchini stuffed with corn, asparagus, and chanterelle mushrooms. Underneath was a mouth-watering tomato-based sauce surrounding by more of the filling and purple potatoes. I thought the presentation was phenomenal. I highly recommend a meal here if you're ever in the area!






We had high hopes of climbing Mt. Washington, but alas, the weather was not cooperating. It all turned out well though, as we spent a relaxing day in our cottage and driving around the White Mountains. We stopped at Pinkham Notch to check out the trailhead we would have taken and got some lunch there.... veggie chili! It was just cool enough outside to eat this surprisingly spicy chili. Lots of zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, black and kidney beans with some whole grain bread. Made me want to snuggle up with John next to a fire and take a long nap.

Back in Boston, sort of. Thursday we had two tastings to attend (trying to decide between wedding caterers). Between the two we were trying to escape the rain in Beverly, MA and I remembered the Organic Garden Cafe. So we stopped there and I had a raw chocolate brownie with some fresh cashew milk. I was surprised that I liked the brownie so much, raw desserts tend to taste more like dates than chocolate, but I was pleasantly surprised. The cashew cream on the brownie was especially yummy.

The next day we returned for lunch. I started with a cup of their cold zucchini lemon bisque. It was delicious and refreshing.

Then I had a hummus wrap with veggies. Sorry for the blurry photo. I enjoyed lunch, my soup was definitely the favorite. Can't wait to return and try some of their other menu options when we're back in September!

And finally, while spending a beautiful Saturday in downtown Boston, we detoured slightly and stopped for lunch at T.J. Scallywaggles for vegan pizza!! I asked for the most popular pizza, and the swift response was the Chikhin BBQ. I was in heaven being able to order a pizza and not ask about the veganess of the dough, ask to hold the cheese, check and see if there's dairy in the tomato sauce, etc. Another cool thing that I've never seen at a restaurant before was a book with all their ingredients they use and the labels with nutritional information.

More tomorrow on our cake tasting trip as well as other wedding planning excitement!

Mediterranean with a Lemon Twist

After an evening walk in the heat, we dined on a Mediterranean-inspired meal. I made the sun-dried tomato and kale hummus from VeganYumYum. Yum yum it was indeed, and a great way to get some kale (John is always skeptical when I add it to something but always ends up loving it). My only additions to the recipe were lemon juice and cumin. I served the hummus on toasted ciabatta bread. Alongside, we had a childhood favorite of John's, a simple salad with fresh heirloom tomatoes (from the farmer's market), avocado, artichoke hearts, and hearts of palm. Plenty of basil, finely chopped roasted red peppers, some salt and pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar are all that's needed to top it off.



Here's the simple fruit salad we had on the side, Texas peaches and pluots (more plum than apricot and I prefer these over apriums). Not fancy, but I liked the color contrast in the photo.

And for dessert, I tried my first recipe from Damn Tasty Vegan, the Lemon Almond Torte. This was fun to make, and a nice change up from all the chocolatey desserts I usually make. I thought it was so neat how the lemon filling gelled! I topped the torte with some farmer's market blueberries and toasted almonds. John claims this is now his new favorite dessert. It is also a great one to showcase for company, so fancy looking!