Ooey Gooey Garlic Bread

Garlic bread is always a hit, but this dressed-up version takes it to the next level. If you need an easy and impressive appetizer for New Year's Eve, look no further. Granted, this is more fat-laden than most garlic breads, but using the new reduced-fat Vegenaise makes it a little easier to indulge. Probably any vegan cheese would work here, but my favorite is Daiya.

Go ahead, give the recipe a try. You're worth it!

Ooey Gooey Garlic Bread
1/2 baguette

1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise
2 tablespoons finely minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
2 tablespoons chopped scallions
1/4 cup shredded vegan mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons shredded vegan cheddar cheese
Black pepper, to taste
1/2 baguette, sliced in half laterally

Combine the spread ingredients in a small bowl. When mixed, spread evenly over the cut-side of the baguette. Place baguettes on a baking sheet and broil about 4 inches from the boiler about 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Cut into pieces and serve.

Just to give you a few more days to enter the book contest, I'll let the drawing go until the next time I post. Don't forget to enter!

If I don't post again before 2010, Happy New Year to you!

Check out this snazzy new design! Since it's almost 2010, this blog needed a whole new look. Thanks to Eve B. Designs for the change. Eve is a delight to work with, and is vegan to boot! If you're in need of design work, I highly recommend her. Thanks, Eve!

It's time for another book contest! The Book Publishing Company just sent me a copy of Bryanna Clark Grogan's 20 Minutes to Dinner: Quick, Low-Fat, Low-Calorie Vegetarian Meals. If you're a regular reader, you know that the Book Publishing Company generously sends me books to review. Rather than keep the books, I hold contests for them after writing a review. I figure this way it helps to spread the word about wonderful vegan cookbooks. Can you tell there is a "But" coming next? But..... I'm keeping this copy this time. I cooked a few dishes from it, and the book is already starting to look loved. Rather than send you this splattered copy, I will buy a new copy of the book for the contest winner and it will be shipped directly to you from the publisher. Here's what we tried.

Mapo Doufo

First up, one of Jim's favorites, Mapo Doufo. This is spicy and has a lot going on for such a simple preparation. We had it with rice and steamed vegetables for a better-than-take-out home-cooked dinner.

Chinese Spaghetti

Next we tried the Chinese Spaghetti. I loved this dish. My tendency in Asian cooking is toward heat, and this was a refreshing change. The sauce was well-balanced and there were tons of vegetables, and lots of garlic and ginger. Yum! In this recipe and many others in the book, you are given a list of proteins to choose from which would be very helpful for newer vegan cooks.

Cutlets Dijon

The third dish we tried were the Cutlets Dijon. Not only is this great tasting and super easy, it's showy enough for a date night or a company dinner. Once the mushrooms are cut for this, you're only minutes away from a fantastic dinner. It's one of those recipes where the whole is so much greater than it's parts.

Now that you've seen a little about why you need this book, let me tell you more about what's in it. The book opens with a chapter on Nutrition, Cooking and Shopping Tips. Besides information on reducing fat and lower fat cooking, there are also suggestions on substitutions and for being more efficient in the kitchen. I love this kind of info in a book because you can apply it to your own cooking situation. Techniques like this go a long way. Chapter 2 is Homemade Basics and contains indispensable recipes such as mayo, milks and a variety of "cheeses". From there, the book breaks into:

• Quick Dips, Spreads and Drinks
• Speedy Soups, Sauces and Salads
• Pasta and Pizza Express
• Fast Food Tonight! (Burgers, Patties, Grills and Rapid Wraps)
• Flash-in-the-Pan Stir-Fries, Sautes and Oven Meals
• Swift and Easy Side Dishes

With a book like this, it's easy to get a great tasting dinner on the table in minutes. If you'd like a chance to win a copy of this book, just tell me what one of your favorite quick-fix meals is in the comments below this post. One lucky winner will win a pristine copy of 20 Minutes to Dinner. Good luck!

Here's hoping your holidays are as stress-free as possible.

For lots of us, this time of year is all about the baking. Growing up, once school went on Christmas break, we went into cookie overdrive. I've talked about this before on my blog and it's one of my happiest memories. My mom, my sister and I would bake dozens and dozens of cookies for holiday gift giving. About 15 years ago, my mom compiled all those favorite recipes into a book for each of the kids for Christmas. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that one of those old favorites was actually vegan! Since then, it's become my go-to Oatmeal Raisin Cookie.

The background on this cookie is a little sketchy, meaning that the recipe sometimes came out flat, crisp and wafer-like, so much so that we always knew them as Lacy Raisin Wafers. Colorful name, isn't it? Other times, they came out like a more traditional oatmeal raisin cookie. Since I've been making this recipe obsessively the last couple of months, I've never gotten the wafer version, so I'm renaming them. Either way they turn out, they are perfectly sweet with just-right-spices.

Awesome Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Makes 2 dozen

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (fresh is best)
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 to 1/2 cup water

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, oats, brown sugar and raisins. Mix together with a wooden spoon or spatula, breaking up any clumps of brown sugar. Add the canola oil, vanilla and 1/3 cup water. Stir together, adding additional water if needed to make a cohesive but soft drop cookie dough. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or longer.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or lightly oil them. Drop the cookies onto the sheets using 1 heaping tablespoon for each cookie. Place them about 3 inches apart. Bake 15 to 17 minutes until lightly browned and the edges are crisp. Let rest on cookie sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.

I know there are some old photos with the mountains of cookies we used to bake for Christmas, but of course I can't find them. But it was fun to flip through the old photo albums far longer than I should have today. If I end up unearthing one, I'll be sure to add it here.

In the meantime, hope your baking is going great! New cookbook contest coming soon.

My version

After losing my sense of time last week and not getting around to make the scheduled Food Network Friday recipe that Kim (aka Veg-in-Training) had chosen, we rescheduled to this week. Kim picked a new recipe and it sounded so good that I made it the very next day. Let me tell you, this sandwich rocks! It's one of those dishes that comes together as bigger than it's parts. It's so simple, but so delicious. It's labeled "Intermediate", which must mean it's too hard for someone who's skill level is limited to calling for take-out, but take a look and you'll see how easy it is. Here it is from Ina Garten.

Liz's version

Check out Liz's version here. She partnered the sandwich with some gorgeous looking potato sticks (also from Ina Garten) for a dynamic duo. It always fascinates me to hear some of the differences in food availability here in the U.S. and elsewhere, as well as the language differences. Why in the world did we Americans start calling arugula by that name instead of the obviously more imaginative name of "rocket"?

Kim's version

Kim 's recipe isn't posted on her blog yet, probably because she was too busy beautifully out-cooking us all by creating this masterpiece which was her first choice for Food Network Friday. Check it out. You'll be glad you did.

Being me, I took a few liberties with this sandwich. I love marinades and figured that I could get more flavor into the seitan using that method than roasting it. As a horseradish enthusiast, you know very well that I'm going to up it's ratio in that sauce. And if a sandwich can be grilled, it will be in this house.

Seitan and Horseradish Sauce Sandwich
Serves 2

For the seitan:
8 ounces beefy seitan, cut into 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon tamari
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon agave
1/8 teaspoon salt
Pinch black pepper

For the sauce:
2 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
Salt and pepper

For the sandwiches:
4 slices bread
1/2 cup fresh spinach (arugula would be better, but it looked lousy at the store)
Vegan margarine for grilling the sandwiches

Marinade the seitan in the marinade for an hour or longer. Prepare the sauce and set it aside.

To cook the seitan, heat a skillet over medium high heat. Lightly oil the skillet, or use nonstick spray. Remove the seitan from the marinade, but reserve the marinade. Cook the seitan for about 2 minutes per side until nicely colored. Add the marinade to the skillet and let cook until absorbed or evaporated.

Spread the outsides of the bread with the margarine and the inside with the horseradish sauce. Pile on the seitan, the spinach and the top slice of bread. Grill over medium heat until both sides are golden.

We were also talking about the book contest winner, weren't we? Well, Mollyjade, commenter #1, I hope you see this! Congratulations! Please send me your mailing address so I can get your prize on the way to you.

Another book contest will be coming soon, so check back. Thanks, Kim, for the fantastic recipe picks.

Have a great weekend!

Ever since I saw this recipe for Blueberry Muffins with White Chocolate Chips over at Mihl's blog, Seitan is My Motor, it had been on my to-make list. Mihl is a baker extraordinaire and I've drooled over her photos and posts for years. Just as I expected, this recipe is a stunner! The crumb is perfect, the flavors lovely, and the basic muffin is a perfect showcase for the berries and chips. Since I missed making these in blueberry season, I used some frozen berries instead. What a wonderful way to start the week.

Since none of us managed to do the Food Network Friday for last Friday, Kim picked a new recipe that we're doing for Friday, December 11th. It's a Beef and Horseradish Sauce Sandwich. I was so excited about this recipe (horseradish, hello!), that I've already made it. So has Kim. The original is from Ina Garten and can be seen here. I'll post my version of it on Friday and if you happen to join us, please be sure to post a comment so we can check out your sandwich, too! After this Food Network Friday, I think we'll take a little hiatus until next year. Things just get too hectic this time of year.

Don't forget to enter the book contest! And it would be a good idea to make some of Mihl's muffins, too.

Well, I had every intention of doing Food Network Friday this week, but the days got away from me. It's too bad, because the recipe Veg-in-Training picked really sounds wonderful! I'm keeping it to try at another time, because what's not to love about refried beans and seitan packed in fried dough? In the meantime, if you happen to have tried this recipe, please comment on this post so we can see how awesome it is.

So I don't leave you without a food photo, here's a tasty burger we recently enjoyed. Piled high with lettuce, a little special sauce peeking out on the bottom of the homemade bun - this really hit the spot.

I know, this is turning into a bit of a mishmash post, but bear with me....because I'm jumping subjects again. This time to a book review and contest. Thanks to the Book Publishing Company, I've got a copy of Bryanna Clark Grogan's book, The (Almost) No Fat Holiday Cookbook.

The book opens with an easy-to-understand discussion on fat and nutrition. It's brief and to the point, and remind us that nearly no fat holiday food can taste just as indulgent as the higher fat foods that many of us are used to eating. Following the introduction are 17 holiday menus. Each chapter opens with a background of the holiday before showcasing a mouth-watering menu.

I love that the book includes holidays that are often not as well known in the United States, such as Holi (East Indian Spring Festival) and Naw Ruz (Baha'i New Year). Besides the Seitan Roast in a French Bread Crust au Jus (for Christmas), I'd love to try the Thai Corn Fritters on the menu for Wesak or Visakha Puja (Birth, Death and Enlightenment of Buddha Celebration). The recipes are intriguing and wonderfully multi-cultural, yet they don't require impossible to find ingredients.

The back of the book contains some basics that look especially useful. The baking section includes breads and biscuits, as well as cakes. The Buttertarts sound fantastic. Bryanna also includes some of the favorites that we've all come to know and love such as her Pan-Fried Breast of Tofu. This nifty book is full of flavorful surprises and helps us learn a little more about the world, too.

Here's where you come in. If you'd like a chance to win this book, all you have to do is reply to this post by telling me your favorite holiday. It doesn't have to be on anybody's calendar except your own, but tell me what your favorite celebration is. In a week or so, I'll randomly pick a winner. Thanks again to the Book Publishing Company for making these contests happen. Good luck!

Madeira Seitan with Chaterelles

Looking for something incredibly easy, yet elegant? Fantastic flavors, but no work? Have I got a dish for you. When we were shopping at Whole Foods after Thanksgiving, the chanterelles happened to be on sale. I couldn't resist picking some up. Since they are such a splurge, there was a big debate about how to use them. My first thought was to use them with homemade pasta, but with time being the way it is, I wasn't able to make pasta until Sunday. The mushrooms kept calling my name, so I ended up using them in this Saturday night dinner.

Madeira Seitan with Chanterelles
Serves 2

2 chickeny cutlets
3 tablespoons madeira
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme (fresh would be better, but I didn't have any)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons vegan margarine, divided
1 tablespoon minced shallot
6 ounces chanterelle mushrooms, quartered

Make the marinade by mixing the madeira, vinegar, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper together. Marinade the cutlets for about 1/2 an hour.

Heat 1 tablespoon margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Remove the cutlets from the marinade but reserve the marinade. Brown the cutlets until golden, about 5 minutes on each side. Remove from the skillet and set aside. Add the remaining margarine, the shallot, and the mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the reserved broth and the cutlets to the skillet. Cook 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Beige-brown food has never tasted so wonderful! We ended up eating this in front of the television, and it was so dinner party-ish that it made me feel funny. Not for long though, just until my next bite. After all, delicious food enhances any situation.

Coming soon: another book contest and Food Network Friday.