Tipsy Grilled Peach Ice Cream and Food Network Friday 10/2

Tipsy Grilled Peach Ice Cream

If I had to pick one fruit to be my absolute favorite, I think it would be peaches. That's why we're unofficially celebrating Peach Week around. I'd had this recipe in my head for months and with peach season winding down, it had to be now. With a hint of balsamic, a tiny bit of of grill flavor and some Peach Schnapps for a kick, this incredible ice cream is packed with flavor. If an ice cream could have attitude, this one would.

Tipsy Grilled Peach Ice Cream
Makes about 4 1/2 cups

6 ounces extra-firm silken tofu (Mori Nu)
2 tablespoons Peach Schnapps
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar (increase the sugar to 1/2 cup if you like sweeter foods)
1/2 tablespoon arrowroot
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup soy creamer
1/2 cup coconut milk (can use lite)
1/2 vanilla bean, split open, insides scraped
2 - 3 peaches, peeled, pitted, sliced in 1/2
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar

Blend the tofu, schnapps and vanilla in a blender until smooth.

Combine the sugar, arrowroot and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the creamer and coconut milk. Heat over medium heat until the mixture just comes to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes. Then add to the blender with the tofu mixture. Add the scrapings from the vanilla bean and process until smooth. Refrigerate at least 3 hours.

2 hours before making the ice cream, prepare the peaches. Heat a grill pan over medium high heat. Be sure it is oiled, or spray it with nonstick spray if needed so the peaches won't stick. In a medium bowl, toss the peach halves with the vinegar and lemon juice, to prevent discoloration. Grill the peach halves, cut-side down, for 6 to 8 minutes. Turn for hatch marks if desired. Then turn over so the outside gets lightly grilled, about 4 minutes. Chop peaches in about 1/2-inch pieces. You will need about 1 1/2 cups, so depending on the size of the peaches, you may not need all 3. (That's ok, they taste great so you can eat the extra.) Combine the peaches with 2 tablespoons sugar, along with any balsamic/lemon juice that remains. Mix together and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Make ice cream according to your ice cream maker directions, adding the juices from the peaches with the ice cream base. Add the peaches during the last 5 minutes of the process.

Enjoy a bowl of this while you're contemplating Food Network Friday. (How's that for a segue?) The recipe for this Friday was chosen by EFCLiz, and since she's from England, we're going International! Her recipe is from the GF Channel, which sounds a lot like our Food Network... and it's definitely going to be a challenge. The recipe is below. As always, change it up however you like. Just get creative and veganize it in a way only YOU can. Send your recipe to me before Friday if you don't have a blog, or post a comment to my Friday post linking your blog so everyone can see what you came up with! Before that bowl of ice cream is gone, here's the recipe, straight from Liz. We're hoping you join us.

"The recipe I'm choosing is called Kedgeree. It's a mixture of British and Indian cultures, and is thought to have originated when us Brits were busy trying to take over the world during the British Raj. It doesn't seem to to be too popular these days but it was historically served at breakfast. If you've ever seen any of those costume dramas set in huge mansions, with posh people helping themselves from big silver hotplates on the sideboard, they will certainly have contained Kedgeree. (Agatha Christie is full of this sort of thing).

The original recipe I'm choosing is this one, from Sophie Grigson. She's got a very hearty approach to her cooking, which I like, and her books do feature a fair amount of vegetarian food. Her mother was Jane Grigson, who wrote possibly the definitive encyclopedia of vegetables (though it's not a vegetarian book).
This version is classic, though I have seen many interpretations (which is why I thought it would be a good one to pick). Here's a few alternatives for ideas:
http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/514872
http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/516264

This is closer to the original, though:

Prep time: 25 mins Cook time: 20 mins Serves: 4-6
Smoky fish and spicy rice make a mouth-watering combination in this cracking flavour-packed kedgeree recipe from Sophie Grigson

450 g smoked haddock fillets
85g Butter
1 tbsp sunflower oil, or vegetable oil
1 Onions, chopped
170g Basmati rice, rinsed
0.5 tbsp curry paste, (mild)
140 g frozen Peas, thawed (or fresh in season)
3 hard-boiled Eggs, chopped
2 tbsp Parsley, chopped
1 pinch black pepper
To serve:

6 lemon wedges, or lime wedges
1 jar mango chutney

Method
1. Cover the haddock with boiling water and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Drain, reserving the soaking liquid.
2. Measure the soaking liquid and add enough water to make it up to 400ml. Skin and flake the haddock, removing any stray bones you come across, and set aside.
3. Melt 30g of the butter with the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and cook gently until softened but not browned.
4. Add the rice and the curry paste and stir for 1-2 minutes.
5. Pour in the measured cooking liquid, bring up to the boil then reduce heat down to a bare simmer and cover tightly.
6. Leave to cook, without disturbing for 8 minutes, and then stir in the flaked haddock and the peas.
7. Cover again and simmer for a further 4-5 minutes, until the rice is quite tender and has absorbed virtually all the liquid. If absolutely necessary, add a splash more hot water to prevent burning.
8. Draw the pan off the heat, dot the rice with remaining butter, and then cover and let it stand for 4 minutes or so.
9. Add the egg and parsley and stir in lightly with a fork, fluffing up the grains of rice. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt only if needed.
10. Pile up in a mound on a serving dish and serve steaming hot with lemon or lime wedges and plenty of mango chutney.

(Original recipe here)

Two more things before I end this long post:
1. Don't forget to enter the contest for Love Soup. The winner will be posted on Oct. 1.
2. And... Oct. 1 is the first day of VeganMoFo!

Peach and White Chocolate Chip Scone and VeganMoFo

Peach and White Chocolate Chip Scone

If it seems like I'm kind of quiet, it's because I'm stockpiling posts. It's that time of year again. VeganMoFo starts in October! This will be third year I'm participating. The best part about it is seeing what all the other bloggers do.

If you're new to the idea, you can learn more about it here at the PPK.

If you'd like to sign up, Kittee is hosting the list at her blog.

Because VeganMoFo coincides with our annual trip to Vermont, I'm going to do my best to keep up on posting. Reading other blogs isn't quite as easy when we're away. I'm sure I'll be catching up on those until at least April of next year since we have a record number of bloggers onboard, and I'll be savoring every minute of reading their posts.

Since this is kind of a businessy post, I'm including the scone. You know, like donuts at a meeting or something like that. It happens to be a delicious peach and white chocolate chip scone. It's shown on a plate my mom got for me. (Thanks, Mom!) I used Isa's recipe in Vegan Brunch, dropping the lavender and berries but adding the extras. The recipe also happens to be here on Isa's blog. If you don't have the book, get it!

Don't forget to enter the Love Soup contest below. Good luck! The contests will continue during VeganMoFo!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love Soup! Review, Interview, Recipe and Contest!

Sopa de Poblanos

Recently, I was approached to review Love Soup, by Anna Thomas. I enthusiastically accepted. After all, The Vegetarian Epicure was a terrific resource for me when we first went vegetarian, along with The New Farm Cookbook and Laurel's Kitchen. Way back when, we loved the Pasta con Funghi, which was a big deal for me to make, considering that it took 1 1/2 pounds of mushrooms! And it was worth every cent. Another dish we enjoyed a lot was the Cauliflower al Grecque. I also cooked a bit from The Vegetarian Epicure, Book Two. But as much as I enjoyed both of those books, I think I just might get more use out of Love Soup. If you can stick with this lengthy post, you'll have a chance to win a copy, too!

Love Soup, published by W. W. Norton and Company, shows a happy evolution from her first two books. In this book, Anna makes you feel as if she's truly in the kitchen with you, encouraging you to tap into some of your own cooking intuition, thanks to the notes that start each recipe. As she says, soup is very forgiving. The book is organized by season, to help take advantage of local produce when you can. In addition to the 100 soup recipes, there are another 60 recipes that can round out the meal.

While the book isn't 100% vegan, most of the remaining 1/3 of recipes that aren't could be easily veganized by most of you reading this blog. We're used to our substitutions: earth balance for butter, soy milk or cream for the dairy, and so on. So far, I've made two of the soups from the book and we've enjoyed both. Neither of them happened to be written as vegan. But before I get into the soups themselves, let me share some notes that Anna graciously sent in answer to some questions.

1. What made you become vegetarian?

I am often asked this, and it is an interesting one for me to answer, because I didn’t just wake up one day and say, “I am going to be a vegetarian, for ethical or health or philosophical or political reasons… “ I just noticed that I was eating less and less meat, and then I wasn’t eating any meat. I do think that all the reasons people have for making a clear decision about this are excellent. I agree with them all. But that’s not how it happened in my case. And as I began cooking more and more vegetarian food, I began developing my own style. Ideology is important, but when I sit down to eat, I don’t want to eat ideology, I want to eat delicious food. So that’s the perspective I brought to my cooking: I wanted to have a good time eating! And that has always been the foremost idea in my cooking, my books, and my whole life with food.

2. Considering how long you've been vegetarian (since at least 1973 when the Vegetarian Epicure was first published), how do you feel the movement (as well as the vegan movement) has changed?

To set the record straight -- I am not a pure vegetarian. I have been a vegetarian at various times in my life, and I am mainly vegetarian all the time, but just as I don’t dictate to anyone else how they should eat, I am not rigid about it myself. I have always believed that no one will do anything very long because they are supposed to. They’ll do it because they want to. And since I love great vegetarian food, I try to provide anyone who is interested with many delicious options, making it easier for them to want that! I think one of the things that made my very first cookbook such a success was that I didn’t try to convince anyone to eat any particular way – but simply offered them new and delicious choices. Having said that, I am aware of such huge changes in our food culture in the time since The Vegetarian Epicure was published! At that time, if you were vegetarian you were considered a crank or eccentric. There was a vegetarian restaurant in London called Crank’s – I used to go there every time I went to London. And the available vegetarian food was, in general, nothing to get too excited about. We used to call it the self-denial school of vegetarian cuisine, or, when we were feeling snarky, the hairshirt school. That’s why I felt I had to write my first book – I wanted the words “delicious” and “vegetarian” to be used in the same sentence without people rolling their eyes. Now there are many vegetarian and vegan restaurants, and so much fantastic vegetarian food. And what I think is most important is that many, many restaurants that aren’t specifically vegetarian now offer vegetarian and vegan items on their menus, and it’s just not such a big deal. So meatless cooking and eating has really become mainstreamed in our food culture – at least in California. It doesn’t feel like a movement, just like an ever-growing part of the food culture. A few years ago, I was invited to do a meatless Thanksgiving menu for Gourmet Magazine – I thought, that’s it, we’ve arrived. Vegetarian cooking is just part of the landscape now. On the other hand, the vegan community does have a strong sense of movement about it, which has its own excitement. The rise of the vegan movement has, I think, coincided with the internet and all this social media, so there is tremendous communication. Ideas are discussed and exchanged along with recipes – like chatting over the backyard fence in a big, big way. This is the new wave, with so much persuasive argument behind it. I’m very interested in vegan cooking now, and I was happily surprised when I went through all the soup recipes in my new book and found that over two-thirds of them were vegan! And that was without any conscious effort to make them vegan – just the natural evolution of my cooking style.

3. When cooking at home, what are your go-to seasonings?

The most important things in my kitchen are sea salt and excellent extra virgin olive oil. I always tell people, you have to start with good ingredients, or you won’t finish with a good result. Some of the best cooking is very simple, but start with the best ingredients. After my olive oil (and I’m embarrassed to admit how much I go through) I rely on fresh garlic, fresh herbs such as thyme, sage, parsley, cilantro, and mint, and of course – fresh lemon juice. I also love the taste of chiles, so I always have a variety of dried chiles on hand, and usually some fresh ones too. What else? Cumin! That’s my secret weapon in so many dishes – lightly toasted and freshly ground, so mysterious and wonderful.

4. Is there anything you'd like to share about the book?

I was in a tiny, temporary kitchen, which turned out to be far less temporary than planned, and I wanted to keep cooking and enjoying wonderful home-made food with my friends, but I didn’t have the space to do such elaborate meals as I used to. Soup became my go-to food, the thing that saved me over and over. I had such fun with it, and my whole entertaining style changed to something much more casual and intimate. At the same time, I got healthier. There was always something good to eat that was ready: soup in the fridge! Sometimes two or three kinds. I was making pureed green soups, and rich golden squash soups, bean soups and mintestrones, soups of roasted vegetables, beet soup, persimmon soup, soups based on grains, cold soups in the summer… there was no end to it. That’s when I realized I had to write a soup book. But here is the thing I want to say most of all: if you have not ventured much into cooking, give soup a try. It’s so easy, so flexible and practical, and so delicious and comforting. This is the entry to home cooking, the way in. Anybody can do it – and you can do it in any size kitchen, believe me! I wrote this whole book in the 81-inch kitchen.

The answers to these questions are expressed in the same open, kind way as Anna's books are written, making them a pleasure to read. With very personal introductions to the recipes and helpful tips from how to shop for vegetables to planning a menu around a soup for casual and economical entertaining, this book is sure to get a lot of use.

So, back to the soups that I made. The Sopa de Poblanos was spicy and complex. For the goat cheese, I splurged and added a little Dr. Cow's Tree Nut Cheese. It would make a delicious start for any Mexican meal. I'd suggest taste testing your poblanos for heat so you can sub a regular green pepper to mellow it out, if need be. We liked the heat, but it might be a bit much for everyone, depending on your poblanos. The second soup was the Corn and Cheese Chowder, which is sweet with just a touch of spice and has a knock-out texture. Since this is still corn season in many parts of the country, it's a great time to try this recipe! As I mentioned, it's not written vegan, but the usual subs work wonderfully. My changes are noted below.

With thanks to Anna Thomas, author of Love Soup and her publisher, W. W. Norton, enjoy the recipe!

Corn and Cheese Chowder

Corn and Cheese Chowder

In my very first cookbook, The Vegetarian Epicure, I had a recipe for a corn and cheese chowder. I looked it up recently and saw that it called for...1 1/4 cups of heavy cream! Whoa! Then I laughed and thought, Those were the days. I was a young university student and thin as a rail. But corn and cheese chowder was one of my favorites, so I made it again and let it evolve with my current style of cooking: less cream, more corn, no flour, plenty of fresh herbs. It's a delicious corn chowder for modern times. (If you're still in school, go ahead and pour in another cup of cream - I don't mind.)

1# Yukon Gold potatoes (450 g)
1 bay leaf
5 - 6 sage leaves, finely chopped or 2 teaspoons dried, crumbled sage
1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons sea salt, plus more if needed
1 large yellow onion (350 g)
1 Tbs. (15 ml) olive oil
1 Tbs. unsalted butter (note: I used earth balance)
1 cup (240 ml) whole milk (note: I used light soy milk)
1 cup (240 ml) basic light vegetable broth or canned vegetable broth
1/3 cup heavy cream or half-and-half (note: I used silk creamer)
4 cups (600 g) corn kernels, scraped from 6 - 7 ears corn
2 - 3 green onions, white and green parts, sliced (50 g)
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 cup (30 g) chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
hot paprika
freshly ground black pepper
4 - 5 Tbs. (75 ml) dry white wine (optional)
4 oz. (120 g) sharp cheddar cheese (note: I used vegan cheddar cheese)

Scrub the potatoes, cut them in 1/2-inch dice, and put them in a large soup pot with 3 cups (750 ml) water, the bay leaf, the sage, and a teaspoon of sea salt. Bring the water to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the onion coarsely and saute it in the oil and butter with a pinch of salt over medium heat, stirring often, until it is translucent and browning in spots, about 15 minutes. Add the onion to the soup, along with the milk, broth, cream, corn and sliced green onions. Bring the soup back to a simmer and let it bubble for another 6 to 7 minutes.

Toast the cumin seeds for a few minutes in a dry skillet, and then grind them in a mortar or a spice grinder. Add the cumin, parsley, a pinch of hot paprika, and some black pepper to the soup. Taste the soup, and add more salt if needed. Stir in the white wine if you wish.

Keeping the soup at just below the simmer point, slowly stir in the grated cheese, allowing it to melt smoothly into the soup. From this point onward, you cannot let the soup simmer or boili, as that would curdle the cheese. If you need to reheat it, do it carefully, watching and stirring.

I like to serve the soup with thin rye or pumpernickel toasts, or with homemade Oatmeal Molasses Bread (p. 394).

Now for the contest! Here's your chance to win a copy of Love Soup! All you have to do is reply to this post by telling me the last way you enjoyed either corn or poblanos. I've got a new twist, too. For a second entry in the contest, please spread the word about this contest on your blog and let me know. Please include your blog address (if it's not clickable) and be sure to check back to see if you won. This contest will end on Sept. 30th, VeganMoFo Eve.

Good luck, everyone!

Banana Stuffed French Toast (FNF)

This week's Food Network Friday revolved around French Toast. It's Holy Shitake's pick, and she encouraged participants to veganize any of the sides from that show as well.

Coconut French Toast with Bananas

Here's Anna Karenina's impressive version of the dish: Coconut French Toast with Bananas and Mango Sauce. Talk about elegant! She also made some delicious looking potatoes on the side. For her full recipe, check out her blog. (Another chance to see her lovely photo!).

Coconut PB-n-B French Toast

First time Food Network Friday participant, Julia, made this amazing sounding Coconut PB-n-B French Toast! She even managed to get a great inside shot, something I didn't even try. The recipe is on her blog, as well as more tempting photos.

For my take on it, I actually debated on using the bananas or subbing another fruit. They're just not my favorite thing. In the end, I kept them. My altered recipe is below. Would I make it again? Maybe, but not likely. It's pretty sweet, but for a decadent french toast, that's not a bad thing. I think for me it comes down to me not being a banana enthusiast. But if you are, it's sure to be a winner. If I happened to own a Bed and Breakfast, this would certainly be on the menu.

Banana Stuffed French Toast

Banana Stuffed French Toast (originally from the Neely's)
This would probably feed 3 to 4

2 tablespoons vegan margarine
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 1/2 bananas, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch thick round
Pinch cinnamon
2 ounces vegan cream cheese
4 to 5 (1-inch) slices of ciabatta bread, cut nearly all the way through again for pockets
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup garbanzo flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup soy milk
3/4 cup soy creamer
1/4 cup fresh orange juice

Make the banana filling first. In a small skillet, melt the margarine. Add the brown sugar and pinch of cinnamon. Stir it a little until it gets more saucy. Add the bananas and cook until the bananas just start to soften. Remove from the heat and stir in the cream cheese until melted. Set aside to cool.

Combine the rest of the dry ingredients in a 9 X 11-inch pan. Add the liquid ingredients and mix with a fork. It's okay to have lumps.

Divide the filling among the french toast slices, stuffing them the best you can.

(Here is a big deviation- they bake the french toast, but I cooked it more traditionally in a skillet.)

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add enough oil to cover the bottom. Dip the stuffed slices into the batter, coating both sides. Place in the hot oil and cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Turn over to cook the second side, adjusting the heat if needed. Serve garnished with confectioner's sugar and maple syrup, if desired.

For our next Food Network Friday, we're going International! EFCLiz from Cooking the Vegan Books has chosen our recipe from England's version of the Food Network, Good Food. It's sure to be a challenge. I'll post the full recipe next week, but in case you want to give it some thought, it's Kedgeree! We'll wrap that one up on October 2nd, so you'll have plenty to have time to get cooking.

As always, we'd love to have people join in! If you happen to have veganized this one, please email me or post a link to this post so we'll be able to see your creation! Thanks to Julia and Anna Karenina for getting all creative with the French Toast challenge.

Coming soon: Another book contest!

Soup's On Winner and Terry Testers

Lately, I've been back to doing some testing for other authors, and it's so much fun. The food has been delicious, too. Let me tempt you with some of the latest dishes I've made from Terry Hope Romero's upcoming book. Originally the book was called Vegan Latina, but it sounds like that won't be the official name. Whatever it's called in the end, don't miss it!

Zesty Orange Mojo Baked Tofu

Admittedly, this isn't the most beautiful of the photos I'm posting today, but it tastes incredible. This is one of those recipes that becomes so much greater than it's parts. The texture on the tofu is ideal. The side dish is a pan fried quinoa, also from Terry.

Peruvian Seitan and Potato Skewers

An awesome summer grill dinner, or you can make it inside. This version has the optional vegetables. Terry's flavorful marinade makes this a delicious dish.

Latino Shredded Seitan

This one might be my favorite of the bunch. This happens to be the chipotle version. Like a lot of Terry's recipes, she offers variations and different seasonings, so the options abound!

I've kept you in suspense long enough. Now for the winner of Soup's On.........it's Amanda, who commented:

My favorite soup is a vegetarian Pho with rice noodles..love it. My favorite muffin is harder to say..I love a good banana nut, corn is also good and who can say no to a blueberry one either!

Congratulations, Amanda! Please email me your mailing address and I'll get this book out to you.

I happen to love Pho, too. Amanda, be sure to try these blueberry muffins when you get the book!

Thanks again to the Book Publishing Company for making these contests possible and all their support of veganism.

Even if you didn't win this book, please stay tuned for another book contest coming on Sept. 21st.

And.....we'd love to have you join us for Food Network Friday. Come on, it's French Toast! Show us how you'd veganize it. Email me your version or reply to my post on Friday, Sept 18th.

Food Network Friday for 9/18 and Quick Roasted Plum Tomato Bruschetta

Quick Roasted Plum Tomato Bruschetta (recipe below)

Here's the recipe for the next Food Network Friday, which will wrap-up on September 18th. To participate, just veganize the recipe below, making any changes you'd like and either email your results to me or post a link to the blog post on that day. We'd love to have you!

The pick for this round is from Holy Shitake, and here is what she wrote:

The Mr and I have a bit of a tradition of watching the Neelys on Sunday morning. They are an awesome couple who really show the love and care for each other. So i wanted my choice to be one of their recipes. I went through all their recipes on FN.com. But the one that yelled veganize to me, is this one.

Banana Stuffed French Toast Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
Pinch ground cinnamon
3 ripe bananas, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 large unsliced loaf French bread, bread cut into 8 slices
4 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon rum extract
Nonstick cooking spray
Confectioners' sugar, for garnish
Maple syrup, for garnish

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt butter in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Once butter is melted add the brown sugar and pinch of cinnamon. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar melts into the butter and becomes a sauce. Add bananas and toss together. Let cook until the bananas are soft and incorporated into the sauce. Remove to a bowl and let cool completely. Once cool, add cream cheese and mash with a wooden spoon.

Using a paring knife, cut a 2-inch-long slits in 1 side of each bread slice, cutting 3/4 of way through bread and creating pocket that leaves 3 sides of bread intact. Divide banana mixture equally among the bread pockets.

In a large bowl, add eggs, heavy cream, milk, cinnamon and rum and whisk to combine. Pour mixture into a 13 by 9-inch casserole dish. Put the bread into the egg mixture and let soak for 3 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove the bread from egg mixture, using a spatula, letting the excess drain off. Spray a wire rack with nonstick spray and put the rack on a baking sheet. Put the bread on the rack and transfer to the oven. Bake the French toast until it is golden brown and filling is hot, about 25 minutes. Transfer the toast on a serving platter and garnish with confectioners' sugar and maple syrup.

Totally optional, but if you want check the other recipes from the episode, Ready Set Breakfast: Down Home with the Neelys, I would love to see what this group of creative vegans can do. Tempting you with the thought of veganizing Neely's Homemade Hash Browns, Gina's Brown Sugar Bacon, and Coconut Hot Chocolate.

Thanks for the pick, Kirsten. I know some people have expressed a dislike for the Neelys, which is fine. Personally, I have yet to decide if it's more fun to veganize a recipe from the 'personalities' I happen to like, or the ones that I don't. But really, the point isn't if you like them or not, it's about showing the Food Network how tasty a vegan diet can be, starting with their own recipes!

Speaking of recipes, rather than leave you without a photo, here's a super quick take on bruschetta which takes advantage of some of the gorgeous plum tomatoes that are taking over the farmer's markets. It doesn't get much easier than this tasty variation.

Quick Roasted Plum Tomato Bruschetta
Makes about 2 cups

8 to 10 plum tomates, seeded and cut in quarters*
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
handful fresh basil, chopped
pinch dried basil
pinch dried oregano
pinch red pepper flakes
salt and pepper, to taste
ciabatta or french bread, sliced and drizzled with olive oil and salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a 9 X 13 inch pan, toss the tomatoes with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast about 15 minutes. Remove fromthe oven and let cool. Chop the tomatoes. Add the garlic, basil, dried basil, and oregano and red pepper flakes. Stir together and adjust the seasonings, if needed.

With the oven still on, roast the bread until golden. Serve warm or cool.

*After roasting, most of the skins just peeled off. If they hadn't, I would have left them on, but they ended up coming off as I cut them so I went with it.

Last call for the book contest! If you'd like to enter for a chance to win Soup's On, be sure to comment on the post below.

New contest coming soon! Have a great weekend, everyone!

A Tale of Two Sausages

We spotted this in Whole Foods and couldn't wait to try it. There have been so many great comments about the El Burrito soyrizo sausage, that I grabbed this breakfast sausage up quickly. I'm not big on negative reviews, but I am big on honesty, and this one just didn't do it for us. The texture was more crumbly than the one we usually use, Gimme Lean. The flavor was good (as is the Gimme Lean), perhaps a little less fennely. But the big thing that blew it for me is that somehow it left my mouth feeling like an oil-slick.

Calorie and sodium-wise, the two are pretty comparable, with Gimme Lean slightly lower in sodium. Gimme Lean has 7 grams protein, while El Burrito has 6. Gimme Lean has 1 more fiber gram and 4 more carb grams. But it also has 0 fat.

To be fair, others have different opinions.

And your opinion could be different, too. Either way, it's fun to try new things and I'm glad we had the opportunity. I'm still looking forward to giving their soyrizo a try.

What's your favorite store-bought sausage?

What I've Been Eating (and Testing)

Cauliflower Pesto Soup

This has been the best summer weather-wise that I can remember. I'm talking about people and comfort level, not for gardens. Our first year garden did as well as could be expected and it made me feel a little better to hear the talk at farmer's markets how it wasn't a good growing year. At first I thought it was just our inexperience. I've been going to a lot of farmer's markets to make up for what the deer and weather did to our little 8 X 10 garden. The heirloom tomatoes and a few hot peppers that the deer refused made it all worthwhile. So we're determined more than ever and plan to double it next year.

With a tiny whisper of fall in the air, I've been enjoying soup. These two are testers for Isa's new book. Our basil (grown in pots) ended up doing well toward the end of the summer, and it was perfect in the Cauliflower Pesto Soup. With practically a handful of ingredients, you won't believe the flavor.

Caldo Verde

Apparently, this soup is pretty well-known, just not where I live. It looks like a lot of different cultures have variations on what started as a potato kale soup. We loved this one. It's hearty, filling and absolutely delicious.

Tofu Picnic Sandwich

This one's not a tester, it's just something I came up with for a picnic we enjoyed over the long weekend. It's got red peppers, baked marinated tofu, roasted eggplant, a sun-dried tomato/black olive pesto, and onions. It was quick and easy to throw together, especially since I even used store-bought bread.

Coming soon: Some testers for Terry's upcoming book, which will really whet your appetite!

Don't forget to enter the contest for Soup's On!

Food Network Friday: Outside In Pizza Panini

That's right, it's Friday and here's the latest edition of Food Network Friday! A bunch of my wonderful cookbook testers joined in the fun and this recipe was chosen by Amy. It's originally from Rachel Ray and is very loosely written, leaving loads of room for veganizing.

Here's what we came up with, because we all really just want to get to the food, right?

Veg-in-Training came up with this beauty of sandwich. It's got yellow heirloom tomatoes, slow roasted tomatoes, roasted red peppers, Italian sausage, and Daiya cheese! Yes, that's a pretty basil leaf poking out, too. This is just the kind of dinner I'd love to dig into.


This one's from Anna Karenina and she went what she calls a more "traditional" route, complete with vegan pepperoni. Call it whatever you want, I'd love to try it. It's homemade focaccia piled with tofu ricotta, fyh and herbs. Here's the best part: it's also got a homemade spicy sun-dried tomato pesto. Check out her blog for the recipe and even a diagram!


Holy Shitake took a radically different approach by using chicken seitan and potatoes! I've never had potatoes on a sandwich and now I'm wondering why not. Her sandwich starts with homemade focaccia and is filled with black olives, soy cheese and spread with pesto, in addition to the seitan and potatoes.


Amy's computer is acting up, but here's what she did. We can only imagine how good this must have looked... and tasted.

"Sautee 1/2 onion, sliced, for 5 minutes. Then I added 12 green pepper, sliced, 1 clove garlic, minced and some sausage crumbles. Saute a few more minutes. Add 1 t. italian seasoning and a big pinch crushed red pepper flakes and a small can of sliced black olives. I used a round loaf of Italian bread. I spread butter on 1 side of each slice of bread. On the other side I layered store bought marinara sauce, vegan pepperoni, onion/green pepper mixture, then some FYH mozzarella. Topped it with the other piece of buttered bread (butter side out) and threw it on the preheated George Foreman. It took about 5 minutes to grill. Yumm-o!"

That Yumm-o is really getting into the spirit of things!

And here's my sandwich, which is probably the most basic of all these! I made focaccia using this recipe, but added 1/2 teaspoon each of dried basil and rosemary. Next time I'd double that. But it's a wonderfully easy recipe that I'll make again. Inside the sandwich was sliced tomato, basil leaves, black olives, sliced pepperoncinis, pepper slices, onions and....Daiya cheese! The cheese melted beautifully in this sandwich. A quick marinara sauce for dipping is on the side.


If you joined Food Network Friday this week, please post a link to your blog so we can see what you came up with, too! It's fun to see all the different takes on a dish.

If you're new to the whole FNF idea, here's the short version. Every other week, we're going to post a recipe here that is from any of the Food Network Chefs. It can be from a show, the website, a book...anywhere as long as it's from one of the FN Chefs. You take the recipe and veganize it however you'd like. Don't like one of the ingredients? Change it. Allergic to something in the recipe? Adapt however you want. It's all about making it YOUR recipe, so get creative.

Then on Friday of the next week, I'm posting a wrap up here. To join in, email me your recipe if you don't have a blog, or you can just post a link to your blog in the comments. If I hear from you, I'll be able to include you in the wrap up. We'd love to have you join us in showing the Food Network just how easy it is to eat well as a vegan.

The next recipe was chosen by Holy Shitake and it is........Banana Stuffed French Toast! I'll give it it's own intro post next week, but consider this a sneak peak. Results will be posted here two weeks from today, Friday, Sept. 18th. Join us!

In the meantime, don't miss the book contest in the previous post!

Happy Friday!

Book Contest: Soup's On! (with Very Berry Muffins)

Very Berry Muffins from Soup's On!

Here's really tasty proof that I meant it when I said that I was going to kick start the blog again. I'm back with a book contest that features some delicious blueberry muffins! Since I can't share the muffins themselves with you, the publisher of Soup's On! has generously given me permission to post the recipe instead.


Soup's On!, by Barb Bloomfield, is nifty little book. The Soup section is broken into five subsections: Tomato Based Soups, Miso Based Soups, Pureed and Creamy Soups, Stews and Thick Soups, and Other Soups. Under Tomato based, I'm itching to try the Mexican Soup Stew, made with quinoa and tvp and also the Seitan Soup with Cabbage. The Miso section has a Kraut Soup! I love fermented foods, especially when they're together, so this one really caught my eye. In the Pureed and Creamy section, there's a Triple Onion Soup made with tofu that is intriguing. Generally, I like my soup thick and more stewlike, and that chapter has plenty of offerings, too: Lentil and Barly Soup with Greens and Seitan Pasta Delight, to name just a couple. In Other Soups, I'd love to try the Green and White Soup, made with brussels sprouts, or the Curried Bok Choy and Snow Pea Soup. As you can tell, the book has a lot of variety and uses some ingredients not frequently seen in soups. That's not to say that the traditional soups, like Minestrone, are overlooked, because they're in there, too. Like all soup recipes, a lot of the ingredients are probably already in your pantry, but combined with fresh ingredients, you'd have the makings of a delicious soup.

But back to those muffins. Besides the soup recipes, Barb includes a bunch of muffin recipes, both sweet and savory, and all sound wonderful, as well as an accompaniment chapter with a few more bread recipes that would like to buddy up to whatever soup you choose to make. Being the impatient type (and having fresh blueberries to use), I jumped into a blueberry mufffin recipe that took 2 cups (yes, 2 cups!!!), of blueberries. I've never made a muffin with that much fruit that still managed to maintain that fantastic muffin texture. These did and I was so impressed that I asked if I could post the recipe. The only sub I made was to use extra whole wheat pastry flour for the barley flour, because I didn't have any.

Very Berry Muffins (with thanks to Rick and the Book Publishing Company)
Yield: 12 muffins

Liquid Ingredients:
1 cup nondairy milk
1/2 cup flax seed mixture (2 tbsp ground flax seeds in 1/2 cup warm water)
1/2 cup liquid sweetener (I used agave)
3 tablespoons canola oil

Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 cup barley flour (I subbed ww pastry flour)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I used ww pastry flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups berries: raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, etc, (fresh or frozen and thawed).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a blender, combine the liquid ingredients. Blend until smooth and creamy, and pour into a mixing bowl.

Sift the dry ingredients into the liquid ingredients and stir until the dry ingredients are absorbed.

Gently stir the berries into the muffin batter. Spoon into lightly oiled muffin tins, and bake for 20 minutes.

Test to see if the muffins are done by inserting a toothpick in the middle of a muffin. If the toothpick comes out clean, the muffins are done.

Although this is a soup book, I think it would be worth buying for the muffin recipes alone. Especially at its low price of $10.95! I'd love to try the rye muffins with capers (especially alongside that Kraut Soup) or the Mashed Potato and Gravy Muffins. Those just sound genius.

So, if you'd like a chance to win this book, all you need to do is a post a comment to this blog entry telling me your favorite soup or muffin. Be sure to check back to see if you won in case I can't contact you through your entry. A big thanks to the Book Publishing Company for sending me this book, as we as many others, for the contest.

Coming soon: the Return of Food Network Fridays! We're tentatively aiming for every other Friday, with plans to post the recipe about 10 days before the Friday Wrap Up. This week's recipe is posted here, and we'd love to have you join us!

See you Friday! Which, by the way, will mark 3 posts this week, Dear Reader. But who's counting?