Orangelicious Pumpkin Muffins

I adapted this recipe from the Post Punk Kitchen. These are super-yummy, sweet and spicy, brilliant orange muffins. I approve!

1.75 c flour
1 c white or turbinado sugar
1 T baking powder
.25 t salt
1 t ground cinnamon
.5 t ground nutmeg
.5 t ground ginger
.25 t ground allspice
.25 t ground cloves
1 c pureed pumpkin
1 T soy yogurt
.5 c soy milk
.5 c oil
2 T molasses
Zest of one orange (about 1 T)

Pre-heat oven to 400F.
Mix dry ingredients.
Whisk wet ingredients together.
Gently blend wet and dry ingredients, stirring just until mixed.
Spoon into 12 muffin cups.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.

The best plum sauce Branden has ever tasted!

This was phenomenal! We had some plums that needed to be eaten immediately, and once again, the urgent eat-it-now-before-it-spoils feeling lead to a creative success. We served this with rice, seitan pan-fried until crisp, and a stir-fry of carrot, baby bok choy, and bean sprouts. It would also make a great dipping sauce for fried tofu, spring rolls, etc. It does have a lot of ingredients, but don't be scared, it isn't hard to make.

.75 lbs plums, pitted and chopped
.5 c water
Half of a medium onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T ginger, minced
A quarter of a lemon, juiced
.25 c brown sugar
1.5 t teriyaki sauce
1.5 t soy sauce
1 t chili paste
.25 t ground cloves
.25 t ground allspice
3 T water
1 t cornstarch

Put everything except the water and cornstarch in a pot and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Whisk cornstarch into water.
Pour sauce into a blender, add cornstarch and water mixture, puree.
Pour sauce back into pot, cook for another ten minutes.

Orangey Date Energy Bite

The best eatin' on the BC ferries is this date square/bar thing that has tons of yummy calories. I can't find it in stores, and my fallback Cliff bars are expensive here, so I decided to make my own energy bars.

.5 c butter substitute
.5 c brown sugar
.5 c orange juice
.5 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 t vanilla
1 t lemon extract
.5 c soy milk powder
.25 c flax seeds
2 c oats
1.5 c pitted dates, chopped

Melt the butter, mix it up, smush it in a 9x9 pan and bake for 20 minutes at 350. There's nothing structurally complicated going on, so this recipe should be easy to play with. The baking powder may not do anything. Try adding nuts, nut butter, or chocolate chips.

crisp potato cake with herbs.

this is a slightly altered recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's "world vegetarian"

Ingredients:
2 & 1/2 pounds baking potatoes
about 6 table spoons olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 teaspoons fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano



Instructions:
peel the potatoes and keep them in water.
preheat oven to 400F.
in a large oven proof pot or casserole dish pour 4 tablespoons of the oil and place on medium-low heat. at the same time pick up a potato dry it and then slice it in to 1/8-inch-thick slices. lay the slices in a slightly overlapping layer, starting at the outside working toward the center in a spiral. continue until you cover the bottom of the pot. lightly salt and pepper the potatoes. sprinkle some of the herbs and dribble some of the olive oil over the potatoes. continue making layers the same way until all the potatoes and seasonings are used up. sprinkling seasonings over each layer and dribbling olive oil over every other layer. press down on the top with a large spatula. if you fell tat the potatoes ave browned a bit at the bottom(the edges will show this), cover with a lid or tin foil and put the pot in the oven. bake for 35 to 40 minuets, or until the potatoes are tender. uncover and put the pan under the broiler briefly to brown on top.

loosen the sides and bottom gently with a spatula, thenslide the cake out on to a large round plate. cut into wedges and serve.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake

Nothing healthy about this recipe. Peanut butter + flour & baking powder make a cake like dessert with the chocolate "pudding" on the bottom. Play with the ingredients, see if you can come up with your own version.

1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup soy milk
1 T. canola oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup peanut butter
Mix ingredients together until smooth. Pour into ungreased 1 1/2 qt. baking dish.
In the same bowl mix:
1/2 cup sugar, 3 T. cocoa, 1 cup boiling water. Pour over batter.
Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

For Non-Vegans

If you have a special diet which, for some reason, includes animal bits and animal products, here are some handy substitutions that you can use:

If we say ___, you can use ___.

Egg replacer: eggs.
Margarine: butter.
Soy milk: cow milk.
Veggie sausage: pig sausage.
Kelp powder: fish powder.
Seitan, tempeh, or baked tofu: animal parts.
Healthy vegetables: lard.

If you don't feel like going to the trouble of making these complicated and time-consuming changes, give up on your meaty "fad diet" and eat vegan.

Mushroom Stroganoff of the Gods

This was heavenly. I am still blissed out from eating it. I had a bunch of cashew gravy leftover still, and this dinner was the obvious solution for my overabundance of gravy. I also found a bag of oyster mushrooms that Branden picked up for free at work but never told me about in the refrigerator, luckily they were still good. I think that was divine intervention. I served this with a bunch of swiss chard sauteed with garlic and olive oil as a side dish.

1 lb fettucine pasta, cooked, drained, and rinsed (but still warm)
1 large onion, sliced
.5 lbs oyster mushrooms, mostly whole, only the biggest sliced
.5 lbs cremini mushrooms, sliced thick
Salt and pepper
1 box seitan (.25 lbs), cubed
1 batch cashew gravy
Margarine
Parsley, chopped

Saute onions in margarine until translucent.
Add mushrooms to onions, season with salt and pepper, and saute until soft.
Meanwhile, fry seitan until browned.
Heat gravy, thin with extra soymilk if it looks too thick.
Place pasta on a plate, top with gravy, then mushrooms, then seitan, and garnish with parsley.

Breakfast Burritos with Pumpkin

I made these for our Sunday brunch this week. I still had cashew gravy, some baked pumpkin, and lots of salsa leftover, so I needed an excuse to use some of them, and this was a great excuse!

Whole wheat tortillas
Breakfast potatoes
Cashew gravy
Salsa
Sprouts
Scrambled tofu cooked with the optional ingredients that I added today:
.5 t garlic powder
2 t vegit (a seasoning blend, like spike)
1 t basil
1 t dill
1 T fresh parsley, chopped fine
1 c cooked pumpkin cubes
2 green onions, sliced

Put potatoes and scrambled tofu in tortillas, drizzle with cashew gravy, garnish with salsa and sprouts.

Signature Breakfast Potatoes

Fantastic with scrambled tofu.

6 small-medium potatoes, cubed
1 onion, chopped
Half a bell pepper, chopped
1 t dill
1 t basil
.5 t garlic powder
.5 t oregano
1 t paprika
2 T fresh parsley
Salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste
Olive oil

Boil potatoes until just barely done.
Fry onion and potatoes until browned, adding seasonings as they cook.
Add bell pepper and fresh parsley during the last 5 minutes.

Scrambled tofu

Scrambled tofu is one of the most important recipes ever. I could eat it everyday. Sometimes I do. You can add herbs, spices, and various vegetables to make exciting new creations. Add a little soymilk for a creamier scramble, or a little instant oatmeal for a drier scramble.

The basic recipe:
1 block tofu
3 T nutritional yeast
.5 t turmeric
salt and pepper

Crumble tofu with your hands or a fork.
Fry in a little margarine.
Add seasonings as you cook, and adjust the balance of seasonings as you like.
Cook until hot, or browned, or dry, depending on how you like it.

Salsa! Con Ananas y Jalapeños

Now that Branden works as a produce deliverer, we get nice surprises like a flat of frost-damaged (but still yummy) tomatoes. And then we have to make something with them. In this case, I made pineapple salsa. The most time-consuming part is chopping up so many tomatoes.

6 c organic roma tomatoes, diced
1 medium onion, diced very fine
1 jalapeno pepper, diced extremely fine
1.5 c pineapple pieces (fresh is best, but canned is still good)
1 T apple cider vinegar
.5 t salt
.5 t agave nectar
.25 t garlic powder

Combine everything, adjust seasonings (my salsa needed extra agave nectar because the tomatoes weren't super sweet and the pineapple was acidic).
Refrigerate over night to let flavours meld.

Penne for One or Two

I made this last night from ingredients on hand. It tasted just like the free samples Trader Joe's was giving out last week.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat penne- measured dry
6 mushrooms sliced
1 stalk celery sliced
1/2 small onion chopped
small clove garlic minced
1 large Roma tomato, chopped, cored and seeds removed
1 cup Marinara sauce
2 handfuls of spinach - washed!
red pepper flakes about 1/4 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
salt to taste
olive oil 1 T.
Cook penne in boiling water to desired doneness, drain. In a 10" frying pan heat olive oil & saute mushrooms for 3-4 minutes, put in a small bowl and set aside. Put celery, onion and garlic in pan and cook until onion is translucent. Add tomato, basil and red pepper flakes, cook for a minute more. Add penne, marinara sauce and mushrooms, stir to mix and heat through. Put spinach on top, cover and heat until spinach is wilted.

Parsley Poppy-Seed Pasta

Another simple but fantastic dish. Definitely comfort food.

1 lb fettucine pasta
2 T margarine
2 T parsley, chopped fine
1 T poppy seeds
salt

Cook pasta.
Drain, strain, and rinse pasta briefly under cold water.
Mix pasta with remaining ingredients, adjust seasonings to taste.

Veggie-Kielbasas with Apples and Onions

I adapted this from a recipe in Vegetarian Times. It was very flavourful and satisfying. We served it on top of "parsley poppy-seed pasta" with "super-simple string-bean salad" on the side.

4 soy kielbasa-style sausages (we used the Tofurky brand sausages)
1 T margarine
1 T canola oil
2 apples, cored and sliced into 12 wedges each
.5 t dill
salt and pepper
2 medium onions, sliced thin
1/4 c amber beer (you could probably use water or broth instead)
3 T brown sugar
3 T balsamic vinegar

Saute apples in .5 T margarine until soft and lightly browned. When cooked, season with salt, pepper, and dill.
Meanwhile, saute onions in remaining .5 T of margarine and .5 T oil until caramelized.
Add apples, beer, vinegar, and sugar to onions.
Stir to combine.
Cook until sauce is reduced, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, fry sausages in remaining .5 T oil until heated through and lightly browned.
Combine sausages with onion-apple mixture.

Super-Simple String-Bean Salad

This is really simple, but really good.

.25 lbs green beans, ends removed
2 t agave nectar
1 T apple cider vinegar

Steam green beans until cooked but still crisp.
Run beans under cold water until completely cooled.
Place beans in a mixing bowl, add agave nectar and vinegar, mix well.

Sweet Potato Pie

I brought this to Canadian Thanksgiving Potluck #2, and ate the leftovers for breakfast the next two days. Even Branden, a sworn sweet potato and pumpkin pie dis-liker, liked it.

1 pie crust
1.25 c mashed cooked sweet potatoes
1 T margarine, at room temperature
.5 c soft tofu
1 c soy milk
1 c brown sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 t cinnamon
.5 t salt
.25 t ground ginger
.25 t ground nutmeg
.25 t ground cloves
Pecans

Pre-heat oven to 350F.
Puree sweet potatoes, margarine, tofu, and soymilk in a blender until completely smooth.
Pour into a mixing bowl, add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Pour into pie shell, bake for 50 minutes.
Refrigerate over night, or until firm.
Decorate with pecans.

Silvia's Stuffed Yams

A thanksgiving highlight. I brought these to Canadian Thanksgiving Potluck #2, and they were very popular. But remember, the yams sold in North America are actually sweet potatoes! It's an advertising conspiracy, though I'm not sure what the point of such conspiring is.

6 yams/sweet potatoes (with orange flesh)
.75 lb mushrooms (I used a mix of white, cremini, and shitake), sliced thin
6 T margarine
2 eggs worth of Egg Replacer, prepared according to package directions
1/3 c orange juice
2 T orange zest
salt and pepper
cayenne

Pre-heat oven to 375F.
Bake yams until soft, about one hour (you can do this ahead of time and let them cool so that they are easier to handle, I did it the night before).
Saute mushrooms in 4 T margarine.
Slice yams in half, remove most of the flesh with a spoon, leaving a little so that the peels can stand up on their own.
Mash flesh with orange juice, orange zest, egg replacer, and salt, pepper and cayenne to taste.
Fold mushrooms gently into yam mixture, saving a few slices to decorate the tops of the yams with.
Refill the yam skins.
Dot yams with remaining 2 T margarine.
Bake until heated through, about 20 minutes.

Quick Banana Bread

I was in a bit of a hurry earlier today and made this in 10 minutes.

.5 c butter substitute
2 medium bananas
.5 c brown sugar
.5 c unbleached sugar
1 t baking powder
.5 t salt
.5 t vanilla
dash cinnamon
.5 c unsweetened apple sauce (or another banana)
.25 c soy milch
2 c whole wheat flour
.5 c chopped walnuts

Melt butter, mash bananas, add everything else (walnuts last). Toss 4*8" pan in oven at 350F for about 50 minutes. You can do everything in the baking pan to minimize cleanup. Reduce sugar if you're using sweetened apple sauce. Eliminate soy milk for a less moist texture. Or try cupcakes. Enjoy!

Cashew gravy

Simple, creamy, healthy gravy. Great with mashed potatoes, stuffing, or warm biscuits. All you need is a blender and a sauce pot. My favorite gravy recipe ever!

2 c water
.5 c cashews
1 T cornstarch
1.5 t onion powder
1.5 T braggs
2 T nutritional yeast

Puree cashews with 1 c water, until completely smooth (no chunks at all!).
Add remaining ingredients, puree until combined.
Pour gravy into a pot, cook over med-low heat, stirring constantly, until it comes to a boil.
Remove from heat and let sit for about five minutes before serving.

Thankfully stuffed pumpkin

We made this beautiful stuffed pumpkin as a thanksgiving day dish yesterday. It makes a very impressive presentation, and the combination of stuffing and pumpkin is absolutely delicious!

1 med pumpkin (about 3.5 lbs)
1 box stuffing mix
Vegetable broth
Margarine
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 stalks celery, sliced
1 apple, chopped
1/4 c pecans, chopped
1/4 c cranberries, chopped
1/4 t ground sage

Pre-heat oven to 350F.
Cut top off of pumpkin and hollow out.
Sprinkle inside of pumpkin with a little salt and pepper.
Saute onion until soft, add celery, saute until almost done but still crisp.
Make stuffing according to directions on box, using vegetable broth and EarthBalance.
Add onions, celery, apple, pecans, cranberries, and sage to stuffing.
Fill pumpkin with stuffing.
Place pumpkin in a baking dish with a bit of water at the bottom.
Bake for about an hour and a half, or until pumpkin is soft inside.
Scoop out a little pumpkin flesh with each serving of stuffing.

Sci-Fi Wasabi Pasta Salad

Quick, creamy, spicy, good!

Sauce:
8 T vegenaise
7 T plain soymilk
2 T rice vinegar
1-3 t wasabi, depending on desired spiciness
.5 t ground ginger
.5 t garlic powder
2 t nutritional yeast
salt and pepper to taste

1 pound pasta, cooked (I used whole wheat spirals)
1 package shelled edamame, cooked just until tender
1 medium carrot
2 small stalks celery
4 green onions
sesame seeds

Drain pasta and edamame as soon as they are cooked, then cool under cold running water.
Shred carrot using a vegetable peeler into (short or long) thin strips.
Slice celery and green onions very thin.
Blend dressing ingredients in a large bowl with a fork or whisk.
Add pasta to dressing, stir to coat.
Add vegetables, mix.
Adjust seasonings (I found it needed more salt and pepper than I expected).
Serve with sesame seeds on top.

Udon Stir-Fry with Tofishies and Thai Peanut Sauce

Last night, this was simple, quick, and yummy.

0.5 lbs shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2T fresh ginger, diced
1 head's worth of broccoli stems, peeled and chopped thin
1 can sliced water chestnuts
2*200g packages of Udon noodles (cooked, or lighter wt dry)
0.5 head garlic, diced
1 head's worth of broccoli florettes
3 green onions, chopped, as garnish

Stir fry in that order, more or less. Serve with one batch of Tofishies and Thai peanut sauce.

4 Flavour Thai Peanut Sauce

We make this all the time, literally. Every batch is different---adjust ingredients to taste. It's great on stir-fry, rice, and noodles. It'd probably keep well, but we've never been able to save any.

0.5 c peanut butter
1t Thai curry paste
1-2 limes, juiced
1-2T rice vinegar
3-5T soy sauce
1T agave nectar or honey
dash black pepper

Mix, then let sit for the flavours to meld. The sooner you put in the curry paste, the better. More agave nectar will counteract the spice; more black pepper will intensify it. The trick is to balance spicy, sweet, salty, and sour. Thin with water or coconut milk to desired consistancy.

Tofishies

This vegan seafood is one of my new favorite foods. I've enjoyed it on pineapple-fried rice, on stir-fries with peanut sauce, and on its own with a little lemon juice. I bet there are about a million more great ways to eat it. It is super simple and easy. Besides, how much healthier can you get than tofu and seaweed?

Baked firm tofu, plain/original flavor
Salt
Kelp powder
Oil

Slice tofu into thin strips.
Fry in a little oil until crisp.
Sprinkle with a little salt and a generous amount of kelp powder.
Cook a minute or two longer, stirring to thoroughly coat tofu with seasonings.

Sichuan Eggplant and Seitan

This is a super yummy recipe for a dish I love to eat at Chinese restaurants, but have never been brave enough to make myself before. It turned out to be really easy to make. If you don't have seitan, you could use tofu or tempeh, or just add more eggplant. I used cayenne pepper for the spice, but next time I will use Chinese chili paste.

6 asian eggplants, sliced diagonally
1/2 pound seitan, chopped
Black pepper, to taste
1 head garlic, roughly chopped
Oil for cooking
Sauce:
2 T. water
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. braggs
1 T. balsamic vinegar
2 t. brown sugar
1 T. cornstarch
Cayenne pepper to taste
Any leftover marinade from seitan package
Green onions, sliced diagonally
Sesame seeds

Stir-fry eggplant in a little oil until soft, set aside.
Fry seitan in a little oil until lightly browned, season with black pepper.
Add garlic, stir-fry about five minutes, don't let it brown.
Meanwhile, whisk sauce ingredients together.
Add sauce to seitan, stir until coated.
Add eggplant, combine thoroughly.
Cook for another five minutes.
Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds, serve with rice.

chocolate chip cookies

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
8 tablespoons EarthBalance
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons egg replacer
a pinch of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups dark chocolate cut up in to little chips, or carob/dark chocolate chips.

Pre-heat the oven to 375F, grease cookie sheets or use wax paper.
mix the flour, baking soda, EarthBalance,sugar and brown sugar together. Then mix in the egg replacer, salt and vanilla.
then add the chocolate.
mix everything well.
drop blobs of cookie dough about 1 or 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets.
bake one sheet at a time for 8 to 10 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges.
take out the baked cookies of the oven, let them cool for 2 minutes then move to a plate.

enjoy
-morgana

Fussili with Mushrooms

Ingredients:------------------------------------------------------
about a pound of fussili pasta.
1 cup brown button mushrooms.
1 cup Shitake mushrooms.
1 cup oyster mushrooms.
olive oil.
thyme.
2 cloves of garlic.
Instructions:------------------------------------------------------
cook the fussili until soft in boiling water with a little bit of olive oil.
saute the mushrooms and garlic in olive oil, or earthbalance, until the mushrooms are soft make sure not to burn the garlic.
drain the pasta and ad the mushrooms, garlic and thyme.
server hot or cold with salad dressing.

enjoy
-morgana

Breakfast Parfait

Ingredients:------------------------------------------------------
3 6oz silk vanilla yogurts.
strawberries(sliced).
bananas.
carob chips or dark chocolate chips.
1 quarter to 1/2 cup granola of your choosing.
a sprig of mint for a garnish.

Instructions:------------------------------------------------------
put 1 of the yogurts in the bottom of a tall glass.
put granola on top of the yogurt.
put 1 more of the yogurts on top of the granola, then put the chocolate chips on top of the yogurt.
put in the last yogurt and then put the sliced strawberries on top.
put a sprig of mint on top of the strawberries.

enjoy
-morgana

Strawberry Smoothie

Ingredients:------------------------------------------------------
2 cups frozen or fresh strawberrys.
2 cups soy delicious chocolate non dairy ice cream.
10 ice cubes.
2 bananas choped in to small rounds.
1 cup raspberrys.
1 cup protein powder of you choice.
Instructions:------------------------------------------------------
put the ice cream and soy milk in blender, then ad the protein powder, strawberrys, bananas, raspberrys and ice cubes.
blend untill smooth.

enjoy
-morgana

potato salad

1 jar of veganaise(the smaller one).
5 pounds of red potatos.
2 teaspoons of mustard.
a dash of yellow mustard powder.
garlic powder, how ever much you want(i like alot).
dill weed, how ever much you like.
salt.
1 qutar cup red onion.(optional)
3 or 4 pickels.(optional)
black pitted olives.(optional)
parsley.


Instructions:------------------------------------------------------steam the potatos for about an houar, or untill tender.
mix the veganaise,2 teaspoons of mustard,a dash of yellow mustard powder, garlic powder, dill weed and salt in a bowl untill well blended togeather.
slice up onions, pickels and black olives.
and put them in little bowls for a garnish.
put the potatos in a bowl and put them in the fridge for an houar or 2, or untill the potatos are cool.
when the potatos are cooled down, slice them up in to cubes and put them in a big bowl, scrap the mixed veganaise,2 teaspoons of mustard,a dash of yellow mustard powder, garlic powder, dill weed and salt out of their bowl and mix it in with the potatos.
put the done potato salad in the fridge untill your ready to eat it or eat it when your done making it.
when you eat it garnish it with the parsley.


enjoy
-morgana

Eggplant Parmigiano (Parmesan)

This is not too hard to make and really tastes great. Smells fabulous too while cooking.

First, slice a plump eggplant into 1/4 " round slices, salt both sides of each slice, and set in a platic colander to leech out the tanins for at least an hour. Then rinse in cold water. Pat dry.

Sautee onion and garlic and when well cooked, add in the sliced eggplant and sautee both sides until getting soft. Takes a few rounds to cook it all.

In a shallow baking dish - I use a 9" pyrex pie dish as I can only bake in the round - pour in a bit of red pasta sauce on the bottom. Layer in half of the sauteed eggplant with its onion and garlic. Sprinkle over this several tablespoons of cornmeal. Then shake on parmesan cheese (there must be a vegan equivilent?), then pour on more pasta sause - not too thick, ok even to thin sauce with a little water. Then repeat with eggplant / onions / garlic / cornmeal / parmesan / sauce on the top. For non vegans, a white cheese on top - or vegan similar type - mozzarella, or jack, in 2x3 squares makes a nice crispy top - be sure to finish it off with a sprinkling of final parmesan.

Bake for about 20 minutes at 375, less if the eggplant is very well sauteed previously.

Serve in pie shaped wedges if in a round dish. Square if in rectangular dish. Makes 3-4 servings. Really flavorful. Have also tried it with a homemade tomato sauce with success. Best with a nice crispy side of salad.

A Better Tofu Scrambler

The simple boxed tofu scrambler becomes something a lot more interesting by adding some tasty ingerdients. Start by sauteeing red onion and garlic, once those are cooked add sliced mushrooms (I tried portobello and think any of the browner ones would be best) - all before adding the tofu scrambler (tofu plus the seasoning - pre mix it in a bowl and add a little water if its a firm tofu to help the seasoning get well distributed - I mash it with a fork so it isn't cubed, but not to make it too slushy either) - and then when the seasoning is well distributed through the tofu and other ingredients in the sautee pan, add in chopped fresh spinach and cook until spinach is wilted down - stirring to get it evenly through out the dish. This combination of flavors makes it wonderful! 1 block of tofu and one seasoning packet serves two. Yum! I usually have brown rice with this too. Even better if served with baked country style potato wedges and organic ketchup on the side.

Mexican pizza

• Pizza dough for one crust
• GroundRound (fake ground-beef type stuff)
• Tomato sauce (we used a batch that Branden made from scratch)
• Corn
• Bell peppers (I used a combination of red, orange, and yellow ones), diced
• Green chilies, diced
• Yellow onion, diced
• Olive oil
• Broccoli, cut small
• Salsa (I used a habanero-lime one from Trader Joe's)

saute the ground round with black pepper, cayenne, cumin, and paprika. Then layer sauce, groundround, corn, peppers, chilies and onions. Drizzle olive oil over the top, and bake for about 15 minutes. Add the broccoli in the last five minutes, and serve with salsa on top.

Pizza dough! (with a bread machine)

The dough setting on my beloved bread machine makes excellent pizza dough, here's my favorite dough recipe:

1 1/4 c. water
3 T. olive oil
1 1/2 t. sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
2 2/3 c. whole wheat flour
1/3 c. pure gluten
4 t. yeast
2 t. basil or other dried herb

When the dough cycle is done, turn out dough onto a lightly floured board, let rest for ten minutes, then stretch out onto a baking pan. Top with yummy things, then bake at 400 for twenty minutes.

Chinese potatoes

This is not your ordinary potato dish. It is also not quite like the potatoes I had in China, being not nearly as oily and containing no MSG. It is scrumptiously interesting.

4 medium potatoes
1 T. soy sauce
2 t. apple cider vinegar
1 t. brown sugar
1/3 head garlic, roughly chopped
1 t. fresh ginger, grated
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

Cut the potatoes into matchsticks.
Rinse the chopped potatoes in cold water.
Put potatoes in a bowl with soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar.
Let marinate for at least half an hour.
Drain (saving marinade).
Fry potatoes in a little oil with garlic and ginger.
Add extra marinade as needed to keep potatoes from sticking.
When potatoes are just done (still firm, not mushy!), add cilantro.
Cook for another five minutes.

Apple-pecan muffins

I ended up with a bag of leftover apples from my field trip to Jasper, so I made these muffins to use up some apples. I brought them into school to share, and everyone loved them. I don't think they realized they were eating whole wheat vegan muffins. I am so sneaky.

• 1 1/3 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 c. quick cooking oats
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 c. soy milk
• 5 T. margarine, melted
• 1/4 c. maple syrup
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 c. diced, peeled apples
• 1/4 c. chopped pecans
  

Pre-heat oven to 400. Combine dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients, stirring just until moist (don't over mix too much!). Stir in the apples and pecans. Put in muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes. This makes about 12-15 muffins.

The best bread ever (for a bread machine)

I bought a used bread machine and made a number of very sad looking mutant loaves, which were generally short and often crooked. I felt sorry for them, so I ate them to put them out of their misery. After many a disappointing peak into the bread machine window in the morning, I finally woke up one beautiful day to find... the perfect loaf! Angels sang down from above and the villagers rejoiced. It's almost hard to eat something so beautiful, but I always manage to do it. If you don't have a bread machine, you should get one. It's easy, cheap, and a ton of adventurous mad kitchen-scientist fun to make bread.

Here it is... my best bread ever (as of today):

1 1/4 c. lukewarm water
2 T. soymilk powder
1 T. margarine (earth balance, of course)
2 T. molasses
1 T. honey or agave nectar
1 t. salt
1/2 c. white flour
2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. pure gluten
3/4 c. oats
2 1/2 t. yeast
1/2 c. walnuts or cashews

Put all that in the bread machine in the order recommended by your manual, press start, and then enjoy fantastic bread!

Welcome to the Veggie-Table!