First Harvest

I haven't had a garden since I was living with my parents. This fact has always made me a bit sad. Growing up, we always had a great garden and fruit trees to provide the best fresh summer goodies. As a kid, I took garden fresh produce for granted. These days with all of the crap that is allowed in our food supply the garden takes on new and greater importance to me. I am thrilled to be able to go outside, know there are no pesticides being sprayed on my food, and eat something right off of the plant. Ah, the peace and happiness this brings me!

Fred feverishly worked to put a beautiful garden in for us this fall. Being in AZ we can really get some good stuff during the winter months. He planted all sorts of goodies. We are now starting to see the fruits...or rather veggies of his labors. There are a few small green tomatoes on the plants. Our friend gave us a pepin plant that has a couple of bright red hot babies on it. The lettuces and kale are starting to look promising. We will have a great harvest in the coming weeks and months.

For now, we got our first little beauties - radishes! I haven't had one yet, but Fred says they are very mild and crunchy. I will soon be making a lovely radish salad. I can't wait!

Vegan MOFO - Day 30 - Wrappin' it up for 2009

I'm wrapping up a day early as Fred and I are going to be traveling tomorrow. We are finally getting to go on our much anticipated honeymoon!

This was a fun month. I have to thank all of the folks who sent me their family favorites this month. I did not get to all of the recipes, but fear not, my blog contributers and followers, I will be back to finish my mission. I really enjoyed checking out the recipes that were sent. I want to continue this project as it is so fitting. After all the blog is called Vegan Conversion Challenge. Convert I will!

The Iron Chef challenges were really fun. I like having to create on the fly. Look for more original recipes in the upcoming posts. You can also expect a few more restaurant reviews and Food Network Friday conversions. For those of you not in the know, this is where one of the participants picks a Food Network recipe for the rest of us to veganize. There will be lots of fun and recipes for you to check out.

I'm taking a little time off to be a better wife. Hee hee.

I leave you with this tasty morsel - my veganized version of BBQ

Pecan Smoked BBQ Tofu

Vegan MOFO - Day 29 - Zucchini Brownies

My friend Dana (no relation to the brownie author)- from the Day 28 post - has been asking for this recipe for months. Her kids went wild for it. I found a non-vegan version of this recipe years ago (back in 2000) on an oddball site. I have to give credit for the original recipe to Dana Resop. I cannot find the original recipe online anymore. I thought I had lost it in the great recipe binder abyss. I'm thrilled that I not only found the original, but I had actually made notes on how I veganized it! This is a rich, moist delicious brownie that will win you brownie points (pun intended) with your friends and family.

Dana's Zucchini Brownies

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup Earth Balance vegan butter

1/2 cup silken tofu

1 tablespoon applesauce

2 tablespoon non-dairy milk (soy, almond, etc)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups zucchini, grated

2 cups flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream sugar and butter together. Add tofu, applesauce, and non-diary milk and mix well. Mix flour cocoa, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together in a seperate bowl. Stir into wet ingredients. Fold in zucchini and mix well. Pour better into well oiled 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle top with chocolate chips and remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Bake for 30 minutes. Test with toothpick for doneness.

Vegan MOFO - Day 28 - Dorothy's "Beef" and Barley Soup

My friend Dana sent me several recipes to convert. I may not get them done before the end of MOFO, but I plan on continuing my conversions after this month. This has been so much fun.

She sent what I am assuming is a recipe from her friend Dorothy. I did have to take a few liberties with the original recipe to make it work with seitan rather than beef. I made Tami Noyes' Beefy Seitan recipe which will be published in her upcoming book, Vegan American Kitchen. I am privvy to this recipe because I was lucky enough to test for her. Get your hands on this book when it comes out. The recipes are fun and will remind you of down home midwestern cookin'. Seitan does not need to cook forever like beef to be tender. This takes a lot of time off the cooking time. The original recipe called for an egg to make what is called an egg rivel. This is similar to the egg in egg drop soup. I used Mori-nu silken organic tofu and grated it though a large holed cheese grater to create a similar effect.

Dorothy's "Beef" and Barley Soup


8 servings

1 lb beefy seitan diced to about 1/4 inch dice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large carrots, diced small (1 1/4 cup)
1 1/2 stalks celery, diced small (1/2 cup)
1/2 medium onion, diced small (1/4 cup)
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups "beefy broth" or water (or combination)*
1/2 cup cooked barley
8 oz can of tomato sauce
Salt to taste (amount will depend on the saltiness of broth used)
1/2 package Mori-nu Soft Silken Tofu

Brown beefy seitan in olive oil. Add carrots, celery, and onion and saute until slightly softened, about 5-10 minutes. If it gets too dry, add 1 tablespoon of broth. Add parsley and pepper and saute for another minute. Pour in broth, barley, and tomato sauce and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Just before serving, grate tofu through large holed grater for garnish. Serve immediately. This can be frozen or refrigerated. To reheat you may have to add water as it will thicken a bit as it sits.

*If you make your own seitan using a simmering method, I recommend using the simmering broth from the seitan here. It gives a wonderful richness to the soup.

Vegan MOFO - Day 27 - Iron Chef - Pumpkin and Carrots

I'm submitting my Iron Chef entry a bit early, because this one is going to need some time. I am hoping it will be ready to go by Thanksgiving.

This weekend at a Halloween party my good friend Julia approached me about an idea she had for a drink. Now I am all about creative alcohol consumption so I was all ears. She said she was dreaming about inventing a Pumpkin Pie-tini. We discussed the merits of different presentations: should it have a creamy element, should it just be an infused concoction, etc. I've decided to start by making an infused, flavored vodka. It may be just fine on its own, or it may need a little dolling up. Time will tell.

Pumpkin Pie Infused Vodka

1/2 small pumpkin, cut into large chunks
1 large carrot, cut into large chunks
3 cinnamon sticks
1 whole nutmeg, slightly crushed (can be in pieces)
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
6 cups vodka (I used Ketel One)

Put all ingredients in a wide mouth half gallon glass container with a tight fitting lid, making sure all ingredients are completely covered in vodka. Let infuse for 3-4 weeks in the refrigerator.

I have not made this before, so I am anxious to see the results. When it is ready; Julia, Linda, and I will taste test it and come up with a festive holiday drink, just in time for Thanksgiving.

Vegan MOFO - Day 25 - Grandma's Potato Salad

The original recipe for this was handed down from my grandmother to my mother. I'm not sure how many generations before that it was born, but it was my all time favorite. The original recipe called for both mayonnaise and Miracle Whip. I was never a big fan of Miracle Whip, so I did take the liberty of changing the original a bit by adding mustard. This would have been cause for being ousted from the family cooking library had it not resulted in an even better version. I didn't think it was possible to make it taste any better. But lo and behold! This is an outstanding dish to take to a potluck or a picnic.

Germany Meets Poland Potato Salad (Lower left hand corner of the plate)

10-12 Servings

2 lbs baby red potatoes quartered

2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, diced to same approx size as red potatoes

4 tablespoons vegan French dressing, separated

1 ½ tsp celery salt, separated

2 stalks celery, finely diced

1 med white or yellow onion, finely diced

2 tbsp pimento, finely diced

¼ cup German-style mustard

1 cup Vegannaise, separated

¼ cup tightly packed dill,

Salt and pepper to taste

In two separate pots, boil the potatoes, reds in one and Yukons in the other. I recommend this as they may have different cooking times. Cook until just soft, being careful not to over cook. Drain but do not rinse potatoes. While still hot stir 2 tbsp French dressing and ¾ tsp celery salt into each potato pot. Let potatoes cool completely, this may take an hour or more. Once the potato mixture is completely cool, you can transfer all of the potatoes into a large mixing bowl and mix in the remaining ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste. Chill for at least 4 hours, overnight is best.

Vegan MOFO - Day 24 - Iron Chef - Apples and Peanut Butter

I had a hard time with this one. It could be because I think peanut butter and apples go together perfectly in their natural state. Why mess with a good thing. Well we can't have that attitude! For some reason, no crazy original idea came to me this week, so I borrowed from others.

I modified the scone recipe from Vegan Brunch and based my glaze on this recipe. I used almond milk for the regular milk and Toffutti cream cheese for the cream cheese. I halved the recipe. I found it to be a little thin for my purposes, so I added another tablespoon of peanut butter to get the consistency I was looking for.

Apple Cinnamon Scones with a Peanut Butter Glaze

These are super yummy and rich.