Creamy Chocolate Truffles for your Valentine

This past week I was invited to be on our local TV's morning news show to demonstrate some of my vegan and healthier chocolate recipes just in time for Valentine's Day. It was an absolute joy to do it, I had so much fun! I had prepared two recipes just in case we had time, but we didn't - 3 minutes goes by REALLY  fast! The first recipe I demonstrated was a Dark Chocolate Coconut Tart with a chocolate date nut crust. However we ran out of time on the show for my truffles, but they are SO good I have to post them so that people can make them! These truffles are creamy, sweet and richly chocolate-y but they are also healthier and will give you a quick dose of energy for whatever your Valentine's evening may hold :)

The recipe is simple and easy. Once you have formed your truffles, I encourage you to get creative with how you decorate these little gems. In the picture above I have used coconut, chopped almonds, shaved chocolate, and melted chocolate sprinkled with sea salt (my favorite). The variety will make them visually appealing as well as incredibly delectable. Make these for your sweetie (if you don't eat them all first) on Valentines Day and you will feel indulged yet healthy and energetic. Gone are the days of feeling weighed down and like you need to brush your teeth and run five miles to burn off your treat, this treat will leave you feeling loved and loving from the inside out.

Simply Healthy Chocolate Truffles

angelfood vegan treats

10 medjool dates, pitted and quartered

1/3 cup almond butter

3 tablespoons cocoa powder (or raw cacao powder)

1 tablespoon coconut flour 

2 1/2 tablespoons coconut cream ** see note below

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of sea salt

Garnish:

Melted vegan semi-sweet chocolate, toasted coconut, chocolate shavings, chopped nuts or other toppings of your choice to roll/dip truffles in.

Put dates in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add in almond butter and continue processing for 1-2 minutes until well blended. Add in cocoa powder, coconut flour. coconut cream, vanilla, sea salt, and process for another 1-2 minutes until very well blended and smooth. 

Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for four hours or overnight. 

Use a melon baller to scoop out truffle mixture and use your hands to roll into balls. Then roll in coconut flakes, chopped nuts, or any other preferred topping to decorate the truffle. Or for added decadence, melt 1/2 cup vegan semi-sweet chocolate and use a toothpick to dip the truffle in the melted chocolate. 

Refrigerate and serve chilled.

** I recommend using Trader Joe's canned coconut cream (not milk) or you can buy a can of full fat Coconut milk then put it in the refrigerator without shaking it for a couple hours. Take it out and open it from the top and the coconut cream will have risen to the top. Scoop it out and measure out what you need for the recipe.

Makes 12-14 truffles

Enchilada Casserole with Pumpkin Sauce

Happy New Year! This is the first post of the new year, and I am so looking forward to many great things to come in 2013. 2012 was a great year. Actually the best of my life so far because it was the year I gave birth to my daughter, who has changed my life dramatically, and for the better. I am so hopeful for many great things in 2013, including the growth of my business, Angelfood. My mind is brimming with ideas of things that I would like to do with the business and I am looking forward to getting to work on those things!
For now however, I would like to share a happy warming recipe for a winter meal. This is an enchilada casserole that is made with a spicy and simple pumpkin sauce in lieu of the traditional red enchilada sauce. This was inspired by a Martha Stewart recipe that a non-vegan friend of mine told me about in which Martha Stewart used a pumpkin sauce for enchiladas. I thought that was intriguing and I have gone on to use that sauce more than once. It is very nice, and I use it here without any modifications.
Instead of rolling up enchiladas I felt more like making a casserole this time, and I loved the way it came out. You build it like you would a lasagna only using traditional enchilada ingredients.

I cut my tortillas with a pizza cutter to make strips and then loosely use the end pieces to make sure there are no holes. I then build the casserole layer by layer of sauteed veggies and black beans until I have this lovely creation:

You can easily use any vegetables you have on hand, or tofu/tempeh/seitan in addition to black beans as the protein. It's definitely fun to get creative with your fillings. This is one warm and cozy dish that is filling but also very healthy and chock full of fiber, protein and micro-nutrients, while being low in fat (even lower if you omit the Daiya cheese). 

Enchilada Casserole with Pumpkin Sauce

For the sauce:

Can be viewed via the original recipe by Martha Stewart, here (just ignore the part about chicken-it's waaaayy better veggie!)

1 can (15 oz) organic pumpkin puree or 15 oz freshly roasted pumpkin

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 jalapeno, seeded

1 teaspoon chili powder

2 1/2 cups water

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For the vegetable filling:

1 T grapeseed oil

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 ribs of celery, diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen ok)

1 small package white or crimini mushrooms, chopped

1 zucchini (can use 1 cup chopped broccoli here when zucchini is out of season) quartered and sliced crosswise

2 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

sea salt and pepper to taste

For the black bean layer:

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 can or 1 1/2 cups  organic black beans, drained

1/4 cup canned mild green chiles

1 can organic fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 package corn tortillas

To top the casserole:

1 small can sliced black olives

2 scallions, thinly sliced

Daiya cheddar or pepperjack vegan cheese, if desired

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

To make the sauce: 

Add the pumpkin, garlic, jalapeno, chili powder, water, salt and pepper to a blender and blend on high until thoroughly combined about one minute. Set aside.

To make the veggie layer:

Heat the grapeseed oil in a large pan. Add the onion, garlic, celery, carrot, corn, mushrooms, and zucchini. Saute over medium high heat for approximately five minutes until vegetables start to soften. Add chili powder, cumin, coriander, and salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook for approximately 2 minutes more until vegetables are cooked, but not overdone as they will continue to cook when the casserole is baked. Remove from pan and set aside.

Using the same pan:

Add onions, black beans, chiles, and tomatoes. Cook for 5-7 minutes until onions have softened and the mixture is heated through. Add salt and pepper to taste if necessary.

To assemble:

Slice your tortillas into 2" strips using a pizza cutter. Using a casserole dish, spread a thin layer of the pumpkin sauce on the bottom of the dish. Cover the bottom of the dish with the tortilla strips. Next, spread half of the veggie mixture evenly over the tortilla layer. Then add another layer of tortilla strips covering the veggie mixture. Next add the black bean mixture followed by another layer of tortilla strips. Next add the other half of the veggie mixture followed by a final layer of tortilla strips. Cover the top of the casserole in pumpkin sauce well. Top that with the olives, scallions, and Daiya cheese if desired. You will have leftover sauce. It freezes well for next time :)

Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes until the top is gently browned and the casserole is heated through. 

Serves 6-8. 

Loaded Sweet Potatoes

This dish has become a staple dinner item in my house. It is so simple yet I find that I look forward to it every time I make it. It is a great meal to have towards the end of the week when you may have random leftover veggies or leftover beans etc. that you are looking for something to do with.
In this edition of "Loaded Sweet Potatoes" I have done a fresh mex sort of potato, and this is probably my favorite to date. The fun part is that you can make this a variety of ways... either with leftovers as mentioned above, or with a theme. Spanish, Thai, Mediterranean, which ever flavors you choose. I find that it is best to mix textures for best results: a creamy sauce, beans or seitan for protein and bite, onions, nuts or seeds for crunch. The basic technique is as follows:

1.) Select a nice, medium sized sweet potato for each person that you are feeding.
2.) Preheat the oven to 375.
3.) Put some seasoning on the outside of the sweet potato. I take about a teaspoon of oil per potato and mix it in a small bowl with a pinch of salt and whichever spices might go best with the "theme" of that evenings potato. In this instance I used cumin, garlic, and chili powders for the the fresh mex potatoes. Once you have mixed your spices with the oil, brush the outside of the potato with the seasoned oil. Then take a fork and make a couple of holes in the potato for steam to escape. They will look like this:

The amount of time that you bake them will depend on the size of the potatoes. These guys took about 35 -40 minutes. After about 30 minutes check them to see if they are fork tender all the way through. If not, let them go another 10 minutes and then check again. You want them to be fork tender but not mushy. While your potatoes are baking you will want to have the remaining ingredients prepared.
4.) Remove the potatoes from the oven and let them cool slightly.
5.) Use a fork and knife to gently split them open most of the way, lengthwise.
6.) Load your potatoes! In this case I did the following:
- I put a "cheeze"sauce in first to get all melty into the potato.
- Then a layer of warm seasoned black beans
- A few strips of sauteed seitan
- Fresh tomatoes
- Homemade guacamole
- Daiya cheese
- Scallions
- Sunflower seeds

This dish is fun to eat because you get to deconstruct your potato while getting to enjoy all of the flavors in each bite. I find that I can eat this all year round, and I don't think I have made it the same way twice. This dish is also husband approved!

Pumpkin Bars... Veganized!

Ahhhh.... Fall. My favorite season has finally arrived! Here in Sacramento the weather stayed hot well through September and the beginning of October and I have been dying for the temperature to drop a little bit, those leaves to fall, and for the first day that would  require a sweater and a scarf. And it finally came this week!! So I decided to celebrate by busting out the pumpkin pie spice and bake something truly pumpkin-y delicious.
This recipe was one that my mom got from one of her friends when I was in elementary school. The original recipe relies heavily on eggs, and is topped of with a cream cheese frosting. As delicious as it was, it was not vegan, and therefore needed to be revamped. The original recipe is a dense, incredibly moist bar rich in pumpkin and spice, best eaten with a fork. I knew that it would be tricky to get that same quality without the eggs. As I started to think about all my egg replacing ideas, I knew that many of them (flax seed, banana, ener-g egg replacer) wouldn't work either due to texture or flavor. The original recipe calls for 4 eggs, so I would need something with bulk. So I did something that I have never done before, and I am happy to say that it worked! I replaced the eggs in this recipe with Cashew Cream. It offered the moisture, some binding qualities, and a pleasant delicate flavor that wouldn't over power the pumpkin like say, a banana would. Instead of going with the traditional cream cheese frosting, ( I didn't feel like going to the store for tofutti and preferred something a little healthier) I decided to use the remaining cashew cream to make a glaze, and it turned out very well) If you are more of the cream cheese frosting type, you could easily whip some tofutti cream cheese with powdered sugar, almond milk, vanilla and a hint of lemon juice to make a rich vegan cream cheese frosting. I am so happy to report that my vegan rendition of this recipe worked. I shared some with my parents who know the original recipe well, and received rave reviews.  Before I delve into the recipe, I would like to highlight other fall joys of my week...We took the baby to Apple Hill for the first time! Yay! Here is the lil pumpkin patch kid herself:

Apple Hill has been a family tradition of ours for as long as I can remember. It is a beautiful collection of Apple Orchards with a variety of activities and apple related goodies and treats. Each orchard offers special activities and everything from fresh apple cider, to pies, breads, caramel apples etc. Although I love all of those things, most of what you find at Apple Hill is not vegan, except for well, the apples (duh :) apple cider and thankfully, apple butter!! I bought us a lovely jar of apple butter that is vegan and scrumdidilyumptious (sp?). I also bought lots of apples, pumpkins and asian pears. A great trip. And the next morning for breakfast, I enjoyed a wonderful breakfast panini of maple almond butter (see previous post) and apple butter on toast. When heated panini style everything got ooey gooey delish. I will be eating this probably every other morning from now until Christmas. It was that good. 

So, I am thrilled fall is here, and I plan on savoring each day because it always goes by too fast. 

Pumpkin Bars with Vanilla Cashew Glaze

Bars:

1/3 cup Earth Balance (or other vegan margarine)

2 C. evaporated cane sugar

1 15 oz can organic pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)

1/2 cup prepared cashew cream (recipe below)

1 tsp vanilla

2 C. whole wheat pastry flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (original recipe calls for cinnamon- I prefer the pumpkin pie spice mix)

1/2 tsp sea salt

For the Cashew Cream::

1 cup raw cashew pieces (soaked for at least 30 minutes and drained)

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon agave nectar

pinch of sea salt

Vanilla Cashew Glaze:

Remaining Cashew Cream (after 1/2 cup has been used in the bars)

1/2 tsp vanilla

juice of 1/2 small lemon

1/4 C agave nectar

2 T coconut milk

1 tsp arrowroot powder

Preheat oven to 350 or 325 if you are using a convection oven. Lightly grease a 9 x13 pan and set aside.

For the cashew cream:

Using a high speed blender, add cashews, water, agave and sea salt to the blender and blend on high until very very smooth, approximately 1-2 minutes. Measure out 1/2 cup for use in the bars and then leave the remaining in the blending carafe until needed to make the Frosting. 

For the bars:

In a large bowl cream together the Earth Balance and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the cashew cream, pumpkin and vanilla and continue beating until well mixed and smooth. 

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, spices and salt until combined. Add half of the dry mixture into the wet and mix until well combined. Then add the remaining dry ingredients to the wet and continue mixing until well combined again. 

Pour this mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 38-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

While the bars are cooling, make the glaze by adding the vanilla, lemon juice, agave nectar, coconut milk, and arrowroot powder to the carafe of the blender and blend very well. Once the bars are mostly cool, you can gently poor the glaze over the top. The light heat of the bars will help the glaze to spread evenly. 

Transfer the bars to the refrigerator to continue setting up for at least 2 hours. These bars should be served chilled. 

A windy city, a beautiful wedding, & amazing vegan food...

In case you can't tell, this says "Chicago Sept 20" No. I didn't do this, I just thought it ironic because Sept 20th is my birthday and we were in Chicago :)

I've never been one much for tagging or vandalism of any sort for that matter, so this picture is not my work, but I did think it was ironic when I saw this on a wall in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago on September 21st. 

We went to Chicago for the beautiful wedding of a good friend of ours. Last time we were in Chicago it was below freezing, and with the wind it was colder than anything I had ever experienced, but I still loved the magic of this city. 

This visit was even more magical as we had our sweet baby girl with us, it was my birthday, and of course, the wedding. However, being the responsible vegan that I am, I can't go to any city without first doing some research on vegan hot spots in the local area. Especially these days, I am proud to say that vegan options and vegan restaurants are so much more abundant than even a few years back when I made the plunge. Last time we were in Chicago, we did make it a point to make it to the Chicago Diner, but this year, I wanted to experience something new, and that we did. 

The first night we stayed in this awesome 3 bedroom apartment at an Urban B&B in Wicker Park. 

This is the beautiful tree-lined street of our apartment. I loved it here, I could have stayed forever (if it didn't get so cold in the winter). It is a gorgeous neighborhood, rich with history yet buzzing with contemporary shops, restaurants and people. This was a very vegan friendly neighborhood, and the cool owners of the B&B were hip to all the cool vegan stuff in the area to check out, so they gave me great recommendations. I was super happy to find out that a Native Foods had just gone in a couple of blocks away. Native Foods is in SoCal, but I had never tried it and always wanted to.  More on that in a bit. 

Our first night there was my birthday, and I had gotten us a reservation at Karyn's On Green. All it took was a hot second of looking at their menu online before I knew it was the perfect place to spend my birthday.  We went, and the decor was gorgeous, the people were uber friendly (due to lack of babysitting options, we brought our daughter, and were very nervous, but the staff made us feel right at home and welcomed her lovingly),  but most importantly the food was awesome. Absolutely awesome. We started with chorizo and crab cake style sliders, but unfortunately those disappeared before they could be photographed. You will have to excuse the fact that these pics are a little dim, the ambience was great, but not ideal for food blog photography. 

After that I had a Green Tomato Carpaccio and a Ethiopian Spiced Eggplant with Lentils and Squash Puree that was so packed with flavor, I sat there and savored every bite. It was perfect. 

My favorite part however was the dessert which was a selection of housemade nut based ice-creams with raw "cookies" and a drizzle of pure maple syrup, all of which was adorned with a single candle burning in honour of my 30th birthday. The evening was perfect. A beautiful vegan meal in a gorgeous restaurant with a view of Chicago's finest skyscrapers, enjoying the company of my wonderful husband and my beautiful daughter. Not the roaring party of my twenties, but the maturity felt right, I wouldn't have changed it for the world. 

The next day, we strolled amongst our Wicker Park/Bucktown neightborhood. We found a quaint italian coffee shop where we got espresso and a delicious breakfast sandwich of almond butter and jam on toasted ciabatta. Yum. It was warm and cozy for that un-seasonably drizzly September morning. 

After a lovely morning cruising our neighborhood, we stopped into Native Foods and got food to-go to take to the Cub's game that afternoon. I wanted to order 1 of everything on the Native Foods menu, it all sounded so good. In the end we got Quinoa bowls- my husband's was a Mediterranean themed, and mine was a Moroccan themed bowl. I took a picture, but honestly it did not photograph well in the to-go box. But it was fresh and very flavorful. We each got a dessert and shared both- a brownie, and a strawberry parfait. Both were delish. We noshed on our treats while taking in our very first Cubs game. It was awesome.  Later in our trip, I also enjoyed a visit to Karyn's Fresh Corner which was a grocery and cafe near Lincoln Park that was really nice. 

All-in-all I found Chicago to be not just vegan friendly but a thriving vegan city.  The Chicagoans are kind, down to earth and extremely friendly. It was a nice reminder that it's ok to slow down and enjoy the scenery a little. It's so easy to get caught up in the rat race, but when it's all said and done,  it will be about the little things, the small moments in life, and how we treat one another and our world. I think this city is getting it right. 

Bananas Foster with Cashew Peanut Butter Ice Cream

This dessert, it's bananas!  B-A-N-A-N-A-S! Okay dorky moment over. I made this dessert a couple of weeks ago, and I've been meaning to post it! It's really good, and not hard to do at all.
For those who have ever made homemade ice cream the "regular" way... meaning dairy, white sugar, etc, you know that it can be a long process of making custard on the stove and so forth, making it so much more appealing to just go to the store and buy ice cream.  Well, vegan ice cream is so quick and easy to make it's just silly to make any other kind of ice cream, or buy a $6 pint, in my opinion! All you really need is a good blender and an electric ice cream maker and you are in business.

For this dessert, I adapted a recipe that I learned when I was studying for my Natural Chef certificate. It's a super easy cashew based ice cream that can be taken in any direction one might like... Strawberry, Chocolate, Coconut, Green Tea, or even some fancy concoction using Berries and reduced Balsalmic Vinegar. In this particular case, I took it in a peanutty direction, laced with a coconut milk background. Yum.

I topped the ice cream with a quick saute similar to a Bananas Foster. Simply put, I sauteed banana slices in Earth Balance, unrefined brown sugar, and a tiny splash of vanilla. The Earth Balance and the brown sugar combine to make a delicious caramel sauce. If you are into a rum flavor you can also add a splash of rum as in the traditional bananas foster recipe. Personally I am not into the flavor of rum, so I omitted that element. The dessert is topped with candied peanuts to elevate the subtle peanut flavor in the ice cream.

Bananas Foster with Cashew Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Serves 4 (with leftover ice cream)

For the  Ice Cream:
2 cups cashews, soaked for 2 hours and drained
2 cups light coconut milk
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup peanut butter (I have also used PB2 powder as a lower calorie option)

Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender and blend well- approximately three minutes until very smooth. Transfer mixture to the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Pour the mixture into the cannister of the ice cream maker, and process according to the machine's manufacturer's instructions. Once the mixture has been processed into ice cream  you can serve immediately or freeze to serve later. If you do serve later, allow the ice cream to sit out for 15 minutes to soften up prior to serving.

For the Bananas:
3 tablespoons Earth Balance
3 tablespoons Brown Sugar ( I use an unrefined version)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 bananas, sliced

Add  Earth Balance, brown sugar, and vanilla to your saute pan over medium heat, and whisk until combined. Add in banana slices, and let cook without disturbing the slices too much, as you don't want them to break apart. Make sure you at least flip all the slices to get them coated in the caramel mixture. Cook approximately 3-5 minutes until slices are softened and caramel coated, then remove from heat.

Put 2-3 scoops of ice cream in each of four serving bowls. Divide the bananas foster and sauce evenly among the four bowls. Top with candied peanuts, or regular peanuts and serve immediately.

Almond-Hazelnut-Peanut Butter Blend

There is no doubt that I have a full fledged nut butter obsession. I really truly think that nut butter is the most delicious food in the world. It is my deserted island food... the one thing that I would want with me in the rare case that I would be trapped on a deserted island with no food. It would be my last meal. Well... along with a vegan chocolate chip cookie. 

My husband was really sweet and got me a Vitamix for Christmas our first year as a married couple, which seems like forever ago, which was also not long after I made the evolution to becoming vegan. I have truly felt like this device is worth every penny. It can do anything. It can save the world. The Vitamix should be President. Among the many talents of the Vitamix is creating nut butters. Nut butters can also be made in a food processor, but I have burned out too many food processor engines to actually recommend making nut butters in one. The Vitamix  does a stellar job with the nuts. Which makes it my buddy in my nut butter obsession. 

So far, I have stuck to your old standbys. Peanut Butter. Almond Butter. Sunflower Butter. But over the weekend I was noticing that I had a small amount of a few different nuts, but no large quantity of any one nut. What to do, what to do. So I made this incredible nut butter blend with the nuts I had on hand. It is SO good. I blended almonds, hazelnuts, and peanuts with a bit of each sea salt, vanilla and maple sugar, just to take it to the next level. This nut butter came out so velvety with a rich and subtly complex flavor, I never expected it to be as perfect as it is. 

I will mention here that I did need to add a bit of Grapeseed Oil to keep the nut butter working in the vitamix. I am not crazy about having to add oil to my nut butters,  I prefer them free of added oils, but in some cases you need the oil to make the nut butter grind up properly. You can always drain off the excess after the nut butter has sat for a day or so. It is so good, I'm thinking of adding it to the line up at Angelfood Vegan Treats.

I highly recommend this nut butter blend- it is such a treat. I have yet to try it with jam on my favorite multi-grain bread, but I am looking forward to that soon. If you don't have a vitamix, you can definitely do it in a food processor, it just takes more time, patience, and a spatula to scrape down the sides often. 

Almond Hazelnut Peanut Butter

2 cups raw almonds

1 cup hazelnuts

1 cup unsalted peanuts

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 tablespoons maple sugar

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (or more as needed to assist in blending depending on your machine)

Add all ingredients to your vitamix or food processor. Start on low and move up to high. Blend well. If using a vitamix use the special tool to continuously push the nuts downward toward the blade. Per the vitamix directions for making nut butters, after about 1 minute of doing this, your mixture should be moving pretty smoothly. If it is not, let the machine rest for a bit since the motor can get pretty warm. Please refer to the vitamix instruction booklet if you are unsure. 

If you are using a food processor, you may have to scrape the sides down often, or possibly use more oil to get the mixture smooth. 

Spread on toast, bananas, or just a big spoon and enjoy! 

Sonoma Chickpea Salad

I have never been a mayo person. I have always thought it is the most disgusting thing in the world. Something about the texture and the fact that it turns clear when it sits out too long has always grossed me out. And then my brother got food poisoning from bad mayo on a vacation one year so that really did it for me as a kid. Therefore it is probably no surprise that when I chose to go vegan in 2007 I still had no interest in vegan mayo.
Somewhere along the line though, I was introduced to Wildwood's Garlic Aioli and I thought it was pretty darn good! Now I try to avoid most soy products, and too many processed foods, but I figure that a little bit every now and then is probably ok.
I never liked mayo based salads until after I became vegan and liked the Garlic Aioli. Now, I have found that they have a place in my life. I was at Whole Foods this morning picking up a few grocery items, and I saw they had a Sonoma Chicken Salad made with a processed soy based chicken replacement. It looked really good and refreshing on this 100 degree day in Roseville. I got to thinking that I could probably make the same thing with chickpeas to make it less soy based. So I came home and I did just that. And it is REALLY good. The only soy in this dish is the soy protein that is in the Garlic Aioli, which isn't too terribly much per serving.
Try this between two slices of toasted whole wheat bread, on sliced baguette, on a bed of lettuce, or hey even straight out of the bowl!

Sonoma Chickpea Salad

1 can (rinsed) or 2.5 cups cooked chickpeas
2 stalks organic celery, cleaned and diced
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
approx 20 organic red grapes, halved
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1/2 cup Garlic Aioli or other vegan mayonnaise you prefer
juice of half a lemon
1 tsp agave nectar
salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl,  use a potato masher to mash up chickpeas until chunky and broken up but not too smooth. Add in celery, walnuts, grapes, onion, and mayonnaise. In a separate bowl combine lemon juice and agave nectar, and add that into your bowl. Mix everything together well, then add in sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Taste and re-season if necessary.

This dish is best served chilled. 4-6 servings.

Pure Life Chef is now Angelfood Vegan

Well hello there, it has been awhile! I am sorry for the absence, so much has happened since my last post! First and foremost, I had a baby. I have a beautiful 5 month old baby girl, and she is absolutely amazing and my new inspiration. 

Not too long after my last blog post, I got pregnant and suddenly food was completely uninteresting to me. All food except for plain whole wheat bread or a plain whole grain tortilla suddenly became the most disgusting thing ever. And that lasted quite awhile. Therefore I didn't do much cooking while I was pregnant or even grocery shopping for that matter. I had to send my husband to the store most of the time, just because I didn't like the smell or being in the presence of food. I also became obsessed with reading everything I could about pregnancy, birth, babies, and raising children. Hence, blogging took a back seat. 

Here's the little lady at 4 months

Now here I am five months after giving birth to my baby, ready to get back out there. I've never been more inspired than now to keep spreading the vegan message through my cooking and recipes and now my newest venture, my vegan baking operation. I have revised this blog to reflect the name of my new business, Angelfood, and I am also expanding the topics that I will blog about. I will still cover my  cooking, recipes and products, but I plan to also blog about my adventures in raising a healthy veg child.

I was able to keep all of my old posts and followers as Pure Life Chef, as you can see in the archive, but I am excited about the new direction of my blog and my business with Angelfood. Angelfood Vegan Treats is my new baking operation. I work out of a local kitchen to produce all handmade, small batch vegan treats such as cookies, brownies, sweet breads, muffins, cupcakes and candies. I am currently in the process of making contacts to get my products out and accessible to the public, and I am also taking orders for bridal/baby showers, parties and events. If you are in the Greater Sacramento Area, please check it out. In the future, I am also hoping to start teaching some vegan cooking classes again, I really miss them!

Many exciting things on the horizon here. Thanks for sticking around the blog, and I promise lots of good stuff to come! 

The Lasagna of Love...Valentine's Dinner

Lasagna is one of my favorite foods of all time, especially since childhood. I'm sure I have mentioned that before on this blog, and anyone who knows me will know this! Lasagna really is a labor of love as sauces and fillings must be made individually, noodles cooked, toppings prepared, and everything must be  seasoned just right to make the entire dish come together in harmony (wow, I even get poetic when writing about lasagna). This is the first time I have made this lasagna with cashew creme, and ingredient that I use often in my cooking, both savory and sweet. Cashew creme is an incredibly versatile and healthy replacement for dairy based creams/cheeses. If you want to know how to make cashew creme (very easy) read here. Once you have the basic creme made then you can season it with sea salt, lemon and nutritional yeast if you are using it as a savory cheesy replacement. If you want to use it like sour cream, then leave out the nutritional yeast.
Moving on! I also used my beloved Field Roast sausage as the protein in this lasagna. I simply took two links (I like the Fennel Apple flavor) and pulsed it in a food processor to make crumbles and then mixed that with about 1 cup of marinara.
The other layers of this lasagna are spinach and leeks that have been sauteed down with a hint of garlic and then mixed with the cashew creme. Atop that layer is a layer of roasted squash (yellow and zucchini both- make sure and season the veggies well) but you could use any veggies you like. Just be sure to cook the veggies prior to adding them to the lasagna, other wise they will release all of the water into the lasagna and nobody likes a watery, tasteless lasagna!
So again, this is layered as: Marinara, then noodles, spinach/creme mixture, veggies, noodles, crumbled sausage, noodles, red sauce, then cashew creme, topped with some homemade bread crumbs and sprinkled with oregano.
This was really a delicious lasagna. My hubby loved it and gobbled down two pieces! It was the perfect accompaniment to our Valentines evening. Followed by rich yet healthy brownies from the Millennium cookbook made with Ghiradelli cocoa in honor of our San Francisco roots- the city in which our love began.

Kabocha Squash Curry

Last night I made this delicious Kabocha Squash Curry that is just loaded with delicious vegetables that soak up the silky and flavorful coconut milk curry. Some Thai restaurants do the Kabocha Squash curry, but certainly not all...I have found it can be hard to find. I really love this dish and vegetarian curries in general, but this to me, tops them all.  The squash is so sweet and buttery, but still has texture and bite to it. The kabocha squash is more dense than a butternut squash which and has a slightly different taste and a bright, beautiful color.
To cook the kabocha squash is actually quite easy. I first take the whole squash and put it in a 350 degree oven for about ten minutes. This softens it up enough to where I can cut it in half easier. Take the two halves and scoop out the seeds in the inside. Then, put the two halves, cut side down on a baking sheet, and return to the oven for about 25-30 minutes depending on the size of your squash. You want it to be done, al dente as it will continue to cook as you simmer the curry. When the squash is cool enough to handle then take small scoops out of the squash leaving only the thick skin behind.

To make the curry, I saute up all my veggies, except for the squash, with lots of garlic, ginger and a bit of salt in coconut oil. In a separate saucepan, combine 1 can of coconut milk with 2 or so tablespoons of curry paste, and a small piece of lemongrass.  (or you can make your own, but that is a separate blog post. Thai Kitchen makes some good ones). After my veggies have started to soften, then I pour my coconut milk mixture over the veggies, add the squash and  let them all simmer together. I finish the dish with a squeeze of lime juice, some chopped thai basil, and a bit more salt if to taste. Remove the lemongrass and serve over a bed of delicious brown rice. In this picture I made a brown rice pilaf with almonds, peas, onions, and a bit more spice.

This is a hearty, nutritious dish with lots of warming spices perfect for a cold January night!

2010 Holiday Dish Roundup

Apple Hazelnut Torte

For some reason my computer has decided not to work with me tonight, and will not upload the pictures of the beautiful Apple Hazelnut Torte that I made for my mom's Birthday! I will keep working on it, but it in the meantime I will happily share the recipe (which has a photo of it's own).

I saw this recipe in last month's Bon Appetit, and it is an Apple Torte however the crust is made with breadcrumbs and hazelnuts. I thought this was very interesting and decided to give it a whirl. I happened to have a bunch of homemade cinnamon bread in the freezer, so I used that bread to make the breadcrumbs which really added to the flavor of the crust, so I highly recommend doing that!

This was a very easy recipe to veganize because there were no eggs in it. When the recipe called for butter, I used Earth Balance, and when it calls for milk, I used almond milk. Simple as pie.

This dessert went over very well with the crowd, and I do recommend it. Can't wait to share the pics with you, but in the meantime, check out the recipe here...

Cranberry Orange Walnut Muffins

As I often do on Sunday mornings, this past Sunday I felt like spending some time in the kitchen baking up something simple and nice to nosh on during our traditional Sunday morning TV, paper, coffee and tea-a-thon. I happened to have an orange and dried cranberries on hand, so voila, cranberry orange muffins it was!
This is a simple recipe, so there isn't much to say... I adapted it slightly from Isa's recipe in Vegan Brunch. I made the muffin whole grain, a blend of flours as I often do to create complexity in flavor and texture. I also added a touch of cornmeal for texture. You can use fresh or dried cranberries, I used dried. They are especially yummy when glazed, which I did not show in my pic (sorry). BTW- I learned not to shoot foods the same color as my bamboo cutting board, on my bamboo cutting board. Lesson learned!

Cranberry Orange Muffins

1 ⅓ cup white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour ⅔ cup oat flour ¼ cup cornmeal 2 teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup orange juice ½ cup canola oil 2 tablespoons almond milk or other non dairy milk 2 tablespoons orange zest from one orange 2 teaspoons vanilla extract ¼ teaspoon almond extract ¾ cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped, (you can also use fresh cranberries) ½ cup walnuts, roughly chopped ¾ cup powdered sugar dash almond milk, add 1 teaspoon at a time Preheat oven to 350 (convection) or 375. In a large bowl combine flours and cornmeal with sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well and set aside. In separate bowl combine orange juice, oil, milk, zest and extracts. Mix well. Add in to dry ingredients along with cranberries and walnuts and mix until just moistened... careful not to over mix. Line your muffin tins with paper liners and fill each tin 3/4 of the way full with batter. Bake for 23-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center come out clean. Let cool. While the muffins are cooling mix the powdered sugar with non-dairy milk, one teaspoon at a time, until you reach an icing consistency. Drizzle over the muffins and serve.

It's Enchilada Night and I'm talking about Mexican Food!

Yay for Mexican Food! A lot of people think that if you are vegan then you don't "get to eat regular food". I think the word "vegan" can scare people unnecessarily. Avoiding animal products is not hard, especially considering that most flavorings are plant-based: herbs, spices, oils, salt, pepper, tomato sauces, salsas, guacamole, marinades, barbeque sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, jams, chutneys, etc. I find that ethnic foods are especially easy to make without animal products and eating out as a vegan is almost always easy at ethnic foods restaurants.

Eating out:
When I go out to a Mexican restaurant I almost always get vegetable fajitas and enjoy building my own little tacos filled with the veggies, guacamole, salsa, beans and rice (always ask to make sure they are vegetarian- sometimes they sneak chicken broth or lard in there). Luckily, guacamole and chips and margaritas are usually animal free and I can make a meal out of that right there!
I have always loved refried beans, but those can be more difficult to find at a restaurant due to the fact that they are classically made with lard. Most of the time, a Mexican Restaurant will offer both black beans or pinto/refried beans and in my experience the black beans are almost always vegetarian and often the pinto or refried beans are not, but sometimes you get lucky and they are (Tres Agaves, I love you). The mexican rice is often also vegetarian, but again you have to ask because they could use chicken broth to cook the rice in, in which case it's not going on my plate...
I am happy to see that almost all restaurants now days are vegetarian/vegan friendly and no longer act surprised when consumers ask questions about the origins/ingredients of their dishes- whether it be about trans fats, sugars, animal products, etc.  Vegetarian or not, as a society, I think we are learning that we have to take control of what goes in our bodies, but we shouldn't have to sacrifice eating out to do so.

So back to these Enchiladas I made tonight...I have always loved Mexican Food, believe it or not I am a quarter Mexican- I don't look it at all, but I definitely have a love for all things Mexican- which makes my Grandma very happy! We ate a lot of Mexican Food growing up, and back in the day it was not vegan. My mom is great at making mexican food, but now as an adult I have had a lot of fun veganizing my favorite mexican dishes. Tonight I made my version of enchiladas. Inside those enchiladas were a combination of homemade refried beans (so yummy), diced and marinated seitan (a vegetarian protein made from wheat protein and has a meat like texture), which was sauteed with diced red peppers and corn. I also put a dollop of cashew creme in there to add a nice texture. I used regular corn tortillas, and made a homemade enchilada sauce from tomato paste, water, diced tomatoes, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin powder, salt and pepper. A top the casserole was the amazing and delicious Daiya Cheese which I have talked about before on this blog. I am so happy because it is SOY FREE! Not that Soy is bad but just like anything else, I think soy should be eaten in moderation - a topic for another day. Anyways, if you haven't tried Daiya yet, you must. A lot of pizzerias are starting to use it now as a vegan option which is awesome... Daiya is available at Whole Foods and probably most Natural Foods markets.

Lastly- those refried beans. I will post the recipe on another day this week, but in short, I use a bit of cashew cream as I mash my beans to give them that creaminess that  the best refried beans will boast. The flavor and texture is spot on, and lard-free. More to come later this week.

So, my final point today is that it is easy and delicious to make minor changes that can take a classically non-vegan dish, make it healthier and vegan and supremely delicious!

South American Stew

This recipe is a recipe I adapted from Bauman College's Natural Chef program, where I received my certification in 2009.  It is one of my absolute favorite stews, packed with colors, vitamins, flavors and textures and lots of protein between the quinoa and the kidney beans, and is perfect for fall. I like to top mine off with a bit of fresh avocado and cilantro.  I always feel so healthy after eating this stew but it is so hearty and comforting you would think it was bad for you!

South American Stew
2 cups carrot juice
1 T. grapeseed oil
1 cup onions- diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cans of diced tomatoes
1 cup tomato juice
2 cups vegetable stock- plus more if needed to thin at the end
1 1/2 T. chili powder
3 cups sweet potatoes, 1 inch dice
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 1/2 cups green beans, cut to 1 inch
2 cups cooked kidney beans (1 15 oz. can - rinse if using canned)
2 cups corn- fresh or frozen
2 cups vegetable stock- or more if needed to thin
lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pot,  add onions about 5 minutes. Add garlic for 1 minute more.
Add carrot juice, tomatoes and tomato juice, chili powder, sweet potatoes, and quinoa and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook covered for 10-15 minutes.

Just as the sweet potatoes get tender add the green beans and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add the beans and corn and continue to cook until just heated through. Add more vegetable stock if stew is too thick. Season to taste with sea salt, fresh pepper and lemon juice.

Serves 8

What I love about Vegan MoFo...

So, I have to keep today's post a bit short, it has been a super long day! But I had to update a few things that I have been cookin the past couple of days. Well, ironically the one picture I have to post is of uncooked food. It was still delicious though!

I love Vegan MoFo because it is so much fun to explore the blogs of other vegan foodies such as myself, and I am constantly amazed at some of the brilliant combinations that people come up with. This site makes it super easy to surf blogs the world throughout. I recently made the super fudgy brownies from Not a Rabbit which were amazing! A bit more like fudge than a brownie, but a great hybrid a super recipe! (Pictures to come if I don't eat them all first). Also threw together some whole wheat cous cous with steamed broccoli, tri-color cauliflower and butternut squash, and dried cranberries, a very simple and satisfying lunch.

The pic I posted is of a super tasty fall salad that I made. I sliced fennel very thin and tossed it with some green apples, radishes, hazelnuts, and parsley. I made a tangy vinaigrette from white balsamic vinegar, agave nectar, olive oil and salt. Lots of flavors going on here, and the peppery radishes balance the sweet and tangy apples and dressing.  Very seasonal and pretty to look at, especially the way those radishes contrast with the green apples!

So, I have a few things on my radar for the next couple days: a tomato, kale cannelini bean soup, cranberry orange muffins, and gingerbread cookies... lots of good food blogging to come...

Winter Pasta - Brown Rice Penne with Butternut Squash and Swiss Chard

I may have mentioned this before, but if I haven't, I really love winter squash... really, really, really love winter squash. Kabocha Squash is my ultimate favorite, but I also love, delicata, butternut and acorn. The health benefits of winter squash are numerous, namely they are packed with phytochemicals- those important anti-oxidants that help us fight off diseases like Cancer, and a plethora of vitamins and minerals, namely Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Potassium, Folate, and the B Vitamins.

So, this week I was feeling like comfort food and decided to make this creamy pasta dish studded with chunks of fresh roasted butternut squash, along with swiss chard that had been sauteed up with a touch of oil, garlic, and Field Roast seitan sausage. This was a hearty plate, filling and satisfying. I had pre-roasted my butternut squash cubes very simply in a light coating of olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 375 for about 20 minutes or until fork tender. (This can be done in advance, and then re-heated)

I used brown rice penne pasta. I am not gluten sensitive, but I try to reduce the amount of gluten that I eat when I can. Since the Field Roast sausage that I was using is made from vital wheat gluten, I thought I should go with a gluten-free pasta to balance it out. If you haven't tried brown rice pasta yet, I highly recommend it. You can't tell any difference, and it is more nutritious than regular pasta. The only thing that I have found is that brown rice pasta is not good for cold pasta dishes, it becomes very tough! But for hot pasta, go for it. Even Trader Joe's is now offering Brown Rice Pasta in a variety of shapes.

For the quick and creamy sauce, first I made a roux. Yes a roux can easily be made vegan! A roux is a combination of butter and flour traditionally used as a thickener to start off a sauce. I used earth balance and whole wheat pastry flour to start mine. You use equal parts of both ( I used 2 tablespoons of each). You put the roux in a sauce pan over medium low, and stir it frequently until it starts to brown a bit. At that point you build your sauce. I added vegetable broth and unsweetened almond milk, nutritional yeast, a touch of fresh nutmeg, and salt. I like to eyeball these ingredients, start out slow because you can always add liquid, but you can't take it out! You need to whisk constantly as you add these ingredients, and the roux will thicken it as it heats up. Once you reach the desired consistency and taste, you remove from the heat. You want to leave it a little bit thin so it can spread over the pasta well- if it's too thick it is not very palatable on the pasta. The resulting sauce is golden brown and deliciously flavorful.

To bring the pasta together, I added the cooked pasta to my skillet of swiss chard and veggie sausage, threw in the squash cubes, and finally tossed it gently with the creamy sauce. I like to top mine off with a touch of red pepper flakes for a bit of heat, but that is up to you!

It's Vegan MOFO... My first post of the Month: Soba Noodles with Green Beans

That's right, it's Vegan MoFo! That is Vegan Month of Food! I was looking at the headlining page of Vegan MoFo headquarters and saw that I got a shout out for my recent posts... the headlining page is everchanging, but still cool to see my stuff on the main page. Every year, vegan bloggers all over the world commit to blogging about their delicious plant based cuisine for at least 20 days out of the month of November.  I am three days behind on my post, but I have been taking pics, so I am sure I will catch up with it...


I really think Vegan MoFo is great because it brings awareness to the benefits of a whole foods, plant based diet that is better for our bodies, the earth, and also for the animals. It is inspiring to see the incredible things that people come up with, and experience people with similar values from across the world. 


My first blog is these awesome Soba Noodles with Green Beans, Bell Peppers, Bok Choy, and Peanuts. Super simple dinner last night, and I was craving noodles for some weird reason. I really like Soba noodles and I look for the ones with the highest percentage of buckwheat flour. Buckwheat is very healthy, it  has more protein than regular wheat (which it is much different from) and a unique nutrient profile. Soba noodles are generally a blend of wheat flour and buckwheat flour, and the darker they are, the more buckwheat they have in them. I did a quick stir fry on the veggies while the noodles cooked, and to bring it all together I made a quick sauce reminiscent of something you would get at a chinese restaurant. 


In a saucepan, I combined ( no real measurements here, just eye-balled it) soy sauce approx 1 tablespoon, a splash of rice wine vinegar, a splash of hot sauce, about 1/3 cup of vegetable broth and about a teaspoon of sesame oil, and about 2 teaspoons of tomato paste. I whisked all that together, and added about a teaspoon of corn starch to thicken it. I whisked this over low heat until the mixture thickened, about 2 minutes... a super simple asian sauce for my noodles! 


Lastly the sauce goes in the skillet with the stir-fried veggies, add in the drained noodles and the sauce, and there's dinner. I topped it off with some fresh scallions and peanuts. 
Super yum!
Hope you enjoy Vegan MoFo...

I've been baking! The Sundae Cupcake, Hazelnut Biscuits, and Whole Wheat Bread

As much as I love my vegetables, I have to admit (and you can probably tell this from reading this blog) I really love to bake. One of my goals in the somewhat near future is to open a small, handcrafted vegan bakery here in my new hometown of Roseville, California. There really isn't anything like that in Roseville and I think this market would definitely embrace a healthy, but still tasty alternative! The bakery will probably have to wait a bit, but for now I am having fun practicing and developing recipes that I hope to use in this someday bakery. 


I have been very busy lately, especially as I am still working in San Francisco a few days a week, which is a lovely 2-3 hour drive (each way) depending on traffic. As you can imagine this takes away from my beloved time in the kitchen, but I have still kept up my cooking and baking as much as I can ... homemade food just tastes so much better than store bought food. It has been a good challenge for me to cook foods that I can take on the road with me, some days for all three meals. 


Anyways, in an effort to be efficient, here I thought I would combine some of my favorite developments of the past month or so:


1.) The Sundae Cupcake. OMG this came out so good. We had some of our SF friends coming to visit a couple of weeks ago, one of whom was celebrating a birthday. I wanted to make some cupcakes and couldn't decide between a fruity cupcake or a chocolatey cupcake. I had the thought to  make an ice cream sundae sort of cupcake! So of course, all vegan, this cupcake was: a Vanilla cake with Strawberry filling, topped with Chocolate Buttercream, chopped peanuts, and a cherry on top! Oh  sweet heaven, were these good! This is definitely going on the list of must haves for this future bakery. If you haven't made a vegan cupcake yet, I highly recommend it. You will see that there is absolutely no reason to make non vegan cupcakes, when dairy and egg free versions are just so good! If you want a good place to get down the basics, pick up this book. 

2.) Hazelnut Biscuits. These I thought of as a nutty, crunchy treat for coffee/tea time, or as a not too sweet afternoon snack. I love the rich flavor of hazelnuts, and these biscuits are full of it! The biscuit is a simple combination of hazelnuts and oats, processed in a food processor, to which I added brown rice syrup, salt, a little hazelnut oil and a touch of maple syrup. The consistency is a little loose, but easy to form into shapes. ( I am considering forming them into either a biscotti shape or a madeleine shape next time) After forming them into a ball with a little well in the center, I added a dollop of dark chocolate which is the final richness and complexity that the biscuit needs!

3.) Whole Wheat Bread.
I love to make quick breads, but I don't usually make traditional yeast risen breads. My dad has made homemade bread with a bread maker my whole life, which I have always loved. He is hardcore, he grinds his own wheat, and then makes a whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread that is to die for! Anyways, I just go ahead and buy good quality whole wheat flour. Save myself a little hard labor. I miss homemade bread and decided that I should start honing some bread making skills. I started here with a simple whole wheat bread. I adapted it from a recipe that a friend uses for white bread and loves. It is a simple recipe, and I successfully subbed a mixture of whole wheat flour and white whole wheat flour (it is a lighter color of wheat, but still whole wheat... not white flour). The other ingredients are just water, yeast, sugar, and a touch of oil. No surprises there, but the ratios are perfect. I like this recipe for it's moisture and tenderness, and by using half white whole wheat flour, the color was this really gorgeous blonde color instead of that super dark whole wheat bread. I ate bread with earth balance and cinnamon or jam for at least three days straight after I made this, it was just so yummy.

I think next time, I need to spend a little bit more time in the kneading phase though. I think if I had kneaded it a little longer it would have been even more aerated than it was. I have this great oven with our new house that has a proofing mode, and man is it great! But not a bad start with breads... I am going to keep practicing, and maybe this Christmas everyone will get a loaf of bread a la Rebecca.