Sunday Dinner- Chickpea Cutlets, Mashed Potatoes with Gravy, Grilled Peach Salad, and Apple Tart

When I was growing up, Sunday was different than any other day... it was family day. Granted as a teenager, this wasn't always what I wanted, but looking back it is something that I am very grateful that my parents did. As an adult, my husband and I have carried on the same tradition. Sunday is our day to relax and enjoy one another and not have much of an agenda. For that reason, I tend to make big dinners on Sunday. I am definitely having that feeling of fall setting in, so I did a nice traditional, country style fall dinner. 

I made Chickpea Cutlets that I have been wanting to try. You can find the recipe here. It turned out great. To accompany that, I made my signature mashed potatoes with a simple mushroom gravy. They were creamy and full of flavor. I like to use red potatoes, and leave the skins on for a nutritional boost. With white potatoes, the majority of the nutrition is contained in the skins, so why throw them down the drain? Plus I like the rustic texture that they give to the mash.

My farmer's market still had peaches this weekend (me= happy) so I did a grilled peach salad with avocado, toasted walnuts, and arugula with a blackberry balsalmic dressing.

Dessert? Of course. I made an Apple Tart with traditional spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger), and served with a scoop of vanilla soy ice cream. 

Comfort? Check. 

Raw Key Lime Pie from "Sweet Gratitude"

Last year, I took a class on raw desserts at Cafe Gratitude, and I was super impressed with how delicious and seriously satisfying raw desserts can be. I purchased their "cook"book - Sweet  Gratitude, and I have really enjoyed making several of the recipes. This is the Key Lime Pie which is made using avocado. The avocado is undetectable and adds this lovely creaminess to the pie. It also uses a date nut crust, which I really recommend trying out. It is quick, easy and delicious. Enjoy!

Key Lime Pie (from Sweet Gratitude)

Macadamia Pecan Crust:

1 1/4 cups macadamia nuts

1 1/4 cups pecans

3 ounces date paste ( give the dates a whirl in your food processor)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

Lime Filling
3/4 cup lime juice

1/2 cup agave nectar

1/4 cup coconut milk

1 cup avocado

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons soy lecithin (available at natural foods stores, whole foods, or vitamin stores)

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons coconut oil

For crust:

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until there are no large chunks of nuts and dates are well combined with nuts. Transfer to 9" pie or spring form pan and press in evenly and slightly up the sides.

Add all of the filling ingredients to a high speed blender and blend until very smooth. Pour into prepared crust.

Refrigerate at least 4 hours until set. If you are still having trouble getting the pie to set, transfer to a freezer for an hour and then slice and serve.

The return of the SF Vegan Bakesale!!

Yea!!! It's back!! My favorite excuse to bake lots of sugary sweets is the SF Vegan Bakesale. You may have seen my post from the last time I contributed to the bakesale and the sale was extremely successful. This time the bakesale will be to benefit Give Me Shelter Cat Rescue, and from what I hear, I think this bake sale will be even bigger than the last! 

Mark your calendar and bring your dollars over to Ike's on Saturday October 17th. (If you haven't eaten at Ike's they have super yummy sandwiches) Be prepared to be tempted... you will always end up buying more than you meant to! 

...Now what to make, what to make? 

Pumpkin Oatmeal with Berries and Soy Yogurt

This is one of my all-time favorite breakfasts, and I eat it a few times a week this time of year! In short, here is whatcha do:

Heat up some water (about a cup) and pour it over 1/2 cup rolled oats and 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (you can use more if you like it extra pumpkin-y)in a bowl, give it a stir. Cover the bowl and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Then stir in 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice and either some stevia of agave if you like your oatmeal a little sweet.

Top this off with some chopped strawberries, blueberries, and a dollop of soy yogurt for some extra creaminess and nutrition. The final touch is one tablespoon of fresh ground flaxseed. This gives texture and your daily dose of the very important Omega-3 fats that are hard to get. 

Eat warm and enjoy the flavor of fall.

Soba Noodles with Peanut Sauce, Veggies, and Meat-free "Beef"

Tonight I felt like going asian style and using up some of the homemade Peanut Sauce that lives in my refrigerator always. My hubby loves peanut sauce, and will put it on anything, and I do mean everything- pizza, salad, whatever... so I try to always have some on hand. And I love real Japanese buckwheat soba noodles. They are almost like comfort food. Buckwheat is actually not related to wheat, and is very nutritious. These noodles are a blend of buckwheat and wheat, and the buckwheat is what gives them the dark brown almost grey color. 

I am not one to use a lot of the meatless meat products, but sometimes it is just nice to switch it up a little and use them. Tonight was one of those nights. I grilled up some of the meatless "beef" strips and tossed them in there with the real good stuff: broccoli, carrots, spinach, edamame, and scallions. Anyone can throw this dish together very quickly: just steam your veggies while you cook the noodles and grill the strips, then toss it all together. A very tasty monday night din din. 

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies and a road trip to Bodega Bay

Today we are taking a little road trip to Bodega Bay where we will help one of our close friends celebrate his 30th birthday party... so naturally I had to make some chocolate chip cookies (Any excuse to make classic chocolate chip cookies!) I don't know if I have mentioned that I am a total cookie monster... I know I know, I talk about nutrition all the time, but we all have our weaknesses and what would life be without indulgences from time to time? Mine is chocolate chip cookies. I have mastered the perfect vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's a little different than your standard vegan version of Nestle toll house. In this recipe you use the butter (earth balance of course!) cold and I also refrigerate the egg replacer mixture for a few minutes. I  use a blend of barley flour, oat flour and whole wheat pastry flour (so maybe there is a little nutrition in there... just a little though) and a combination of unrefined rapadura and evaporated cane sugar for the sweetener. These cookies are the perfect blend of chewy, soft, crisp and of course chocolatey. I can't wait to share these with our friends out on the beautiful north coast.

Tostadas with Sauteed Squash Blossoms & The kick off of Vegan MoFo!

More time has elapsed since my last posting than I would have liked, my life has been a little crazy lately, but today is the first day of VEGAN MOFO! So that means I am going to be posting a looottt more! What is Vegan MoFo? It is Vegan Month of Food! You can read more about it here: Postpunkkitchen, but the basic idea is that bloggers all over the world will write as much as they can about vegan food, from home kitchen experiments, to tried and true techniques, favorite ingredients, and great vegan restaurant meals.... at least 5 days a week! So be ready for some serious blogging, and to learn lots about delicious, plant-based cooking! 

... On to my tostadas.  I actually took this picture a few weeks ago and have been meaning to write a blog about it for awhile now, but better late than never, right? I had picked up some late season squash blossoms at the farmers market, and wanted to integrate them into some other dish... and I had a hankering for mexican food. It was a Sunday, and I love to spend time in the kitchen on Sunday, it's like therapy/mad scientist day for me... I can try out new things and really find it relaxing, actually. Plus, my husband gets to eat whatever concoction I have made for dinner (may be a good or bad thing for him... depends :) So I made some homemade tortillas. My Grandma is Mexican, and when I was young I remember her making homemade tortillas when she was babysitting my brother and I, and I really think there is almost nothing better in the world  than I fresh homemade tortilla that is still warm (with some Earth Balance on it, of course) They really aren't hard to make, just time consuming. Here is a good recipe for tortillas.

Moving on- I had some quinoa to use up, so I mixed that with some vegetarian refried beans for the protein layer of my tostada. I spiced this mixture up with some great seasonings: Chipotle chili powder, garlic powder, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. The next layer of the tostada is diced Heirloom Tomatoes (mmmm... I wish these were in season year round) Then, the squash blossoms. I sauteed these lightly with some sliced garlic and olive oil. Very simple and very tasty. The whole dish is topped off with some tangy avocado cream (Avocado, lime juice and cilantro processed in the food processor with a pinch of salt) and some fresh chopped cilantro.

Voila! I love food with layers, you get the best of every layer in each bite. This dish is absolutely bursting with flavor, and the best part is that it is totally adaptable- you can add in extra layers of any of your favorite mexican style ingredients.