1.23.2008

other people's recipes

while I love to be creative and make up my own meals, I have too many cookbooks and too many amazing fellow vegan bloggers to go too long without making other people's recipes. This entry is a bunch of recipes I've stockpiled.
These little babies are the Acorn Squash and Black Bean Empanadas from veganomicon. They were deLICious, especially the dough. My only complaint was that by the book, they should be triangular. First of all, no. That is just not how I want my empanadas to look. Second of all, it is SO much harder to make a triangle than a half circle! Observe:

Also from veganomicon, the Pumpkin Saag:
It's a little mushier, I think, than it's supposed to be, because 1.) I used butternut squash instead of pumpkin and 2.) one of the friends I served it to is allergic to peanuts, so I skipped the peanut oil and added some coconut milk for extra flavor. Still delicious and a big hit.

One of my FAVORITE finds from this post: the chocolate covered vegan's Sauerkraut Salad.
Yum! I made it for my mother when my parents visited and we loved it. I left out the bell pepper (because I'm allergic) and tossed in a bit of chopped chard stem for the same effect. It got better as it got older, too (which, I guess, is the point of sauerkraut).

Curried Lime Tofu from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan:
Pretty, flavorful and not as much work as I find a lot of dreena's recipes to be.

And Creamy Chickpea Soup with Moroccan Spice Oil, from the voluptuous vegan!
The soup itself is very simple - it's pretty much hummus, but thinner, and being the chickpea fanatic that I am, I loved it. It was very plain, but the moroccan spice oil added a nice, warm, complex flavor. I was very proud of myself for taking the time to make it! I made a really tiny batch because I didn't know if I'd want to save any - but next time I'll make more.

Have I mentioned how I feel about the voluptuous vegan? I'm torn as to whether I like it... There are some good, simple recipes, but most of them are elaborate and time-consuming. All the ones I've tried have been tasty, though. I guess this would be a fantastic book in it if you have loads of time and are planning and ritzy-but-intimate dinner party.

That's it for the savory stuff. On to sweets!
Double Chocolate Pecan Chippers from the everyday vegan! I used agave syrup instead of sugar, so they spread out while they cooked. I ate too many.

AND FINALLY!
Chai Latte Cupcakes from vegan cupcakes take over the world!

I'm not a big fan of refined sugar, even organic, so the mass amounts of confectionary sugar involved in making frosting scares me. Instead of making mounds of icing, then, I tend to use glazes or ganache. The Brown Rice Caramel Glaze worked brilliantly (although I didn't have soymilk powder; I improvised by decreasing the liquid in the recipe and just simmering down some soymilk for a while). It just took a little longer for the glaze to set:
I brought these to a small dinner party and all 12 of them disappeared.

I've decided to make every cupcake in vegan cupcakes take of the world. Green tea cupcakes are next!

8 comments:

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

Wow, everything here looks delicious!

Ashasarala said... Best Blogger Tips

My empanadas weren't triangular, either. They ended up looking like crescent moons. I actually have no idea how to get them to look like triangles. But, they were delicious in the end.

The chai cupcakes look amazing! I can't believe I've had that book for months now and I've only made one recipe. Twice.

The ingredients for frosting scares me too. But I love the taste. Luckily I only make frosting a couple times a year.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said... Best Blogger Tips

I agree about being torn between liking and disliking Voluptuous Vegan... it really IS full of complicated recipes! But in the end one recipe redeems the ENTIRE book for me-- the peanut butter and banana ice cream! Tha recipe alone made buying the book worthwhile.

Your empanadas look great as 1/2 moons, and your salad looks even better than when I make it :o). I might just add some chard in next time, as it's one of my favorite veggies and it's so healthy too.

I've only made 2 recipes out of VCTOTW... I guess I better get cracking. So many cupcakes, so little time!

Rural Vegan said... Best Blogger Tips

The empanadas are gorgeous regardless of what shape they are! And you reminded me that I need to make CCV's saurkraut salad, pronto!

Liz Ranger (Bubble Tea for Dinner) said... Best Blogger Tips

so delish, and you made the empanadas! (hell, you made the empanadas better :D)

frosting kinda scares me too...
so are you going to make the appropriate frostings for all the VCtotW recipes or substitute with similar glazes or something? at any rate, I'm totally applauding your attempt to make them all! I've only made 2 I think.

(and can I have a wee bowl of that coconutty squash saag? it looks lovely enough to swim in. :DDD)

jd said... Best Blogger Tips

Great post - I love the variety!

I also have a tendency to stock up on other people's great recipes, only to realize later that I haven't made as many as I'd like. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has this problem, but it is nice to have have so many amazing fellow bloggers & delicious cookbooks to choose from!

PS I can't believe you're going to make EVERY cupcake from "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" - that's awesome! I can't wait to see them eventually all on your blog :)

Judy said... Best Blogger Tips

Wow, everything looks delicious. I can't wait to make those empanadas, I've been eyeing them for a while now.

Ruby Red said... Best Blogger Tips

i had zero interest in cupcakes before i was a vegan... and now cupcakes dance around me in my sleep! i need vctotw, fast. especially after seeing your chai ones. there's also some sort of cashew cupcake recipe in there that sounds excellent!

i want those empanadas! i love the idea of black beans with any orange vegetable or fruit: mango? sweet potato? butternut or acorn squash? oh yeah! i like the curved crust better, too. your double chocolate pecan chippers have also caught my attention! thanks a lot, now chocolate pecan cookies will be invading my thoughts every waking moment. :)