Diner Style Dinner and a Fancy Dessert

Sunday dinner was a down home diner style meal. I made Individual Bean Loaves using a recipe very similar to Laura’s Grillable Black Bean Patties. I haven’t had a lot of success with bean loaves, so I thought the smaller size would cook better, that is not fall apart and be mushy.



I’ve had a strange craving all week for green beans and onion rings. I’ve never craved o-rings before and haven’t had them in forever, and I've never even made them before, but it seemed like a combination I needed to prepare. I found a recipe for beer battered onion rings that are fried briefly in a tiny bit of oil, then baked in a hot oven until crispy. These did indeed turn out crispy and delicious. After Chase had a bite of the beans and rings, he said “This tastes like something I’ve had before.” Yep, green bean casserole without the cream of mushroom soup, and no canned onion rings. Here’s the nice firm loaf with the green beans.



I was looking for a new way with broccoli and figured I would take my turn at healthifying a Paula Deen recipe. I saw her recipe for Broccoli Salad which includes, along with a head of broccoli and a half cup of tomatoes, 6-8 slices of bacon, ¼ cup sugar, 1 cup of mayonnaise, 8 ounces of cheddar cheese, and a half cup of raisins. I totaled up the calories and it came to over 3400 for the whole recipe. The recipe serves 6. That’s about 565 calories per serving!

My Healthy Broccoli Salad:

1 head broccoli, chopped
1 T. vegan bacon bits
½ cup chopped red onion
¼ cup craisins
2 T. vegan mayonnaise
1 t. cider vinegar
½ cup chopped tomato
salt and pepper

Mix together the broccoli, bacon bits, onion, and craisins in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the mayo, vinegar, tomato, and seasoning. Mix the mayo into the broccoli.

We sprinkled on some of Crystal’s Vegan Parmesan. (It’s 44 calories per tablespoon and it is great!)

My Healthy Broccoli Salad is less than 100 calories per serving, so we had two servings! Actually Chase went nuts for it and there were no leftovers. He also declared Crystal’s Parmesan the only cheese we ever need. Now this plate with the salad looks perfectly healthy.

I’ve been making mayonnaise using the Vegan World Fusion recipe, which you can find here. I have never liked mayonnaise, and I really really don’t like any of the soy versions, but I think this one tastes fabulous. It’s a little sweet and I like to add a clove of garlic to it. It whips up super quick in the blender. If you make it, remember to keep your blender on low and for some reason, it only turns out right if you use low fat soymilk and make it during daylight. I swear I tried to make it twice at night using almond milk and it just wouldn’t get thick. Here’s a shot right out of the blender. It could have posed on that spoon forever it was so thick.

Fearing failure of my fancy dessert, I made Celine’s Oatmeal Cookies. I used brown rice flour instead of whole wheat since that’s all I had. They are fabulous! They are really oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I made them into eight cookies. Celine made her batter into three cookies. They must have been monsters!

Okay, now for the fancy dessert that is actually easy to make. First make Almond Cookie Baskets. This is an accidentally vegan recipe from Better Homes & Gardens. The baskets will keep in an airtight container for a week.

¼ cup brown sugar
3 T. melted margarine
2 T. light corn syrup
1/3 cup ground almonds
¼ cup AP flour

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and oil the paper. Have 6 to 8 six ounce ramekins on hand.

Stir together the wet ingredients, then add the dry until combined.

Baking only 3 at the time, drop batter by tablespoonfuls onto baking sheet and spread to about 3 inches in diameter. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until bubbly and deep golden brown. Here’s how they look just out of the oven. Mine kinda ran together.

Let stand for a minute or 2 until soft but still pliable. Quickly remove the cookies to the ramekins and shape into baskets. Cool completely in the ramekins. Here’s a 1 minute how-to camera/video clip (not professional quality!).

When cool, fill with your favorite ice cream and add a chocolate heart garnish before serving your loved one.

Make one for yourself with extra chocolate sauce.

Pretty Bread

This is really easy to do. I used fresh chives, parsley, and sage to decorate my tomato bread, which I’m still trying to perfect.

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Have a bowl of ice water nearby.

2. Put your herbs into the boiling water for just a few seconds, then scoop them out and put them into the ice water. Lay them out on towels and pat them dry. The parsley was a little difficult to unwrinkle completely.

3. Make an “egg” wash by mixing 1 tablespoon soymilk powder with 2 tablespoons water.

4. Just before your bread is ready to bake, brush on the wash, arrange your herbs, then apply another wash.

5. Bake and enjoy!

I hope to get my tomato bread recipe like I want it, then make this red and green bread for Christmas gifts.

Breakfast

Diann made breakfast? Yes, but served it for dinner. I know you guys do breakfasts all the time so most of this post will be old news to you, but I did come up with a few new twists.

This dinner was Chase’s idea after I made him Breakfast Pie earlier this week. I made a shredded potato and onion crust.



I prebaked the crust to get the potatoes as crispy as possible, then filled it with spicy sausage crumbles and cream cheez, and topped it with a sliced tomato.

Chase really loved it, and then asked me to do a whole breakfast for dinner – tofu scramble, potatoes, biscuits and gravy. My issue with breakfast, besides generally not being a fan, is that the food is not pretty (see above pie!). Sure muffins and pancakes are pretty, but scrambles and hash, not so much. And it’s really difficult to get everything to come out hot. So my plan was to make as much as possible ahead of time that could be easily reheated.

On the menu was Migas Casserole, Chicago Diner Hash, LDV biscuits and VWAV Chickpea Gravy, VWAV Tempeh Bacon, broccoli, homemade black beans, Gingerbread Waffles, and fresh fruit salad. Casserole, beans, gravy, and fruit salad I made ahead.

Migas Casserole turned out so good! Migas are the favorite scramble around these parts. Texmex style migas must include onions, tortilla strips, and peppers. For my casserole, I used LDV’s BLT Brunch Casserole as a go by. I made the cheez sauce from that recipe. I made my migas by scrambling extra firm tofu, onions, tortillas strips, and medium hot salsa. To make the casserole, first I layered tortillas in the bottom of oiled dish.

I topped with half the cheez sauce.

Added all the migas, then some chopped fresh tomato.

Then added the rest of the cheez sauce and finished with chopped green onions.

This is really already cooked so it just needs to be heated in the oven before serving. The cheez sauce was mildly flavored and perfect to hold the casserole together – very yummy.

The chickpea gravy was great over LDV’s giant biscuits, which I opted to bake in muffin tins.

Chase and I made the bacon and the hash while the biscuits baked and the casserole heated. The bacon was okay. The Chicago Diner Hash was outstanding. It’s made with chopped baked potatoes, onions, and green peppers. We left the skins on the potatoes. Not a pretty picture, but really good stuff.

We heated up the gravy and beans, steamed some broccoli, and put everything on the table.

Chase’s plate – he was so happy.

My plate. I had to partake of just a little soy and wheat.

For dessert, waffles of course! I found a Belgian waffle maker in the top of my coat closet. Apparently I had used it before, but I can’t remember doing so. One thing I had to come up with was something besides pancake syrup to top the waffles with because Chase hates it. I figured I would have to do fruit and powdered sugar. I did make a fruit salad with what I had on hand – fresh mango, orange, apple, banana, and canned pineapple.

I thought about Isa’s banana waffles and adding peanut butter to the syrup, but then I ran across a recipe for apple cider sauce – 2 cups of apple cider reduced to 1 cup, a little cornstarch slurry, and a tablespoon of EB. Oh, wow, this is so delicious! I used the VWAV Ginger Pear Waffles recipe, substituting apple for the pear, and using lots of gingerbread spices to make Gingerbread Waffles with Cider Sauce and fresh fruit.

I think my waffles turned out right. They tasted fantastic and the leftovers Chase can pop in the toaster. Breakfast is not so bad after all!

Fun Foods for Dinner

Finally some inspired cooking. Warning: Most of these dishes are not gluten free, low fat, or low calorie, but they are mighty tasty!

Falafel Pops



Deep Fried Falafel served with Vive Creamy Hummus.


Crispy Black Bean Raviolis

Spicy mashed black beans in wonton wrappers, boiled, then breaded in panko and nooch, and baked until crispy. O…M…G…! This is not the slimy ravioli I remember eating. This is not even pasta. This is heaven. These were fun to make and eat like chips, and also nice with a little salsa on top. Here’s the steps and you can find my general instructions here.

Maple Glazed Tofu and Sweet Potato

Roasted glazed tofu cutlets, topped with sweet potato stars, caramelized balsamic onions, and fresh chives. Chase loved this. I had mine sans tofu – gluten free, low fat sweet potato love.

Coconut Crepes with Lentil Filling

Crepes made with coconut milk, filled with lentils, onions, carrots, tomatoes, coconut milk, and Indian spices. Spicy, hearty, and satisfying. I would make this again on a cold night (hopefully not any time soon), add winter squash to the filling, and top with Celine’s Creamy Pumpkin Almond Sauce for the ultimate in warmth and comfort.


Popcorn Bread

A yeast bread made with popcorn “flour.” I made mine with the food processor and baked it in the oven, but you can find the bread machine recipe here. It smells like popcorn, although it doesn’t taste too much like it. But you may get the sudden urge to pop in a movie while eating it.

Here’s one of Chase’s dinner plates.

Here’s my plate. I had half a crepe with lots of lentils, and of course we both ate broccoli.

Peanut Butter Mousse Layer Pie

An oreo cookie crust, a layer of Peanut Butter Mousse (from More Great Good Dairy Free Desserts), a layer of vanilla pudding (this time I cooked it long enough!) and topped with more mousse and peanuts.

Crust with mousse.

The finished pie.

A slice.

I’ve changed my mind. The crispy ravioli was merely a pleasant dream. This pie is heaven.

Dinner by Dad

My dad is a great dad for many reasons, but I will limit this post to how great he feeds me. I must start by proclaiming him the Barbecue King. He is known far and wide for his skills at the pit. He can put anything over the coals and make it taste great. This usually involves meat, but recently Chase and I have been treated to Sunday veggie feasts.

When Dad invites us for Sunday dinner, he works all day to make us an incredible meal. He personally goes to the market and selects the freshest ingredients. He then does all the prep work and slicing. He makes his own garlic infused olive oil and uses my mom’s “Fabulous” seasoning. He wraps each type of veggie in foil and cooks them over glowing coals to perfection according to their time requirements. When done he brings them all in, unwraps them, and presents us with a beautiful platter. Most recently we were treated to red peppers stuffed with broccoli, corn on the cob, mushrooms, new potatoes, Brussels sprouts, onion, snow peas, yellow squash, asparagus, sliced jalapenos, and shredded cabbage and carrots.

Behold…..

Thanks again, Dad!

Pesto Pasta, Baked Cabbage Wedges, Creamed Spinach, and Tomato Bread

Saturday night was another easy dinner to put together. No theme for this night, just bookmarked recipes that needed testing.

I had in the pantry some Tinkyada brown rice pasta I had never tried, so I decided to make my version of “Shells with Beans and Broccoli” from Vegetariana. My pasta was corkscrews instead of shells, and the recipe doesn’t have a pasta “sauce.” I didn’t want dry noodles and veggies, so I made Sundried Tomato Pesto from VWAV to toss into the cooked pasta.

That idea was a winner.

The topping is basically a stirfry of broccoli, onions, garlic, red pepper, cannelini beans, olives, and fresh herbs. Crystal, I meant to make your parmesan, but I forgot! I still want to try it though. Even without the parmesan, it was quite good.

One of our sides was “Spinach with Peanut Sauce” from Peanut Butter Planet. It’s a creamy sauce of coconut milk and peanut butter over fresh spinach. This is a perfectly delicious way to add calories and fat to your healthful spinach!

The other side was “Baked Cabbage with Garlic” from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen. I asked Chase before I bought the cabbage if he thought he would like a wedge of cabbage for dinner, and he was understandably a little skeptical. But after tasting it, he said it was his favorite part of the meal. To prepare, you quarter and core the cabbage, then steam it for about 8 minutes. Transfer it to a baking dish and top it with garlic oil. Pour a little veggie broth in the bottom of the dish, cover, and bake for about 20 minutes. I used purple cabbage because it’s so pretty, and I also added potatoes and carrots to the platter as suggested in the recipe. It’s so easy and so delicious.

Saturday morning I baked a yeasted Tomato Bread. The flavor was spot on, made with tomato paste and a perfect combination of seasonings, but I thought it turned out way too dense. I had seen a tomato quick bread recipe in Vegetariana, so I made that too. It wasn’t near as tasty as the yeast bread, but it was good. I’ll work on the yeast bread so I can give you a recipe. You’ll love it with a bowl of chili this winter!

Tomato Bread – yeast type

Tomato Bread from Vegetariana

I tried to be healthy and fancy for dessert, but I wasn’t thrilled with the outcome. I diced a couple of peaches and added in a half cup of ground toasted almonds, a little sugar, and spices for a filling. I cut filo sheets into four strips, laid on some filling, rolled them up, topped with a few more almonds, and baked them.

I lost interest after a rolling up a dozen and put the rest of the filling into a tart – a few sheets prebaked on the bottom, filling, and then 2 sheets on top.

The problem with these - by the time we got around to eating the rolls, the filo was already soggy :(

Fortunately, Soy Delicious makes everything better.

I hope I'm not entering a baking slump. I think I’ll feel better when my two new inspirations arrive. I’ve preordered Veganomican and Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan! Not that I need more cookbooks, but honestly, is there anything better than getting a new vegan cookbook in the mail? I can’t wait!