Vegan Valentines Day Truffles

Well readers, I made truffles for the first time ever and am blessed to be a guest writer on Kiran's blog, Wish.

So, for recipes and more photos, please jump over to Wish and check them out!

Best Bean Salad

Muchas gracias to my friend and neighbor Dawn for this tasty recipe.  On my street, we tend to share our leftovers or magic foods with each other.  Well, it was a nice surprise to come home and have a container full of this delicious treat waiting for us on the porch!  Here's Dawn's post::

Combine in a bowl:

1 can black beans (drained)
1 can red beans (drained)
1 can garbanzo beans- also called chick peas (drained)
1 can black olives (drained)
1 can artichoke hearts
1 bag broccoli or cabbage salad (can be found with the pre-packaged salad at the grocery store)
3 chopped green onions (or sometimes I use 1 small red onion)
Couple tablespoons sliced green olives (to taste)
Couple tablespoons sliced pepperoncini (to taste)
Couple teaspoons minced garlic (to taste)

I just mix all of these ingredients in a large bowl then add a vinaigrette dressing. Sometimes I make my own with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and sometimes I use a salad dressing that I buy at the grocery store. Paul Newman's Balsamic Vinegar is my favorite store bought dressing. You can also add cooked pasta or rice, if you like. It is kind of one of those things that you can add in what sounds good to you and take out what you might not like. I am so glad you liked it!  I hope your readers enjoy!

Shannon's Supershake with Banana and Oats

When I was visiting my friends Shannon and Melissa in St. Louis, Shannon made the most tasty breakfast shake.  I asked for the recipe and here it is:

It's simple and everybody seems to like it.  You can freeze it too for an icy treat.

Blend all ingredients at once in a blender until smooth:

1 ripe banana
1/4 cu oats
1/2 cu yogurt (plain, vanilla, mango or whatever you like)
1/2 cu milk
1 tbs honey (or more if desired)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (as desired)

It makes a nice quick breakfast or a tasty after dinner treat.

Kiran's Kind Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am excited, because my dear friend in California, Kiran, is guest hosting this blog entry.  Please check out her blog at Wish.  Please enjoy her contribution to Chunky Chef, in her words:

One of my favorite things to do with my kids is cook.  It is one area where I have enough confidence in the outcome that I can just let them have fun with it.  It is almost always a relaxed and fun activity for all of us.  Even the 1 year old is starting to get in on the action with an occasional stir or dump of ingredients.  Last week we had several days of rain and cookie baking is the perfect rainy day activity.  My two boys seem to have very different palates.  One loves chocolate more than any other food (he takes after his grandmother for sure).  The other has declared that he hates chocolate and only likes vanilla desserts.  So it is always a big debate when we are going to make a dessert...what kind shall we make?  who will we please?  Since the weather was so gross and we had nowhere to be I decided on this day that we'd make chocolate chip cookies AND snickerdoodles.  Since I have recently made a switch to a vegan lifestyle the cookies had to be vegan.  I consulted several cookbooks and recipes and came up with adaptations/combinations of recipes I found in Vegan Lunch Box and Babycakes, based on what ingredients I had in the house.  Some vegan dessert recipes have weird ingredients.  Using applesauce to replace some of the margarine makes a moist and cakey cookie which my 4 year old thought would make excellent ice cream sandwiches.  If only the cookies had lasted long enough to try it.

For the snickerdoodles we used this recipe (http://veganyumyum.com/index.php?s=snickerdoodles&searchbutton=Go%21) from Vegan Yum Yum.  Yum Yum indeed!

 

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 C whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 t baking soda

1/4 sea salt

1/2 stick earth balance butter flavored margarine, softened

1/2 C applesauce

3/4 C maple sugar or sucanat or brown sugar

3/4 C white sugar

3/4 C silken tofu, drained

1 1/2 t vanilla

1 package of vegan chocolate chips (because we like lots of chocolate)

In a medium bowl mix the flour, baking soda and salt

In a large bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer) beat margarine, applesauce, sugars, tofu and vanille until light and fluffy.  Add dry ingredients and mix well.  Add chocolate chips.

Place large spoonfuls of cookie dough on baking sheets  3 inches apart.  Bake until dark golden brown around edges, about 15 minutes.  Let sit on baking sheets for a minute or so then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. 

Mom's Mash: Chickpea, Eggplant and Tomato Over Rice

Mom made this awesome dish last night.   It's from one of her favorite books- Vegetarian Pleasures.  I went back for thirds, so I know it was a hit.  She made it look ridiculously easy to make.  I'm definitely keeping this recipe in my back pocket for quick get togethers.  It's nice served over rice, but you could also load up a pita or serve over couscous.

Saute in a large pan:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large eggplant, peeled and diced
1 large onion
2 minced large garlic cloves
1 can large diced tomatoes (or 3 fresh tomatoes)
1 can drained chickpeas
Salt and pepper to taste

Lower heat and simmer until everything is melded and soft.  Garnish with fresh parsley and plain yogurt.

Wicked Good Wild Rice Stuffing

I made the stuffing last night and it was out of this world delicious!

Combine:

1/2 cup uncooked short grain wild rice
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice

Cook rice according to package.  Yes, you can mix the two rice grains and cook together.

Tip:  If you get the rice started first, you will have plenty of time to prep and cook the following mixture.

Saute in a large pan:

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 lb crimini mushrooms diced
1/2 onion diced
1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
1/4 tablespoon celery salt
1/4 tablespoon black pepper
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 large pear chopped
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Mix ingredients in pan, saute over Med heat for 7-8 mins, or until onions are soft.  Remove from heat.  Combine cooked rice to mixture in large pan and heat for 5 mins on Med-Hi heat.

Serve as a main or side dish.

Zesty Zucchini Zoup

This is a guest blog from my mother's home in Nanaimo BC, Canada.  There are massive amounts of fresh zucchini and soups are her specialty, so here's one of her best creations.

Sautee in a large soup pot:

2 tablespoons butter
one medium onion chopped
one small potato peeled and chopped
2 medium or 1 large zucchini sliced

Add vegetable stock or water to cover and season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Simmer until vegetables are soft.  Place in a blender with 2-3 oz. cream cheese and blend until smooth.  You may need to blend in two batches.  Serve hot with croutons.

Perfect Peach Crisp

We had an abundance of overripe peaches, so I whipped up this scrumptious peach crisp. It's super easy to make, reminding me that sometimes simple is underrated. Sorry, there are no pics of the finished product- it was gobbled up too quickly!


Filling:

5 large peaches chopped
1/3 cup sugar

Crumble:

1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons walnut oil
1/3 cup flour
2 tablespoons wheat germ

Chop the peaches and place in a large mixing bowl. Cover with sugar, mix and let stand.

Thoroughly mix all crumble ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

In a 9in glass pie dish, place and level filling. Cover filling with crumble. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, depending upon ripeness of peaches.