Easter 2011

It's been a long time since Easter, but since I spent so much time cooking for for this holiday I thought a belated Blog about it was better than nothing.  This year, Jared and I prepared  Almond Feta Cheese with Herbed oil, White Bean Salad, Potato and Mushroom Sauerkraut Pierogi,  and Crimson Velveteen Cupcakes.

The Feta Cheese took 3 days to make and it was time well spent.  I soaked the almonds for 12 hours before pureeing them in the food processor with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and garlic.  Once everything was nice and smooth I poured the mixture into a piece of cheese cloth and squeezed out as much liquid as I could before setting it in a strainer and placing it in the fridge. The next day I took it out, opened up the cheese cloth and baked the cheese in the oven until it was fairly firm.  Then I stuck it in the fridge over night so it would get nice and cold.  The herb oil was made by my wonderful roommate Christina,  she quickly cooked olive oil, rosemary and thyme together for a few minutes before drizzling it on top of the cheese.

My dear friend Sarah gave me the recipe for this delicious white bean salad that was full of grape tomatoes, celery, red onion, red pepper, parsley and of course white beans all tossed together in a simple red wine vinaigrette. 

The pierogi were another time consuming task, but having Jared as my sous chef made everything much quicker.  Once the fillings and dough was made, we made over 30 of these bad boys in under an hour!  The next day we fried them up with some onions and we were in pierogi heaven.

These cupcakes are now a family request.  Red velvet cake with vegan cream cheese frosting piled high topped with chopped pecans, simply delicious.

Here are Jared and I's vegan Easter plates.  We had much more than just what we brought with us.  There was also asparagus, green beans, rye bread and of course horseradish and vegan sour cream to eat with the pierogi.

In my personal opinion, vegan Easter was quite tasteful!

Unfried Rice and Hoison-Mustard Tofu

After many evenings of soup for dinner, I got a craving for something that is super unhealthy and incredibly NOT vegan, Chinese Fried Rice.  With this sinful side dish on my mind I turned to my favorite cookbook and found a recipe for Unfried Rice.  Although I was skeptical that this dish wouldn't satisfy my junk food craving I decided to give it a shot.  I also made some Hoison-Mustard Tofu to eat along with it.

The rice was made of brown rice, sesame oil, shallots, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and green onion.  This was the perfect recipe to clean out the fridge with, so I added steamed broccoli, cauliflower and peas to bulk it up a bit.  This dish was much, much, healthier without sacrificing one bit of flavor. Who needs unhealthy when healthy tastes so good?

As far as the Hoison-Mustard Tofu went, I made it almost exactly the same as I did the last time.  The major difference was the brand of tofu I bought.  This time I tried out  a local Chicago company Phoenix Bean Tofu.  I was completely sold on this brand it was dense and chewy without having to press it!  I am quite sure I will be sticking with this kind in the future.  

Spring Vegetable Minestrone

One evening Jared and I needed a quick and healthful dinner, so sticking with our soup theme we made Spring Vegetable Minestrone out of The Candle Cafe Cookbook.  

It was filled with onion, scallions, garlic, tomatoes, zucchini, and white beans and seasoned with fresh basil, thyme and rosemary.

This soup came together in under an hour from start to finish.  It was not only quick, but yummy too!

This was the first recipe I've tried out of this cookbook and I was impressed.  I can't wait to try more recipes out of this one!

Pizza Bagel Faces

Late one night Jared and I needed a midnight snack, so after raiding the fridge we decided on Pizza Bagels.

Earlier that morning we bought some everything bagels from Beans and Bagels (2601 W. Leland Ave) and they made the perfect base for our late night treat.   

We cracked open a can of organic tomato sauce and slapped some of it on each half of the bagels.  Then we seasoned each one with garlic powder, oregano, red pepper flakes and salt.

Next, we covered each one with mozzarella style Daiya cheese, sliced tomatoes and onions.

We gave them each cute little oniony faces, which of course made them much more fun to eat!

2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma

Sticking with the theme of soup, Jared and I made 2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma.  

Okay, okay, okay... this dish was not really soup.  It was actually an Indian curry filled with tons of vegetables including red onion, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, summer squash, carrots, peas and tofu for some extra protein. It was seasoned with curry powder, garam masala, cumin, coriander, and of course ginger and garlic.  Everything cooked together in vegetable broth and at the end light coconut milk and agave were added to sweeten the deal.  

We ate this flavorful dish over brown rice and enjoyed every healthful and tasteful bite.  

Arabian Lentil & Rice Soup

When the weather switched from nice to cold again, it put Jared and I in the mood for soup.  We started our soup craze off by making Arabian Lentil & Rice Soup.

This Lebanese inspired soup made with onion, cumin, coriander, carrots, red lentils, brown basmati rice, lemon zest, vegetable broth and topped off with freshly squeezed lemon juice, was a breeze to make and  incredibly delicious.  It was the perfect meal for a cold spring evening.

Vanilla Gluten Freedom and Chocolate Cherry Crème Cupcakes

April 2nd was Liz's Birthday and since she is one of my favorite people in the world, I decided she deserved a cupcake tower.  I made Vanilla Gluten Freedom Cupcakes with Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting and Chocolate Cherry Crème Cupcakes.

The Vanilla Gluten Freedom cupcakes had Corn Flour, White Rice Flour, Tapioca Flour and Quinoa Flour.  These were four different kinds of flour that I have never tried baking with before.  

  

I wasn't sure how these would turn out, but they looked just as good as any other vanilla cupcake I have made in the past.

I topped these little guys off with Blue Vegan Buttercream Frosting and Birthday Sprinkles!

The Chocolate Cherry Crème Cupcakes started off with your basic chocolate cupcake

After coring out each cupcake I filled them with homemade cherry filling topped with vegan buttercream frosting.  I replaced the cake that I removed and topped THAT off with more frosting and shaved dark chocolate.

They couldn't have turned out more perfect. 

Liz LOVED the cupcake tower! 

I was a bit worried that the gluten free cupcakes would be less delicious than the chocolate cherry crème cupcakes.  Although the chocolate ones were a gourmet decadent dessert the gluten free ones were just as delicious.  I  have to, embarrassingly, admit that  Jared and I made sure to steal a couple of them to take back home with us before the night was over.

 I had a great time celebrating with Liz and was happy to have been able to share my love of baking with one of my bestest friends on her birthday!