Veganomicon Recipes
OK, I bought my copy of Veganomicon (cookbook from the same authors as Vegan with a Vengeance and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World) last week at Barnes & Noble. Over the weekend, I made my first recipes from the book. I made the Chickpea Cutlets with the Mustard Gravy. I also made the Tomato-Rice Soup with Roasted Garlic and Navy Beans. For sweets, I made the Chocolate-Chocolate Chip-Walnut Cookies. Everything was really good. I've been having a difficult time staying away from the cookies, they're so good (very thin, crispy, chewy!). Has anyone else here purchased this cookbook yet and made any recipes? I'd love to hear what people are making and enjoying from this cookbook. I really enjoy Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's other cookbooks, and I'm looking forward to exploring more in this new book.
i made the lentil soup the other night, definitely not the last lentil soup recipe i will ever get, but certainly good.
i made the lentil soup the other night, definitely not the last lentil soup recipe i will ever get, but certainly good.
Was it the French lentil, or the ancho lentil?!
A new link to the review, for my convenience: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=26077.0
french
I made Udon with Shiitake Mushrooms and Kale in Miso Broth for dinner last night. It was awesome! I would highly recommend using a dark miso (I used a hearty brown rice miso) since it really lends a lot to the flavor. The only thing I changed what that I used dried shiitake mushroom slices instead of fresh since the local asian store was out of them. Go figure. I used the soaking liquid in place of 1 cup water. Very, very good.
I also made Chewy Raspberry Chocolate cookies. My cookies didn't come out as chewy as I expected. Maybe I flattened them a little too much or need to lower the cooking time. Also, I will leave out the almond extract since I don't think it went well and in fact, added a sort of (mildly) bitter flavor. I'll probably make these again though with the modifications since chocolate and raspberry is one of my favorite combos. This recipe comes together very quickly too.
Also, I made Snobby Joes again for my lunch this week for the gazillionth time.
Caesar salad with roasted garlic croutons
We both really liked this! I didn't do anything in advance, so it was a bit time consuming for a salad, but delicious! I added a tiny bit too much garlic (I know, right..) to the dressing, and I used green peppercorns instead of capers (hey! they look really similar, and they're cheaper..), but it was still really yummy. The croutons definitely make it great. I just added in some toasted, slivered almonds. I added a whole lemon's worth of juice to the dressing, also. For some reason, I was thinking this recipe had mostly negative reviews, but I'm so glad it doesn't! Great salad.
p.s. do not eat a green peppercorn by itself..it tasted like bleach! spicy bleach..
banana chocolate chip bread pudding really delicious, even after i made some healthier alterations to the recipe.. i only used a scant 1/4 cup of soft packed brown sugar (instead of 1/2 cup maple syrup) , 3/4 cup chocolate chips (instead of a full cup) and only 2 bananas. I did have to use at least a half cup more soymilk to make all the bread soggy cus it was really stale to begin with but it turned out great. definitely sweet, chocolatey, & banana-y enough even with my cutbacks.
banana chocolate chip bread pudding
Oh! I think I might make that tomorrow...unless P wants to eat the rest of the hard bread (which is very possible). I do need to use 2 bananas, though. ;)b
go for it- tell p you'll get him some new old bread next week...
do you know I bought this book nearly a year ago after all the amazing posts about it and have still not made one thing from it. For some reason I was very disappointed with it. I think (from what I can remember) a lot of recipes have ingredients that are hard to find in the UK (such as vital wheat gluten).
Ok what a waste of money buying the book. I will make it my mission to make at least one thing out of it this month.....if you don't see me posting a review here please shout at me!
I made the Southwest Corn Pudding in my cast iron skillet and it was a huge hit! I made it with soymilk + a drizzle of olive oil instead of coconut milk and it turned out fabulous and delish.
I made the BBQ Blackeyed Peas Collard Green Rolls. I don't know if that's the exact title because I don't have the book in front of me. It's not a recipe I ever even looked at before but my BF picked it. It was simple to make especially since I used store bought BBQ sauce. I had every intention of making the Backyard BBQ sauce from the book but realized after I took out all the ingredients that I didn't have any liquid smoke. It seemed like an important ingredient to have in bbq sauce so I didn't want to make it half-assed. I had never made blackeyed peas or collard greens before so it was truly an experiment. Anyway, they were enjoyable but nothing spectacular. I'm going to try them again when I can make the homemade bbq sauce so I can give it a true review.
banana wheat germ muffins - i made a half batch in a giant muffin pan and got 4 larger size muffins. instead of oil i chopped, microwaved, & mashed half of an apple, and then i diced up the other half and mixed it into the batter. i sprinkled some chopped pecans on top & they were tasty & healthy. not something i would crave, but good.
Portabella Salad with Spicy Mustard Dressing was made today by my culinary class for service in the dining room. We used it as an entree salad. I was kinda bummed because the chef decided to broil the mushrooms after marinating instead of roasting them. They turned out good though. The salad was pretty ordinary....nothing unusual about anything in it...one reason I submitted it for consideration. The dressing though was fantastic.....everyone loved that!
I made the Tomato rice soup with roasted garlic and navy beans. It didn't go over well. I'm not sure why. On paper it was wonderful. I made it on Monday and there is still a ton of it sitting in the fridge. My bf and I just have not gone back for more. I was surprised that even with two bulbs of garlic, it didn't taste very garlicy. I was overall disappointed.
Udon with shiitake mushrooms and kale in miso broth. I really enjoyed this. I already had mellow white miso in my fridge so I used that. I didn't think I needed to add more because it was mellow. I also added tofu chunks and I used frozen shiitake mushrooms because that's all I could find. I plan on making this again.
The jicama watercress salad is amazing, except I used baby spinach instead of watercress. The mixture of peanuts and avocado and red onion and mint with the citrus vinagrette is awesome. Definitely reminds me of thai salads. I didn't have red chile oil for the dressing and ended up using a little tabasco sauce, which is awful, but it still turned out amazing! I highly recommend this salad!
Chickpea-quinoa pilaf I mde this last week on the recommendation of blackrabbit - I thought that this was really good. Super simple to make, with ingredients I always keep in stock, and really tasty.
The only change I made was using coriander powder not seeds as I generally don't keep seeds in stock.
I used this as a side to my lunchtime salads and it went really well. I could imagine if this was the main staple of a meal it may be, um, bland - that's not really the word I'm after, but for a main it could get very same-y.
I will definitely be making this again.
Snacks, appetizers, little meals, dips, and spreads
Grilled yuca tortillas
I like these. Yuca is notoriously difficult to chop, but I think this was worth it. I added corn & yellow bells to the mix. It's not really necessary to put it between tortillas - it could be served as (sort of) mashed potatoes
Butternut squash and pumpkin seed rice paper rolls
So I made this (kind of), with some alteration - I used kabocha instead of butternut squash, and prepared my own pumpkin seeds from the kabocha too. I thought that these had all the elements I liked, but somehow I didn't like them. I tire of the pumpkin seed taste after a while, but I also think something lighter (like lettuce) might improve these. They weren't bad, just too intense for me.
Samosa stuffed baked potatoes
i agree with nmpixie - they're tasty, but not really worth the trouble for making for myself.
Salads
Corn and edamame-sesame salad
Pretty good, but definitely needs to be served on some lettuce, IMHO. Or with less sesame oil.
Brooklyn deli macaroni salad
It's pretty good (really depends on the mayo you use), and I added some herbs to spice it up. It is a bit bland, but at least it provides a good base for macaroni salad.
Grains
Broccoli Polenta
Meh. Needs more flavr. Though I like this idea of putting things in polenta other than the usual suspects.
Tamarind Lentils
Ah, I was afraid that the tamarind in these might be too strong, but this was just perfect. I'm tempted to add coconut milk next time.
Chickpeas Romesco
the description of these really built up my expectations, but these were just regularly good. I'd make it again, but it's not one of those omg-you-guys-have-to-try-this recipes.
Tofu, Tempeh, and Seitan
Chickpea Cutlets
these were all right. Not the awesomest seitan I've ever had, for sure.
Soups
Ancho lentil soup w/ grilled pineapple
Ah, I love this soup. Admittedly, I don't grind my own spices, I just sort of sub them. And I don't have ancho chiles (I probably could, but...) so I just use cayenne pepper + roastingness. Also, I didn't grill the pineapple - I just tossed it some in a hot frying pan. I don't think the pineapple is necessary, it just looks pretty against what looks like plain ole lentil soup.
Double pea soup
Now, this is not the best pea soup I've ever had, but it's the best recipe I've ever had. I think it's worth the extra effort, and I shall remember it when I'm sick and in need of soup.
Roasted yellow pepper and corn bisque
I used red & yellow pepper (oh well), and this was mighty tasty. I had no idea about some sort of summer squash in this... I might have forgotten that ingredient... but this was quite tasty besides. It's sweet =)
Creamy tomato soup
The title does not do this soup justice. tomato + sundried tomato + potato = awesome. It's what I want in a soup recipe - something undeniably better than the canned version. Also, I added basil.
Casseroles
Southwestern corn pudding
Sweet! And suspiciously similar to the corn bisque recipe.
Jamaican yuca shepherd's pie with sweet potato, kidney beans, and plantains
I subbed black beans. Also, as expected of shepherd's pie, real heavy. But also real tasty. I felt like it should have had more spice, though, but that can be fixed. It's well worth tracking down yuca for this recipe... it's a kind of sweeter/smoother than potatoes.
Tempeh shepherdess pie
Forgive me for not liking this. I think I have finally determined that I just don't like tempeh. And I'm never looking back.
One-Pot Meals
Spaghetti squash mexicana
good, but as stated, kinda bland. Not sure how to fix this...
Plantain and pinto stew with parsnip chips
(I subbed black beans) Eh... It's good, but we're so used to eating fried plantains + refried black beans that the tomato etc in here seemed unnecessary. I don't recall what the recipe said, but we used black plantains (the recipe might have suggested yellow).
Parsnip Chips
I couldn't quite get this like chips, but I liked it anyway. But no one else did. Screw them.
Red lentil-cauliflower curry
I liked this, but I think it's more of a dal than a curry. Either way, tasty, and well spiced.
Sauces and fillings
Salsa verde
I was so glad that I got me some tomatillos, first of all. Secondly, I went looking for other salsa verde recipes on the 'net to see how 'authentic' this one was (and this one won). We loved it, and managed to eat it all between the two of us.
Breads, muffins, and scones
lower-fat banana bread
This worked out! Which is more than i can say for me + most banana bread recipes. I liked the molassesy twist on it. I added chocolate chips. It's different than typical banana bread, and I wouldn't say that it tastes low fat or anything.
Cookies & bars
Fudgy wudgy blueberry brownies
I like these, and with blueberry preserves there's not too much of a hint of fruitiness. Good chocolate balance.
Desserts
Vanilla yogurt poundcake
So, I knew I had to make this when I saw it. Especially because the omni bf loves poundcake. I wasn't expecting a whole lot when I made it - it seems to have the right ingredients to work, but I've had trouble making vegan loaf cakes, so I just kind of waited to see. Well, it has turned out *perfect* every time. It's rich but not dense, and adding the orange/lemon zest definitely adds a nice touch. The first time i added chocolate chips, the second I didn't (not necessary). If this were by any stretch of the imagination healthy, I would live on it.
Cheater Baked Beans - I followed the recipe as directed, except that I baked them for a shorter amount of time...still turned out delicious! I felt so much healthier making my own BBQ baked beans, rather than eating the store-bought pre-made kind. They had a rich, slightly sweet taste that I love! Perfect picnic food.
Next week: Hoping to try the Cheezy sauce (over mashed cauliflower), Cholent, and Beanball sub recipes...wish me luck!
i made the chickpea cutlets with mashed white beans instead - i used some extra seasonings and added nutritional yeast.. they turned out great!
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