Super Spiced Chocolate Cake

Not only is this maybe the easiest cake you ever made, it is completely vegan and has some surprising flavors to boot! Other than two unexpected spices you may need to begin to keep on hand from the bulk spices area of your specialty grocery, you likely have every one of these ingredients in your house any day of the week.  This is unlike any chocolate cake you have had before, and is super moist.  Feel free to add the icing or not based on the occasion, it is the kind of cake served with afternoon tea!

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 TBSP cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground fennel
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup warm water

For Icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 TBSP soy milk
1 1/2 oz dark chocolate, cut/shaved, etc

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and oil up your cake round.  I used a bundt pan, but a smaller diameter cake pan will work even better to create a beautiful dome!

First, combine all your dry ingredients into a bowl and mix together.  In a separate bowl, mix your wet ingredients before combining all your wet and drys!  Mix well and pour into your prepared cake pan.  Bake for one hour.

Once complete, I will let it cook a bit until I can remove my cake from the pan.  If you are adding icing, over low heat combine your powdered sugar, soy milk, and chocolate until it has all melted and combined to something around the thickness of pancake batter.  You can add more soy milk to create that consistency.  Once smooth, pour over your cake, allow it to harden, and enjoy!!

Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes

Here is a twist on smashed sweet potatoes you would never normally think of....but so delicious.  This taste registers on the back of your tongue in this unexpected way!! It is super easy, and a great compliment to my black bean soup.  Thanks for the idea, Alton Brown!

2 large sweet potatoes
2 TBSP Earth Balance
1 chipotle pepper in adobo, diced
1 tsp chipotle sauce from the same can
salt and pepper

To begin, cook your sweet potatoes however you like.  I prefer to roast the potatoes in the oven although this takes time.  You can also peel, cube, and steam your potatoes.... it is up to you! I place mine in a 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours until the aroma consumes my house! I then allow the potatoes to cool a bit to the touch and simply allow them to slip out of their skins like nothing! Next, I place them into a medium size bowl and mash them with the Earth Balance.  Add the chipotle pepper and sauce and season with salt and pepper.  Taste to adjust the flavor and enjoy!! Mmm....

Potato Salad

Growing up, I always though of potato salad as something drenched in mayo with egg and served with barbeque.  The combination of it all equals off limits for vegans...until now! Potato salad has evolved! This has become my go-to for left over potatoes and goes perfectly with sandwiches during the summer...just like old school potato salad. This is an adaption from latin potato salad, so compliments to the chefs!

3 lbs baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
3 TBSP white wine vinegar (rice wine vinegar works fine, too)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped green onions
Salt and pepper

Begin by boiling your potatoes.  Do this by covering the potatoes in a pot with just enough water.  Bring the water to a boil, salt, and adjust the water to a simmer.  Allow the potatoes to cook in there about another 10 minutes.  Dont add the potatoes at boiling, like noodles, or the texture will be all messed up.  The potatoes should be tender when pierced.  Drain the potatoes and set aside to cool.  While they are cooling, toss them with the vinegar carefully trying not to break them out of their potato cubes.

Once the potatoes have cooled, toss them with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Once you have the perfect flavor balance, add the green onions and serve immediately or chilled! I like to sometimes add a little more of the vinegar since that adds the pop that I never expected!!

Enjoy!

Smokey Black Bean Soup

As a vegan, black bean soup has been a main go to forever when I go out to eat.  Although at home, I can't ever seem to find a recipe that works as well as I want it to! Finally, I have found the perfect mix of flavor and simplicity that I want to go to over and over again.  Before you start, you are going to need 2 things you may or may not have in your pantry, so prepare accordingly: liquid smoke and vegan Worcestershire.  You CAN find it at Whole Foods right next to the liquid smoke! One stop shop!

3 TBSP olive oil
2 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion
6-7 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
2 cups vegetable broth
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
2 TBSP ketchup
2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 TBSP chili powder
1 12oz light, decent quality beer (I used Dos Equis)
1 tsp+ liquid smoke
4 15oz cans of black beans (washed) or 6 cups black beans
Salt and pepper
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
Green onions to top

To begin, sweat your onions in the oil until they are translucent, about 4 minutes.  Add your garlic and cook another minute or so until it is fragrant.  Add the broth, tomatoes, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, beans, and beer.  Stir in the beer and bring it to a boil.  Allow the soup to boil for about 10 minutes so that the liquid reduces significantly.  Meanwhile, stem the cilantro and chop.  Add this to the soup after it has cooked 10 minutes and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.  At the very end, add the juice of one lime.  If ten minutes is not enough time to thicken the soup, allow the soup to keep cooking down.

At this point, I generally let the soup cool a bit and then blend about half of the soup in the blender so that the consistency of the soup transitions from something chili-like to more of a soup.  This thickens it and makes it more creamy.  Add the blended soup back to the rest of what is in your pot and serve! I like to add green onions to the top for soup perfection!

Enjoy!

White Beans with Sun Dried Tomatoes

For our wedding, a great friend recently gifted us with a vegan cookbook that I found this in.  This dish is amazing!  The sun dried tomatoes add an almost smoky flavor to the dish, and the beans make it very hearty.  It is also amazingly easy to make, so it is a perfect week night dish!  This would be great served over pasta or polenta.

1 cup sun dried tomatoes, either oil packed or dry, coarsely chopped
1 TBSP olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 zucchini, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups fresh spinach
3 cans cannelloni beans
1 cup water
1/2 tsp ground sage
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/3 cup fresh basil, thinly ribbon cut
salt and fresh ground pepper

If using dried tomatoes, soak them in hot water for about 30-40 minutes.

Heat the oil in a large sized saute pan.  Add the onion and cook until soft and transparent, about 5 minutes.  Add the squash and cook another 5 minutes.  Add the garlic, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, beans, water, sage, salt, black pepper and red pepper.  Stir to combine and cook for about 10 minutes longer.  Stir in the basil and serve!
* From The Vegan Table, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Creamy Farfalle with Cremini, Asparagus and Walnuts

If you are like me, you decided that any 'creamy' pasta went out with the word vegan.  Not now! With a little prep, an amazingly filling, satisfying, and truly creamy pasta dish can be all yours.  This is the ultimate in vegan comfort food, and is totally perfect for a cold night and sleepy time...not the 110 day that it is here now!

1 lb Farfalle or  Garofalo pasta
3 TBSP Earth Balance
1 lb Cremini mushrooms, thick sliced
1 lb thin asparagus, sliced in 2" pieces
1 cup vegan mascarpone cheese (see below - prepared ahead)
1 cup walnut pieces
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Mascarpone Cheese:
8 oz tub of vegan cream cheese
1/4 cup vegan sour cream
1/4 vegan creamer

About an hour prior to cooking, mix the cream cheese, sour cream, and creamer together in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Quickly remove the cheese mixture to a bowl and allow it to cool in the refrigerator for about an hour.  The mixture will quickly thicken and become a perfect consistency.

Once the cheese has thickened for about an hour, bring a large pot of water to a boil to cook your pasta.  When the water is boiling, salt the water well and add the pound of pasta.  Cook until al dente, about 12 minutes.  Drain and reserve about a 1/2 cup of pasta water just in case you need to thin the mixture at the end.

Meanwhile, saute the mushrooms in the Earth Balance for about 5 minutes, until tender and most of the juices have evaporated.  Add the asparagus and cook until crisp tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the pasta and mascarpone, grating some fresh nutmeg on top before folding all the ingredients together.  If you feel the mixture is a little thick, add pasta water a little at a time.  I found that it was the perfect consistency without any water.  Add the walnuts and mix everything together well.    Season the pasta well with salt and pepper and additional nutmeg if needed.

Enjoy! Mmm...

Wild Rice Cornbread Stuffing

As my husband said perfectly... "It feels like I'm cheating on the holidays, but this is SO good!"  The only reason I have a stuffing recipe up in JULY is that we had some leftover cornbread that needed eating  (see October 2008, Comforting Cornbread)!  I now know that we will be eating cornbread much more frequently in this household!  This is a 2 step recipe, but just do like I did...plan it over 2 meals!

3 cups of crumbled cornbread (see Oct '08)
2 1/2 cups veggie stock, divided
2 cups water
1 cup wild rice
1 TBSP olive oil
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 TBSP finely chopped parsley
1 tsp finely chopped oregano leaves
1 tsp finely chopped sage leaves
1 cup toasted pecans
1/4 cup Earth Balance
salt and pepper

In a medium saucepan, boil together rice, 2 cups of veggie stock, and water.  Once boiling, cover and reduce to a low simmer, cooking for about an hour. It may feel awkward to you to add so much liquid to the rice, but this is done on purpose to create a more 'wet' rice or the stuffing.  Once complete, drain the rice.  When there is about 20 minutes before the rice is completed, saute the onion and celery in oil until softened (5 minutes).  Add the oregano, parsley, sage, salt and pepper and cook about 1 minute more.  Remove from heat.  In preparation for the rice, also preheat the oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease a 9" casserole dish with Earth Balance spread. Finally, toast the pecan pieces.

Once the rice is cooked and drained, combine that with the onion/celery mixture, crumbled cornbread, and toasted pecans.  Transfer the mixture to the casserole dish and add the remaining veggie stock and 1/4 cup melted Earth Balance over the entire top.  Bake in the oven for 20 minutes!