Christmas Approaches

My favourite sugar cookie recipe ever-
vegan, easy, melt-in-your-mouth good

3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup margarine
1 egg or egg replacer equal to that
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking soda.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In large bowl, stir first 4 ingredients together . THen add the other ingredients- stir well.
Roll onto lightly floured surface- decorate (rainbow sprinkles are my choice) and transfer to greased baking trays. Cook for about 10 min or til bottoms are golden.

I'm serving these at my pre-holiday partay.

Avocado Chimichurri Spread

Love this!
Okay, you didn't ask for this recipe, I did- from Aunt Rae. But I guarantee you would have if you'd discovered it first.

Avocado Chimichurri Spread

2 Tbs. lemon juice
2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs.)
¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
½ tsp. dried oregano
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup chopped cilantro
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
2 avocados, peeled, pitted, and cubed
6 ½-inch-thick slices whole-grain or ciabatta bread, toasted

Directions
Combine lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, salt, red pepper flakes, oregano, and black pepper in small bowl. Whisk in oil, then stir in cilantro and parsley. Fold in avocado cubes. Spoon avocado mixture onto toast slices, and serve

Cranberry Almond Cookies

I'm preemptively posting this- taking these fine CRANBERRY ALMOND cookies to the neighbours' partay tonight. The name sounded good, the ingredients sounded good- and yet they still turned out even better than expected:

21/4 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup soy milk
1/4 cup veg. oil
1/4 cup margarine
1 tsp almond extract
egg replacer equal to two eggs
1 cup slivered almonds
3/4 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. stir first 5 ingredients together. Add the other ingredients and stir until well-mixed. Spoon heaping tablespoons of dough on to greased baking sheet. Flatten these.
Bake 10 min.
Makes 15 cookies (or so)

Banana Chocolate Muffins

Right- so I made these great muffins- they turned out perfectly- and I was eager to share the recipe with the world. Sadly, the recipe website is not allowing me to easily do so. Rather than cutting and pasting the recipe as per usual then, I have to merely post the link that will get you to the recipe... alas.

Anyway, just do what the recipe says and enjoy. I made buttermilk by adding 1 Tbsp of vinegar to a cup of (soy) milk.

http://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/3981/chocolate-banana-muffins.html

Maple Pecan Cookies

I made these just for kicks but brought them to prac. for Sarah's bday celebrations. "Wholesome" was used to describe them- also "really good." I threw in some molasses just to live on the wild side.
This recipe is from Extra-VEGAN-Za- a cookbook that Susan O'Connell (who I know sometimes reads this?) kindly gave us a few years ago.

1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp lemon rind
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
11/2 cups chopped pecans

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, maple syrup, oil, vinegar, lemon rind, and vanilla and whisk.

In a separate bowl, combine flour nutmeg. salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Pour wet into flour mix- stir- roll small amounts into balls and place on cookie sheets- bake 10-12 mins.

Simple but Sweet CUPCAKES

I made these basic chocolate cupcakes for my practicum school's bake sale. They rock. When you find yourself craving chocolate cake, these are what you're craving.

INGREDIENTS

* 1 cup soy milk
* 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* 1/3 cup canola oil
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular
* 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
2. Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are OK).
3. Pour into liners, filling 3/4 of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Stephanie's Own Curried Extra-vegan-za

This next recipe is long winded. Sorry. It's actually one that came together bit by bit, toss by toss, so, unlike most of my favourite recipes, it is rather multi-part and ingredient heavy. Never fear, oh fellow cooks, because I have no doubt that further improvisations could shrink it into simpler forms. It really was good though, and Louise kindly typed it out to share with the online masses.
I feel like it demands to be served with a sweet chutney, a few slivered almonds, and some raisins.


Stephanie’s Delicious Curried Stew
(To accompany curried rice or any rice)

Chop:

½ onion
2 cups carrots
2 cups sweet potato
1 cup mushrooms
1 block tofu

Mix in a bowl:

2T curry powder
1t cumin
1T cinnamon
1T dried coriander

Mix in another bowl :

14 oz tinned tomoatoes
1 cup milk (soy or coconut)
2T soy sauce
1 t sea salt
1T tomato paste
½ cube veg stock
2T tandoori curry paste

Instructions:

- simmer 4 cloves minced garlic in 2T olive oil
- add onion, simmer till translucent
- add tofu & spice mix, mix to coat tofu
- add tomato mix and sweet potatoes—cook 10-12 minutes till potatoes are tender
- add other veg, simmer everything for about 15 minutes to let flavours meld

Greek Spinach Dip

I love Greek food. This is an interesting vegan spread as it looks like it must have creamy things like tofu and nutritional yeast in it- and yet it doesn't. It would be great served with baguette- and WILL be great when I serve it that way at my party next Saturday! I personally added extra lemon juice and salt but it turned out nicely and will be a welcome addition to my dip/spread repertoire.

Garlicky Spinach Dip

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup cubed french bread (stale is ideal)
1 10 oz package frozen spinach, thawed
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
salt as desired

Toast walnuts for 7 minutes at 350 degrees.
Soak bread for 5 min in 1/2 cup cold water- then drain.
Place bread, walnuts, and garlic in food processor, puree til smooth.
Add other ingredients and puree til combined.

Thanks to Greens magazine for this recipe!

Can't go wrong with bread pudding...

Easiest bread pudding ever... I have to say, the one I made recently for Ben and Jen's party used leftover cinnamon buns from Christmas so was particularly cinnamon-y... and I topped it with some cream cheese icing... still, I'm sure it's good as is- maybe add extra cinnamon?

* 4 cups day old bread
* 3 cups soy milk
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 1 tbsp vanilla
* 1 tsp ground cinnamon
* 1 cup raisins
* 1/2 cup chopped almonds

Preparation:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put the bread into a 9 inch square baking pan. Stir the remaining ingredients together in a separate bowl and pour over the bread. Stir to mix.

Bake for 30 minutes. Serve warm or cool.

Creamy coconut curry sauce

I'll admit it- no one asked me for this recipe- but nothing wrong with being pro-active- someone will one day I'm sure.

3 Tbsp veg. oil
1 small onion- diced
2 cloves garlic- minced
1/2 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp sea salt
3tbsp curry powder
3tbsp flour
2 cups veggie broth
2 cups coconut milk
3 diced tomatoes

1. heat oil in pot over med. heat
2. add onion and garlic- cook til soft- 5 mins
3. add cumin, salt, curry powdr- cook 1 min
4. add flour and stir it into everything else
5. stir in stock
6. add coconut milk and tomatoes
7. bring to a boil, stirring occasionally- simmer for 20-30 mins til a bit thickened (it will thicken beautifully once it sits for a bit too)

Great for noodles, or for simmering veggies in, as I did tonight. I am going to add curried baked tofu from veganomicon and use mango chutney that I bought recently from the great "Rowe Farms" shop in my hood.
It's really the curry sauce I've been waiting for.