Posts filed under 'event'
Lemon Cashew Stuffed Crepes w. Whole Berry Sauce
I’m lucky enough to have a very awesome vegan meetup group to belong too where I live. My friend Dianne had taken over the group a few months ago and we’ve had lots of nice events so far. Some of my favorites are the potlucks. My favorites being the brunch potlucks. Its very rare for a vegan to attend anything brunch related and be able to eat anything on the menu/at the party/event/whatever so having a dedicated VEGAN brunch is just amazing. We can fill our plates up with whatever we want and not have to worry about animal products being in the way. The group has so many wonderful and creative cooks that the food is also always amazing.
For our last brunch potluck I was very undecided on what to bring. It got to a point that I didn’t even have time to shop for ingredients so I had to find something to make that I had all the ingredients for already. While flipping through my copy of Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz I found her recipe for Lemon Cashew Stuffed Crepes w. Whole Berry Sauce. I wanted to make these so bad when I saw them! I quickly scanned the ingredients and amazingly already had everything I needed to make them. So after a lovely dinner out with a few members of said vegan meetup group I got down to business and started on the recipe.
This recipe is so insanely easy to make. The batter? All you have to do is dump everything in a blender/food processor and blend then you put it in the fridge for an hour or so. The Lemon Cashew filling? Pretty much the same thing as the crepe batter…combine and blend (after soaking the cashews for a set amount of time)*** The whole berry sauce? Combine in a saucepan and cook. Simple! Actually making the crepes? Well I would say “simple!” but I had a job in 2 restaurants where I would sometimes make crepes for hours and hours on end so it was simple for me. If you’ve never made crepes before then this part might not be so simple but don’t be afraid to try making them. I promise you’ll get the hang of it and will be making crepes like a pro in no time just make sure you have a really awesome nonstick pan and it’s heated when you pour the batter in. I made everything for this dish the night before. While the batter was chilling I made the cashew filling and while I was making the cashew filling I made the whole berry sauce. The next morning I assembled the crepes and filling and cut them into thirds and plated them on a round plate.
I’m happy to say that they were a hit at the potluck and I can’t wait to make them again!
***The recipe says to soak the cashews for 8 hours or so. I only soaked them for maybe 3 hours. It worked out fine for me.
January 30th, 2011
Roasted Chickpea Taco Salad
I’m always excited when it’s time to MoFo again. It seems to always start just when I’ve majorly slowed down with new post and it gets me back into the swing of things. I have no real themes or plans for this year’s event. My only goals are to post at least 5 days a week and post some recipes I’ve been working on for awhile now. Tonight you’ll be getting one of those recipe. Its for Crunchy Taco Chickpeas which I use for Taco Salads (or just snacking right out of the oven) and i’m obsessed with them.
I’ve been trying to eat healthier during the day. I’m still a stay at home Mom to Reno and although she is eating breakfast and lunch everyday I’m not always doing the same and she is starting to call me out on it. She’s 3 now so she takes notice if she’s eating and I’m not so I need to be a better example for her in the meals department. I decided a nice big salad for lunch would be perfect one day but I wanted to make it something special so that it wasn’t boring. I’ve been obsessed with all things taco lately, especially taco seasoning, so I decided to create my own taco salad. I’ve done it before with a raw nutmeat but I wasn’t feeling that this day so I went with chickpeas and I was instantly addicted to them as soon as they were done roasting in the oven. I threw some mesclun in a bowl with some avocado, sliced cucumbers, the taco roasted chickpeas and a quick agave lime dressing which had a touch of whole grain mustard. It was the perfect lunch and the perfect salad to get me to eat more salads during lunchtime.
Roasted Taco-flavored Chickpeas
1 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons taco seasoning (homemade or store bought)
pinch of salt
pinch of cayenne pepper
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper and set aside. In a bowl add the chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice, taco seasoning, salt and cayenne and stir well to combine all ingredients and coat the chickpeas. Spread out the chickpeas on the sheet tray and place in the heated oven. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring the chickpeas after the first 10 minutes and then again every 5 minutes or so until the chickpeas are nice and roasted and all of the liquid is gone. Enjoy as is or cool for a few minutes to add to salads, taco’s or whatever. Store any extra in sealed in a container in the fridge.
November 1st, 2010
Raw Chocolate Chip Cheezecake Swirl
It’s been hot as balls here the last 2 weeks. Hot. As. Balls. Chocolate is melting, plants and trees are wilting, people are cranky and cooking is just impossible. One Saturday my sister threw a BBQ with a couple of friends and I decided to make dessert but refused to turn on the oven too do so. Then I remembered a dessert my friend Dianne made for a vegan dessert potluck we attended. It was Ani Phyo’s Chocolate Chip Cheezecake Swirl. I had all the ingredients, it’s raw which means the oven didn’t need to be used so it was decided that this is what I was making.
There are 3 parts to this, not including the raw cacao pieces aka..chips: the crust, which is super simple to make. You are just processing medjool dates and nuts and pressing them into a spring form pan.
the cheezecake layer made of cashews, lemon and a few other things well blended
chocolate sauce, which again is just about 3 recipes blended in a blender.
Now I don’t own a Vitamix. It is my ultimate dream product to own. I had to rely on my weak blender to blend up the cheezecake layer. My poor blender was really suffering through the whole process but it managed to do a semi decent job. It wasn’t as smooth as a Vitamix would have made it but it was passable and no one complained about the slight chunkiness of that part of the cake.
Once it’s all assembled you just pop it into the freezer and take it out about 20 minutes before you are going to serve it. If it’s hot as balls out you can take it out 5-10 minutes before serving because it will start to get really soft and melt a a bit. We had about 9 people at the party who ate this and there was still 1/2 a cake left. Its very rich. You can’t eat a huge piece of this which is great if you need too make a dessert for a large group of people. I really can’t wait to make this again!
July 17th, 2010
Me and some pals are throwing together a sorta last minute entry into the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale on May 1st outside of Go Lightly Eco Store in Montclair, New Jersey. If you are in my area please stop by and say hi and buy some delicious treats to benefit a good cause. If you are not in my area of the world but have friends and family who are..please pass on the info to them. Do it for the animals!
April 21st, 2010
Dr. Cow Cheese Plate
Last weekend me and 4 other lovely vegan ladies had a girls day in NYC. Our first stop was the all vegan chocolate shop Cocoa V. What a lovely space! We entered through the chocolate shop which was filled with chocolate, cookies, cupcakes…etc…etc…. Then we entered into a really nice little dining room where you can order all sorts of things from quiche to cheese plates and chickpea melts and drinks like wine, espresso, juices and Iced Chocolate all of which are 100% vegan. You can even get shakes there! I so wanted the Peanut Butter shake but was so full after our experience there that there was no way I could fit it into my belly. Next time.
For our appetizer the 5 of us decided to share the Dr. Cow Cheese Plate for 2. Besides having a few rounds of Dr. Cow cheese on the plate there were crackers, strawberry, figs, hummus and what I think was a type of quava jelly candy sorta thing. This was my first experience eating Dr. Cow cheese and it won’t be my last. I loved it. If it wasn’t so expensive I would probably make sure I had it in my fridge at all times.
Cocoa V Quiche of the Day
For our main course the 5 of us each ordered the Quiche of the Day. Which was made with leeks and daiya cheese. IT WAS AMAZING! Hands down the best quiche I’ve ever eaten vegan or not. I truly believe you can feed this quiche to the most hardcore omni you know and they would have no idea that it was vegan. It was that good and its something I’m going to try to recreate at home.
Chocolate Fondue Offerings!
After our main course we all split the Chocolate Fondue dessert. I didn’t get a picture of the melted chocolate but let me tell you it was the most melted chocolate I’ve ever seen in my life. We dipped everything from strawberries, candied ginger, apples to brownie bits and biscotti into the melted warm chocolate. I won’t name names but one person in our group, and it wasn’t me, was dipping their spoon into the chocolate and eating it like soup.
This was seriously one of the best meals I’ve ever had outside of my home. Everything tasted perfect, I was with wonderful vegan friends and it was so nice to go into a food establishment and be able to eat whatever I wanted and not have to worry about hidden animal ingredients. If you have yet to visit Cocoa V I suggest you do ASAP.
April 15th, 2010
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