good good things

Vegan Brunch

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.

5 comments January 30th, 2011

Zucchini Muffins

Zucchini Muffins (Vegan Brunch)

When your garden gives you an over abundance of zucchini you have to come up with different ways to use them all up. I’ve been making lots of raw zucchini crackers, shredding them into rice and beans to get extra veggies into Reno and sauteing them all different ways. I’m basically turning into a giant zucchini. The other day I needed to use up some more zucchini and didn’t want to do my usual tricks with them so I opted for Zucchini Muffins. The recipe is from Vegan Brunch and I’m so happy I made them. Peter and Reno were pretty happy too. It was a nice change from our usual breakfast or snack. Easy for Peter to grab one (or two!) on his way out the door to work in the a.m. and then maybe he ate another one on his arrival home. They kept really well for a few days individually wrapped and let in a bowl on our dining room table. Thankfully the cats didn’t try to eat any of them.

On Tuesday I pulled the last of my zucchini out of my garden. Sadly all of my zucchini and acorn squash plants were afflicted with squash vine borers that were killing all the plants.  Last year I didn’t get a single zucchini. This year I was able to grow and eat a few dozen of them so even though I won’t have anymore for the rest of the growing season I’m still considering this a success. One of the last zucchini’s I harvested was literally 2 feet long and would feed a Duggar size family. I’m not even kidding the thing is huge so it looks like more zucchini muffins will be coming out of my oven real soon!

3 comments July 29th, 2010