INGREDIENTS

• lasagna noodles (if using no boil noodles add 25 degrees to your oven)
• 4 cups pasta sauce (like Prego, but check the ingredients)
• 1.5 lbs of lightlife smart ground beef style crumbles (or 2 boxes)
• 1 Block Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Mozzorella, Teese or other melting vegan cheese
• 1 Tofu Ricotta Recipe (see below)
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano

Tofu Ricotta

• 2 T olive oil
• 1 pkg firm tofu (water drained, pressed)
• 1 can sliced mushrooms (small can, about 1 1/2" tall)
• 1 can sliced black olives (small can, about 1 1/2" tall)
• 3 T tahini
• 1 T nutritional yeast
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/8 t pepper
• 1 t sage

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. In a food processor, mix all tofu ricotta ingredients and refrigerate.
3. Cook pasta sauce and crumbles over med-hi heat
4. Add in oregano and any other spices you like (I always try something new here.)
5. Bring to a low simmer
6. If you have to boil your noodles, do that now.
7. Prepare a 9x13 dish with a light coating of oil to prevent sticking
8. Spread a thing layer of sauce on bottom of pan
9. Put down 3 noodles, followed by more sauce
10. Now you can layer a thick spread of tofu ricotta
11. Cover tofu ricotta with FYH vegan gourmet or "cheese" of your choice
12. Repeat steps 9-11 until you've run out of noodles.
13. Bake for 45 mins.

This is my lasagna before it was baked. I used no boil noodles here, folks.

Right out of the oven.

Here's my piece next to some amazing garlic roasted brussel sprouts a la Vegan With a Vengeance. Don't worry brussels, I only have eyes for you.

Goodnight!

Tomorrow morning: Sweet Buns

If you've ever been to Veggie heaven and had theirs, this tastes exactly the same. I had to have a recipe because every time Chris and I would go there, we'd have to share one. One Saturday morning, I surprised him with these at home. This is my recipe which is pretty much a mix several Chinese recipes/methods:

For those of you who have never had this sweet red bean filling:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azuki_bean

And for those who want to know more about bao:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baozi

You'll be pleased to know that this recipe is very easy.

It's easier if you can find red bean paste at your asian market. It's even easier if you have a bread machine. I've made this with my hands many times with the same result, so no worries if you find yourself without a bread maker.

These need to be steamed. If you don't have a traditional steamer like me, you can use your pasta boiler pot with just enough water on high.

If you have any problems or questions, feel free to email me or leave them in the comments section.

This makes 12 medium sized or 6 large buns.

INGREDIENTS

Inside:

• 3 c Prepared Red Bean Paste/Filling
• 12 (or 6) parchment paper squares

Dough:

• 4 c Flour
• 1 t Instant Yeast
• 1/2 c Vegan Sugar
• 1 1/4 c Water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix flour and yeast in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, dissolve sugar in water.
3. Mix contents of both bowls (at least 10 minutes)
4. Once is doesn't stick to the bowl or your hands, separate into 12 or 6 equal lumps. **note: If it keeps sticking, add a bit of flour. This is 50/50, here. It happens.**
5. Get 12 or 6 pieces of parchment paper squares prepared.
6. Take each lump, roll them into balls, flatten them on work surface.**I usually cover my cutting board with parchment for this**
7. Drop 1 Tablespoon of sweet red bean filling on to the center of each dough circle.
8. Bring up the sides of the dough around the filling, and seal. I usually just roll around in my hand after sealing to make a smooth ball again.
9. Place the ball on a parchment paper square.
10. Repeat steps 7-9 until you've finished all of the dough.
11. Cover and let double in size for atleast 1 hour.
12. Steam on high for 15 minutes, and enjoy.

IF YOU HAVE A BREAD MAKER

This is a bit easier on you and you don't fill until the end. Either method will result in the exact sweet buns. I do it this way normally, because I can put all ingredients in the bread maker on the "dough" setting and go on to other things knowing that it will mix and rise in the machine.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Put all DOUGH ingredients in the machine.
2. Select "dough" setting.
3. After the dough has risen, follow above steps 4-9.
4. Steam on HIGH for 15 minutes.

TO MAKE FILLING/PASTE FROM SCRATCH

I've used this for reference because it doesn't include shortening and it works fine. This is not my recipe just one I found along the way. I wish I knew where this came from, but just know it's someone else's recipe or a mix of a few so don't go telling your friends that this (below) recipe was all mine.

INGREDIENTS

• 2/3 cup Red beans
• Water
• 1/4 cup Maple syrup
• 1/3 cup vegan sugar
• 1/4cup canola oil for frying

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Rinse and drain your beans
2. Soak overnight
3. Boil your beans in water and simmer for 2 hours or until soft.
4. Drain your beans.
5. Puree your beans in a blender.
6. Press them through a sieve or cheese cloth to remove any water
7. Add in maple syrup and sugar
8. Heat up oil in pan
9. Fry beans on low and stir until the mixture is a very thick paste
10. Keep stirring to prevent sticking
11. Cool and store in a fridge until needed.

Prepared tortillas can last about 3 days. You can store them with your bread or if you're like me (and put everything in the refrigerator) that's okay, too. You'll just have to warm them up before eating. In this case you can use your griddle or microwave (for reheating only).

This makes 10 medium to large tortillas.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 C Flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon canola/vegetable oil
• 1 C very very hot water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a bowl or mixer, mix all ingredients except water.
2. Knead for a minute and then add water.
3. Knead until you have a workable dough (about 5 minutes).
4. Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes.

This is where you'll need:

A Roller
A Work Surface (I covered my cutting board in parchment paper)
Griddle/"Comal"

Separate your dough into 10 lumps.

Take one and with both hands stretch the dough and roll it back, to the back of your dough ball.

Turn it 90 degrees and do the same stretching, rolling-back motion.

In my pictures you can see the bottom is very creased from the "rolling back".

Flour your worksurface.

Place your dough on the work surface and roll with a rolling pin.

This part is very important. You'll roll it up and down once or twice. Then take the (now vertically stretched) dough, flip it over and turn it horizontally. Then roll up and down again. I took tons of pictures. Basically, your goal is a circle or circular square. Sometimes your dough will tear. No big deal - you can start over our just pinch it back together. Tortilla dough is... forgiving to say the least. 

When you've acheived the size and shape you want, place it aside on a plate.

Roll out the rest of your tortillas, and set aside.

Now get your griddle or "comal" (a pan that's flat for tortillas).

I heat my griddle to 350 but you can do Medium-High if you are using a comal.

They are ready to be flipped when they are bubbling on the top. You can also peek under and see if they are golden. You want golden fluffy tortillas.

Be very careful. Maybe it's the guitar practice, but my finger tips are invincible. If it's too hot, just use a fork or spatula to flip. Also, this part is pretty boring. You might want to grab a chair like I did.

When you're done you have 10 very beautiful authentic vegan flour tortillas.

Oh, chimichangas. Where do I start? You should know that Mexican food is not a common occurence in our kitchen in Austin. Maybe it's because it's basically the same three ingredients, but we get tired of it pretty easily. I wanted to do something interesting with the tortillas I made yesterday; so for the sake of interesting, I give you chimichangas. They are stuffed with whatever you want and then fried (I know, I'm terrible).

Traditional chimis are beef and cheese stuffed in a tortilla. It's then wrapped up like a burrito (mine were too fluffy to fold this way) and fried. We made our vegan chimichangas two ways. Half of them were stuffed with seasoned LightLife Grounds and Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet soy cheddar style soy cheese. The others were filled with Whitewave Chicken style Seitan, the same soy cheese, and Tofutti soy cream cheese. We fried them and ate them with Spanish rice, beans and a cold beer. You can also lightly coat these with oil and bake them  with good results.

Honestly, we barely managed to finish one chimi each. They were so big and afterwards we kind of just sat there very full for awhile. These were incredibly delicious and very filling. However I think that after a meal like this, we'll probably be avoiding Mexican food for awhile. Try these though, you won't regret it.

There's a famous ranch in Texas called King Ranch. I've never been but I'm certain (after a bit of research) that this is where this casserole was "born". My mom used to make this when I was in highscool and it was so good. I know I said we wouldn't make Mexican again, but this is purely Texan food. This cassrole is spicy, with a vegan cream of mushroom soup and a vegan cream of chicken soup, made from scratch as its base. It's mixed with seitan, onion, green bell pepper, tomatos, and lots of melty vegan cheese in between layers of crunchy corn tortillas. This is so hearty. Don't even try this if you can't handle spicy. It's perfectly spicy, if you like spicy. I promise it's not that type of spicy that makes you think "people who eat this don't care about the taste! They are torturing themselves!" I always think this whenever something is unnecesarily spicy. This casserole is not.

INGREDIENTS

Cream of Mushroom Soup: (taken from fat free vegan's base for green bean casserole, slightly varied)

• 8 ounces of Mushrooms
• 3 cloves or 1 1/2 teaspoons Minced Garlic
• Pinch of Cayenne
• Salt to Taste
• 3 T Flour
• 3/4 C vegetable broth
• 3/4 C soy creamer

Cream of (not) Chicken Soup:

• 3/4 C water
• 1 Not Chik'n Bouillon (any vegan chicken bouillon will do)
• 3 Tablespoons Flour
• 1/4 C Soy Creamer

Casserole:

• 1 Onion, chopped
• 1 Green Bell Pepper, chopped
• Vegetable Oil to saute vegetables
• 1 cream of mushroom soup recipe
• 1 cream of (not) chicken soup recipe
• 10 ounce can of Rotel (or any other tomatos and green chiles)
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 Teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/3 teaspoon of Black Pepper
• 6-8 Corn tortillas
• 2 Cups shredded Follow Your Heart vegan Gourmet cheddar Style (soy) Cheese
• 1 box of White Wave chicken style seitan

Directions:

Prepare cream of mushroom soup:

1. Lightly oil a pan and saute mushrooms. Add in garlic, cayenne, salt and pepper.
2. Whisk flour into vegetable broth and add to mushrooms.
3. Simmer stirring until thicker. Add creamer and simmer 5-10 minutes.

Prepare cream of (not) chicken soup:

1.  Boil water. Add in bouillon. When dissolved, add in soy creamer. Whisk for a few minutes and add in flour.
2. Simmer for 5 minutes or until thick.

For the casserole:

1. Preheat to 350 F
2. Saute onion and bell pepper in canola oil.
3. Add cream of mushroom and cream of not chicken soup to the mushroom mixture.
4. Add rotel, chili powder, salt, garlic powder and pepper.
5. Allow the mix to simmer on low heat.
6. Add in whitewave chicken style seitan.
7. Line the bottom of a casserole dish with torn tortilla strips.
8. Top with seitan/soup mixture.
9. Top with a layer of cheese.
10. Repeat above 3 steps.
11. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

This basic Japanese curry is a weekly staple at our house. At first, I hesitated to share this "recipe" (I say that because it's very easy), but I decided to go ahead with it when I thought about our vegan/vegetarian friends. Most of them are musicians, some are broke, but they're all always hungry or at least down for some curry. The reason this is the "hungry musician's curry" is because 2 people can eat off of this for 2 or 3 days and it's cheap. When we're feeling pressed for time or cash; we run into the store, grab curry mix, canned vegetables and a fresh onion before rushing back home. It's also a meal you can toss together to impress lots of people, really quickly and on a dime. It smells incredibly inviting. Don't feel embarrased if someone catches you with your face over the simmering curry, inhaling its fragrant fumes. If you're afraid of traditional curry, this is a great place to start. Japanese curry isn't as jarring as some Indian curry can be (though I do love them all). Serve this with steamed rice and soy sauce and you've got quite a meal.  

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pkg Extra Firm Tofu, drained
• Veg Oil, for frying
• 1 large Onion, sliced
• 3 T Veg Oil, for sautéing
• 2 1/2 c Carrots, sliced (or 2 cans)
• 2 1/2 c Potatoes, sliced (or 2 cans)
• 3 c Water
• 1 pkg S&B Golden Curry Sauce Mix (Mild or Medium)
• 2 c Prepared Steamed Rice (or more depending on how many servings you'll need)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Fry Tofu in Oil on MEDIUM HIGH until golden. Set aside.
2. Sauté Onion in 3 T Oil until translucent. Also, this would be great time to start your rice.
3. Add Potatoes and sauté for 1 min.
4. Add Carrots and Tofu.
5. Add 3 c Water.
6. Increase temperature to HIGH and allow everything to boil.
7. Once water is boiling, add the curry mix and throughly incorporate all ingredients.
8. Once curry mix is dissolved, simmer for 15 min.
9. Set aside for 5 min and serve with steamed rice while hot.

Now, we really wanted to make our own crust this time instead of the usual one we buy from Whole Foods. The only problem with that is we didn't have a baking stone for maximum pizza crust enjoyability. It must have been "in the stars" because when we contacted our local Pampered Chef representative, not only did she have a pizza stone but she had a model that hasn't even been released yet! She delivered it to our place that night. We were so happy since we didn't have to go to Williams-Sonoma. We love it but HATE the mall.

I also have to mention that we had to make 40 cupcakes last night, so we wanted something easy. The moment we got home, we tossed the pizza dough ingredients in the breadmaker, set it on the "dough" setting, and let it do its thing. We then made cupcakes and went to the store for ingredients. We still had to stop by Whole Foods for some vegan cheese. We usually buy Follow Your Heart soy cheese because of it's meltability (no, we haven't ordered Teese yet) and even at that, it doesn't really ever melt...without broiling. However, they were out of FYH cheese! We had to buy our old friend VeganRella. We set our expectations low for meltability and went on our way.

After we pulled the pizza out of the oven, we were shocked because after only 15 minutes on 375 F the VeganRella was melted.  I'm not sure if they improved their soy cheese or the stone is just that good, but we were pleased. This pizza dough is the only one that's really worked for us so I'm sharing it. It's unconventional but it tastes like a hand-tossed pizza. More thicker than thinner and very addicting--even for people who pass on the crust. Add more spices if you like. I always do something different.

Here's the dough rolled out after kneading and rising twice (I was buying time). This is a 15" stone, by the way.

PIZZA DOUGH INGREDIENTS

• 1 teaspoon Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 1/2 cups Hot Water
• 3 1/2 cups Flour
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Oregano
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
• 2 1/4 teaspoons Fast Rising Yeast
• 1/4 cups extra Flour

BREADMAKER DIRECTIONS

1. Dissolve sugar and salt in hot water.
2. Add flour, olive oil and spices to water mixture.
3. Make a well in the flour and add yeast.
4. Start on "Dough" setting.
5. After rising, transfer your dough to a mixing bowl (this is best by turning the dough pan upseide down, as it's very sticky).
6. Add in 1/4 cup flour, mix with hands or spatula.
7. When manageable, roll out onto baking stone or pan.

MANUAL DIRECTIONS

1. Dissolve Sugar and Salt in Hot Water.
2. Add Flour, Olive Oil, Oregano and Garlic Powder to water mixture.
3. Knead until smooth.
4. Rise for 1 hour minimum (max 1 hour 30 minutes).
5. Add extra Flour and mix/knead until smooth.
6. When manageable, roll out onto a baking stone or pizza.

PREHEAT oven to 375 F and blind bake for 10 minutes.

TOP with ingredients.

BAKE at 375 F for 25 minutes.

After the dough is finished blind baking, you can add whatever toppings you'd like. We topped our crust with the following ingredients:

• Pizza Sauce
• Soy Cheese
• Tomatos
• Black Olives
• Mushrooms
• Yves "Pepperoni"
• Onion

Straight from the oven.

This pizza fed two hungry vegans for 2 days. Try this dough for your calzones, too.

You're probably wondering what this is. When I was a younger, my mom and aunt were always throwing parties. If my memory serves me well, then these are exactly (or very close to) what they made quite often. It's a sugar cookie crust with a toffee spread. It's then topped with sliced Granny Smiths, chocolate and nuts. It's really simple but the taste is really complex--especially the spread.

The first thing you want to do is prepare a sugar cookie crust. I used NoWhey Katie's sugar cookie recipe. It's perfect for this. I didn't have Ener-G egg replacer so I used 1/4 c soy yogurt. Worked like a charm! Once you have your cookie dough ready, simply roll it out on your baking stone or dish.

Blind Bake the cookie crust for 15 minutes at 300 F. While it's baking, prepare your spread.

SPREAD INGREDIENTS

• 1 8-ounce package of Tofutti soy cream cheese
• 1/2 Cup packed Brown Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

OTHER INGREDIENTS

• 2 Granny Smith Apples peeled, cored and sliced
• Chocolate/Caramel topping OR Chocolate Ganache
• 1/4  Cup Chopped Nuts (peanuts or pecans)

SPREAD DIRECTONS

1. With a fork, cream together all of the spread ingredients.
2. Spread on top of cooled cookie crust with a spatula.

When the sugar cookie crust is ready to be removed from the oven, make sure you allow it some time to cool down. This is a great time to prepare the 2 Granny Smith apples. You'll want to peel them, core them and slice them. One the crust is cooled, top with spread. Place the apple slices on top of the spread.

From here, you'll want to top the apples with either a caramel or chocolate topping. We had some vegan chocolate drizzle on hand; but if you don't have any, just make some simple ganache. You can make a simple ganache by boiling about 1 cup of soymilk. Once boiling, remove from heat and add in some vegan bittersweet chocolate chips. To thin out mixture, you can add maple syrup.

Don't forget to top it all off with some peanuts or pecans.

We ate ours with a scoop of vegan Praline Pecan ice cream. Chris says, "I expected this to taste very simple, however it was anything but simple. Every ingredient compliments the others well and this is just really awesome. Everyone should try it." Oh yeah, and it's really easy to make and doesn't dirty too many dishes. It's perfect for a weeknight. In less than 25 minutes, this is completely ready to be eaten.

This is definitely comfort food. Vegan Meatloaf, Garlic Broccoli and Mashed Potatos with White Country Gravy. This meal easily feeds a few people (meat-eaters included, as always).

Below you'll find my meatloaf and white country gravy recipes. The meatloaf is really delicious, but it pales in comparison to this gravy. I believe it has the capacity to do great things to your tastebuds. Be prepared.

Whenever I think of "vegan meatloaf", I am reminded of 70's veganism. You know, when hippies made it out of nuts and tofu. While I love both of those things, they don't really belong in meatloaf (not mine anyways). My mom used to make great meatloaf when I was still living at home; of course, this was in my pregan (read: before I was vegan) days. I just had to veganize her recipe. I gave it a try about a year ago and it's exactly the way I remember. This meatloaf, like all vegan food, is cholesterol free.

VEGAN MEATLOAF

MEATLOAF INGREDIENTS

• 2 T Oil, to saute veggies
• 2 "tubes" Lightlife brand "Beef Style"
• 1/2 Onion, finely diced
• 1/2 Green Bell Pepper, finely diced
• 1/3 c Ketchup
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper
• 1 Ener-G egg replacer "egg"
• 10 Saltine Crumbs, or Japanese breadcrumbs (like panko)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 F, lightly oil a baking dish.
2. Saute veggies in a shallow pan in 2 Tablespoons oil until soft and clear.
3. Mix everything except salt and pepper in a bowl.
4. Add salt and pepper to the same bowl.
5. Shape mixture into a "loaf".
6. Place loaf into prepared baking dish.
7. Cover all visible sides with more ketchup (it's comfort food, not health food).
8. Bake at 400 F for 40 minutes, with the top covered with foil.
9. After 40 minutes, remove foil and bake for 5 minutes more.

WHITE COUNTRY GRAVY

We have tried so many vegan white gravy recipes. They all end up very weird, grainy or like some sort of jello mold. I know, that sounds gross; but that's why we moved on.

This is a mix of a few non vegan recipes that we found online and veganized. It's perfectly creamy, savory gravy. It's the kind of gravy you can cover anything in and it's totally understandable. My boyfriend and I always make the gravy first, because while making everything else, we taste the gravy to make sure it's good (over and over again). It always is. It doesn't take a twenty tastes to know that. We just can't stop. Also, this is perfect for biscuits & gravy!

WHITE COUNTRY GRAVY INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 c Vegetable Oil
• 3/4 c Flour
• 1 3/4 t Salt
• 2 t Black Pepper
• 4 c UNsweetened soy milk (if you only have sweetened soymilk, you may want to increase the seasonings a tiny bit to counteract the sweetness of regular soy milk)

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat Oil in a large skillet over MED-HI heat.
2. Shortly after, whisk-in Flour, Salt and Pepper.
3. Cook and stir over MED-HI heat until completely mixed.
4. Gradually whisk in soymilk, and bring heat to HIGH heat.
5. It will seem too liquid, but keep stirring and it will become thick after a few minutes.
6. Once it's thick, remove it from heat and keep stirring until it's creamy.
7. If gravy is too thick, DO NOT add water. You can slowly add more soy milk.

"Concha" is Spanish for "shell". I've heard these called so many things, but concha is the only name that makes sense.

The topping is carved before rising and the end result looks like a pretty shell. Commonly, you'll find three different colors/flavors (pink, brown and white) and the original recipe isn't vegan. My recipe includes all three: cinnamon, vanilla and orange; and it's vegan. They are just one type of pan dulce (sweet bread). These are a perfect morning treat to enjoy with coffee.

If you've never had these, it's nearly impossible to imagine what they taste like. While baking these, I was reminded of going to the panaderia (Mexican bakery) with my mom when I was a child. At the time, there was a well-known place in town. People would drive from all over the city just for this panaderia's famous sweet bread. Often, there would be people lined up outside -- the line would go all the way around the building. The bakery was very tiny. By the entrance, there were trays and several pairs of tongs, and you would grab one of each. The next part wasn't for the indecisive or picky. Everyone was shoulder-to-shoulder, scooting and inching over from one side of the room to the other. You would quickly grab which ever pan dulce you wanted and at the end of the line was the cashier. The cashier would ring you up and toss your items in a brown paper bag. They had every kind of pan dulce you could imagine. This includes items like empanadas, polvorones and maranitos (gingerbread cookies shaped like piggies). No frills - just fresh oven goodness.

Conchas are very easy to make. I tend to use my kitchenaid or breadmaker whenever possible, but there wasn't a need here. Dare I say, "knead"? You just have to make these. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I'd make a pot just so that I can dip the bread into a cup like I did when I was a little girl. Eat these hot. They can store for about a week, as long as they are covered and sealed in an air tight container. I keep them in the fridge, because I hate to leave anything out. They are just as good after being heated in a microwave for about 15-20 seconds. Make these, you'll thank me.

They are even better if you enjoy these the way I once did. Pile them high in the middle of a table, share them with your family and friends, and talk about life or things that are stressing you out. It's some form of therapy, I believe.
 
DOUGH

• 1 Tablespoon yeast
• 2/3 cup water, warmed
• 1/3 cup vegan sugar
• 1/3 cup vegan margerine
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 ener-g egg replacer egg
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup lukewarm soymilk, warmed up and then cooled in the freezer for 3 mins

TOPPING

Base:

• 1/3 cup vegan sugar
• 1/4 cup soy margerine
• 1/2 cup flour

Flavors: (Do not mix these together, read on)

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons orange zest 1 drop of red food coloring

DOUGH DIRECTIONS

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water.
2. Warm-up soymilk, and place in freezer to cool for 2 mins.
3. Make your ener-g egg replacer egg.
4. Add-in (sifted) sugar, soy margerine, salt, ener-g egg replacer egg, (sifted) flour and cooled soymilk.
5. Knead until smooth.
6. Oil a large mixing bowl lightly (very lightly)
7. Put dough in mixing bowl and turn over onto parchment paper. Make sure that all places for air to enter are covered.
8. Let it rise, in a warm space for about 1 1/2 hours.
9. Punch down the dough.
10. Make 12 portions, shape them into balls.
11. Place on cookie sheet with parchment paper on top.
12. Leave at least 2" between each ball.

PREPARING THE TOPPING

Make the base for the flavors:

1. Mix sugar and soy margerine with a fork until fluffy.
2. Mix in (sifted) flour.
3. Divide into 3 balls.

Flavor the topping, three ways:

1. Mix cinnamon into the first ball. Once color is even, set aside.
2. Mix vanilla into the second ball, set aside.
3. Mix orange zest into third ball. Add one drop of red food coloring. Mix well and set aside.
4. Keep 3 flavors separate.

ASSEMBLE

1. Now you'll need 12 topping circles (one for each ball of dough).
2. Divide each flavor ball into 4 parts.
3. Now you'll have 4 parts for each flavor/color.
4. Take two pieces of plastic wrap.
5. In between the two sheets of plastic wrap, place a topping piece.
6. Shape it into a circle large enough to cover the top of your dough. You can use the back of a spoon or your fingers.
7. Once you have acheived the desired shape and size, remove the top layer of platic wrap. Slide your hand under the bottom layer, lift and turn it over onto the top your dough ball.
8. Once you've done this with all 12 topping pieces, you're ready to make the shell pattern.

MAKING THE SHELL PATTERN:

1. Take a knife and create a shell pattern into the topping. This takes about five cuts lengthwise and a few horizontally. Don't worry about it looking pretty. It just will, trust me.
2. Now, cover and let them rise for 30-45 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350 F.
4. Bake for 15-17 minutes.

Yesterday, we thought we should try making tortellini from scratch. We had all day and figured we could take our time and give it the TLC it needed. We stuffed them with shredded Teese and my Tofu Ricotta.
They were so good. I don't even have a pasta roller so everything was done by hand. We dressed them up with two different sauces. One sauce is a regular tomato pasta sauce and the other is a creamy garlic alfredo sauce that Chris and I have been working on. It tastes amazing, but isn't as creamy or beautiful as I'd like it to be. Until then, we aren't sharing it. (Sorry, but we will share that recipe once it's fool proof and perfect.) Make these tortellini when you have time though. They are so worth the work and every bite is a burst of cheesy creaminess.

INGREDIENTS

3 Cups Flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Olive Oil
4 Ener-G Egg Replacer "Eggs"
6 Tablespoons Water

1 Tofu Ricotta Recipe with 1/2 Cup shredded Teese

PREPARING THE PASTA DOUGH

1. Sift flour and salt into a large bowl. Trust me, doing it on parchment paper was NOT a good idea.
2. In a separate cup: mix water, oil and "eggs" together.
3. Make a well in the middle of the flour/salt mixture.



4. Pour egg/water/oil mix into the well.
5. With your fingers, knead until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour on counter.
**During this time, PREPARE THE TOFU RICOTTA/TEESE FILLING**
7. After an hour, either put it through your pasta roller OR separate it into 4 parts and roll out each part flat with a rolling pin. I just rolled them out as thin as possible, used a knife to cut a rectangle and put the scraps to the side. The scraps later became the fifth rectangle.



8. Place your pieces side by side (above are 3 out of 5). Give them another firm roll if you're using a rolling pin.



9. Cut squares that are about about 2"x2". Brush them with a light coating of olive oil.

STUFFING AND SHAPING THE TORTELLINI



1. In the center of each square, drop about 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of tofu ricotta/teese filling.



2. To form a triangle, take one end and press it into the opposite end of the square.



3. Press all sides firmly. You can even stretch out the corners so they are easier to fold.



4. Pick up the triangle, so the top is facing you.



5. Fold the top corner of the triangle over the opposite side of the triangle, leaving a flap.



6. Pick it up and wrap the bottom corners around your fingertip.



7. Press and seal the corners together.



8. Viola! It's a beautiful tortellini. Do this about... 50 times.



This was the final product.

9. Boil the tortellini in lightly salted water for about 3 minutes. They will float to the top when almost ready. Remove them from the water once al dente. I had to boil in three batches, by the way.

Tortellini with creamy alfredo sauce (recipe to come).



Tortellini with tomato pasta sauce and shredded Teese.

This experiment was inspired by a friend at work. Last week, I brought in various vegan food for a cookout. Among the things I brought were some grilled chickpea cutlets (a la Veganomicon by Isa and Terry). My non-vegan friend loved them and said that they reminded her of salmon croquettes. From what I could remember, she was right! The texture was right, but the flavor needed to be tweaked big time.

Usually, kitchen experiments end with an upset version of myself reflecting on all of the ingredients I wasted. Not this time. I made the base of the chickpea cutlet recipe and created a vegan, almost eerily salmon-esque croquette. This dish is sure to satisfy any vegan who is craving the familiar taste of fish--without the actual fish. See? Everyone wins and it's delicious.

Additionally, these are baked unlike traditional croquettes which are fried. I used nori sheets to replicate the fishy flavor that's so necessary in such a dish.  There's some beet juice for color. If you don't have it, just sub water. I have to tell you that if you weren't crazy about fish as a pregan (before you were vegan), then you won't like this. It tastes almost exactly like fish. While I loved the flavor, I just couldn't dig in like it was a zesty burrito or anything. This is perfect for a summer lunch or light dinner, though. Top it with your favorite sauce.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 Cup Soy Yogurt
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
• 2 Egg Replacer Eggs
• 1/2 Cup Onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 Cup Celery, finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil for Sauteeing
• 1 Cup Cooked Chickpeas
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1/2 Cup Vital Wheat Gluten
• 3 Tablespoons Beet Juice
• 1 Cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1/4 Teaspoon Terragon
• 1/8 Teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1/8 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Cup Nori sheets, finely chopped using food processor
• 1/2 Cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs for coating)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a bowl, mix soy yogurt, mustard and egg replacer eggs. Set aside.
2. Cook chickpeas.
3. Meanwhile, in a separate pan saute onion and celery with 1 tablespoon Olive Oil. Cool.
4. Mash cooked chickpeas with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add in vital wheat gluten and mustard/soy yogurt/egg replacer mixture to the chickpeas.
5. In a food processor, place several nori sheets and chop them until you have 1 cup of very finely chopped nori.
6. Add in the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT 1/2 cup Panko reserved for coating.
7. PREHEAT OVEN TO 375 F
8. Form the croquettes. I used a biscuit cutter as a mold and pressed some of the croquette mixture into it. Pull the cutter away from the formed croquette, and you're ready to coat.
9. In a bowl, have the 1/2 Cup Panko ready to coat the small patties.
10. Roll the patties around in the panko until they are evenly coated.
11. Lightly oil a baking sheet. Bake them for 8 minutes, and flip. Bake another 8 minutes to finish the other side.
12. Top with your favorite sauce and enjoy.
13. You can also squeeze a lime wedge and drizzle its juices over the top.

This week, I'll be sharing my new and improved Avocado Pie recipe along with my Sunday biscuits!

These biscuits are a thing of our lazy Sundays. On these days, we put breakfast off until noon and we only leave the house for long walks around the hills and trails of our neighborhood. We figure after our intense past week and whatever the next week has to bring--we deserve it. This morning, we stayed home from work and decided to take it equally as easy since our weekend didn't prove too relaxing. We had our Sunday biscuits on Wednesday--so shoot me. These like all quick breads, don't require rising. I made biscuits and gravy for my dad on Father's day while visiting this month. These go perfect with jelly, vegan margerine, or smothered in my country gravy.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Cup Flour
  
• 1 Teaspoons Salt, depending on how much salt you like (I usually do 2)
  
• 1 Tablespoon Sugar
  
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
  
• 2/3 Cup Soymilk
  
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Shortening

DIRECTIONS

1. PREHEAT oven to 425
   
2. In a bowl, sift: Flour, Salt, Baking Powder and Sugar
   
3. Add in Soymilk and Vegetable Shortening. Mix and knead.
   
4. Keep Kneading until the dough in manageable.
   
5. Turn bowl onto a floured surface.
   
6. TIP: I like to use plastic wrap on my surface. Before rolling the dough, I place another sheet of plastic wrap on the top and roll. The dough won't stick to your rolling pin.
   
7. Roll the dough out 1/2" thick.
   
8. With a biscuit cutter, cut about 8 circles.
   
9. Place on a baking sheet or baking stone.
   
10. Bake 8-10 minutes.
    
11. Remove from the oven and top with your favorate spread or gravy.

Here is a warm biscuit with raspberry preserves.

You must try it with my country gravy. It's the ultimate southern comfort breakfast.

UPDATE: This recipe was taken offline for a moment. Several people ran to the store and tried it as soon as I posted it. Unfortunately, some people ended up with a perfect thick pie and the other half were left with pudding. To fix this, I tried several different thickening methods, and I'm finally happy to report I've figured it out! You should know that we've been up to our ears in avocado pie lately. No complaints, though. Delicious, completely-set avocado pie for everyone! I've changed the ingredient list and the directions so read on. Let me know how this one turns out. I'm so thrilled to report that after only a few hours of refrigeration, it was completely set but DO refrigerate overnight as indicated in the directions.

Several months ago, while browsing the produce section of our local grocer, Chris and I ran into an old friend. We told him about our bakery and food blog, and immediately he tells us that we must make avocado pie. I'm sure we made some sort of face at the idea and moved along. Even for avocado lovers...an avocado pie sounds weird. The other day, I was thinking of something to make. Out of nowhere, I recall a voice saying "make avocado pie". I looked up all of the recipes for avocado pie (there's like a handful, none of them are vegan) and decided what my next move was going to be. This is a recipe that you'll love. It's veganized and tested, tweaked and carefully created to blow your taste buds right off of your tongue.

Let me talk about the flavor while my taste buds are still buzzing. This tastes a lot like kiwi, believe it or not. The texture is like a cheesecake, but it isn't one at all. It's light, refreshing and very smooth. Its flavor can be likened to avocado, lime juice, cream cheese, a small amount of sugar and sweetened condensed soy milk. Did I mention you don't even have to turn your oven on for this?

PIE INGREDIENTS

• 1 Graham Cracker Crust (avoid premade, recipe below)
  
• 2 Large Ripe Avocados (pitted, peeled and pureed)
  
• 1/2 Cup Fresh Lime Juice
  
• 1 Tablespoon Agar Powder
  
• 5 Ounces sweetened condensed soy milk (see recipe below)
  
• 1/3 Cup Vegan Cream Cheese

• 20 Graham Crackers
  
• 3/4 Cup Vegan Margerine (Do NOT melt.)

• 3/4 Cup Better Than Milk Soy Powder
  
• 3/4 Cup Water
  
• 6 Tablespoons Vegan Margerine
  
• 1 1/2 Cups Sugar
  
• 1/8 Teaspoon Salt

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST DIRECTIONS

1. Crumble graham crackers (food processor is the best for this).
   
2. In a mixing bowl, use a fork or your fingers to mix margerine with graham cracker crumbs.
   
3. In a pie dish/pan, use your hands to form a graham cracker crust.


4. Set aside until pie filling is ready to be poured into your pie crust.

1. Mix water and soy milk powder.
   
2. Boil or microwave on high for 1.5 minutes. Set aside.
   
3. In a separate pan on the stove, melt margerine on MED-HI.
   
4. Once it's melted, add sugar to melted margarine. Whisk immediately to incorporate. You don't need to worry about "cooking" the sugar. The texture should be fluffy and powdery.
   
5. Immediately, add hot soymilk mixture and salt to the margerine/sugar mixture.
   
6. Gently Boil for 5 minutes.
   
7. Cool until ready to use (I usually stick mine in the freezer for a minute to cool quickly)
   
8. The recipe makes much more than you need for the pie so expect to have extra.

1. Puree avocado (I like to turn ON my food processor as I drop-in the avocado pieces, to avoid avocado chunks in the puree)
   
2. While the food processor is still smoothing the avocados, add-in vegan cream cheese.
   
3. Once they are completely combined, turn OFF the food processor.
   
4. Juice your limes and bring the lime juice to a gentle boil on your stovetop.
   
5. Once boiling, REMOVE from heat and ADD agar powder. QUICKLY whisk the agar into the lime juice.
   
6. Once the thickened lime juice is a little cooler, turn ON your food processor again (it still has the avocado and cream cheese mixture in it) and add-in your thickened lime juice.
   
7. Finally, get your cooled sweetened condensed soymilk and ADD (ONLY 5 OUNCES) to the food processor with the other ingredients.
   
8. Once it's completely incorperated, turn OFF your food processor.

1. Pour avocado pie filling into graham cracker crust.
   
2. Chill overnight.

You have to make this pie. There's no reason not to. I'll be frank and tell you that this is the most delicious pie ever. If only for its subtle and humble appearance followed by a mind blowing sweet and tangy fusion. This pie is sneaky way to serve up an intensly refreshing but rich flavorful dessert. I'll be making this again...and again.

It's ridiculously perfect, au natural. If you're really treating yourself, add some chocolate sauce, vegan whipped cream, shaved chocolate and graham cracker crumbs. And, take a seat.

Generally, my taste buds could care less about what season it is. I'm usually dreaming about watermelon in winter and stews or curry in summer. I've been craving cornbread big time lately. I didn't think too much about actually making any until looking through a cookbook Chris's mom gave me. The cookbook is called Old Country Store Recipes. The first recipe is Pumpkin Cornbread. I thought I should make it but was hesitant because I didn't want a cornbread that didn't taste like traditional cornbread. I wanted something very savory and melt in your mouth fluffy. Pumpkin didn't make too much sense in that equation (so I thought). I am so glad that I decided to veganize the recipe and see how it turned out. First of all, it doesn't taste like pumpkin at all. I believe that the pumpkin simply lends to the fluffy texture that you notice right away. It's also got a touch of ground coriander. I love the subtlety that this spice lends to the bread. I know that some people have heard of coriander and it's relation to cilantro (yuck) but it's very important that you grab ground coriander not fresh cilantro for this recipe. Agave is also used to balance out the savory flavor of the cornbread.

There used to be a cajun restaurant that my folks and I would patron. They had the best cornbread ever. I remember that we'd always order extra to take home. It was the perfect balance of savory and spice because it also had corn and jalapeno inside. I think this cornbread is one of (if not) the best things that I've ever taken out of my oven. The ingredients are inexpensive (you can find ground coriander in bulk) and you don't even need your mixer for this--just use a spoon. You have got to make this. Again, there's canned pumpkin in it, but you'd never be able to tell. You can't taste it, so don't leave it out because it's important for the texture. This is the perfect cornbread to pair with a spicy cajun meal, some tea or a salad with a tangy dressing. You can also include jalapenos and corn to add some more depth to the flavor.

This tastes like traditional buttermilk and honey-based, savory cornbread but more amazing than any cornbread I've ever experienced in my life (pregan or vegan). Make this as soon as humanly possible. We pulled these out of the oven and topped them with soy margerine and Chris immediately put away about 4 pieces. I would have stopped him, but I couldn't get a word-in past the "oh my god" "oh my god" "oh my god". I call this undercover cornbread because you don't want too many people around to have to share them with. Don't tell anyone when you're making these because after one piece, they'll never let you bake anything else besides cornbread...ever again.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/4 Cup White Flour
  
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
  
• 1 teaspoon Ground Coriander
  
• 3/4 Cup Yellow Cornmeal
  
• 2/3 Cup Soymilk Generous 1/2 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
  
• 2/3 Cup Brown Sugar
  
• 2 Tablespoons Agave Nectar
  
• 1/4 Cup Vegan margerine (melted)
  
• 2 Ener-G Egg Replacer Eggs
  
• 3/4 Cup Canned 100% Pure Pumpkin 
  
• OPTIONAL: 1/2 Cup Corn
  
• OPTIONAL: 1/2 Cup Seeded Jalapenos, diced

DIRECTIONS

1. Sift together: Flour, Baking Powder, Salt and Coriander in a large mixing bowl
   
2. Stir-in Cornmeal and mix well.
   
3. Make vegan buttermilk by combining soymilk and vinegar. Set aside.
   
4. In a separate bowl: Combine Brown Sugar, Agave, Melted Margerine, Egg Replacer Eggs, Pumpkin
   
5. Add Vegan Buttermilk to Brown Sugar Mixture.
   
6. Combine wets with dry ingredients. If adding corn and jalapenos, do this now.
   
7. Mix throughly but do not over mix.
   
8. PREHEAT 350 F
   
9. Pour batter in baking pan (my pyrex was 7 x 11 but 8 x 8 will work, too). I lined my pan with parchment paper for easy removal.
   
10. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven when a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the cornbread is golden on top.
    
11. Top with Vegan Margerine and serve as a snack or with a meal.

I realize that it's true--there's not really a shortage of vegan queso recipes out there (if you know where to look). Some are based on soy cheese and some are based on nutritional yeast. There's something that feels wrong about making vegan queso with soy cheese. It's like a recipe for cake using cake mix-- it's wrong (for a reason). I've tried some vegan queso based on soy cheese and it was okay, just didn't really do it for me. I've been tinkering around in the kitchen, trying to make a really balanced queso with a bite. Several bags of chips later, I think I've found it.

Most vegans are very familiar with nutritional yeast. Most are very in love with it, too. For that, there's a good reason. Nutritional yeast (or nooch) is not the same thing as bread or active rising yeast. It has flakes rather than granules and has a very cheesy aroma. People always say it looks like fish food because of the flakes, but don't let that scare you. If it's in your local grocery store, you'll find it in the bulk section. Also, you'll find that it's pretty inexpensive. I have to repeat this here because it's very important and I made the same mistake making my first vegan cheesy sauce: DO NOT USE ACTIVE RISING BREAD YEAST. The label should clearly say "nutritional yeast". 'Kay? Have I scared you away yet? If you're still here, keep reading.

I've had a bowl of queso or ten in my life, and this one makes me so happy. It's pretty dead on, but so much better and better for you. Hello? Cholesterol free queso? Come on! That's amazing and you. know. it.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 Cup Nutritional Yeast Flakes
  
• 1/4 Cup Flour
  
• 1/4 teaspoon Paprika
  
• 1 teaspoon Salt
  
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
  
• Dash Garlic Powder
  
• Dash Chili Powder
  
• 1 Cup Water
  
• 2 Tablespoons Vegan Margarine
  
• 1 10-ounce Can RoTel (or any other Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, drained)
  
• 2 teaspoons prepared Yellow Mustard (Not Mustard seed or dijon, just regular yellow mustard...kay?)

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine all dry ingredients (everything from nooch to chili powder) in a pan
   
2. Add water to pan, turn on medium heat
   
3. Stir constantly and once thickened, remove from heat.
   
4. Add in margarine, rotel and mustard. Stir until margarine is melted.
   
5. Once margarine has melted, put the pan back on the heat and stir until a bit thicker.
   
6. Serve over chips, enchiladas or in a quesadilla with seitan and veggies.
   
7. Eat warm.