Truffled Polenta with Mushrooms and Broccolini

I actually made these as a turkey alternative for thanksgiving. I wanted something just as filling and rich, but more unique and delicious than tofurkey or something like that. Why would you need fake meat when you can have truffle oil, after all?

For the Polenta:

2 packages pre-cooked polenta

1 cup vegetable oil 

2 tbsp. truffle oil

3 tbsp. earth balance margarine

salt to taste

For the Vegetables:

2 cups sliced or halved crimini mushrooms

2 cups broccolini

2 tbsp. truffle oil

3-4 tbsp. earth balance

To make the polenta, heat the polenta with broth in a medium saucepan. Stir until combined. Reduce heat and add oil, margarine and salt. Let simmer 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and pour mixture into an 8x10-ish square baking pan. Let sit a few minutes, then cut the polenta into triangles, as shown below. Grease a large skillet and, using a spatula, cook polenta cakes evenly on both sides, about 3-5 minutes each.

The cakes are done! Sautéing the vegetables is pretty simple- mix all the ingredients in a large pan over medium heat until soft, stirring occasionally. Taste and add more margarine or oil, if desired.

Serve vegetables over warm polenta-enjoy!

Cranberry Walnut Rolls

I had this idea to make some sort of fluffy cranberry nut roll to serve at Thanksgiving, but every recipe I could find online used all sorts of milk and eggs. I decided to take a recipe from bonappetit.com and veganize it, and it turned out incredibly well. I probably ate 15 within the three days following thanksgiving.

Cranberry Nut Rolls:

3 1/2 cups bread flour

1 tbsp. light brown sugar

1 package yeast (dry)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups almond milk (or any nondairy milk)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 egg worth of ener-g egg replacer

1 cup dried cranberries (unsweetened)

1 cup chopped walnuts

Combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment. Warm the milk in a saucepan until lukewarm-add the oil and mix well. Add this mixture as well as the egg replacer to the flour bowl and combine, using a low speed. Add nut and cranberries and mix until a large ball forms. Dough should be slightly sticky and elastic, and should look like this!

The hard part is over! Now just knead the dough for about five minutes, adding more flour if needed, and put it in a lightly oiled bowl, covered, for about 2 hours.

When you come back to the dough, it will be a lot larger. Take the ball and break it into about 12 equally sized pieces. Roll these pieces into nice sphere shapes and place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let stand another 1 1/2 hours. It's worth the wait!

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees, and when the dough is ready, bake the rolls for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!

Hummus Quesadillas with Homemade Tortillas

Making your own tortillas is a really easy way to add some authenticity to any mexican dish. There are only a few ingredients and one bowl, so they come together really quickly. I made this quesadilla with hummus instead of cheese and it turned out great! Feel free to experiment with whatever vegetables and toppings you like.

Hummus Quesadillas with Homemade Tortillas

For the tortillas (recipe from texasrollingpins.com, makes about 15 tortillas):

•3 cups flour

•2 tsp baking powder

•1tsp salt

•5 tsp. vegetable shortening

•1 cup warm water, as needed

•Sliced vegetables as desired- I used bell peppers, red onion, tomato, and avocado

•Plain hummus (my favorite is Sabra plain or garlic)

Start by making the tortilla dough-mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, then cut in small pieces of the shortening, until the dough looks like coarse crumbs like this:

Then pour in the water slowly, mixing as you go, until the mixture is a thick and bread-like ball. Roll onto a lightly floured surface and knead about 5 minutes, then roll into small balls:

Cover with a clean cloth and let sit about 10 minutes.

Heat a large skillet. When the dough is ready, roll each ball out into a circle about 1/8"-1/4" thick. Heat on skillet until each side side is slightly browned, like this!

Spread hummus and toppings on a tortilla-

and cover with another tortilla. Place on skillet and grill on each side until tortillas have darkened. Remove from heat, slice, and enjoy!

Blueberry Lemon Scones

My dad asked me today for a good vegan scone recipe- I went online to try and find one only to realize what a lack of  recipes for vegan scones there are out there. Admittedly, often the main ingredients for scones consist of milk, butter, and eggs, but I knew there must be a way to make a delicious version of the classic breakfast pastry that everyone can eat. These turned out really well, with a great flakiness and soft texture. 

Blueberry Lemon Scones

•2 1/2 cups all-purpose or pastry flour

•1/2 cup sugar

•3 tsp baking powder

•1/4 tsp salt

•1/2 cup margarine (I use Earth Balance)

•Zest and juice of 1 lemon

•1 cup blueberry soy yogurt

•1-2 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix dry ingredients including the zest together in a large bowl. Cut in the margarine into the mixture until it resembles course crumbs, like this:

Be sure not to overmix, and do not touch the dough with your hands. The goal is to keep it as cold as possible. Once mixed, add the yogurt and lemon juice and combine. Then add the blueberries-as many as fits your blueberry preference. 

Roll dough onto a floured surface and into a large ball. Flatten the ball into a circle, about 1/2"-3/4" thick, and slice it into eighths, like so:

Place each segment on a baking sheet and cook until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar and enjoy!

Almond Joy Bars with Turbinado Caramel

I was inspired by Almond Joys to create this bar cookie. I decided at the last minute to also make a carmel sauce to put on top with some Turbinado sugar I had around. It took a few tries, but eventually I figured out a caramel recipe that works, although it's a bit on the strong side. Feel free to experiment to make your own perfect caramel! Its a fun experience to have.

Almond Joy Bars with Turbinado Caramel

•1 cup shredded coconut

•1 cup whole wheat flour

•1/2 cup sugar

•1/3 cup canola oil

•1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used vanilla almond)

•1 tsp vanilla

•1 tsp almond extract

•1/2 tsp baking powder

•1/2 tsp salt

•1 cup turbinado sugar

•3 Tbsp margarine

•1 tsp vanilla

•4 tsp non-dairy milk

•1 cup dark chocolate pieces

•1 cup chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and combine all cookie ingredients in a bowl. Put the mixture in the bottom of a cake pan and top with the almonds, then the chocolate pieces. Put in the oven. Easy enough, right?

While it's baking, get ready to make some caramel. Start by premeasuring out your ingredients and having them at hand so that you can put them in right when they need to be added. Heat up a large saucepan on medium high, and when you're ready, add the sugar. Stir every 10-20 seconds, until the sugar has melted and becomes a light golden brown. Then add in the margarine and stir the mixture over medium heat until it melts. Once the margarine is combined, and it might take a few minutes, add the milk a bit at a time. It'll be hot, so the milk will case a lot of steam-be prepared! Once the milk is combined, let the mixture sit a moment and them pour it into a cooler bowl or pan. Filter out any unmelted sugar pieces if neccessary.

Once the bars are golden brown and the chocolate has melted, remove them from the oven. You may have to swirl the chocolate around a  bit with a knife to get the covered effect. Once the bars have cooled, drizzle with the caramel and garnish with coconut if you're feeling fancy. Slice and enjoy!

Oreo Chocolate Brownies

These are delicious. I still had about half a box of pumpkin oreos left after I made my mini-cakes the other day, and was trying to think of a creative way to use both them and the millions of chocolate chips that happened to be in my pantry. These seemed to be the simplest solution-a simple but delicious and moist brownie with lots and lots of crumbled oreo and chocolate baked right in. These might be good with nuts too, or any other cookies you have. The chunkier the better with these.

Oreo Chocolate Brownies:

•1 cup whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour

•1/2 cup cocoa powder

•3/4 cup sugar

•3/4 cup canola oil

•3/4 non-dairy milk

•2 tsp vanilla

•1/2 tsp almond extract

•1 tsp baking powder

•1/2 tsp salt

•Lots of chocolate chips

•Lots of crushed or cut up oreos

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease the sides of a 9-in square baking pan.

Mix flour with baking powder and salt. Set aside. 

In another bowl, combine the oil, sugar, extracts, milk, and cocoa powder. If mixture is too dry, add a bit of water. It should resemble pancake batter.

Fold in the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Add the cookies and chocolate-as much as the batter can hold! Pour into pan and bake 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean-don't overcook!

These store best in a sealed container in a refrigerator- the cooler temp helped to hold everything together. Enjoy!!

Tomato Basil Pilaf with Roasted Peppers and Balsamic Reduction

This looks much fancier than it is, I promise. But it tastes absolutely amazing! Balsamic reduction is ridiculously easy to make and adds an instant touch of class. I don't know if it's the oil or what, but the rice ends up tasting mysteriously creamy and rich, almost like a risotto. This recipe should make a enough for two.

Tomato Basil Pilaf with Roasted Peppers and Balsamic Reduction:

•1 cup cooked brown basmati rice

•1/2 red onion, sliced

•1 medium tomato, diced

•Small bunch basil, finely chopped

•3 tbsp olive oil

•3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

•1/2 cup red wine (I used cabernet sauvignon)

•1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

•Salt to taste

•1 red and one yellow bell pepper

•2 tbsp olive oil

•Pinch of salt

•1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

To begin, roast each of the peppers over an open flame such as a gas stove until they are blackened. Then, peel off the outer layer and cut the remaining pepper into slices. Put each slice on a baking tray and coat with about two tbsp of olive oil and a bit of salt. Put in a preheated 350 degree oven and let cook while you make the rice, about 10-15 minutes.

Sauté the garlic with 1 tbsp of olive oil over high heat. Add the onion and cook until it becomes translucent. Mix in the tomato and basil and cook about two minutes. Add the rice, vinegar, wine, the rest of the oil, and the salt. Mix together, and let the mixture cook over medium heat for another minute or two.

To make the reduction, simply put the balsamic vinegar in a saucepan over medium heat and let cook until it becomes thick, about 5 minutes.

Put the pepper slices on plates, and add the pilaf. Drizzle over with the balsamic reduction and enjoy!

Pumpkin Everything Mini-Cakes

Nothing says "fall" like cooking with pumpkin. I was overwhelmed by all the pumpkin and halloween-themed items at the store, and I figured I'd pick up a few that looked good and see what happened. These are very thick, almost like a muffin, and have a pumpkin oreo baked right inside (normal oreos should do  the trick if you can't find any). They are pretty easy and a lot of fun to make, making them a great autumn treat! Also, surprise! There's no sugar in the dough, which means they're healthy, right?

Pumpkin Everything Mini-Cakes:

•2 1/2 cups flour (I use whole wheat, but all-purpose will work)

•1/2 cup vegetable oil

•1/2 maple syrup

•1 can pumpkin pie filling

•1 tsp. vanilla

•1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

•1/2 tsp baking powder

•1/2 tsp baking soda

•1/2 tsp salt

•1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

•One pumpkin oreo for each cake, plus crushed ones for tops (can find at Trader Joe's)

•1/2 cup pumpkin butter

•Rice whip or vegan frosting equivalent

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine flour, pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and mix well. Set aside

Combine oil, syrup, and vanilla in another bowl and mix well. Add flour mixture and combine, then stir in the pumpkin. Mix in chocolate chips.

Mixture should be thick and cakey. Put a spoonful of the mixture in each section of a cupcake pan, then put an oreo on the top of each spoonful and press down. The pan should look something like this:

Then put enough dough in each section to completely cover the oreo. They will rise a bit, but not as much as a normal cupcake, so fill them to about the top. Spoon a bit of pumpkin butter onto the tops of each cake, then bake about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. When they come out they should look like this!

Let them cool and then cover with whip cream, frosting, crushed oreos, or whatever else you want and then serve right away!

Fresh Tomato Bruschetta with Olives

Sometimes, you just need some bruschetta. This is a great one to make if you have an excess of tomatoes-it makes for a satisfying lunch or an amazing appetizer. This recipe will make about 5-6 pieces, but is easily doubled-or tripled! The olives add a little extra flavor and I love them, but you can leave them out if olives aren't your thing.

Fresh Tomato Bruschetta with Olives:

•3 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped

•7-10 leaves fresh basil

•2 tbsp. olive oil

•2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

•Salt to taste

•1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced

•5-6 thick pieces baguette or similar bread and olive oil to coat

Lightly brush each slice of bread with olive oil and put in a preheated 350 degree oven until lightly toasted.

Mix together tomatoes, basil, garlic, oil, and salt in a large bowl. Put bread on a plate and top with the bruschetta mixture and olives. Serve immediately.

Almond Oat Strawberry Bars

These bars are a lot of fun because there's really an endless opportunity to be creative. They also don't have any sugar or flour! They make for a great and filling breakfast or snack on the go. The following is a recipe that I use, but feel free to add any of your favorite nuts, fruits, jams etc. Whatever you have around or think would be good should work!

Almond Oat Strawberry Bars:

•1 cup almonds, ground

•2 cups oats, ground

•1/2 cup walnuts, ground

•1/2 cup shredded coconut

•1 tsp. cinnamon

•1/2 cup applesauce

•1/4 cup maple syrup

•1 cup jam (I used strawberry, but go crazy!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Begin by grinding up all your nuts/oats and mixing them in a bowl. I used a coffee bean grinder to do this, but a food processor would probably work better. Add coconut and cinnamon. Add applesauce and maple syrup and mix well. You may need to add a bit of water or a bit more oat flour if your mixture is a bit too wet or dry. It should resemble thick cookie dough.

Once you have a nice mixture, spread about 3/4 of it on the bottom of a pan. I use a bread loaf pan for this recipe, but you could use half a cake pan if you don't have a loaf pan on hand. The dough stays in place without spreading out during the baking. Spread the jam on top of this layer, and then cover that with the remaining dough. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Whole Wheat Penne with Fresh Pesto and Grilled Broccolini

The only kind of basil they sell at Trader Joe's comes in a huge box, so I had a lot of leftovers after making bruschetta the other day. My friend gave me a great idea to use up the rest of the basil: make a pesto! This is a great idea for a simple but delicious meal that can be made quickly. The broccolini and onions give it a classy touch.

For the Pesto:

•One large bunch basil

•1 cup pine nuts, ground

•One Tbsp. olive oil

•About 1 tbsp. lemon juice, to taste

•Pinch of salt

For the Vegetables:

•One bunch broccolini (regular broccoli works too, cut into smaller pieces)

•Half a red onion

•Olive oil and salt as needed

For the Pasta:

•Enough whole-wheat penne for two

Boil water and add pasta. 

Chop the basil into fine pieces-a food processor would work well, but I don't have one so I used a large knife instead, which worked fine and gave it a nice texture. Toss in the ground pine nuts and beat into the basil throughly with a fork. Once combined, add the oil, lemon, and salt. Taste and adjust the last three ingredients according to preference.

Cut the broccolini and onion and grill together with oil and salt in a skillet over high heat until broccolini is lightly browned and the onions become a bit transparent. 

When the pasta is done, strain out the water and mix well with the pesto. Put onto plates and add the vegetables on top. Enjoy!