Betty Goes Vegan in August

It's the end of the month and I never did locate a copy of the August VegCookbook Club pick, Betty Goes Vegan by Annie and Dan Shannon. However I bet there will be plenty of copies at DC Vegfest, when the Shannons present their much-anticipated cooking demo. That's Saturday, September 28th at 2ish. (Full schedule here.)

I did make a couple of items from the authors' recipe-rich website. The recipes are playful takes on the All-American dishes engineered for General Mills' Betty Crocker brand. These veganized versions were created for "The Betty Crocker Project," the initial blog challenge that spurred the Betty Goes Vegan cookbook.

Here's what I made:

Cowboy Caviar
This recipe is for "the Hostess with the Mostess." It's a colorful and quick combination of crunchy veggies and tender, cooked beans that can serve as a salad, a side, a condiment, a dip, or taco fodder. I loved this recipe because it required no cooking, of course. I think you could vary the canned ingredients to feature what was fresh and in-season. Fresh cilantro and ripe avocado seem key.  

BLT Crostini
A wacky recipe but not without its charms. These faux "cheesy" crostini are meant to be baked on a pizza stone but I cheated and cooked these in the toaster oven. I used local heirloom tomatoes for the "T" and smoky tempeh for the "B." The wispy lettuce leaves looked attractive but didn't provide much flavor. Maybe something peppery like arugula or watercress would work here?

Orange, Agave & Mustard Dressing  
This dressing accompanies a spinach salad recipe. I've been looking for an oil-free dressing and this one is a nice marriage of zesty orange and zippy mustard. However, I thought the agave was too sweet and cloying, even when reduced by a third.

Finishing up Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan

A Sweet Finish:
I decided to close July's VegCookbook selection with a sweet. Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan has an excellent "Sugar 'N' Spice" chapter with loads of decadent desserts and baked goods. I went with a simple, no cooking required recipe.

Cashew Banana Ice Cream

There's great vegan-friendly bakery in Ocean City, NJ, called The Bashful Banana Café that is famous for a banana "frozen custard." It's just bananas whipped to a custard consistency. They call it: the Banana Whip. This "ice cream" version adds cashew butter, which gives it a thick, creamy texture. The recipe also calls for sweetener. I added a little agave but would skip it next time. Bananas are sweet enough. I also added some vanilla and cinnamon. Overall, a speedy sweet fix that requires only firing up the food processor.

Salad Dressing Round-Up:
Plus, here's a quick round-up of the salad dressings that I've made from this cookbook in July.

Salad Dressings from ED&BV

Of these three dressings, the Creamy Basil Dressing (top) was my favorite. Fresh basil provides so much flavor. I used cashews and almonds for the nuts and unsweetened almond milk as the main liquid. It was great on salads and as a dip for heirloom tomatoes.

Back-to-Basics Balsamic Vinaigrette is one for regular weeknight rotation (bottom left). Super simple and straightforward. Although, as with all the dressing recipes, I cut back on the sweetener by a third, at least. (Sometimes I think Canadian cookbook authors just like to promote maple syrup. Which I love. But not in everything.)

Cumin-Cinnamon Vinaigrette was a unique blend, but perhaps not to my tastes (bottom right). I think the cinnamon reminded me too much of my morning smoothies. This one would work on a salad served before a spicy Indian meal.    

August's pick:
Now August is arrived and with it comes a new book: Betty Goes Vegan by Annie and Dan Shannon. I haven't gotten my hands on a copy yet but I wonder if it'll have the technicolor glow I remember from my Mom's old Betty Crocker cookbooks.

Finishing up Vegan on the Cheap

Somehow it is almost June. With the new month comes a new VegCookbook Club selection, Meatless: More than 200 of the Very Best Vegetarian Recipes by Martha Stewart. This should be interesting!  

Meanwhile, here are the last items that I made from Vegan on the Cheap, May's club pick. This book has been rather anti-Martha Stewart. That is to say, there are no glossy photo spreads or elaborate food stylings here. Just short, to-the-point recipes and pragmatic cooking advice, similar to what you can find on Robin Robertson's own media empire.  

The beans are hidden inside.

Nacho Taco Salad
This was a fun, creative recipe, one I'd never heard of before this cookbook. There is memorable greasy taco salad in Joe Hill's short story, "You Will Hear the Locust Sing." That one features "big flaps of lettuce, soggy with taco juices." This is a much fresher take, assembled right before serving. Plus it has "nacho cheese."

Basically, you layer a shallow bowl with tortilla chips. (I used Garden of Eatin' Red Hot Blues but an unflavored chip would suffice.) Then you layer a mound of spicy hot beans, prepared with salsa and chili powder. Next you pour on some warm Cheezee Sauce, using the same great recipe Robertson uses for the Wheatball sandwiches. Finally, you add your salad and any other nacho toppings that suit.

The recipe calls for iceberg lettuce but I went with Russian red kale for my salad, plus extra chopped tomatoes, jalapeños, and onions. I also added more Cheezee Sauce to the top, because I thought the sturdier greens could handle it. This recipe would be great at a buffet-style dinner because each person could tailor it to taste.      

Inner Goddess

Inner Goddess Dressing
I'm not a fan of pasta salads but this dressing (from the recipe for Garden Rotini and Chickpea Salad) was also listed as an all-around dressing and sounded worth a go. It uses cashews, tahini, and some vegan milk to add creamy Goddess-style flavor. I'm not sure if it would please true die-hard Annie's fans. It could use some chives and parsley.

Beware of the blob.

House Salad Dressing
I also tried the mustard vinaigrette variation for this basic house salad dressing recipe. It was very oily but quick to throw together. As instructed, I stored the dressing in a tightly covered container. However on the second day, the dressing congealed into a strange blob. I've never had that happen with a dressing before.

A trio of childhood classics

Here are three more recipes that hark back to some favorite foods of childhood. Both are from How It All Vegan!, the April VegCookbook Club pick.

Vegan Sloppy Joes
For this filling sandwich, you make a tomato sauce in the food processor, rehydrate the protein, and then add both to a sauté of veggies and spices. I used some textured soy protein that I've been trying to finish, rather than the textured vegetable protein called for in the recipe. (You could probably also use tempeh or cooked beans for a less processed meal.)

The finished mash is rather spicy, calling for both chili powder and cayenne. The secret, surprise ingredient is chopped pickle (genius), which adds a nice crunchy bite. I used the sloppy joe mixture to fill tidy pitas, rather than serving it on a sloppy bun. No condiments required.

Spicy Creamy Tomato Soup
Another classic recipe. Like many kids, I, sadly, had an aversion to tomatoes. Luckily, I've been cured. This spicy soup is very adult, with a nice mix of spices and lots of garlic. I ended up using unsweetened almond milk rather than soy milk or soft tofu. I'd like to try the tofu version another time, to see how that might change the thickness. The fresh tomato garnish is a nice final touch. I'll make this soup again.
  

Fabulous French Dressing
This French dressing didn't taste like the bottled version that I had in my childhood but it did have the appropriate orange hue. The oil and vinegar dressing gets its color from dry mustard and paprika. However, with no sweetener included, I found it rather tart and unpalatable. I think I'll stick to the You-Must-Make-This Dressing from the Go Vegan! app (review).

Pancakes and some salad dressings

We had a long holiday weekend in DC, with the Inauguration and MLK Day. So I made Crazy Sexy Kitchen pancakes and a few of the salad dressings, also from the January VegCookbook Club pick.

Cornmeal Banana Walnut Pancakes 
This recipe by guest chef Fran Costigan is great stuff. It's written in an engaging, almost conspiratorial fashion. "Don't worry,"Costigan advises as you flip the pancakes. So I didn't. And the pancakes turned out scrumptious. This is what I'd serve at an Inaugural Luncheon, instead of bison (yuck). Next time I make these, I'll also double the recipe and have more maple syrup on hand.

(From left) Basic Italian, Garlic Tahini, Miso-Citrus

Salad dressings
I've made of four of the salad dressings in the Dressings, Marinades, and Condiments chapter. The Basic Italian Dressing was sweet and slightly spicy. The Garlic Tahini Dressing was simple and straightforward. The Miso-Citrus Dressing was salty and orange juicy. But, by far, the Dijon Vinaigrette (below) is the the one I'm going to re-elect. I love Dijon mustard, so what's not to love about this garlicky, vinegary mustard dressing? Like the merch hawkers said down on the Mall yesterday, "Twice is Nice." I'm definitely making this dressing again and again.

Dijon Vinaigrette

More VegCookbookClub with the Forks Over Knives Cookbook

Maple-Mustard Dressing

Here are two more recipes that I tried from Forks Over Knives--The Cookbook, the November VegCookbook selection. I'm finding that this cookbook is accurate with its serving sizes. Both recipes really could serve 6.

Kale salad close-up

Kale Salad with Maple-Mustard Dressing

This recipe by Julieanna Hever features a thick, flavorful oil-free dressing. It is a tasty blend of beans, tahini, mustard, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, maple syrup, and lemon. I used garbanzo rather than cannellini beans in the dressing. I also added two cloves of garlic for even more "hummus" flavor. My boyfriend said this made the dressing taste like falafel sauce.

For the salad veggies, the recipe called for kale, red cabbage, carrots, and broccoli. I swapped arugula for the red cabbage, because I had that on hand. I also added some yellow pear tomatoes and the remaining tin of chickpeas to the mix. Overall, I thought this salad was great--a meal in itself.

Sweet Potato Bisque
This was my first attempt at making a bisque and it turned out creamy and smooth. The cookbook describes this as almost "a dessert soup." It did have a pumpkin pie flavor with ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon, as well as the zest and juice of an orange. It calls for only three types of veggies (onions, garlic, and sweet potatoes), veggie broth, and unsweetened almond milk--so the spices are pronounced and clear. It was fun to dust off my immersion blender too.

Go Vegan! with Sarah Kramer app review, part 1: Tried and true recipes

I finally purchased the Go Vegan! with Sarah Kramer app for the iPhone. This is the first cooking app that I have ever downloaded but it is definitely not going to be the last because I'm smitten with it. (I hope Dreena Burton releases one next.) 

So far, I've made two of the fifty recipes offered. Forty of the recipes are from Sarah Kramer's previously published cookbooks, ten are new. (Tomorrow, in part two of this review, I'll try a couple of the recipes debuting in the app.) I do wish that the app would cite the specific cookbooks that each of the recipes are sourced from. It would be a handy to be able to reference the original recipe. For example, if you want to recommend it to your iPhone-less, cookbook-loving friends.    

Owning this handy app is like having Kramer's Vegan A Go-Go! in an even more portable version--which I didn't think possible because that book is already pocketable. Below is a photo of how the app sizes up against Kramer's previous pink-covered cookbooks. 

In terms of design, this app is uncluttered eye candy with attractive, functional menus. Each recipe is broken down into an ingredients page and a steps page, with pink apple and whisk icons to toggle back and forth. The app has an easily manageable favorites section and a helpful shopping list function. (Although it is funny that the app adds water to your shopping list. I tend to get water from the faucet, not the grocery store.) 

Other new content in the app includes informative short videos and audio intros for select recipes. And there are drool-inducing photos for every recipe, a feature that Kramer's cookbooks haven't always offered. 

My one personal pet peeve about the app is that it played music automatically on start up. While the music is peppy, I don't like to be blasted by audio unawares. However it was easy to set the music to "off" and it hasn't bugged me since.  

Here are photos of the two recipes that I've already added to my favorites que. Above is Sarah and Tanya's You-Must-Make-This Dressing. This salad dressing recipe is one of my all-time favorites. For this batch, I used a mix of fresh garlic chives and regular chives.  

I also made another familiar favorite, the "Anything Goes" Fruit-Filled Muffins. These muffins are nice because they are flexible; you can add anything (fruits, nuts, chocolate, etc.) into the mix. For this batch I used apple, raspberries, and blackberries for the fruit filling. I also added some whole wheat flour to make it slightly more healthy. I wish the recipe had more spice suggestions but maybe that is a challenge to experiment further.

Update: Here's part two of my review.         

Flaxen Goddess Dressing

Nutritious in fiber and omega-3 fatty acids, flax seeds are a staple in my kitchen. When I moved house, the flax seed bag was the first thing that I packed. I don't think I'll find flax seeds in DC at Baltimore prices ($3.29/lb!). Typically, I grind flax seeds and add the resulting powder to my morning smoothies. Or I use it to "fake an egg" in baking recipes.

Today I decided to experiment with ground flax seeds in a goddess salad dressing. Sadly, I had no flax oil in the kitchen. I also had no tamari or soy sauce, which most goddess dressing recipes require. (Clearly, I need to stock up on essentials.)

I'm calling the resulting, items-on-hand version, Flaxen Goddess Dressing. I used this popular and handy goddess dressing recipe as a guide.  If I make this recipe in the future, I will use flax oil instead of sesame oil.  

Here's a rough recipe:
2 cloves garlic
1/2 c tahini
1/2 c apple cider vinegar
1/2 c water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp stone ground mustard
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried dill
1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 c sesame oil
1/4 c olive oil

Process all ingredients in food processor until smooth.  For best emulsification results, slowly drizzle the oils in last, while the machine is running.  Makes about 2 cups.