vegancooking

Hey guys.  I really love all the fantastic recipes and pictures that people post here...thanks bunches, keep it up!

I have a request:  Posting the same picture to more than one community eats up my friends-list, especially when pictures aren't behind a cut.  Either way, it gets old, seeing the same pictures multiple times.  I love seeing the pictures, don't get me wrong, but it's better to pick ONE community where you think the pics (or recipes) fit best.  If they fit several places equally well, then do a round-robin.  Post one picture in one community and the next time you cook something cool, share it with a different group.

Cheers!

From Wholesome Gourmet (?) near University Place/NYU in NYC:
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Tomorrow after school one of my clubs is having a party (for february vacation, i guess)
I was told to bring something, so at first I thought cupcakes
Except the way the recipe was, it wouldn't be possible (after adding the vinegar I needed to bake is immediately)
Anyways, it's very delicious, and moderatly simple. Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting.
Hopefully all the non-vegans at the party tomorrow will like it!

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I bought a block of herbed tofu. Anyone have ideas for preparing it?

I just stumbled onto a great idea while looking for things to do with herbed tofu.

The "Make a Sandwich Birthday Cake!" website.

It's basically what it sounds like...If you can't eat sugar or just want a healthier cake (or something whimsical to do with a sandwich), you make a stack of sandwiches with a savory filling, then ice them with herbed tofu or faux cream cheese or what-have-you, and decorate using slices of vegetables or edible flowers.

I think it's ingenious.

Some of the recipes and ideas provided on the website are non-vegan (but I think the idea is easily veganizable).

I haven't tried creating a sandwich cake yet, but I just might do it one of these days.

The bottom of the webpage also has photos of crazy elaborate garnishes, if you're interested in looking. Whoever did the site carved a bouquet of flowers out of a watermelon. Holy crap!

I wish I had some pictures to go along with these recipes, but alas my camera was full. These are the recipes that I prepared for our department student party at school. They were all HUGE hits, and I received many "this is vegan? Wow!" comments :)

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does anyone have a software program they use to determine the nutritional value of their own recipes?
i'm trying to keep track of my vitamins and nutrients...
thanks in advance.

(right now i'm trying to use this microkitchen thing but it's not awesome)

EDIT: i am really liking this easy recipe deluxe
i recommend trying it out if you're interested... what's extra nice is that it lets you upload pictures of the food too!

i feel like such an organized nerd today but i'm having fun...

but is anyone familiar with this??
snackster.net
i wonder if there is a vegan community...

Well, in case I'm not, they do. As a not-particular-fan of milk chocolate my rating is probably not worth that much, but I thought it was a decent stab at the product. It's mostly organic, cost me $1.69 for a 3.5 oz. bar, and I don't foresee any trouble finishing it. It is a tad on the gritty side, but not as much as, say, grain-sweetened chips.

this was dinner last night as well as breakfast this morning. i used a rough version of this recipe. i didnt have the lemon juice or nutmeg or onion, but it still came out tasting really freakin good. also i added just a little bit of tofutti cream cheese and some vegan parmesan and i think it added a little something extra special. the edges of the fillo dough puffed up huge, i kinda wish i had baked it with them underneath. theres always next time.

Okay, it's not the best picture in the world, but... It's tofu loaf, that got sorta mashed up, roast zucchini, and baked potato with avocado. And, yeah, call me a giant pigasaurus, but I like to eat a whole avocado all at once... >__>() My answer to making anything better is to put avocado on it... heh...

Anyway, the original recipe for the tofu loaf is here, but I think I came up with a tastier version. I made the original recipe before and it wasn't as good as this latest time I made it... which was very tasty indeed.

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Look what I found while surfing the web!

http://www.vrg.org/berkoff/introduction.htm

It's an online introductory course to vegan nutrition and food service. The required texts are both vegan cookbooks, which I imagine some of you already have - Simply Vegan, and Vegan in Volume.

Lectures are given online, and you can apparently even possibly get college credit for the course, if you pay tuition.

There are four assignments, including a really fun one where you obtain a menu from a non-vegan restaurant and re-write it for vegans. You're graded on things like nutritional balance, color, flavor, and practicality.

The only MAJOR turnoff is this project:
2. SUPERMARKET PROJECT (worth 20 points) (due on Lecture 13)
visit a local supermarket (not a natural foods store, farmers’ market, etc). Identify all fresh and processed vegan items available by preparing a list of products with three or four word descriptions. No, you don’t have to identify every type of fresh produce or dried bean. Give descriptions for the processed products, such as “Asian soy dessert - almond flavored tofu.”
Design a vegan, hot and cold take-away salad bar for the supermarket. Be sure to include twenty cold items and ten hot items.

I don't know about you guys but my local supermarket, but mine has a LOT of vegan products. I can't imagine going through the store and reading the labels of everything, it makes my head hurt just thinking about it. One could spend a whole day trying to figure out which breads are vegan! I think this assignment is pretty unfortunate, it should be something like "Find (insert reasonable number here, like 30 might be good) vegan items at a local supermarket, and design a take-away salad bar for the supermarket. Asking students to sift through the entire store for vegan things is just crazy.

But besides that, it sounds really neat!

for dinner tonight i made these enchiladas! i took a can of black beans, a can of corn, and some cilantro lime rice, mixed in some chipotle sauce that i found at biglots for 99cents. rolled it all up in some corn tortilla shells. topped it with more of the chipotle sauce, some taco sauce and some homemade cheese sauce. they were SO good.

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A cat-inspired ice cream creation!

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My partner is sick and I am old, boring, and would rather stay in on a Friday night cooking than go out. I thought I would reveal my oma nature and made him some veganized Jewish penicillin. And because a party for me is foccacia I made some of that too. On Wednesday I had made some post-Valentines cupcakes (I was visiting my parents on the 14th), which came out tasty, though my icing-writing is quite sloppy.

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A long-winded, cross-posted entry because I have far to much love for food!

I made some instant pudding with soymilk and it isn't thickening as much as hoped...any ideas to thicken it up.

A whole veggie lobster



http://www.vegieworld.com/

They have a lot of wild things on this site. Too bad minimum order is $50 US.

Other ? about making mock seafood:
There is a vegetarian restaurant in Niagara Falls, Canada and its run by a Chinese couple and they make all their mock meats. I'd really like some shrimp. Could I just soak tofu or TVP chunks with kombu and some spices? I can't really find anything.

ok i have to reiterate that this program is awesome!
it even includes over 700 VEGAN recipes!!!!
this is amazing.
once again, get yer copy here.
HIGHLY recommended....

i ate this salad at whole foods when i was home in seattle the other day, and as there is no whole foods in savannah, i needed to make it for myself. very easy.

2-4 sweet potatos, cut into 1 inch rounds, and then quartered
a LOT of cumin (2 tablespoons? more or less to taste)
oil (olive oil is too... olivey)
1/4 cup finely chopped parsely
a sprinkle of salt
a shake of garlic powder (fresh is overpowering)

steam the sweet potatoes, and let cool. it took about 10 minutes for mine to become tender, but not falling apart.
meanwhile, mix the other ingrediants in a cup. if it is too pasty add a little bit more oil. or, even better, blend it in a food processor.
drizzle the dressing over the potatos, mix gently just to coat, and chill. SO AMAZING.
notes:
don't peal the potatoes, but make sure you scrub them really well. the skin tastes really good and has all the nutrients!
first try i used sweet potatoes from the farmers market stand, and the recipe was perfect.
second time, i used sweet potatoes from kroger, and the potatoes just weren't sweet enough, so i added a tablespoon of brown sugar to the dressing. it wasnt as good as the first try, but we still ate all of it!
enjoy!