MoFo 13: White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup and Focaccia

I don't know what caused me to stop on this recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance, but I'm glad I did. It was another night when the fridge was pretty bare, so this dish worked out perfectly. Besides the time it takes to roast the garlic this soup comes together super fast. It was so good too! It tastes rich and like it took a long time...gotta love the complexity that simple roasted garlic can add. I'm not the biggest fan of white beans, because of their tough texture, but I love their versatility and when they're blended up (like in the biscuits with white bean gravy also from VwaV) then they're right up my alley!


We like to have something to dip when we eat soup. Cuz we're super classy like that...so I made the focaccia from The Urban Vegan to great results. I loved that everything was just tossed in the food processor to be mixed up and then baked. I cooked it a tad too long, so it was a little tough, but still good. Some fresh herbs in place of dried would take this fantastic little flatbread to new heights.

Round-up:

1) Remember the obligatory green bean casserole at holiday dinners? I remember really liking the crunchy onions (even though I didn't like onions...I guess if you fry anything) but the rest left me wanting to gag. Not so with this version from cute and delicious! A cheesy nooch sauce has replaced the cream of mushroom soup and now it just looks yum-my.

2) Something that makes my heart happy: Babycakes is now serving up vegan, gluten-free baked goods at Walt Disney World. I think my love of Disney has been made quite apparent (especially the last few days--I really need a vacation) and this makes me so excited. They're one of the few parks to actually have veg options at almost every single restaurant and to cater to vegan or other dietary needs at their fancy sit-down restaurants. I've had some of my best meals in restaurants ever at DisneyWorld (especially at California Grill and Jiko--the latter even has a vegan menu); they send the chef out to talk to you and make up something special based on what you like--it's awesome! Where they were lacking was the dessert department, although a couple of their shops do now sell Divvies, but looks like they're taking care of that now too!

3) I recently had the opportunity to eat at Encuentro in Oakland. It's an all-veg wine and tapas bar. It was a bit pricey, but it was good. We ordered the vegan cheese platter and I loved the idea of the different nut cheese spreads and pates. I want to put one together sometime for my next house party...maybe Thanksgiving or Christmas. Anyway, over at Vegan Good Things is a porcini and pecan pate (recipe from Gather in Berkeley, and a nominee for one of the 10 best restaurant dishes of 2010) that looks so tasty and would be the perfect accompaniment to a lovely vegan cheese platter.

4) My mom's signature dish used to chicken and dumplings. My whole family loved it--she made it well. After being away for awhile that's the dish we would always ask for, it was also what I missed the most after going vegetarian. She's since come up with some great vegan recipes (her black bean soup is amazing) for when I visit, but I think it's about time we try to veganize this old family favorite! Tofu Mom over at Tofu 'n' Sprouts has been doing a different post about gravy for the entire MoFo. Yup, I didn't know it was possible either, but she's doing it and doing it well! Today is a recipe for "Chicken" Gravy with Dumplings--it's full-on comfort food and I can't wait to try it out!

Win! This week Robin Robertson has a copy of Vegan Fire & Spice
up for grabs.

Panko-Crusted Tofu with Raspberry Tamarind Glaze

I thought I had finally gotten my hands on all the ingredients to finally make this dish from The Urban Vegan and I was so excited. Then I realized I didn't have apple juice. I texted my boyfriend to pick some up on his way home, and alas he forgot. Rather than running back out I instead subbed berry dessert wine and it turned out alright, I'm guessing the apple juice would have been a tad sweeter which would have been complimentary, but this still turned out mighty tasty. The fruity elements in the sauce went really great with the tofu and I loved the crispy panko coating. I was thinking too much about the sauce while cooking though, and so I cut my tofu incorrectly (it's supposed to be in lovely triangles) and also let it burn a little bit (whoops). Nonetheless, this still got all eaten up as the leftovers were great for lunch the next day. I served this up with a grain blend from Trader Joe's (leftover from stuffed acorn squash) with some spinach thrown in just at the end. This will definitely get made again, I'll just be sure to grab some apple juice next time.

Fettucine Alfredo and Peas

These were the first "real food" recipes that I've tried from The Urban Vegan, and there are a lot that look great. I went with this pasta recipe because it was quick and used what I had lying around. As you can see I didn't have fettucine, so it's spaghetti alfredo, but whatever. This was very good, very fattening, but good. It was a little sweet, but I'm guessing that was due to the soymilk we had (Trader Joe's regular, it is sweetened). I don't think I'd make this again unless it's a special occasion; it used almost an entire stick of Earth Balance (6 tablespoons) for a little over two servings. That's a bit more fat than I like to have in my dinner (let's save that for dessert shall we?!).


I have a feeling these peas would have been amazing if I had used fresh peas. They were gently cooked with garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. However, I only had frozen peas, so that's what I used. They were dry and chewy, as frozen peas usually are. I just tossed them into my pasta and then they were easy to eat!