"Fronch" Toast

Does anyone else think vegan french toast tastes even better than "regular" french toast?! It's so crazy-amazing it shocks me almost every time. My favorite recipe is this one from Vegan with a Vengeance. I halve the recipe and it makes the perfect amount for two people. I also add a bit of cinnamon, because why not? I served it up with some yummy sliced strawberries and maple syrup.

Cranberry-Hibiscus Cooler

Sorry for the fuzzy picture, I'd already been sipping on one of these before deciding to photograph another. This was a "I-want-to-drink-but-I-don't-want-to-go-to-the-liquor-store-for-a-real-mixer" sort of cocktail. I just used what I found in the fridge and it was actually really good (others agreed, it wasn't just because I was drunk, geez).

Cranberry-Hibiscus Cooler

makes one cocktail

1 part Vodka
2 parts Cranberry-Hibiscus juice (ours was from Trader Joe's)
2 parts Ginger Ale (ours: Diet Hansen's)

Add all liquids to glass with ice, stir, enjoy.

I imagine this would taste great with many other kinds of juice as well, go nuts!

Black Bean Burgers and Roasted Potatoes and Carrots

Needing to use up some of the bowlful of artichoke dipping sauce I was thinking of complimentary flavors and came up with black bean burgers. These are from Veganomicon. I really like this recipe because it's simple and good; they have lots of onion and spice going for them, and while I'm not normally a big onion fan in these it really works well. The recipe makes 6 burgers, but they freeze well, so that's what I did with my extras. For fixin's we had the sauce, roasted red peppers (which I roasted at the same time as the potatoes and carrots), lettuce, and tomatoes. The veggies were roasted for about 40 minutes, until browned and tender.

Chickpea Cutlets with Mustard Sauce and Artichokes with Tangy Dipping Sauce

We've got the super-jumbo artichokes in season here; they can almost be a whole meal in and of themselves but I wanted some protein to go with, so I threw together the always good chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon. The mustard gravy (also from V'con) is what we always serve with these, the flavors just go together superbly. I've been reading PinkVegan's blog, she's cooking her way through all the recipes in The Vegan Table and The Conscious Cook, to see what I want to make next from both of these books. A while back she made the tangy dipping sauce for artichokes and it went over well with her family; it sounded great and I'd been wanting to try it. That's the sauce in the background of my picture, I halved the recipe, and it still made a whole lot. I used basil as my herb of choice and it was super good. It was creamy and definitely tangy--it tasted great on the artichokes. We had a lot of this sauce left; I used some of it in an upcoming dinner post and I'll have to think of something/s for the rest (it's mostly Vegenaise, so it makes a great spread).

Mango and Avocado Salad with Black Beans and Lime Vinaigrette

This was my contribution to a Spring-themed potluck with some lovely people from the PPK. I've made this salad (from Whole Foods) while at my parents' house in Florida before and it's super tasty (that time it was for four people, so I halved the recipe. This time it was for a whole lot of people so I doubled it). I don't add the full amount of olive oil because it's just not necessary--just enough to give the dressing some thickness is good. I also add lettuce to give some more textures to the salad (crunchy vs the softness of the avocado, mango, and black beans--good stuff). By the end of the night it was all eaten up, so I'm guessing other people enjoyed it too!

Olive Oregano Wine-Baked Tofu and Roasted Asparagus

Sometimes after getting home from work and getting things done around the house I just want to chill. That chilling can then extend a bit too far to make a well-planned out dinner. This was one of those nights. I looked at what I had available and having remembered reading about this tofu dish on Dreena Burton's blog I decided to go for it. I left out the grapes and used kalamata olives, but otherwise followed the recipe. The flavor of this dish is amazing, so tasty! What I didn't really care for was the amount of dried herbs in it; they had a tendency to get stuck in my mouth or throat and feel gross, so next time I might sub fresh. There was also quite a bit of sauce from the wine, sundried tomatoes, and olives, so pasta or rice might make a good base for this. I love that asparagus is back in season! This was just roasted in the oven (alongside the tofu since the oven was set to 400 degrees for that anyway) with some olive oil, lemon juice and salt for flavor. Yum!

Spinach-Herb Stuffed Mushrooms and Sauteed Broccolini

These fabulous mushrooms were one of the first things I made from The 30-Minute Vegan when I first got it some time ago. They're stuffed with spinach, fresh basil (I omitted parsley and doubled the basil), yellow bell pepper, thyme, garlic, and bread crumbs (normally cubes but I have a whole bag of crumbs in the freezer so I subbed). In order to pull this together so quickly the mushrooms are broiled to get them tender before they're stuffed. The veggies were supposed to be sauteed, but because I have trouble paying attention and following directions when I'm trying to do to many things (read: shopping online), I ended up roasting them in the broiler--it was a bit of an "oh shit" moment when I realized what I'd done, but it worked out just fine. Once the veggies were soft they were combined with the bread then put on the mushrooms for one more visit to the broiler. The mushrooms don't come out quite as tasty as if they were marinated and then baked, but in combination with the filling they're scrumptious. For the broccolini I just steamed it, placed in an ice bath to stop cooking, set aside, then sauteed fresh minced garlic and red pepper flakes until fragrant, added the broccolini until warm again, tossed in some toasted pine nuts and a squeeze of lemon juice and it was good to go. I let it steam too long in my lack of cooking concentration so it was a bit overdone, but good.