Apple-Chamomile Tea Cookies

Ah, the art of the tea cookie: a delicate, dignified mouthful. Or just a great excuse to make cookies for breakfast. Here’s a recipe I stumbled onto whilst doing an online search for who know’s what, and then decided to veganize. The original post had typographical errors and even left out some measurements so, I did my best with what I thought was supposed to happen. I’ve never had a tea cookie, or any tea dessert and I’ve definitely never thought to bake with tea or chamomile! If you like chamomile or any herbal tea for that matter, think of this as a great way to enjoy the soothing comfort of tea without having to actually drink tea. Or, you can double fist it with a cup of tea in one hand and a not-so-dignified handful of cookies in the other. Either way, you’ll feel relaxed and perhaps, even ready for bed. Unless, like me, you become frantic and can’t stop eating these cookies in one sitting. Perhaps that was attributed to the fact that these cookies aren’t crunchy, they’re chewy. Making them all the easier to eat.

Leave the chocolate for the chocolate enthusiasts. All those decadent, too sweet flavors have their place. Just not here. This cookie isn’t your typical cookie. It doesn’t even pretend to be. The flavors are probably something you would never taste anywhere else and that being said, you’re probably not used to them. Am I saying, “proceed with caution”? Well, yes, if you expect an over-the-top sweet cookie coma to follow after eating these. But no caution need be taken if you like to try new things and are open to interesting flavors.

Breakfast Polenta with Field Roast Mexican Chipotle Sausage and Daiya Cheddar

For all you hungry Mexican food aficionados who enjoy a hearty, (a bit spicy) and savory breakfast or brunch, but have grown tired of the omnipotent tofu scramble, I give you this: The power of polenta – for breakfast!

Call me a fat kid, I don’t care, but when I couldn’t decide between oatmeal and muffins, I made oatmeal cakes, and when I couldn’t decide to only eat oatmeal cakes for breakfast – I made this too. And thank the vegan kitchen gods I did! I couldn’t stop eating it. In fact, I made enough for two (so I could save some for later), but I ate the whole thing! Oh boy.

This was inspired by my recent trip to NYC where I had brunch at a little restaurant in the lower east side called, Caravan of Dreams. I got the french toast. My best friend got the polenta. When our food came out, it was obvious I would be secretly seething with jealousy no matter how good my french toast was.

Need I say more? Oh yes, on thing more: enjoy!

Banana Almond Butter Iced Pudding with Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Dough

Remember those Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies from my last post? Of course you do. Well, this is what happens when you only need to make a half batch, but you make too much and have extra cookie dough left over and don’t want to just eat it all for breakfast (even though you secretly do). Make cookie dough ice cream! Or rather, ice cream without an ice cream maker – ice pudding. It sounds weird, I know, but I swear it’s really good! It’s not the most decadent of desserts, but if you like desserts that hit the spot without being overwhelmingly sweet, you’ll like this.

Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

This is what happens when banana bread, chocolate chip cookies, and oatmeal get together for a drink at the bar and then go home together. Madness! I’m sure Martha Stewart wouldn’t print that as the intro to this recipe in her magazine, but this is the vegan version of her cookie and as such, I’m allowed to be a bit saucy!

These cookies have everything I love about baking rolled into one sweet treat! Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Oven Baked Oatmeal Fruit Cakes

Ever have one of those mornings when you can’t decide whether you want something good for you (like oatmeal) and something not so good for you (a muffin)? I had one of those mornings today. Luckily for me, I didn’t have to chose! These here oatmeal cakes have all the good-for-you benefits of oatmeal, with the illusion of cake. They are pretty simple to make and although they appear to be a “quick fix” breakfast, they aren’t. Unless, you have 40 minutes to spare in the morning. Make these on a day when you know you won’t be getting around to eating breakfast until about an hour after waking up. Or, make them the night before!

If you’re in the mood for crunchy and soft textures, and sweet and tart flavors, this is the recipe for you! If you like a muffin with an ooey, gooey middle, this recipe is for you! Substitute whatever fruit you’d like and add chopped nuts if you wish for added crunch. Or you can change it up completely – try using bananas and chocolate chips instead of fruit for a sweet treat! One thing is certain: they will be delicious no matter what you use and they will make your kitchen smell lovely!

Mini Tofu Quiche Pies

So this recipe originates from two places. One, is having left over pastry dough from making apple pie and the other is from being very hungry and not having much around the house but a few vegetable odds and ends from previous dinners.

The pie dough from this recipe is from Vegan Yum Yum, created by Lauren Ulm. You can find step by step photos for it here.  I’ve simply doubled it to satisfy the amount of quiche filling. The filling is a inspired by Fat Free Vegan Kitchen‘s mini crustless tofu quiches.

This recipe is very simple to make (especially if you have the pie dough already made) and very delicious too! It makes for a tasty dinner side (or you could eat a few and have a full dinner) and it also serves as a quick savory breakfast!

Winter Squash, Sweet Potato and Ginger Soup with Collards and Thyme-Sage Croutons

Oh, Frankensquash, there will never be another like you!

Back in September I was given a nameless, misshapen organic squash that I’ve since named my “Frankensquash.” I’d never cooked with squash, but I’ve always liked it. I was reluctant to use the squash until recently because I had no idea what to do with it and I thought that whatever I came up with  would be time consuming and difficult. But my stomach soon took over as I’m a big fan of squash. And an even bigger fan of squash soups. And an even bigger fan of collard greens. And you guessed it, an even bigger fan of ginger. I was lucky enough to have nothing much on hand but all three of these on a very cold night and came up with this easy, spicy, soothing, and filling soup! I also had some ciabatta bread lying around that was a few days old and perfect for croutons.

This soup pleases everybody. Make this for your sick loved ones, make it for a hungry winter guest, make it for yourself!

Do they have crouton eaters anonymous meetings somewhere?

Just make sure you taste it as you go, making sure the ginger flavor is to your liking. A lot of ginger is never a bad thing, but it can make your soup too spicy and nearly inedible if you add too much, and too little ginger is no fun at all!

Also, beware the croutons! They are delicious for snacking and highly addictive! Don’t eat them all before you put them in the soup!

I would certainly serve this to my hungry prairie guests!

“Meat” and Spinach Lasagna with Daiya Vegan Cheese

When I was younger, I used to tell myself (and everyone who asked) that if I was on death’s door and could have one last meal, it would be, without question, my mom’s meat lasagna. Growing up, there was nothing she produced out of her kitchen that I loved more, and trust me, there were many things to chose from. When I first had a traditional Italian lasagna, I was baffled. What’s this ricotta cheese? My mom doesn’t use that. Where’s the meat?! And more importantly, why isn’t this being served with a side of white rice?

That’s how my mom’s was different. It had meat, no ricotta, and a lot of Dominican flavor (heavy on the oregano, know what I’m sayin’?). And…we ate everything with rice. When I went vegan, about a year ago, I thought it was all over. I thought for sure I’d be having oatmeal before dying. And not too soon after, I forgot all about mom’s lasagna. While I was in Portland, OR this summer, I made the mistake of having lasagna at a restaurant. It was good. But it wasn’t what I was used to, and flavor-wise, it just didn’t bring me back home, or anywhere for that matter. That’s when I knew that I had to tackle mom’s lasagna when I got home and make it vegan. 

So this is it, my basic lasagna recipe – mom’s lasagna, veganized. I decided I like the traditional “ricotta” cheese idea a lot, and my mom’s version had a lot of mozzarella cheese so, this is my way of making up for that in a much kinder, healthier way. The ricotta recipe is from the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen blog. All credit goes to the lovely Susan V. for creating it! My version has less spinach since there is a layer of fresh spinach in the lasagna already. Don’t tell anyone the ricotta is made of tofu and they won’t even know. 

This recipe is very easy to make and very filling. But if you’re feeling ambitious, serve it with a side of white rice.