A vegan birthday: Waffles and Candle Cafe

My birthday was this week. And I celebrated in a truly vegan fashion :)

Starting with vegan waffles for breakfast that my husband made me (recipe here).



Then dinner at the famous Candle Cafe (same
owners as Candle 79 - more expensive version) with my mommie dearest and husband.

I had the vegan lasagna, which I didn't like as much as I loved the V-spot's. I think it's because V-spot used a better substitute for the meat and less "cheese" for the ricotta part. At Candle cafe they used tofu and lots of "ricotta cheese"

My mom got their famous Paradise Casserole, consisting of layers of sweet potato, black beans and millet over steamed greens with country gravy. She loved it (and she's not vegan).






My husband ordered spinach linguine with cashew cream sauce. He said it was a little bland but good.






I had such expectations for their dessert since I am in love with the vegan cheesecake they sell to whole foods. However, for some reason they make their restaurant version completely different and it tastes bad. Well bad meaning to me it wasn't worth the calories so I had my husband finish it. The version they sell at whole foods is fluffy almost pudding like with no crust. The restaurant version is tougher/firmer and the crust tastes weird. Alas.


Candle Cafe
1307 3rd Ave (at East 75th st)
New York, NY 10021-3301
(212) 472-0970
http://www.candlecafe.com/

The V-spot = excellent vegan lasagna

After Unit Convention a friend and I met my husband at The V-spot, a 100% vegan restaurant in Brooklyn. I didn't take any pictures because I was starving and dove right into my food. Plus, once I tasted their awesome vegan lasagna I wasn't about to pause and take a pic :) Guess all that consultation and voting from the unit convention worked up my appetite.

My friend, who isn't a vegan also got the vegan lasagna and loved it. I always think the best seal of approval for vegan food is when a non-vegan likes it. My husband got the Hawaiian burger, a combo of veggie burger with tempeh bacon, sauteed green peppers and pineapple. He liked his burger but confessed our vegan lasagna tasted better.

Dessert was a 50/50 experience. Their red velvet cupcake sucked hardcore, I didn't even finish eating it. However, their dead by chocolate cake was excellent. All three of us ending up focusing our forks on the cake :)

The V-spot
156 5th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11217
http://www.spreadvegan.com/

Sunday Supper Frittata - delicious vegan frittata

After eating a vegan frittata at Sacred Chow last week I was inspired to try to cook my own. The process it quite time consuming but the result is well worth it. All the ingridients contribute to the awesome-ness ....the sauted mushrooms and spinach to the turmeric and tofu mix. Mmmm.

My second favorite cookbook is officially Vegan on the Cheap. They are 3 for 3 in turns of great recipes.

Sunday Supper Frittata
1 tbs olive oil
1 small yellow onion, minced
1 cup sliced white mushrooms
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 large potato, peeled, cooked and chopped
Salt and pepper
1 pound tofu, well drained
1 tbs soy milk
2 tbs nutritional yeast
1 tbs cornstarch
0.5 tsp onion powder
0.5 tsp dried basil
0.5 tsp ground fennel seed (optional)
0.25 tsp turmeric (I doubled this since I love turmeric)

1. Preheat oven to 375*F.
2. Saute onion for 10 minutes, then add mushrooms and spinach and cook for ~ 3 min, then add the potato and cook for another 3 min. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Spread cooked vegetables into bottom of greased pan or if using a cast iron skillet you can just put that in the oven.





4. In a blender, combine tofu, soy milk, yeast, cornstarch, onion powder, basil, turmeric and fennel (if using). Add 0.5 tsp salt and 0.25 tsp black pepper and blend until smooth.
5. Spread the tofu over the vegetables. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 mins. Remove foil and cook for 10 min longer. Cut into wedges and serve

Gold Bar Cookies

If it's in the "Sweet delights" section of the cookbook but has oats and looks healthy can I eat it for breakfast? Yes, was the answer I gave myself yesterday. Especially after running 8.5 miles Friday morning.

I really like these cookies/bars. I will definitely be adding these to my list of future baking. Another winner from Vegan on the Cheap.

Gold Bar cookies
1.75 cup quick-cooking oats
1 c flour
1 c brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
0.5 cup vegan margarine, softened
0.25 cup creamy peanut butter (I used almond butter instead of peanut butter because that's all I had)
1 (8-ounce) jar peach or apricot preserves (I used strawberry)
0.5 cup golden raisins (I hate raisins in desserts, so I omitted)
0.5 cup ground unsalted roasted peanuts (Didn't include either)

1. Preheat oven to 375*F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan
2. In a food processor combine the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Pulse to mix well. Add the margarine and peanut butter and pulse until crumbly.
2. Place about 3 cups of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and press it evenly with your hands to form the cookie base. Reserve the remaining mixture.
4. Place the preserves in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spread over the top of the cookie base to within 1/4 inch of the edge.
5. Add the raisins (if you like raisins in your desserts) and peanuts to the remaining crumb mixture and sprinkle it over the top, pressing it into the fruit.
6. Bake until golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes before cutting.

Variations: different fruit spreads, omitting all nuts products, adding vegan chocolate or shredded coconut to the topping mixture

Eat Well to Be Well

I am a strong believer in not only 'you are what you eat' but also 'your health = your diet'. So it made me happy to read this article about a doctor who agrees and is working towards providing his patients with a better diet etc. --> NY Times article Doctor's Orders

"The kitchen must become as crucial as the clinic. Food is at the center of health and illness and so doctors must make all aspects of it — growing, buying, cooking, eating — a mainstay of their medical educations, their personal lives and their practices."
~ Dr. Maring

Highlights:

• Dr. Maring started a weekly farmers’ market in 2003 just outside the front door at the Kaiser Permanente medical center.
• Dr. Maring has worked to obtain fresh local food for hospital trays and in cafeterias.
• Dr. Maring’s son, Ben, 30, a fourth-year medical student at New York University School of Medicine, is working to improve the food doctors and med school students eat. Ben has developed a series of cooking classes that incorporate aspects of nutrition and clinical medicine. He named his scheme CHEF — for Cook Healthy, Eat Fresh.

French Lentil Chili

Look! I do cook things other than dessert ;)

So far I really like this new cookbook I purchased called Vegan on the Cheap. Especially since I was tired of all those cookbooks with exotic ingredients with expensive price tags.

This "chili" is a great spicy new way to cook lentils. We were getting bored of the go-to curry lentil variety. Plus I've never tried french lentils before, I like them. They have a better texture for chili since they don't get mushy.

French Lentil Chili

1 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
1 carrot, minced
1 celery rib, minced
3 garlic cloves
1.5 cups French lentils
1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 tbs chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried thyme
0.5 tsp sugar (though, next time I make it I won't be including this)
0.25 tsp black pepper
3 cups water
1 tbs sherry vinegar (optional - I didn't use any either)

~ In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Cook until softened, about 7 mins
~ Add the lentils, tomatoes, chili powder, salt, cumin, thyme, sugar, pepper and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low
~ Cover and simmer until lentils are soft, about 50 minutes, adding more water if needed. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar, if using. Serve hot

Lychee vegan cupcakes with coconut glaze!

Oh my goodness we agree! ....As I've posted before, normally my husband prefers the least sweet cupcakes with some spice and I prefer the intensely sweet variety. After I made this lychee cupcakes though we both agreed these were our new favorites or at least top 3 :). Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, has another winner.

For me it was love at first batter taste. As I scraped the excess batter from the bowl, it was pure happiness. An extra bonus of vegan cupcakes is you can eat the raw batter all you like with no fear of getting sick, no eggs!

After tasting them post bake it was even better. The lychee flavor really comes out in the cupcakes. You can't taste the flax seeds at all, which is good. Plus I can convince myself the cupcakes are healthy because they have flaxseeds ie Omega fatty acid goodness in them. The coconut glaze works great as well, just the right amount of sweetness. * * * * * (out of 5)!

Lychee Cupcakes (makes 12 cupcakes)

2 cups unbleached flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/3 cups granulated sugar
5 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 can (4 ounces) lychee fruit, drained and chopped, syrup reserved
1/4 - 1/3 cup lychee syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
3. In a separate medium bowl, beat ground flaxseeds and 6 tablespoons water with a fork until gelatinous. Add oil, coconut milk, chopped lychees, and lychee syrup to the flaxseeds and mix to combine.
4. Add wet mixture to the dry ingredients, mix to combine. Fill cupcake liners full.
5. Bake 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Coconut glaze:
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk
directions for glaze:
Mix powdered sugar and coconut milk until smooth. Drizzle over completely cooled cupcakes.