Friday, August 13, 2010

Raw Vegan Chocolate-Coconut Ice Cream

Ummmmmmmmmmmm, yeah I made ice cream. The cool thing about vegan food is that all you have to do is substitute the dairy/meat fat for some other type of vegan fat and normally you get just-as-good (or better, ahem) dishes than non-vegan plates!

Also, I just used like three different words for "food," trying to be all savvy and writer-ly and cool, and you know what, I just ended up sounding mentally deficient ("non-vegan plates!"). That's a lesson for you: if you try to sound like you know what you're doing, you're probably going to fail, unless you're pretty. In that case, Please, come in, can you start on Monday?

Anywho, here's a nice recipe for y'all bemoaning the lack of ice cream in your life, the same way I'm bemoaning the lack of Wolverine in mine.

Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream
1 cup cashews (bless you)
1 cup pecans
3/4 cup fresh, shredded coconut
1 3/4 cups water
1 cup maple syrup
2 1/2 tsp vanilla flavor
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1/4 tsp ground coffee






- Blend everything in the food processor until smooth and if you don't have an ice cream machine (who the fuck has an ice cream machine? people who suck that's who), just put it in the freezer overnight and enjoy!


Taz reallyyyyyyyyy wanted to lick up the droplets of chocolate ice cream, but I narrowly avoided disaster and saved the day!



Fine, fine. Pushy, pushy.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Raw Vegan Blueberry 'Cheese'cake

Yet another raw cheesecake! These are by far my favorite desserts to make, and they're so simple, and so delicious, I really implore you to try it out if you haven't yet. They taste exactly like real cheesecake but are about 8 billion times better for you (that is the actual scientific measurement).

I tried a plain and a Death By Chocolate cheesecake so I thought that this time around I would try something fruity. I took inspiration, drawing heavily from from Carmella's recipe, but I changed a few things.

Raw Vegan Blueberry 'Cheese'cake

Crust:
3/4 cups almonds
1/2 cup fresh shredded coconut
3 tbsp carob chips
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp raw honey
pinch salt
2 dates

Filling:
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 handful red grapes
1 1/2 cup cashews (unsoaked)
7 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp dark cocoa powder
1/2-2/3 cup honey
1 tbsp lemon juice
pinch salt

Topping:
1 tbsp honey
1 heaping tbsp dark cocoa powder
1/2 handful blueberries
(add more blueberries for more watery consistency)


-The recipe is so effing simple. Just grind all of the topping ingredients in the food processor and press the mixture into the pan for the crust. I grated fresh coconut with the food processor first instead of using packaged coconut which is sweetened. If you have a food processor - try this, it looks really cool. Or...just as well don't, Your Highness.


-Blah, blah, blah. Self-indulgent comment.



-Next, process the entire filling. Add more honey if it's not sweet enough for you. I doubled the amount of honey from the original recipe. 



-Just spoon the filling onto the crust and make the topping, decorating/just throwing it on there to look fancy.



-I am going to eat this on the roof of my house at 2 AM while I watch the Perseids meteor shower, sitting by my 10$ Wal-Mart brand 'outdoor' lantern. Yay, space!!!

Ex astris, Scientia!



going where no raw cheesecake has gone before

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Raw Vegan Tacos, Guacamole, "Sour Cream," and "Refried Beans"

Today I felt like I was in the zone, and finally got to try a recipe from my Raw Vegan idol The Sunny Raw Kitchen. The woman who runs it, Carmella, is so inspiring to me. She is so innovative with her raw foods and one day I hope I can be if not as talented, at least as dedicated as she is! ALSO she is from CANADA. Home of Wolverine.

So, I have a gushing crush. I know you still have N'SYNC in your iTunes. I'd say we're about even. Let's get to this stupendous 4-part recipe.

Raw Vegan Tacos, "Sour Cream," "Refried Beans," and Guacamole
original recipe here

Taco "Meat"
4 cups carrot, grated (a 1lb bag)
1 cup sundried tomatoes, soaked
1/2 red onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tsp salt

"Sour Cream"
1 1/2 cup cashews (soaked)
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
3-4 tsp apple cider vinegar

"Refried Beans"
2 1/2 cups sunflower seeds (soaked)
1/2 yellow onion
2 tsp chili powder
2 1/2 cumin
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cashew butter
3/4 cup water

Guacamole!
2 avocados
1 cup diced tomatoes
2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt


-This whole recipe is RAW so that's why you can't put beans in the "refried beans." Hey, no one pays you to ask questions. This recipe yields a LOT of healthy food, definitely enough for a week for me. I cheated a little and used 100% pure white corn tortillas instead of raw dehydrated tortillas. So this raw vegan until the tortillas.

-First things first: make the 'meat.' I grated all my carrots in the food processor, set them aside. Then I processed all the other ingredients together, including the soaked sundried tomatoes. Mix the carrots and sundried tomato mixture together by hand. This tastes EXACTLY like ground beef taco meat- really cool.



-Let that sit and absorb flavor for at least an hour. Carmella's recipe says to stick this in the dehydrator for about a half hour after you let it sit, - but I didn't find that completely necessary.

-Next, make the "Sour Cream" - simply combine all the ingredients in the processor and then let it sit in the refridgerator until serving time. Tastes effing exactly like sour cream.



-Next, make the "Refried beans." Drain the sunflower seeds, and combine all ingredients in the processor. You're going to want to leave this mixture not completely "creamy" like with the Sour Cream, leave it piecey. I let this sit in the dehydrator for a half hour before I ate and it gave it a cool texture. But it's not necessary - especially for the lazy among us (usually me).



-Next, make the guac! It's a totaly bitch cutting up everything- but it really makes you (me) happy to see the bright colors of the carrots, the green avocado, the tomato, the bright olive of the cumin, the fragrant cilantro. Man, it could only get better if Wolverine were here to help me cook.

-Luckily, I had someone even better than Wolverine to be my cooking assisant - my amazing sister, who deals with my constant whining and one-track mind, and takes awesome pictures. Thanks, Knoxville.


 

-Okay so mix the gauc with a potato masher or your fist or someone you hate's fucking face. It doesn't really matter, it'll probably always come out the same, unless you use the last version in which case you might also have tears and blood inside your mix.



-Let that sit in the fridge until you're ready to eat.



- I really felt accomplished and like an 1800s pioneer woman after making all of this from scratch. Oregon Trail, represent.

You have just died of dysentery.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Vegan Carob-Peanut Butter Cookies

I really wanted to cook with carob chips: irrelevant.

They cost me 5.94 cents: irrelevant but ridiculous. Ninety-FOUR cents.

They (carob chips) are delicious: a personal opinion and irrelevant but getting closer to relevance.

This recipe is really good - rich and very very peanut buttery. I have never cooked with carob chips before, so I was unsure how to handle them. This recipe yields delicious, small cookies. The batter is really greasy because of all the peanut butter and margarine (it's equal parts margarine + PB to flour), but they cook really well and don't fall apart.

Vegan Carob-Peanut Butter Cookies
adapted from this great recipe

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp allspice
1 cup all-natural creamy peanut butter (I got Smuckers)
1/2 cup vegan brown sugar or 1/3 cup Amber agave
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup vegan margarine
substitute for 2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
carob chips to taste

-First, mix all the dry ingredients. Boring.




-I used the food processor to combine the peanut butter, margarine, vanilla, egg replacer, brown sugar (or agave) and maple syrup. If you use agave, make sure to cook this for about a minute more.



-The mixture will come out really greasy and generally unappealing and sort of revolting, but stick with it chap. Combine it with the dry mixture slowly. Add the carob chips. Put the bowl in the fridge for about 45 minutes, so the dough will be easier to work with and no longer sticky.



-After the 45 mins is up, roll up the dough into little 2-inch balls and cook for about 13 mins. The pan doesn't have to be greased. Be careful not to let them sit in the oven any longer or their bottoms will come out all burnt and repulsive. I hate burnt things. I'm just a little ball of sunshine today, aren't I.


Vegan Biscuits

This recipe is really really really easy. All you need is like, twenty minutes and fork.

And... this other stuff

Vegan "Buttermilk" Biscuits
adapted from here

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp vegan margarine
3/4 cup almond milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

'butter' glaze:
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup almond milk


-Last night BBC One's third (and LAST wtf) Sherlock episode "The Great Game" was on and I wish so bad they will make more episodes. Please make more episodes BBC? My dog Taz will promise you this face?


My luck, the BBC is probably a cat person. Ugh, fuck.

-Yeah, whatever, biscuits. Mix the margarine, baking soda, flour and salt. Cut the margarine in with a fork until the flour is a fine meal in little pieces.



-Add in the almond milk and apple cider vinegar slowly, grinding the dough by hand. It shouldn't be sticky. After eveything is mixed, roll out the dough on a flour-covered countertop and cut into circular shapes with a drinking glass. Or your laser-vision. They should be about 1/2 inch thick.



-After they are on an ungreased baking sheet, you can use the "butter" glaze mix to brush over the tops of the uncooked biscuits. Cook for 12 minutes on 350.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Vegan Nutella

Becoming vegan, I was horrendously sad to concede that Nutella, the most wonderous invention of mankind, was in fact far from vegan. It has skim milk and whey :( Baaaaaaah

Thus, I set out on a symbolic and defining journey to create VEGAN NUTELLA.

My food processor, while pretty good at what it does, is not at all superb quality, so I ran into some hiccups in making Nutella. You need a high-quality food processor to turn any nut into nut butter, but as a stalwart guardian of the sacred Nutella brotherhood, I thought of a way around it.

Vegan Nutella

1/3 cup dark cocoa
2 cups hazelnuts
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup almond milk
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tsp vanilla








-I tried to cut down on the "sugary" flavor of the Nutella and enhance the nut flavor. Heh heh.



-Simply begin to process the nuts until they are a fine meal, or until the mixture gets "stuck" and won't mix any longer. Add the almond milk and oil in to allow it to blend further. Blend for a couple minutes.


-Add the other ingredients and blend. Add more cocoa or sugar depending on your tastes! I've been eating this all day. FFFFFF so good.