Scraps and Snippets ~ Wacky Cupcakes

End of Vegan Mofo. I would love to tell you I have a four course gourmet spread for you. But. Since I've spent the last few hours engaged in overshared, overdramatized activities below, I'm not cooking for ya. Trader Joe's to my rescue, and a recipe I created a few months ago and promptly forgot about to save the final day of Vegan Mofo. 

My Monday afternoon activities: 

Changing the cat box. Not that this isn't a regular thing. But sometimes I wonder whom owns whom, Feral lets me know in loud protests when he's hungry, when his litter is not conducive to his comfort and when it's time to go to bed. And I basically do as instructed. 

Forgetting and then PAYING for in blood, sweat and tears, my online password to my stupid cell carrier because I want to make a temporary change. Yeah.  Two hours later, with breaks for crashing my head against the wall, I've gotten pretty much nowhere. Now I somehow have two user accounts though. 

Wacky Surprise Cupcakes or Cake - this isn’t an overly sweet cake, more grown up in taste, but as decadent as you want to make it.

Preheat oven to 350

Makes 12 cupcakes or one 8 x 8 pan. Either line the cupcake pan with paper liners or lightly grease the 8 x 8.

In a medium bowl mix the following:

1 ½ Cup flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour which gives whole grain but light texture)

¾ Cup sugar (This is less than other recipes. If you want a sweeter cake increase it to 1 cup.)

⅓ Cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix this all together with a fork or spoon. Then make a well in the middle.

Pour in:

1 Cup warm water

⅓ Cup oil (I used melted coconut oil - you don’t want it solid)

1 TBSP apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Stir well.

Pour into the pan or equally into cupcake wrappers, approximately 2/3’s full.

Set the pan aside.

Make filling: (use vegan ingredients)

2 ounces cream cheese

3 TBSP powdered sugar

2 TBSP chocolate chips

Stir sugar and cream cheese together until blended. Add chocolate chips.

Spoon spoonfuls (about a teaspoon each) into the middle of each cupcake or in 12 blobs on top of the cake in the middle of the slices you’ll be cutting.

If you are going to want to frost the cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, keep the cheese and sugar and vanilla out and use the bowl when you are done with the filling.  (When your cupcakes/cake are in the oven mix 4 ounces cream cheese, 1 to 1 ½ cups powdered sugar and a ½ teaspoon of vanilla together until you reach the desired consistency. Put it aside for use when the cupcakes/cake cools. )

Place the cupcakes in  the oven and bake for 20ish minutes. You want a knife poked into the cake to come out clean. If you hit the goo, it won’t look clean. The cake tops also lose the glossy shine.

When the cupcakes/cake are/is cooled you can frost them. Either use a vegan cream cheese frosting. (Above). Or make a lovely chocolate ganache.

Heat:

3 TBSPs of non-dairy milk in a small saucepan. Watch the milk you want it nice and warm, but not scorched. I used vanilla flavored almond milk, so feel free to use flavored milk, or creamer of choice. A mocha ganache would be tasty. When the milk is warm remove it from the heat and add...

¼ cup of vegan chocolate chips

Stir until the heat from the milk completely melts the chocolate and turns it into a velvety delicious chocolate dream.

Spoon the mixture over the cake and spread it with the spoon so the entire cupcake (or most) is covered in glossy chocolate.

If using the cream cheese frosting, spread it over the cupcakes or cake. If you want to go for overkill deliciousness, you can use the cream cheese frosting and make the ganache and drizzle it over the frosting. If you do that place them in the refrigerator so the warmth doesn’t melt the frosting.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Double Cookie Caramel Apple Tart

Double Cookie Caramel Apple Tart

Crust:

2 1/2 Cups flour (plus 1 additional TBSP for sprinkling over crust
1 TBSP baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup applesauce
3 TBSP coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

5 crushed Golden Oreos or Jo-Jos (additional 4 for topping)

Mix ingredients, wet first, then dry and combine completely. Add crushed cookies and mix again.

Press dough (you will have some leftover dough. This is really no problem. Eat it. Bake cookies. Make a top crust if you desire. Mix it in with the cookies and pecans for the topping.) Press a medium thick layer in the bottom and up the sides of a pie plate. Mine was a decorative 9 inch. Sprinkle extra TBSP of flour over the bottom of the crust. 

Set this aside and preheat oven to 350. 

Filling:

1 Cup of applesauce

1 Can of apple pie filling or two fresh apples sliced. 

3 TBSP brown sugar 

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Dump into crust. 

Bake for 32 ish minutes. The crust should be golden, mostly cooked through (stick a knife in it if so desired) and the filling should be caramelly and thickening). 

Remove from oven. 

Topping: 

1/2 /Cup chopped or broken pecans

1 TBSP brown sugar

4 crushed Golden Oreos or Jo-Jos

Heat pecans in a pan until they grow fragrant and hot. Toss in brown sugar and stir until it melts and the pecans are coated. Dump pecans over pie filling and follow with crushed cookies. Return to oven and bake an additional 10 minutes. 

Let cool before serving. Unless you don't care if the slices are pretty. And if you plan to serve with ice cream, no body is going to care what it looks like. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Butterfinger Fudge

 I hesitate to even attempt vegan candy since Cara of Forks and Beans is the queen. But. A few months ago I had a friend tell me about homemade butterfingers that is seriously 1 bag of candy corn and 1 18 ounce container of peanut butter melted in the microwave for 1 minute. She said she found the recipe on Pinterest and that it was so easy and so delish. I, of course, want this in the worst way. However, classic candy corn in not vegan. And vegan candy corn is not cheap and I'm not sure it would work out the same way. 

So. Cara made some delicious looking crunchy honeycomb somesuch candy. And even though I didn't have some of the ingredients on hand and wasn't confident enough to trial and error a whole batch, I did experiment. So thanks for the recipe Cara...and I hope you don't mind that I made it my own and came up with something very close to vegan butterfinger insides. Flaky and chewy, peanut buttery and sweet. And anything covered in chocolate, well, nuff said, right? 

2 1/2 TBSP Earth Balance

2 1/2 TBSP brown rice syrup

1/3 Cup sugar (vegan)

1 1/2 TBSP water

1 tsp baking soda 

1/3 Cup peanut butter

Grease a bread pan.

Put Earth Balance, brown rice syrup, sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat and when the sugar dissolves increase heat and bring to hopping boil, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add baking soda and stir. Let sit for 3 or so minutes. Then add the peanut butter and stir. And pour the mixture into the bread pan. 

NOTE: The goal is to get this to a crack stage. Two friends have tried the same recipe and gotten different results, one got toffee, the other got gooey caramel…still amazing tasting, but different. Go with a medium heat to boiling and get it to a rolling boil adjusting the flame as needed. Use a candy thermometer or water test if unsure. The baking soda puffs this up making air pockets, the peanut butter combines and softens the end result so you get layers like in a real deal butterfinger. 

Chocolate Topping
1/3 Cup vegan chocolate chips

1 TBSP peanut butter

Melt peanut butter in the same saucepan. Add chocolate chips and stir. When they are all melted, pour over butterfinger layer. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes. Cut and put back into the fridge until they set up. They are kind of fragile, so store in the fridge.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Worth Waiting For Burrito Bake

Burrito Bake

7 x 11 or 8 x 11 pan. 

1 can young jackfruit drained

1/2 Cup quinoa

1/2 TBSP chili pepper

1/2 TBSP garlic powder

1/2 TBSP cumin

1 Cup vegetable broth

Simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the jack fruit is mostly shreddable. 

Preheat oven to 350.

4 ounces of salsa

6 to 8 ounces of vegetable broth (I went with 8 and the texture is pretty amazing but very moist, not runny though)

1/2 Cup shredded Daiya or cashew cream based cheese sauce

1 Cup shredded zucchini

2 large tortillas

Pour 1/3 of the salsa on the bottom of the pan. Layer one ripped-to-fit tortilla over that. Place 1/2 the shredded zucchini on the tortilla, 1/2 the jackfruit mixture over that, another 1/3 of the salsa topped by the other ripped to fit tortilla. Layer the rest of the zucchini, jackfruit, cheese or cheese sauce, and top with remainder of salsa. Then pour water/broth evenly over the whole thing and shimmy it a bit. 

Bake for 40 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes. Serve with chopped tomatoes, more salsa, avocado slices, guacamole, more cheese sauce, veg sour cream, chopped lettuce, chiles, chopped black olives. Add beans to the layers if you'd like or more chopped veggies. 

I'd have done more with it, but I'm still holding out on the grocery store trip. But simplicity rocks in this case. I'd have added vegan sour cream to the jackfruit and mixed in the salsa, more cheese, etc. But this really tastes great as is. It's a keeper.  

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Vegan Mofo No Recipe Here, Folks, Just Keep On Moving On...

Oops. This Vegan Mofo post should include a recipe. But, here's the deal. I'm painting my upstairs. And I am sorely in need of a trip to the grocery store. And I cooked over the weekend. A lot. But most of what I cooked was testing recipes from a new-to-be-published cookbook, so I can't post any of those. I could, I suppose, but the authors just might have an issue with that. Plus we have leftovers, so we aren't feeling any pressure to throw together anything creative just to get by. I guess this is proof that you can live quite well on vegan food, even if the vegan food in the house is limited. Let's call it a test to prove, that indeed, there is enough nutrition in veggies, legumes, beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds to survive quite nicely.  So now I owe you three recipes. Oh my. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Cheezeburger Pizza

Cooked and with black sesame seeds.

Pizza Crust:  Use your favorite. If you don't have a recipe or favorite crust here's an idea. 

3 teaspoons yeast
1 Cup warm water 
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 TBSP olive oil
2+ Cups flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour) 

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water in medium mixing bowl. Add sugar (to feed the yeast). Stir and let this sit for 5 minutes, it should foam). Add the oil, salt and the rest of the water. Add 2 cups of flour and stir into a soft dough. Dump onto a floured surface and cover with flour. Knead dough adding flour as needed (a TBSP at a time) until the dough becomes elastic and smooth.

Place dough into a greased bowl and cover with a towel and let rise for about 30 minutes. 

In the meantime prep the toppings: Preheat oven to 450 or as directed by your pizza crust recipe/instructions. 

Use your favorite meat substitute for hamburger (approx 1 cup or two burgers broken into pieces). If you need recipes here are a few of our favorites. 

Ready for the oven. 

1/3 Cup organic ketchup
1 and 1/2 TBSP mustard
3 TBSP dill pickle relish or  equivalent dill pickles chopped
1/2 Cup small dice onion
2 TBSP sesame seeds (I used black, maybe not quite as appetizing when you look at it). 
Additionally, 1/2 to 1 Cup, shredded "cheddar cheese", Daiya, etc. or use 1/4 Cup cashew cheese sauce like I did (I don't have my own recipe, I was actually testing one for an upcoming cookbook so I can't give the details.)

Mix the mustard and ketchup together and use as your pizza sauce. Spread your meat substitute, pickles and onion over the sauce. Pour or sprinkle your cheese over that and top with sesame seeds. 

Bake for approx 20 minutes. 

Feel free to add diced tomatoes, lettuce, more ketchup and mustard as toppings before serving. 

Makes one decent sized pizza, serves 3-4 people. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Mexican Potato Skins

Yesterday I shared Deviled Potatoes. Those were so much fun I went ahead and veganized one of our other favorite appetizer/fun meals.

Preheat to 350

Wash and remove eyes from 4 medium potatoes. I used red and I left the skin on, but you could peel them.

Pierce the potatoes and place in a covered baker. (It's important to cover them, the potatoes need to stay moist.) Bake for 30 minutes, test for tenderness. When tender remove from oven and let cool.

When the potatoes are cool, cut the potatoes in half longwise and scoop out most of the potato flesh from the middle of each of the potatoes and add the scoop to the mixture in the food processor. 

Additionally you need:

1 avocado (peeled and seeded, obviously. :  )

1 small onion chunked

3 TBSP salsa

2 cloves garlic

Add these to the potato in the food processor and process until smooth. 

Place the potato shells back in the oven, under the broiler and allow them to crisp and brown.

Scoop the filling into the potato wells/holes, heaping it up a bit. Then, load em up. Vegan cheese, avocado slices, tomatoes, salsa, green onions. cilantro, coconut or tempeh bacon bits.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Deviled Potatoes

Makes 8 deviled potatoes

Preheat to 350

Wash and remove eyes from 4 smallish potatoes. I used red and I left the skin on, but you could peel them.

Pierce the potatoes and place in a covered baker. (It's important to cover them, the potatoes need to stay moist.) Bake for 30 minutes, test for tenderness. When tender remove from oven and let cool.

Into your food processor place the following.

1/2 of a small onion 

several good shakes each of salt and pepper

3 TBSPS of vegan mayonnaise 

1 TBSP mustard to the onions. Give it a few whirs.

When the potatoes are cool, cut the potatoes in half longwise and scoop out a large section from the middle of each of the potatoes and add the scoop to the mixture in the food processor.

The potato shell should look a lot like a deviled egg without the filling. Kind of...a cross between a twice-baked potato and a deviled egg and potato salad. Whir the mayo/onion/potato mixture until creamy. Taste it. Make sure you are happy with the blend. Now, if you are a fan of German potato salad, or have a favorite egg salad, deviled egg or potato salad recipe feel free to use it here. No sense in reinventing the wheel. Also, if you prefer an idea of chunky go for it.

Scoop the filling into the potato wells/holes, heaping it up a bit. Then, come up with some garnishing ideas. I used paprika sprinkled over the top. Coconut bacon would be delicious.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Walking Taco

Back in the day when the kids belonged to 4H we used to go to the local county fair. It was so much fun. And one of the big treats was discovering a thing called walking tacos. They were little sideways slit bags of Fritos with chili and cheese and other assorted goodies on top. I don't know if it was the fun factor or novelty, but every year we looked forward to those walking tacos. 

Now we can have them whenever we want. Veganized and as delicious as we remember. 

6 small bags of Fritos.  Cut the the bag horizontally. 

3 crumbled veggie burgers or veggie meat crumbles. ( I used these)

2 small tomatoes diced

1 small onion small dice

1 tsp fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cumin

Toss the meat, onion, tomato in a hot pan and stir until onion begins to brown. Add the spices and water. Simmer until the water is absorbed. 

Scoop the mixture onto the Fritos in the bag. Top with some of the following: vegan sour cream, vegan cheese, chopped tomatoes, slices of avocado or guacamole, chopped black olives, black or pinto beans, lettuce, salsa... eat with a fork and enjoy. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ All American Burger

One of my pet peeves with vegan burgers is the texture. I don't like biting into a burger and have it squish out the sides of the bun because of a little bite pressure. 

I had a huge zucchini and home prepped frozen chickpeas, so I set out to make a burger that would withstand the simple bite test. And I think I nailed it. 

(I'm sure any shredded veggie would do to replace zucchini, and also the mushrooms. My second time around I used celery instead of mushrooms, the color was lighter but the taste and texture were just fine. 

3 Cups shredded zucchini

1 can drained chickpeas (1 and 2/3ish cup of home done)

1 small onion

1 Cup mushrooms

1 TBSP dried dill

1 TBSP dried parsley

2 TBSP soy sauce

3 TBSP nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 TBSP garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons mustard powder

1 1/2 teaspoons tumeric

1 1/2 Cuts oatmeal

1 1/2 Cups gluten flour

Shred zucchini in a large food processor (three cups is 1 - 1 1/2 zucchini depending on the size. (I peeled most of the skin off but not all of it). Add soy sauce, nutritional yeast and spices, chunked onion and mushrooms. Whir. When uniform add the drained chickpeas. Blend well and transfer to a bowl. 

Add oatmeal and gluten flour. Stir and then knead the dough until completely uniform and mixed. 

Form into 12 patties. Place these on a greased cookie sheet (or two). Bake at 350 for a total of 1/2 hour, flipping halfway through. These can be frozen for later or kept in the fridge for over a week. 

I also kept some back and experimented with it in a frying pan to see if it would work as "browned" hamburger. Break it up and keep moving it around in a hot pan and it does indeed. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Marinated Summer Squash Sandwiches

Marinated Summer Squash Sandwiches

1 summer squash sliced thin

1 small onion thinly sliced

(thin sliced peppers if desired)

2 TBSP soy sauce

2 tsp oil (I used sesame)

1 TBSP vinegar (apple cider, malt, red wine vinegar)

1 1/2 TBSP nutritional yeast

1 TBSP garlic lemon pepper seasoning, or 1 tsp each of pepper, lemon zest, garlic powder)

Marinade squash and onions, (and peppers) stirring until everything is fully covered. 

Vegan Cream Cheese and Garlic Spread

3 TBSP non-dairy cream cheese

1 tsp powdered garlic

Bread or rolls of choice. (enough for 6 small or 4 medium sandwiches)

Additional suggestions: 

Thinly sliced tomatoes 

Spinach leaves

Romaine lettuce

Avocado

Saute marinated vegetables until browned, golden.

Broil or toast plain bread. Spread the garlic cream cheese mixture evenly over both sides of the bread. Place under broiler and heat. Watch and warm for 30 seconds to a minute. It might bubble but don't let it burn. 

Layer the sautéed squash and onions and any of the additional add ons you desire. Put sandwiches together and serve. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Flexivegan Again ~ Potato Pancakes with Celery Sage Gravy

I'm guessing once a week I'll be bringing you flexivegan posts. What is flexivegan? Well, for me it's ideas that are fails but are then saved because, darn it, I'm not going to waste x amount of $ in ingredients. 

I introduce you to Potato Pancakes with Celery Sage Gravy

Pancakes 

1 1/8 Cup vegetable broth

2 medium potatoes

1/2 stalk of celery

1 - 2 cloves garlic

2 TBSP chopped onion 

2 TBSP soy sauce

2 TBSP nutritional yeast

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp tumeric 

1/2 Cup oatmeal

1/2 Cup vital wheat gluten

Chop potatoes, celery, garlic and soy sauce to the veggie broth in a saucepan. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 12-15 minutes.

Cool and transfer to a food processor. Run and when smoother add nutritional yeast, pepper, tumeric, oatmeal and process again. Add gluten and run just a few seconds. 

Spoon a few TBSP each onto a hot griddle, when side browned, flip and press with a spatula. 

Gravy

1 Cup vegetable broth

1 stalk minced celery

1/4 cashew pieces

1/4 tsp dried sage

1 TBSP flour

2 TBSP cold water

Simmer celery and cashews in the vegetable broth until celery is tender, add sage. Mix the flour into the water then pour into the simmering gravy mixture. Stir until the thickness you desire. 

Pour gravy over the pancakes and serve. Makes about 8 pancakes.  

Scraps and Snippets ~ Buffalo Jack Squares ~

Back in the day one of my favorite meals that my mom made was chicken squares. They were cream cheese, chicken packed little hand held chicken pot pies. I'm going to work on a vegan version...stay tuned...but first, I thought I'd try the technique with a spicy bunny trail. And here it is. 

Buffalo Jack Squares

2 Cans crescent rolls or other type dough (vegan)

1 Can green jackfruit packed in brine (not the ripe in syrup)

1 Cup vegetable broth

1/3 Cup minced celery

2 TBSP minced onion

2 TBSP vegan mayo of choice or non-sweetened non-dairy yogurt or sour cream 

1/3 Cup hot sauce (Frank's, siracha, pepper sauce) (this ratio is spicy...if you want a milder taste increase yogurt and decrease hot sauce)

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp salt 

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp dried dill

1/4 tsp dried parsley

1/4 tsp ground celery

1/8 tsp basil

Drain jackfruit. Place jackfruit in a saucepan and add the veggie broth. Simmer until the fruit softens and most of the broth is absorbed. (20 minutes or so.)

Preheat oven to 350

Shred the jackfruit in the pan. (You can dump out the extra liquid if any remains). Add all the other ingredients (except crescent rolls) and stir well. 

Separate the crescent rolls into rectangles. There are four in each can. You will basically press out the line between two triangles, forming one rectangle. Place 1/8 of the mixture on each rectangle. Fold the four corners in, twist in the middle and pinch each seam closed so they become little packets. Place each packet on a slightly greased cookie sheet.  

Bake for 18 minutes. Then turn the squares over and bake an additional 2 minutes so the bottoms don't get soggy. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Peanut Butter Brownies (Warning: Jack Kryptonite)

 Peanut Butter Protein Brownies

1 Cup coconut oil

1 Cup peanut butter

1 Cup brown sugar
2 Flax eggs (2 TBSP ground flax, 6 TBSPS water, combined and set aside to gel)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 Cup whole wheat pastry flour (or flour of your choice)

3/4 Cup Arbonne vanilla protein powder (use a protein powder that is palatable on it's own, and vegan, if you don't have Arbonne's...or contact me and I can hook you up.)
2 Cups old fashioned oatmeal
1 Cup chocolate chips
1  Cup of dried fruit, sunflower seeds, nuts, chia seed, etc.

Preheat oven to 350. Very lightly spray a 9 x 13 pan.

Cream the oil, peanut butter, and sugar together. (it's best that you use everything at room temperature)

Add the flax eggs, salt, soda and stir. Add vanilla and mix well. Blend in flour and protein powder and add oatmeal and chocolate chips and mix until incorporated.

Bake for 45 mins. Remove from oven and let rest for 10. Cut into 24 squares. Refrigerate for chewy deliciousness.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Pizza Rolls

Pizza Rolls

1 PKGE crescent rolls (check ingredients or use a similar dough)

2 TBSP vegan cream cheese

1 TBSP minced onion

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/8 tsp salt

Finely chopped vegetables. I used olives, tomatoes and mushrooms. (about 3/4 cup total.)

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 12 section muffin tin. 

Mix all the ingredients together except the rolls. 

Separate the crescent roll into two halves. Roll each half into a long rectangle. Press all the seams together. 

Spread half of your cream cheese mixture over each rectangle. Roll longwise into a long tube. Cut each half into 6 pinwheel pieces. Place swirl side up in muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes until golden and baked. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Jack "Tuna"

Jack "Tuna"

1 Cup vegetable broth

1 Can green jackfruit packed in brine (not the ripe in syrup)

2 tsps of your favorite seaweed, which I do NOT have...I did some research, then ended up not having much choice at the store. So I got hijaki

3 TBSP vegan mayo

3 tsp mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 TBSP minced onion

3 TBSP minced celery

1 TBSP sweet pickle relish

1/4 Cup sunflower seeds (optional if this would kill a family member, XTA)

Drain jackfruit. Place jackfruit in a saucepan and add the veggie broth. Simmer until the fruit softens and most of the broth is absorbed. (20 minutes or so.)

Shred the jackfruit into a bowl. (You can dump out the extra liquid if any remains).

This makes quite a bit. Enough for 8 sandwiches or so. Serve with crackers or scoop out a tomato and fill it with the tuna. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Flexi-Vegan, Vegan Mofo

I had every intention of throwing together another batch of my new hamburger recipe to make sure I've nailed the spices. But I got home pretty late, annoyingly hot, and very hungry. Fortunately, Rob was just finishing up picking bounty from the garden. 

The potatoes and beans got sucked down too fast for a photograph...

We had the rest of the edamame salad, fried home-grown potatoes, grilled, seasoned summer squash, fresh sliced tomatoes, and just-picked green beans.

Yeah. That's what Vegans eat, Baby, and it was delicious! 

Only 5 grams of protein. But we could have added some whole grain bread (yep, grains have protein). A side of grilled tempeh, tofu, beans, nuts, seitan would also round the meal out.  

Scraps and Snippets ~ Social Media Recipe ~ Veganized Peanut Butter Cup Haystacks...

My friend posted a recipe on her Facebook recently. And this stupid recipe was a tough one for me to avert my eyes from. (I believe that sentence breaks at least two rules of grammar...) Anyhoo. Peanut Butter Cups are probably my most missed non-vegan candy. There are vegan versions. Thank you, Justin's. But, they are like triple the price of the classic orange and yellow plastic ensconced confection.

This recipe called for 4 peanut butter cups. (uh that's $6.00 in Justin's) krispy rice cereal, butter and peanut butter. Simple.

But could they be made without the cups, butter and with a few change ups? 

Yes. Deliciously. Rich, satisfying, totally scratches the peanut butter itch.

Here's the recipe.

 Peanut Butter Cup Piles

1 and 1/4 Cups vegan chocolate chips (ghiradelli etc. )

3 TBSP coconut oil (Earth Balance) 

7 TBSP peanut butter (Earth Balance)

2 TBSP powdered sugar (vegan) or Arbonne vanilla protein powder (another could work, but it needs to be palatable to drink and whey/dairy free)

6 Cups krispy rice cereal, puffed rice cereal or a combo of the two.

Melt peanut butter and coconut oil. Turn off or lower heat and add the chocolate chips. When they melt turn off the heat if it has been on and add powdered sugar or protein powder and stir until mixed. Add the rice cereal and drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper on cookie sheets or a container that will fit in your fridge. This recipe makes about 30 cookies. They should be refrigerated until they set up. And kept cool so they don't get fragile. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Edamame... The Little Green Giant...

I have a recipe that is a fall back. I got if from my mother-in-law years ago. And I make it often. But not so often that I have actually committed it to my memory. It's a shadowy-in-my-mind kind of recipe. 

And here's the deal. It counts as Americana in my book because the dang hand-written, blurred recipe is at least twenty years old. And it probably came from a newspaper which was equivalent to Pinterest back in the day. Kinda. 

Anyhoo. I couldn't find the recipe to adapt and use as a centerpiece for edamame. Nope. The picture may give you a clue. I have this HUGE binder recipe book. When I am organized the book is as well. However, when I'm not, which is more likely, the recipes end up in four or five other places like one of the many other cookbooks on my shelf. You can see the classic red and white gal, and beneath her an entire shelf of cookbooks, and out of sight is another shelf. Ugh. So after looking for 30 minutes I decided to rely on the shadow memory and throw together what I think is the recipes. Tastes like it, and pretty dang good which is why I've held onto the original for twenty years (until recently parted, of course). 

1/2 to 1 cup edamame (I used frozen raw)
1 head of broccoli florets (or I'm thinking a package of broccoli slaw would be great, too)
grape, cherry or chunks of tomato (I used about a cup and 1/2)
1/2 to 1 cup Kalamata olives (or any olive will do, or use onions, or cauliflower or mushrooms etc.

Dressing:

3 TBSP red wine vinegar
2 TBSP olive (or your favorite) oil
1 TBSP lemon juice
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp Italian seasoning blend

This is a totally adaptable recipe. I usually use the veggies I have on hand. A summer squash or zucchini cubed would be excellent. As would cucumbers. Mushrooms are amazing in it. You can use any type of bean, too. White/Navy or garbanzos would be especially yummy. Toss in nuts if you want the extra protein or mouth feel. Speaking of protein. Not only is there 29 grams from the edamame in this salad...but broccoli has approx 4 grams a cup, too. Tossing brown rice into the mix would give you 8 additional grams for the salad. Tomatoes are worth about 2. So if four people nosh on it your looking at 8-10 grams a person. And don't forget that Edamame is a complete protein source, too.