What Vegans Eat

I'm always a bit surprised at how quickly time has passed when I remember to scroll back through posts to see when I'd last posted updates on what some of my favourite vegan food bloggers have been writing about. In this case, I'm surprised it's been a whole month since my last "What Vegans Eat" post. Without further hemming and hawing, here are just some highlights of what's caught my eye over the past few weeks:

I have been on an almond kick for the past few weeks, enjoying tamari-roasted almonds, almond milk and almond butter. Almonds are such a great source of healthy fats and Vitamin E that their tastiness is just a real perk. I'm going to try something a little bit different this weekend, however, and make this recipe for "Almond Feta" that was posted on Vegan Epicurean just yesterday.

Claire at Chez Cayenne leaned towards Indian flavours this past month, posting recipes for both "Sweet Potato-Edamame Mini-Samosas" and "Mushroom-Lentil Burgers with Indian Spices". Both sound absolutely yummy!

Somehow overlooked when I wrote up "The Ultimate Mac 'n' Cheese Post" a few weeks ago, the VeganDad blog featured his first attempt at concocting a vegan KD knock-off -- "Vegan KD 1.0". I've gotta try this one over the weekend, as well.

Over at Manifest Vegan, allyson posted the following recipe just in time for its main ingredient to start popping up all over my backyard: "Dandelion Fritters"! I should cross-post it into a "veganism on the cheap" post, since foraging for wild edibles is a side-interest of mine that's a worthwhile -- and fun -- pursuit for those who want to eat well and pinch pennies.

I'll wrap the recipes up with one that involves one of my favourite combinations ever that doesn't include garlic. At the Big Raw & Vegan blog, Zucchini Breath featured a recipe for "Vegan Peanut Butter Cups". Go ahead and try not to try them -- I dare you! And pass them on to all of your non-vegan friends to show them just how deliciously decadent vegan cooking can be.

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What Vegans Eat

With the holidays just a few days and a nearly two-week long internet hiatus looming for me, I figured that now would be as good a time as any to take that periodic peek at what's been happening on some of my favourite vegan food blogs.

Nathan Kozuskanich shared a recipe for Green Potato Soup on his Vegan Dad blog a little less than a week ago. With heaps of leeks, chard and spinach, it looks as good as I've no doubt it tastes. It sounds like the perfect thing to ladle into a big bowl and curl up on the sofa with to watch holiday claymation specials.

Mike K at Vegan for the People posted a couple of recipes over the past few weeks that caught my attention and that I hope to try out soon. One is for Sesame Long Beans with Five Spice Tofu and the other for Somali Sambusas. The sambusas are filled with lentils , scallions and cilantro and seasoned with spices like cardamom, cumin and coriander. They sound wonderful --and I'm not just sayin' that because I'm a huge fan of filled things and finger foods.

Speaking of filled things, check out the Baked Whole Wheat Empanadas recipe Alicia shared with her readers on the Vegan Epicurean blog. This blog is relatively new to me and I'm already sold on it after looking over the dozen or so most recent recipes and their photos. I also appreciate that she includes nutritional information on the recipes she posts. I'll be lurking over there a fair bit in the New Year, I'm sure.

Just in time for holiday entertaining for those who like to cater to their guests sweet tooths, Claire at Chez Cayenne offered up a recipe last Saturday for Orange-Chocolate-Chocolate Chip cookies. She also provided a recipe for those who like to cater to those guests who like to indulge a little to engage in their holiday merrymaking: Vegan Irish Cream! (By the way, for some great info on chocolate and what is or isn't vegan, check out this 2006 blog post by cookbook author Dreena Burton!)

Cookbook author Bryanna Clark Grogan featured a recipe for a simple Rustic Apple-Almond Cake on her blog a few days ago that does indeed sound like a yummy treat to have on hand for family or friends who might come calling.

Finally, the six vegans over at Cooking from 1,000 Vegan Recipes have been busy! As of last Saturday, they'd prepared 155 out of the 1000 recipes in Robin Robertson's book. Go have a look at the gorgeous photos of the dishes they've reproduced from it. Better yet, buy the book and cook along with them, using their notes as pointers.

So there you have it--the last instalment of "What Vegans Eat" for 2009. If you think that going vegan is hard because your food options somehow become limited, or, if you're just stuck in a food rut and can't think of what to make for dinner, read the food blogs mentioned above (as well as those whose links I've listed off to the right) and let yourself be convinced otherwise.

Go vegan and stay vegan and enjoy the good healthy eats that come with it!