What Vegans Eat, Part I

It's been a while since I've checked out my favourite food blogs to see what folks have been preparing and sharing. I've been busy with work and school (I love that I can say that I'm busy with school again!) so web-gawking time has mostly been spent socializing or volunteering here and there. Plus, to be honest, I've had so little free time and tempting myself to try out new recipes would invariably have just left me with even less free time, which would have left me cranky (and the cats deserve better than a cranky can opener). A couple of hours to spare last night, however, left me digging up a few things I may try out over the weekend.

Salads!

Angela at Oh She Glows posted an adapted recipe for Cilantro Lime Spelt Berry Salad yesterday (see her photo to the right) and that post ended up being a high-protein salad pay dirt. She provided links in it for the following salads she's been posting over the past while:

Carrot Raisin Spelt Berry w/Cumin and Cilantro, Cinnamon Sweet Potato Chickpea, High Protein Lentil, Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean, Buckwheat Taboulleh, as well as her Back on Track Wheatberry and Bean.

Absolute Decadence

I've been spending most of the past few months focused on getting into better shape so that I can jump back into long-distance trail cycling this summer. Part of that has involved things like running "needless" errands just for an excuse to get on the bike for an extra half hour. Part of it has also involved spending a lot more time being mindful of how I fuel my body, opting for lighter fare and reaching for the bag of baby carrots rather than the bag of potato chips at the grocery store. Every once in a while, though, a little bit of indulging is fun. That being said, my eyes still widened in awe a little as I contemplated making some of the recent decadent offerings I spied, even if some of them were still quite healthy :

Kelly Garbato shared a recipe of hers a few weeks ago that made my jaw drop. (No, really. It did.) It was for Cheesy Vegan Tater Tot Pizza and to kick it up a notch, she posted the results of her partner Shane's further tinkering with the recipe and came up with a second version, which she refers to as Cheesy Vegan Tater Tot Garbage Plate Pizza. She recommended a bib when eating the second version, and I don't think she was kidding.

Ordinarily, when I think of queso dip, I think of fat; after all, the stuff is usually prepared with gobs of cheese. However, Meg over at The Snarky Chickpea shared a recipe around a week ago for a Vegan Queso Dip that looked absolutely delicious and she used almond milk and nutritional yeast to make up its "cheesy" component.

Allyson at Manifest Vegan left more than a few vegan friends and acquaintances of mine drooling after I tweeted her recipe for Besan Fries a few weeks ago (see her photo to the right). At first glance, seeing seasoned deep-fried flour left me thinking these babies would be oil-drenched. I mostly oven-roast or sauté -- deep-frying is something with which I haven't had much experience in over a decade. A couple of vegan friends assured me that the high temperature of the oil would seal the surface of each besan fry, leaving it crispy.

Manifest Vegan was the source of another oh-my-gawd-this-looks-fabulous treat: Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Tartlets.

(Check back over the next few days for Part II of this post, which will at the very least focus in part on sharing links to all of the wonderful soup and stew recipes which have been posted by vegan food bloggers over the past month!)

What Vegans Eat: Ask the Bloggers!

I thought I'd try something different with January's monthly "What Vegans Eat" post. Instead of sifting through some of the recipes my favourite vegan food bloggers' have shared most recently, I thought I'd ask them to chime in to tell me of the recipes they've posted on their blogs are favourites -- either their own, or their readers'. I figured, who best to talk up these great recipes than the people who shared them in the first place? Since I wanted to get this out today, rather than email each blogger individually, I just asked on Twitter and Facebook and ended up thrilled at the positive response to my request. In fact, I'm so thrilled with it that I hope to have a second round next month to highlight others' blogs, as well.
My first respondent was veganf who writes Disposable Aardvarks Inc. She said: "My hummus and AJ's pumpkin muffins are very popular, and my two series on winter soups too. Our personal family favourite is the Yummiest of Yummy Tofu Dinners. And the zucchini brownies are always wipes out at potlucks. The kale sunflower burgers, and purple crunchy cabbage (pictured above) are probably the most popular healthiest dishes". While you're visiting her blog, check out the convenient recipe index she has and the gorgeous photos of all of the bento meals she prepares for her family and the stories she weaves in about them.Claire from Chez Cayenne told me that her recipe for Black Bean Chili has been a hit, receiving over 3400 Stumbles on StumbleUpon. Her delicious looking recipe for Grilled Corn Salsa (pictured above) is the one for which she's received most hits via Google. Her Veggie Loaf and Sangria Verde recipes are ones which have received very positive feedback, as well. Many of the recipes at Chez Cayenne meander into spicy territory, so if you're not afraid to treat your taste buds accordingly, do bookmark it for its wonderful recipes. And even if you are spice-aversive, there's plenty there to please every palate.

A recipe for Cashew Ricotta Lasagna was one of the more popular ones from rants & recipes suggested to me by blogger trktos. Some of her own personal favourites which she makes the most, herself, include her recipes for: Chili, Spinach Soup, Pumpkin Soup, Butter 'Milk' Biscuits, Brown Sauce, Bulgur Wheat 'Sausage' and Banana Bread. After my own failed attempt to make banana bread over the holidays, I look forward to trying her recipe. Check out the many other recipes she has featured when you're done looking through the ones posted here!

I'm always glad when my friend Anna updates her Carrot and Potato Time blog. One of her favourite recipes from it is one for Tortilla Soup she'd posted two years ago. Topped with a drizzle of lime, some avocado slices and some cilantro, I suspect that this could become a favourite of mine, as well.
A blog I've discovered recently through the big ol' world of Twitter is The Vegan Version. Lee Khatchadourian-Reese, its writer, shared with me that her own personal favourite is her recipe for Butternut Squash Ravioli with Mushroom Walnut Sauce (pictured above). A close runner-up is her Porcini Mushroom Stroganoff; in her original blog post, she wrote that "once this dish begins to simmer the aroma is just wonderful".

Abby Bean divulged two of the most popular recipes from A Soy Bean: Her colourful Rainbow Cookies and her Fluffernutter. Her personal favourites, however, include her Daiya-laden White Pizza and her sushi-inspired Peanut Avocado Unroll. If you live in the Pennsylvania/New York area, you'll also want to read through the numerous useful restaurant and bakery reviews she features on her blog.

Although not a food blogger as much as an animal advocacy multitasker, Barbara DeGrande's beautiful website does indeed offer up a fair share of recipes. She picked her Orange Chocolate Chip Scones as her favourite to pass on for my post. I've tried these and they were absolutely delicious!
Meg (from the aptly named Meg's Cooking Addiction) shared three of her favourite recipes with me. The most recent is one which caught my eye a few days ago and which I intend to try out this weekend -- Garlic Naan. Another she passed on is for her Garlicky White Bean Soup w/Basil, which she says is "probably the best soup I've ever made". Always a sucker for a new soup recipe (albeit unable to find cannelini beans at my own somewhat lame local grocery store), I tried an adaptation of this recipe using baby lima beans instead and it was indeed very, very tasty! The third of her three favourite recipes? Coconut Cupcakes (pictured above)!

Speaking of coconut, the two recipes I was told have received the most rave reviews over on the Quantum Vegan site are the Potato Leek Soup w/Coconut Milk, as well as one for Vegan Peanut Blossoms (which without even having tried them, I think should be considered as an altogether separate food group).

Leinana Two Moons told me that Vegan Good Things' most popular post by far was one for Coconut Bacon. Yep, you heard me right -- coconut bacon. I am so very intrigued by this and hope to swing by the local health food store when it's open tomorrow to pick up some flaked organic coconut to try this out.

More? Do I have more? You bet...

The three recipes suggested to me by Daily Vegan Eats were Lumpia, Cheesy Herb-Garlic Lava Potatoes (you'll definitely get your habanero fix with them!) and the very red Blood Salad.

Amanda from Amanda Eats shared her two favourites: First you have Baby Vanilla French Toast w/Agave Nectar (drool!) and her incredibly simple to make Chorizo Lasagna.
Last, but certainly not least, Jenn from Cookin' Vegan sent me some links this morning to some of her favourite recipes from her blog. Let your jaw drop now. Seriously. She suggested her Fuji Apple and Fresh Fennel Bisque followed by Grilled Vegetable, Orzo and Kale Salad (pictured above) and Better Than Cheddar Bay Biscuits.

I've no doubt that the recipes which have been passed on to me to share with you by these 13 fabulous food bloggers will prove how wide a diversity of vegan dishes are available to tantalize you and the lucky folks you may end up feeding on your travels. Some of them are quick and simple to throw together, while others are more complex and require some extra care. They range from the fresh and healthy to absolutely decadent, sometimes touching upon a bit of both. What's amazing is that this is just a tiny sample of the innumerable vegan recipes available on the internet via food blogs alone. They're sometimes brought to you by people who are either like most of us and who stumble across perfect combinations through the limited trial-and-error experimentation allowed when on a busy schedule; other times, they're offered up by those who've made playing in their kitchens a real hobby -- or who've even managed to eke out a living from it.

The bottom line, however, is that you need not go hungry as a vegan for lack of ideas. The right recipe for you is out there: Go find it!

(Please note that My Face Is on Fire does not necessarily condone or endorse any views which may be held by the above-mentioned bloggers.)

Because Vegans Like to Eat

Here are just a very few things vegan friends have been cooking up this past week or so:

Over at Yummy Vegan Dinners, ms. veganorama has been tempting readers with photos of her Pesto Fettucine and Roasted Eggplant, as well as of Southern Tomato Pie (which I soooo want to try to make sometime soon).

A few days ago, Vincent Guihan posted a recipe for Romano and Romaine Vegan Caesar Salad Wraps on his recently-resurrected Vegan Improv blog. I had this for lunch today, using the optional thinly-sliced onion he suggested (red onion, in my case) and it was simple and yummy on this incredibly hot summer's day.

Earlier today, I stumbled across a vegan cooking blog that grabbed my attention. Amey, at Vegan Eats & Treats, recently wrote about her foray into tofu-making. Her blog's mood is definitely fun and the photos of the meals she makes will leave you fighting the urge to poke around in your own fridge and cupboards to recreate them.

I'd also like to highlight a new cooking blog by an abolitionist vegan friend. It's called Quick and Dirty Vegan and its purpose is to dispel the myth that vegan cooking is complicated and convoluted. In The Divine Miss V's own words:

No more excuses. No more whining about time or skill in the kitchen. It has never been easier to find or prepare a vegan meal or snack, and everyone can do it. Hopefully, cooking newbs will gain confidence and the "aha moment" that they're pretty damn good at feeding themselves and others; and maybe the more advanced among you will appreciate a "day off" from your normal cooking frenzy.

So if you're new to veganism or are looking to take a break from your larger and more self-indulgent cooking projects, do keep an eye on this blog.