If you’ve been craving a copy of The Blooming Platter Cookbook for yourself or to give as a gift, now is your chance to win a free copy!
Best-selling vegan cookbook author and vegan good eats guru, Robin Robertson, is generously running a cookbook give-away. Visit her website by clicking HERE for your chance to win and for one of her favorite recipes from the book: Baked Apples Baklava.
My best wishes to all of you good apples–hope one of you scores a win! And a bushel-full of thanks to Robin!
Yield: 4 servings
How exciting to share this recipe with you via my good pals at One Green Planet! Just click HERE for this unforgettable recipe!
I thought of this special recipe recently as our 22nd (!) anniversary approached and we were expecting dinner guests. This sauce was the star component in the first meal on which Joe and I collaborated for dinner guests as a newly married couple. And I can almost guarantee you have never had anything like it!
The sauce recipe came from a culinary magazine but, sadly, I don’t know which one, as I recopied the recipe and–shame on me–uncharacteristically did not credit the source. But I did write “Out of this world!” at the top. And it still is.
The only change I made to the original recipe was to substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth and vegan butter for the dairy variety in addition to using about 30%(!) less. We have served it over a variety of things, but this brand new combination was so tasty and so pretty that I wanted to share it with all of you.
So be sure to head over to One Green Planet…you won’t want to miss this one!
If you’ve been debating about whether to purchase a copy of The Blooming Platter Cookbook for yourself or as a gift, this lovely unsolicited review on “Eat Drink Better” might sway you!
Yield: 8 pancakes (4 servings)
After a little gardening, yoga, and errands, I didn’t get around to “lunch” until about 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
I was craving one of the fresh Virginia grown apples I had just purchased at the farmer’s market with a little peanut butter. But I was afraid I would be hungry an hour later.
So, I decided on filling–but not heavy– fall pancakes made from the same wholesome ingredients. What a good decision! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. (Okay, and Minnie too. I made one for our “little” Great Dane, my constant kitchen company aka chow hound.)
Just go to One Green Planet, where I am this week’s featured “Green Monster,” for the simple recipe. Now you can enjoy everyone’s favorite after school snack for brunch!
Wow!–One Green Planet chose to feature me as this week’s Green Monster! I’ve been called a lot of things, I’m sure, but I am ecstatic to have been dubbed a Green Monster!
OGP will be featuring my recipes throughout the week on their site and on social media. Get the skinny HERE.
Thanks OGP!
Yield: 4 servings (you may have left over Kale Sauce)
Now that school is back in session for the year, my schedule is dramatically different. So, I have a bit less time to cook, photograph, and post. But, as has been the case since the launch of The Blooming Platter several years ago, I plan to offer you delicious new recipes right here several times a week with only the occasional hiatus, as in the last week or so.
We had open house at school late one night last week, my 22nd(!) anniversary was Saturday, I had a book-signing at our fabulous “Farm to Fork” event sponsored by Buy Fresh Buy Local Hampton Roads, and then I caught a cold. Whew! At any rate, I hope you’ll agree that this one was worth waiting for!
This Spanish-inspired dish is so pretty with its warm golden stew-like base and it’s fresh green sauce. And the flavors complement each other perfectly: the spicy chorizo offset and cooled just a bit by the fresh kale sauce, made rich and creamy with buttery cashews. The sweet-tart apples temper the heat of the chorizo, as well, creating a beautifully balanced fall dish that goes together in a snap. I like to serve it as tapas, but no one would take issue with a big bowl of it!
For the simple recipe, just click on over to One Green Planet who generously shares a bounty of Blooming Platter recipes with their readers. Thanks OGP!
Back in July, I shared my then new discovery: J-41–Adventure On vegan shoes with their Jeep technology and cool styling. I still wear them every day to walk the dogs…I even wore them with a cute dress to school on Friday! My husband thought the ensemble looked great. And he wishes that the company made shoes for men. But, alas, it’s a chicks only thing!
Now that it’s September and school has been in session for a week–I’m so lucky…I LOVE my students!–I’ve been thinking less about summer hiking and more about how to look stylish in work clothes while keeping my tootsies comfy with a lot of standing and walking on hard surfaces every day (think linoleum over concrete).
Fortunately for me, J-41 makes vegan dress shoes that aren’t too dressy or expensive. I was giving up hope after a fair amount of online searching until I thought of revisiting J-41. I mistakenly thought they only make athletic shoes. Wrong! There were several options to choose from; I selected the Jolie Vegan Wedge with a sexy little peep-toe, and their characteristic tiny floral pattern. I also love the cutouts.
Though the shoes have a little bit of a “cloggish” feel to them, I don’t think they look too “hippy-ish.” Do you? Why do shoe manufacturers think that vegans want to either wear 1) the 21st century equivalent of “earth shoes, ” 2) RIDICULOUSLY high caricatures of a platform shoe, or 3) super high end designer shoes? (Don’t get me wrong in regard to the latter…the mind is willing, but the pocketbook isn’t!)
These were around $70 on Amazon–so easy and no shipping charges!
Yield: 8 servings (1/2 to 3/4 cup sauce)
In August, Joe and I joined his sisters, Terri Ann and Tina, and their families for a short vacation in Ocean City, N.J. (Our 14 year old niece, Gabriella, who is about as far removed from “Snooki” as one can get–thankfully!–does a great imitation.) The DiJulios spent part of the summers there throughout their lives and, now that both of their parents are deceased, have vowed to keep the tradition alive.
Family dinners are part of the tradition so, late one afternoon on the way home from a bike ride, Terri Ann and I couldn’t resist the Jersey peaches at a local market. Dinner was a grilled affair (marinated tofu for me) with my husband, Joe, in charge, so he put the peach halves on while we enjoyed dinner including Jersey corn and tomatoes plus sauteed kale from who knows where.
Before we sat down, I joined forces with Terri Ann (a good cook in her own right) and her husband’s son, Curt (a partner with Bonefish Grill who knows his way around a kitchen) and created a luscious, glistening, and not-too-sweet Cabernet sauce for the peaches. We all gave it a can-I-please-have-some-more? enthusiastic thumb’s up!
I served it over a plain grilled peach for me, but added a little scoop of peach yogurt that was in the fridge for everyone else, omnivores all. But, if you like, you can forget all the formalities and just eat it from a spoon!
Hopefully there are still a few summer peaches available in your neck of the woods, but if not, the sauce would be delicious over, say, grilled bananas, perhaps pears, vegan pound cake or ice cream (or both!), etc.
1 1 /2 cups Red wine (we used Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet)
2/3 cup sugar
Bring both ingredients to a gentle boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat, and simmer gently until reduced by about one-half to two-thirds. You should have about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sauce. Remove from heat. Reduction will thicken more as it cools.
Serve over grilled peaches with or without a dollop of vanilla or peach vegan yogurt.
Yield: approximately 2 dozen 1 3/4-inch wafers
This Raspberry-Champagne Buttercream Frosting is about the best thing, well, since sliced cookies. Seriously, it had omnivores requesting the recipe and laying the compliments on thick!
It is as delicious on vanilla cupcakes–heck, it’s delicious on the end of your finger!–and it is in these not-too-sweet chocolate wafers, with their perfect balance of crispness and tenderness.
Coincidentally, while looking for commercial chocolate wafers to encase this buttercream (remember “Famous” brand?), I noticed that Oreos now come filled with a berry cream. If the combination is good enough for Oreos, it’s definitely good enough for me! And by the way, this recipe for homemade wafers is very close to what I remember of the taste and texture of Famous wafers, though a tad thicker.
The Chocolate Wafer Cookies are adapted from Alice Medrich’s Pure Dessert by SmittenKitchen.com and veganized by me (just a matter of substituting vegan butter for butter and soymilk for whole milk). The frosting is The Blooming Platter all the way!
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour or white whole wheat flour (I always use the latter)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) vegan butter, slightly softened
3 tablespoons soymilk (plain or unsweetened)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 recipe Fresh Raspberry-Champagne Buttercream Frosing
Combine the flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, and baking soda in the bowl of food processor and pulse several times to mix thoroughly. Cut the butter into about 12 chunks and add them to the bowl. Pulse several times. Combine the soymilk and vanilla in a small cup. With the processor running, add the milk mixture and continue to process until the mixture clumps around the blade or the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a large bowl or a cutting board and knead a few times to make sure it is evenly blended.
Form the dough into a log about 14 inches long and 1 3/4 inches in diameter. Wrap the log in wax paper or foil and refrigerate until firm, at least one hour, or until needed.
Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut the log of dough into slices a scant 1/4-inch thick, on a slight bias if you choose, and place them one inch apart on the lined sheets (cookies will spread just a little). Bake, rotating the baking sheet from top to bottom and back to front about halfway through baking, for a total of 12 to 15 minutes. The cookies will puff up and deflate; they are done about 1 1/2 minutes after they deflate.
Cool the cookies on the baking sheets on racks, or slide the parchment onto racks to cool completely. These cookies may be stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks or be frozen for up to two months.
Note: These cookies should crisp as they cool. If they don’t, you’re not baking them long enough, says Medrich — in which case, return them to the oven to reheat and bake a little longer, then cool again.
Yield: 4 servings
Bye-bye slime…hello sublime!
Do you know how some vegetables are utterly transformed by the cooking method, say, roasting broccoli or grilling radishes? Well, this is one of those vegetables and methods.
As a southern gal, I love fried okra, though I don’t allow myself to have it much. And, I used to love it in gumbo when I was a pescatarian. However, I’ve never found a vegan gumbo recipe I like–including at a local top notch fine dining restaurant–so I rarely bought okra because I didn’t know what to do with it.
But now I do!
Recently at Stoney’s, one of my favorite local farmer’s markets who grows both red and green okra, I was debating about what I wanted to purchase. One of the employees shared this method of roasting okra and I was sold!
It will forever change the way you think about this fury little veggie. For the best crunchy exterior–and creamy center–it must be enjoyed immediately after removing it from the oven. Also, it is best not to layer the pieces of okra on top of each other to serve, as they will steam and, therefore, soften.
2 tablespoons olive oil
Approximately 2 cups of fresh okra, trimmed
Sea salt to taste
Vegan Horseradish Sauce or the sauce of your choice
Preheat oven to 45o degrees. Pour olive oil into roasting pan. I like to use a large cast iron skillet for this because it browns the okra so nicely. Add okra and toss to coat. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and toss again. Roast for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown on one side (I like it fairly caramelized), then turn each piece of okra and roast 5-8 minutes on opposite side or until golden brown. Serve immediately in one layer with Vegan Horsearadish Sauce or any sauce you desire. The texture of this okra is vastly superior if served as soon as it is removed from the oven. If you are unable to serve it immediately, it will soften, but still taste good. So, I recommend reheating it in a skillet over medium-high until heated through, shaking occasionally, just before serving.
