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The Vegan Paige website...

It is finally live...The Vegan Paige website.  

Go to www.theveganpaige.com to check it out.

Sweet Patater Hash...

 I love cooking shows and I found a new one (at least new to me) called Sandwich King with Jeff Mauro on the Food Network.  He was making all sorts of non-vegan food but he made one dish that looked amazing called Sweet Patater Hash.  I made it for breakfast this morning and we loved it.  This will be made again and again.

Coconut Soup...

I was standing in line at our local grocery store and saw a Better Homes & Gardens Soups & Stews magazine (see recipe below).  I was sucked in and purchased it.  Inside I found several soups that I want to "veganize".  Here is the first one...

Shrimp and Coconut Soup

The only changes I made to the original recipe was to substitute chicken broth with vegetable broth and to omit the shrimp and green onions on mine, however, you can see a photo of one with shrimp below for my family.  It was a very thin soup so next time I will add some corn starch to thicken it up.  I had nice flavors. I would rate it okay, not great.  

If you want to add shrimp for your non-vegan eaters, I used the remaining can of coconut milk and a dash of curry powder in a separate pot and boiled them for three minutes, I was told the shrimp was perfectly cooked, I'll have to take there word.

Quinoa & Steel Cut Oatmeal...

I just had to share something yummy I found last week.  I have blogged about Trader Joe's Steel Cut Oatmeal (yummy) in the past but I just found Trader Joe's Quinoa & Steel Cut Oatmeal.  If you haven't already given it a try you should. It is a great way to start the day.

Creamy Sweet Potato Soup Veganized...

Last week I found a recipe in Cooking Light Magazine for Creamy Sweet Potato Soup (see above) and decided to "veganize" it.

Here is my recipe:

Creamy Sweet Potato Soup

·      3 pounds sweet potatoes (about 3 large – red skinned), peeled & cubed

·      1 small sweet yellow onion, chopped

·      1 dash ground cumin

·      ¼ tsp crushed red pepper

·      4 cups & 2 Tbsp vegetable broth, divided

·      ¼ tsp salt

·      Tofutti better than sour cream (for topping)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the peeled and small cubes of sweet potato to the boiling water.  Boil until potatoes are soft when stabbed with a fork.

While potatoes are cooking, heat a sauté pan add 2 Tbsp vegetable broth and chopped onion. Cook on low heat until transparent, stirring often so they do not brown.  If they start to brown or stick to pan add a little more vegetable broth.

Once onions are transparent add cumin (a little goes a long way with cumin) and crushed red pepper, cook for a minute or two longer stirring often.

Drain potatoes and set aside.

In a blender add cold or room temperature vegetable broth and onion mixture, blend until smooth.  Pour ¾ of smooth mixture into your empty large pot you cooked sweet potatoes in.  Add ¾ of the drained sweet potatoes to remaining smooth mixture and blend until smooth.  Pour into large pot and add remaining cooked sweet potato chunks.  Add salt to mixture.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. 

Ladle into bowls, add a scoop of Tofutti and a dash of crushed red pepper and serve.

Recipe by The Vegan Paige

Have your pre-ordered your HH Light & Lean yet?...

Have you pre-order your copy of the Happy Herbivore Light & Lean cookbook?

If so, you are going to want to check out this link: http://happyherbivore.com/2013/10/Happy-herbivore-light-lean-blad-sample-recipes/

Read the instructions and send a quick email and you too will get a Happy Herbivore Light & Lean cookbook digital copy of the BLAD from the publisher.

I received my BLAD and here is a tease...

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

I made them this morning and they are so yummy.  They are a dense muffin but the idea is that you eat one, maybe two, and are full so you too can be "Light & Lean" like Lindsay.  Wait until you see the yoga photos of Lindsay...you too will be inspired.

Pre-order Happy Herbivore Light & Lean...

The Happy Herbivore has a new cookbook coming out in December called "Happy Herbivore Light & Lean" but you need to pre-order it now.  I pre-ordered mine from Amazon.com but you can pre-order it from just about anywhere.  The last three cookbooks sold out after being released so pre-ordering will make sure you get a copy.  If you've been following my blog from the beginning you know a lot of my favorite recipes are from Happy Herbivore cookbooks.  Clearly you feel the same way because my most popular blog is the Happy Herbivore Apple Crisp Muffins.

Angel Hair With Corn & Tomatoes...

Last week on GMA they had Michael Symon on talking about his new cookbook called "Michael Symon's 5 in 5".  He then made "Angel Hair with Corn, Feta & Tomato" for the hosts.  It looked amazing so I downloaded the recipe from the GMA website (see below) and made it for lunch today minus the feta.  It was easy, quick, and yummy.  The thing that took the longest was heating water for the noodles.  I used a can of sweet corn from Costco that I had in the pantry since I didn't have three ears of corn lying around.  I also used linguine noodles because I was out of angel hair pasta.  I have since ordered the cookbook and plan to "veganize" more of his recipes.

Chloe's Peanut Butter Cookies...

Last week I was asked to make five dozen cookies for an event.  I really did not want to make anything non-vegan so I used a recipe from Chloe's Vegan Desserts cookbook and made peanut butter cookies.  They tasted exactly like the ones I used to make.

Chloe's Brownies...

Last week I tried Chloe's Vegan Desserts cookbook version of brownies.  They were good.  I added some powder sugar for pretty and some raspberry sauce I had on hand from her chocolate mouse recipe because I love raspberry and chocolate anything.  If you don't have this cookbook yet buy it, it is really good.

Baked Fries...

Last week I was craving fries so I decided to bake my own.  I found a sweet potato in the fridge so I baked one sweet potato and one russet potato.  I used olive oil cooking spray on the pan chopped my potatoes and then tried to not have them touch on the pan and lightly added salt and pepper.  I baked them at 425 degrees and turned them once they started to brown.  The funny part is that I liked the sweet potato fries better then the ones I thought I was craving.

I know I am not inventing anything new here but I decided to post this because I thought it would be a good reminder to give the sweet potato a chance even if you "think" you are craving the russet potato.

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies...

Before becoming vegan one of my favorite cookies to make/eat were oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies.  They were like having an oatmeal cookie with a Raisinet candy all in one.  I always used the recipe in the lid of the Quaker Oatmeal can and added raisins and chocolate chips.  So I decided to veganize the recipe and used Earth Balance vegan butter and Ener-G egg replacer.  They were just as I remembered.

Chicken Salmonella Outbreak...

In today's The New York Times there is an article called Chicken Plant in Salmonella Outbreak Can Stay Open you might want to read.  

On GMA this morning they had Dr. Richard Besser on telling us "to stay away from all chicken until this outbreak is over."  Over 278 people sick in 18 states, including Washington state.

I have been a pain to my family about not letting fowl in the house (especially chicken and eggs but truly all fowl) but this is why.  Please take a moment to read The New York Times article and/or watch the GMA video to keep yourself and your family healthy.

It is not my goal to convert anyone to become vegan.  It is my goal to let you know how unhealthy it is to eat and/or have fowl/eggs in your house.  I know Thanksgiving is a month away but maybe this is the perfect time to think about this.  
Maybe even look at my older posts about eggs and cooked/raw chicken:
1. Are you still eating eggs?
2. Chicken video.

Paige's Slow Cooker Potato Soup...

Yesterday I looked a few potato soup recipes and decided to make my own.  Stephen and I loved it.

It was a great dinner and would be great for a rainy day or soar throat.

Paige's Slow Cooker Potato Soup

4 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups vegan vegetable broth

2 dashes of salt

4 turns of fresh ground pepper

Cook the above ingredients in a slow cooker on low for 6 hours.  Stirring occasionally if your home, do so.  After around 5 1/2 hours stir in:

1/2 cup Tofutti sour cream

1 cup Almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)

Cook for remaining 1/2 hour.

Stir and then remove 1 cup from slow cooker and blend until smooth.  Add blended mixture back into slow cooker and stir gently.

Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Serves 4-6.                                                                                                                                                      Recipe by The Vegan Paige

Ooh-La-La Lasagna...

Tonight I made Chloe Coscarelli's "Ooh-La-La Lasagna" from her Chloe's Kitchen cookbook.  All I have to say is Ooh-La-La was right.  I loved it.  We had guests who said it was good as well.  I will be honest, I was a bit concerned making a no cheese lasagna just sounds wrong.  She has you make a "Garden Ricotta" that is very good and I forgot all about the missing cheese.  My other concern was I am not a fan of cooked spinach and this has a lot of spinach in it...I really liked it.  I kind of forgot about what I was eating and devoured it.  The best part is that usually after eating lasagna you have a pasta hangover and are Thanksgiving dinner full and uncomfortable.  This was very good and no pasta hangover.  I am completely satisfied without feeling over full.  This is a dish you can make for company or just a family meal.  I will make this again.

Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Sauce...

Yesterday I made Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Sauce from a recipe from Chloe Coscarelli's new cookbook Chloe's Vegan Desserts (go buy this cookbook it is fabulous).  We had guests for dinner and it was unanimous that these tasted great.  They are so pretty and simple to make but be sure you give yourself enough time to let different parts set up.

This is going to be one of my go to desserts for the holidays.

Fettuccine Alfredo...

Tonight I made Fettuccine Alfredo from a recipe I found in Chloe's Kitchen cookbook.  It was really good.  I am still amazed that the only ingredients I used were fettuccine noodles, olive oil, onion, garlic, cashews, water, lemon juice, salt, pepper and fresh parsley (for garnish).  And all that can make a vegan cream sauce.  It looks right, it tastes right, I am a believer.

Jalapeño Cornbread Poppers with Whipped Maple Butter...

Tonight I make Jalapeño Cornbread Poppers with Whipped Maple Butter from a recipe I found in Chloe's Kitchen cookbook.

They are easy and quick to make (about 10 minutes, if that).

They are fun and yummy.  They will make a great game day snack or quick appetizer.  I used mild jalapeños so they would be too spicy for Paisley but they are "zero stars" as Paisley would say so next time I will use hot jalapeños.

Artichoke-Walnut Pesto Crostini & Penne alla Vodka...

Tonight was a complete meal from Chloe's Kitchen cookbook.  And let me begin by saying I have a new favorite vegan meal!

The Artichoke-Walnut Pesto Crostini could have been a meal all by itself.  They are just simply addicting.  They are so quick and easy to make (about 10 minutes).  Tons of flavors or as Stephen likes to say "a party in his mouth".

The Penne alla Vodka was supposed to be served with Chloe's "Best Garlic Bread In The World" but I really wanted to try the Artichoke-Walnut Pesto Crostini so I chose to try that one instead.

Again, this was easy and fairly quick (about 40 minutes) but a lot of that time is waiting and stirring occasionally so it didn't feel like 40 minutes.  This is restaurant quality vodka sauce, I was really surprised how good it came out.

This entire meal is definitely one you will want to make for your guests.  Give them a try and let me know what you think of each of them.

Chloe's "Best-Ever Baked Macaroni & Cheese" (not so much)...

Today for lunch I tried Chloe's Kitchen cookbook recipe for 

"Best-Ever Baked Macaroni and Cheese".  I am sad to say none of us liked it.  We ended up throwing it away.

Hey, they can't all be winners.

Cheesy Broccoli Soup in Sourdough Bread Bowls...

Today I pulled out a cookbook I recently purchased called Chloe's Kitchen by Chloe Coscarelli.  I found a recipe for Cheesy Broccoli Soup in Sourdough Bread Bowls and gave it a try.  The recipe was easy and quick (about 40 minutes).  All three of us liked it and I will be making it again.  I love the sourdough bread bowl and will use that with other soups.  I've had it before at restaurants but never remember to do it at home and if you have the cookbook you will learn the trick so the soup doesn't leak out.

Chloe also has a great website with lots of vegan recipes so be sure to check out chefchloe.com too. 

Creamy Potato Soup...

Today I made Creamy Potato Soup in my slow cooker.  I topped it with a little cheddar cheese, Tofutti sour cream and fresh cracked pepper.

I used my cookbook The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester.  Below is a recipe that is close but not exactly the same as the cookbook recipe I used today.  The recipe below is from Kathy Hester's website called healthyslowcooking.com.

Slow Cooker Cream-less Potato Soup - 4 servings

This recipe can easily be multiplied.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 6 – 8 hours

• 4 Russet Potatoes (you can use waxy ones, but the soup texture will be a little different) 
• 2 cups veggie broth (or 2 cups of water with 1 Tb Better Than Bouillon No chicken base) *make sure the broth/base you are using is gluten-free if you are allergic 
• 1 clove garlic, minced 
• 1 spring fresh rosemary, whole (remove stem before serving) 
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or unsweetened soy or rice milk) 
• pepper 

The night before: Peel the potatoes and cut into medium-sized cubes. Mince the garlic.

In the morning: Throw everything but the almond milk into your slow cooker and cook for 6 – 8 hours on low. If the potatoes aren’t covered by the broth add more.

Taste to see if you need to adjust seasonings. You may need to add a little salt if your bouillon/broth is not salted. Add almond milk and purée with an immersion blender. You can also use a blender, but make sure not to fill it all the way or you’ll have a hot mess on your hands!

Serve topped with fresh herbs.

Tortilla Soup...

Today I made Tortilla Soup from a cookbook called The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester.  I edited her recipe by not adding cilantro (because I don't like cilantro in anything) and I did not add the chicken-flavored seitan.  Below is Kathy's recipe without the seitan but the rest is the same (my notes are in red).  I added a little cheddar cheese and Tofutti sour cream on top of the soup and served it with a lime wedge.  I ended up adding a splash of my favorite hot salsa to my bowl of soup to give it a little bit of spicy heat but that is up to you.

Slow Cooker Meatless Tortilla Soup

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 8 hours

• 1 Tb olive oil 
• 1 medium onions, minced 
• 1 clove garlic, minced 
• 28 oz. organic tomatoes (diced, crushed, or whole) 
• 1/4 cup tomato paste 
• 4 cups filtered water 
• 1 tsp pepper 
• 1/2 lime, juiced 
• 1 Tb cilantro, chopped - **I did not add this 
• 1 tsp cumin 
• 1/2 tsp chili powder 
• 1/2 avocado, chopped 
• 1/4 cup tequila - **I used Petron Silver (my favorite tequila) 

The night before: Chop onions and mince the garlic. How easy is that for prep work? Optional: Saute in olive oil then store in fridge until tomorrow.

In the morning: Add everything but the avocado and tequila. Cook on low for 6 – 8 hours. About a half hour or so before serving, stir in lime juice, tequila, and adjust . Puree with an immersion blender.

Chop avocado and toss with extra lime juice and a little chili powder.

Serve topped with fresh cilantro (or no cilantro in my case), avocado, and strips of *baked tortilla strips or *crushed chips.

Give this a try and let me know what you think.

Are you still eating eggs?...

As you know, since becoming vegan I have only insisted that two items do not come into our home:

1. Eggs of any kind.
2. Fowl (chicken, turkey, duck, etc.)

If you are still eating eggs, please watch this video from NutritionFacts.org called "Eggs vs. Cigarettes".

Taco Soup Bites...

The other day I saw a recipe for stuffed eggless wonton wrappers and thought if I could find them it would be fun to stuff them with my taco soup recipe.

We went to Uwagimaya and they carry four different eggless wonton wrappers.  The ingredients were in English so I was able to see which were vegan and which were not.  

Here is a photo of the one I bought.

The next morning I made my Taco Soup.  

That evening I strained some and put it into a small bowl to use as the insides of my Taco Soup Bites.  Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil cooking spray.

 Spoon a small amount into the center of the eggless wonton.

Fold two sides together, just slightly overlapping.  I filled a small bowl with water and placed it next to my taco soup bowl to dip my finger in.  I found that if I dipped my finger into water and dripped one drop of water on top of the overlapped wonton it held together perfectly without making it too wet.

 I then folded up the bottom corner of the eggless wonton and dropped a drop of water on that corner.

And finally did the same process to the last corner.

 Once your eggless wonton looks like a little package you spray it with olive oil cooking spray.

Once you have a tray full, pop it into a preheated oven of 425 degrees and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the edges start to brown up nicely (we prefer ours on the crisper side).

I served mine with salsa and Tofutti sour cream.

Sooooo yummy and fun too.

There are so many fillings you could do so expect to see this again with different fillings.  With Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner I am already thinking of Holiday Bite ideas.

Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich...

Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

I received an email from a blog I subscribe to called the

Chef In You.  It is not a vegan blog but they have some vegan recipes.  I really liked the sounds of the her grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich for breakfast.  I did not use butter on the bread and I cooked mine in my panini machine.  The bread had lovely grill marks without the butter so don't use it, it is not necessary.  The key is go light on the peanut butter but make sure you use it on both pieces of bread and slice your banana as thin as possible.  It is a great breakfast and was fun to make.  If you don't have a panini machine you can grill it in a pan just as you would a grilled cheese sandwich 

(but this was yummier and more fun).

Chinese Chickpea Salad...

Chinese Chickpea Salad

Before I became vegan I used to make a Chinese Chicken Salad that my family loved.  I have had a few requests for the salad so I "veganized" it and used baked chickpeas instead of chicken.  It was very good.  I would recommend marinating the chickpeas for a full 30 minutes before baking them so they have more flavor. Below is the recipe.  Give it a try and tell me what you think.

Chinese Chickpea Salad

Salad Ingredients:

1 medium green cabbage, chopped

3 Tbsp. onion powder

1 small-medium pkg. slivered almonds

4 Tbsp. sesame seeds

4 pkg. Top Ramon noodles teriyaki flavor, crushed

4 carrots, chopped

6 stalks of celery, chopped

5 stalks of broccoli, cut into bit size pieces

1 cup of sugar snap peas, chopped

Chickpeas:

1 15oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed

¼ cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil

1 Tbsp. peanut oil

Dressing:

4 flavor packets from Top Ramen

2 Tbsp. sugar

½ cup cornola oil

½ cup toasted sesame oil

½ cup rice vinegar

1 tsp. pepper

½ cup soy sauce

Mix chickpeas with soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and peanut oil; place in gallon size Ziploc bag and seal with all air removed.  Lay flat so you have a single layer of chickpeas so they all marinate evenly for a full 30 minutes.  Heat oven to 400 F.  Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray lightly with non-stick cooking oil.  Place chickpeas on tray, discard extra marinade, bake for 20-25 minutes, until outside is crunchy.

While the chickpeas cook; mix all the salad ingredients and toss well. 

Blend dressing ingredients; mix well.  Keep separate. 

Top salad with warm chickpeas and serve with dressing on the side. 

Store salad and dressing in refrigerator.

Serves 10-12 as a meal.

Recipe by The Vegan Paige