Vegan Digest Blog

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Turned out delicious. Served with some left over wild rice and onions.

After seeing an interview on WTTW Chicago with the author of a new cookbook with Indian Slow cooker recipes, I’m giving the first one a try. It’s called Dad’s Ramjah and is in the slow cooker for overnight cooking. Had to make a few adjustments to make it vegan, we’ll see how it turns out.

Here’s a link to the recipe.  I eliminated the butter.

Manna Organics sent Vegan Digest a generous sampling of their Manna Bread products.  What is Manna bread? It is a VEGAN cake-like, sprouted bread, free of salt, no oils, no sweeteners, no leavening agents. Also known as bible bread, this was the first time we had tried breads of this variety. Check out the review on the site under Vegan Food Reviews.

I love blueberries, especially those fresh from the farms of Michigan.  The sweet berries explode in your mouth and are perfect for eating fresh, baking, smoothies, and more.  But what to do in the winter?  Frozen blueberries are expensive and usually not so sweet.  Imagine my surprise at the Dollar Tree last week where they had 10 ounces of frozen blueberries for you guessed it, a dollar.  Normally I am skeptical of what I find at the dollar store, especially any food’s origin.  But these berries said product of USA.  I bought one bag and took it home.  The next morning I added a handful to my hot oat bran cereal.  Yum! They were so amazingly sweet.  The next day I went back and bought ten more bags.  They have become my breakfast staple and such a treat.  They will definitely hold me over until summer berry picking season.

If you haven’t tried using a silicone baking mat, you’re really missing out.  I’m still a big fan of parchment paper, which is use religiously when making homemade pizza on a pizza stone.  But I love my baking mat for pretty much everything else.  Baking tofu?  Use  it.  Making bread?  Use it. Falafel patties? Use it.  It’s a great way of baking things that usally stick, but you don’t have to line the pan with fat.

Did you know about our Vegan Recipe of the Day?  Each morning Vegan Digest selects a Vegan Recipe of the Day. Be sure to today’s latest release! Vegan Digest’s Vegan Recipe of the Day.

I’ve been on a edamame kick lately, because the local grocey store had the frozen shelled variety on sale.  I went a little crazy whe I saw the Buy One Get One Free tag — I bought out all 12 bags they had in stock!  While trying to decide what make, I remembered a roasted edamame recipe I had seen on the Food Network’s Good Eats show with Alton Brown.  So easy with just basic ingredients (beans, corn, tomatoes, and seasoning) and it came out delicious.  Here’s a link.  Enjoy!
Roasted Edamame Salad

If you are still buying your beans canned, you really should try to make them from scratch using dry beans. It is so easy and so much cheaper than buying canned.  Baked beans are another perfect example.  Below is one of my favorite baked bean recipes.   So easy, and I guarantee the non-vegans will love it, too.

Easy Vegan Baked Beans

- 1 pound dry navy beans

- 2 onions

- 1/2 c.  brown sugar

- 1/4 c. molasses

- 1/3 c. ketchup

- 1/4 c. mustard

- 1/4 tsp. black pepper

Soak the beans overnight in water.  In the morning, drain and rinse before putting the beans in the crockpot.  Add all other ingredients and cook on low 8-10 hours or until beans reach desired tenderness.

Susan from the Fat Free Vegan blog is having a challenge called Vegetable Love 2009. Fat Free Vegan is one of my favorite Vegan Food blogs and always a fun read. Here is her description of the challenge:

“I’m talking about Vegetable Love, my annual challenge to my fellow bloggers to create some hot, sexy, vegetable-filled Valentine’s recipes, the kind of dishes that will put some zing into an intimate dinner for two.”

Since I am never one to turn down a challenge, here is my entry…

The sweetness of the roasted red peppers combined with the fragrant parsley and garlic, make this dish prefect to share with your valentine. Enjoy!

Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Pasta

1 pound whole wheat penne pasta

2 large red bell peppers

2 large garlic cloves

3/4 c. fresh flat leaf parsley

2 Tbsp. pimentos

2 tsp. white wine vinegar

2 Tbsp. water

black pepper to taste

1/4 c. reserved pasta cooking water

Roast the red peppers and garlic.  (Gas stove top or oven method are fine.)  While the peppers and garlic are cooling after being roasted, prepare the pasta according to package directions. Combine pepper, garlic, and remaining ingredients into food processor.  Pulse until finely chopped.  Combine pasta and pesto in large bowl and toss.  Add as much reserved cooking water as needed to make pasta moist.  Toss again and serve immediately.