Black Bean Pizza

I went grocery shopping today.  This is a skill I do not excel at, despite making lists and having walked up and down the aisles of area Wegmans’ my entire life.  I always forget things.  Today I forgot Erik’s lunch food which resulted in a very much less than happy husband.  When it came time to make dinner I was all set to make pizza when I realized I forgot the pizza sauce so I decided I’d make tostadas instead when I realized I forgot to get tortillas.  What’s a girl to do?  Combine them of course!  I cooked up onions, garlic, tomatoes and threw in some summer squash I got at the farm stand down the street and spiced it all up with some cumin and chili powder and salt and pepper of course.  I spread this on a ready made pizza crust (thin and crispy works best) and topped it with cheese.  I used cheddar daiya with another sprinkle of cumin, chili powder and cayenne.  I cooked for 10 mins and then added some avocado and taco sauce.  Perfection!  Erik and I liked it but Henry made me scrape off everything that wasn’t cheese.

Grilled Portabello and Eggplant Panini

Did you know that portabello mushrooms taste like steak?  I didn’t believe this until I tasted it for myself at my favorite restaurant when they whipped me up a portabello risotto.  This weekend when the inlaws were cooking up some burgers I told them to pick up a mushroom for me to try and low and behold, it was like eating a burger…but better.  And they are so EASY.  My husband, who will not touch a mushroom with a ten foot pole put them on the top rack of the grill for 5 mins on each side.  To prep them, I drizzled about 1-2 TBSP of olive oil directly in to the slotted slide (I’m sure there is a more technical term for that) and since I didn’t have balsamic vinegar I decided to throw on some Ume Plum Vinegar (found in the natural foods section of your grocer) and ohmygod.  Tonight we replicated the mushrooms and included some grilled eggplant and bean dip and put it on panini bread…I was in heaven.  Now if only I can get my husband to try one of these…

My friend came up with the idea of grilling apricot.  Would you believe it if I told you I’ve only ever eaten dried apricots and never a fresh one?  Grilling them makes them juicy and sweet and they melt in your mouth.  I couldn’t wait to change into my elastic pajama pants when this meal was over!

Vegan French Toast

Before becoming vegan one of my favorite breakfasts was french toast.  It was one of the first things I learned how to make as a kid which then involved soaking a piece of wonder bread in egg and slapping it on a frying pan and drenching it in maple syrup.  I’ve developed more sophisticated methods throughout the years and experimented with different breads, syrups and batters but this was the first time I’ve attempted a vegan version.

Last time the in-laws visited (and before the great vegan decision) I made a french toast casserole for them that involved two loaves of french bread and 12 eggs and 2 containers of cream cheese.  There were a few hints of possibly making that again so I had to come up with something that didn’t involve…well…all that stuff that made it such a big hit to begin with.

I’ve been glued to Chef Chloe’s blog and haven’t been disappointed yet with one of her recipes.  So this morning, for the in-laws I modified her Blueberry Cinnamon French Toast.  Instead of blueberries I used some frozen berries I had in the fridge and skipped over the powdered sugar although I’m sure it would have been delectable with it!  I was just still coming off a margarita cupcake high so the less sugar the better.   In fact, there isn’t any refined sugar at all in the entire recipe.  Agave is in the berry compote and maple syrup is in the batter.   Anywhere, here is the end result:

Everyone ate it so the edibility test was a pass.  Henry ate it so it had to have been at least yummy enough for a three year old.  I will definitely make this again when I’m getting a french toast craving!

Margarita Cupcakes

I took my cupcake making to the next level by attempting these well reviewed Margarita Cupcake.  It’s pretty much like eating a margarita…lime and tequila are quite present in both the cake and the icing.  I would have fun serving these at any summer party!

The recipe is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and is findable on google.

Sweet Summer Mornings

I’ve been out watering the grass before everything gets hot and sticky.  It’s so beautiful and quiet right now.  I get so caught up in cranking up the AC and hiding inside with my coffee that I forget to go out and enjoy the summer.  It’s new to us this year, our place in this hood.  Last summer our little of plot was still newly stripped.  We had no grass or plants just a box on a scab of land.   I would come outside at 5:30am to start watering, wondering if those tiny little seeds were ever going to germinate.  Days would go by with no rain and I’d curse every dark cloud that passed over without giving up some water.  I would watch our neighbors go outside in their bushy green lawns, playing with their kids and dogs, rolling around in it’s lushness.  I had lawn envy.  Eventually the clay soil started to give in and some grass grew.  A little at a time and only in certain spots.  A year later we are still filling in the holes and willing grass to grow but I can see now how the earth is mending itself around our imposing dwelling.  We’re forgiven for now.  We’re all learning to get along. The rabbits and woodchuck eat breakfast together at our table of clover in the back. (It’s ok, I invited them) The native grasses and perennial bushes I planted are thriving and the local pests aren’t being too pesty.  There was one incident with a cricket but I think he met his match with our cat.

Gardening is a life long lesson.  I can’t have it all.  Things get mowed over or are too fussy to live out their life in our shadeless backyard.  The Japanese Maple gave up after a frost and shut itself down.  All that laboring I did digging that damn hole for that pretty tree.  Now there is now an empty hole in the yard with lumps of mulch.  I’m skeptical that another tree will survive but someday when I feel like digging again I will put another in it’s place.

It’s almost mid-July and I have that nagging feeling that I’m letting summer sift through my fingers again which I am vowing at this very moment NOT to do.  Even if it means getting the coffee on the timer again so that we can get out there before the heat drives me away.  And maybe I’ll even program the AC to turn off in the evening so that we can open the windows and invite the fresh air in.  I also want to try to capture the show the lightning bugs put on along the brush line about the time everyone is engrossed in TV (me included) but I have no idea how to attack that kind night photography.  I’ll google it.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Quesadillas

This is probably one of my favorite dinners and definitely one of the easiest.  I boiled some sweet potatoes in water until tender and then mashed them up with a potato masher.  I combined a can of black beans with a little water and some chili powder, cumin and salt and pepper.  (No exact measurements, just to taste) and then I mixed it in with the sweet potatoes and spread on a wheat tortilla that was cooking on a lightly oiled skillet and voila.  I served with some homemade guac!  Henry would not touch this screaming, “I DON’T LIKE BEANS’ which was super frustrating when just last night he scooped his beans up with a spoon saying, “Mmm, I LIKE beans!”

Cupcakes!

I made these Chococolate Strawberry Cupcakes for the 4th of July cookout at my mom’s.  They were yummy!  Recipe can be found on Chef Chloe’s blog.

These were delicious  mini cupcakes I made for the Eclipse party.  The are basic vanilla cupcakes with orange buttercream and a little piece of raspberry or strawberry on top.  Recipes for both the cupcake and frosting were taken from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

And lastly, here is my little cupcake eating a cupcake.  He just eats the frosting and the cupcake tops, leaving cupcake stumps all over the kitchen.