Vegan Cheesecake

There are a lot of birthdays this week in our house.  My first on June 11 our companion Vivian, on June 12 my husband Zack and on June 14 our companion Posey.  So rather than making one cake for the dogs and one cake for the husband I made a low sugar vegan cheesecake with a fresh strawberry topping.  The crust is a basic graham cracker crust but I feel by doing a basic crust it enhances the flavors of the actual cake.
Ingredients:
• 16 ounces of vegan cream cheese
• 12 ounces vegan sour cream
• 1/2 cup unrefined sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tbsp egg replacer dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 tbsp lemon zest
Directions:
Prepare a 10'' spring form pan by adding 1/2'' of the crust then line the sides with wax paper.  Preheat the oven to 300.  The spring form pan will need to be submerged in water when baked, I usually use a cake pan and fill it about 1/3 the way with water and place the spring form pan in that for baking.  By placing it in the water when being baked the cake bake more evenly and have less of a chance of having any burnt bits.
Mix the first four ingredients well. If using a stand mixer use a medium speed and whip until creamy. Next add the vanilla beat again, then add the flour 1/4 cup at a time, add the egg replacer water mixture next beat again find finally add the lemon zest.  Pour slowly into pan and bake for about 90 minutes or until center is set.
Allow the cake to cool and then place in refrigerator over night do not unmold until the next day.

Yum and done!

Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower 'Wings'

This recipe was posted on the Peta site today . I just had to try it.  I love love love spicy food and this was completely amazing.  Although I must admit that we made to much so now I have leftovers for tomorrow!  This was completely delicious and we paired it with a salad.  On the Peta site they suggested vegan blue cheese but we used ranch instead.  

Ingredients:

1 cup water or soy milk
1 cup flour

2 tsp. garlic powder
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into pieces
1 cup buffalo or hot sauce
1 Tbsp. melted vegan margarine

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Combine the water or soy milk, flour, and garlic powder in a bowl and stir until well combined.  Coat the cauliflower pieces with the flour mixture and place in a shallow baking dish. Bake for 18 minutes. While the cauliflower is baking, combine your buffalo sauce and olive oil or margarine in a small bowl. Pour the hot sauce mixture over the baked cauliflower and continue baking for an additional 5 to 8 minutes. 

yum and done!

Spinach Basil Pesto

I love pesto, I could most likely eat it every day of my life and be fine with that.  Taking my love for pesto to the next level I decided to experiment with adding some different veggies.  Okay truth be told, I have a rather large amount of spinach we need to eat before it turns.  So I decided to blend some in with my traditional pesto recipe.  The results - delicious!  The spinach makes it a bit more creamy, cuts the strong flavor of the garlic down as well.  As well as adding some other great vitamins to delicious pesto!  I added this batch to my pesto summer salad

Ingredients:

• aproximently 8 ounces of fresh basil
• 1 cup to fresh baby spinach

• 3 cloves of garlic

• 3 tbsp olive oil 
• 2 tbsp pine nuts

• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

 Clean the basil and spinach and dry well and place in to your blender or food processor along with 2 tbsp olive oil and blend until the leaves are in small pieces. Then chop your garlic and add along with the pine nuts as well as the salt and pepper to taste. If the pesto seems a little dry feel free to add a bit more olive oil. 

Here is the pesto waiting!

And a happy salad with spinach basil pesto!

Don The Beachcombers

We went to Don the Beachcombers on Thursday April 27.  We arrived for a late lunch at 2:50.  The restaurant is located on Pacific Coast Highway, in a beach community and tourist destination.  The original opened in Los Angeles in 1934, and was only a cafe at the time.

Pretty nice sign!

The restaurant can be seen from a distance given it’s expansive parking lot and large sign, the restaurant itself has three separate banquet rooms as well as a large main dining room.  The parking area and the land around the physical space is filled with tropical plants and palms.  It feels like an oasis of the tropics.  





Just like many Tiki bars and restaurants it is dark in the entrance, as you are supposed to leave your outside worries behind, the inside has many skylights and a larger picture window with seating behind a thatched bamboo curtain to defuse some of the light. Upon entering the main dining area we were greeted with Hawaiian music, which was at a soft level so not to interfere with talking or listening. It was the best representation of a Tiki restaurant I have ever been in.  It was very clean and inviting and our booth seats were very comfortable. 

Our view from the table of the waterfall

The menus were laid out well although they did not have many vegetarian options, on the top of the main page it stated there were vegetarian options but you had to ask your server about them.  I find this generally annoying especially in a place like California where the population of vegetarians is higher.

The other direction from our table

We first ordered Mai Ti’s, with is a traditional Tiki drink, and they were exquisite.  It was also a fast turnaround to get the drinks delivered to us.  Which is impressive considering it is all hand juiced and mixed. 

Our Mai Ti's! 

Our server informed us that we could have a veggie burger instead of the meat burger and we both ordered it.  It came with either fries or hawaiian cabbage salad.  

My husband and myself were going to this restaurant to see it, we expected great drinks and  didn’t really expect great food.  Much to my surprise the veggie burger was hand made and very delicious.  A lot of places will use a frozen patty and charge to much for it.  This was well worth the $14.00 a piece we paid for them.  They tasted fresh and the vegetables served on them were also very fresh, consisting of hawaiian onion tomato and romaine lettuce, then toped with mango-ginger aioli on a brioche bun.  

All in all I would go back to Don the Beachcombers again, the only hesitation I would have is that they really have limited choices for vegetarians.  So it would be hard for me to choose that restaurant in Southern California, over so many others that have many more vegetarian selections.  Everything from the service to the atmosphere was top notch. It is a destination restaurant, just something that we had to see.  Maybe next time we go there it might be just for the Mai Ti’s!

What is this guy staring at?

Veggie Grill

I was back in LA last week and had the opportunity to eat at Veggie Grill once again.  And once again it did not disappoint!  My absolute favorite dish is the Santa Fe Crispy Chickin'.  It is a fried veggie chicken, lettuce, tomato, red onion, avocado, and spicy vegan mayo on a whole wheat bun!  We also got to sample the Buffalo Wings, which are a crispy veggie chicken in a spicy buffalo sauce, with celery and ranch dressing.  It was marvelous!  Here is a link to their menu page.  

I have never had anything from Veggie Grill that I have not liked.  And with eight locations in California and Oregon they everywhere!  I really wish they would go national through!  Although it is a good excuse to go west!

Banana Nut Muffin

This recipe is my basic sweet bread, the recipe originally came from my Mother, I have modified it to be vegan and has a bit less fat in it than my Mothers recipe. Although the base recipe is the same I modify the fruit or vegetable content added. This time I wanted to make a very banana muffin, the nuts were an added bonus!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 3/4 tsp baking soda

• 1 tbsp cinnamon

• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• the equivalent of 2 eggs

• 1/2 cup raisins

• 1 cup walnuts

• 4 very ripe bananas

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix together the dry ingredients well. Add the oil and the egg replacer mix lightly, add the banana and the vanilla mix well, at this point the mixture should have no lumps. Add the nuts lightly mix. If you are baking muffins it should be about 22 to 25 minutes If you are baking bread it will be about 45 minutes.

Yum and done!

Not My Mother’s Easter Pie

I found this recipe on a great vegan chefs blog her blog is Vegan Planet and her name is Robin Robertson. This particular recipe is from her book Vegan Fire and Spice. I contacted Robin and she was nice enough to let me republish this delicious recipe, thanks again Robin.

I had never heard of Easter Pie before so I wasn't sure what the results would be but they were delicious! The recipe all in all was easy to follow and there were absolutely no surprises. It was a great success and we plan to put it into good use next time we have guests over. As a lot of the prep comes before hand and the stove does the rest, I feel it would be a great recipe for entertaining.

Ingredients:

1 cup wheat gluten flour (vital wheat gluten)
3 tablespoons tapioca flour
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10 to 12 ounces firm tofu, crumbled
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheet, thawed

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a shallow baking pan and set aside.
2. In a food processor, combine the wheat gluten flour, tapioca flour, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, whole and ground fennel seeds, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Pulse to mix.

Dry ingredients pulsed.

3. Add the tofu, water, soy sauce, olive oil, and ketchup and process until well mixed.
4. Shape the mixture into a 7-inch log, wrap it in foil and place it in a baking pan. Bake for 45 minutes, turning once about halfway through. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.
5. Roll out the pastry sheet on a floured surface. Place the cooled sausage log on the lower third of the pastry and fold in the sides. Roll up the pastry to enclose the sausage and use your fingers to seal the ends. Place the roll on a baking sheet, seam-side down, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
6. Bake until the pastry is nicely browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before slicing with a serrated knife.

Right out of the oven!

Our delicious salad

Served with strawberry salad and brussel sprouts!

Yum and done!