Broccoli and Cheese Soup

As I’ve previously mentioned, I can spend hours reading through new cookbooks. Over the past week, I’ve been reading Betty Goes Vegan. Ken’s family held a bridal shower for me last weekend and it was part of an adorable gift basket I received. If you’re looking for a new vegan cookbook, I would definitely suggest it-unless you’re not a fan of vegan meat and dairy substitutes. There’s a lot of fun history tidbits and traditional American recipes, which made me reflect back on some of my first recipes.

The first cookbook I had was a collection of recipes from a fire department-you know the kind, where they all put together recipes in a book to try to raise money? Anyway, any recipes I happened to print out or scribble down in the first few years on my own are stuffed into the front page. In flipping through my many pages of chicken scratch I stumbled upon my mom’s cream of broccoli soup recipe. I always enjoy an attempt to veganize an old recipe and it’s especially gratifying when it still tastes the same as I remember it.

Speculoos Cookie Bars

I developed a slight addiction to a Trader Joe’s product called Cookie Butter sometime last year-if you’ve ever tasted it, you can understand why. There are secret underground communities dedicated to worshiping the stuff. I’m dead serious, just look up cookie butter on Tumblr and browse for about 30 seconds. It combines everything that is good about gingerbread and peanut butter and cookies into one addicting jar.

All love fades eventually, though and then you are left with the remnants of your broken relationship. In my case, that’s about 4 jars of cookies butter hiding in a cabinet. I had honestly forgotten about them until the past weekend. I was forced to move everything out of my pantry to make space for a washer and dryer (yay!). Our recent 14 inches of snow inspired me to make a warm, comforting dessert and I knew I could find a use for all that cookie butter.

Chickpea, Broccoli, and Brown Rice Casserole

Hello everyone! It’s been a while!!

I recently graduated from school and began a new job at a large local salon, so I’ve had less time to focus on blogging. I’ve also been devoting a majority of my time to couponing, which has result in a plethora of free groceries. With all this free food, I’ve had to come up with creative ways to use it (because who really needs eight bottles of barbeque sauce?)

Today was sunny and beautiful; the type of spring day that makes me want to wear a skirt and cook a casserole. Yes, the type of casserole your mom used to make with condensed cream of chicken soup and fried onions (those were free too.) However, this recipe replaces the cream with soymilk and the chicken with chickpeas. The brown rice will make you feel less guilty when you top it with extra cheese and fried onions. Feel free to adjust this recipe to your dietary preferences.

Baba Ghanoush

Every food blog needs a recipe for hummus, guacamole, or the eggplant equivalent-baba ghanoush. I have been craving baba ghanoush for weeks, so I picked up an eggplant on sale at the beginning of the week. I finally had time on Friday to fulfill my craving-I served it with pita bread and madras sambar. Roasting the eggplant gives it an amazing smoky flavor and I found myself eating it on slices of cucumber and tomato when my pita bread was gone.

Tortilla Pie

It’s been a while since I posted again-I’m going to blame it on finals and my current stress level. I only have one final left next week, but of course the hardest one is last. I’ve still been cooking, but the only new recipes I’ve made have been eaten before I could snap a picture. Here is another throwback recipe-tortilla pie. I found the recipe on this for Tumblr and swore I was going to veganize it as soon as possible.

Beer-Battered Avocado Wedges

I didn’t plan on posting this today but I enjoyed it so much I wanted to share.

I’ve never made beer batter before, but now I’m wondering about all the possible things to fry. Tofu, seitan, pickles, mushrooms…the list is endless. I’ve seen plenty of recipes for avocado fries that interested me, but most called for eggs. When I found this recipe, I thought it was perfect; it combined the two things I love the most-avocados and ales. This would be a great recipe for Super Bowl weekend. We had it today with wings and beer and it was perfect for munching in front of the television.

The batter fries up soft with a little crunch, while the avocado stays soft and creamy. It was really nice with some dipping sauce; I stirred together 1/4 cup Tofutti sour cream and 2 tablespoons chunky salsa which worked well. You could just use salsa as well.

Roasted Root Vegetable Soup

I’ve had a lonely acorn squash floating around my kitchen for weeks now. I kept moving it from surface to surface, hoping I’d find the proper night to cook it. In flipping through the few cookbooks I own, I found a recipe for a roasted root vegetable soup that called for butternut squash. I figured I couldn’t go wrong substituting it with acorn squash and I was right. (I love being right.)

The original recipe can be found in this book, and calls for turnips and leeks, but adds the note that you can use other vegetables depending on what’s in season. I think celery or sweet potatoes would be a wonderful addition as well. I tasted the soup partway through cooking and thought it needed a little more sweetness, so I added brown sugar. You could alternatively roast the acorn squash with brown sugar instead of adding it later. I hope you enjoy, it’s a perfect recipe for the cold winter months.