Brazil Nut "Cheese" and GF Snickerdoodles

I've got one more recipe to bake up this afternoon when I get home from work, but I decided to hop on and post quickly at lunch. (Just in case I don't have time later.)

Tonight my family is having a Chanukah party and I'm bringing a couple of items. Last night I followed an interesting recipe I saw in Vegetarian Times for Brazil Nut Cheese.

It is very simple. Soak Brazil nuts in water overnight and then food process with salt, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and water. After that roll it into a ball and squeeze out extra moisture. Then roll it in fresh herbs and bake it in the oven. Serve it drizzled with olive oil.

I'd give this recipe 9.5 stars out of 10. It is a tiny bit salty for my taste, so next time I will cut down the salt and likely it will be 10! The picture really doesn't do it justice. I sliced it open so you could see the center.

This is the kind of thing I've missed a bit as a vegan. Spread this on a veggie sandwich and you have one heck of a lunch!

One of the people attending the party tonight has Celiac, so I wanted to be accommodating. I know what it is like when I go to party and can't eat anything. I'd decided on Snickerdoodles, but now I had to veganize and make the recipe gluten free.

The recipe I used was from allrecipes.com. First, I replaced the eggs with Ener-G egg replacer which is gluten free.  Then I replaced the flour with a gluten free mix. Everything else stayed the same.

The first batch of cookies was too soft after 8 minutes, so I put them back in for 2 extra minutes. Later, I learned that the cookies need to rest for a few minutes before removing them from the sheet. S0... If you like crunchy cookies, cook for 10-11 min. For softer ones cook for 8-9. Wait before moving them from the cooking sheet.

I hope you all enjoy the holidays!

News, Kale, and More..

First, I saw this article in various places via email and online. If you haven't read it yet, it is worth the time.

The UN released a new study with findings that say: The cattle industry produces more greenhouse gases than driving cars.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20772&Cr=global&Cr1=environment#

Onto food stuff...

After our offbeat Thanksgiving, I did make up a more traditional vegan T-day plate.


You'll notice roasted yellow beats, sauteed beet greens (with garlic), a small portion of mashed potatoes, half a roasted sweet potato with cinnamon, and some slices of Celebration Field Roast. Tommy loves sweet potatoes and field roast. This was my first experience with cooking up the beet greens. I liked them!

The Field Roast is a great. It is a seitan roll with butternut squash and apple stuffing. I'm a huge fan of this product and look forward to this time of year when it is easy to find Field Roast in the store. The Field Roast Company also makes seitan sausages that I'd highly recommend. Their site lists a new vegan cheese which I'm looking forward to trying; however, I've been unable to find any locally.

This week I purchased some kale in order to try out a new recipe for Bean and Kale scramble that I found on FatFreeVegan. Generally I avoid kale, with the exception of one recipe I posted about previously.

This looked interesting, so I gave it a go. I included the optional mustard. The dill, soy sauce, and mustard made this dish quite flavorful and I'd cook it again.

So, I had some leftover kale and decided try out Kale Chips which I'd filed away a long time ago. The recipe is very simple. Chop up the kale, toss with olive oil and bake for 10 minutes (or until crispy) at 350 degrees. Wow, this couldn't be any easier and I love the crunchy kale chips! They are great plain and I also tried a few different toppings including vegan parmesan shaker cheese and creole spice seasoning. This recipe idea is a keeper.

I'm still limping around, so I'm cooking less than I would like, but I am keeping up with everyone's blogs.

A quick lunch time post...

I've been MIA yet again.

I'm actually recovering from a snowboarding injury. I managed to hurt my knee pretty badly. (Figures it happened, so early in season.) Fortunately, lateral movement is good/not wobbly. I'm doing my best to stay off it and we're hoping it heals on its own in 7-10 days. Otherwise, I'll need to get an MRI on it.

Needless to say, I didn't get much cooking done while lounging around with my leg up and ice packs on my knee. Though I do have 2-3 posts waiting for me upload. I'll try to do that tonight.

For now, I thought I'd share a t-shirt that I found amusing. The site that sells it, does not have a veg agenda which is kind of funny. If you want one, they are on sale at threadless.com.

Zombie Chickens

Normally, I don't post much as far as animal rights news. Today I was at a website (no connection to veganism) where this article was linked.

The egg industry sickens me and anyone who believes that eating eggs causes no harm to chickens, need to read articles like this.

The first paragraph:

In this rich agricultural region of Northern California, ranchers have been turning chickens too old to lay eggs into compost at a rate of a half-million hens a year.

But some chickens not properly euthanized have been seen crawling out of the compost piles, earning them the name ``zombie chickens'' -- and hatching a debate over what else might be done with them and other ``spent hens.''

Link to the full article.

Those poor animals. After a years of laying eggs in tiny cages and being deprived of basic necessities, they are suffocated and then buried alive. All this, so that people can eat eggs. Can you imagine how scared those poor creatures must be, after clawing their way out of compost heap filled with other dead brothers and sisters?

News like this is so frustrating and I'm not even sure what I can do to help. Living by example and sharing information are the first steps though.