An Eggplant Lentil dish & another bread machine bread

Speaking of great websites, I should have mentioned Susan Voisin's Fat Free Vegan in my previous post!!! Not only does she have the most beautiful food pics out there but her recipes are always a success and sooo delicious!!!

She has a great recipe index too!

Since I had an eggplant in my fridge that needed to be used but not having a recipe from one of my (*cough*, many) books ready to pull out (i.e. not planned :o ), I googled and Susan's Skillet-eggplant-and-lentils-with-almond-parmesan

came up! It was super yummy!

Because I had some carrots on hand, I threw them in as well, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. (The only thing I didn't do, was make the almond 'parmesan' as I was short on time and my family members were complaining of being already! LOL)

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Now to the bread machine recipe, this one was really easy (aren't they all!?).

I tweaked the recipe for the Super Rapid version (1.5 lbs, ready in ~ 2 hrs)

by using as follows:

~* Wholesome quick bread*~ 

1.5 loaf size

*3/4 c warm water

*1 egg replacer (I used 1 Tbsp flax, 3 Tbsp water instead of Ener-G)

*2 Tbsp vegan butter

*1 c bread flour

*1.5 whole wheat flour

*1/4 c buckwheat flour

*3 Tbsp sugar (will reduce next time to 2 Tbsp)

*1.5 tsp salt

*2 tsp bread machine yeast (or use 2.5 tsp active dry)

Set the cycle on your machine and make sure the flour is all mixed well (I sometimes use a soft plastic spatula in the first mixing cycle to scrape the edges to make sure and add more flour if the dough is too sticky) and do something else in those ~2 hours that the bread is baking.

Once it's done, put on a rack and let it cool down (it's better to cut that way vs. when it's still hot).

Note: If you're not in the mood for a wholesome bread (my kids still don't like 'brown' breads too much LOL), you can simply use the entire amount of bread flour and have a nice soft sandwich style bread! ;)

I had it for lunch today with some baked tofu, lettuce, tomato and some avocado as well as a sice with some coconut oil and jam for breakfast! :D

MIA again!

I know, I know, I've been MIA for way too long!.. Mea culpa! Life just got busy and after Vegan MoFo was over I just slacked posting!

I'm thinking I might try it on a weekly basis instead of daily.. We'll see if that works better!

But for now, let me make it up to you and post a lot of pics and recipes at once! :)

First the savory dishes! 

An online friend of mine told me about Isa's Mac 'n Shews and being a big fan of comfort food but especially anything that involves baked pasta, I had to immediately try it! [Thank you, Christine, for telling me about it! :)]

It requires a bit more prepping time and if you don't like the taste of Sauerkraut, you can skip this one right away.. but I absolutely loved it!!! (Not to mention my Hubby who wouldn't stop raving while eating it! *lol*)

The more I'm cooking any of Isa's dishes, the more I'm thinking this woman doesn't ever create something that doesn't taste good! Seriously, she's my hero! :) Thank you, Isa, for constantly coming up with awesome creations!!!

Next we have simple Mushroom Stroganoff which I've come up with after combining a few vegan Stroganoff recipes.

~*Simple vegan Stroganoff*~

Ingredients:

*1/2 onion (big one, otherwise 1 whole)

*2 tsp minced garlic

*1 Tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

*5 oz (about 2 caps) Portobello mushrooms, diced

*1 c veggie broth 

*10 oz vegan sour cream (I used Silken soft tofu with a splash of lemon juice)

*Salt and pepper to taste

*Pasta

Directions:

-Sautee onion and garlic until soft

-Add diced mushrooms and let simmer for ~10 min

-Cook pasta according to the package

-Add broth, simmer again for another 5-10 min

-Take off the heat and add vegan sour cream (tofu w/lemon juice)

Done! =)

We didn't have any no-egg 'egg noodles' available nor did I have any other kind but Rigatoni in the house..

It was still mighty tasty! ;-)

Next is a Lentil Loaf which recipe I've come across on a vegan (& vegetarian) forum. The person who posted it, mentioned she got it from following site The Magical Loaf Studio which is really cool as you can pick and chose your own ingredients and create your recipe! [Thank you for sharing, Catnip!]

~*Lentil Loaf*~ 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pecans [I used walnuts as I had no pecans]

2 TB olive oil

One onion, diced

One large garlic clove, minced

One large carrot, peeled and grated

One cup mushrooms, cleaned and chopped [I used a red bell pepper instead as I had no mushrooms]

2 cups cooked lentils

1 cup dry whole wheat bread crumbs

1/4 to 1/2 cup vegetable broth, as needed

1 heaping TB flaxseed meal

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp. dried sage

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes

Several dashes vegetarian Worcestershire Sauce

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 TB soy sauce

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a loaf pan or 8x8 square baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside (an 8x8 pan makes a crisper loaf).

Grind the pecans into a coarse meal using a food processor or spice/coffee grinder. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Sautee any vegetables you've chosen in the olive oil until soft. Add to the large mixing bowl along with all the remaining ingredients. Mix and mash together well, adding only as much liquid as needed to create a soft, moist loaf that holds together and is not runny (you may not need to add any liquid if the grains and protein are very moist). Add more binder/carbohydrate as needed if the loaf seems too wet.

Press mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until cooked through.

Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out onto a plate or platter and slice. Serve with potatoes, vegetables, and vegetarian gravy, if desired.

Cold leftover slices of make a great sandwich filling.

It was awesome!!! Any lentil lover will love this dish, I guarantee it! :)

Now on to the sweet dishes! 

Finally I had some successes again! The disastrous Lemon bunt cake still fresh in my mind, it was a huge relief! ;)

Sticky Cinnamon Buns, who doesn't love them!?  I found them here Vegan Baking and though mine looked rather 'unprofessional' compared to the pics on the site, they were freakin' awesome and drool worthy!!!

I only made a few with walnuts and raisins after my family requested to have them 'pure'! *lol* I liked either version!

And last not least a vegan German Applecake I fell in love with instantly!

The recipe is from 'The Joy of Vegan Baking' by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, only slightly alternated.

~*German Applecake*~

Ingredients [cake]:

3 Apples peeled and cut into slices

1/2 cup non dairy butter (I used coconut oil)

1/2 cup vegan sugar

1/2 unsweetened applesauce

2 tbsp non dairy milk

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

Ingredients[Topping]:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cinnnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. lightly grease 9 inch round pan. mix butter & sugar. Add applesauce & milk. Finally add flour & baking powder. Stir until just combined.

Add the batter to pan and arrange apple slices in a circle on the top of cake. Mix together the 3 topping ingredients and sprinkle over cake.

Bake 30-40 minutes, wait 15 minutes before unmolding from cake pan.

I served it with coconut milk (cream), which was originally supposed to be whipped cream consistency but I didn't prep it in advance (1 day before in the fridge) so it had to be rather runny... The taste was still out of this world!!!

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Now, I hope you'll enjoy all those posted recipes and forgive me my lack of posts these previous weeks! ;)

Guten Appetit!