Ginger and Caramel Cheesecake

Serves about 8-16

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

1 container of Trader Joe’s Triple Ginger Cookies
1 stick of Earth Balance, melted

In a food processor, blend about 3/4 of the cookies and the melted margarine till it becomes a fine crumb. Press into 4 mini non-stick springform pans or one large.

1.5 containers of vegan cream cheese (12 oz)
11 oz silken tofu
2/3 c granulated white sugar

Blend together till creamy.

1/8 c lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cornstarch

Whisk together in a small bowl, then add to tofu mixture. Blend again for a couple minutes. Pour mixture evenly between the mini tins or onto the one big crust and then back for about 35-45 mins (till golden-tinged on top). Remove from oven and let cool for 2 hours.

1 c granulated white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c coconut cream (the hard stuff off the top of the can – easiest way to get this is to refrigerate the can for a few hours)

In a heavy-bottomed pot (at least medium-sized, because you don’t want to deal with boiling-over caramel), add the sugar and salt and heat on high, continuously stirring with a wooden spoon until it becomes completely lumpy (about 10 mins). Reduce heat to medium and keep stirring till most of the lumps have softened and you have a sort of soft, gooey clump of melted brown sugar (about another 10 mins). Add the coconut cream (carefully – a couple tbsp at a time – because it will boil up and splatter) and kept stirring till the lumps are gone (or at least mostly gone) (about another 10 mins). 

Once the cheesecakes have cooled you can either

– pour the hot caramel directly onto them, then cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight. The caramel will appear to harden while it’s cooling, but something in the cheesecake filling will re-liquefy it completely in about 48 hours, so it’ll end up a nice, gooey sauce or

– spread the caramel out on to parchment or wax paper and let it harden (only takes a few minutes) then break it up into chunks and sprinkle over the cheesecakes before serving or

– a combination of both of the above.

 

 

Cauliflower and Broccoli in a Rich Makhani Gravy

This is such an easy Indian recipe from Vegan Richa – great for a tasty weeknight dinner, and comes together very quickly.

Some changes I  made:
– subbed 1 tsp of ground fenugreek for the leaves
– subbed half a can of fire-roasted tomatoes for fresh, and skipped the simmering time
– skipped the cashews and used a whole can of coconut cream (full fat)

Spaghetti Bolognese

2 tbsp oil
1 large yellow onion, diced

3-6 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 c dry white wine, sake or vodka
2 can crushed or diced fire roasted tomatoes
salt and pepper
1 tbsp dried basil 
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 package of Trader Joe’s meatless ground beef

Heat the oil and margarine in the same pan, on medium, while you prepare the onions and garlic. Toss them in the pan and saute till translucent and soft. Deglaze the pan with the wine/alcohol then add both cans of tomatoes, as well as the basil and oregano. Add salt and pepper now and season again at the end after tasting. Reduce heat to med-low and leave uncovered – but I recommend a splatter-guard. Simmer for about 30 mins.

Add meatless meat to the pan (crumbled first) and let simmer for for about 8 minutes. Serve over spaghetti with lots of rice-based fake parmesan.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

{never}homemaker’s recipe is fantastic – and very simple to make. I make it even simpler by making the recipe as muffins, rather than a loaf, so the baking time is much shorter. I also use canola oil instead of olive oil and double the chocolate chips…

Cumin Lime Black Bean Salad

This recipe can be found over at Oh She Glows.

I made this with basil instead of cilantro (I hate cilantro), and it was pretty decent – but I’m not a huge fan of quinoa and might try this with pearl couscous next time.

Basic Alfredo Sauce

This is a Chloe Coscarelli recipe, via Your Vegan Mom, and is a great staple sauce. I initially planned to make exactly to the recipe, but realized at the last minute I had no miso on hand. So instead I subbed in 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, a splash of Braggs’, and I used white pepper instead of black. It tasted rich and comforting.

One note – don’t add the sauce to the pasta till ready to serve, as the pasta will absorb it really quickly and you’ll have gluey mess on your hands.

Nasi Goreng

BoldVegan’s recipe for this delicious fried-rice dish is super simple and very much in the comfort-food category. I followed the recipe pretty much to the letter, except I used freshly-made jasmine rice, and added some pan-fried tofu.

Fried Chickun

This is the fried chicken recipe I’ve been looking for – the flavours are just perfect in every way. I adapted Hell Yeah It’s Vegan!’s recipe a little:
– I had Gardein Chick’n Scallopini in the freezer, so I decided to use that rather than making seitan from scratch this time. However, while it tasted good, the Gardein doesn’t have enough substance – it got kinda soggy and didn’t really hold up to frying. Lightly marinated tofu would great, though.
– I only used about 1/4″ of peanut oil in my fancy new all-clad skillet, and it was plenty for frying the thin Gardein fillets.
– I also forgot to pick up spicy brown mustard, but I googled the ingredients and came across this:

“There are no known substitutes for spicy brown mustard. In this case, individuals are encouraged to make their own recipe for this condiment. The ingredients that are included in the makings of this are mustard seed, red wine vinegar, dry mustard, water, prepared horseradish, ground turmeric, ground cloves, brown sugar, and dry red wine. All of these ingredients must be combined and simmer in a saucepan , then allowed to sit for 60 to 90 minutes at room temperature before being used in any way.”

So… I mixed up the water and flour and then just added:
– a big pinch of mustard powder
– about a tsp of red wine vinegar
– 1/2 tsp of horse radish
– 1/4 tsp of turmeric
– a good pinch of brown sugar
– a tiny splash of beaujolais
since I didn’t have ground cloves and didn’t feel like waiting for an hour or more. But the breading tasted absolutely fantastic, I’ll definitely be making this again.

Served up with sauteed swiss chard and mashed potatoes:

Pad Thai

This pad thai recipe from Vegan Flavorista is so simple and quick to make – without the fish sauce of traditional pad thai, it does lack a little umami, but it’s still a fantastic dish. I only made two changes to the original recipe:
– I subbed Thai basil for cilantro
– I used a 1/2 tbsp less of sugar

Chocolate Raspberry Torte

I followed this recipe from Mattie over at VeganBaking.net

I put the mixture into 4 mini springform pans, which is enough for at least 8 people – it’s very dense and rich.