Fiesta Macaroni Bean Salad

QueenOfDrama (my lovely daughter/cooking partner-in-crime) loves this salad in her laptop lunches.

3 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked

Dressing:
3/4 cup vegan "mayonnaise"
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Salad:
1 large carrot, grated
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1 small red onion, minced
1/2 cup sweet pickle relish
1 19-oz. (540 mL) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

In a large pot of water, boil the pasta. While pasta is cooking, prepare the salad ingredients and place into a medium bowl. To prepare dressing: combine all ingredients. Set aside. To prepare salad: Once pasta is done, drain and rinse pasta under cold water until cooled. Shake off excess water and add to salad bowl. Toss ingredients with dressing and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Makes 2 large or 4 small servings.

(taken from La Dolce Vegan!)

Sesame Street awesomeness

Check this out:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=g3DWRhfNm4c

It's from 1977, when Sesame Street was focused more on education (and less on making sure that no one was offended).

Raspberry Blackout Cake with Ganache-y Frosting

This was Annalina's birthday cake--she quite enjoyed it! Thanks to VegMomma for the suggestion. I doubled the recipe (the recipe below is not doubled) and used a 9x13 pan. I'll post a pic when I figure out how to do it.

Raspberry Blackout Cake

1 + 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 + 1/2 cups plain soy milk
1/2 cup canola oil
10 oz jar of raspberry preserves (reserve 1/2 cup for the batter)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 + 1/4 cups sugar
Fresh raspberries for decorating and yumminess

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 8-inch round springform cake pans with cooking spray.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda. Combine the soy milk, oil, 1/2 cup of the preserves, the vamilla, and the sugar in a large bowl and mix with a hand mixer or strong fork. The jam should be mostly dissolved with the rest of the ingredients; some small clumps are okay .Add the dry ingredients to the wet in batches and mix until everything is incorporated. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in pans. When the cakes have cooled fully, spread one layer of cake with a think layer of the remaining raspberry preserves; spread a layer of chocolate frosting on top of the preserves. Place the other layer of cake on top and spread its top with preserves. Carefully spread the chocolate frosting over the top, then ice the sides.

Chocolate Ganache-y Frosting
3/4 cups soy creamer (I use Silk brand, but if it's not available then plain soy milk will do)
6 tbsp nonhydrogenated margarine
10 oz semisweet chocolate chips

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the soy creamer to a low boil. Add the margarine and melt, turn off the heat, and stir in chocolate chips until smooth. Let sit for at least 1 hour. It shoudl still have a pourable consistency at this point.

(taken from Vegan with a Vengeance)

Menu for Annalina's Par-tay

Two-Bean Salad with Tarragon Dressing
Oriental Cabbage Salad
Black Bean & Avocado Salad
Spicy Hummus with pita
Veggie dogs
Raspberry Blackout Cake (this is the birthday cake!)
Coconut Heaven Cupcakes
Peanut Butter Cookies
fruit with yogurt dip
potato chips (ketchup, salt & vinegar, dill pickle, sour cream & onion)
soft drinks
juice
booze

more as I think of it . . .

I'm not here

The little monkey and I are in Kelowna visiting my parents and sister. My dad is an awesome cook, so I won't be in the kitchen much this week. I will try to post a couple of his veg recipes though.

Funny story: I showed up at the airport a day early. My mum booked my flight for Wednesday, I thought it was on Tuesday, and yeah, I showed up 24 hours early. Everything worked out--it's a daily flight, so the fantastic WestJet guy managed to get me on the flight I thought I was on.

Needless to say, I will be triple-checking my arrangements to get home.

Two-Bean Salad with Tarragon Dressing

Salad:

1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 15-oz. can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 6-oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
1/4 cup sliced red onion

Tarragon Dressing:
1/4 cup balsamic or tarragon vinegar
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp maple syrup
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp fresh tarragon

To make salad: fill large pot with 1 inch water and set steamer basket in pot. Cover, and bring water to a boil. Place green beans in steamer basket. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and steam 2 to 3 minutes, or until green beans are crisp-tender. Cool.

Toss green beans with all remaining salad ingredients in large serving bowl.

To make Tarragon Dressing: blend vinegar, mustard, maple syrup, garlic, salt, and pepper in blender or food processor until smooth. With machine running, gradually add oil and tarragon through feed tube, and blend until smooth. Pour dressing over salad, and toss to coat. Serve at room temperature.

(taken from the April 2007 issue of Vegetarian Times)

Vegan Gummi Bears (review)

I bought some vegan gummi bears at Organic Roots yesterday (the "classic" flavour). They were very, very sweet. A bit too sweet. And the texture was a bit granular (it felt like eating sugar). They're not bad, but I don't think I'll buy them again (unless it's to decorate a cake or something).