Chloe’s Kitchen: 125 Easy, Delicious Recipes for Making the Food You Love the Vegan Way by Chloe Coscarelli

Everyday Happy Herbivore: Over 175 Quick-and-Easy Fat-Free and Low-Fat Vegan Recipes by Lindsay S. Nixon

Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables by Cheryl Sternman Rule

Vegan Cooking for Carnivores: Over 125 Recipes So Tasty You Won’t Miss the Meat by Roberto Martin

Full disclosure: The links to the VegCookbooks are attached to my Amazon Associates account. If you make a purchase after you click on a link, I receive a small percentage of the sale. Also, I received a review copy of Ripe.

Hello VegCooks!

How was your week? I had more time to cook this weekend, than I did the week before. Yay!

My favorite dish of the week was the Spinach Spaghetti with Basil-Cilantro Pesto and Artichokes (pictured above).  This took awhile to make, but was totally worth it.  The sweetness of the spaghetti and pesto combined with the salty tang of the artichokes was super yum.

I served the pasta with a green salad, and the Corn & Edamame-Sesame Salad, which was super quick to make, and tasty.

Even though it’s pretty hot here, I decided to make the French Lentil  Soup with Tarragon and Thyme on Sunday night, so that we’d have leftovers to start the week with. I used smoked paprika, which made it extra delish, and served it with rice, which the hubs and I both added to our soup bowls.

Finally, during the busy workweek, I made a batch of the Marinara Sauce while the hubs sauteed up some onions, peppers, broccoli and Trader Joe’s Meatless Meatballs to put over the penne.  The sauce was a little tart.  Maybe I didn’t cook it long enough, or maybe I’m just used to store-bought sauce, that probably has sugar in it!

What did you VegCook this week?

I’ll be putting up the poll for us to vote for our June VegCookbook soon. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Last week was soooooooo busy.  It was a real struggle to find time to cook.

What are your tips for how to find time to cook during the work week?

I only made one recipe from this month’s VegCookbook, Veganomicon, the Broc Mac Daddy (a vegan version of mac n’ cheese).

I was a little worried at first because it uses so much nutritional yeast, which I like, but I wasn’t sure if I would like it *that* much.

At first, we both said, “It’s OK,” but the more we ate, the more we liked it. As the hubs put it, “It’s growing on me.” We ate it for two nights, and will probably have it again tonight! It makes a ton.

What did you VegCook this week?

Full disclosure: The link to Veganomicon is linked to my Amazon Associates Account. If you buy something after you click on it, I will  receive a small percentage of the sale, which I’ll probably use to buy more books!

What did you make this week from our May VegCookbook, Veganomicon? I tried out a couple recipes this week.

Penne Vodka
Yummy, creamy and easy

Chickpea Patties with Mustard Sauce
Sooooo . . . the mustard sauce was awesome, and the flavor of the chickpea patties was good, but they were very, very chewy. Like, unable to cut them with a fork chewy.

This was my first time cooking with vital wheat gluten, which I’m guessing is what made them chewy. Do you have any tips for how to cook with wheat gluten? I feel like there are some technique tips I need to know.

Thanks!

Full disclosure: The link to Veganomicon is attached to my Amazon Associates account. If you make a purchase after you click on it, I receive a small percentage of the sale.

My favorite recipes from Blissful Bites

We’ve finished up another month of VegCooking together.  Good job VegCooks!

Elisa posted about making the Un-Tuna Salad from Blissful Bites on her blog, Veggie goes Vegan. This was one of my favorite recipes (I made it three times).

The rest of you shared your Blissful Bites’ experiences in the comments of these VegCookbook Club posts:

• Recipe for Spring Kale Salad w/ Sweet Mustard Dressing from Blissful Bites
• Penne with Creamy Red Pepper Sauce + Southwest Tofu Scramble
• Fresh Corn and Zucchini Frittata, Un-tuna Salad, Spring Kale Salad with Sweet Miso Dressing
• Tropical Three-Bean Salad + Lentil-Coconut Curry
• Love Your Heart Beet Soup + Coconut Bliss Granola
• What Should Our May VegCookbook Be?

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago,  the nice folks at BenBella Books, the publishers of Blissful Bites,  offered to give away two copies to VegCookbook readers.

To enter the giveaway, I asked that you recommend some vegetarian and vegan blogs for us to add to the VegCookbook Club blog roll in the comments of this post. I put all the commenters’ names on slips of paper, and picked two at random.

The winners are . . . Hollie, and JanaC of My Life as a Runner!  Hollie and Jana ~ please email me with your mailing address so that I can pass it on to BenBella press.

I’m looking forward to cooking from Veganomicon with all of you in May!

Full disclosure: The link to Blissful Bites is attached to my Amazon Associates account. If you make a purchase after you click on it, I receive a small percentage of the sale.

You can learn more about Isa on her website theppk.com, and follow her on Twitter at @isachandra. If you’ve been cooking with us for awhile, you’ll recognize her as the author of our January pick, Appetite for Reduction. You can learn more about Terry Hope Romero  on her website, veganlatina.com and follow her on Twitter at @terryhope.

Veganomicon is available on Amazon and Powells. Don’t forget to check with your local bookstore and library too.

Full disclosure: The links to Veganomicon and Appetite for Reduction are attached to my Amazon Associates account. If you make a purchase after you click on it, I receive a small percentage of the sale.

Chloe’s Kitchen: 125 Easy, Delicious Recipes for Making the Food You Love the Vegan Way by Chloe Coscarelli

Everyday Happy Herbivore: Over 175 Quick-and-Easy Fat-Free and Low-Fat Vegan Recipes by Lindsay S. Nixon

Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables by Cheryl Sternman Rule

Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero

Full disclosure: The links to the VegCookbooks are attached to my Amazon Associates account. If you make a purchase after you click on a link, I receive a small percentage of the sale. Also, I received a review copy of Ripe.

Inspired by Debra’s rave review, I made the Love Your Heart Beet Soup (p. 63).  It was earthy and comforting, and such a beautiful color.  If you’re going to make it, definitely use red lentils (the recipe calls for them) so that you get the best color.

I also made the Coconut Bliss Granola (p. 35), which is freaky good and full of yummy things: brown rice crispies, rolled oats, raisins, almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds, cinnamon, sunflower seeds, dried coconut, and more!

It makes a lot, but given how much the hubs and I like it, I don’t think it’s going to be around for long. I’ll definitely be making it again.

What VegCooking did you do this week?

Full disclosure: The link to Blissful Bites is attached to my Amazon Associates account. If you make a purchase after you click on it, I receive a small percentage of the sale.

Plus, if you share the name and URL of your favorite VegBlog, you’ll be entered to win a copy of this month’s VegCookbook, Blissful Bites.  The nice folks at BenBella Books, the publishers of Blissful Bites, have offered to give away two copies to VegCookbook readers.

Be sure to add a link to your blog, your Twitter name, or your email , so that I know how to contact you if you win. I’ll announce the winners on April 30th.

Share your favorite VegBlogs today!

Full disclosure: The link to Blissful Bites is attached to my Amazon Associates account. If you make a purchase after you click on it, I receive a small percentage of the sale

How was your week? I’m pretty excited that it’s Oakland Veg Week here in the Bay Area. I’m hoping to go to the closing event where our February VegCookbook author, Colleen Patrick Goudreau, will be speaking.

This week, I tried two new recipes from Blissful Bites. The Tropical Three-Bean Salad (p. 189):

and the Lentil Coconut Curry (p. 184):

I also made the Un-tuna Salad (p. 206) and the Balsamic Vinaigrette (p.103), that I mentioned last week, again.  The un-tuna salad is addictively delicious!

What VegCooking did you do this week?

Full disclosure: The links to Blissful Bites and Integrative Nutrition are attached to my Amazon Associates account. If you make a purchase after you click on them, I receive a small percentage of the sale.