Date Walnut Balls

Another positive effect of our trip to California was discovering these 'date walnut balls'. My cousin's wife (cousin-in-law, I guess?) was 'inspired' to make these very easy, healthy treats after eating the trail mix cookies that I made. Both Em and I blogged about these cookies earlier - here and here. The trail mix cookies have become a staple in our home!!





These date-walnut balls are amazingly easy to make too. She just blended dates, walnuts and flax seeds together and rolled the mix into balls. I did the same, but added the flax seeds at the end, rather than attempting to blend it. Thanks Sangita :)

We made a 'P' with the balls for 'Purdue'. Cheesy (vegan, style!).

Zucchini Bread

Just back from a trip to California. Had a great time with my cousin, his wife and our little nephew. 18 months old and such a talker (he labels everything around him) - we miss him.
I was mighty impressed with Yosemite NP and the food there. All the grills had a morning star burger without cheese and whole wheat burger buns. These morning star burgers were grilled on a separate grill - away from the meats and they tasted YUMMY!! Other foods we saw at the NP - veggie chilli, vegan hummus basket - in addition to the regular pizza, grilled cheese, salads, yogurt, fruits etc.

With all the zucchini coming from the CSA, I have been trying to find multiple ways to cook it. Last year, I made multiple zucchini breads with eggs and butter. Last week, I tried to find recipes for the same without eggs and butter. I found one!! I actually found two!!



I combined this one and this recipe with ingredients I had at home and made my own zucchini bread and muffins. The muffins stayed in the oven for a shorter time, so we could serve it to friends who were visiting and the bread is still in our fridge! I used a mix of whole wheat and all purpose flours for a healthy result. I also added walnuts and craisins. The resulting bread hardly tastes like zucchini, it's just yummy!!

Quesadilla

I just wrote a whole post it and hit 'backspace' and voila! - it was gone!!
So here we go again!!

I started this recipe to make an enchilada similar to this recipe or a side dish like this one for my mom who is visiting. First, I made the bean-vegetable mixture. I used vegetables that came from our garden or the CSA - corn, zucchini, chili peppers, tomatoes. V, however, wanted a Quesadilla. So, that's what I made. I had a wrap without the cheese.




I boiled the sweet corn on the cob and chopped off the kernels for this recipe. I also used dry black beans - soaked and cooked in a pressure cooker. To use up all the zucchini we're getting from the farmer's market, I used it in the recipe. Feel free to change the vegetable. I used a pineapple salsa - I like a little sweet in my food. If not, a few pieces of pineapple may be an option.


Ingredients

1 cup black beans
1 cup corn kernels
1 zucchini, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 chili pepper
1 garlic, minced
1/2 cup salsa
1 T Adobo Seasoning, or to taste
1 t lime juice
1 T Olive oil
1 T vegan cream cheese


Heat Oil, add garlic, corn, black beans, zucchini and saute till the zucchini is slightly cooked. Add tomatoes and saute for a few more minutes. Add salsa, seasoning and let the flavors blend.

Just before turning off, add vegan cream cheese and lime juice. Mix well together.

Warm up tortillas, add the black bean dish and enjoy!

(I would have liked some cilantro too, but we were out and our herb garden lack cilantro)

Cashew French Toast

There are several recipes that I love in the "Becoming Vegetarian" book by Melina and Davis. I find myself returning to it frequently. This recipe for Cashew French Toast always comes out fabulous for us. I think it actually tastes better than egg-based french toast.

Cashew French Toast
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup raw cashew pieces
• 1 cup soymilk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1TB maple syrup
• I usually add some ground cinnamon too!
  
• 6 slices of bread
• oil for the pan or cooking spray
  

Grind cashews in a blender or food processor until they are powdery. This will take some time. Don't rush it or the french toast will be gritty. Add other ingredients (except the oil and bread) and continue to blend/process until smooth. Pour into a shallow bowl. Oil or spray a skillet and preheat over medium heat. Dip bread in cashew mixture and place a few slices into the pan. Do not overlap. Flip once browned. You will likely need to re-oil/spray the pan before cooking additional slices.

Yummy!

Tempura Veggies

I think we may be a little bit too fond of frying vegetables but my husband is a big fan so here we go again! A while back we made a recipe called Better Than Sonics Onion Rings from Vegweb.com and we all loved it so I had the idea to use this batter on some other vegetables to make a tempura, of sorts. We had a bunch of zucchini, green beans and bell peppers from the CSA so those were battered and fried along with a few onions. The green beans were the surprising favorite in this selection. The batter worked really well but the veggies can't be reheated the next day since they get really soggy!

Basil and tomato pasta

A dish from the vegetable garden and CSA vegetables!! I made the 'creamy basil pasta'. It was quite easy to make. I used basil and tomatoes from our garden - there's more of the tomatoes in our garden! Looking forward to using them all. I also added vegan sausage and carrots (for protein and more vegetables - balance the meal!) and it was a yummy meal all around. The chilled glass of white wine (sorry Em) was a delight with the meal!! Definitely going to keep trying this with a variety of vegetables!

Also, tried Blueberry Oat bars. It did not end up as pretty or tasty as I had expected. I used 'Steel Cut Oats' because we ran out of the regular oats. It was a little too 'nutty' and I did not like the texture too much. But I want to try to make it again with the 'bettter' oats!!