Hummus Heaven

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a backyard barbecue at my friend's new house. I, being the conscientious vegetarian that I am, went ahead and brought something (other than chips and potato salad) that I knew I would be able to eat. The lucky winner = hummus. I have brought hummus to many places, and am always shocked by how impressed people are. I mean, seriously, it's a half dozen ingredients thrown into a food processor. In answer to many a request, I am now putting the recipe up here.

Basic Hummus (large batch)

Ingredients:

• 2 cans chick peas (drained, liquid reserved)
• 4 heaping Tablespoons of Tahini (I prefer the brand Beirut)
• 6 cloves (or to taste) of crushed or finely chopped garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin (optional)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• Sprinkle of Paprika (optional)
  

Directions:

• Combine chick peas, tahini, garlic, salt, cumin, and cayenne pepper in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add reserved liquid as needed to achieve your desired consistency.
  
• Stir in the lemon juice.
• Spoon into a bowl, and top with a Sprinkle of Paprika and a drizzle of Olive Oil.
• Serve at room temperature.

Variations:
I have many different types of hummus that I make. These are a couple of my favorites. These ingredients should be blended with the chick peas, tahini and spices.

• Red Pepper Hummus: Add 1/2 cup fire roasted red pepper. If you would like a hotter hummus, add either an extra 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, or a Tablespoon of crushed red pepper.
• Parsley - Add a cup of chopped parsley or cilantro, and 2 tablespoons of lime juice.
• Roasted Garlic: Instead of adding raw garlic, coat your cloves in olive oil, and roast in aluminum cones under your oven's broiler until browned.

Hummus is one of the most versatile spreads. You can put anything you want into it. I usually just put in what I happen to have in the refrigerator. You can be as creative as you want, or it's great plain. It doesn't matter.

And now kids, if you are EXTRA good, I'll post Hummus's beautiful sister, Baba Ganouj, and Hummus's lovely lady friend Tzatziki. We shall see!

Bento Love AKA. Sometimes I don't hate carrots.

I made myself a lovely little Bento this morning. It even had some delicious carrots in it... and I usually hate carrots.

• 2 mini peanut butter (Smart Balance Crunchy) and honey (local, of course.) sandwiches on french bread
• Matchstick Carrots and Slivered almonds
• A container of Ken's Steakhouse Asian light dressing (YUM)
• A few hot peanuts
• A few slices of dried apple
• A small piece of chocolate covered toffee

All and all... it was delicious, and it allowed me to snack during the day, which is how I like to eat. Good stuff! i just thought I'd share. The carrot salad in particular was a little stroke of genius, though it would have been enhanced by some sesame seeds.

Enjoy!

Marshmallow Treats! Yum!

So I hear you have a batch of marshmallow fluff that you don't have anything to do with? What a fantastic coincidence!

Vegetarian Marshmallow Treats with Peanut Butter

Ingredients:

• Your batch of marshmallow fluff (http://cooking-with-coconuts.blogspot.com/2008/05/vegetarian-marshmallow-fluff.html)
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 7 cups Crispy Rice Cereal

Directions:

• Put the marshmallow fluff, butter or margarine, and peanut butter into a medium sauce pan.
• Heat on medium, stirring constantly, until everything is melted together.
  
• In a large bowl, pour the marshmallow mixture over your Crispy Rice Cereal.
• Mix until the cereal is covered.
• Press into a greased 9x13 pan.

This makes approximately 24 nice, thick, peanut buttery marshmallow treats. Yum!

Vegetarian Marshmallow Fluff

These were originally supposed to be marshmallows BUT with a little finagling, it turned out to be the most beautiful marshmallow fluff ever.

Ingredients:

• 1 25 gram packet of unflavored agar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup light Karo syrup
• 1/4 cup water
• pinch salt
• 1 generous Tablespoon vanilla
• powdered sugar
• canola oil
• 2 egg whites

Directions:

• Grease and powder (with powdered sugar) a large sealable container (plastic or glass) that you will store your fluff in.
• Combine the sugar, Karo syrup and 1/4 cup of water in a saucepan, and slowly heat until 250 degrees. (hard ball stage for you candy experts out there.)
• When that gets up to temp, turn it off, and quickly stir the Agar with 1/2 cup warm water.
• Drizzle the sugar mixture, while beating on low.
• Beat on high for approximately 8-10 minutes.
• Mix in the egg whites, and beat on high until light and fluffy.
• Stir in the vanilla.
• NOTE: This DOES have raw egg in it, so refrigerate it, and those of you who do not eat raw egg.... Don't eat it!
• Store in an airtight container, and use it pretty quickly.

If anyone else tries this, please comment and let me know how it turned out!

Also, Almond Dream Vanilla Almond Milk... I just tried it, and it is wonderful. It has a delightful milk like texture, color, and taste. Perfect on cereal or in coffee. Even my hunny bunny likes it!

It's a great day!

My best friend and I went down to my parent's house this weekend to A: See my sister off to prom, and B: Celebrate her birthday with her. Since my birthday is less than two weeks from now, my parents went ahead and gave my birthday present to me. It's a copy of only the GREATEST looking Vegan cookbook ever... the Veganomicon! ( http://www.theppk.com/nomicon.html)

I can tell you that I am quite excited to try, and then change some recipes out of that book. I believe the first that I will try will probably be the Banana Nut Waffles. I just happened to flip the book open to that page at my friend's house, and that was when I decided that I needed a copy! So stay tuned, gentle readers! Same cooking blog, Same cooking channel.

Greatest Vinaigrette Ever

You will have to refer back to this often. I invented this dressing, and it's so amazing that part of me wants to share, and part of me wants it to be my secret forever. (Like my banana bread spices... good luck ever getting those out of me.) Lucky for you, I've decided to share:

GREATEST VINAIGRETTE EVER

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar (I think I have Sun of Italy or something like that? It's nice and mild and sort of sweet on its own)
• 4 teaspoons olive oil (Extra Virgin of course)
• 1 crushed garlic clove (fresh)
• pinch of sugar (more if your vinegar is more acidic)
• pinch of salt
• generous grinding of pepper (I use a fresh ground peppercorn blend)

Directions:

• Mix together
• Taste, and adjust according to you liking
• Let sit for a while so the garlic with incorporate
• Serve

NOTE: I make this fresh, and never refrigerate it. This is enough to generously dress two or three salads.

Hiatus Over

Well, there really is no excuse for how long I've been gone... but I"m back now. I don't know if I've brought this up before, but last year on August 5th, I went off the meat, so I'll be experimenting with many Veggie and Vegan recipes. I've actually been cooking up a storm lately, so I have LOTS to post!

OTHER EXCITING NEWS: I got my laptop lunchbox (http://www.laptoplunches.com/) in the mail yesterday, and made an excellent brunch for myself. I did take pictures of it, so I'll post those later. I've been reading this post (http://www.veganlunchbox.com/) for years now, and have always wanted the bento that she uses. As I have been out of lunch baggies for over two months now, and have been using solely reusable containers, I figured it was time to treat myself to a really great bento! It finally came in the mail yesterday, and is just as wonderful as I thought it would be! Even the Hunny was excited! (I got him a black and red one, but mine is the "whimsical" colors.)

TODAY FOR MY BRUNCH I PACKED:
Sourdough bread (I will use Brummel and Brown to make this into toast though)
Sliced Fresh Strawberries with a sprinkling of raw sugar
a teeny tiny bit of slices Bree
a teeny tiny bit of Merlot cheese
a quarter of a vanilla tart from La Madeleine

A bit much, I know... but it's brunch! And all I'll have after that is probably a couple of pieces of fruit.

WHAT SORT OF THINGS HAVE I COOKED, SO WHAT DO WE HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU?
Well I'll tell ya...

• Open Faced Sourdough Sandwiches with Sweet Potato Patties, fresh greens, and the greatest vinaigrette EVER
• High Fiber Low Fat Vegan Brownies
• Marshmallow Fluff
• Filo Rosettes with Bree
• Yummy Spinach Salad with that same "Greatest Vinaigrette Ever"

And that's just a beginning. I've been a cooking fool, lately! Tonight, I think I will use that marshmallow fluff to make rice crispy treats. Oh how I have been missing those bad boys since I went all veggie and stuff. They have good ones at Trader Joe's... but they aren't the same!

THING I'M ABOUT TO TRY:
What does Courtney have in her fridge to try out, you might want to know... WELL...

• Tofu Jerky
• Those Rice Crispy treats

And more!

Keep posted...