VeganMofo 2010: Creamy Portabello Mushroom Soup

Super-happy rainbow mushroom family!

It's soup season here!  I had this Portabello Mushroom soup once, at a restaurant, and have been dying to recreate it.  It was really simple, thick, and had a pure mushroom taste to it. Total yummers.  I like to thicken soups up with cashews, to make them super-creamy without detracting too much from the main flavor. This came pretty close to the restaurant version!  I have a vague recipe, because that's usually how I am when I'm making something in the kitchen...vague.  You know what I mean. Anyways, it's easy and makes a quick weekday meal!

Vague recipe (sorry!) for Creamy Portabello Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:
4 medium sized portabello mushrooms, sliced and diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 TBS Earth Balance Margarine
1/3 cup raw cashews

veggie broth
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Saute onion in pan with Earth Balance until soft. Add mushrooms and cook until tender.
Add cashews, mushrooms, and onions to blender and add enough veggie broth to just cover. Blend to desired thickness and add more veggie broth for thinner soup.  Heat up in sauce pan and season with salt/pepper.

VeganMofo 2010: Sweet Potato Broccoli Bread

I had one of those lightbulb moments last week, where I was thinking about things to make for 'MoFo, and my mind wandered to grilled cheese and then to all that broccoli I received from my CSA...and DING DING DING!  Broccoli bread turned into a yummy grilled cheese!  I don't really have a "go-to" bread that I make, because I don't usually make my own bread (I know! I'm impatient with waiting for things to rise and usually think about making bread when it's too late in the game.)  Sooo, I started flipping through my cookbooks, looking for some sort of savory bread. Let's just say that there are lots of cornbread recipes out there...

Celine and Joni never let me down though.  There is a recipe for Potato Bread in 500 Vegan Recipes that fit the bill perfectly.  I used the sweet potato option in the recipe, because I thought it would go good with the broccoli I was going to add.  The only thing I changed in the recipe, was to add in 1/2 cup chopped broccoli instead of the seeds, and to throw in about a 1/4 cup of nooch to make it cheesier. Holy yum! The bread was super-delicious on it's own, with a little Earth Balance spread on it, and it was absolutely perfect in the grilled cheese form.  Nik gave it a double-thumbs up.  Hurrah!

VeganMofo 2010: Muffins for the sick

I almost said PHOOEY to today's 'MoFo post, since I have been dragged down by the plague sickness all day today and I'm working on a big project. I'm being dramatic. I just have a sore throat and it's making me whiny!  

I did bake muffins this morning though, because that's what I do when I'm sick and busy. Ha!  

I super-love the recipe for Cranberry-orange muffins in Vegan Brunch, and it is my "go-to" muffin base recipe, mostly because I always have the base ingredients on hand. I rarely make it "as is" though, usually subbing in apples or whatever fruit or nuts I have on hand for the cranberries, and using soymilk + 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar if I don't have OJ (which I don't usually, but today I did!)  Works everytime!  I like this recipe because it is super-basic and doesn't require any soy yogurt or applesauce or other things that I don't usually have laying around. I like instant muffins!  I like to mix up the flours sometimes too, throwing oats into the mix.  Woo!

Anyways, I think I'm babbling. Bedtime!

Apple-cinnamon muffins with some oats thrown in there somewhere too.

VeganMoFo Day 19-Lentil Burger and Mizuna Salad

Happy monday! Er, I hope it is, I mean. I had a knackering for a veggie burger the other day, and since I'm totally against boca burgers or their other frozen equivilants (those are NOT veggie burgers!), I make my own. I'm partial to using the VCON recipe for Black Bean burgers and just mixing up which beans I use and changing up the spices. Today I decided on lentil burgers, with a side salad using some of that lovely Mizuna I got in my CSA. And of course there are apples and pears on that salad, since my fridge is overflowing with them.




I have a few new things for my shop, either later on today or tomorrow. I'm finishing up my new holiday cards, some fun ornaments, and a few new prints. Hooray for productive weekends! I know, I know, it's only October, but I need to start applying to holiday craft shows and whatnot, so stock needs to be up. And not to mention all those crazies (i.e. smart people) who have already started their holiday shopping. Go all handmade gifts this year people! xoxo

VeganMoFo Day 14-Stirfry!

Boogie down veggie friends! Drawing-a-day is fun! And it keeps me on task for some reason, planning what to eat/post for VeganMoFo, but also plan how to illustrate it.

I made a stirfry the other day, 'cause I still had veggies from last week's CSA, along with the new. Overload! I also had these weird, large protein things from the asian market that needed to be used. They're like giant soy curls (too giant! they take forever to soak and I have to cut them down after cooking or they are too spongey. Quite yummy after all that!) I steamed most of the veggies and then added them with the sauteed onions and soy things before putting them over noodles.