In case you’re wondering, the exclamation point in the title was extremely necessary. This was the first time I made bean burgers and, despite a huge bump in the road, they turned out wonderful with the help of a little improvisation.

The recipe I was using, which I transcribed by hand from a cookbook at Meg’s house in Brooklyn!, called for four shallots. I piled all the ingredients into my food processor, with shallots on top, and started pulsing the mixture… But the shallots just stayed put. Eventually I took half the mixture out, processed it, and then the other half… But the shallots didn’t chop. Eventually I became ravenously hungry and depressed that my bean burgers looked more like a bean dip, so I picked out all the large pieces of shallot and left it at that.

To resolve the goopy over-processed problem I doubled the bread crumbs. The consistency of these patties is great, even though nothing like the recipe had intended. I overcooked each side to get a nice, flaky, charred-bean skin around it.

So! Here’s the recipe as I made it. I’m sure the original recipe is fantastic, but I’ll never know! I like this one too much, now.

Ingredients
1 can Kidney beans, drained
1 can Black beans, drained
1 can Cannellini beans, drained
8 oz. Breadcrumbs
1 heaping tsp Chili powder
2 stalks Celery, halved and chopped
1-2 Shallots, minced finely
Cilantro, to taste, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
- In a food processor, combine all ingredients except for half the breadcrumbs. Blend until creamy. Place in a mixing bowl and refrigerate for 20 minutes, or until chilled.

- Add the rest of the bread crumbs and mix by hand. If you wish, you can reserve some of the beans from being creamed, and add them in now, too. Form into 4-8 patties, flatten between the palms of your hand, and store in the refrigerator inside an airtight container until ready for use.

- To cook: heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Pat flour onto each side of the burgers and fry for 5-6 minutes on each side, or until it becomes dark and crispy.

- Serve on a toasted bun with all your favorite fix’ns! These burgers are vegan, but I couldn’t resist a sprinkling of feta on mine! :x I also enjoy eggless canola mayonnaise, mustard, avocado, cilantro, black pepper and an unnatural amount of fresh lime juice.

Blueberry Bonanza Bars have been at the top of my to-bake list ever since I bought the Cookie cookbook. When I worked as a barista I made a much more crude version of them for the dessert shelves and, despite the crust coming from a box, they were absolutely delicious. I don’t really care for blueberries, though, so while at the grocery store I decided to buy some raspberry jam– my absolute fave.

But, while standing in the middle of the aisle, debating what brand to buy, I remembered that I have a monster sized jar of mango preserves in my refrigerator. Like, 48 oz. huge. I couldn’t justify buying yet more jam when I’ve barely put a dent in what I already had, so with my head hung low I dragged my feet to the registers.

I’m such a stubborn brat that I almost made something entirely different when I got home, simply because I couldn’t have exactly what I wanted. It’s a good thing I saw things through, though, because these bars turned out wonderful! They have a subtle but sweet flavor, and they were very easy to make despite the baking time.

The recipe for the bars is right here, which I followed pretty closely. The only substitutions I used were 2 servings of Ener-G Egg Replacer, 1 1/2 sticks of Earth Balance, and 1 1/2+ cups of mango preserves.

Here is the recipe for Almond-Coconut Granola, with vegan substitutions:

Ingredients
4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) Earth Balance
1/4 cup Agave nectar
1/2 cup packed Brown sugar
2 Tbsp Water
3 cups Rolled oats
2/3+ cups Sliced almonds
1/2+ cup Shredded coconut, sweetened

Directions
- In a small sauce pan, melt butter and agave nectar over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Add brown sugar and keep stirring until it dissolves. Add water, stir and remove from heat. In a medium sized bowl, combine the oats, almonds and coconut. Pour sugar sauce over the mixture and stir until evenly coated.

- This granola is pretty scrumptious to keep hanging around by itself, so if you want to make it without the granola bars, simply bake it at 375 F on a rimmed baking sheet for about 25-30 minutes, or until the oats begin to turn golden. Store in an airtight container and nibble as needed :)

Coming home from a weekend of guiltless face stuffing it was kind of hard for me to even think about food, let alone the thought of preparing it myself. It’s incredible how much crap I managed to put in my body during those few days– we are definitely due up for a vegan-detox. Uhm… Nevermind the donut holes and apple strudel we had for dessert last night! :x

I decided to crack open ol’ faithful (which is apparently available on Google Books!) and try something I hadn’t done before… Preferrably something easy. The original recipe for Booker T’s Southwest Tempeh Chili doesn’t look incredibly difficult, but I veered so far away from the recipe that I can’t really comment on it. I mostly used its flavors and spices as my base because– awful vegetarian confession here– I’m not too hot for tempeh. When it’s good it is so good, but when it isn’t good it’s just money down the hole. So I decided to replace and add ingredients fit to our tastes. The results were fabulous and it was as easy as opening cans and dumping them into the soup pot!

Ingredients
4 cups Vegetable broth
1 cup Yellow onion, chopped
1-2 stalks Celery, halved and chopped
1 Jalapeno, seeded and minced
2 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-size pieces
1 can Stewed tomatoes, diced
1-2 cans Refried beans
1 can Black beans, drained
1 can Corn, drained
2 Tbsp Tomato paste
3 Tbsp Soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp Lime juice
1 Tbsp Chili powder
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Garlic powder
1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped

2 medium Russet potatoes
6 oz. Plain soy yogurt
Lime juice

Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Rinse Russet potatoes, stab with a knife and wrap in aluminum foil. Place in the center rack of the oven and bake until fluffy.

- While potatoes are baking, bring vegetable stock to a slow boil in a large pot. Add onion, celery, jalapeno and sweet potatoes. Cook for 20-30 minutes, or until potatoes are soft.

- Add stewed tomatoes and tomato paste and let cook for 5 minutes. Depending on how thick or thin you prefer your chili, add 1 or 2 cans of refried beans. I only added one in anticipation of the chili losing water in the refrigerator overnight. Stir occasionally, making sure the refried beans fully dissolve in the broth.

- Next, add soy sauce, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and cilantro. You may use fresh garlic if you’d like. I didn’t have any on hand, so I used a can of stewed tomatoes that had garlic in it. Quick fix! After stirring those ingredients into the pot, you may now add the black beans and corn.

- Let sit on the stove top without a lid over medium heat until baked potatoes are finished cooking. Meanwhile, in a small bowl prepare sour creme by combining soy yogurt with lime juice and cilantro to taste.

- Once everything’s finished cooking, serve chili on top of baked potatoes, with a dollop of sour creme. I confess to adding a few pads of butter and some salt to my potato fluff prior to dousing it with chili, then stirring it all together into one gnarly looking (but delicious tasting!) mess.

Enjoy! :)

The past couple of weeks my friends have been hounding me for the pad thai recipe I’ve been raving all about. And me? Well, I’ve been uber lazy and am only just now sitting down to blog about it! I promise, though, it’ll be worth the wait. :)

This recipe is an adaptation from the one found in Vegan World Fusion Cuisine– there are some slight modifications due to personal taste, or not having ingredients available. Ample amounts of peanut butter and lime juice, plus all your daily servings of veggies are used to make a very unique kind of pad thai.

Ingredients
1/3 cup Shoyu
1/3 cup Lime juice (when in a crunch, lemon juice will work okay)
1/4 cup Unrefined sugar
3 tablespoons Peanut butter
1 tablespoon Tahini
1/2 teaspoon Green curry paste
1/4 teaspoon Red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon Cumin
1/4 teaspoon Coriander

8 oz. Rice noodles
1 cup Extra firm tofu, cubed
A medley of vegetables for stir frying. I usually use the following:
1/2 a White onion, sliced
1/2 a head of Broccoli, chopped
1-2 Carrots, halved into small sticks
1-2 Scallions, chopped
1 small can Sliced water chestnuts
Celery, halved and chopped
Handful of cashews, coarsely chopped (optional)
Sesame oil (for frying)

Directions
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the first nine ingredients and mix. I usually let my bowl sit next to the stove top as I cook so the peanut butter and tahini have a chance to warm up and make mixing easier. I also make this sauce in large batches and store in my fridge in an airtight container– that way, when I want to make pad thai again in the next couple of weeks I simply have to prepare the noodles and veggies. Then, voila!

- In a wok, saute onions in sesame oil while preparing the rest of the food to be fried. Add tofu and cook until all edges are golden brown. Add broccoli and carrots and cook for about 15 minutes. Add celery, scallions and water chestnuts. Put the lid on the wok if necessary to speed up the process, making sure not to let the broccoli and carrots get too soft.

- Meanwhile, prepare rice noodles according to packaged instructions. Usually this involves boiling water, removing it from the heat and soaking the noodles for 3-5 minutes before pouring into a colander and rinsing with cool water. During a visit a few months ago, my best friend gifted me a Sheartoku, which I now use to cut the noodles into more managable lengths. If using, now would be the time to add the cashews.

- After making sure the veggies are cooked to your liking, add noodles and mix. Slowly stir in the peanut-lime sauce to taste, making sure not to add too much. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Let the pad thai sit for a few minutes to ensure noodles and sauce become warm– then serve and enjoy!

I’ve been on a big cookie dough kick lately now that school is out and I don’t have anyone to pawn large batches of cookies off on. Baking has never been simpler– make a big batch of dough, store it in the fridge and bake cookies as we crave them. These are exceptional for such a process because the longer it sits, the more concentrated the banana flavor becomes.

The original recipe comes from the famed Martha Stewart cookie cookbook, but I’m always cautious of cookies that call for lots of oats, nuts and chocolate “chunks.” I hate making ugly cookies, and if there’s anything large amounts of those three things can do, it’s ruin the aesthetics of a round, relatively smooth cookie.

To fight the problem I ran all of the oats and half the chocolate chips through the food processor before stirring everything else in. This made the texture of the cookies a lot less chunky and easier to roll.

But to the common cookie lover that’s just the nitpicking of someone who likes to make cookies more than she likes to eat them. :) The bottom line here is that these treats combine the tastes of banana bread and chocolate chip cookies and, when you consider that, who cares what they look like?!

Veganized and beautified recipe as follows :)

Ingredients
1 cup All-purpose flour
1/2 cup Whole wheat flour
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking soda
3/4 cup Butter, room temperature
1/2 cup Unrefined sugar
1/2 cup Brown sugar, packed
1 serving Ener-G Egg Replacer
1 1/2 tsps Vanilla
1/2 cup Ripe banana, mashed
1 cup Rolled oats
1 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup Pecans, or other nut, chopped

Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 F. In a small bowl, whisk the first four ingredients.

- In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, cream butter and both sugars together for 2-3 minutes. Add egg replacer and vanilla and process more before adding the banana, oats and half the chocolate chips. Process once more for about 30 seconds.

- Transfer batter to a large bowl and gently fold in the flour mixture by hand. The dough will be pretty sticky, but it’s okay– no extra flour is needed. Roll them into evenly sized balls, approximately 1″ thick, and place on a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat. Bake until delicious– or about 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool before noshing.

Store extra batter in an airtight container in the fridge and bake as you crave. Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.

Enjoy! :)