I am so bad with self-imposed deadlines right now. I’ve had so much going on in my life lately that all I’ve been able to do is cook a few recipes a week and then I end up forgetting to put up my post! Soon enough I’ll be back at it with regular posts but for now I’m forgiving myself and focusing on getting things in order in my life!
I think I’m loving these recipes again. I went through a mini slump but now I’ve made some really amazing stuff this week AND for Thanksgiving (which will be in next week’s post). Speaking of Thanksgiving, I hope you guys had a relaxing day filled with amazing food, great company, and plenty of laughs. I think we all need it this year!
Now to the fooooooooooood:
Now I’ve been laying low on the whole soy thing this past year or so just in case it contributed to my endometriosis pain and chronic inflammation. I used to make tofu quite a lot and I LOVED when it was crispy and easy to pop in your mouth but until I made this cast-iron tofu I hadn’t cooked my own tofu in months and months! This was soooo worth it! The bits of tofu got super crispy on the outside from the cast-iron pan (which I LOVE LOVE LOVE) while the insides stayed moist. I used to make tofu crispy by coating it in corn starch but this achieved the same result and was so much easier (and less messy)! This is now going to be my g0-to whenever I get a craving for tofu. My favorite thing to have with tofu is brown rice, steamed veggies, and a spicy peanut sauce – super healthy, very easy to have all the ingredients waiting for you in the fridge, and so flavorful! I’ll post my peanut sauce recipe here soon because it is one of my very favorite things to make!
After managing a vegan smoothie bar for a year and a half, I’m now very picky when it comes to my smoothies. I like them thick, I like them filling, and I like them with as much frozen fruit as possible and as little ice as possible. This smoothie is very similar to a smoothie that I make all the time, one that I made a million billion times at work. And while I still prefer my own smoothie over this salted chocolate hemp shake, this one was still pretty good. I like the addition of sea salt and how it combines nicely with the chocolate flavor, but it was a bit thin and I would add another half of a banana instead of the ice cubes that it asks for. But really, you can’t go wrong with banana, nut butter, dates, and cacao powder!
These. Things. Are. Incredible. I think it’s already been established that as a fall baby, I LOVE pumpkin. And these are light, fluffy, and full of fall spices! Like all of Angela’s cookie recipes, they came together quite quickly and were so easy. Pro tip: eat one of these bad boys right out of the oven (like after 10 minutes) before icing them with anything. They are crispy on the outside and pillowy on the inside. As they sit a bit longer they lose that initial crisp but they are still so good! I didn’t have any coconut cream on hand to make a whipped cream squiggle so I made a quick buttercream with Earth Balance, cinnamon, and powdered sugar. These cookies would still be great without any icing, and I might even add mini chocolate chips to them the next time I make them! Make them NOW!
Okay, now I’m off to eat more Thanksgiving leftovers. Just you wait and see what kind of vegan feast I whipped up! I’ll have next week’s Vegan Cookbook Challenge posted on Monday as scheduled, I promise. In the meantime, enjoy the ones you’re with, take a nice walk outside this weekend, and eat more pie. Always.
Love, Brenna
openbookkitchen.com 