I started cooking again:

Chickpea Burgers
I had a few weeks of uninspired cooking, but I finally started again.  I found this great chickpea burger recipe from fatfreevegan.com.  I am happy to report, Chad ate two of them!  I loved them, and one out of two girls liked them as well.  We used vegan sour cream on top.  I served them with a big salad.

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2011/10/colleens-chickpea-burgers-with-tahini-sauce.html

I modified the recipe:

• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas (or 1 1/2 cups cooked), drained and rinsed
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced  (I only used 1 clove of garlic)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (I didnt have any parsley, so I threw a big handful of spinach in the food processer with all the other ingredients)
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs (I used about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of gluten free bread crumbs found at Whole Foods)

Directions:

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. (I baked them for a few minutes and then put them in a hot skillet to finish)
2. Pulse the chickpeas in a food processor until thick and pasty. (You may mash them by hand, but it is a little more labor- intensive and time- consuming.) Transfer to a medium- size bowl.
3. To the bowl, add the onion, garlic, parsley, tahini, cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and baking powder. Slowly add the bread crumbs until the mixture holds together. Add more bread crumbs, as needed. Shape into patties.
4. Place on a nonstick cookie sheet and bake for 10–12 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom. Using a spatula, flip each patty over, and cook for 10–12 minutes more until the other side is golden brown. Remove from the oven. Alternatively, you may fry the patties with a little oil in a pan on the stove top.
5. While the burgers are cooking, make the tahini sauce, below.  (See the website link) I did not make the sauce

Pimento Cheese??
My girls love pimento cheese, especially from Graces Goodness gracesgoodness.com 
But I have a hard time serving it to them, because of all the dairy, salt, fat etc that goes into it.  I was thrilled when the recipe below hit twitter.  See post from the Atlanta Vegan Drinks group.

http://atlvegandrinks.com/2011/09/22/vegan-pimento-cheese-recipe/


I did however, modify:
I used:

• one cup of the Daiya shredded cheddar
• one cup of the Daiya shredded mozzarella
• I soaked about 3 TBS of raw cashews for about an hour then drained them
• 1/4 of a block of firm tofu, squeezed dried
• 1/4 cup Veganaise
• 1/4 cup vegan sour cream
• 1 diced roasted red pepper
• Cayenne pepper (to your taste)

The recipe doesn't recommend this, but I just put all the ingredients in the food processor for a few minutes and done!  The girls and I love it!  I was out of town over the weekend, and noticed they did eat it while I was gone.  A true testament that they liked it!   The girls have had pimento cheese sandwiches for their school lunch.  It also makes a great veggie dip.

Dulce Vegan Bakery - and a Family Birthday

2 weeks ago, I had the pleasure of planning my Mom's birthday party.  We had a dinner party for 10 in Highlands, NC.  Fortunately, my Dad was up for hiring a caterer instead of us attempting to cook.  He recommended that  I call Holly Roberts at The Kitchen of Let Holly do the Cooking.  I was pretty apprehensive creating a menu that would satisfy everyone.  Thankfully, Holly was extremely helpful.  I asked her to make me and the girls a quinoa salad,  she also made a veggie lasagna,  and a chicken tetrazzini.   So, I had vegans, vegetarians and omnivores all covered.  She made a salad, bread and 2 appetizers as well.   It was a huge hit.  But then - what do I do about a cake?  The new vegan bakery, Dulce Vegan had just opened!    http://dulcevegan.com/ 

 I ordered the cake ahead of time, I went with a simple vanilla cake with chocolate frosting.  And, the verdict - there were 10 clean plates!  Everyone said they enjoyed the cake, but when I saw all the plates void of cake I knew the vegan cake had passed the test.  When I went to pick up the cake, I ended up picking up a few more things - a white bean hummus sandwich with spinach, roasted peppers and tomatoes, and an amazing cinnamon roll.  I also had the girls taste test the cupcakes and a cookie.

Dulce Vegan Cinnamon Roll - divine

Dulce Vegan - white bean hummus sandwich

The girls were not too crazy about the cookie or the coconut cupcake, but they loved the chocolate cupcake, and of course they loved cinnamon roll and the b-day cake.   I highly recommend Dulce Vegan Bakery in Kirkwood and Holly Roberts in Highlands, NC!

Check out peoples choice award: http://blogs.ajc.com/best-of-big-a/2011/05/02/best-bakery-alternatives/?cxntfid=blogs_best_of_big_a