Chow Vegan

I’ve been dying to make something with the Vietnamese Extra Fancy Cinnamon I picked up from Penzeys Spices. Every time I get a whiff of it, I want to bake something. Something easy but healthy, I decided to try a baked version of banana tempura.

I used the batter-baked method from The 30-Minute Vegan. Dipping and breading each individual slice is definitely the way to go, I got a lot more crumb coverage on each piece.

Baked banana tempura isn’t exactly like regular tempura – it’s a lot lighter and there’s not a ton of batter. The bananas come out warm and a little melty inside with a bit of a crunch on the outside. You’ll have to eat it right away otherwise you’ll lose the crunch (it’s still good just not crunchy). Dusted with cinnamon, it’s heaven on a plate.

Baked Banana Tempura
Serves 2

2 small to medium size bananas
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
Ground cinnamon for dusting

Batter
1 1/2 tablespoons ground flax meal
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly oil a baking sheet.

Combine batter ingredients in a bowl and blend well with a whisk. Set aside. Place bread crumbs in a bowl or plate and set near the batter bowl and baking sheet.

Peel and cut the bananas crosswise into 3/4″ slices. Give the batter a quick stir and then place a banana slice into the batter, coating well. Then into the bread crumbs, making sure it’s totally covered. Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with each banana slice.

Bake for 4 minutes, flip over and bake another 4 minutes. Arrange on a serving dish and dust with cinnamon. Serve immediately.

Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar Giveaway!
Don’t forget there’s only a few more days to enter the giveaway here, it closes on Saturday, December 12, 2009.

I can’t bake. I know it. You know it. Even the oven knows it. But after I received a review copy of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, I just had to give my favorite cookie, oatmeal raisin, a try.

It didn’t start off well. I bought the wrong kind of quick-cooking oats, somehow I missed the smaller “steel cut” type on the package. Of course, I didn’t notice until I had already mixed up all of the wet ingredients and just poured in the oats and started mixing.

After recovering from flashbacks of other ill-fated attempts at baking. I dumped everything into the garbage and headed back to the store.

I got the correct ingredients this time, after double-checking the labels on everything. Mixed up a batch and started plopping them on the baking sheet. Shoved the whole thing in the oven and prayed the entire 10 minutes that they were in there, that all would be well when they came back out.

Lo and behold, I actually made a cookie! Thank goodness for small miracles. It’s been ages since I enjoyed a freshly baked cookie hot out of the oven. It’s so good!

To celebrate, I’m giving away a copy of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar so you too may enjoy freshly baked goodies, with or without noobie drama.

The cookbook includes 100 recipes organized by type – from drop, wholesome, bar, fancy to sliced and rolled cookies. There’s also a very handy section in the beginning covering ingredients, tools, substitutions and troubleshooting.

To enter, complete the following:

1. Subscribe to chowvegan.com via RSS reader or email.

2. Leave a comment in this post that you’ve done so and tell me what is your favorite cookie. Comment must be made by midnight PST on Saturday, December 12th; one entry per person. Giveaway is open to US mailing addresses only.

One winner will be randomly selected from the comments received and announced on Monday, December 14th. Good luck!

I finally managed to track down Dandies Vegan Marshmallows at a local natural food store. Dandies are light, fluffy and melty just like regular marshmallows. I like the flavor and texture so much I could just eat them right out of the bag.

But since I still have a box of Annie’s Bunny Grahams, why not try mini s’mores? With the Bunny Grahams so small and no handy campfire nearby, I made them in the microwave. Easy and quick, it’s a cute bite-size snack.

Mini S’mores
Make as needed

1 box Annie’s Chocolate Chip Bunny Grahams
1 bag Dandies Marshmallows
1 vegan chocolate bar (I used boom CHOCO boom rice milk bar by Enjoy Life)

Cover a microwave-safe plate with a paper towel, place one Bunny Graham on it. Cut a few shivers off of the chocolate bar. Cut a marshmallow in half.

Stick the marshmallow on the Bunny Graham, pile a few chocolate shivers on, then top with another Bunny Graham and gently press down.

Microwave on high for 5-10 seconds (depending on your microwave) until the marshmallow just starts to get all puffy. Let cool and eat.

I’ve also tried making more than one s’more at a time, but the marshmallows seem to puff at different times, so some came out more gooey than others. And for extra chocolate, put a few shivers on the bottom as well as on the top of the marshmallow.

Even though there’s plenty of great tasting vegan ice creams on the market, it’s fun to give homemade a try. Especially with a cookbook like The Vegan Scoop by Wheeler del Torro of Wheeler’s Frozen Desserts.

Based in Boston, I never even heard of them until I tried a small sample of their ice cream at last year’s Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco. It was divine but unavailable on the West Coast. So I was thrilled to receive a review copy of The Vegan Scoop. Since I can’t get my hands on the actual product, this is the next best thing.

I decided on the Cherry Jubilee recipe (back when cherries were actually in season. I just never got around to posting about it. Nothing like VeganMoFo to get me off of my lazy bum).

I’m amazed at how really easy it was to make the ice cream. The hardest part was choosing which of the many recipes to try. The chapters are organized by flavors, from classics such as Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough to unusual original flavors like Jalapeño.

I used one of those Ice Cream Ball Maker, where you shake and roll around it to make the ice cream. It’s like a mini-workout before consuming your special treat. The ice cream came out like soft serve. Which is fine with me, as I like mine on the soft side and not rock solid.

Choose your ingredients carefully, as the ice cream takes on that particular soymilk’s flavor. It’s subtle but if you don’t like drinking it plain as is, you’re not going to like it as ice cream. The freshness of the ingredients especially the cherries really shines through.

I cut the recipe in half so it would fit in my ice cream ball maker, it only makes about a pint (there’s also a larger quart size version). I froze the leftovers; it still tasted great but it froze pretty hard. It’s best to eat it right after you make it.

Related Links
To learn more about Wheeler’s Frozen Desserts, cruise on over to their website. To purchase your very own copy of the The Vegan Scoop, click here for Amazon or pop over to your local bookstore.

I admit I’m not much of a baker, I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. I can’t bake to save my own life. The best I can managed is brownies. Even at that, it has to be pretty much a fool-proof, any-idiot-can-do-it type of brownie recipe.

Lucky for me, Amy’s Kitchen recently introduced their new frozen cakes. Just take out of the freezer and let thaw in the refrigerator for a few hours. Voilà! You got yourself a lovely loaf of cake.

That’s all there is to it – no baking, no mess, no wondering what the heck went wrong. And it taste great! Moist and chocolatey. And totally vegan.

Topped with fresh strawberries and Purely Decadent coconut milk ice cream, there’s no need for frosting. It’s a super easy treat and I don’t have to subject other people to my pathetic attempts at baking. Thank goodness.

Related Posts
Amy’s Roasted Vegetables Tamale Review
Amy’s Spicy Chili Fries

On top of a homemade blueberry brownie is my new all-time favorite ice cream – Purely Decadent coconut flavor, coconut milk based, non-dairy, soy-free frozen dessert. It’s one of the flavors that So Delicious (the company that produces said ice cream) had sent me to try out.

It’s got the same creamy, rich and decadent texture as I have come to expect from So Delicious. The color is an amazing bright white making for a beautiful contrast to the brownie.

As for taste, it’s nothing but coconut all the way through, it even has little flakes of coconut. Some of the other flavors have a hint of coconut to them, seeing as they’re made from coconut milk. So the coconut one seems really pure and simple – it’s the epitome of coconut milk ice cream.

Related Posts
Purely Decadent Root Beer Float
So Delicious Ice Cream Sandwiches

Update
I’ve dug up the recipe for the brownies since you all were asking for it. I don’t remember where it came from so I can’t properly credit the recipe. If anyone recognizes it, please let me know.

As I always seem to do, I changed the recipe a bit. I used all white flour since I didn’t have whole wheat flour and I didn’t have cocoa powder and used double chocolate hot chocolate powder instead. It made for a more cake-like brownie (see above photo). I don’t know if it’s because I made the substitutions or not, but that’s how mine came out.

Blueberry Brownies
Makes 16 brownies

1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup unbleached white flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spray 8″ square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium mixing bowl, combine applesauce, sugar and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, white flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center and add wet ingredients; mix until just combined. Gently fold in walnuts and blueberries. Spread mixture into prepared pan and bake for 25 – 30 minutes until center is firm and not sticky. Let cool completely before slicing.

It’s hard to believe that on Monday, summer would be over and fall begins. It seems like just yesterday I was enjoying a nice white peach. Oh wait, it was yesterday. There’s still time to get in on some late season summer produce. Hurry!

Chilled White Peach Soup
Serves 2

1 large white peach, plus an additional peach for garnish (if you want to be all fancy)
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons apple juice
Agave nectar to taste
Mint to garnish

Peel, pit and chop the peach. In a blender, combine the peach, orange juice, apple juice and agave nectar if necessary to sweeten to taste and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and chill for about an hour.

Serve with a mint garnish and a few peach slices on top.

No Croutons Required is a monthly food blogging event hosted by Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa’s Kitchen. This is my entry for September’s theme of a soup or salad with fruit, just in time to enjoy a last bite of summer fruit.

I finally managed to tear myself away from the wonderful strawberries and peaches that I’ve been eating lately to focus on some of the other summer fruits that abound. Next up, is watermelon. Instead of the usual wedges, I made a refreshing, two-toned chilled watermelon soup.

I got the red watermelon at the local farmer’s market. Unfortunately, I didn’t see the yellow ones and had to get that at the grocery store. It wasn’t quite as sweet as I expected, but I’m hoping to find it at the farmer’s market to try as it’s supposed to be sweeter than the red.

Red and Yellow Watermelon Soup
Serves 2

4 cups ripe red watermelon, seeded and cut into pieces
4 cups ripe yellow watermelon, seeded and cut into pieces
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
Agave nectar to taste
Salt to taste
Fresh mint sprigs for garnish

In a bowl, combine the red watermelon, half of the lime juice and the agave nectar and salt to taste. Blend until smooth, place in a covered container to chill in the fridge for at least an hour. Keeping it totally separate, do the same for the yellow watermelon.

To serve, hold one container in each hand and pour at the same time so that there’s one color on each side. To make a fancy decoration, use a toothpick to swirl a bit of one color into the other. Garnish with a mint sprig and serve.

Lucky 8/8/08 Giveaway!
Don’t forget to enter the giveaway here, only a few more days until it closes on August 6, 2008.