Lemon Bars

Veganomicon

I remember a few months back, Isa made a thread/post on the Post Punk Kitchen message boards that she had perfected lemon bars.  Many people were excited, and while I admit that I was, too, I just never got around to making the bars until now.  I halved the recipe and made the bars into triangles, dusted with powdered sugar.  They are perfect; Isa does not tend to exaggerate!!! 

If you’re in Philly, let’s start some lemon bar Friday dance parties! 

Look at the georgous crust.

Dinner will be ready in a few hours.  Sneak preview:

Lavender-Blueberry Brulee and Dhal w/ Dumplings

Lavender Rice Pudding Brulee with Blueberries, Joy’s tester recipe

Toovar Dhal with Cilantro-Lime Dumplings, from Veggie Chic

Photos are repeats, but dishes were made again Wednesday night!  With hundreds of cookbooks on my shelves, you can tell I really like something if it happens to make it in the queue more than once. 

This time, I used dates to sweeten the rice pudding and some whole-grain flour in the dumplings.  Delicious!

Tropical Fruit Pudding and Hempnut Milk

Sensational Stevia Desserts (nonvegetarian cookbook)

This is a great salad which is pretty easy to make, once you get the pureeing parts done!  The main base is bananas, silken tofu, coconut extract, and stevia.  To one part, I added strawberries and the other, raspberries (my variation).  Also shown in the middle is a mango puree and fresh blueberries and strawberries.  Yum!

The making of hempnut milk:

It looks like I’ll need to strain it a little bit to remove the froth, or maybe that disappears when it cools.  Either way, thanks, Sue, for the maker!  I am going to make tofu tomorrow.

Stuffed Artichokes, Orange Flower Custard, Pate

 

Vegetarian Compass (a nonvegetarian cookbook) for pate

Vegetarian Table:  North Africa for bread, custard, and stuffed artichokes

The stars of the day, the stuffed artichokes from Tunisia, really have a nice mix of herbs and spices, from lemon to garlic, to parsley and mint, to tabil (a mixture of coriander, caraway, garlic, and chili) and harissa.  The artichokes are first boiled, the chokes removed, and then stuffed with the bread mixture and topped with more garlic and also paprika.  They are then baked and broiled.

The pate was supposed to simply be chilled, but we chose to bake it for a bit to merry the flavors more.  It has mushrooms, onions, carrots, walnuts, sunflower seeds, tahini, and dill.  I made it to serve with the Kesra, a Moroccan bread, which I made with teff and unbleached white flour and topped with sesame seeds.  Sadly, the bread was delicious, but the pate was, to be frank, one of the worst things I have ever tasted. 

Also shown, not from a cookbook, is a kale salad with carrots, onion, and apple, and a Vegenaise-agave dressing.  This could have been the whole meal, for all I care - I love kale and apples!

The Mhalbi, custard with orange flower water, from Morocco/Algeria/Tunisia, is fantastic with blueberries and pistachios on top.  The hempnut milk is boiled with sweetener and a cinnamon stick, then thickened with cornstarch and flavored with the orange flower water.

Melting Chocolate Pudding

 

Veggie Chic

I made these thinner than the recipe called for because I halved the recipe - didn’t want too much chocolate laying around!  :)   The outside is crispy and cake-like, while the inner layer has smooth and creamy dark chocolate and white chocolate.  It’s a beautiful dessert and very tasty.  Mine were sturdy enough to eat like cookies!

(Note:  my white chocolate [chips] were kept in the freezer, which is probably why they didn’t melt all the way.)

Strawberry Mousse Cake

 

Love, Eric (http://www.loveericinc.com/books_en.html)

This is a delicious, creamy yet light, maple and brown rice syrup sweetened dessert!  Frank and I had a great time making it together in the kitchen for his parents’ 40th wedding anniversary.  :)  Eric and Sanae have another book coming out in April, so keep an eye out for it.  Their recipes seem to be very tasty, healthful, and, of course, made from peacefully-obtained ingredients. 

Pumpkin Mousse Custard

Passionate Vegetarian

This recipe is AMAZING.  Each serving is fairly small and I gobbled up three portions before I even realized it!  Shown here drizzled with agave nectar and cocoa powder, the mousse needs no garnish, as it is flavored with cinnamon, crystallized ginger, and nutmeg.  I used hempnut milk and sweetened it only with date sugar, so it’s a pretty healthy dessert! 

My excuse for the three servings?  Well, the taste, of course, but I also am going for a run in a few minutes!

Boston Cream Cupcakes

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Better than a chocolate custard-filled long john.

Chocolate & White Chocolate Cookie Bars (gluten-free) & Banana Custard with Maple-Glazed Pecans

 The cookies are a repeat and our favorite chocolate chip bars, from The Best Gluten-free Family Cookbook.    This time, I added white chocolate chips as well.  All of these items are for the NJARA meetup today!

I also made pear cardamom muffins with spelt flour today, from ExtraVeganZa but they didn’t turn out well, sticking to the muffin liners.  Last time I made them, they were fabulous, so I don’t know what the problem was.

The custard is from Sweet & Natural, using the vanilla custard recipe and adding also bananas and maple-glazed pecans.  It’s really hard to tell by the picture, but it thickened nicely and tastes very sweet!