banana doughnuts?

note to self; the V-con jelly doughnut cupcake recipe works quite well when one subs out spelt for the AP flour, and chopped up banana for the jelly. Unfortunately, they get snarfed too fast to get a photo. Perhaps I'll just have to make more....

slacking...

I've really been slacking on the posts here. Stuff has been going on and not much of it food related. You see, I love food but I usually love it a bit too much. I have issues with food and sometimes I just need to take a step back from eating just for the sake of pleasure and cooking just to try new recipes, because that puts me into a cycle of eating behaviors that are not good for me, mentally or physically (can we say eating half of a batch of soup that serves 4-6 people all by myself....and then having dessert? I have issues.). So I've been back on Eat to Live pretty strictly the past few weeks and eating a lot of simple foods that aren't necessarily blog-worthy. And, ugh, I've had to avoid any added sugars (with the exception of the occasional drizzle of agave nectar) and most grains and, double ugh, chocolate in any form, since all these trigger unhealthy eating for me right now...though I think the cravings are finally starting to dwindle, considering I was easily able to resist V-day chocolate gifts yesterday. But, all the food stuff on top of some sort of infection on my hand and feet, the resulting antibiotic-induced uckiness, sub-arctic temperatures, the beginning of the planting season fast approaching, work-related busyness and a missing camera cord have made me not so interested in blogging. But really, one of these days I'll get back into the swing of things. I do have some tasty V-day food picks to post once I find the above mentioned camera cord...

But anyway, does anyone know of a really good recipe for vegan wheat-free (doesn't have to necessarily be gluten-free) carrot cake? Like a really traditional-tasting recipe, just spicy enough, with stuff like walnuts and coconut and cream cheese frosting and all that good stuff? I can veganize recipes and de-wheat recipes but every carrot cake recipe I find has either eggs or wheat and I'm nervous about subbing out both of them. Perhaps spelt flour may be my savior here...since I'm intrigued by the VWAV recipe but am concerned about wheat-free textural problems and spelt tends to behave better....but, yes, I have until the last weekend in March to figure this one out, but since I'm taking a temporary break from good tasty sugaryness, my testing timetable is limited. Any suggestions, anyone? I really want a extra-tasty carrot cake or possibly carrot-cake cupcakes for my birthday but I fear I may end up with overly dense weirdness.

GF V-con Chickpea Cutlets...a sort-of success

Everyone, and I mean everyone (or all the cool kids with vegan food blogs, that is), is raving about the chickpea cutlets in the Veganomicon. Alas, they are quite, well, wheaty and therefore off limits to me in their original form. Someone on the CHOW website, where the recipe was first posted, suggested a way to try to make these gluten-free. Obviously, some of the textural factors (that sounds crazy...) will be different, but the flavors would be the same, so I figured it was worth a try and so I futzed with the recipe and came up with something. And, well, it kind of worked...they were okay, nothing to rave about, which leads me to think that, in a taste comparison with the real thing, they might kinda suck, but they were more than edible and I think they would have been better had I fried them rather than baking them. But anyway, here's the recipe:



Gluten-free Chickpea Cutlets (inspired by the original recipe in the Veganomicon and by goodhealthgourmet on Chow.com)

1 c cooked chickpeas
2 tbsp olive oil or broth
2 tbsp ground flax seed
1/4 c veggie broth (I used some broth from cooking the beans, plus some vegebase bouillon)
2-3 tbsp chickpea, garfava, or soy flour
2 tbsp braggs liquid aminos
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp sage
1/4-1/2 c cornmeal or gf bread crumbs
Oil for frying, optional

In a small saucepan, bring the broth to a boil, then remove from heat, add flax and whisk well. Cover and set aside. It will thicken within a few minutes.

Mash the chickpeas with the oil or 2 tbsp broth until smooth (I used a food processor because I am lazy and lack a potato masher). Add the seasonings, broth/flax mixture (once it thickens) and enough flour to make these dry enough to shape and handle.

Pour the cornmeal into a small dish and then form the cutlet "batter" into patties and gently dredge each patty in the cornmeal until it is coated with a fine layer.

If you want to fry these, heat a pan over medium heat, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan, and then fry each cutlet until it is golden brown on each side.

To bake, coat each cutlet in a fine spray of oil on each side and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes, flip and then bake for another 8-10 minutes or until they are beginning to brown.

I made 6 cutlets....round, not square-ish, like the original recipe calls for, only cuz this dough is not as easy to manipulate as I can imagine the gluten-tastic version is. Also, I recommend using the oil and, as I said above, pan-frying these, despite my usual inclinations away from using oil. I think this would have made them better.



I served these topped with an amazing jarred tomato sauce from Trader Joes plus some sauteed onions and a generous sprinkling of nooch. I normally don't go for jarred sauces, but I had heard good reviews of this one so I picked up a few jars last time I was in Boston and I wasn't disappointed. Plus, its fat-free and doesn't taste like it! Always a good thing. So, yeah, grab some Organic Tomato Sauce with Mushrooms if you are near a TJs.

On another note, we had a dinner party, a vegan dinner party and, yep, I forgot to take pictures. Sometimes I'm a dolt. But we had the Potato and Broccoli Soup with Fresh Herbs from V-Con and it was really, really good (I never knew I liked fresh dill). Plus, Susan's Crustless Mini-Quiches (made extra-mini), spinach and artichoke hummus, Dreena Burton's Roasted Red Pepper dip and vegan french onion dip (plus veggies and chips for dipping). Guests brought sushi, bruchetta with vegan-rella (very good when broiled and toasty!) and a rice and veggie casserole. Dessert was Sunbeam Pudding and vegan chocolate peanut butter No-Bake cookies. (just used earth balance and sugar-in-the-raw, plus some extra chocolate chips and crunchy peanut butter). yep, we had way too much food, but whatever, it was good. Maybe next time I'll actually remember to take pictures.