Lemon Thyme Asparagus Salad

I am definitely in summer cooking mode.  Lots of cold salads, cooking on the grill and creating meals that are simple, relaxed and flavorful.  I love cold salads because you can make a whole bunch and then serve them throughout the week.



I had a lovely bunch of organic asaparagus and decided to try out a cold asparagus salad, something I have
not made or had before. The result is delicious and I have enough leftover for a couple more meals.

The lemon flavor is a great compliment to the asparagus. I think this is a perfect dish to bring to a summer party or barbecue at a friends house. In fact, I have one of those coming up- I just may do that!

Lemon Thyme Asparagus Salad

1 bunch organic asparagus, ends trimmed and chopped in large pieces
Juice of one lemon
Zest of one lemon
1 garlic clove finely minced
1 tbsp fresh thyme, minced
3 tsp agave nectar
2 tsp white balsamic vinegar*
1/2 cup lemon infused olive oil**
Salt and (white) pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil.  Add the asparagus pieces and blanche for a few minutes until they turn a bright green.  Remove from the water and immediately place in a bowl of very cold ice water to stop the cooking. Allow asparagus to cool in the ice water bath then remove, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

In a medium size bowl combine the rest of the ingredients except the lemon zest and whisk well to form a vinaigrette.

When ready to serve, drizzle some of the vinaigrette on the asparagus, top with the lemon zest and toss to coat.

* If you do not have white balsamic vinegar white wine vinegar would work just fine
** If you do not have a lemon inflused ollive oil extra virgin olive oil would work just fine

Mother's Day Cucumber Mint Salad

The weather has really warming up here in the Northeastern United States. It is hard te believe that the temperature is supposed to drop around 30 degrees  tonight with a frost warning given this beautiful Mother's Day weather.



There is still time to get a quick barbecue in before it starts to cool down and I am lucky enough to have my own Mom coming over to celebrate with us. And, I am really lucky to spend it with my own two awesome kids.

I do all sorts of variations of cucumber salads.  It is, I believe, the only vegetable that the entire family can agree on!

I hope all of you Mom's out there are having as good a day as I am.  Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Mom's out there!

Cucumber Mint Salad

1 1/2 English hothouse cucumbers, sliced thin
2 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 small red onion, sliced thin*
4 tbsp champagne vinegar vinaigrette**
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup fresh mint, roughly chopped

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Allow to sit approximately an hour before serving.

*You may want to soak the onion in water before using. This will lessen the bite. If you do this be sure to drain them well and dry them before putting in the salad.

**You may use whatever vinaigrette you prefer. I keep it simple by using about 1 part champagne vinegar and 2 parts extra virgin olive oil. I would not recommend using a dark (balsamic) vinegar or red wine vinegar as the cucumbers will become discolored.

Roasted Garlic Twice Baked Potatoes

Believe it or not I have never made a twice baked potato. In fact, until last night, I am not even sure I have ever eaten one.  I am not sure what even made me think about twice baked potatoes but something did and so I decided to try making them.



I am sure a plain 'ol twice baked potato is delicious, but I decided to spruce mine up a little using some roasted garlic, and it was quite good.  I will definitely make them again.

Roasted Garlic Twice Baked Potatoes

2 Baking potatoes
4 Cloves roasted garlic
1 Tbsp vegan butter
2 Tbsp non dairy milk (I used So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut)
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Wash and pierce the potatoes and coat them lightly in olive oil and sprinkle with a little bit of salt.  Wrap them in foil and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes or until they are soft.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool until they are easily handled.  Remove the foil, cut the potatoes in half and hollow out the middles, leaving you with a potato "bowl".  Put the removed potato into a bowl and add the butter, non dairy milk, roasted garlic, salt and pepper.  Mash well with a potato masher ensuring the garlic is distributed throughout the mixture.

Place the filling back into the potato shells and return to the oven for another 25 minutes at 400 degrees.

Serve immediately.

Couscous Beet and Fennel Salad

What a busy day today.  Up and out the door by 7:15, a crazy commute on the train due to equipment problems followed by back to back meetings.  I truly ran non stop today.



Toward the end of the day I got a message from Mr. Meat and Potatoes saying that he would feed the kids. Their choice tonight- couscous.  He told me he would make it with olive oil so I could eat some when I got home.  Very thoughtful and nice.

Then I got a second message asking "What is that stuff on the counter next to the stove?"  I replied "Champagne vinegar" to which he replied "well there may be some vinegar in your couscous."  I said that was OK just to leave it, I would figure it out when I got home.

I started thinking about a cold couscous salad dressed with champagne vinaigrette.  Sounded pretty good.  So when I walked through the door at 7 PM I rummaged through the fridge and got the beets that I had roasted, cooled and peeled on Sunday.  I found a bulb of fennel and some mint and thought, "yep, this is going to work out just fine."

I put the salad together in no time, and it was delicious and filling- exactly what I needed after a long, jampacked day.

Couscous Beet and Fennel Salad

1 cup cooked cooled couscous
2 roasted beets, cooled peeled and chopped
1/4 cup thinly sliced fennel
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
2 tbsp Champagne vinegar (adjust to taste)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (adjust to taste)
Salt and pepper to taste

To assemble, mix the couscous, mint champagne vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper in a bowl. Top with the beets and fennel.  Garnish with some extra mint or fronds from the fennel.

Coconut Waffles with Banana and Chocolate Maple Syrup and Ginger Lime Fruit Salad

Bobby Flay, I owe you an apology.  I thought I did not like your food. I thought you were a touch arrogant and leaned to heavily on spicy ingredients.  I thought your cooking was a bit too "one note" for me. I am the first to admit when I am wrong and I was wrong.



I recently watched Brunch with Bobby which featured an Island themed meal. The coconut waffles and ginger lime fruit salad looked so good!  Good enough that it got the wheels turning on a vegan version of the waffles.

I adjusted the recipe to substitute the milk and eggs, substituted Earth Balance for butter and used avocado oil instead of canola. They turned out perfectly. In fact, I served them to the whole family, and everyone liked them. And, having just returned from Aruba the tropical flavors were very much welcomed!  Too bad every morning cannot start like this.

This made enough to feed four of us, and I had a few waffles left over to freeze for another morning. Bonus!

With my newfound respect Bobby and his food I am now off to peruse some of his other recipes.  Thanks Bobby for the inspiration for this awesome meal!

For the waffles:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp organic cane sugar
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/4 cup non dairy milk (I used So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 tbsp melted vegan butter, slightly cooled
3 tbsp avocado oil (or other vegetable oil)
3/4 cup apple sauce
1/3 cup toasted sweetened coconut flakes plus extra for garnish
2 large bananas sliced

For the syrup:
1 cup maple syrup
3 oz vegan semisweet chocolate
Pinch sea salt

For the fruit salad
1/4 cup organic cane sugar
1/4 cup water
1 3" piece ginger, sliced
Zest of one lime
2 kiwis, peeled and sliced
1 mango, peeled and sliced
2 oranges, peeled and sectioned
1 small pineapple peeled and cut into chunks
1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced
Fresh mint, rough chopped

Make the waffles:
Mix the flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  In a separate bowl mix the non dairy milk, coconut milk, melted butter, avocado oil and apple sauce. Fold in the toasted coconut flakes.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Stir until a thick batter is formed.  Cover and refrigerate for 1/2 hour.

Heat a waffle iron according to the manufacturers directions. Lightly spray the iron with cooking oil spray and pour about 1/3 cup of the batter onto the waffle iron and cook until golden brown.

Make the syrup:
While the waffles are being made make the syrup by heating the maple syrup over a simmer until warm.  Add the chocolate and sea salt and stir until smooth.

Serve the waffles with the slice bananas and top with the chocolate maple syrup and garnish with toasted coconut.

To make the fruit salad (can be made a day ahead):
Heat the sugar, water, ginger and lime zest until they come to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from the heat and place in the refrigerator until cold (about an hour).

Combine all fruit into a bowl. Strain syrup and pour over fruit. Toss to coat. Cover and put in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Serve with chopped mint.

Coconut Bacon Waffles

Looks like a regular waffle, right?  Well it's not. It is a special waffle. Inside of this lovely waffle  is Phoney Baloney's Coconut Bacon.  I added it right into the batter and the result was great.



I don't know what it is but all of the sudden I am into waffles. I am not usually much of a breakfast eater and almost always choose a savory over sweet when I do have breakfast but the last few weekends I have made waffles and enjoyed them.

I think I really liked these as the coconut bacon adds just the right touch of savoy to this sweet breakfast.

If you don't have the wherewithal to make coconut bacon you can order Phoney Baloney's here.  I am absolutely loving the stuff; it is cruelty free deliciousness!

Coconut Bacon Waffles

1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup coconut bacon
1 cup non dairy milk (I used So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut)
Coconut bacon for garnish (optional)
Confectioners sugar for sprinkling (optional)
Maple Syrup

Mix all ingredients in a bowl (excluding the extra coconut bacon and confectioners sugar).

Heat and use a waffle iron according to your particular iron's directions.

Garnish with the extra coconut bacon  and confectioners sugar if using.  Drizzle maple syrup over the waffles and enjoy!

Tandoori Chick'n Kabobs

My daughter got me a cookbook for Christmas.   It was one of the favorite gifts I received this year.  Though it is not a vegan cookbook (it is published by Kraft and features Philadelphia Cream Cheese) I love it because she bought it with her own money at the school book fair and she took great care to keep it a secret from me until Christmas morning.  It warms my heart every time I think about it.



The other day she and I were looking through the book and the recipe for Tandoori Chicken Kabobs caught her eye.  The recipe was very simple and looked good to both of us.  She looked at me and said "Mom, I am sure you can make a vegan version of this."  I love her confidence in me!

She was right, a vegan version was very easy to do and the end result was a delicious kabob.  We both enjoyed them and I will make them again.

Tandoori Chick'n Kabobs

4 faux chicken breasts, thawed (I used Gardein Scallopini)
8 oz vegan cream cheese, softened (I used Tofutti)
8 tbsp tandoori paste

Cut the faux chicken into chunks.

Place the cream cheese and tandoori paste in a bowl and mix until well incorporated and smooth.  Put the faux chicken chunks into the mixture, toss gently to coat. Cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to broil.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.  Place the faux chicken chunks on skewers and place on the baking sheet (if usine wooden skewers soak them in water for at least thirty minutes to ensure they do not burn in the oven). Be very gently with the faux chicken as it is prone to fall apart if handled too roughly.

Place the skewers in the oven six inches from the heat source and broil for about six to eight minutes turning halfway through.  They should turn golden brown before removing from the oven.