Kate brought amazing carrot cake balls to our tango class. She said it was easy to make: dates, walnuts, carrots, optional frosting. The recipe seemed a lot like this Minimalist Baker recipe, and a...
Nick and I love Darbar’s Shahi Paneer, so I wanted to try making a vegan version. After some experimentation, this worked well, somewhat like Vegan Richa’s Butter Tofu recipe. Ingredients...
When Munira lived nearby, she’d make a yummy vegetable dal soup. I’ve wanted to give it a try for awhile now, and after buying pounds of red and mung dal at Costco, decided it was time. I...
Larry plays tennis most weekends, and looked into making electrolyte powder to mix into his water bottle. He adapted this electrolyte powder recipe to make a small jar, which lasts him about 10 months...
Our alto, Alex, had a birthday coming up, and I wanted to buy or make a cake, so I asked what kind she liked. Lemon was among her choices, and sounded delish to me, so I looked through vegan lemon...
Elsa and John came over for dinner, and I was inspired to make a soup with white beans to serve with a hearty whole wheat bread. I searched and looked at a few recipes, chose this Tuscan white bean...
Fermented foods are good for the gut. Larry likes kimchi, so he decided to try to make it. He wanted it to be vegan, so used miso instead of shrimp powder. It turned out well!
Our kitchen was overflowing with zucchini and tomatoes from our and Elsa’s garden. Larry fondly recalled ratatouille, so Cyndy and I gave it a try during her visit. We decided on this roasted...
Cyndy made this salad for us during a visit. It has a great mix of sweetness, heartiness, and crunch. Beautiful and delicious! Ingredients 1 can drained chickpeas 1 C fresh spinach, chopped into...
So many vegetables work here; I go for a nice mix of color. I almost always use root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, onions, and beets, sometimes bell pepper, and often mushrooms or other...
Our friend Elsa has a bounty of collard greens, and invited us over to harvest. I got an Ethiopian cookbook called Teff Love a few years ago, and haven’t used it yet; Ethiopian collards (called...
Larry’s cousin John and wife Lou hosted us at their Massachusetts home in early October, when we were on our way to Portugal. Lou made this delicious and easy one-pan meal for us, and loved it...
Elsa hosted a birthday brunch last week, cooking up several experiments for us, all delicious! Larry went back for 3 pieces of this yummy lemon blueberry coffee cake. The original recipe called for a...
A nice vegan chocolate cake recipe from Isa that I adjusted slightly – by doubling it (because her recipe makes just one 8" round). For a 2-tier round cake, I add more milk to the ganache,...
Purple Carrot’s Crispy Sheet Pan Tofu was relatively easy, with a couple nice twists, including the lentil grain mix, dressing, and layering. I don’t expect to order more from Purple...
When we visit Robert and Judy, we often get to sample Robert’s latest delicious homemade bread. Robert shared with me the NYTimes recipe he follows for no-knead bread. He uses this recipe(also...
Elsa made this dish for a dinner party a couple of times, served with a salad. It was so good; I loved the rich flavor from the white beans and veggies and crusty bread – so much that I bought a...
I’ve been looking for more good soup recipes, and got this yummy recipe from Shelley Million. It’s very easy to make, and has an earthy, yummy taste from the cumin and turmeric. The...
Judy and Robert made a variation of this delicious NYTimes recipe for Za’atar Roasted Tofu With Chickpeas, Tomatoes and Lemony Tahini for lunch before we enjoyed a beautiful hike through redwoods at...
A simple, delicious dish, created by Munira. Who’da thought corn and tofu would be so good together? You might be tempted to add other ingredients; feel free. Bell peppers, for example, are...
Judi shared her easy marinated and baked tofu recipe, yay! I’ve tried other marinades and not been so happy with them; they’ve been too liquidy, and didn’t turn out better than...
Marina shared a recipe for Cauliflower Salad Sandwiches from the New York Times; delicious! If you make sandwiches, a roll handy to keep everything in place, since it’s a bit chunky....
Rick and Lauren brought over an AMAZING upside down cake, made using Eric and Marilyn’s frozen kumquats (which had thawed out during our 2.5 day power outage). Omg, it was one of the best cakes...
Laurie made an out-of-this-world granola when we visited last week. It’s all nuts, plus coconut. (Larry exclaimed, “What, granola without oats?!”) This version is very keto, but of...
Cyndy made this delish salad for us when we visited a few days ago, along with her wild rice salad. This recipe is super fast if you buy pre-cooked beats, which we get at Trader Joes. Trader Joes also...
Visiting Munira in Dallas, we made our favorite homemade pizza using Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat Pita Bread. They make a nice crispy crust, and it’s a super easy way to make tasty personal...
My brother Jeff turned me on to this, and it’s my new favorite thing! Delicious, high fiber, and lots of ways to mix it up. Oats are so good for you, as is wheat germ, berries, and nuts. This...
We discovered mujadara at a middle eastern cafe, Zadna, as the tasty base for a hearty mediterranean veggie falafel bowl. Essentially, mujadara is cooked grains + lentils + onion with spices, making...
Munira is visiting from Texas, yay! We biked over with some fig banana bread, and she treated us to an impromptu, delicious dinner of her lentil dosa and secret gobi. I thought dosa was super hard to...
Larry is harvesting figs by the gallon. In the past I’ve made fig pie, compote, and jam, and even dried figs. Yesterday I tried a fig banana breadwith a few tweaks: whole wheat flour, less...
I like making pies, including tofu quiche and fruit pie and pumpkin pie. Good pie crust is hard to make, though. I buy Wholly Wholesome rolled pie dough when we can find it. But it’s been hard...
Our grape vines are prolific, but the grapes are teeeeeeny. Larry’s sister Cyndy mentioned that she loved putting grapes in any sandwich, like tuna or turkey. That reminded me of a nice...
The best things I’ve learned so far from a 2-week Purple Carrot trial are (1) the surprising fun and beauty of layering items on beds of other items, (2) using a peeler to make zucchini ribbons...
We had a super fun, impromptu potluck today at Judi and Nick’s, featuring soba noodles with Kira’s special sauce. So delicious! The amounts below are guesses based on watching Kira mix; no...
Another recipe from Munira! After making us a wonderful dinner, she described how to make fried rice from the leftover rice in her Instant Pot, and sent me home with spiced rice that I could fry up...
Over the holidays, I tried an air fryer to try to get more crispy tofu. The result was pretty good, but the fryer seemed like more of a hassle than benefit (wasn’t easy to clean, took up a lot...
For our acappella rehearsal, Harold’s wife Chris served this delicious, easy spice cake without frosting. The recipe came from her kids elementary class, made vegan so more kids could eat it....
I’ve been meaning to try to make a chana masala for awhile, and today I found a nice recipe in Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchenthat I adapted slightly, using wisdom from Munira, some canned...
After a lovely, spur-of-the-moment hike with Judy and Robert on New Year’s Day, Judy made us a fabulous dinner of pasta and lettuce salad (with olive oil, rice vinegar, and cumin dressing),...
Another of Munira’s yummy recipes. Black chickpeas have such a nice flavor. Of course all the measures are approximate guesses; no actual measurement tools were used in the making 🙂 Ingredients...
Shhhhhh…. Munira shared her marvelous gobi recipe with me! I’m not sure what got into her, but she made us a delicious dinner (as usual!) and this time, showed me a lot of her secrets. If...
Our pantry still has lots of oatmeal and almond butter from pandemic stockups. Looking for recipes to use up some of these ingredients, I came across these healthy almond butter baked oatmeal cups....
I had some phyllo dough to use up, and adapted this recipe for apple turnovers. I ended up having a fair bit of the fruit mixture left, so I also made a small apple crisp. Both were great!
The Impossible Lasagna that I blogged earlier this year is tasty, but Impossible beef has a heavy taste like real beef does. We wanted to try a lighter, no-fake-meat lasagna, and I found the perfect...
We harvested some of Judi’s apricots while her family was out of town. Her tree has the best apricots I’ve ever tasted! Sherry came to visit and shared her vegan apricot cake recipe, which...
Shelley Million gave us a blood orange cake when we made a backyard visit in March, and it was divine! I asked Larry what he wanted for his birthday, and he said this cake. Shelley made it with...
I made a Vegan Lasagna with Nooch Cheese a couple of weeks ago, and it was good, but didn’t remind me much of classic lasagna, and Larry didn’t like the nooch. So I made a mental note to...
Updated from the 2026 Blue Zone Cookbook. Originally from the How Not To Die Cookbook that Susie gave me, I asked Larry what he thought; he said “I always like pie.” The following is a...
It’s lemon season! When the frost comes they go bad, so Larry is bringing in scores of meyer lemons and limes. After success with key lime yogurt, I got a craving for lemon cake. Larry said yes,...
Pat brought over more persimmons! We sliced and dried a dozen unripe ones. We still had half a dozen ripe ones, and I owe cookies to some members of our movie-review SupPort group, so time to try...
Pat and Allen shared at least a dozen persimmons with us from their bountiful harvest, along with their persimmon bread recipe. Here’s a slightly tweaked, vegan version of their bread; turned...
Vegans eating meatloaf? Impossible! Until Trader Joe’s starting carrying Impossible Burger. My first foray into fake beef cooking, C’mon Man! Sloppy Joes, turned out well, so I decided to...
A super easy, yummy vegan pumpkin pie, great for using up that 2-pack of Wholly Wholesome pie crust (use the other one for the Festive Chickpea Tart ).
In honor of our new President-elect – and his fine VP-elect – I decided to try to make sloppy joes from the (new) Impossible Burger plant-based meat I got at Trader Joe’s last week....
Larry asked his colleague Supraja what she had for lunch the other day, and she shared this cauliflower curry recipe. I had a small head of cauliflower and some potatoes and cabbage to use, so I added...
Laurie tried out some new recipes for dinner when we stopped by on our way back from our Nebraska road trip – and it was delicious! Who’da thought that cabbage could make such a good...
I’ve made half a dozen fruit pies in the past few weeks because of our prolific pear tree. I usually mix blackberries with the pears, because we have to use those up, too. But recently, for...
Oh my, these are delicious and healthy. This recipe is adapted from my favorite Isa Does It cookbook to use slightly less sugar and a couple other small tweaks. This makes a dozen; consider doubling...
I came home from Nebraska to a couple of bunches of celery in the fridge that needed to be used. I adapted this celery black pepper tofu recipe from Vegan Richaand it was pretty good! Over time I...
I needed some cookies to fill the empty space in a box I’m mailing to Dad, and I’ve had these cookies by Vegan Richa on my list for awhile to try. I actually made some...
So many figs! I made afig pie, which was pretty good, and we actually tried our hand at canning fig jam (see photos below). The result was yummy, though quite the effort and a bit sweet (so much...
Larry has fond memories of cold spinach salad in Japan. We compared several recipes, and did a mix of several (from salu salo, fine cooking, iheartumami, and bon appetit - seriously, you used frozen...
Alba clamshell mushrooms and fresh zucchini arrived in our last farmer’s market delivery, and Viki left a nice bottle of white wine with us, and we still had a little arborio rice from John...
Viki brought her adaptation of a carrot-top chimichurri to our outdoor distance gathering, and I fell in love with it! The tang and garlic are amazing on bread, or as a salad dressing (see...
During the pandemic, I ordered some soy curls and made fake chick’n nuggets out of of them, adapting this “chicken” soy curl salad. It was quite good! But it’s much easier to...
Soy curls can gain the texture of chick’n, which is ok with a very tasty sauce or stir-fry. Store-bought fake chick’n varieties seem a little better, although they are even more processed...
Every year we have so many oranges! They’re more difficult to give away this year given COVID… we give to a few neighbors and friends, but I can’t take them to the office and hand...
Munira brought back a masala dabba for me from India. So exciting! The next morning I filled it with some of the spices I use the most, and drew a key to help me remember what is what. It was SO fun...
Larry put Japanese miso powder on his Christmas wish list; he wanted powder since paste can go bad if you don’t use it up quickly. Good thing, since we just opened the jar today, 5 months later!...
Our neighbor Elsa gave us 4 beautiful fresh leeks from her garden. I had been planning to make my chickpea tart, but then I found a mushroom leek quiche in Vegan Comfort Classics that looked worth a...
Our friend Judy shared this roti for two recipewith us, which just uses flour and water, and is very good! Munira adds some spice to her roti, and luckily, she shared her secrets with me in Whatsapp....
We have a ton of fresh cilantro growing in our side yard, to I searched for recipes that use a lot of it. This coleslaw recipe looked good, and also uses oranges, which we have tons of. Here’s...
Growing up, Larry’s family had a tradition of eating applesauce at most meals. Since we’ve started doing weekly zoom dinners with his family, they decided everyone should always have...
Getting fake meat during the pandemic is unpredictable; some basic things (tofu, tempeh, soyrizo) are often out of stock. I wanted to make my Mexican lasagna, but couldn’t get soyrizo. So I...
In one of our zoom chats with friends during the pandemic, Robert & Judy shared their desktop to flip through some random photos. I asked them to pause on a beautiful pizza they made for dinner....
We often enjoy Andersen’s Pea Soup in Buellton when we drive to or from southern California. Andersen’s sells bags of peas along with a pea soup recipe, which I’ve slightly adapted...
We really like these PB2 brownies - super easy to make, not too sweet, and very satisfying. But it’s time to try some other desserts. I still have a lot of PB2 and almond butter; surely one can...
Thinking about alternatives to my (limited) flour as we go shopping less during the pandemic, I recalled that I have two big jars of PB2 (powdered peanut butter) that have been in my cupboard for...
Loving my Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen cookbook. With the uneasiness in the world, our pantry is full of dried beans and lentils - and I’ll definitely be making this again. Here’s a...
Munira often makes a potato cabbage fry for us that is yummy. I love cabbage and have a head of it that needs used, and found a recipe in my Vegan Richa cookbook to try!
In 2020, I bought an instant pot to get the Yogurt button, and made some batches following this blog post on soy yogurt. I also tried soaked almonds processed in my ninja blender; it was pretty good...
One of our favorite restaurants, Cafe Sprout, has a spicy red curry soup that we love – with chickpeas, tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, red lentils, and quinoa. Isa also has a Sweet Potato and...
We bumped into Elsa the other evening on a walk, and asked how she uses Candied Buddha’s Hand. She makes biscotti! Larry turned to me and said, “Biscotti, please.” I found a recipe...
Our friends Pat and Allen have a Buddha’s Hand Tree, and offered us a chance to harvest a couple of the fruits! Pat also shared her recipe for delicious candied Buddha’s citron. It’s...
Jeff made some delicious sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving in Nebraska. We ate them so fast that a couple days later I asked him to help me make them again, and I took pictures. I made them again for...
Shelley shared a delicious chocolate pudding with us today, packed with healthy ingredients! It’s super easy to make, too. She recommends a dark cocoa like Hershey’s Dark or Guittard...
A vegan variation on a cake recipe by my college roommate Elizabeth, with orange promoted to a primary flavor – increasing the zest in the cake from 1/2 tsp to at least a tablespoon, and adding...
Figs! We have so many figs. Larry is picking a dozen a day, scrambling onto the roof to get half of them from the top of the tree. During an afternoon get-together, Shuchi tells us that she gets a lot...
We’ve had some really good buffalo cauliflower at Vegenation in Las Vegas, and I finally got around to trying to make it. It was tasty! Here’s what a did - which is a combination of a...
Last month we went for a walk on the beach near Half Moon Bay, where Larry proposed 22 years ago. Along the way, we came across a small tapas place and had some delicious gazpacho. Googling for a good...
We have SO many blackberries we can’t keep up. I started putting cups and cups of them in bags in our freezer - which is getting WAY too full. I got an idea: What if I try to use up some of...
Shelley followed up the wonderful mango guacamole with a fresh pea soup and this fantastic masala lentil salad, which is pretty easy to make if you buy the lentils & arugula ready to eat at trader...
Shelley made this mango guacamole and served it with pita chips and sliced jicama. Delish! Ingredients 3 large avocados, peeled and pitted 1 small red onion, chopped 1 mango - peeled, pitted, and...
Wanda shared a chocolate chip apricot bar recipe with me more than a decade ago, when I made it for our SRI chili cookoff and it won best dessert! The recipe is adapted from a Gourmet 1995 recipe. I...
I made these cookies to bring to Munira & Vinod’s for dinner because I know they love ginger. The recipe is a cross between my grad roommate Elizabeth’s Molasses Crinkles and Vegan...
Munira gave us some delicious homemade hot green chutney. I tried to replicate it - with success: even Munira and Vinod liked it! This is adapted from a video Munira shared for this recipe for Green...
Munira is cooking us another delicious dinner, and wants rum cake! So I gave it a try. I googled and found a few recipes, and two stood out to me: A vegan coconut rum cake that was somewhat similar to...
My friend Munira is a wonderful cook! For years she would never share her recipes, saying why would we come over for dinner if we knew how to cook the food? 🙂
Shelley Million sent me this super minimalist baker recipe for saag paneer with tofu in place of the cheese! I’ve tried a saag recipe or two and wasn’t thrilled, but this one is different...
Another hit from Cyndy. She got this recipe in a vegan cooking class. The instructor said this was meant to be a kind of “fake chicken.” It didn’t really taste chickeny to us, but it...
Cyndy visited this weekend, and we made this for a dinner with Munira and Vinod. She soaked some dried mushrooms overnight and cut them up in small pieces to add to the marinara. it was really good! I...
Jeff texted us (siblings) a photo of his blueberry pancake dinner. It looked delicious, so I called him for the recipe! He made it up (of course), and says that yeast pancakes – and these in...
When we visited Chelsey and Josh last November, Chelsey made a delicious, super thick oatmeal. The secret? Almond milk and oats, almost equal amount! Then the other day, Jeff suggested adding wheat...
Jeff made a batch of his black bean soup and told me his recipe, so I thought I’d give it a try! TJs didn’t have collard greens so I tried kale. He cooks his beans in a big pot where he...
Omg, these date cookies are so good. Munira and her friend Shobha made them for a party we went to last night, and we got to take some home. The date, pistachio, cardamom, and coconut flavors are...
Judi makes the best pecan cookies! This recipe is super fast and easy and tasty. The photo below shows puffs along with a happy chocolate xmas dog from Sandy🙂 The recipe below about 15 cookies.
In San Antonio, Chelsey served us a delicious homemade tomato soup! She told me how she made it, and I found a similar coconut-milk based tomato soup recipe on the web. What I really liked about...
We ate at Vegenation in Las Vegas during our Southwest vacation, and their Chicken Pot Pie Gnocchi was amazing! The Chicky Chicky Bang Bang sandwich came in a close second, followed by the Strawberry...
Dan Suthers shared his favorite dal recipe with me. Yay! For so long I’ve wanted a good dal recipe. How did he know? This dal is from Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen Cookbook, which is now on...
Dan Suthers is visiting! After a hike with Jeff, Jeremy invited us over for dinner, and allowed us to use his awesome kitchen to make Collaborative Couscous: a treasure hunt for ingredients that add...
This cashew cream potato salad is delicious, but I wanted to try a not-creamy potato salad. I found a Roasted Garlic Potato Salad from Oh She Glows that looked easy and worth trying. I don’t...
I’ve tried to make beet burgers a few times, with just so-so results. Often they’re too soft and just not as tasty as I hoped. But for Labor Day this year, I finally did mashup of a couple...
Shelley and Michael had us over for lunch and served us the most delicious, thick carrot leek soup, sourdough bread (City Bread from Cheeseboard) and salad (a mix of leaves, garbanzos, red peppers,...
Jeff & Brenda came over for lunch, and they had a hankering for bbq chicken, so we bought them a roast chicken at Costco and I made some homemade BBQ sauce. The sauce was delicious and super easy!...
We bought a big pineapple. It’s kinda sour, and that’s a lot to eat! So I googled recipes, and found a couple of no-bake pineapple cream pies that I combined. It’s actually...
We like the Trader Joes Sprouted Whole-Grain Pizza Crust for this homemade pizza, but I wanted to make my own for a Greek meza (photos below) with Yannis, Merche, John, & Elsa. Mom made homemade...
An Indonesian dish with spicy peanut sauce that Tim and Karen made for us for dinner, to put on top of a delicious tofu and vegetable stir-fry. Yum! Ingredients 2 T vegan butter for frying 1 cup...
At my (new) work, Masha brought back some delicious cookies from her holidays in Iran. I have lots of chickpea flour I need a use for, and these were delicious and not too sweet. Masha sent this...
Larrys’s sister Cyndy made these for our long-weekend get-together; easy and yummy. Ingredients 1 box Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry (17 oz) 2 cups fresh or frozen berries 2 T water 1/4 tsp...
Larry calls this “danger bread” because he can’t stop eating it 🙂 Ingredients Dry 3 cups whole wheat flour 1 tsp salt 2 tsp baking soda 1 cup walnut pieces Wet 3 medium bananas,...
Wait, vegan meringue cookies? Aren’t meringues made from whipped egg whites and sugar? Ya, that’s right. And you won’t believe what can be used in place of egg. Garbanzo bean liquid....
So many pears on our tree! So I googled for a pear dessert, and found this recipe for Pear Spice Upside-Down Cake that looked good - and it was! And relatively healthy, too. The freshly pureed pears...
Judi reminded me that we made these burgers with special sauce from Chloe’s Kitchen recipes a couple of years ago and they were yummy. So I decided to make them for a summer BBQ this year. They...
Given our abundance of carrots, I decided to tweak my zucchini walnut bread recipe to make carrot muffins. I borrowed some ideas from the Carrot-Raisin muffin in Vegan with a Vengeance, replacing...
Our wonderful neighbors gave us two 5-lb bags of carrots after an online order snafu. So I pulled out the carrot recipes! I made my carrot soup, cut up a lot of carrots to eat with hummus, and made...
Our favorite local Indian restaurant, Janta, had a buffet with several delicious dishes the other day, including a cabbage dish and a mung bean dal. I had lots of cabbage and mung beans at home to use...
From Isa Does It, with a few adaptations to replace the coconut oil and applesauce with coconut yogurt, and reduce the sugar a little (it’s plenty sweet). And it’s a good opportunity to...
This recipe is adapted from a vegetable chili con carne in Jane Brody’s Good Food Book; my sister-in-law Brenda made a vegetarian version of it for me back in the ’90s, and it was delish!...
Another recipe of my grandma Esther’s, easier to make than her ostakaka and also not vegan, but vegetarian of course. Blogging it here for posterity and so I have access to it when I’m...
Larry brought in some cabbage and kale leaves from the garden, and I thought I’d try a new recipe. This is adapted from a mix of Spinach & Mushroom Mini Vegan Puff Pastry Quiche and Oh She...
Adapted from Chloe’s Kitchen, a simple delicious dish. Ingredients 3 large yams, peeled, cut, roasted in oven 1/2 can lite coconut milk 1 T maple syrup 1 t salt 1/2 t cinnamon 1/2 t cloves 1/2 t...
This is my grandma Esther’s recipe for Ostakaka (Ost = cheese, kaka = cake), a custard from her Swedish family (*) and one of Dad’s favorites. It’s not vegan, but I’m blogging...
Judi made so many delicious things for Thanksgiving this year, including these slightly sweet and spicy brussels sprouts. Yum! Ingredients 1 1/2 lbs Brussels sprouts 1/2 cup oil 1/4 cup rice vinegar...
Munira’s family gave us some sauteed mung bean sprouts last year, and they were such a treat; nutty and yummy. And, it turns out, pretty easy to make. I bought some mung bean seeds and a...
Larry’s sister Cyndy made this for us a decade or more ago, and then made it again for Thanksgiving this year, which reminded me how delicious it is! Ingredients 1 C wild rice, dry 1 C chopped...
Another recipe adapted from a recipe in The Indian Vegetarian cookbook by Neelam Batra (see also the diced potatoes and tomatoes recipe). The original calls for 4 jalapenos (!!). I use one medium...
This bean dish was served at a lunch at work, in both vegan and with-bacon-and-ham forms. Judi and I thought the vegan one was delicious (don’t know about the other!); I brought home leftovers,...
This potato dish is adapted from a recipe in The Indian Vegetarian cookbook by Neelam Batra, who also has a web site, Neelam’s California Indian Cuisine. Thanks to my friend Munira for...
Judi found a “divine” recipe for blueberry lemon energy bites that she modified slightly to use walnuts (for the omega-3s) instead, and she skipped the coconut. I tried with different...
Yummy chocolately walnut crust from Judi (bottom crust only); try with pumpkin pie or pudding pie. Ingredients Chocolately walnut crust (1 crust)2 C walnuts 6 dates + 2 T maple syrup or some combo 1 t...
A colleague of Larry’s made this for a party at Pivotal about 3 weeks ago. So easy to make, and really good! The fresh tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and lemon really make it. I took it to our...
So many tomatoes in our new garden bed! And our friends Elsa & John gave us some lovely zucchini from their garden. So I though I’d try to make a primavera similar to one at our favorite...
We got a batch of bananas that wasn’t so tasty, so I thought hey, why don’t I try to sweeten them up a bit and fry them? A quick google search found a good recipe for fried honey bananas...
Matthias and Petra from Lugano left a box of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry cups in our freezer when they left, and surprise, the pastry cups are vegan! Our house is being painted this week, so I decided...
We love Field Roast sausage, and often buy 12-packs of apple, Italian, and Mexican Chipotle sausage for pool party bbqs. The chipotle is too spicy to eat straight, but is great in a soup! A quick...
Shuchi made this delicious salsa for a pool party last weekend. It’s fantastic and super easy to make. This one will become a pool party staple! Ingredients 1 bunch green (spring) onions (3-4...
I’ve made many veggie curries with Trader Joes bottled curry sauce, and they’re okay, but never as good as what you get at a Thai restaurant. Once I tried to make curry with store-bought...
It’s blackberry and pear season! After enjoying our friend Judi’s “momba” smoothies so many times, we got a good Ninja blender to make our own. Dr. Gregor has some videos about...
My brother Jeff gave me a couple bags of dried fava beans this weekend. He gets them at his local farmers market. I soaked, boiled, and then sautéed them with some garlic and pepper. It was good, but...
A new twist on pasta from Larry’s sister Cyndy. Delicious and super healthy. Here’s the recipe for 2 people; increase proportionally for 4. (Okay, way too much yellow in this photo;...
A hearty, nice corn chowder, from Vegan with a Vengeance. You can use frozen corn, but I think it’s better if you use fresh. I made this the first time with my sweet corn harvest (see photos...
During a visit to Nebraska, Dad’s friend Jack gave him a bag of about 30 fresh-picked peaches. I decided to try to make a pie, and after a little googling and experimenting, came up with an...
Mark brought Trader Joes Beet Hummus to our pool party this weekend, and we loved it! I had 3 huge (potato-sized) fresh beets from Farmdoor in my fridge, so I decided to give it a try. I cut up one of...
Our perfect veggie burger from Oh She Glows. The nuts and seeds really make it, it’s crispy outside, and it stays together well. I’m not a big parsley fan, so I use fresh basil instead of...
I found a nice cucumber salad from Oh She Glows that included these roasted spiced chickpeas as a topping. We mostly just ate them as a snack - really good! Ingredients 1 (15-oz) can chickpeas 1/2...
Sightly adapted from a recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance mostly to add some greens and tomato, and a little more turmeric. Nice served with toast potatoes, guacamole and salsa. Ingredients 1 T high...
A wonderful chocolate oatmeal, or make it plain with maple and brown sugar. I found the chocolate version first, on Happy Healthy, and made up the plain version when I needed a change. Both are...
A berry crisp that combines elements of a few recipes I’ve tried, including Judi’s. Delish! Ingredients Fruit (berries, pears, apricots, etc.) 2 T canola oil 1/4 C brown sugar 1/2 lemon...
Our friend Arul made this for us one night, and I loved it. And it’s so easy to make. Thanks, Arul! January 2025 update: Laurie roasted cauliflower for us and served it with a peanut dressing....
Happy Healthy and Oh She Glows both have recipes for chocolate chia pudding. One serving gives you all the omega 3’s you need in a day! Happy Healthy has her Overnight Chocolate Berry Breakfast...
Mashed cauliflower and potatoes are delicious and even healthier than potatoes-only. I steam the cauliflower and potatoes in batches in the microwave using a microwave steamer, and toss them in a big...
Judi made this tart from Plant-Powered Kitchen for Thanksgiving, and we loved it! It’s delicious with cranberry sauce on it, but super delicious on its own, too. This is my a slightly adapted...
A super easy, yummy vegan dessert. We used to make it with Grapenuts, but then Costco had some Love Crunch Dark Chocolate and Red Berries organic granola one day, and now we have another favorite...
A raw, easy, yummy vegan dessert; see Happy Healthy Librarian’s Chocolate Chia Walnut Bars. Ingredients 1 1/2 cups pitted Medjool dates (be sure all pits are gone!) 1/3 cup raw usweetened cocoa...
My friend Judi totally loves these soy curls. I made her vegan bacon version of these and liked them; Larry thought they were too sweet. Next time I’ll cut down the maple syrup.
Adapted from Life-changing Vegan Thumbprint Cookies. I halved this recipe, used a combination of walnut pieces and sliced almonds (NOT ground up), and added a little flax meal. Note: It’s hard...
A delicious lentil soup that Larry’s sisters Laurie and Cyndy discovered. It’s particularly good with real French Green Lentils, but green lentils from Trader Joes is also delish....
An easy appetizer that is delish! Ingredients 6 tomatoes 3 cloves garlic 1/2 cup fresh basil 1T olive oil salt to taste baguette (french or sourdough) Instructions Dice the tomatoes and garlic, and...
A delicious vegan potato salad. Fools the omnivores! Can make it the day before a summer bbq. Adapted from epicurious recipe, and uses cashew mayo. Ingredients 3 pounds baby red potatoes 3 tablespoons...
This is a South Mediterranean version of caponata, the famous Italian eggplant salad. I often double the recipe if we make it for a party, so we have leftovers at home.Thanks to Christine for the...
Larry’s sister Laurie made this yummy dish for us. The chutney, garam masala, and nuts really make it. (Garam masala is a blend of spices such as nutmeg, cloves, cumin, cinnamon, cardamom,...
My mom’s recipe, with less sugar and whole wheat flour instead of white. Really easy to make, not overly sweet, and hard to stop eating! I like to make mini loafs to give as gifts. (Like for...
A great recipe from Happy Healthy Long Life that’s easy to make. I’ve made some slight modifications, and Ingredients 2-3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & sliced 32 oz salsa (mix of...
A wonderful squash soup that I like especially with Buttercup squash, a big green squash with a thin skin that you can leave on and puree with everything else! Kabochas are also great. Butternut...
Super delicious! From the Silver Palate cookbook. Ingredients 4 T vegan margarine (or butter) 1 large onion, chopped 12 large carrots, 1.5-2 pounds, chopped 4 cups vegetable stock 1 cup orange juice...
I first had this in during college, maybe when I was visiting Chicago and Brenda made it from the Molly Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook. It quickly became a favorite! I’ve also adapted it a...
Well, you don’t have to serve this with fettuccine; we serve it over Garofalo whole wheat spaghetti or fusilli with my homemade marinara. This is recipe adapted from the wonderful cookbook Isa...
This is a thick, yummy homemade hummus slightly adapted from Judi’s hummus. For the two of us, I halve her recipe, don’t use as much salt, and don’t use any olive oil (it...
An alternative to the fresh blueberry kale salad that is also amazing––maybe more so, with the candied walnuts. This is adapted from Oh She Glows Best Shredded Kale Saladto use candied walnuts instead...
A colleague at work (Savitha) brought me a jar of her homemade marinara, and it was so delicious. I asked her how she made it, and talked with Judi about how she makes hers, and it’s so easy!...
Ginger pears are yummy and a great gift. We have a pear tree, so in the fall I make a bunch of it and refrigerate it (up to a couple of weeks). You can also freeze it (canning is too much work 🙂...
Thanks to Wanda and Judi, who gave me their great recipes, which I merged and played with to get this! Makes about 28 4" pancakes - breakfast for about 5 people, or just store the unused dry mix...
Mom’s easy recipe for zucchini bread, except with about half the sugar, using whole wheat flour, and with flax “eggs” to make it vegan (you can use regular eggs if you’re not...
Adapted from a recipe on Oh She Glows, you can use all kinds of vegetables and different kinds of beans in this soup. I like the spice/broth mix, and the kale. You can change it up a fair bit if you...
The avocado in the dressing makes this, as does massaging the dressing into the kale for a few minutes to soften the leaves. I got this idea from Judy Stern in May 2014. I had tried to make kale...
Judi found this Hearty Cookie recipe and tweaked it a little; then I tweaked it, too. I took them down to Larry’s family for his dad’s birthday. They were a hit, yay! They are vegan, of...
Judi just gave me a sample of this at work. Oh my. It’s delicious. And soooo simple to make. Just oats, flax, peanutbutter, maple syrup, salt – and optional chocolate chips.
Slightly adapted from the wonderful Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook, an easy, yummy vegan pesto. Larry had missed pesto; it’s so hard or impossible to find without cheese in it; we’ve...
