Potato Soup with Broccoli and Kale.

My love for kale-containing soup started quite a few years ago when I tried Olive Garden's zuppa toscana soup. If you eat sausage you should totally try it. This soup reminds me of that with the kale, potatoes and spices, but it is not trying to mimic it by any means.

I made this and chocolate muffins for dinner last night.. You could definitely say 'food baby.'


6-8 baking potatoes, baked and cooled
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed,
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp rubbed sage
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste
1 tsp salt
8 cups vegetable broth
6 kale leaves, torn into bite-size pieces, rough stems removed
1/2 cup plain soymilk


Saute sliced onions in olive oil until they appear transparent. Slice the potatoes into 3/4 inch chunks. Add garlic and spices to the onions, and cook for another two minutes or until fragrant. Add some of the vegetable broth to deglaze the pan, then add the potatoes and bring to a slow boil. Add broccoli and kale during the last 10-15 minutes of cooking. Use an immersion blender to blend about 1/3 of the soup, but keep it chunky. Stir in the soymilk, and let the soup sit for a few minutes to let the flavors meld.

Serve with your favorite muffin recipe, and enjoy!

Hearty Spiced Cocoa Muffins.

This recipe is pretty much straight out of The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. These muffins are very rich, moist, and satisfying. Great for Autumn weather and the holiday season.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
6 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
3 tsp Ener-G egg replacer (equivalent of 2 eggs)
4 Tbsp water
1 cup soymilk
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 F. Lightly grease muffin tins or fill with paper liners.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, cayenne, and salt together in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, whip egg replacer and water together until creamy. Combine egg replacer mixture, soymilk, and oil. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients, sirring just enough to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spoon mixture into muffin pan, filling them 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Moving.

I do not think anyone is more interesting to draw than my painting professor.

"Don't waste the paint."

Vegan Chili.

I am loving this flannel weather. I am also loving that, now that it is flannel weather, it is acceptable to have things like soup and chili for dinner.. even though I eat soup all year round like a weirdo.

When I cook, I rarely ever precisely follow a recipe. And I cook a lot. It is difficult to write it down too, because I never measure anything [excluding baking]. Thus, here begins my effort doing that for these AWESOME things I make.


24 oz crushed tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste
4 cups vegetable broth
1 white onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup carrots
2 small zucchini
1 can corn
1 can chickpeas
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans [you can do any combination of beans]
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp cocoa powder, or a handful of chocolate chips
3 Tbsp chili powder
crushed red pepper to taste
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
2 Tbsp vegetable oil


In vegetable oil, caramelize the onions and garlic. Add spices and cook for another two minutes, until fragrant. Add vegetable broth to deglaze the pan, then add all other ingredients besides the beans. Simmer for about 20 minutes, or until flavors have blended and carrots are tender. Add beans and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Vegan Banana Bread.

Did you know you can make your own brown sugar? When it is homemade, it is way more fluffy and delicious than the stuff you can buy. Simply follow the ratio,

1 Tablespoon Molasses per 1 Cup Granulated Sugar.

Less molasses gives you lighter brown sugar, more molasses is darker!





I have always loved bread. Artisan bread, poppy seed bread, zucchini bread - you name it. My mother tells me it runs in [at least and primarily the female side of] the family. The problem, however, is that all the recipes I grew up loving usually have dairy or eggs in them. Here is a necessary vegan intervention, telling you that you CAN bake without eggs.

One thing that irritates me about a lot of vegan recipes is that many I have come across include tofu. You will probably never see me post a baked / dessert recipe with tofu in it. Just because it's vegan does not mean tofu is a mandatory ingredient. I mention this because it was difficult to find suggested vegan banana bread recipes without tofu incorporated. I mean, they taste good. But ew.


Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup Earth Balance, room temperature
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray 8x4 bread ban with non-stick spray, or lightly coat with margarine.

Combine soy milk and apple cider vinegar in a small bowl to let curdle. Cream together Earth Balance and sugars. Add bananas, soy milk mixture and vanilla.

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and spices.

Add wet ingredients to dry, and mix well. Pour batter into pan. Bake for an hour to an hour and ten minutes.



Enjoy!

Creating organic forms with vertical line.

Or at least trying.





Feeling very lost with my drawings, lately.

'Lack there of,' rather.