@FIRE_at_45 We had some leftover battered cauliflower that were doused in Frank's because it was just too cutting to bite through, so I reheated them until they got crispy again and it was sooo much better! I still felt like there's something missing in the taste but it wasn't as vinegary anymore, so maybe the secret is in rebaking it after putting sauce on. It's funny because I used to really like the stuff on chicken wings.
@lollylegs Great job! We made some homemade pizza the other day and really liked Violife's shredded mozzarella which was pretty tasty and melted. I couldn't be bothered to make my own cheese.
Now would probably not be a good time to share sugar-y recipes then. :P I have a lot of ideas I'd like to share.
Recently I tried Oh She Glows' vegan cinnamon rolls with vegan cream cheese frosting and it was so, so decadent! Will plan on making these for Christmas for the family. However, if you use the cream cheese frosting recipe, cut back the recipe to maybe 1/4 or even 1/5 of the total batch because it's a big batch, and I'm still trying to work through using it. :/ It's really good, though. We used Miyoko's cream cheese for the cream cheese part. I would like to experiment with adding tiny bits of sauteed tart apples to the cinnamon sugar filling, and doing a simple orange zest glaze instead of cream cheese frosting. Recipe here:
https://ohsheglows.com/2017/05/09/vegan-cinnamon-rolls-with-make-ahead-option/I also had sweet potatoes lying around and wanted to make some version of pound cake. A quick google search revealed that this is totally a thing! I used this recipe yesterday, and while it is good, I wouldn't say it's as bread-y as most people imagine pound cake to be. It's more like a very moist but slightly crumbly cake. Not sure if it's because the author didn't use grams for the measurements, which is a major pet peeve. I put it in a big casserole dish instead of a loaf pan, also, and distributed my leftover cream cheese frosting over it. Either way, it turned out delicious, but I will differently be experimenting with other recipes or just modifying non-vegan versions to achieve a vegan version of a more classic pound cake texture.
http://theemotionalbaker.com/2015/11/16/sweet-potato-pound-cake-vegan/If anyone is interested, here are some other recipes i was looking at:
https://thegreencreator.com/vegan-sweet-potato-chocolate-bundt-cake/These are not vegan but can be modified:
https://www.finecooking.com/recipe/sweet-potato-pound-cakehttps://marcussamuelsson.com/recipe/sweet-potato-pound-cakeAlso looking forward to doing a version with carrots and chai spices and any other 'secretly [kind of] healthy' baked goods. I know people do things like zucchini bread, too, which I've never had, so that's on the list as well.
I made a green lentil curry last night inspired by this, but the original recipe looks pretty good, too:
https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/green-lentil-curryI'm quickly realizing how sweet potatoes can be so versatile, and I had some leftover from creating the sweet potato pound cake, so my version included baked mashed sweet potatoes, which I mashed into a couple tablespoons of tomato paste and oat milk to create a thick sauce. Since I didn't have most of the spices on hand as separate spices I just used a tablespoon of garam masala, 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper, and 1/2 tsp of cumin. Oh, and salt of course. I sliced an acorn squash into crescents and baked, then added on top. And I did quinoa instead of rice since it was faster. But it turned out really well! I think next time I'll follow more of the recipe, although I did add in the kale and carrots, too. :P And I'd also do delicata squash next time because the skins are thinner and can be comfortably eaten, whereas the acorn squash skin was a bit thicker. Next time, I'd also do red lentils instead of green, which is just what I had on hand. But red lentils are nicer because they'll cook in a few minutes less time and they get a soft texture.
I also discovered a food blog that has a good range of options. It's not meant to be a plant-based blog but I'd say it mostly is. A lot of her recipes focus on reducing the amount of refined sugars per serving, which is really helpful. The recipes have
a unique mediterranean focus, which I appreciate from the slew of typical vegan fare that you see on every blog/youtube/instagram/whatever.
https://www.tastymediterraneo.com/tag/vegan/Lastly, not sure if anyone likes jam, but in trying to come up with ways to consume chia seeds other than as a pudding, I found that chia seeds are an excellent shortcut to making jam! And it doesn't have to involve refined sugar. Genius!!! I will plan on using this for thumb print cookies in place of regular jam.
https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/10-minute-chia-seed-jam/ Thumbprint cookie dough if anyone is interested in doing some holiday baking:
https://veganhuggs.com/jam-vegan-thumbprint-cookies/^Typically I like to add a couple tablespoons of aquafaba since I am dislike cracks on cookies that aren't supposed to be cracked looking even if it doesn't ruin the taste.