Thank you for reading!

Thank you for reading about my vegan adventure this month. I will be posting some final vegan thoughts this week. Tonight we are having "Snobby Joes," a lentil version of good ol' sloppy joes from the Veganomicon cookbook.


The winner of the Vegan Yum Yum cookbook give away is Sutter Schumacher! Congratulations, Sutter! I will email you via your blog to get an address so I can send your book this week.

Spicy Soba and Watercress Salad

Spicy Soba and Watercress Salad
3 tbsp Tamari or any soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp spicy chili garlic sauce (you can find this in most Asian markets)
1 prepared package buckwheat soba noodles
1 bunch washed watercress, patted dry

In a large bowl combine the Tamari, sesame oil, and chili garlic sauce. Boil the soba noodles for 8 minutes and rinse with cold water. Toss together with the washed and dried watercress. Serve with lightly salted and sauteed tofu.



Watercress
"Hey, that lettuce still has the roots!" shrieked the cute little kid running around in Whole Foods on Sunday while his parents paid him no attention. His adorable voice and excitement about "roots on the lettuce" forced me to forgive his little body running into my cart about 15 times. I wonder if he was planted by the produce staff because this shopper purchased a bunch of the rooted lettuce.

Well, it's not quite lettuce, it's watercress but it is leafy, crispy, green, and really good for you. Watercress contains huge amounts of iron, calcium and folic acid (bingo for pregnant women!), in addition to loads of vitamins A and C. It has a slightly peppery taste that pairs beautifully with grainy flavors and soft cheeses if you do dairy.


















Curiosity got the best of me this evening so when I cut the roots off, I decided to put them in a bowl of water just to see what will happen. Will it grow? Will it start to smell and I'll have to compost it? Will horrifying fruit flies move in? We'll have to just wait and see!

Meyer Lemon Pancakes

I got the fancy (or at least to me it was) idea to add some Meyer lemon zest to a vegan pancake recipe this weekend and my oh my, were they delish. Just add 2-3 tablespoons to a single batch of pancakes

















Pancakes will cook evenly on low-medium heat with just a touch of oil in the pan. Too much heat and oil will lead to burned pancakes. Check out these beauties!

















A delicious alternative to maple syrup for pancakes and waffles is fruit topping. These are raspberries from my garden that I froze during the summer. I simply allowed them to thaw, added a tablespoon of Meyer lemon zest, a tablespoon of sugar, and smashed them up with a fork. They were a nice treat on a rainy winter morning.

Cowboy Cookies

vegan cowboy cookies















I found another wunderbar vegan baking discovery in the Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar cookbook. These monsters are hefty, crispy-on-the-outside-chewy-on-the-inside, and contain a few of my favorite things: coconut, pecans, and chocolate (vegan in this case). Oh la la!

I made cookies that are 3" in diameter and have just shy of three dozen with one batch. I bakes a dozen right away and froze individual cookie dough portions for easy baking at a later date.

Even though the recipe contains no eggs or butter, you would never know. My husband thinks this recipe is better than my Mom's chocolate chip cookie recipe - and that's saying a lot because that coveted recipe puts the Toll House to shame.