a Vegan Valentine’s with the Conscious Cook

I’ve used the same veg cookbooks for the past few years, so needless to say, my dishes are in desperate need of  change.  Plus, I want to prepare a sinfully delicious dinner for my hubby and me on Valentine’s Day!  So, off to the bookstore…

After scouring over the veggie cookbook section at B&N, I finally decided on Tal Ronnen’s book, the Conscious Cook.   At just over 200 pages,  this book doesn’t go overboard with page after page of seemingly endless recipes.  I don’t know about most people, but for me, I tend to get lost and become a bit indecisive when I have a 1000 recipe cookbook in front on me!  No doubt, the huge (almost dictionary like) cookbooks are great, but there are times when  smaller is better.  And that’s exactly what attracted me to Tal Ronnen’s, the Conscious Cook.

I plan on spending the evening looking over each recipe and putting together a 4-course, vegan gourmet dinner menu for tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day!  I’ll be posting my menu plan with the outcome early next week.  Until then, I hope everyone has a lovely, vegan-friendly Valentine’s Day!!

Banana Berry French Toast

Who says vegans can’t enjoy French Toast?  This recipe proves that you don’t need eggs to create this scrumptious breakfast treat.  Enjoy!

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1½ cups soy milk or other non-dairy milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 6 slices of french bread cut into ¾” slices
• 2 ripe bananas (sliced)
• 1 pint + 1 cup strawberries
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup
• ¼ cup powdered sugar (extra for dusting)
• Earth Balance margarine as needed for frying

Directions

1. In a medium bowl mix the soy milk, flour, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and sugar until well blended and foamy.  Pour mixture into a cake pan and soak sliced bread in the batter.
2. Heat the Earth Balance in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Fry each slice of batter covered bread until golden brown.
3. Place 1 cup of sliced strawberries and ¼ cup powdered sugar  in a blender or food processor.  Blend until smooth.
4. Pour strawberry mixture into a small pot and cook over lo-heat until warm.  Remove from burner and mix in ¼ cup maple syrup.
5. Set bread on serving plate and top with fresh sliced strawberries and bananas.  Drizzle with the strawberry and maple syrup sauce.  Top with a light dusting of powdered sugar.
6. Enjoy!

Classic Potato Salad (Vegan Style)

Who isn’t a fan of potatoes?  One of the ultimate comfort foods not only taste great, but are low in calories and packed with Vitamin C and B-6. Potato salad may seem like a summer picnic treat, but when it taste this good – it’s hard to wait!

Classic Potato Salad

And there you have it, a quick and easy recipe for one hearty potato salad!  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ pounds unpeeled white potatoes
• 4 strips vegan ‘bacon’
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
• 3 tablespoons mined white onion
• ¾ cup vegan mayonnaise (I like Veganaise – available at Whole Foods)
• 1 tablespoon soy milk or soy creamer
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• Fresh ground black pepper, to taste.

1. Cut potatoes into small cubes and add to salted boiling water.  Cook until tender, about 10 minutes.  Drain and set aside to cool.
2. In a large skillet, brown the ‘bacon’ strips and set aside.
3. In a small bowl, add the mayo, salt, pepper, soy milk, mustard and vinegar.  Mix until well blended.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the celery, onion and relish.
5. Once the potatoes have cooled, toss in the celery mixture and gradually add the dressing until desired creaminess is achieved.  I like a lot of dressing, so I add it all!
6. Crumble the bacon strips and add to the salad, mixing gently.

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Everything you need to eat right for your health, for animals, and for the Earth.  Get your FREE Vegetarian Starter Kit by visiting PETA.org or click here to download.

Vegan eats & scrumptious treats!

Welcome to the launch of the Vegan Hogg! I’m Tracy and I love every animal on this planet but for some reason, I tend to fancy the pig; or what I like to call  The Hogg!  I know that pigs are omnivores, but I like to think otherwise.  Plus, ‘the Vegan Hogg’ just has a certain ring to it…don’t ya think?

I will be adding to the site during the next couple of weeks.  I have a major sweet tooth, so you can count on a huge library that will hold all of my favorite vegan pastries, cakes & cookies!  Check back often – I plan on having VeganHogg.com running full-speed early into the New Year.  I will be adding additional categories and pages at a pretty quick pace – subscribing to my feed will ensure you don’t miss a thing!

Feel free to email me with any questions/comments.  Thanks for stopping by!

Tracy