Your Vegan Mom

Sun-dried Tomato Cashew Cheese Spread

 

I'm going to have to make this quick.  Paul went back to work yesterday, so it's just me and these two maniacs.  I know the flip side of that statement is that I am pretty freakin' lucky to have had him at home for the first three and half months of Felix's life.  But now...now I'm going to have to relearn how to live.  On my own.  Without my partner, dish washer, diaper changer, toddler entertainer, and the only member of our household not prone to breaking into dramatic fits of crying.   

Snacks will be essential.  I always try to have some kind of spread in the fridge to dip crackers in or smear on bread when there isn't time to otherwise feed myself.  I mentioned this cashew-yogurt cheese a few months back, but it bears repeating.  With four ingredients in the base recipe, about 5 minutes of prep time, innumerable variations, and rich, delicious flavor, I think it deserves to be as trite as hummus in the snacking lexicon.  Make it so.  

Also, while I eat it straight out of the repurposed yogurt container in the fridge, it would be easily fancied up by, you know, putting it in a bowl, and maybe even busting out that tiny cheese knife that you never use.  You could add a garnish of chopped basil and call it a chiffonade.  Surround it with some fancy crackers or toasted slices of baguette and your New Years Eve cocktail soiree is served.  

Sun-dried Tomato Cashew Cheese* 

• 3/4 cup raw cashew pieces
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• scant 3/4 cup plain soy yogurt (or 1 6-oz. container)
• 1 clove garlic
• about 6 small sun-dried tomatoes

In the bowl of your food processor, grind the cashews finely.  Add the other ingredients, reserving a couple pieces of the tomato, and process until smooth.  Add the rest of the tomato and process again to leave some identifying chewy red bits.   

You can serve right away, or chill first.  This spread will thicken up in the fridge.  

Happy New Year!  

*Thank you Mezzetta for the sun-dried tomatoes and other party snack supplies!  

Instant Hot Cocoa says Merry Christmas

Hot Cocoa Mix 

• 3 parts powdered soy milk
• 1 part cocoa powder
• 1 part sugar

Mix and then sift before funneling into clean dry jars for gift giving and holiday sipping.  To serve, use 3 1/2 tablespoons of dry mix to 1 cup of hot water.      

What are you making for holiday gifts?  

Chocolate Pecan Pie

 

The rain is washing my car.  The baby's asleep.  The boy's at my mom's house.  Paul did the laundry fairly recently.  Lunch is made.  The Christmas cards will be ready tomorrow.  As always, I'm way behind on email, and correspondence in general, but pushing that guilt towards the back of my mind is working for the moment.  The house is not a complete mess.  I have so much to do to get holiday presents ready that the magnitude of the problem is simply blinding - I can't see it.  

So let's talk about pie.  One of the highlights of our Thanksgiving feast this year was a chocolate pecan pie that was so decadent and rich and delicious that my brother compared it to candy.  If the idea of candy served in the size and shape of pie, not to mention wrapped in buttery pastry, doesn't completely repel you, keep reading, I've got a holiday dessert for you.

It's a variation of that derby pie that from my limited understanding of Kentucky (I used to have a friend that lived there once.  Hi Peter.) seems to involve nuts, chocolate, and bourbon.  I started with this recipe on Martha Stewart's website.  But that one was just too sweet and too bourbon-y for children and nursing mothers (Sorry Dorka).  

So I cut back on the bourbon and the sugar, replaced it with the molasses-y brown variety for more flavor, and fell in love all over again with pie.  

(Just to be clear, this love has never abated, but I've discovered it can reach new depths with the addition of chocolate and pecans and bourbon.)  

Chocolate Pecan Pie

• 1 prepared pie shell
• 2 tablespoons flax meal
• 6 tablespoons water
• 1/3 cup vegan butter, melted
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups pecan pieces, toasted
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons bourbon

Blind bake pie shell: prick several times with a fork.  Cover with parchment paper or foil.  Weigh down with rice or beans or pie weights.  Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.  Remove paper and weights.  Bake for another 6 - 8 minutes, until the crust appears dry and the edges are just beginning to brown.  Remove to a cooling rack.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flax meal and water.  Let sit for about 10 minutes, until the flax meal absorbs the water and transforms into a thick eggy goop.  Beat in the melted butter, brown sugar, and flour.  Add the pecans, chocolate, and bourbon.  Stir.  Pour this mixture into your blind baked pie shell.  Bake at 350 until filling is set, about 25 minutes.    

Let cool before serving.