Polpette Vegetariane

Coming soon: Homemade vegetarian Italian meatballs

Banana Chai Breakfast Cookies

Breakfast used to be my favorite meal of the day, but lately it's been less than exciting. I've been depending on instant oatmeal, and microwavable tofu scramble pocket sandwiches since I have to leave for work so early in the morning. Today's baking project was a step towards making breakfast my favorite meal of the day again-. and what's better than homemade cookies for breakfast?

                  

Banana Chai Breakfast Cookies (Vegan)

1 ripe banana

1/3 cup of canola oil 

2/3 cup of sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon cinnamon 

1 tablespoon cardamom 

two pinches of salt

2 cups of quick-cooking oatmeal 

1/2 cup of chia seeds

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

- With a fork, mash the banana

- Add oil, vanilla, sugar to the banana, and mix

- Then, add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, salt)

- Mix in oatmeal, and chia seeds

- The dough should be pretty thick, and it might be better to mix with your hands at the point

- Roll out small balls of dough and arrange on your cookie sheet

- Bake for 10 minutes, and let cool

Health benefits: 

- Bananas: high in iron, high in B vitamins, fiber, and potassium

- Canola oil: contains omega-3

- Cinnamon: believed to improve energy, and circulation

- Oatmeal: lowers cholesterol, boosts immune system, rich in fiber, stabilizes blood sugar

- Chia seeds: reduce blood pressure, also contain omega-3, fiber, calcium, iron, and more. 

If you like banana bread and chia tea lattes, you will love these cookies. They're also pretty tasty crumbled up and covered in almond milk as a homemade cereal or granola. Cheers to tasty mornings, enjoy! 

Peanut Butter Squares

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups: 0

These little beauties: 1 

Thank you Vegan Stoner for the fabulous recipe. These call for three ingredients (however, I added a pinch of vanilla extract), they're extremely easy to make, and they taste about a thousand times better than those factory made peanut butter cups. 

Check out the The Vegan Stoner to make your own. 

Still Christmas Shopping? Check these out...

The secret to being vegan? A good cookbook.

For those of you who know someone who is interested in going vegan or is vegan- a cookbook is always a fabulous gift. Most of these were given to me as gifts and I LOVE them. So, if you're still looking for some Christmas presents consider these for your foodie friends ....

(Or- add them to your wish list.)

Pasta e Fagoli

When dried cannellini beans, celery, and parsley arrived in our CSA box- I knew exactly what I wanted to make. Pasta e Fagoli is a family favorite that has been passed down through many generations... (from  Nonna Scalise to Nonna Bonvino to my mom and now to me, to name a few.) My mom's grandmother would make Pasta e Fagoli for her when she would come home from college, and my mom and grandma did the same for me. Little did they all know- they were enjoying a vegan meal (minus the parmesan they would top it with.)

Dried cannellini beans from Suzie's Farm in San Diego, CA

It's a simple yet flavorful dish, perfect for autumn or winter meals. Some people make it as a hearty soup, others make is as a pasta dish. I like to make mine somewhere in between. From my family to yours- buon appetito.

Ingredients:

( Serves 3 to 4 )

- Olive oil to coat the bottom of your pan

- Salt to taste

- Crushed red pepper (just a pinch if you're like me)

- Parsley

- Tops of celery

- Three cloves of garlic

- One can crushed tomatoes

- Two cups of veggie broth (add more if you'd like it to be more like a soup)

- One can of cannellini beans (if you have fresh, dried cannellini beans- make sure they are cooked before you begin preparing this dish)

- Two cups of cooked pasta (a small pasta, preferably)

In one pot, salt and boil water for the pasta.

In another sauce pan: Mince garlic, and lightly warm olive oil in your sauce pan. Add garlic, and about a handful and a half of full celery leaves, and cook for one to two minutes. Toss in the can of diced tomatoes, cannellini beans, and veggie broth. Continuously stir for about five minutes. 

In your other pot- the water should be boiling at this point, so begin cooking your pasta. 

Add salt, crushed red pepper, and a handfull of parsley to the sauce pan. Stir and allow to cook until your pasta is ready.

Once strained, slowly add your pasta to the sauce pan and stir. Allow all ingredients to cook and blend together for about five to eight minutes. 

This pairs very nicely with a glass of Pinot Grigio, and, just like many dishes, this one has proved to be even better the day after I make it. 

XO - Theresa

Coming Soon- Vegan Mac & Cheese

Vegan and Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie Brownies

Fall is my absolute favorite season. I love getting to sip on pumpkin lattes, bundle up in my favorite sweaters and walk around in boots. Whether by lighting scented candles, or baking  fall treats, my house is always full of the aromas of my favorite fall scents that seem to warm your soul.

From: Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

I specifically signed up for "snack duty" for one of my graduate classes in October because I knew I would be aching to bake around this time. (Yes - we bring snack to our three hour, sometimes back to back, evening classes.) After flipping through all of my cook books for days, we decided that Pumpkin Pie Brownies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar would be the best to share with my classmates. They are unique, which I love, and they've got chocolate for those chocoholics I know, and a pumpkin pie topping that reminds us fall is here (- in Southern California, it's sometimes hard to tell.)

Ginger, allspice, cinnamon, and vegan gluten-free chocolate chips 

A friend in my class is gluten-free, so we adapted the recipe to accommodate her needs. This was the first gluten-free baked good I've made from scratch, and I was pretty stoked to see how it would go. We simply used Gluten- Free All Purpose Baking Flour, and used Tapioca Flour instead of Corn Starch for the pumpkin pie topping. 

These brownies are totally genius. They're moist, delicious, and full of flavors thanks to the pumpkin pie topping. If you want to make these, I guess you're going to have to go buy Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's fabulous little cookbook (Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar). It is definitely proof that vegans do not survive off of rabbit food. If you're close by and want to borrow it, let me know.

XO - T