I tested another recipe over the weekend for our Oscar party, but this one would also be perfect for the Superbowl this Sunday.  I wanted to do something different than my normal Hot Artichoke Dip, and using chicken worked for one the of the title puns I’ve been working on.  I came across this recipe that sounded good, so I set to work making a vegan version.

This dip is decadent.  It’s much healthier than it’s real meat and dairy counterpart, but it sure ain’t healthy.  It is really, really tasty though.  We tried it with water crackers, tortilla chips and golden rounds (Trader Joe’s version of Ritz crackers).  The golden rounds were the winner, but of course eat this with whatever you like best – spoons work too!

Chicken Bacon Artichoke Dip

8 oz. faux chicken
about 7 strips faux bacon (or half package of Turtle Island Smoky Maple Bacon Marinated Tempeh)
14-oz can artichoke hearts, chopped
1 cup fresh baby spinach, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. unsweetened non-dairy milk
8-oz non-dairy cream cheese, room temperature
pinch cayenne powder, or to taste
2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
2 Tbsp. non-dairy sour cream, room temperature
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grab a medium-sized casserole dish (1 1/2 – 2 quarts).  You don’t have to oil the dish, but it won’t hurt anything if you want to.

Cook the chicken according to package directions, and then dice it.  Cook the bacon, and dice it as well.

While you’re cooking the bacon and chicken, prep your other ingredients and add them all to a large bowl.  Add both the diced chicken and bacon to the bowl.  Mix everything together well, and dump it all into your casserole dish.  Bake the whole thing for about 30 minutes, or until it’s heated throughout and bubbling.

You can store leftovers in the fridge.  You’ll just want to reheat them before eating.

Notes: Since I’ll be making this again I’m gonna try a few tweaks to simplify things, and I might up the amount spinach so I don’t have to feel quite as bad about eating this.  I’ll be sure to update the post if the changes work.

Continuing with my Oscar party dishes, I’ll be making these S’more Bars for the film Amour.  Unlike the Les Mis bread, we’re going full on title pun with this one.  Which means they should probably be S’mour bars for the sake of the party.

These are way too easy to make for being as good as they are.  Veganizing them wasn’t a problem, though I might make a couple tweaks when I make them again in a few weeks.  More on that when we get to the recipe.

I going to be trying to take more photos of the process of each recipe for you guys from here on out, and I’m using this post to kick that off.

Admittedly, some of the shots may not be the best (I’ve taken over most of the photography from Ryan – that dude is busy), but I really love to see lots of photos and at least some of the steps in the recipe when I visit blogs, so I want to be able to provide that as well.

Above are the dry ingredients dumped on top of the creamed mixture (previous photo) after a good scrape of the bowl.  Once you have the dry mixed in, you’ll have a crumbly mixture that you should be able to press together to form a ball.  You’ll be pressing 1/2 to 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of your greased baking pan, like so…

Now it gets crazy easy.  Bake the bottom layer for about fifteen minutes.  Then you take it out of the oven and layer your chocolate bars on top.  I used Trader Joe’s 1.75-oz 56% dark chocolate bars.  They have a darker version too, but I didn’t want the chocolate to be too bitter.  You can use whatever chocolate you like.  Just arrange it evenly over the hot cookie layer.

Next you’ll arrange your mini marshmallows on top of the chocolate.  These little guys can be sticky, and you’ll probably have to sample one or two to make sure they taste really good.  It’s just your job as the baker.  It can’t be helped.

Then you’ll crumble and sprinkle the rest of the cookie mixture over the marshmallows.  I used a little more on the bottom of the pan then the recipe called for, but I still had plenty for the top.

Now you just bake it off until the top is golden, and try to restrain yourself from eating it all while the chocolate is melted and gooey.  It’s easier to get clean cuts on this once the chocolate cools completely, but they’re pretty awesome when it’s melted.  You can always put them back in the oven or microwave on a bar by bar basis.

Before we get to the recipe I should warn you that these are evil.  They’re so easy to make – as long as you can get your hands on some vegan marshmallows, which was the most challenging part of making these for me.  And they’re SO good.  Once you start eating one, it’s hard to stop yourself from going back for more.

Vegan S’more Bars

3 ounces vegan margarine
3/4 cup unbleached sugar
1 1/2 tsp EnerG egg replacer
2 Tbsp hot water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (make sure they don’t contain honey)
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 Tbsp non-dairy milk
about five 1.75-oz non-dairy chocolate bars
1 10-oz bag of vegan marshmallows

Preheat the over to 350 degrees and grease an 8-in. square pan.

Cream the margarine and sugar together.  Mix the EnerG powder with the hot water, and add it to the creamed mixture along with the vanilla extract.  Mix it up again until it’s creamy and smooth.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt.  Add this to the creamed mixture, and while the two are mixing add the non-dairy milk.  (see Note)

Press 1/2 – 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of your prepared pan, and bake it for 15 minutes.  Take it out of the oven and layer the chocolate over the top evenly.  Spread the marshmallows on top of the chocolate, and crumble the remaining dough over the marshmallows.  Put the pan back in the over for 10-15 minutes, or until the top is golden.  Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely before cutting bars.

Notes: I reduced the margarine from the original recipe for this version, but I think I could of used the full 1/2 cup without any problems.  I added the non-dairy milk because the mixture was a bit dry.  When I make this in a few weeks, I’m going to try to up the margarine by an ounce and see how that goes.  I’ll report back and edit the recipe if I like that version better.

I’ve been meaning to post about this bread for a long time, but I hadn’t actually made it in over a year.  Back when I was still doing Moveable Feast dinners with Alix (of the fantastic Cute + Delicious blog), she sent this recipe to me for our Spanish feast.

I came back to this recipe because Ryan and I are starting to make plans for our Oscar party.  We usually do puns on the names of the films nominated for best picture to inspire dishes, but this year we’re contemplating mixing it up and also doing dishes inspired by the films themselves – mainly because I think that for Les Mis, it’s gotta be a loaf of bread, pure and simple.

This bread is incredibly easy to make, but you do need to allow time for rising and resting the dough.  The photo above is right after I mixed the dough.  Once it rises it expands to almost fill the container.

And the best part is that this recipe makes several loaves, depending on the size of each, and you can also store the dough in the fridge for up to two weeks, which means fresh baked bread whenever you feel like it.

If you’re intimidated at the thought of making bread from scratch, don’t be.  I’m far from a bread-making expert, and I think this recipe is very forgiving.  The more you work with yeast doughs, the more comfortable you’ll be.

Here’s the recipe as it appeared in The New York Times version that I used.  (And if you’re in the LA area and might be wondering about whether or not Moveable Feasts will be coming back, stay tuned…)

Simple Crusty Bread

Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.

Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.

Yield: 4 loaves.

Variation: If not using stone, stretch rounded dough into oval and place in a greased, nonstick loaf pan. Let rest 40 minutes if fresh, an extra hour if refrigerated. Heat oven to 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Place pan on middle rack.

Ryan and I have a few go-to meals for nights like these, and Quick Noodles with Kale & Tofu is one of our favorites.  It’s easy to sub whatever ingredients you happen to have on hand, it comes together in no time, and it’s really nourishing.  Most importantly though, it tastes fantastic!

Feel free to make this your own by substituting your favorite greens, adding other veggies, changing up the sauce or even the protein that you use.  If you’re not a fan of pre-baked tofu, you can of course marinate your own, or use tempeh or seitan in its place.  And feel free to use whatever noodles you like best.  I’ve also used ramen and soba, but I find that I like somen the best in this dish.

For this version, I use a sauce that’s just slightly adapted from “The Vegan Table” by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (a really great cookbook that I highly recommend.)  I’ve adjusted the amounts of each ingredient to my taste, and feel free to do the same once you make this.

Quick Noodles with Kale & Tofu

1 bunch kale
1 package somen noodles
about 1 tablespoon canola oil
1 package pre-baked seasoned tofu
1/4 cup creamy all-natural peanut butter
2 – 4 tablespoons organic sugar
1/3 – 1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 soy sauce
pinch red pepper flakes

Fill a large pot with water, and place it over high heat to boil.

While the water is boiling, trim the kale, cut or tear it into bite-sized pieces, and give it a good wash.  Set aside.

Prepare the sauce by combining the peanut butter, sugar, lime juice, soy sauce and red pepper flakes in a medium-sized bowl.  Adjust seasonings to taste, and set aside.

Heat canola oil in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat.  Dice up the tofu, and toss it into the pan.  Saute it until the pieces are golden and crispy.  Set aside.

By now your water should be boiling.  Add the kale and boil it for about 4 to 5 minutes.  Add the somen noodles and boil for 2 minutes more, or until they’re cooked through.  Drain the kale and noodles in a strainer, and return them to the pot.  Add your sauce, and toss to coat the kale and noodles.  Add the tofu, and gently toss to distribute it.  Serve immediately, and refrigerate any left-overs.

Notes: Use whatever tofu flavor you like best – I used teriyaki for this.  You could also use crunchy peanut butter for a bit more texture.  This will work with any kind of noodles.  You can even use angel hair or spaghetti – just make sure to adjust the boiling time in accordance with the kale.  I give a range for the amount of sugar to use, and I’ve made this using both more and less.  It’s up to you how much to add, and I think it tastes great either way.  I used Shoyu for this, which I find to be stronger than soy sauce.  If you use a low-sodium soy sauce you may need to add a bit more.

Do you guys know about Meatless Mondays?  If you’re one of my non-vegan readers, you may not have heard of this campaign, but it’s becoming more and more mainstream, and now even Oprah is in on it.  I’ve been wanting to start a Meatless Monday feature on the blog for a while now, and I’m excited to kick the whole thing off with a brand new C’est La Video!

You may be on board with the idea of going meatless one day a week, but if you’re anything like I was before I became vegetarian, you hear the world “meatless” and imagine a day of carrot sticks for lunch and a boring salad for dinner.  Even with the best of intentions, if you don’t know what to eat, you’re just not going to stick with it.

Add to that the fact that most of us are busy people, and we don’t always have a ton of time to spend in the kitchen at the end of a long work day.  If you’re intimidated by vegetarian food, you’re even less likely to want to cook, and you’re already writing off Meatless Mondays before even giving them a shot.

I want to show you guys that you can have a great meal that will be familiar to you and your family, and it doesn’t have to take a lot of time and work.  I promise you that no one will miss the meat, and even though this meal uses some pre-made products, it’s so much better for you than its non-vegan counterpart.

Is it better to make everything from scratch?  Of course it is, but you certainly don’t have to.  Using pre-made products can be a huge help, and I want to make sure you don’t have any excuses for not going meatless on Mondays!  There are plenty of great all-natural products out there, so just make sure to read those ingredient lists and choose high-quality pre-made foods.

This meal is less of a recipe and more of an assembly.  If I don’t have my favorite garlic bread spread in the fridge, I use the method shown in the video to make some Speedy Garlic Bread.  It’s really tasty, and couldn’t be easier to make.  Use a baguette, ciabatta, or whatever kind of bread you like best.

My favorite recipe for marinara sauce is also really easy to make, but some nights it’s just easier to open a jar.  Who’s with me?  Just make sure the pre-made sauce is meat and dairy free.  And don’t forget to include some veggies to round out this meal.  Some roasted or sauteed broccoli or asparagus would be tasty, but you could also serve a simple side salad like I do in the video.

Shells with “Meat” Sauce

1 pound conchiglie pasta (shells)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 bag of Boca Ground Crumbles
1/4 to 1/2 cup red wine, vegetable broth or water for deglazing the pot
1 26-ounce jar of pre-made marinara sauce (I used Trader Joe’s Tomato Basil Sauce)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta.  While the water comes up to a boil, heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a pot over medium heat.  Once the pot is heated, add the meatless crumbles and saute.  If they stick to the bottom of the pot, deglaze it with your liquid of choice (I like using red wine.)  Once the crumbles are heated through, add the marinara sauce to the pot, and give it all a good stir.  Cover, and reduce the heat to a simmer.  Stir occasionally.

Once the pasta water is boiling, add a generous “pinch” of salt and the pasta.  Give it a stir, and boil according to the package directions.  Once the pasta is al dente, strain it and add it to the pot with the sauce, stirring well.  Serve with Speedy Garlic bread (recipe follows.)

Speedy Garlic Bread

Sliced Bread (I usually do 2-3 slices per person)
1 whole clove garlic, peeled
Non-dairy Margarine
Vegan Parmesan

Toast, broil or grill the bread.  Cut the top off of the garlic clove, and rub the cut end on the hot bread.  Spread with margarine, and sprinkle with the vegan Parmesan.

Notes: You can use different pasta shapes if you’d prefer, but I like how the shells hold the “meat” sauce.  Don’t worry about using the exact same size jar of sauce – just use something close to that size so that you have enough sauce to coat all the pasta.  If you can’t find Boca Crumbles feel free to use another brand, or you could even cut up a couple veggie burgers.  Just make sure to check the ingredients for dairy or eggs.

Our friends Shawn and Alix hosted their Fourth Annual Halloween Horror Movie Marathon over the weekend, and I made these spooky Witches’ Finger cookies to bring along.  We were both pretty beat (Ryan spent the entire day painting the nursery, and I’m just generally beat these days), but we were able to stay for one movie.  I always wish we could stay longer though.  Maybe we’ll bring the baby next year and just charge though the whole night!

I originally found this recipe last year but never got around to making it.  I’m so glad I came across it again because these were perfect for the movie marathon – they looked totally gross and spooky, but they were really tasty.  And the movie we watched was also totally gross.  Tons of bugs and squirmy larvae.  Ewwwwwww…

I only made a couple changes to the recipe, which I’ll share below.  These are basically almond flavored sugar cookies, and they reminded me of the spritz cookies my Mom used to make every Christmas that I so love.  They’re also easy to make, and would probably be really fun to make with kids.  Not that I have kids on the mind or anything…

Spooky Witches’ Fingers

6 ounces vegan butter, softened
1 cup vegan confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon ground flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoons hot water, or use egg replacer for 1 egg (I used Ener-G egg replacer)
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole, blanched almonds

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together.  Add the egg replacer, extracts and almond milk (or other non-dairy milk). Mix until combined.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until the dough comes together.  If the dough is particularly dry, you can add another tablespoon of non-dairy milk.

Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

As for shaping the dough, I can’t explain it better than Samantha did, so check our her photo directions.  One thing to keep in mind is that the cookies do puff up a bit when cooked, so roll them thinner than you think they need to be.  I would suggest using an ounce of dough or less per cookie.

Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes, or until they’re barely golden, turning the tray halfway through the cooking time.  Let the cookies cool and if you’re feeling particularly evil, remove the almonds and put some jam or red decorator gel under the “nails” before replacing the almonds.  You could also try dusting these with cocoa powder to make them extra yucky looking.

Hope you guys have a Happy Halloween!

As promised, here’s the new dip I made for Ryan’s birthday get-together this past weekend.  It was my first time making the classic bread bowl spinach dip.  To be honest, I used to not really like this kind of dip at all.  After tasting this one though, I have to change my tune.  I’ll definitely be putting it into the regular rotation.

I have another spinach dip that I usually make, but it’s more work and a little bit richer.  This was SO easy to make, and people went crazy for it.  I’d bookmarked this recipe a while ago, and found it again as I frantically searched for something to make that would be tasty, but not take too much effort.

The leek soup packet called for in the original recipe contained whey, so I went with the veggie soup packet instead (which actually has a similar spinach dip recipe on that back.)  I only made a couple of other modifications, and of course I used vegan versions of the non-vegan ingredients.

The only thing I’ll do differently next time I make this is buy some extra bread to serve it with.  There wasn’t enough from the bread bowl itself.  I also put out some pretzels, but this dip is really tasty with bread cubes.

Spinach Dip

1 cup Vegenaise (or other vegan mayo)
1 (12 ounce) container Tofutti Sour Supreme
1 (1.8 ounce) package Knorr vegetable soup mix
1 (8 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (squeeze well to really get all the water out)
1 (1 pound) loaf round sourdough bread

Mix all the ingredients (except the bread) together in a large bowl.  Cut the top and middle out of the bread, and fill with the dip.  Cube the section of bread you removed for serving alongside the dip.  Enjoy!

Ryan’s birthday was Friday, so we had a few friends over on Saturday to celebrate.  I’d been working on a large cupcake order for a couple days, so after finishing that and helping to clean up our place, I didn’t have a lot of energy left to make food.

I did end up making one new dip (which I’ll post about later this week), but I also went with one of my easy go-to recipes – this ridiculously easy Onion Dip.  I just mix a tub of Tofutti Sour Supreme and a packet of Lipton Recipe Secrets Onion Soup.

It’s not the healthiest dip, but it tastes amazing, and literally takes a couple minutes to make.  I like to serve it up with a big bowl of chips, but it’s also really tasty with pretzels.

I know it’s not much of a recipe, but it’s such a great shortcut to have on hand when you’re entertaining, or when friends happen to drop by (I almost always have vegan sour cream on hand).  It’s no Onion Dip from scratch, but it’s almost as good and so much easier when you’re short on time.

The best part is that no one will guess that the dip is vegan – unless of course they know that all the food you make is vegan, which is pretty much the case with our friends.  Even so, it always gets rave reviews, and I unfortunately never end up with any leftovers!

Last weekend we had the pleasure of hanging out with our friends, Shannon & Mike, and their adorable little girl, Asha.  I’d come across a recipe for Strawberry Basil Margaritas that sounded amazing, and I thought it’d be a tasty addition to the yummy grilled vegetables and salad that Shannon and Mike were making.

We also brought some nectarines, pluots and peaches along to throw on the grill for dessert.  I’d never grilled fruit before, but Mike was fortunately an expert, so he and Ryan handled it for us.  Here’s the fruit lined up on the grill, getting nice and caramelized!

While I don’t have a recipe for the grilled fruit (since you basically just cut it up and throw it on a hot grill), I do have one for the Strawberry Basil Limeade that I made.  I changed the name since I tweaked the recipe a bit and made a non-alcoholic version.  Rather than tequila, we added vodka for those who wanted a little booze.  But before I post the recipe, I just have to show you little Asha enjoying her summer fruit and a little tofu.  She’s a cutie!

This is so simple that it feels silly to even write out a recipe, so think of this more as a guideline.  You could substitute lemonade if you like that better, and of course use whatever alcohol is your favorite.

Strawberry Basil Limeade

about a pint of strawberries
4-5 large Basil leaves
1 container limeade or lemonade (I used Trader Joe’s Sparkling Limeade)
about 1 can of soda water
ice, for serving
vodka, tequila, or your alcohol of choice (optional)

Hull the strawberries and thinly slice them.  Place them into a pitcher.  Crush the basil leaves in your hand, and throw them in the pitcher with the strawberries.  Add the limeade (or lemonade) and place the pitcher in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Before serving, fill a glass with ice and your alcohol of choice, if you’re using it.  (These are also really tasty and refreshing without alcohol).  I added some soda water to my strawberry mixture because I found it a little bit too sweet, but you might find that you don’t need it.  Just add it to taste.

You can garnish these with some basil leaves or more sliced strawberries.  Enjoy!

I know they’re not good for you, but man were they worth it.  Popeyes Biscuits were one of my weaknesses, and the other day I started thinking about them and couldn’t get them out of my mind.  I figured there had to be a way to make a vegan version, and with the fantastical world wide web a quick search yielded a plethora of recipes to choose from.

I was pretty stunned at how easy these were to make.  Like the original version though, they’re definitely not health food.  But man, are they still worth it!  I was also kind of doubtful that four ingredients could combine to replicate the exact buttery flavor and tender texture of real Popeyes Biscuits, but they did.  My mind was seriously blown.  It’s kind of dangerous that these are so easy to make.  I’m really gonna have to hold myself back from making them way too often…

The recipe below is a combination of recipes and directions that I found online.  Enjoy!

Vegan Popeyes Biscuits

2 cups Bisquick (make sure you get a vegan version)
4 ounces vegan sour cream
3 ounces Club soda
2 – 4 ounces vegan margarine

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Brush some melted margarine in the bottom of a round cake pan [see Notes].  Mix the Bisquick, vegan sour cream and club soda together in a large bowl.  Sprinkle some Bisquick on your counter or board to keep the dough from sticking.  Dump the dough out and pat it down by hand until it’s about 1/2-inch thick.  Cut out rounds with a biscuit cutter, and place them into your “buttered” cake pan.  Brush the tops with some of the melted margarine.

Bake them for 7 to 10 minutes, or until golden.  Just before the biscuits are done, brush the tops with more melted margarine, and let them finish baking.

Notes: I used a 9-inch cake pan, but had an extra biscuit that I ended up baking in a smaller pan.  I’d use a larger cake pan, or even a larger square pan.  You don’t have to use as much margarine as the recipe calls for, but you can also save these for special occasions and splurge.  Besides, didn’t you want to  buy some bigger jeans anyway?