A Vegan's First Year: Part 1

This is the past year's food highlights (my first year being vegan!) as a sort of preview of what I'll be expanding and (hopefully) improving on. The most obvious things I need to work on are photography skills (I'm learning!) and plate presentation. I'm also trying to up the ante on color and texture contrasts, but all in due time. I'm trying my hand at an organic herb garden this year (with a few veggies too - limited space!) for fresh flavors at their peak.

White bread: working with yeast is an art unto itself. High gluten content and an earth-balancey crust are key for yumminess.

Seitan "Parmesan" - my homemade seitan (wheat gluten meat analogue), breaded and fried, smothered in homemade marinara atop a bed of thin pasta & covered with "almesan" - a surprisingly cheezy-tasting combo of almonds, nutritional yeast, & garlic

My first sushi-maki! I've since fallen in love with it & tried to experiment as much as possible.

"Shanghai Wings" - a copycat of an old Chili's recipe modified: breaded/fried setian chunks with citrus ginger glaze atop fried sai-fun noodles, served with my own dairy-free wasabi-ranch.



Coconut cream pie with a refreshing hint of lime and delicate crunch of toasted coconut...definitely remaking this in the summer.

First vegan pizza ~ love to make herbed garlic yeast dough from scratch, add roasted red peppers, my marinara, olives, and pepperoni I made from vegan bacon I seasoned up first. Then topped with the vegan parmesan. Keep in mind, this is before I discovered Daiya cheeze.

Spinach lasagna~ sometimes I add soy crumbles to the marinara, but sometimes I just like a thick sauce made from chunks of various roasted peppers, tomatoes, onions, and garlic (with herbs).

Tofu Pot Pie with celery seed pastry. This could have only been better if I used seitan, or seasoned Gardein chik'n scallopini instead of the tofu.

Grand prize winner for best decorated at the Mercer County Fair 2010! I took grand prize in all three of my entries last summer. Keep in mind, this was my first try at homemade fondant icing, and I couldn't find glycerin anywhere. When I try fondant again, I will either buy vegan storebought or find glycerin & do it right!

Cherry-Date Braided Swedish Tea Ring ~ drizzled with icing and almond slivers, this was another winner at my county fair 2010. I'm wondering what to enter in this summer!

French Apple Pie ~ The other winner at my county fair for double-crust fruit pies. I need to work on my lattice.

Fossil Cookies ~ for Halloween! (Thanks, Martha Stewart!)

Seaweed Salad ~ tried to emulate the local Japanese Steakhouse ~ my dressing from sesame oil, chili oil, and rice wine vinegar is dead-on, but I need more experience with various types of seaweed to gett the flavor/texture combo right.

Getting better with sushi ~ cucumber/avocado is my favorite; the flavors just dance on my tongue when they combine. I colored some of the rice for fun around Halloween!

Tempura Sweet-potato sushi with eel sauce (I'm pretty sure that's what the drizzle sauce is; I make mine from soy sauce and sugar).

Vegan Corn Dogs. I had waited so long. I am, however, considering getting a deep fryer to make things like this easier.

Pumpkin Cheezecake for Thanksgiving, with 'better than cream cheese.' This year I'll get a picture after it's been cut!

Thanksgiving spread - the roast I made from tons of Gardein chik'n scallopini, traditional stuffing ("Not Chicken" bouillon is a lifesaver in so many recipes!), candied yams with vegan Dandies marshmallows, mashed taters with gravy, corn, and spiced cranberry chutney.

X-Mas waffles, because my dad sent me a much-appreciated waffle iron for the holiday!



X-mas dinner: I tried to replicate a stuffed pork loin recipe I'd previously modified. Made a "loin" from masked chik'n scallopinis, marinated in merlot, peppers, celery, and spices, then stuffed with fruited curried jasmine rice & covered in infused red wine gravy (made from marinade).

"Steakhouse Stir:"  Sauteed potatoes, garlic, onions, and sweet orange peppers, tossed with seared beefless tips and a dash of that famous A1 sauce.

My version of "Mounds" candy. Very time consuming, but totally worth it ~ LOVE the flavour of fresh coconut milk.

Cordial cherries: another time-consuming candy that is absolutely worth making if you love fresh ingredients and velvety-smooth dark chocolate.

A vegan pumpkin roll? Totally possible. Had a little help from a surprisingly vegan icing, but this year I will make one entirely homemade.

White chocolate Macadamia nut ccokies: I've ordered a couple things online from a vegan website, and those white chips are one of my cool finds. I hadn't had that kind of cookie for probably two years before I made these.