For anyone out there who still subscribes to this feed, or randomly comes upon this blog – here’s the scoop: I’m working on another book, out in late 2016!

I am writing a book about seitan. In fact, it’s called Bringing Home the Seitan! This will be your definitive guide to all things wheat meat related – recipes for a variety of faux meat (cutlets, ribs, roasts and the like) and some tasty recipes to whip up to showcase them in their seitan-y goodness.

I’ll update more info as I have details. Hope life is treating you all splendidly!

The post MAOR books! first appeared on nom! nom! nom! blog.com.

Needless to say, polar vortex weather conditions don’t really bring visions of ice cream to mind, but that’s what my winter has looked like.  Batches upon batches of ice cream, book ended between a variety of cookies.  It’s been hard, let me tell you.

See the sacrifices I make for you?

As you scrape off your cars, salt your sidewalks and avoid careening into mailboxes, remember that warmer days are ahead.  And when that time comes, my tasty vegan ice cream sandwiches book will be ready for you.

For now, go get that hot cocoa.

The post Survive winter with dreams of… ice cream? first appeared on nom! nom! nom! blog.com.

So bust out your canning jars and get ready to flood the world with desserts so cute, your brain will hurt a little.

This has been a very fun project for me, one that I lobbied my publishers to let me do for almost three years.  Better late than never, particularly now that the canning jar is an unstoppable force that is taking crafting, cooking and home decorating by storm.

Cuter than a muffin tin.  Great for transporting and gifting.  And they (theoretically) help with portion control.  That is, if you don’t eat three jars in one sitting.

I cannot tell a lie.  It does happen.  You’ve been warned.

The post Here come the jars… first appeared on nom! nom! nom! blog.com.

It’s on, party people.  Available for presale.  We’re editing right now and I’ll be adding photos to Flickr soon.

Oh yeah.

The post something tasty this way comes… first appeared on nom! nom! nom! blog.com.

So bake this Bundt! And if you don’t make it today, the pumpkin season is just getting started, so there are still plenty of nooks and crannies you can cram it into.

*There is still time to enter my drawing for a copy of my latest cookbook– click here to enter, winners will be announced on Friday, November 2nd!

The Great Pumpkin Bundt Cake
From Have Your Cake and Vegan Too.

This cake has all of the great things of autumn: pumpkin, spices and a light glaze all wrapped up into a treat that pairs beautifully with tea or coffee, making you feel like you are on some picturesque warm beverage commercial… except they don’t let you lick the plate clean in commercials.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 teas. cinnamon
1/4 teas. salt
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 3/4 cups milk of choice
1/2 cup mild vegetable oil
2 tbsp. molasses
1 teas. vanilla
1 recipe Cinnamon Glaze (recipe follows)
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a Bundt or tube cake pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, milk, oil, molasses and vanilla. Add dry to wet in batches and mix until just combine. Spread batter into pan and bake for 42-47 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let cake cool in pan for about 5 minutes and gently loosen around the edges with a butter knife. Turn cake out onto a cooling rack.

Drizzle glaze over warm Bundt and top with nuts, if using. After completely cooled, finish with a light dusting of powdered sugar.

Store covered loosely at room temperature.

Makes 12 servings

Cinnamon Glaze

2 tbsp. milk of choice
1 teas. cinnamon
1 1/2- 2 cups powdered sugar

In a medium bowl, combine milk with sifted powdered sugar and cinnamon, until thick enough to coat a spoon but thin enough to drizzle.

The post happy pumpk-o-ween! first appeared on nom! nom! nom! blog.com.

Some babies don’t wait the full term to enter this world and the same can be said for cookbooks. I’ve been so focused on my early November drop date for The I Heart Trader Joe’s Vegetarian book, imagine my surprise when Amazon began shipping them early!

Like any proud mama, I want to share the love, which is why we’re going to do a giveaway!

Leave a comment with your favorite TJ’s goodie and you’ll be entered to win a copy of the book! US residents only (sorry!). I’ll pick 3 folks next Friday.

Happy nomming!

The post it’s alive! first appeared on nom! nom! nom! blog.com.

Let me treat you to some Friday food pr0n to whet your whistle.

Wild Rice Breakfast Porridge

No-nonsense Gnocchi

Bananas for Gluten-Free Brownies

Fantastic Frybread

Three Bean Salad with Quick Pickled Onions

Chewy Choco-Cherry Ice Cream Cake (think vegan DQ ice cream cake, on crack)

Slawvocado Salad

Yum, yum, yum! You can see more photos over on my Flickr page. Keep an eye out for some giveaways soon!

Happy Friday!

The post trader joe’s round up first appeared on nom! nom! nom! blog.com.

As fall is rushing in and I’m dreaming of spices and baking and thick socks and warm drinks, I thought it was time to emerge from my summer hibernation. This summer has been tremendously productive AND relaxing, which has been lovely, but I apologize for neglecting the blog.

I went on vacation this summer, which I’ve only done one other time in my life. You could say it was much needed. But I discovered one of the benefits of never taking a vacation — not having to reacclimate to real life again. Oy. I also moved into a new place, finished writing and editing the Trader Joe’s cookbook, ate obscene amounts of sweet corn and just plain chilled.

It was pretty great.

I hope you all had a lovely summer! What was happening in your neck of the woods?

Now back to life, back to reality and with the publication of the TJ’s book approaching and the heat backing off, I’m back in the kitchen and am eating more than salads and bowls of watermelon chunks.

We’re in that weird limbo phase of summer/fall transition, when the air is getting crisp and we’re layering blankets on our beds, but farmer’s markets are still going strong and gardens keep on producing. Here is a recipe from the upcoming book for a lovely Roasted Carrot Risotto, the perfect comfort food to help use up your lingering carrots. As written, the recipe is vegetarian, but the vegan option is noted at the end. Because this recipe is from the book, it notes TJ’s versions of the ingredients, but it’s basic enough that you could throw this together with stuff from any grocery store.

Roasted Carrot Risotto (from The I Heart Trader Joe’s Vegetarian Cookbook, out November 2012)

Risotto is not a shortcut meal, requiring low temperatures and much stirring… but it’s worth every minute. Roasting the carrots enhances their earthy flavor and adds a complexity that is intoxicating.

1/2 lb. organic carrots (whole carrots, not the little guys)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 teas. balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbsp. butter
1 small yellow or white onion, diced small
1 cup Trader Joe’s Arborio Rice
4 cups of Trader Joe’s Organic Veggie Broth
1 1/2 cups Trader Joe’s Freshly Shaved Parmesan, Romano & Asiago Cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Wash the carrots and cut down into 1 inch sticks. Toss carrots with olive oil and balsamic and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread on prepared sheet and roast until tender, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and puree in a food processor or blender, until smooth, adding a little water (1 tbsp. at a time), if needed.

In a stockpot, melt the butter on medium-low heat. Add the onion and saute until slightly translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and saute for about 3 more minutes. Add 1 cup of the broth, lower heat to just a tinge about low and cook, stirring often, until absorbed. Repeat with the second and third cups of broth, one cup at a time. Add the carrot puree with the fourth cup of broth. Once absorbed, remove from heat and stir in the cheese, stirring until melted and well combined.

Serve with a salad and some crusty bread.

Makes: 4-6 servings

Gluten-free

Vegan option: Replace the butter with non-dairy margarine. In place of the cheese, while the carrots are roasting, soak 1/2 cup of raw cashews in warm water. Let them soak until you are cooking the risotto. Drain the water and puree the cashews with 1/4 teas of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice (about 1/2 teas.). Add the cashew puree in place of the shaved cheese.

The post the blog that time forgot… first appeared on nom! nom! nom! blog.com.

My boss celebrated her last day at work yesterday, after 13 years with our organization. This year she has committed to baking one cake per week and blogging about it. Naturally, the theme of our going away celebration for her was cake-related, with folks bringing in cakes of all kinds. I whipped up a variation of one of the cakes she made earlier this year, but, of course, I couldn’t leave well enough alone. What can I say- I like to break the rules.

This is a tender Bundt cake, studded with tangy rhubarb and strawberries and topped with a crumb topping. Can you get more delicious than that? If you have an abundance of rhubarb (is there such a thing as too much rhubarb? I argue not.) this is a perfect delivery device for consuming some of it.

Crumb Topping:
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup evaporated cane sugar
1/4 cup butter, cold

Cake:
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teas. baking powder
1/2 teas. salt
1/2 cup shortening (or use your favorite vegan margarine)
1 cup evaporated cane sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. milk of choice
1/2 teas. mild vinegar
1 teas. vanilla
1 cup chopped rhubarb, in 1/2 inch chunks
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries, cut into 1/2 in chunks

Preheat an oven to 350. Lightly grease and flour a Bundt cake or 10-12 cup tube cake pan.

To make the topping, in a small bowl combine the flour and sugar. Cut in the margarine or butter with a pastry cutter or the back of a fork until a clumpy meal comes together. Keep topping chilled.

To make the cake, in a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar. Add the milk and vinegar and let it sit for a minute. Cream together well and add the vanilla. In two batches, add the dry ingredients to the wet until just mixed. Gently add the rhubarb and strawberries and then spread the batter in the pan. Top with the topping.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden and a toothpick comes out clean when tested. Let cake cool completely in the pan before gently loosening with a knife and removing from pan.

***
For other escapades in strawberry/rhubarb love, check out these older posts on making jam and pie.

The post tasty cake… first appeared on nom! nom! nom! blog.com.

I had planned to have the tester site up by late March.

It’s now bordering on late April. And I’m currently 3 lattes deep at a favorite local cafe while frantically typing, photo editing and distracting myself with Facebook and videos of big cats doing really cute shiz.

I’m clearly the most organized person you know. This technologically-steeped girl is all about pen and paper in the kitchen… And while I’d like to blame my sloth-like data entry tendencies on being busy, in reality it comes down to questionable time management. Like when I’m watching reruns of The IT Crowd while eating tortilla chips. Or re-reading Harry Potter for the eleventy billionth time when I should be doing yoga teacher training homework (and then doing yoga teacher training homework when I should be typing up recipes).

I’m a rockstar, what can I say?

*(Total aside, but I’ve been working on and writing for this super awesome public radio show you should know about- The Dinner Party. Check it out! And you’re welcome!)*

In exchange for your love and patience, here is a fast, tasty (and gluten-free!) recipe from my upcoming Trader Joe’s book.

So, if you applied to test, please have patience with me. And in the meantime, enjoy these tasty little morsels.

The TJ’s Organic Polenta is gluten-free and the Reduced Fat Mayonnaise is (bizarrely) vegan, so this appetizer is a win for any and everyone.

Garlic Herbed Polenta Fries with Lemon Aioli

For the polenta fries:
1 log of Organic Polenta, cut into 1/2 inch discs, then strips
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 teas. Trader Joe’s Garlic Powder
1 tbsp. Trader Joe’s Organic Dried Oregano
1/2 teas. sea salt

For the aioli:
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 teas. lemon zest
1/3 cup Trader Joe’s Reduced Fat Mayonnaise
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Prepare polenta slices. In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic powder and oregano. Whisk to combine. Gently toss the polenta with the olive oil mixture and spread in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 35-40 minutes, flipping fries halfway through, until slightly browned and crispy on the edges.

While the fries are baking, prepare the aioli. In a small pan, heat the olive oil. Sautee the garlic for 2 minutes, to remove bitterness. Remove from heat to cool. In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, lemon juice and zest. Add the mayo and mix until incorporated. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Keep refrigerated until use.

Serve the fries warm with the aioli.

Makes: 4 servings

The post from under my rock… first appeared on nom! nom! nom! blog.com.