I don't even like banana baked goods and I liked these

I'm bored. I have work to do, but I wanted something I could sink my teeth into. Almonds weren't doing it for me. I assessed the scene. Bananas. I have bananas.

So I quickly googled "banana" "vegan" and "muffin", clicked on this, and went to town.

But instead of 2 c of flour, I subbed out about .75 c with a blend of flax seeds and walnuts ground up in the blender (.5 c walnuts, .25 c flax), .25 c oat bran, and .25 c of carrot pulp left from the juicer. I don't know if this makes them "healthier" in the caloric sense, but certainly better than straight white flour, right?

I only used half the sugar, and the sweetness was perfect; a whole cup would be waaaay too much. I also skimped a little on the oil - just a few tbsp shy of what the recipe requires. I could have used about 1/2 or 3/4 of the oil, given the oil from the nuts. I threw in a 1/2 tsp of baking powder in addition to the baking soda; it seemed like a good idea for good baking. Also added a 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract for good measure.

Lust de falafel

When TequilaTanya and I lived in Paris, *the* place to get a cheap, amazing falafel with a bajillion toppings was in the Hassidic quarter at L'as de Falafel, or "The Ace of Falafel."

TequilaT is half Arab, and I've lived in the Middle East. We have high falafel standards.

While these Baked Falafel patties over at ChowVegan lack that thick outer crunch of deep fried balls of garbanzo goodness, they are damn good.

After a failed lentil burger incident a few months ago because the ingredients didn’t bind well, I was extra cautious and threw in an “egg”(1 tbsp ground flax to 3 tbsp water). For double the recipe, I used about 3/4 of the “egg”.

The falafel turned out just fine in the over, but GREAT in the pan with a little oil – not fried, just browned on low-med flame.

I also used dried garbanzos that I cooked til soft (read: easy to mash with a masher, no need for a food processor). They taste a lot better than their canned counterpart.

Fattoush is a really good (vegan!) accompaniment. Epicentre has a good, straightforward recipe.

Cheating: it happens to the best of us!

The "vegan" bride gets in touch with her Argentine roots by lunching on a hearty steak the day after her nuptials 

General T's Stir-Fry

Inspired by a crispy fresh stir-fry prepared by Gitana in Lima two
weeks ago, I decided to create my own stir-fry magic for lunch this
afternoon. While the Whole-Foods-purchased vegetables were still not
as tasty as their Peruvian counterparts, this colorful dish still
turned out delicious.

Ingredients:
1/4 eggplant
1/2 red pepper
1 carrot
1/2 head broccoli (plus stalk)
Handful shittake mushrooms
1/4 package Lightlife organic flax tempeh
1TB Simply Asia General Tso stir-fry sauce

Chop veggies. Cut tempeh into approximately 10 bite-size pieces. Boil
eggplant briefly to soften. Heat wok or large pan on Med-High with a
bit of water. Add veggies (incl. eggplant) and cover for a few minutes
until broccoli turns bright green and veggies begin to soften slightly
(but still remain crisp). Add tempeh. Drizzle everything with a touch
of olive oil. Flip tempeh until all sides brown slightly. Drizzle stir-
fry sauce and mix. Remove from heat and serve. Yields two generous
servings.

NB: we didn't use stir-fry sauce in Peru; just a touch of salt. I
considered doing that today but it tasted too bland. The veggies just
aren't as flavorful here as they are in Lima!