Vegan Chocolate Pudding

I got the distinct pleasure a couple of months ago of getting to help Lindsay Wolf (of www.kissmyvegan.com) write a cookbook review. The review was for Vegan Chocolate Pudding that was coming out in a new cookbook.

Actually, I don't know Lindsay personally, but I follow her on Twitter and have been a fan of hers for quite some time - ever since I read her book Kiss Me, I'm Vegan. I love cookbooks because I get - first and foremost - a lot of good meals from them, but also a lot of inspiration and ideas from them, and I (generally!) learn some new tricks or methods that I haven't seen or heard of before.

She put out a tweet one day asking for volunteers to make, taste, and review this recipe for Sharon Valencik's new book Sweet Utopia.

I was so happy to be one of the reviewers! My review and pictures from her blog are here. Her blog post for that day also has recipies for PB & Jelly Thumbprint Cookies and Spiced Pumpkin and Cranberry Muffins.

Let me tell you there are some things that I miss being vegan - and this chocolate pudding was a-mazing; it was unbelievably chocolate-y and creamy - and it took me back to my pre-vegan days. Mr. NoNo couldn't believe that this was vegan - and I am thinking that all of her recipes are the same style!! Yum, Yum, Nom, Nom.... I can't wait to get a copy of Sharon's book so that I can try out more of these great desserts!

Since I was "testing", I didn't modify this recipe at all.

Divine Chocolate Pudding

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 c. granulated vegan sugar

2 tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

2 c. vanilla soymilk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract or additional vanilla extract

1/3 non-dairy chocolate chips.

Sift the cocoa powder into a medium saucepan. Mix in the sugar, cornstarch, and slat until there are no lumps. Place on low to medium heat and slowly whisk in the soymilk until the mixture is smooth. Cook on medium heat, whisking constantly, for about 10 minutes, or until thickened (it should be the consistency of cake batter). Do not let the mixture come to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the extracts. Then stir in the chocolate chips and continue stirring until they are completely melted.

Pour evenly into six-6 oz. ramekins or a large bowl. Cool, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 4-8 hours before serving, or until thoroughly chilled. Store leftover pudding tightly covered in the refrigerator.

 

More later!! :)

Good Cooking - Pasta & Soup

Our CSA "basket" last week was filled with leeks (those are STILL in season??) and bok choy (!) and zucchini. We also got a big thing of Swiss chard and some herbs, MORE limes and some persimmons as well as a few other things. You should see the eggplant that we got - huge and beautiful. I used the eggplant to make this Thai basil saute recipe that I got from vegetariantimes.com, but it wasn't a hit :( I thought it was good, but apparently, no one else liked it much. Since we had so much left over, I froze the leftovers and am thinking about Thai-influenced sub sandwiches (with carrot and cabbage slaw, green onions, peanut sauce, and peanuts) for a night when I don't have time to cook.
Sunday night, I used the Vegetarian Meat & Potatoes cookbook to make gnocchi and a new basic marinara spaghetti sauce - the sauce was a hit and everyone liked the gnocchi - Miss M and I both had them for lunch the next day because the 1/2 recipe still made sooooooo many. Next time I make them, I think I will try the sweet potato version (didn't have sweet potatoes this time around) and make extras to freeze.
Last night, I made the Clean Out the Fridge Soup from vegetariantimes.com. It came out surprisingly good - I was impressed. And...I got to use up most of the zucchini, all of the Swiss chard and a good portion of green onions. I actually had so many vegetables going into the pot that I forgot to add celery (which I only bought to make soup) and some carrots!! But, it was good anyways.

And...about Miss M :)
We went to see cousin C. over the weekend. The girls played soooo good together - I loved it. They were both excited to see each other and had a lot of fun playing all day. When we were getting in the car to leave our house on Saturday morning, Miss M asked me if we were going to grandma susu's house. I told her that we were and she asked me - not cousin cayenna's house?. I told her that once we picked up grandma that we would be going out to see cousin C. She told me (in her halting, measured way - it's like she thinks it, says part of it, thinks some more and then tries to get it all out) that cousin C. was her cousin and her friend.
so - so - so - so beautiful!

More later! :)